Our Florida Trip: Space Shuttles, Oceans and Beach Villages

Well here you are, the quick run-down of our trip to warm, sunny Florida.

On Friday night we drove to New Hampshire so we could make the early flight in the morning.  I won't go into the entire travel day because it was pretty uneventful; basically, we made it on time and I don't really like Southwest Airlines' "prison rules" seating methodology.

On Saturday we hung around the pool with Rob's mom and later went out to dinner with her, Rob's stepdad, and some of their friends.  We had a lot of fun (and a lot of drinks, whoops!).  It would've been a great night but for the massive gluten attack that hit me when I got home.  One of the worst feelings in the world is throwing up and not feeling better.

The next day Rob and I frolicked about on the beach.  It was too cold for me to go into the beach (yeah yeah, I'm from Maine and I'm a wuss) but we sat for a good 45 minutes just watching the waves and enjoying each other's company.  We went on a goofy little nature walk which was more like a wooden walkway to nowhere, and then ate a delicious homemade meal before going to bed early.

 

On Monday, Rob and I did our first and only tourist-y thing: toured the Kennedy Space Center.  If you are ever in Florida and you are a nerd, you should definitely go to the Kennedy Space Center.  It was nuts, yo. We paid a little extra and got to go inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, where they assemble freaking shuttles.  We even saw the remains of the shuttle Endeavour! WHAT?! I've never been all that into space, unlike my nerd husband, but this tour was freaking amazing.  We also got to see the launch pads from which Apollo 11 and the Challenger took off, got to sit/lay down in models of moon capsule things, went into the shuttle simulator (which was kind of lame, admittedly), and saw the original mission control consoles from the Apollo flights.  Funny story: they told us that there was more computing power in a digital watch than in the entire room of consoles.  Anyway, it was totally worth the money we spent on it and I highly recommend it.

 

The next day (Tuesday) we spent on the beach, and it was finally warm enough to go swimming.  Rob told me that as a child he always built sand "dams" to see if he could stop the waves.  We built a "wall" together, along with our "castle" and "serf houses" to see how well we could protect them.  Spoiler alert: not well.  But it was fun anyway and I love being a total goofy nerd with my husband.  I'm pretty sure everyone walking by thought we were just that. Also, if you're wondering why I'm prancing around like an idiot, it's because Rob wanted to capture a picture of me prancing around like an idiot. Also, appreciate my muffin top.

 

Tuesday was also the day that Rob got the call from Santa Fe confirming that he had the job! It was very exciting and in a way, I think pretty cool that we found out while relaxing and sunning ourselves on the beach.  After that happy little piece of news we drove into Cocoa Beach, where we had lunch with my friend Dorrie.  Dorrie and I have known each other since 4th grade and were always the best of friends.  I hadn't seen her since high school graduation so it was pretty awesome to catch up again.  We also opened our Christmas gifts from Rob's mom and chatted about our beasties.  

On our last day I intentionally bought a later ticket so we could enjoy the day without having to rush to the airport.  We built yet another sand village which was quickly destroyed and scratched ourselves up on some rocks in the ocean.  We tried to go to Orlando early to eat P.F. Chang's, but we couldn't find it in the ridiculous, labyrinthine mall in which is was located, so I ended up dining on potato chips, carrots, and candy. Yay, gluten-free diets.  After lots of flying and driving we got home by 12:30 am or so and totally crashed.

All in all we had a really good time.  When Rob and I go on vacation we tend to do a lot more relaxing than tourist-ing.  Honestly I'm a lot happier just sitting alone with my husband in front of the ocean than riding roller coasters, and I was reminded of this simple joy many times throughout our trip.  I'm a very lucky girl.

Anyway I hope you all had a great week and enjoyed the guest posts!

Buffle off to Shuffalo

Actually, we're going to Florida.  For 5 amazing days.  I'm leaving the computer at home and will therefore be largely unavailable around these parts.

For the first time, I've set up some awesome guest posters to take care of my blog while I'm gone.  Enjoy their posts and make sure to visit their blogs.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Work Trip to Daytona Beach

Quick aside: I realized that my last post might have been two depressing when I lost two followers shortly after posting it...so, my apologies if I upset anyone.

One thing I love about my job most days is the fact that it gives me the chance to travel to parts of the country that I wouldn't have normally seen on my own.  Sometimes this is a really good thing (Colorado) and other times not that great of a thing (Kutztown, PA - nothing wrong with the town per se, just no gluten-free options readily available).

This week my sister, who is one of my direct supervisors (and an avid reader of my blog, hi Meg!), and I traveled to Daytona Beach, Florida to meet with a client about some training materials we've been working on over the last few months.  First I traveled to Boston so we could catch our flight out of Logan the next day.  Megan still had a little bit of work to do on recording her voice for tutorials, but she looked pretty awesome with her headset:

The next morning we took the T to Logan and flew out to Daytona Beach Before you ask, let's get a picture of the huge eyesore racetrack out of the way:

We were fortunate enough to get our company rate at a really nice resort right on the beach.  The view from my room:

We didn't have to work until the following day so of course, we immediately went to the beach:

That night we found a restaurant that had an entire gluten-free menu.  I ordered some chicken dish and edamame, plus a flourless brownie sundae (and the obligatory martini...don't judge me)!

It was a really busy few days so I didn't get a ton of pictures until we were ready to leave:

We got in to Megan's apartment a little after midnight and crashed.  I woke up early to catch the train to Portland and drove home to my darling husband and beastie beast.

A lot of people tell me how envious they are of my job, and while I do enjoy the perks of consulting (money, travel, airline miles, sometimes working from home) it can be a little grueling to be away from your comfort zone for long stretches of time.  2011 has been a pretty calm year, but in 2010 I was traveling to and from Cleveland, and then Houston, for pretty much the entire year (coming home on weekends, of course).  I had some great experiences and met some great people, but my heart ached for home. Regardless, at the end of the day I'm really lucky to have a job (thanks Meg!) that allows me so much freedom and so many great benefits.  For now it's perfect, and I can't wait to see what I'll be working on next.

Also, for anyone who is wondering, I would not necessarily recommend Daytona Beach as a vacation spot if you're looking for a lot of fun things to do.  No offense to people who live there, but some parts are pretty ugly and there isn't a ton going on, at least that we could find.  It took us a long time to find a decent supermarket that actually had an "all natural" section or any gluten-free items at all (thanks Publix!). However, if you just want to beach it, which tends to be my and Rob's inclination while on vacations, I personally think it's a great spot to go.  The beach was positively deserted (though I'm sure it isn't during Daytona 500 time), and there were lots of nice resorts directly on the beach, some of them pretty decently priced.  And if you eat gluten-free like me, the Bonefish Grill and BJ's Restaurant both have gluten-free menus and there's always a Carrabba's if you're desperate.

Please keep me in your thoughts on Sunday as I have to photograph a wedding in Portland, where Irene is supposed to hit Maine the hardest.

Final note (for reals this time): this was another break where I brought my point-and-shoot instead of my Nikon.  I find that when I bring my Nikon I spend too much time getting the right pictures instead of just living in the moment.   I didn't want any pressure on myself and I don't want photography to be a chore.

Have a great weekend!