Gettin' the Heck Outta Dodge Day 2

It has taken me awhile to get back on "the web" to post another blog about our Big Bend Trip. Meanwhile, more blog worthy events continue to unfold! Here we will discuss Day two of the poorly planned and beautifully executing Big Bend Vacation!


Itinerary:

Ford the Guadalupe River with Chester
Drive from Guadalupe State Park to Devil's River State Park (about 4 hours)
Decide if we will camp there
Find out we can't
Hike to the River (1.5 miles)
Carry Chester last 1 mile (yes, the last mile of the 1.5 mile hike)
Explain to Charlie why he is expected to walk in the heat while Chester is Carried
Watch Chester Swim
Force Charlie to swim (not to be mean, to cool him off)
Cool off in the River
Dry off
Walk out in the River again
Watch John slip and fall all the way in after drying off
Hike back
Drive to Seminole Canyon State Park (2 hours)

Enough with the words - here are the pictures of Day Two!

Devils River. This is considered one of the most remote parts of Texas. You have to drive about 26 miles on a poorly graveled road. We were the only people there! The water was really clear - until you stepped in it!

Pooped Pugs: Charlie - Merited level of pooped..........Chester - well, let's just say it's not as easy to be carried as one might think (according to Chester, anyway - being carried is rough!)

So pretty.


Pretty rocky thingys.

Gettin' the Heck Outta Dodge Day 1

warning: series of long, wordy blog posts about to ensue

Since we moved to Texas John and I have longed for mountains and forests - like the ones we selfishly took for granted while living in Oregon. We have been told since we moved here that there are mountains and forests in Texas at a place called Big Bend National Park. Only problem was that it is an 8 hour drive from Houston. This makes it too far for a weekend trip, and any vacation longer than a weekend (for us) is usually spent traveling to see family...

A few months ago I requested time off for the first two weeks of April because John is currently finished with Medical School and is completely free. We were pretty sure that we would be leaving Texas and knew that we could not do so without having seen these "mountains" we heard people mention. So, we planned to go to Big Bend for two weeks. As it came closer and closer our trip became less and less likely...

Problem 1: no dogs allowed in National Park - potential easy fix
Problem 2: lots of stuff to be done in the house
Problem 3: house need to get on the market
Problem 4: fixing stuff requires lots of mooooooolah
Problem 5: trip had not been planned at all
Problem 6: turns out John is done with school, but still teaching and had labs to teach in these two weeks
Problem 7: etc. etc. etc. - mind you Problems 2-4 cause a great deal of anxiety! Turns out - selling a house is stressful?! Who knew!!??

Long story short we decide to stick to our guns and make the trip. But not without tending to all of the above problems first, right?


Scheduled departure April 1, 2009.
Actual departure April 3, 2009 (late afternoon)

"Layover" time spent painting, painting, painting, goodwill trips (two), storage unit trips (uncountable), meeting with realtor, scraping paint from windows, nagging homeowner's association to paint our front door (supposed to be done > one year ago; completed TODAY), potting plants for "curb" appeal, sucking up paint fumes, painting, re-hanging pictures, moving furniture, giving away furniture to friends, oooops don't forget the dogs have to poop and the phone keeps ringing and you are not on your "vacation" that you had planned at all!!! and the tile in the bathroom was ripped up a few years ago and you can't find a match and the patio doors don't open right, and the doorknobs are old and need to be replaced and the toilet in the guest bathroom doesn't flush right and the bathtub in the master bath doesn't drain right and the door in the master bath hasn't shut since we moved in the bleepin' homeowner's association still hasn't painted that bleepity bleep door and SCREW IT WE ARE LEAVING FOR BIG BEND RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

So we did! And it was soooo worth it and soooooo needed! And, the next house we own - we will fix things as they come up (sure we will......said so many times by so many people....)!!!!

We left in such a rush and literally vacuumed our way out the door!! The house looked great. We still had some repairs to do, but it could be shown and it was on the market. Our packing was so disorganized we didn't even bring a flashlight! We didn't have any of our food. We just packed the dogs, some random clothes, and decided anything else we could make do without for 5 days! I didn't even bring a comb or a brush, just a hat!!! (short hair made that less gross)

We hit the road around 4 PM. First stop: Guadalupe River State Park. We got there after dark, took a short night walk, looked at the stars, and breathed in the fresh air. We slept there that night. In the morning we checked out the river. Pretty, but not the rough back woods terrain we love. Picnic benches too closeby and numerous!

Guadalupe River


John and Chester Fording the River

That's all for now folks! Stay tuned for more pictures!

Self Taught Tiler!

Okay, I think I earned a few bragging rights here - or at least I am sittin' proud! I designed and put up a tiled hearth/mantle around our fireplace. Before, there was nothing but drywall and the surface was really uneven. Due to foundation issues the fireplace unit had shifted itself further back into the wall in parts - about 1.5 inches in some parts. Anyway, I had to even the surface which was the longest and hardest part - took about 4 hours because I had to wait for the stuff to dry - reapply and repeat that until the surface was built up enough that I could put a tile there. We think it looks great! For those of you who live where it is actually cold - this probably looks weird. But, it is very typical for fireplaces around here in the condos to have tile around them. Anyway, I am proud of myself for figuring it all out and getting the job done!

Stay tuned for extended postings about our trip to Big Bend National Park!

On the Market

Hey ya'll! We are still down here in Texas - but not for long! Our house is on the market and the move should happen in approximately 6 weeks time! DANG! If you want to check out our hot crib go to: coldwellbanker.com and search for MLS#77222371 to see the virtual tour! All of our bright colors are gone. : ( But, it looks great for selling purposes! Enjoy!

The anticipated Match Day!

Oh boy everyone....we matched at John's top choice - Georgetown University Hospital in Washington DC for a residency in Plastic Surgery! WAHOOOOOOO!!! We are absolutely thrilled to have gotten our first choice. I am so excited to live in the same city as my sister for the first time since high school! John is altogether humbled that he was chosen to match with a program as good as Georgetown. He keeps saying "I'm just lucky". Charlie and Chester are ready for a new adventure and keep asking us when we will be moving.

So, thank you to everyone for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers and please continue to do so as we sell our house, find a new place to live, and begin the next wonderful journey in our life together! Here goes nothing!!! BLAST OFF!!!!

BLACK MONDAY.

Today is "black monday", when residency applicants for all programs find out if they matched in the specialty of their choice - that's IF, not WHERE. Everyone receives an email. If you match, you wait longer to find out where. If you don't match you receive a plethora of information on programs that have open spots that you may, or may not be able to "scramble" into. If you're John - you refuse to participate in a scramble and opt to move to Oregon, buy a bunch of land and start an organic farm (John's idea of a "back-up plan"). So, although these days are much anticipated by John and I - I am sure most of you will not be surprised to hear that

WE MATCHED!!!

We just don't know where!

FEELINGS ON THE MATTER:

Andrea feels a huge weight lifted - after all she didn't REALLY want to help run an organic farm. Furthermore, Andrea feels an even stronger anticipation to find out where we will end up!

John's response when I called him after I got the email was: "I don't know. I am still just strangely calm about the whole thing. Actually, my first thought was - I guess someone wants to give me a job for 6 years." My response to that was: "Sucks to be them!" HAHAHAHA!

I suppose John is feeling the coming responsibility connected with matching in a Plastic Surgery Residency. Whereas I am just happy that we didn't go to Medical School to end up as Organic Farmers! HAHAHAHA!

Stay tuned for THREE MORE DAYS!!!!!

SO CLOSE!!!!

ONLY FIVE DAYS TO GO!