Saturday, December 31, 2011

Some holiday sightings

Christmas 2011 was a great one. We had all the immediate family except the popsicles in AK here at our house, and the kids all seemed to have a great time reveling in their abundant gifts and time playing with everyone. A few pics from the days...

Jill and Cooper built up a gingerbread house

From sleeping in bouncer



From sleeping in bouncer


Grandpa Jim and Cooper decorated some outstanding sugar cookies

From sleeping in bouncer


And Cooper made extra sure they had ample sprinkles

From sleeping in bouncer


A quick family picture...and note how I got into the holiday spirit by doing my best to look like Santa. No white beard but I've got the belly dialed.

From sleeping in bouncer


There is a reason actors say never work with "kids or animals"

From sleeping in bouncer


Lauren got her first iteration of Grandma Judy's Christmas grab bags

From sleeping in bouncer


She appears amused by it all

From sleeping in bouncer


Some dinner at everyone's favorite Pasta Jay's

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From sleeping in bouncer



From sleeping in bouncer



From sleeping in bouncer


Everyone is looking in the same general direction. Its a Christmas miracle!

From sleeping in bouncer


The presents begin to roll in

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Which of these two looks more ornery? That is a trick question as since one is a clone of the other, they are equally ornery.
From sleeping in bouncer


Lauren loves all the attention

From sleeping in bouncer


Cuteness...and those two kids

From sleeping in bouncer


The holidays make everyone hit the bottle from time to time

From sleeping in bouncer



It wouldn't be traveling without stress

December has been a cruel joke for me. I was supposed to be primarily on vacation from the 15th to the end of year, but that didn't come to fruition and so you just adjust and move on. Despite being on the go all the time, a night out with Jill is something that is too infrequent so we'll go to great lengths to get that.

This time it involved flying to Houston with an overnight layover in Little Rock, AR to drop off Cooper and Lauren with Jim and Judy so Jill and I could attend my second company Christmas party in a 7 day span. We got into Little Rock with few issues, Cooper is a seasoned traveler these days and Lauren is the world's easiest kid.


Jill and I had an early flight out of Little Rock, which felt really early considering we live an hour behind Central time. We made it into Houston on time, saw a couple of friends then headed off to grab lunch with my cousin Brandon and his wife Amy, a fellow Bartian and classmate of Jill's at Lupe Tortillas.

After that, I ambled over to the company meeting and snuck in the back door to little fan fare. After a couple hours of the meeting and some socializing with coworkers, we headed to our hotel to relax for a few hours before heading to River Oaks Country Club, the creme de la creme for Houston high society life.

The party was a good time, nice food and everyone was having a great time. The company gifts never fail to please, an iPad2 for me and a really nice pair of diamond earrings for Jill. You could say it was a very good year...

It all started getting a little messy at that point, not for Jill and I but for others. After getting some coworkers in bad shape loaded up and headed home, we were missing our gift bag. After some looking and a incoherent exchange with a coworker that had two iPads in his bag we headed to the hotel sans gifts. We've since recovered both gifts, as we knew we would but it made things more interesting.

A few hours sleep at the JW Marriott across from the Galleria, then a quick breakfast and another flight back to Little Rock. We'd be stopping through just long enough to grab a meal, get the kids and head back to the airport to fly back to CO some 48 hours after we left....or so we thought.

On our way to the airport, I started getting text messages from United. Flight delayed. First 30 minutes, then an hour, then two hours. So our 7:30 flight was now 9:30. We opted to grab some dessert and drinks at a restaurant rather than try to entertain the kids at the small airport for three hours. Around 8, we had grown tired of the restaurant so we drove the mile to the airport, said our goodbyes to Jim and Judy and headed to check our bags.

The United attendent behind the desk says to me "Are you checking in for a flight tomorrow morning?"

I am puzzled, but reply "No I have a flight at 9:30 tonight".
He replies "Well TSA goes home at 8pm, you aren't going anywhere tonight"

My reply should not be repeated, although Cooper did repeat it immediately after I said it and it was along the lines of "My good sir, this cannot be correct" or something similar to that. Knowing there was no wiggle room on this, my attention diverted to getting a rental as we watched Jim drive away and couldn't get them on their cell phone. Rental car acquired, 45 minutes later we were back at their house and kids in bed we were going to make the best of the situation. United couldn't get us all on a single flight on Saturday, so we booked the earliest flight out on Sunday morning and decided to enjoy the extra time with the family on Saturday.

Sunday morning the alarm starts ringing at 5am and we start loading the car up. The last thing we load are the two kiddos and off we go to the airport. There is a 18 mile, curvy stretch of road from the edge of the Village to the interstate. We made it about 14 of those miles and then everything came to a stop. Police cars lights flashing, cars backed up...what is going on?

I get out, walk up to see an enormous tree fallen across the road. With a car smashed into it. On a bridge. Seriously, this state refuses to let us leave. I talk to a few people to get an assessment of our options. Its going to be a "long time" before the tree is out. There are few other roads to get us to the airport and none of them are close. One person gives us the recommendation of "the dirt road across from the boarded up convenience store back up the road". Good enough, lets roll.

Now I could have just followed her up the road and she would have lead me to said dirt road, but she was about 70 and I had a feeling she would be driving 40mph in the 45mph zone so I took the lead and never saw her again. Of course, I never saw the dirt road either but Jill did find me an acceptable, albeit tiny, road that eventually dumped us out at the Interstate.

To make a long, and incredibly stressful, story much shorter. We screeched into the airport, checked in with 3 minutes to spare, dumped the rental car and ran through security while they are calling for us on the loudspeaker. Nerves shot, incredibly tired but so thankful to have the wheels touch down on some higher elevation tarmac...


Quick trip across the pond

Being on the road all the time and desperately looking for some time off, I was looking to spend several weeks relaxing at or close to home in December. Well so much for best laid plans... I got an offer that was too good to be true, a trip to London under the cover of business that had the payoff of getting to see my favorite band on their home turf. While I have a hard time complaining about traveling too much and then taking an elective trip, I still thought it was too good to pass up so off I went...

The trip over is a 9 hour flight from Denver, but I was able to fly direct on British Airways which was nice. Even nicer was that I flew club class on the way over, meaning I had the full on royal treatment and a fold out bed to sleep in.

Things were looking up already as I scrolled through my in-flight entertainment options, one of my favorite mountain biking videos.

Then the food parade started to roll out. A four course meal on the plane, unheard of, and tasty as well.


Once arriving it was a bit of a blur. I left Denver about 6pm and landed in London around 9am. After a taxi ride to the hotel, quick shower I donned a sportcoat and tie and headed to the office. After putting in a pretty good day on no sleep, I then headed over to the train station to wait for two coworkers to arrive to grab some late dinner. 

At the train station, checking out the Lego Christmas tree.


A company meeting the next day, some sightseeing and then the London office Christmas party. Some good food, good wine and then off to the concert. I've seen Coldplay live at least five or six times, and this would be my third country (US, Canada and now the UK) and they have never disappointed.

Checking out Tower Bridge, which is much more impressive than the rather bland London Bridge


Concert time at the O2 arena.

Floor seats always make for a better experience. Early on the balloons drop on the crowd.

Then the confetti canons get started

After the concert I had a full day to do whatever I pleased. Despite no sleep, I got up early and headed out. I wanted to see as much as I could so I took as much advice from my European coworkers and all the people that offered it.  My hotel was in a great location and I was getting to be a pro on navigating the tubes, so off I went.

First stop, from my hotel to Big Ben and Parliament was a simple walk across the bridge, a walk that I did at least 10 times in my few days.

From London Trip


My hotel and the London Eye
From London Trip


Hey look, Big Ben...
From London Trip


First stop was Westminster Abbey. No pics allowed inside, but what an amazing place. Sitting inside was pretty overwhelming to think about all the greats you were laid to rest or had passed through this building over the years.
From London Trip


The over to see the Queen's digs
From London Trip


From London Trip


After walking around town, I decided to do the double decker bus tour bit. I opted for the version with a live narator, it was nice as I could hop on / off the bus whenever I pleased and had a day pass on the tubes. I covered a tremendous amount of territory in my one day, history at every turn in this city.

St. Paul's Cathedral. Turns out this wasn't for Paul McCartney, but I'd argue maybe it should be.
From London Trip


In Tralfalgar Square there was a gathering of Santa Clauses, attempting to break to world record for most Santas. Crazy to see thousands of St. Nick's hanging out at a monument.
From London Trip


Then I was treated to an amazing London sunset, here looking out over Big Ben / Parliament from the hotel
From London Trip


Then my favorite shot from the trip...The London Eye and County Hall all lit up at night
From London Trip


After that it was a long flight back home, unpack a suitcase and load another up. In the next 10 days I'd be in Colorado, Arkansas, Texas and Arizona.