Nicole Wilker

Just me, in your face!

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Day 5 – NCECA Road Trip

Apr 8

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This was the day that we finally arrived at the main event!!
We headed north to see Walnut Canyon before heading back south.
It’s a cute little national monument – and since I’m counting – at $5 entrance fee, we are almost half way to our national park pass cost!
There were over 250 steps down to see 25 different ruins! I used it as an additional portion of my workout!

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It was another fun time for hubby and I trying to decide how they lived, how they ate, where they “shopped”.
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After that stop over we headed south to Montezuma’s Castle National Park. Another cool ruin and apparently where all the idiots in the area congregate. Sigh.
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It was another great view despite the idiots flittering around. Amazingly large structure, so far up the hillside built so long ago, with no apparent way to get in!

We got our view (another $10 save with the pass!) and got out of there as fast as we could!

Then it was 2.5 hours to phoenix!!  I had been warned of the police presence by friends that have spent time in the area. We saw a bit of it in flagstaff – police doing radar checks everywhere – everywhere! Photo tickets, and more. So we kept our speed in check as we headed into the sprawling metropolis of Phoenix. And we also found the heat! It started to warm up as soon as we left Flagstaff – 60 degrees, 75, then 90 as we hit Phoenix…

We got to the hotel by 2:30, were able to check in – although their valet area is crap – in and out in the same place and only 1 lane wide… ugh.
Our room is beautiful. Amazing work desk (that is where i am now).

After a shower and some relaxing hubby went with me to pick up my badge for NCECA and get my goodies! It was fabulous. No lines! Love that!

Our goodies included a recyclable shopping bag – yeah!!!!

After my quick jaunt to get my badge we walked around the area and same some weird art:
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Found the science museum and a cute place to grab a beer!

I picked most of my schedule for  the next few days and then we were off to sushi with hubby’s business partner and wife.

I over ate – as usual – and slept pretty well on our big comfy bed!

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Day 4 – NCECA Road Trip

Apr 7

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FYI – Part of Arizona chooses to not observe day light savings time. Grand Canyon and Tuba city appear to, but Flagstaff – not so much.
That was cool last night, since we got an extra hour to use! Yeah!

We found our hotel right off the highway, not as nice as the pictures on line, but nice! (i know, go figure)
Today was scheduled as a pretty low key day – the options originally planned were an extra chance to see the grand canyon again or see some of the national parks around!

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We finally got our Starbucks fix! Ah!!
Then we headed off to Sunset Crater national park which is in the same area as the Wupatki ruins.
Sunset Crater National Park was pretty cool! Who knew there were lava flows right off the highway??
It’s a small park but lots of info there! We had gotten the national park pass for the Grand Canyon (and figured we could use it at Rocky Mountain – since we live there!)
So we were able to get in for free!
We did a short hike to the top of Lenox Crater. (1/2 mile straight up soft sand, ugh!)
It was amazing from there – some of it looked like big giant rocks, other tiny pebbles and from a distance some even looked like pavement – really cool!
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We did another mile (ish) hike around the lava flows – very cool!!  (have i mentioned how cool it was!)

We stopped at a couple more overlooks and enjoyed the views!!!
Lava Flow Trail
We exited that park and entered the Wupatki national park – the ruins were pretty neat. We spent a lot of time discussing what we thought each part of the structure might have been, how wealthy the occupants, their daily tasks, and where they went when they disappeared! It was fun!
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We headed back to the hotel for a nap after our adventure in the parks.
Gotta love non structured vacations!

After our nap we headed to old downtown Flagstaff to walk around and find something fun for dinner!

Not too much interesting down there – could have been me not wanting to spend much money…

We had dinner and then stopped into a winebar i had read about! Super cute location – upstairs, tons of seating, chocolates and yummy wines!
After our grownup rest we headed up to the local Observatory (started by a Lowell – one of the big names back in mass – how funny!)
We got to see Saturn  – super super cool and the moon!

It was a fun night and I’m looking forward to Phoenix today!  (With a couple hikes along the way!)

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Day 3 – NCECA Road Trip

Apr 5

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Since we had already seen the mittens and monument valley we decided to head directly to the south rim of the grand canyon.

Trip so far!

We drove route 64 into the entrance, stopped along to way to get glimpses into the canyon! So amazing, so huge, so… wow!
It was really cool to be able to share this with hubby! He’s never been to the Grand Canyon and I’d never been to the south rim, so it was really great to share it together.

There didn’t seem to be too many people there the way we drove in, but we found them around one of the main view points! I can’t even imagine what it would be like in the summer. Ugh! We found a parking in a center lot and decided to walk to the rim trail and see what we could see before heading on to Flagstaff!

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The view was amazing! We even saw a couple elk!!

After our hike we headed to Flagstaff to find the hotel, rest a little and get some yummy dinner!

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Day 2 of NCECA Road Trip

Apr 4

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Overnight we were greeted with snow. The car was covered and we didn’t have our brush in the car. Sigh.
We left Durango with the intent on checking out Mesa Verde. We had hubby’s car, so the windy tricky roads would be much more fun!
As we headed west we discovered the snow. Way more than i thought would be out there! Ugh! I checked the weather in it was a 40% chance of snow within the park.
Since it was 2 hours to drive in, we (I) decided to skip the trip! But I was totally intent on hitting up 4 corners! Who doesn’t’ want to stand on 4 different states at the same time??

Standing on 4 states at once

It was really windy and super cold – so we snapped some photos and jumped back in the car!

As we were headed up to Bluff I looked at the map and determined we could also hit Monument Valley on the way. That way Sunday we could just head straight to the grand canyon!!

I was also super excited to see the mittens! The Mittens!!!

I’ve been trying to see these lovelies for over 10 years! So if i didn’t have to wait another day why should I!

Me and the mittens!

It was really amazing! We did the 17 mile loop on our own, since it was chilly and the tour companies all had open bed trucks. Ugh!

There were so many awesome and amazing natural wonders!
The thumb!

It was weird to see the random houses within the national monument and I wondered how I could get the ability to live there!

I was super excited to see the mittens and everything else – so exciting, so huge, so amazing! So…  wow!

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Day 1 of NCECA road trip!

Apr 4

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We had to change our plan last minute. There was a blizzard brewing on I-70 and the storm warning was already in play by 9am on Friday.
So we chose the mostly southern route – still went over the continental divide at over 10K feet, but it was much more agreeable than I70 would have been.

New Route to NCECA
It was a much longer drive that I had planned on and hubby was a trooper! We ended up spending most of our drive on a 2 lane highway which is obviously annoying, but we did ok. Luckily not a lot of people were headed anywhere on our route.

On the way through Colorado Springs hubby was kind enough to stop at Dunkin Donuts so i could get my fix! Mmmmm!
Have I mentioned how much I love dunkins chocolate glazed donuts. Oh do i!
Mmmm dunkin donuts!
Our first attempt to get my little peice of heaven brough us to a dunkins that was closed at noon… Say What?
So we went to the other one that dad and I had gone to while the family did the canyon tour!
Same lady (owner?) was there and friendly as ever! She even gave me an extra munchkin! Woohoo!

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. The drive south on 25 and west on 160 is mostly prairy, brown, and boring. One of the reasons we wanted to go through Grand Junction. But this way I ended up with less gray hair and less stress!

I found a good deal at Double Tree when we were abou an hour out! This place was beautiful!

Looking forward to checking out Mesa Verde, and Four Corners. I’ll miss seeing Arches, but we’ll get back there eventually. Maybe the trip home will change too, time will tell!

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Heading home from Disney

Feb 19

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Heading home
Wednesday came way way too fast!
We got up at the butt crack of dawn and got ready to head out. The other problem with the “included transfers via Magical Express” is that they over compensate how much time you need! They pick you up 3 hours prior to your flight – which during prime time is probably needed, but since it wasn’t prime time, it was an 8:30 am flight and we are Assent level… it was  a tad overkill…

We hoped to spend a bit more time with momClaudia before her flight, but were were through separate security points. :(
We said our good byes and see you soon there.

At security we were entertained with a joke from the TSA gal – someone asked her what TSA stood for, she told them, and their reply was – “oh,i thought it was ‘throw stuff away’”.  I’d say that was pretty stupid to say to the people that can keep your from making your flight! We politely laughed and gave our sympathy of what a mean spirited thing that was!

After security we saw the light at the end of the tunnel – a Starbucks! Disney apparently  doesn’t believe in Starbucks or they haven’t come to a deal that makes both companies happy, cause there are no Starbuckswithin Disney property. Sigh.
That caused momClaudia a bit of unhappiness…
So we stocked up on our favorite caffeinated beverages and headed to the gate – still 2 hours from take off…

We did get a bit of blogging done – hence you being able to read about my trip!  :)

It’ll be nice to be home and see phillip!

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Disney Day 4 – Epcot

Feb 18

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Disney Day 4 – Epcot

Last day in the parks. Boohoo!
We decided to sleep in a smidge more and got to the park a littlelater. We were still able to get a Fast Pass for the Test Track ride,and step right on to the Space Mission ride. Both were pretty cool! AndI only got a little sick at the end of the Space Mission Ride! Yeah me!

After the 2 big rides we ate our way through the rest of the park!

We skipped mexico – since everyone was there, but had sushi in Japan(would not recommend it, kinda dry), Beers and Pretzles in Germany,Chocolate Carmels in Normandy, Beer and Creme Brule in France, and Beer in Canada…  Ok, that sounds like a lot more beer than food, but i was still stuffed!!

Surprisingly it took us most of the day to get through the world!!

At the end we did the new (new to me) ride in the big ball. It was cool- it took your picture at the beginning – which meant i was cloned since hubby sat with momClaudia. And then you put together a how you want your future to look movie by picking different choices! It was very funny! After it was over you went to kiosk and via face recognition it found your picture from the ride and let you email it off to yourself or friends! It was hoot! Hubby and momClaudia went with her choices so their video was pretty funny!

Again it was a pretty full day when we finally left the park! We headed back to the hotel to chill by the pool bar and enjoy our last night together!


While at the pool bar we noticed that the giraffes had been given another extra meal and were right there!!  So super cool!
momClaudia and I went over and took some pictures and watched them eat! Yeah!

Since we ate so badly all day – including english chocolates, japanese candies, norwegian caramels, and more… for dinner we ordered pizza!
We watched the biggest loser on tv while chowing down on slices of veggie pizza (for me and momClaudia) and double pepperoni for the hubby! What a way to end our vacation!  (back on Sparkpeople when I land in Denver!)

Disney Day 2 Part 2

Feb 16

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MomClaudia was waiting for us in the our lobby – be aware that there is no way to move between Universal Studios and Disney Property via anything but a cab! Poor mom was at a conference at Universal and was coming to spend the rest of her birthday week with us at Disney! Yeah!!! The only way she could get to us was via a $40 cab ride… oofa!

We showed her our room and where she would be spending her sleeping hours!!

We exchanged extra Christmas gifts (since they got stuck not all their gifts were shippable)

Then we headed to the Hollywood Theme Park! We rode most of the rides and saw most of the shows! 


The best ride was the new Toy Story Midway ride! It’s 3-D and you getto play games with a cool string pulled shooter!! I did pretty good!
We also got to eat at the 50′s sci fi drive in theater!!  Hubby loved it, momClaudia not so much – as she said – "I hate to eat in the car".Hahahahh!! And that was the theme! Luckily or unfortunately we didn’t have reservations so our "car" was just a table between the front and the back ends, the regulars seats are at really like being in a car.You sit 2 by 2!!


The best part – real cherry coke!!!  Mmmm!!!

We got back to the hotel and brought momClaudia over to see the nightime animals – unfortunately no extra feeding so they were really far away and really hard to see!

We hit up the hotel bar for a night cap – momClaudia went with a mudslide martini and said it was rather tasty!


And then it was time for my tradition – Caricature!!!


This time I allowed hubby to join me in my portrait!!  Rick (the cartoonist) did a fabulous job! We did one with the 2 of us on the couch with Phillip on my lap and angel Terrance watching over us!
It looks really good! And it’s funny to see my weight fluctuate via cartoons! Can’t wait to get it framed and add it to the current collection hanging in the guest bathroom!

Then we hit the hay in anticipation of a full day at the Magic Kingdom the next day!

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Disney Day 2 at Animal Kingdom

Feb 15

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Sunday we headed to the Animal Kingdom Theme Park! We wanted to get there early, to ride the safari ride. I know it’s not africa and it’s really just a big zoo – but i was excited!!  We got there right after the gates had opened and we raced to the back to get in line or grab a fast pass! Luckily there was only a 10 minutes wait! Woohoo!!  Yeah me!!

We hopped into the "bus" and off into the African Safari we went!  The animals were all in view, all relaxing, having been fed an hour or so earlier!
We saw tons on elephants! A baby and a teenager to boot!!

We saw a cheeta, and a big old lion like from the lion king, sitting at the top of his area sunning himself!
It was really fun! After that, the Jungle Cruise ride at the Magic Kindom, is kind of a let down! ;)

We were able to get off the Safari Ride and grab a ride on the Mt Everst on the other side of the park! The ride was similar to The Matterhorn in Disneyland, but better, steeper, backwards and darker!  It’s a pretty cool park. Last time i was at Disney with the family we skipped it, definitely not too kid centric, but fun!

We had a nice – and really really expensive lunch at the Yak and Yeti – not to be confused with the dinner we had Monday night at the Yak and Yeti!
Yummy ribs, pho, and beef and broccoli as well as some asian appetizers! Mmmm!

On our way out we took a walk around the "tree of life". Which is the central item in the park. It is huge and all carved with a ton of different animals!

We were able to get everything done we wanted to get done by 1 o’clock – and that included a leisurely lunch!
We headed back to the hotel to let L head on home and meet up with the Birthday gal!!

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Disney Day 1 Part 2

Feb 13

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Saturday night we decided to head to Downtown Disney for some adult time! 

Way back when – like the 90′s – i was here for a US First competition and remembered pleasure island being super cool, adult only, every night is midnight, lots of bars type of place.  Sigh… Alas that has gone the way of the wind. Poop!  I was hoping for a respite from all the children. Too bad for me!

All the bars are gone except one – the explorers and that didn’t seem to be open at 9pm…  And they had added on to downtown Disney – a whole additional arm of shops and a giant movie theater and the best place in the universe to get a slushy!!  Stop in at the Cauldron next time you are in the area!

As we walked around checking out the options for snack we decided on the Fulton Crab Shack. The place was hopping. To me days blur in Disney but we found out later that a Saturday night is still a Saturday night even in a giant resort! We attempted to belly up to the bar, but were only able to gain a small foot hold at the end with no seating! Hubby got a Pop Rocks Martini – super duper cool presentation! The fill the bottom of the glass with a whole packet of pop rocks, then the bartenders ducks and attempts to get as far away from the glass as possible as he pours the drink in! The little pop rocks went everywhere – hubby found some in his hair much later that night!

We had some fun conversation, saw some bar tricks, and enjoyed ourselves!

We eventually headed back to the hotel but did stop to get birthday ears for mom-claudia, since she was meeting up with us the next day and monday was her birthday!!  Pretty cool set up- you pick the base hat,the ears – bout 6 different styles, and they button onto the hat, and then there are all kinds of iron on patches to add! We thought it was great!

We returned to the hotel just in time for the end of night vision animalviewing. They had just put out food for them to eat, so all of theanimals were right by the fence having a midnight snack! It was supercool! 6 giraffes, some long horn cow thingies, some antelopes, and evena bunny! It was a neat feature of the hotel!!  We loved it! And to seethe giraffes drink! They splay their legs and dip their head down toget the water. Crazy!

It was great day! And ended wonderfully!

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