seattle to portland and back again....

7/20/06 - from the awesome lunch with the amazing family, i went and hung at my friend's brad and jenn's house and then had a delicious fondue of chocolate with another excellent overlake family...and i forgot to get a picture of us all...but amy is in a picture with me later on....the next morning i headed to victor's, one of the most famous coffee shops on the eastside where i met up with another past student of mine...jaime....jaime and i also got together in boston...so it was exciting that we were seeing each other twice in a year....even if we were both kind of tired...the coffee/chai was excellent, as was the visit....
from hanging with jaime on the eastside i cruised into the city to one of my favorite thai restaurant....tom thai...yummy....it is this hole in the wall that a guy named tom owns...and yes, he's thai...you gotta love it...i met up with my friend shaun for this delicious meal and we had some kick butt bubble tea as well...what a fun time on the ave :)

after hanging with shaun i jumped in the cruiser and headed south to portland...and let me tell you it was a HOT day...actually it got too hot for the convertible as the temperature gauge in the car registered 103 degrees...in portland...yes, the cool pacific northwest....crazy...i stayed the first night in town with my good friend alecia and her finacee josh...they have this cute house in a nice section of town and cooked a fabulous meal of halibut...after dinner of course we took a ride in the criuser....what fun :)

the next day in portland was quite mellow for me...and i met up with my friend andy, who was a roommate of mine in ecuador when i lived there...we had a tasty meal at a pub, went for a ride in the cruiser and then i met his boyfriend carlos...what a nice guy...i had fun showing them my antarctica dvds...and they were amazed with the footage....it was fun night :) below is a shot of andy and carlos...

the next day i met up with my friend cindy at this great peruvian restaurant in portland called andina....yummy...we had many different types of tapas and caught up with each other...it was a perfect place to have tapas and peruvian food and the atmosphere was great!!!! here's the shot of cindy and i from the restaurant....cindy and i haven't spent tons of time together...but when we have, we bond soooooo well...i love having friends like cindy...we discuss the world and everything in it...tons of fun :)

after a tasty lunch with cindy i headed back north...and what a drive it was...crystal clear...i saw wonderful views of mt. hood, mt. st. helens and mt. rainier on the drive north....all i can say is wowowowowowowow....and it was a ton of fun with the convertible....i spent the night hanging with my friends candi and steve and their dog barley and two cats...candi and i actually had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants called from the bayou, just outside of tacoma....yummy is all i have to say...below is a shot of candi, barley and steve...too cute...

the next day dawned and i was headed north again...this time to see my friend jen...i know jen from my two week stint with NASA for educators...she is a great mom these days and i got to meet the newest addition to her family, sarah...i also got to hang out with her son david and see all of the thomas the tank engine stuff he got for his birthday that had just passed...jen and her family live a cute neighborhood and seem really happy with life, love and the pursuit of happines...it was a fun visit....and i just love sarah's hair :)

i went from one fun family to another...and stayed the night with my old pacific science center boss winlar and his wife teri and son wily....they made some home cooked salmon that was really tasty, along with sweet summer corn...my first of the season...yum...and we watched winlar's most recent version of kazoo...his stand-up comedy act....i love the catching of the grapes...and am amazed at just how far he can catch them from....it was great to visit with him and talk about world cup and such as he and teri are HUGE soccer fans...below is a shot of the family :)

the next day was a packed one...i started out my morning with my good friend christine with a breakfast at a great restaurant called the coastal kitchen...christine and i taught together at overlake....it was great to hear all the latest gossip and talk about living on the west coast vs the east coast, as christine is a new york kind of girl...and i like her a lot, even if she does root for the yankees...here's a shot of the two of us after breakfast :)

after breakfast with christine i headed downtown yet again to have lunch at a chinese restaurant...ho-ho's, with my good friends karen and landon...these were the friends i visited in taiwan last year in september...but they have now moved back to the seattle area and are making a go of it in the states...these two were also married in thailand in march...pictures from their wedding are spectacular...it was terrific to see them and then spend most of the day hanging with landon...riding around in the cruiser...we even stopped by bastyr university...a fun alternative medicine university i used to work at....it was a perfect day to ride with the top down...let me tell you :) here are karen and landon after a tasty meal at ho-ho's :)

the last section of my day was over in west seattle, where i hooked up with my good friend joni and her boyfriend don and don's three year old daughter elsa...we had a tasty home made meal and caught up on all the recent news and events in our lives...joni has this great house in west seattle that she has done so much with....and the shot below includes the family members and the two dogs...muddy dog and isabel....both very loveable....it was a fun visit to joni's place :)

time for me to call it an evening....as you can see, i visited a lot of friends while i was on the west coast tour...and i will continue with the second week i was in town tomorrow or the next day....it was terrific trip out west....the weather was perfect, the people were superb hosts and i had some amazing food...all-in-all i just couldn't beat it :) until next time....

seattle...again...

7/20/06 - okay...let's see how far i get this time....after having thai iced teas with tom and dropping him off home, i headed up to capitol hill...where the pride parade had just started...so i actually got to see my favorite part of the parade...the dykes on bikes....some day i'll have a harley too :) after watching the gals drive by i was off to linda's tavern to meet my friend cara and was introduced to her finacee scott...very cool people...we had some dinner and a few drinks...and it was a blast...below is a shot of us at linda's on the hill...
cara and scott are getting married next summer, so you never know, i might get back to the west coast next summer...after hanging with cara and scott, i headed out for pride with my old roommate david...it was a fun time had by all, with a late night stop at my favorite chinese restaurant, possibly in the world, ho-ho's...yummy....the next morning i was up early to meet a past student of mine, lisa for coffee in freemont....i have to say that freemont is not looking like it used to, its a bit upper class for me now...but it sure was fun hanging with lisa for a few hours and walking thru the freemont sunday market....can you believe i have known lisa since she was in seventh grade??? and now she is a sophomore in college...phew...i am getting old :)

from coffee with lisa...to an indian meal made for me and a few friends by my good friend shelly and her family....her mom chumpa is a great woman...and man can she cook...and then shelly and her daughter ratika are no slouches either...if i could take them with me everywhere i went or had the ability to cook like them, i would be set...i also got to hang with rajan, one of the funniest men alive on the planet, but not in his kid's eyes...and of course, a wonderful past student, akshay....it was sooooooooooo great to see this family of amazing folks and have a meal with them...as well as a past teaching friend, larry...who you will see later in the update...but, below is the shot of the whole family...they rock my world!!!

okay...nothing is updating in the way of pictures again...so onto the next update....sorry these are so short...and i wish i could just knock them all out at once...oh well...see you in the next update...

the beginning of my seattle trip

7/20/06 - okay...i have decided to keep updating today as i am starting to really fall behind with pictures and updates from the road....i was on vacation for five weeks and am now in the process of saying goodbye to friends and family....and i leave in 13 DAYS!!!!! wowowowowow...time is flying...so on with the trip...

for my trip to seattle and area i rented a car...and you wouldn't believe what i ended up with...i had worked out on-line a great deal for a compact car...but when i got to the rental place they gave me an SUV...ME...an SUV....can you believe it!!!! i brought it back and said i would wait for a compact or economy car...due to the ethical/moral values i have, teaching environmental science, being one person and the price of gas, i refused the SUV....so after waiting for 45 minutes...they gave me...are you ready???? a convertible PT cruiser, turbo, brand new...it was a lot of fun...let me tell you...and lots of folks i visited took a ride...i actually put 1400 miles on the car in 12 days...gotta love it....it was really cute too...below is the shot of me and the car...doncha love it...i sure had a lot of fun driving it around....

after finally getting the car, i started my whirlwind visit with folks and my first stop was lunch with my friend victoria and her baby daughter zella....unfortunately debbie wasn't feeling well, so i only got to see zella with one of her mommies :) but what a cutie...it was great to meet zella and catch up with victoria...

after lunch with victoria and zella i headed into wallingford to meet my friend tom, who was headed to india the day after he saw me for the summer, yes, you read that correctly....he was headed to india...tom is a writer and is working over there this summer with his tamil teacher and other artists...we went to this authentic thai place for thai iced teas and some tom sum....yummy....and then tom went for a ride in the car...

okay...its time for me to end this update...as the pictures won't update again...but there will be another in just a few minutes....take a deep breath and say ahhhhhhhhhhhh.....

alaska...the last entry

7/20/06 - i am soooooo sorry this is taking so long to get through alaska...but blogger will not let me post more than two pictures per page....grrrrrrrrr....i am getting annoyed...maybe its time to change blog folks...we'll see what happens here...maybe i'll get lucky....anyway....

after visiting with mike, beau and i headed back into anchorage...of course it was pouring rain...but at least we still had time for our nightly cribbage match...beau and i have been playing cribbage together since the ice...its a great game and you should learn to play it if you don't know how to already...its a big ice game....anyway...the next morning...with another cloudy day, we set out for valdez...which was about 6 hours away...during the drive the skies actually cleared up for a time and we got to stop and see the matanuska and worthington glaciers...the one pictured below is the mantanuska glacier...we walked down and partially on this one...the blue ice was spectacular....

the next shot is the second glacier we stopped at...the worthington glacier...just outside of valdez...and it was incredible, although the area was really windy...the picture below is an "artsty" shot i took thru a set of binoculars at the site...it shows the blue ice of the galcier quite well in my opinion....lovin that blue ice....

after the second glacier, we wound through the mountains and turned one of the corners and were in thompson's pass....and holy cow...what a stunning place that is...it is a million snow fields, even in june...and just took my breath away....below is a shot of the breathtaking view we saw when we rounded the corner.....just stunning :)

beau and i spent the night in valdez....a quaint little town that focuses on oil and the movement of it out of alaska....its where the exxon valdez had its oil spill some years back...and i had to grab some of the soil on the banks of the prince william sound....always a science teacher...from our night in valdez, we headed back to anchorage where i picked up a flight back to seattle....all in all the trip to alaska was amazing and blew my mind in so many ways...i really do think i will end up there some day and live in the middle of nowhere....so if you want to see me then, you'll have to find me....but you just never know....this last shot is of beau at the worthington glacier...although the glacier is behind me, and i am taking the picture...we took this to show that the sun did come out for some part of the trip...although that part was really small...

i would like to take this point to say thanks to mike, mary, tyler and crista for hanging with me while i was in their fine state(whether they live there or were just visiting)...and a big thanks to janet for letting me bunk with her for four days....and a gi-normous thanks to my good friend beau for taking time off to play and drive all over alaska with me...it was a wonderful trip and i hope to do it again in the near future...maybe even when snow machines are running....wouldn't that be a blast.....and one more thing....if you haven't been to alaska...you NEED to get there...it is a wondrous place....with so much to see and do....get there!!!!

Alaska...another try....

7/20/06 - hey there all...i am trying again to update my blog...but i did find out that other blogger users were having troubles updating and adding pictures...so at least i know that it isn't just me....so i'll try and we'll go from there....enjoy the continuation of my trip...beau and i went from hatcher's pass, as shown in the previous update, to wasilla to stop by and see our friend mike...who also wintered in mactown with us...mike is a pretty impressive alaskan in my opinion, he lives on 10 acres of land, with no water coming in, kills what he eats and takes very little from anyone else...i loved it...a true sustinence alaskan...also known as a sourdough alaskan....he does it all himself...i can only hope that someday in my life i could live like mike...very minimal in what he has...although, just like everyone he has his toys....but i think its the way to go for me in the future...we'll see...you just never know...the picture below is mike, beau and i at mike's place...

while there, the alaskan men taught me, the pacifist, how to shoot a gun...not just one either...i got to shoot two pistols and two rifles...on mike's shooting range...on his property...this was the first time i have ever done anything like this and they were great teachers...but the scary thing that i found out, is that i am a good shot...i guess women usually are....but how funny that me, dani dipietro, am a good markswoman....it is quite satisfying, in a strange way to hear the bullet you have just fired, hit the metal piece you are firing at...it was wild...NOW...i don't think i will be headed out to shoot a moose or a rabbit or anything like that...but shooting metal targets...that was kind of fun...i know...can you believe i am writing that??? pretty freaky...below is the picture of me and the four guns i shot with...it makes me laugh just to look at it...enjoy

okay...i just tried to upload two more pictures and it won't so i'll be doing one more update and then calling it a day...at this rate i will never get the trip to the pacific northwest finished....grrrrrrrrrrrr......

alaska...trying again....

7/19/06 - okay...i am trying this one more time today before i give up and walk away for the day....hopefully it will work...we'll see....from anchor point and homer we headed back up the penisula to anchorage and then on up to see our friend mike, who also spent the winter in mactown with us...he stayed in anchorage with beau's brother, jean, sister-in-law paula and their beautiful three-week-old daughter kylie...it was really comfortable there...we took some back roads to get back to anchorage and below is a shot of this amazing lake we stopped to "overlook"...just stunning....the rugged-ness of the mountains is amazing, as are all of the out-of-the way spots you can just stop and get out and hike around and go over, etc....just a wild and incredible part of the world...you definitely forget you are in the states....hopefully the picture will post....cross your fingers....

yahoo...it worked for the moment....the next place we stopped was the mine at hatcher's pass...it is a very old gold mine...that is falling apart...but these days folks can check it out and all the buildings that are left behind...and of course...the moment we got out of the truck it started to rain...you gotta love our luck....of course we just got wet and enjoyed ourselves anyway...what's a bit of water to an alaskan guy and a girl who spent a lot of time living in seattle...it's just water after all....here's a shot of the dilapidated mine...a very cool place to check out :)

okay...again...no pictures will post...i am giving up for the day...as i am frustrated...will try and update successfully tomorrow...sorry about this...but i am really angry with this system....catch you on the flip side....grrrrrrrrr....

Alaska #3!!!

7/19/06 okay...i am trying again....i get soooo frustrated with this system...you have to use it just right or else it won't work...but enough complaining...let's get back to alaska, shall we....as it is a better thing to write about in my opinion....

tyler, crista, beau and i hit moose pass for solstice, which was a tiny festival and then went onto seward for a play on the beach, in the rain....i guess i haven't mentioned this before...but it actually rained EVERYDAY i was in alaska...and i still loved every minute of it...below is a picture of the boats in the harbor, with the mountains in the background of seward....simply breathtaking....yeah!!! tyler wore his life preserver on the docks and because of this received two free ice cream sundaes (crista...did you ever go get them??? i know what a fan of mcdonald's you are)

after hanging with crista and tyler, beau and i headed down the penisula...to anchor point, where his family is part of another cabin...this is located right above homer...where you can visit the famous homer spit, especially the salty dog...but a warning the bloody mary's are quite strong there...the salty dog is this bar that has tons of dollar bills stuck to the ceiling, walls, posts...well just about everywhere in the bar...it has been there quite a long time...we added our dollar to it of course...we also went out to the beach, in the rain...and below you see the two of us at the westerner most "highway" point of the kenai penisula and in america...the interesting part about this beach was that there were tons of eagles hanging out eating halibut carcasses....i guess this is easier here than other places as the fishermen who set out form this beach, clean the hali-"but" there and then throw the carcasses on the beach for the birds...pretty crazy to watch....

okay...picture posting is being a pain again...will add another post...and try and make it work one more time....grrrrrrrrr........

Alaska part 2!!!

7/19/06
hey there all...well my life is now smooth sailing...my stuff was sent out to romania this past monday...and now i will follow it in exactly TWO WEEKS!!!!! can you believe it??? i can't....the summer has flown by....last night here in PA, we had a HUGE thunder and lightning storm...it was incredible and finally helped diminish the heat wave we have been having here....the wind was crazy and the rain was in sheets...and the thunder and lightning....wowowowowow...i just love those style storms....but enough about here...more will be coming on the leaving for romania and such...let's talk about my trip to alaska....which i loved....

when we last finished i had brought up that me and my friend beau travelled all over alaska....we put 1200 miles on his truck in just seven days....we hit soldotna, where his family has a place, right on the water, we hit moose pass for solstice, then onto seward...followed by anchor point and homer...back up to anchorage and wasilla and finally over to valdez....it was incredible....below is a picture of beau, tyler and crista on beau's boat in the kenai river....his family's place is right on the river...we went out on the water both nights we stayed there...and it ROCKED!!!! i love being on a boat....and in the future maybe i need to sail around the world or something....we'll see...

tyler and crista (and rusty...who i didn't see because he was working up in fairbanks fighting a forest fire) are friends i made while i was in chaing mai, thailand....they just happened to be from alaska, soldotna to be more specific...so beau and i spent solstice and the day after with tyler and crista...it was a blast...below are tyler and crista at this cool old cannery we went to for dinner one night....then we went out on the boat afterwards....

okay...i have run into picture posting problems again...this will continue in the next update...which will really be the one before this one....grrrrrrrrrrr.....i wish i knew why this happens...but it does and i need to deal with it....does anyone know how i can fix this problem??? see you in the next update....

Alaska ROCKED my world!!!

7/13/06
if you have never been to alaska...you need to get there...this was my second visit and it was spectacular in oh so many ways...mostly due to the cool folks who hosted me in my stay up there and especially my friend's janet and beau....janet let me hang my hat at her place for a few days in anchorage...where we were mellow and caught a movie and read a bunch...she lives next to the busiest sea plane landing lake in the US...it was cool to walk around the lake and check out the sea plane action....she also took me all over anchorage...we went to an overlook and through the town and below are some pictures from that portion of the trip :)

this shot is of janet and i overlooking anchorage from an area just below blueberry hill...lots of clouds...which is what happened for the majority of the trip...but i enjoyed myself anyway...below you see a picture i took for my parents...when we went to alaska a few years back, my dad and i took a picture with this bear...i thought it would be cool to take another one...

another cool thing we did in town was a "planet walk"...anchorage had set up the sun and all of the nine planets in relative size and distance from each other through the town...also in town was an art project to raise money for anchorage using slamon...kind of like the pigs in seattle and thdonkeys & elephants in washington dc....i loved the salmon below...it was done by local school kids...gotta love the message :)

later in the trip, beau and i met up with janet and another friend from the pole...mary...she was up on kodiak island doing research on sea lions...well, trying to do research...seems like an animal rights group was trying to put a stop to the methods being used by scientists to study the sea lions...i hope she got to do some counting and such...her job sounded way cool...below is a picture of the three polies who had breakfast together...

after my time with janet...i headed off into the sunset with my ggod friend beau...beau and i wintered together at mactown on the ice in the winter of 2005...its soooooooo weird to think that last year at this very moment i wa son the ice...i think beau has the same feeling...it seems like a lifetime ago to me :) below is a picture of beau from the "solstice" festival in moose pass...it was really small...but this hat made up for everything...gotta love this shot...he was trying for a "mullet" look...i think he succeeded...i will continue the alska story in the next update...this one is getting long....more soon...here's beau....

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some previous pictures....

7/13/06
hey there folks...i am back in PA again...after five weeks away in the pacific northwest...and let me tell you...i DID NOT miss this humidity...ugh...and i hear a heat wave is hitting this weekend...just perfect....but i should be inside working on my stuff that is being shipped on monday....however...i wanted to try and attach some pictures here that just don't seem to want to attach on the correct entry....so here goes...

this first picture is a better picture of my penguin tatto...which i am extremely pleased with and most folks who have seen it live and in person agree that it is very me....i LOVE it!!!! below is a picture of a BU mini-reunion we had at heather's graduation party....you see a whole BU crew, plus spouses and children....it was a great time, even if it did rain all afternoon!!!!

and the final shot is of the BU sistahs going out for breakfast the next morning....it was a wonderful time with never ending coffee and diner style food...and how can you beat a diner on long island...in the picture are heather, jen, sally, kellie, cynthia and me!!!! what a blast :)

Seattle take 2!!!!

6/25/06

okay...i am trying again to add some fun pictures my friends from a great BBQ we had at brad & jenn's house...there was tons of laughter and fun to be had by all...below you see some of the folks in attendance...erica, brian, david, chad and brad....

my good friends steven and jennifer also came to the BBQ with their super smart little girl Madeline...below is a picture i took earlier in the day of the family...steven and i also went out for lunch during my short visit to my favorite indian restaurant...yummy..

some other folks who made it out for the festivities were my good friends bill, gordon and chad...i can't tell you how much i laughed this night....brad's family was also in attendance, as was my good friend dan from the pole....as he is now living in seattle...but i don't have a good shot of him...but i will see him soon...

plus, michelle, another good friend, and her roommate came over for the rollicking good time too, below is a shot of cindy, chad, michelle and jen...too cute...doncha think....

as you can see from all the smiles...it was a blast....and it made my fast stop in seattle all that much more fun...next...on to alaska...

First stop Seattle!!!!

6/25/06
hey there all from the road...i am currently in seattle and headed to oregon tomorrow to see friends down there...but i have finished the first part of my trip to the pacific northwest...i hung in seattle for a few days before heading to alaska to experience the "final frontier" as some would describe it...but first let's talk about my REALLY brief visit to seattle for visiting close friends and attending overlake's graduation...my last set of 8th graders at the school graduated high school this year...talk about feeling old....below is a shot of me and my good friend bob hnaging after graduation...what a great guy...even if he does love barry mannilow....

i also hung with my friends patty and aaron...we went to this kick butt bakery for lunch...in the picture with them is their cat...kitty....i got to hang in the sun and look at the amazing garden and flowers they have...it was wonderful...

the other great thing that happened was a BBQ with my close friends at brad & jenn's house...it was a blast and it had been a LONG time for all of the gang to get together...we enjoyed food, drinks and lots and lots of laughter....what a great time...below is a great picture of the hostess and the host with the most...too cute :)

okay...i have run into a snag and will need to continue this entry with pictures in the next update....does anyone out there know why i sometimes can upload pictures on this blog and other times i don't have success...like in this entry...got three pictures on...now i can't get anymore....ugh...this is ttruly frustrating....more soon...

Traveling & a new Tattoo!!!!

6/9/06
hey there all...me again...sorry its been a while...i seem to always say that...but it is just impossible for me to update this blog any faster...sorry about that...time is flying in my life and TODAY i am jumping on a plane and headed to the pacific northwest for FIVE weeks of vacation and fun!!!! can't wait to see everyone and will try and update from the road...but i don't know how well that will go...also...people have asked me to post the website for the shcool in romania again...so click on this link and you can visit where i will be starting in august....

www.aisb.ro

anyway...in the past few weeks i have been all over the place in PA, NY and NJ...plus i got a new tattoo...yep...my penguins....you'll see it at the end of this update, along with an explanation of what you are seeing...but let me tell you who i got to see on this most recent trip....

below you see a picture of my good friend helen from college with her husband ed and THREE kids robert, sarah and emily...all extremely well behaved and a blast to play with...i visited with them over the memorial day weekend...and although their swim club was closed for repairs...we had a bunch of fun taking a LONG walk, eating ice cream, going to the firemen's jubilee and talking about the "westside"!!!!! it was a wonderful time and so much fun to catch up with this super cool family :) hopefully it won't take me so long to see them again....
ps...hey emily...don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me.....hahahahahaha

next up was my rainy trip to NYC....of course to check in and see my great friend lea...aka pinky...if you haven't caught her show...you should...she rocks...we went and had dinner and dessert with my "group" home friends from ecuador bel and luis....below you see a few funny and cute pictures from a night of laughs and awesome food...if you have never been to carmine's family style italian restaurant in NYC...you HAVE to go...its sooooooo yummy....i love the picture below of lea and i making fish kisses....okay...maybe its just scary....hahahahaha

the next morning i had breakfast/brunch with my friends fern and michael...we went to this great place called popovers, also in NYC...where they made real old-fashioned styled popovers...yum, yum...i also got to see fern and michael's new and amazing apartment...below is a picture of them after we were walking back from breaky in the rain...the instrument is from india, i think....

later that weekend i headed out to long island...and let me tell you...driving on the LIE when its flooding sucks....it was a crazy drive...but it was all for an excellent cause...my friend heather was graduating with her masters in nutrition after a long and difficult road....a bunch of folks from BU were there and i am hoping to have a picture of the whole gang added to this blog in the next week or so...but i need to get it from friends...some of the "bad sisters" though did get together for a breakfast at a NY diner the next morning...it was fun hanging and catching up....especially over a diner styled omlette and never ending coffee....no pictures seem to want to add to this post...so i am giving up...i will post BU reunion pics another place...sorry about that

that evening i headed to NJ to hang with good friends sue and richie...we also went to a good-bye party for a teacher i worked with at my first teaching job at the montclair kimberley academy...it was quite a strange reunion of sorts, as i saw teachers i worked with and students of my past who are now teachers at the same school....talk about interesting and a blast from the past....it was a great time....unfortunately, i don't have any pictures from the visit...although i might try and find some...as it was a great party, with drumming being led by my good friend richie.....

the final stop on this trip was a lunch stop in NJ where i met up with my college buddy tim...also known to me as tim-o-tay-o....we had lunch at this amazing indian restuarant....yummy...i love the buffet style lunch....it was sooooooo great to see him and catch up and hear all the stories of his family, which has grown since i last saw him...overall it was a great trip to the "close" north...

finally....about two weeks ago now i went to a cool cat in manayunk, PA to get a tattoo...the dude's name was cosmo...and i have to say i am pleased with his work...below you will see a band of penguins around my right ankle...it is based on a picture i took my first summer down on the ice in mcmurdo...the best part of this picture was that the penguins, as they were traveling, alternated between one standing up and walking and one sliding on its belly...i thought this would make a great band...that means a lot to me....i'll try and get the original picture on here so you can compare them...but overall, i am quite pleased with the work....yahoo...as its permanent and all that....
well...i have to hit the road, as i am leaving in about an hour to get to the airport for my big trip west....yahoo!!! i hope all of you are well and happy and that you enjoy the beginning of your summer...i am going to send out an e-mail with my contact information for romania, as i head there on august 3rd....yahooooooo...its a very exciting time in my life and i hope the same is for you :) talk soon....and hopefully i'll post pictures from the road...