There was dancin' and singin' and and movin' to the groovin'!!! As if that weren't enough... the Bellagio fountain (with synchronized dancing waters to music), the Eiffel Tower and fireworks from 5 different casinos at midnight! It was exciting to be smack in the middle of the action with Dan & Vicki for NY Eve. The city actually closes the strip to all traffic from 5pm to 3am, so we took the monorail there and walked the 3 miles back with the crowds. It was an interesting slice of life! Here are the stats for NY Eve:

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Las Vegas

Mike's family converted a warehouse into party central for the Raney clan in Moline, IL. Not only was there turkey with all the goodies, but lots of games!! Round Robin Ping-Pong, Four Square, Jumping Castle, Bean Bag Toss, Badminton. And that was only the first day! Day 2 was the annual Texas Hold 'Em tournament, and a tasty leftovers :)

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Illinois

Fun was had, and almost a million $$$ was raised for Boys and Girls Club of King County at the annual auction in Seattle. We matched "raise the paddle" donations for our table, and they were VERY generous with our charitable fund :)

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Washington

Mike's special birthday treat was driving a real NASCAR race car at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. Before stepping in behind the wheel, he had to sign waivers, medical releases and attend class. Finally the good stuff! He donned the spiffy fireproof jumpsuit, helmet and earplugs (which they taped to his ears)!

Labels: 2009 Highlights, North Carolina

Well, there's rock climbing, and there is rappelling. But the Mac Daddy of all is the Superman Swing. At Looking Glass Arch in Moab, Mike and the gang climbed up and then rappelled 140 ft. down .... but decided there needed to be MORE to this adventure. They reclimbed about a third of the way, strapped on back harnesses and took a flying leap out to rocket through space like Superman on steroids. Mike said the pucker factor was right up there with bungy jumping.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Utah

Location? Corona Arch, just outside Arches National Park in Moab. Our mission? To climb the arch, demonstrate a rappel* and then see if we could talk Mike's sister Mary Ann & her husband Dan into doing it. That's all four of us under the arch, then Mike & I climbing down the side while Mary Ann & Dan watch from the top. They worked up the courage and did a GREAT job.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Utah

This is the way to go... hiking in 8 miles with nothing on your back and letting the llamas do the work! Our friend Grant is the proud owner of Harley, Gusty and Bucky - the llamas that carried in about 80 lbs. apiece so we could enjoy our tents, pads, sleeping bags and great fresh food on our Mt. Rainier hike. It was Mike's birthday weekend, so of course it included an alpine lake swim. Brrrrrr!! Grant whipped up a fantastic carrot cake (with a candle).

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Washington

Cowboys & cowgirls giddy up! We rode through the oasis in Gateway, CO including a gallop down the dirt airstrip. (Insert "Bonanza" theme here!)

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Colorado

The Panorama Trail starts at Glacier Point, then continues down 8 miles past Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls on the Mist Trail. You can just make out the silhouette of Half Dome behind Mike & me. There was a smoky haze in the air due to a controlled burn by the Forest Service that got out of hand. We saw several helicopters flying by with big buckets of water fresh dipped from the Merced River.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, California

Oh, yeah baby!!! I can cross this one off my bucket list. Thanks to our friends Joe & Debbie Sulc for hosting us at the Glendale Golf & Country Club in Bellevue (near Seattle). It's a tough course! This par 3 was over the creek, up the hill and 138 yards. I bounced it in front of the green, then it just rolled about 12 ft. uphill into the hole. Woohoo!!

Labels: 2009 Highlights, ALL TIME GREATS, Washington

Skaneateles (prounounced "skinny atlas") is in upstate New York, not far from Syracuse and Ithaca. We visited Mike's pilot training buddy, Jack Haggerty, who gave us each a ride in his 1929 Brunner-Winkle Bird biplane. We took off and landed from a grass strip, and flew about 500 ft above ground level over the Finger Lakes. It was loud, breezy and a kick in the pants!

Labels: 2009 Highlights, New York

Ruby slippers (size 5), Mohammed Ali's boxing gloves, and the 45 carat Hope Diamond (originally 112 carats prior to cut & polish). We also saw Abe Lincoln's hat, the inaugural gowns of the First Ladies, and other delights too numerous to mention at the American History and Natural History Museums.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Washington DC

OK, are you sitting down? We've kept a tight lid on our baby news since her delivery on May 18th. We actually got her when she was only 3 days old (65 hours to be exact). She's beautiful! Born in Lucerne, Switzerland. Proud parents Sue and Mike are sleepless with excitement but very, very happy.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, ALL TIME GREATS, Las Vegas

Not too many national parks let you swim in their waterfalls - this one had designated areas where you were invited to take a dip. Lots of cascading waterfalls with lengthy boardwalk trails. Look at the trout holding their own against the current about to rush over the waterfall.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Croatia

It was a gondola ride to take your breath away. We started off with a low cloud ceiling and broke through to an incredible view of a huge glacial lake and the Julian Alps. We were hiking atop Mount Triglav looking all the way into Austria!!

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Slovenia

Perched above Lake Bled in Slovenia is a fairy tale castle, built in the middle ages, with a spectacular view of the lake. We were lucky enough to score dinner reservations on a night when no one was there - we had the entire place to ourselves. We truly felt like royalty dining on vegatable paprikash soup, lovely market salad and fish fresh from the Adriatic Sea. Because that seemed WAY too healthy, we had to finish it off with fabulous flaky apple struedel and Lake Bled's classic "cream slice" cake.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Slovenia

Plitvice Lakes are in the Lika region of Croatia (where Mike's family was from). Nestled in the mountains, there are 16 lakes lying at different altitudes separated by natural travertine barriers, linked by foamy cascading waterfalls and surrounded by a frame of lush greenery. Stunningly beautiful, and extremely well protected as a national treasure of Croatia. We hiked for hours and hours, exhausting ourselves and the battery on the camera as we tried to drink it all in.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Croatia

Dubrovnik, Croatia is a picturesque walled city by the Adriatic Sea. Although the city was damaged in the Serbo-Croatian war in the early 90's, it's now a UNESCO world heritage site. The buildings inside have beautiful tile roofs, from locally sourced clay. We climbed the wall and walked the perimeter of the old city for a couple of hours before having lunch in one of the many streetside cafes within the walls. Charming and steeped in rich history at the same time.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Croatia

The heart and soul of Venice is the classic gondola ride. Yes, there was singing. Our gondolier belted out not only O Sole Mio and Volare, but also Buon Compleanno (that's Happy Birthday in Italiano!) It was high tide, so the gondolier had to tip us to the side to make it under the bridges without hitting the high tip on the bow and stern. Photos here are of the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge, but we also went down little side waterway "streets" and waved to people eating dinner, cooking in the kitchen, watching from the bridges.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Italy

Son-in-law Brian Rowe has graduated from Seattle University with his law degree, cool-guy master's tam and purple ponytail. That's my daughter Sarah with the green hair (they must have fun in the haircolor aisle!) and granddaughter Gwen. Brian's specialty is intellectual property law, and he's the founder of Freedom for IP at www.freedomforip.org

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Washington

Holy Guacamole!! I've never been rock climbing before, so I was pretty apprehensive to start. I watched Aron scrambled up the rock like a mountain goat, trying to memorize his every hand and foot hold. When it was my turn I heard a hissing sound...Mike grabbed me and pulled me to the side. There was a 3 ft. rattlesnake coiled up 6 inches from my foot, and he was mighty ticked off...had that rattler going for sure. Mike got a stick, dug him out and flung him into the desert. As I watched the snake start to make his way back, I suddenly was VERY motivated to climb the rock.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Utah

Sometimes the Fiery Furnace in Moab is so huge you feel dwarfed by the huge walls around you...and sometimes you can barely squeeze through them. Good thing we did this narrow passageway prior to lunch!!

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Utah

The Fiery Furnace, part of Arches National Park in Moab, Utah is a maze of orange sandstone fins with so many twist and turns we doubted our ability to find our way out.  Good thing our buddy Aron Smith was along to show us where to go.  Not to mention bringing along a few ropes for rappels...this one was 120 ft.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Utah

It's ALL about the golf now...as much fun as it was to shoot photos during the practice round, it's now time to eat, sleep and breathe the tournament...now, let's go smack some golf balls!!!

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Georgia

The guidebook description of this hike is: DIFFICULT.

My description: After a grueling hike of 6 miles, mostly uphill and in the wind, you will arrive at a huge boulder field, which requires a severe uphill climb. Once you climb that hill, there is yet another boulder field which is at least 3 times higher than the first boulder field! Mercy. That's when my knees called it a day, and I didn't make it to the top.

Mike did, of course, and got this unbelievable view of the three towers you see behind him. I think he actually is standing on cloud #10.

By the way, this hike is not a loop, so it was 6 miles back to the beginning. Whole lotta hiking for this girl, over 19 miles in 2 days.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Chile, Patagonia

Mt Fitzroy, or El Chalten rises 3.375 meters in a mountain range that is frequently shrouded in thin clouds. The name, El Chalten, means "the mountain that smokes", because when the indians first saw it, they thought the clouds were smoke from fire. Summiting is for expert rock climbers, as the steepness of the mountain and the consistent stiff wind make it very hard to climb.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Argentina, Patagonia

The wind blows so hard here that it burrows gigantic holes in the glaciers for wind tunnels!

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Argentina, Patagonia

Cabo de Hornos or Cape Horn is a maritime legend - the stretch of violent chaotic water between the southernmost tip of South America and Antarctica, the site of countless shipwrecks until the Panama Canal opened in 1914. Usually plagued by high winds and huge waves, we lucked out on a relatively calm early morning hike to the monument that is a silouette of the albatross. Here is the poem that goes with it:

I am the albatross that awaits you
At the end of the world.
I am the forgotten souls of dead mariners
Who passed Cape Horn
From all the oceans of the world.
But they did not die
In the furious waves.
Today they sail on my wings
Toward eternity,
In the last crack
Of the Antarctic winds.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Argentina, Patagonia

Ranked as the #1 white water rafting destination in the world, Futalefeu is Mapuche Indian for "Big, BIG water". Think beautiful turquiose water so clean you can drink it, then churn it into white water froth and toss in some boulders...that's the "Fu". We rafted it in late summer, so the water was down from normal and we still crashed into the biggest walls of water ever. The photos are from a couple of rapids we had to portage - no cakewalk given the consequences of a misstep. The one I'm on had a skinny metal ladder anchored to the rocks, and a stumble would be life threatening, see the guides ready to catch me? We had several rafters tossed out in the rapids, but Mike and I hung on (barely), lucky to still have the paddles, camera and all our teeth. The rapid names are always intimidating....this one had "Gates of Inferno", "Terminator" and my personal favorite, "Last Wave is a Rock".

Labels: 2009 Highlights, ALL TIME GREATS, Chile, Patagonia

It's either a perfect trip or a really good story, si? Notice the yellow raft...if you look carefully you will notice that it is upside down and there is a guy standing on top of the raft in a Class V rapid called "The Throne Room" (aka "The THROWN Room"). We were bummed that we had to portage this rapid, but once we saw what happened it was probably for the best.

Our very experienced guide Julian had the raft flip near that huge boulder on the right. He got trapped underneath, climbed on top, flip the raft back over mid-rapid and made it safely to an eddy. I don't think we even breathed while we were watching this scene unfold before our eyes. By the way, www.exchile.com was the amazing outfitter we used, and we recommend them very highly.

Do you see Caro del Indio (face of the Indian) in the rocks? He keeps an eye on all the adrenaline junkies in the crazy white water. We must be loco, eh?

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Chile, Patagonia

A gem of a national park in Argentina, Nahuel Haupi was the third national park created in the world, following Banff/Lake Louise and Yellowstone. Apparently, Teddy Roosevelt visited here in the 30's extolling the virtues of setting aside natural land for all to enjoy. This area includes the Lakes District, which is a stunning array of lakes surrounded by mountain peaks, the tallest of which is Catedral, at 7,880 ft. Between peaks, the passes allow access through the Andes mountains to Chile. Beautiful!!!

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Argentina, Patagonia

Tango originated in the low-class areas of Argentina as a way for prostitutes to attract customers. Now it's an art form, and wildly popular here, with many different versions (although we have yet to see anyone clenching a rose in their teeth).

The lunchtime tango in the restaurant was amazing...the dancers not only performed well, but they dodged waiters with trays of food and drink missing them by only inches.

Mike enjoyed his Tango pose...Senor Suave, nada mas!

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Argentina

This is Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in the Western Hemisphere...282 ft. below sea level. It's bizarre to walk through a landscape so barren. It's surrounded by mountains of up to 13,000 ft. in a 15 mile radius around it, and all the rainwater in those mountains empties into Badwater, washing down the moutains, forming huge salt beds once the water evaporates. By the way, the reason Death Valley is so dry is that storm systems have to pass over four mountain ranges before they get here. For the most part, the storms are very weak by the time they reach this desert.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, ALL TIME GREATS, California

It was raining cats and dogs, but no lightning, so we went for it! Zip lines go really fast when they are wet...the longest was 850ft. at about 100 ft. off the ground. Check out the foot gaps on the suspension bridges - look Ma, no hands!

Historical note: the zip lines and bridges were constructed on a stand of Norfolk Pines, which are not native to Kauai. Apparently Captain Cook planted them wherever he went, so that when his crew returned, they would have tall straight timber to supply lumber.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Hawaii

This is the latest sports craze in Hawaii as of the last couple years.
The equipment is a big 11ft long surfboard, about 50% larger than standard, plus a paddle. It takes a bit of balance to stand up, but it's less tiring to paddle out to the waves. Mike the surfer dude is hangin' ten here for the BIG CURL.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Hawaii