Bike Tour through Amsterdam

My bike! "Big Tex" We started at the shop and went through the city, stopping to point out Amsterdam sites.


Out tour guide. He was an adorable Brit with great stories.


We traveled along the Amstel river and saw a lot of cool houseboats but this one had to take the cake!


400 year old windmill. People live in it and are probably annoyed at us tourists but how can you not get a cheesy photo?


We rode through the countryside until we came to a house where they make wooden shoes and cheese, the old fashioned way.

CHEEEESSSSEEE!!!


We went back through 2 city parks and only in Amsterdam would public art also be a Picasso.

For more Amsterdam photos, check out my slideshow

A walk through Amsterdam

On my first day in Amsterdam, after my train/tram adventure and after stumbling through the Van Gogh museum I decided to head out to find some food. I had no idea which way to go and was slightly paranoid that I wouldn't find my way back but decided to just start walking and see what I could see while looking for a restaurant. It literally took me 1.5 hours to find something. I loved the walk and the exploration but was literally ready to pass out by the time I found a little Indian restaurant that could have served rocks in curry and I would have eaten it at that point. Here is what I saw along the way.


I loved these trees in Museumplein


Heineken no longer brews here. Amstel does and you can find your nearest pub by the Amstel signs.


I think all of Amsterdam is a meditation center


Yes, that is the Hansel and Gretel Cafe. I tried to eat here but could only get drinks after 5. My quest for food continued...


Stop and smell the roses


The sun was going down and making beautiful shadows and reflections, I walked along the canal for a while and walked past several clouds of smoke engulfing some locals.

The Sam Scoop

I have many thoughts and stories about my trip but first want to update about the Sam and me situation. It is kinda long and complicated and I need to write it out. Many people speculated or wished (or feared) that we would get married while I was in South Africa. We attended his sister's wedding and many of his family also made the comment, "Next time it will be you two." and they welcomed me as part of the family and called me "sister-in-law" but no legal actions were taken. We very much enjoyed our time together and were even more comfortable and natural as any other couple, or as normal as we can possibly be considering our very abnormal and extreme circumstances. I made him dinner each night at the guest house and did laundry while he went to work and entertained me with stories of his day. We even learned to fight, or more accurately, bicker. We also visited friends of mine from the states in Cape Town and got to change roles slightly with him being the one out of his element and in a world that more closely resembled mine. We traveled together and picked out gifts together. All the best things that 2 weeks could bring. We postponed talking much about our situation until I had been there over a week. I'm glad that we did because we needed the time to get comfortable in each other's space again and let the heightened emotions die down a bit. We had a series of wonderful conversations that showed me how wonderful of a match we truly are. We discussed the fact that he is currently enrolled in an internship/practicum program where he is learning and working in the banking business. The education portion of the program completes in April. At that time he will get 3 weeks vacation which he will use to come to the US and get to know people and places here in preparation for a permanent move her later in the year. It seems like a long way away and another "setback" but I don't see it that way. I see it as time for both of us to just live our lives and prepare for where the future takes us. I have every hope and intention that we will be together and that each visit I have made there and visits he makes here and all the time in between are all building blocks of our lives as individuals and our relationship together. I made a vow to him and myself that I will not live "in the meantime" or "wait" for April to come around, I will live in the present and enjoy my life each day. I love him more than ever and have every intention of spending the rest of my life with him but I am not sure what life has in store for me. For that, I will let it be my guide and show me the way and only focus on what "is".
Anyway, that is the Sam Scoop. More info on my travels coming soon.

Winter Wonderland

Not many adventures as of late. Been hibernating in the house and staying warm. Even these beautiful photos of the snow were taken from within the cozy comfort of my house.

Road Trip or Blog Fodder?

Long road trips are what blogs are all about. It is a chance to write down all of the things you encountered and thought you had in your head but also aren't really the things that you would call up a friend to share. Nonetheless, here are some brief thoughts and shots from my trip from SLC to Palm Springs "the back way".
As I left my house at 8am Saturday it was 34 degrees. I wanted to take photos as I cruised through the valley, catching the morning light as I rarely see it, hitting the copper mine and burning off the frost. But it wasn't until a few hundred miles later when I figured out that I didn't need to stop the car and pull over, I could just feel my way around my purse and to turning on my camera and then just randomly hold it up and shoot and see later what I got. My first attempt at this, I wanted to capture half burnt trees from a wildfire this summer.
One of my favorite parts of the long I-15 portion of the drive is slaloming though the Virgin River gorge. It was stupid to even try my "safe" snapshot while driving technique as anyone who has driven that gorge knows it takes at least 2 hands, feet and eyes in full concentration at all times to make it through alive. But I got some good shots.
Then the random Vegas shot as I turned off I-15 on into the back dessert of Nevada and California where miles and miles can pass without another car in any direction. My favorite spot between Las Vegas and Joshua Tree is Amboy. According to my dad, the "town" was for sale on ebay recently. Not sure if there were any takers. Amboy consists of a boarded up school, hotel, church and restaurant and a working post office. Amboy is on "Historic Route 66" I arrived there just as the sun was setting. I got out of my car to take photos in the still dessert heat with no sound other than my car engine, my dogs tags and a train rumbling by. It was amazing and frightening and comforting all at once.

Falling in love with fall

For some reason this year I obsessed with fall. I always love it but this year I can't get enough of the beautiful leaves and crisp air and rainy days and even suprise snow on my grass. I always get the most amazing view of Mount Olympus on my way home from work on the freeway. I haven't figured out a way to stop and get photos without risking my life or just looking like an idiot. But man, I need to figure it out because it is too amazing to not capture and share. So I am glad to steal some mountain photos from my friend Alycia who was in town last week.
I also snapped a few of the foilage in my yard.

Cliche for a reason

Today I did something that I rarely do, although I have no idea why it isn't a regular part of my week, at least. I gathered my dog, my sunglasses, a butt pad and a camera and drove a mere mile up the road to Sugarhouse Park, truly one of the most beautiful and serene places in the city. Yesterday it nearly snowed in the valley and this morning the grass was crusy with frozen dew but this afternoon was perfect. That temperature where you can't even feel the air. Where you aren't too hot to sit in the sun but also not too cold to walk in the shade. The leaves haven't started to turn colors in the park and gave the illusion of being in the middle of summer juxtaposed with the snow covered mountains just behind them.

I walked with the dog and my camera, stopping once in a while to take a photo or just smell the air and breath. I was laughing at the cliched photos i was taking and the sights and sounds that were delighting me like the sound of the bubbling creek that runs fast in the spring but by fall is just the perfect trickle to calm anyone listening. I realized these things are cliche for a reason. I enjoy fresh air, taking photos, being alone, sitting in the sun with my dog, observing the difference between the silvery blue of a blue spruce and the blue in the sky and just not thinking about much except what was happening at that exact moment. People take photos and enjoy the smell of trees and the rustle they make above our heads. It's just universal and I am glad that I took a little time out to absorb the beauty of the beginning of a Utah Autumn.

What's next?

I know I have been slow to update this blog. I think about it all of the time. I formulate my ideas in my head and know just what I want to say, but isn't the whole purpose of a blog to get that info out and post for all to see, or at least for me to articulate and save for myself? Anyway, I work best in list form so I at least want to construct a list of future posts. The first series is "lessons learned" or "take homes" from my trip to Africa. This includes take home #1:Apartheid/freedom; #2 Sam's family; #3 Consumerism. I have been hesitating sharing my photos because I want to tell stories that go along with them but if you want a sneak peak, you can check out my snapfish album.
Other things I want to blog about are the dreams I keep having that I think during the course of the dream that they are really happening and that I should blog about them; my revelations about my career; how I want to be different. Just little things really.