December 2011 MTV Fantasy Factory Wedding

We departed Nashville on December 5th to head to LA for Rusty's 2nd cousin Denise Dyrdek's wedding. The road trip took 4 days. It started off very wet in TN and it was near flood stages around the Mississippi as we crossed from TN to AR.

Pyramid in Memphis

Mississippi River along I40

The weather was rather dreary for the most part, we even hit a snow storm around Albuquerque, NM. The further west we went, the weather began to clear. We saw some beautiful mountain scenery.

Hackberry Mountains

Hackberry Mountains

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived in LA on the 8th and stayed at the Hilton at Universal Studio. On the 9th we met up with several of Rusty's cousins at the hotel and all had dinner together at Universal. Rusty and I also did a little walking around Universal seeing the sites.

View from hotel

Rusty @ Universal

Rusty Universal

Terri - singers at restaurant

Universal at night

The wedding was held on Saturday the 10th at the Fantasy Factory. Rob was ordained a minister on-line so that he could perform his sister's wedding ceremony for an episode on his show - Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory (MTV). Denise and Jason got ready for the wedding at the hotel. Rob sent a Bentley Ghost to pick them up - below are a couple of pictures.

 

Denise & Jason departing hotel

A couple of buses were sent to pick up all the guests attending the wedding and we were taken to the Fantasy Factory. They did an excellent job setting up the FF for a fairytale wedding for Denise and Jason. All the guests got to walk the pink carpet and have our pictures taken.

Entrance to FF

 

Photo Background

Pink Carpet

The wedding was very unique and unlike any wedding we had ever attended. We got to meet a lot of the MTV FF stars and we had our picture take with several. All in all it was a wonderful experience and we were thrilled we were invited and got to attend.

Denise & Jason - Rob officiating

Denise & Gene (dad)

Denise & Jason plus FF team

Rusty did jump in the foam pit at the FF. Going in was easy, he had a heck of a time getting out - but he had fun.

Rusty - foam pit, letting me know he was OK

Rusty - getting out of foam pit

While at the FF we got to see Scott and Chris's office as well as Rob's and Tracy (Wild Grinders creator).

Christopher's office (Gary Michael)

Rob's office

Scott's office

Tracy

Sheryl & Rusty - big skateboard

Scott & Evi

Rusty, Scott, Christopher

On Sunday we took a bus tour of LA with Terri, Andy, Gary Michael and Scott. We got to see LA, some star homes in Beverly Hills, Hollywood Blvd, the Nokia Theater, Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Roosevelt Hotel, etc. Having limited time, it was a great way to see the city.

Beverly Hills Hilton

Farmer's Market

Grauman's

Hollywood sign

Open air mall

Roosevelt Hotel

Our last evening in LA we spent with Terri, Andy, Gary Michael, Scott, Evi and Chris. We all had dinner together and just spent a little time together relaxing.

Chris relaxing at hotel

Terri & Rusty - dinner at PF Chang's

Scott & Evi - dinner

Departed for home on Monday the 12th. The trip home was uneventful. It started out wet when we left LA. We decided to take the southern route home due to expected snow storms in Albuquerque. We did get to drive through Roswell, NM and see some "aliens."

Double Rainbow - CA to AZ

 

Rainy night drive AZ

Minnesota July 2011

July 1st we departed Duluth in the morning to drive up the North Shore Scenic Route. Unfortunately, the State Parks were all closed due to not agreeing on the State budget - bummer. However, that did not stop us as many of the very scenic waterfalls were right along the North Shore route and we were able to pull over and do some hiking up the falls and then down to Lake Superior. The most impressive falls we saw were Temperance River Gorge Falls and the Cascade Falls.











We went all the way to Grand Portage, MN which is right before you cross over into Canada. Lake Superior was totally fogged in on the 1st and it was only around 49 - 52 degrees. Still a very scenic drive. We spent the night in Tofte, MN.





July 2nd was bright and clear with temperatures in the 80's, so different from the day before. Lake Superior was beautiful with clear blue waters. We went back to Temperance River and did some additional hiking on some of the cliffs as it leads into Lake Superior - very impressive. We also went to Gooseberry State Park as well as several others. Parks still closed but we were still able to access the falls (just went around a little fence, that is all). Gooseberry had 5 very impressive falls. Rusty and I just love waterfalls. The North Shore Scenic Drive (Rt 61) is well worth it and very scenic. They have lots of forests, cliffs and waterfalls along the way. From here we drove to Hudson, WI on Rt 35 where we spent the night.


July 3rd we were forced to go to The Mall of America. HUGE is the only way to describe it. We spent several hours walking around the Mall in amazement. It even has an indoor amusement park. From here we traveled down Rt 61 in MN along the Mississippi River - we saw a lot of small town America along the way, very cool. Spent the night in Winona, MN right on the river.



July 4th we departed Winona after a short stop at Gavin Park Scenic Overlook - well worth it. Winona is a nice, old river town and the view of the valley and river was amazing. All the small towns along the river were really cool - Redwing, Hudson, Wabasha, Prairie du Chein - a lot of old buildings and churches; great parks. Drove to Bloomington, IL, most of the way along the Mississippi on the Great River Road. A lot of beautiful scenery with huge cliffs on both sides of the Mississippi. Stopped in Cabelas in Prairie du Chein along the way, because why not?

July 5th we departed Bloomington for home. It was a great trip, we saw some beautiful amazing scenery, but it was good to get back home. Not sure where we are headed next but I'll be sure to update our blog. Bye for now.

Wisconsin June 2011

Left Adrian, MI on June 26th and headed to Milwaukee. We traveled through MI, IN, IL and WI and spent our first night in Glendale, WI. Went to an awesome mall called Bayshore and ate at a Cheesecake Factory - YUMMY. The next day we went on in to Milwaukee to Miller Valley and the Brewery Tour. It was pretty awesome and at the end we were forced to consume some FREE beer.




After the tour we went to downtown and walked along the Riverwalk and took a harbor/river boat cruise - very relaxing and scenic. While on the water, a bit of fog and rough weather moved in and then out again.








From Milwaukee we drove to Green Bay. We took a scenic drive to the Door Peninsula along Lake Michigan. Stopped in some of the small shops in the small towns along the way as well as a winery for some tasting. They have a lot of farm land as well as parks and beaches along this drive - very scenic.




As we departed Green Bay we made a stop by Lambeau Field. It was pretty awesome. Went in to the pro shop and into a small section that is open to visitors - pretty impressive.










Drove to Ashland, WI where we stayed at a hotel right on Lake Superior. We did some hiking in Copper River State Park where we saw 3 beautiful waterfalls and crossed over 5 different bridges. That evening we sat on the patio and had S'Mores while we watched the sunset - AWESOME.



We left Ashland and drove to Bayfield, WI where we took a boat cruise of the Apostle Island National Lake Shore. There are 22 islands on Lake Superior. It was a very scenic boat ride, we saw some amazing scenery and some great lighthouses. Bayfield was a great small town. Saw 3 eagles over the lake. Drove on to Duluth, MN and spent the night.

Akron June 2011

We headed to Akron on June 11th to spend some time with family and friends. We were busy the two weeks we spent there. The first week we stayed with Bill and Debi. While there we went to Salem, WV for a day and a half to see Ruth Lawlis - her and her husband Tut (deceased) were best friends with my mom and dad. We spent the day with her reminiscing and looking at old photos. It was so great to see her.




We ended our first week by going to the McGarvey Family Reunion at Wingfoot Lake. It was good to see cousins I hadn't seen in quite a while.


Also had the opportunity to go to Kathy and Frank's for a fish fry - yummy!!!







After the reunion we moved over to spend a week with Terri and Andy. While there we had an opportunity to go to Margarita Madness @ Pancho's with many of our great friends in the Akron area. This is always a good time.











One morning we went to breakfast with Terri and Andy as well as some of their friends who went to school with Rusty. Always good to see them. Terri and Andy also had a family picnic for us so we got to see the Wood family too.










On Friday the 24th we went to Dietz's to help Barbie celebrate her 50th birthday.


















On Saturday the 25th we left OH for Jackson, MI.
Scott was going to be there for an MTV appearance and we wanted the opportunity to have dinner with him as well as Terri and Andy.





Our visit with family and friends in Akron is now over until we venture back north.

Feb2011 Western Caribbean

Rusty and I headed to FL to go on a Western Caribbean cruise with some great friends from Akron, OH. We left Nashville on February 2nd to go to Stuart, FL so Rusty could spend a day with his daughter Christine. Christine and her husband Bill live in Port Salerno. Rusty had an opportunity to fish with them and have dinner. He had a great visit.




Saturday the 5th we drove to Miami to board the Celebrity Eclipse (awesome ship) and meet up with our friends - here are the girls lounging in the pool.








Our first sunset aboard the Eclipse was awesome.










The 6th was a sea day and the Super Bowl. We loafed all day around the pool with Kathy & Frank Racco, Barb & Dave Gray and Gail & Dave France and just caught up. We had a great dinner and went to the theater to watch the Super Bowl.

Frankie didn't quite make it to dinner right away because he had to check out the Super Bowl - so, being the friends we are, we started without him.




Grand Caymans
Monday the 7th we went to Grand Caymans. We caught a taxi (as you can see by the picture, they loaded us in like sardines) and spent the day at Seven Mile Beach. The beach was beautiful - wasn't a great swimming beach but it was awesome for snorkeling. Another lazy day just spent laying around.














Playa del Carmen
Tuesday the 8th we went to Cozumel. Frank's cousins were staying in Playa del Carmen so we took a ferry over to spend the day with them. The waters were really, really rough on the ferry - I didn't think I was going to make it. We spent the day with Frankie's cousins just browsing the shops. We walked along the beach and stopped at a beach bar for snacks and drinks - awesome.



Costa Maya
Wednesday the 9th we went to Costa Maya, Mexico. Royal Caribbean has built a port here with shops and a pool with bars and restaurants. We spent the day - you guessed it - again laying around the pool with our friends.







Roatan Island
Thursday the 10th we went to Roatan Island, Honduras. What a beautiful island. We went to the West End Beach - it was small but nice, again it was great for snorkeling. What did we do, we laid on the beach and drank yet again.






Friday the 11th was our last sea day, sad to see the trip come to an end. It was warm but rained on and off most of the day - but we still hung out around the pool with our friends.

Did you notice a theme - it was a very lazy, pool/beach driven vacation but we had a great time and it was wonderful to spend the time with our friends.

South Beach, FL
Saturday the 12th we landed back in Miami - it was raining but Gail had plans for us to spend the day in South Beach. A service picked us up at the port and took us to South Beach. We wandered around most of the day until it was time for them to catch their flights back to Akron. We did a lot of walking and people watching. We stopped at a place called Tequila Chicas for snacks and margaritas. Then we had lunch at Joe's Stone Crab. Here we are headed to check out the beach.





St. Augustine
Rusty and I departed Miami and headed for St. Augustine's for a couple of days. St. Augustine's was really cool, there is a lot of history and interesting places there. We took the trolley and got on and off as we liked.












There are a lot of really old churches in the area with a lot of history, as well as Flagler University. Lots of cool shops and restaurants too. We had a really good time.















Headed back to Nashville on the 15th. We had a really good time doing a whole lot of nothing.

Journey's End

Left Colorado Springs on the 29th and decided to take a different way home. We went south on I25 thru Colorado and into New Mexico. At the border between CO and NM was a town named Raton.

This was a surprisingly scenic area with road signs warning of bear and elk crossings. We didn't see any animals, but this was the first time on this entire trip that we saw crossing signs that were for anything but deer. Northern New Mexico was more scenic than we had expected.

We ended the day in Oklahoma, drove past Little Rock, AR on the 30th, and made it home to Nashville on the 31st of July.

We drove 5500 miles in the car, went 3090 miles on the cruises, and went 970 miles by bus and train in Alaska (not counting our excursions) for a total of 9560 miles and 17 states and Canada. We averaged 27.7 mpg.

We were amazed by the changing landscapes in the "Lower 48," and by the enormous wilderness of Alaska. It was the trip of a lifetime. Approximately 750,000 people in an area twice as big as Texas with 300,000 of those living in Anchorage, and 100,000 in the Fairbanks area. Leaves lots of room for the other 350,000!!!

We don't know if we'll ever make it back, but if we do it will be by car so we can see more places at our own pace. As I keep telling friends, go before all the glaciers melt.

Will let you know about our future adventures.

Journey from Vancouver to Colorado Springs

July 23rd at 7:00 am we arrived back in Vancouver to sunny skies. We got off the ship and took a shuttle to Vancouver Airport (where we parked our car). The shuttle took us right to our car. The parking for 21 days was only $134 - which is fantastic because they wanted to charge us around $500+ at the pier. Thanks, Scott, for the suggestion of the Airport parking. Departed Vancouver around 9:30 am and ended the day in Pendleton, OR. It was a beautiful, scenic drive.

July 24th we drove from





Pendleton, OR through Idaho, Utah and Wyoming among ever changing scenery. We spent the night in Evanston, WY. Today was Bryan's 29th birthday, sorry we missed it :(.






Saw Mt Ranier from a rest stop along the highway. Here it is in the distance, it is 14,410 ft.







July 25th we left Wyoming and drove the rest of the way to Jenny's.

We spent 3 wonderful days with Jenny and Jesse.





We went to the Garden of the Gods one day and walked - what a beautiful place. Everyone should see it at least once.




















One day we also got to hike in Mt Cutler, Cheyenne Mountains. Very high and very scenic. Neither the Garden of the Gods nor Mt Cutler are far from Jenny and Jesse, lucky them they get to see and hike them often.













We got to go to Jesse's school when Jenny registered him for the fall session. School starts August 10th. If you can believe it, Jesse will be a Sophomore this year - way to go Jesse. He goes to classes at the school in the morning and then does on-line classes in the afternoons.

The morning of July 29th we departed Jenny's for home.