It was bound to Happen

Destination: Saranac Lake, NY (Adirondack Mountains)

For all the amazing trips we have yet to experience any true travel let downs, until now. In fact, I think our biggest disappointment had been a couple of lack luster dinners in San Diego but even that trip made up for it by guiding us to Hash House A-Go-Go which is hands down one the top breakfast restaurants in the world.

The Plan: Celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary (cheers to us) at a “luxury lodge” in the Adirondack’s while viewing the fall foliage and maybe getting in a mild hike.

Mental image - (anticipated) us sitting by the fire, tweed sweaters, sipping copious amounts of champagne and occasionally running outside to snap pictures vividly colored leaves.

Plan B: Celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary (cheers to us) in an average looking B&B (wow, they have a great web developer) in the Adirondack’s while viewing bare trees and going on a major hike.

Mental image – (accurate) quiet voice conversation in our room
D - This looks nothing like what the web site or Trip Advisor said it would.
S - That’s okay we’ll still have a great time!
D - You’re right (as always). We just won’t exactly lounge around the “luxury lodge” as planned. How about big hike?
S - Sounds perfect! By the way, where are all the leaves?

Plan C: Get me off this mountain now before I have a complete melt down. And NO we’re not going to summit. I don’t care if we’re almost there, I don’t want to fall on the ice and break my neck.

Mental image – ARTIC ENVIRONMENT (seriously, this is what the lumberjack 2/3rd of the way up referred to it as). Boulder based hiking trial at 4,000 feet completely covered in ice!!!

For those of you that don’t know I’m a pretty clumsy person. I trip, fall and run into things on a regular basis. The last thing I need is ice to complicate the matter. Several panic filled miles later and one cup of spiced rum with a drop of cider in it I was back to my happy self.

The Silver Lining – Two wonderful years of marriage and an amazing dinner at the Interlaken Inn to laugh about it all.

Not all work travel sucks!

Destination: Seattle, WA

For 90% of my work travel I usually have the unfortunate luck of going to Dayton, OH. Derek on the other hand heads to exotic places like Rio, Bangalore, Helsinki and so on. Disclaimer – To all my Lexis friends, Dayton is a fine city however, I’m sure you’d all agree that there are more exciting places to visit. So, when the need to travel to Seattle came about it was a welcome change! Not only is Seattle an awesome city it happens to be home to Ben and Autumn. You might know Ben as Derek’s boyfriend and Auti doubles as Kristian’s (my Brother-in-law’s) step sister. Everybody got that? We’re all family, close enough. What’s actually better than hanging out with Ben and Auti is playing with their super cute kids, Little Ben, and baby Shepherd.

I also got to dine at Wild Ginger, a must visit and be sure to order the green beans, while hanging out with my awesome work counterpart, Heidi. I think Derek is equally as thankful for Heidi b/c she gets to hear the brunt of my work frustrations.

To cap it all off I found a killer wine bar in the Continental terminal. They offer great ‘flights” of Washington wines which complimented my out of control inbox well. Naturally I had to take a bottle home

And lastly, while on the trip Alisa Baker blog tagged me with the following questions…

10 years ago I: Was a sophomore in college at SFA in East Texas, I had recently pledged ΔΔΔ, was drinking too much beer (this was before I knew about wine) and over enjoying the dining hall. Both of which were corrected during the second semesterJ. Little did I know that I would soon be meeting my future husband during the upcoming Thanksgiving break but, of course back then I thought Derek was too old. He had a career and didn't live in a dorm.

5 Things on Today's To Do List:
1. Finish 2009 planning materials
2. Finish 2009 planning materials
3. Finish 2009 planning materials
4. Finish 2009 planning materials
5. Catch the red eye back to NYC

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Diet Coke
2. Candy
3. Chips and salsa
4. Cookies
5. Cheese

5 Things I Would Do if I were a Millionaire:
1. Pay off my student loans
2. Travel
3. Buy a ranch in Santa Fe
4. Open a winery
5. Travel more

5 Places I Have Lived:
1. Fort Worth, TX
2. Nacogdoches, TX
3. San Antonio, TX
4. Zurich, Switzerland
5. New York, NY

5 Jobs I Have Had:
1. Lifeguard
2. Waitress
3. Nanny
4. Traveling RV coordinator
5. Brand Marketing Manager