Life in the Cheese Drawer

day 4

on tuesday, we had scheduled an adventure way back when we first booked the trip. it’s nice to have someone tell you about an area you know nothing about and to see things that you might not see otherwise. we were off to one of croatia’s national parks (krka), a stop at a little town with a river excursion, and finishing up the day with a wine and cheese tasting.

the tour left later morning, so we up-and-at-em’ed and out the door to walk to the tour office with enough sleep in our systems. lori, liz, and i left a little earlier to check out a bit more of old town and also make sure our firday excursion was booked.

we packed onto a bus with several other people of different background but with a shared language of english (we probably could’ve also managed with spanish, but that tour wasn’t offered), and we were off.

we stopped at the small town first, and lori and checked out the town and climbed to the top of a fort lookout where the view was spectacular. we only had about an hour there, so we headed back down to the beach, i got a bottle of olive oil, and then we boarded a boat to cruise into krka national park.

it was a SMALL national park, and the big draw was the waterfalls. there were so many people visiting (i can’t imagine what it’s like in the summertime), so it was just packed. it was interesting doing the walking loop around the park – so many things in croatia are just, here, if you die you die – there was a wooden plank boardwalk to follow that had no handrails or anything to prevent you from yeeting off the side. i can just see someone in the US falling over and suing NPS. also, accessibility is definitely not a thing!

at the end of the boardwalk, i dropped into the small gift shop and got a magnet to add to my national park collection (i have no stipulations on WHAT nation), then we all sat at a restaurant and had some drinks while we awaited our departure time.

back to the bus (after waiting for one guy who missed the place where we were supposed to depart) and off to a small vineyard for wine tasting. the wine was okay (i’m not a big wine fan) but the cheese and bread were delicious!!! i bought a chunk of cheese.

the ride home was quiet and sleepy, and i once again got separated from everyone else (as jane yelled “sorry kate” unconvincingly) and snoozed against the window as we drove a little over an hour back to split.

before we left split proper, we got more gelato and stopped at a bakery to pick up some baked goods because omg, no GMO-wheat is delicious. no railings and no FDA regulations. living life on the wild side in europe.

day 5

we had to base so much of our time on the weather because there was rain and some cooler weather and some warmer weather, which was ok; that meant that jane’s typical down day was a day that we had to do something, though. on wednesday, we cruised over to hvar.

we debated whether or not to go after i realized that each ferry trip was 25euro and not a round trip, but we decided to bite the bullet. and we were glad we did!

when we got off the ferry in hvar, there was a stone sidewalk lined with palm trees that led the eye up to a hill with a fort atop. so we went to the fort after having brunch. after climbing stairs up through a narrow passage through town, the path switchbacked up the final hill for quite the view of the harbor and the adriatic.

we thought we’d had enough of stairs at that point, but joke was on us! we wanted to go to a beach, and the way to the beach had an unbelievable number of stairs. no one counted, but it was a lot. then maps told us “yay you’re at the beach!” but turns out now you have to go down a harrowing journey over rocks and more rocks back DOWN the elevation you just went up. thank goodness there was a bar and a beach at the bottom. we spent a couple hours there swimming, lounging, having strong drinks. then took an uber back to hvar proper.

lori and i scoped out a place to eat while the others had a break, and it was delightful weaving through the small stone corridors and seeing all the little eateries. it was a bit odd eating earlier than 8 p.m., but by 6 we were starving and found a place with good oysters, good mussels, good gnocchi, and grilled scampi that liz nearly had a meltdown over. (apparently, scampi at olive garden is pasta??? at red lobster, it’s buttery garlic shrimp only, so i’m not sure where the disconnect was. either way, she was horrified when heads-on prawn came to her placement.)

gelato time, and we watched as the fort atop the hill lit up in the darkening evening. on the last ferry, we were able to grab a table for all of us, and we got to split about 9 p.m. and glad we sprung for the ferry rides.

i hate not blogging while traveling. it’s a great way to document what happens each day while i remember what happens each day so i can go back and relive the experience. and even though i’m already on day 5 or 6 of this current adventure, it’ll still be more fresh in my brain than next week!

day 1 – travel day

ugh, talk about a long weird day. friday, i went to work in the morning because i needed to see my worker pal who had been gone for two weeks so i could tell her what was up, along with followup and finish a few other things. i got out of there at 11:30 and headed to the shuttle, which is the best thing i discovered for when i’m traveling alone.

shuttle, uneventful, but i got to the airport almost four hours before takeoff (the alternative was and hour and a half before takeoff, which, scary). after the longest time i’ve ever spent in MSP security, i got through and met up with the croatia crew!!! yeah!! croatia here we come!

the first plane leg was 8 hours long but took 15 hours of our time with the time change. we landed in amsterdam for an hour and change layover and a long line through customs, and loaded our second leg plane (which had an egg sandwich for its in-flight snack!). then off to croatia!

after getting to the airbnb after some uber and taxi finagling, the first order of business was a brief nap. brief so that we slept that night, otherwise we’d never acclimate to the time. the second order of business was to find a place to eat and a grocery store, and we accomplished both! the food already was phenomenal.

sunday we had no plans yet, so we checked out the beach. one thing that i expected but didn’t realized how much was the amount of walking we’d be doing. which is ok. we’re eating a lot of good stuff. from our airbnb, it’s about a mile to the start of anything decent and two to get to the ferry and past all the good stuff. then we have to walk back. so we’ve been walking 8 miles a day.

day 3 – monday

BEACH DAY! monday was supposed to be the sunniest and warmest day, so time to pack our bags for the beach. first, we had to scope out which beach we wanted to be at, so we went the opposite way of the other beach, found a way to the water, and found a nice (probably ancient) walkway on the coast that wound all the way around to a beach with a road that popped out a half a block from our road. well.

it was windy but sunny and warm and the pebbles on the beach were white and the water was azure and the water was salty and boats sailed or chugged past and some ladies were topless and people were drinking on the beach and smoking and how very mediterranean. (and there were no railings or accessible anything to get there and crumbly rocks and so old and how very un-USA.)

i went in up to my waist and couldn’t do it, but the others dipped in. i lay on the beach and read a book. the sun is warm here, but it’s september sun on the same latitude as MN and at sea level, so it’s not a strong sun. i have stopped putting on sunscreen.

wind and water and sun take it out of you, so we got back after a couple hours and took a siesta. after that, it was time to get gussied up and we headed into old town, which is a fort, basically, that was split back in the day (the day being a millennia ago). it’s full of narrow streets and corridors and small rooms which have been turned into shops and restaurants. on the way there, we stopped at a bar facing the yachts in the harbor, then found some street food! the BEST gyro i’ve ever had in my life (unsurprisingly).

on the way back, we realized that we’ve been missing out on the gelato life, so we got some gelato and vowed to get some every day til we left. it was dark when we left old town, and the ferry was lighted up, and you could see the towns along the other coasts, then the moon was shining on the water and was reminiscent of moonlight on snow (but that’s getting ahead of ourselves).

we ended the day was a handsome streetcat, which is a blog post in itself, but a teaser for you.

more later. i have to go do stuff!

i don’t know if i’ve ever traveled as an adult just to visit a national park. well, that happened about a week ago! yosemite national park has been on my list for a while, and megan and i headed out to california to check it out.

we left late morning from MSP and landed about 1:30 in san francisco. after getting our car, we checked out a sourdough bread place, then the beach, then we were able to get into our airbnb, which i think was either in an asian district, or there are so many people of asian descent in sanfran that it stood out to me. we had supper at a vietnamese restaurant with some amazing pho!

the next day we headed over to yosemite, which is about a 4-hour drive from sanfran. we stopped at a super cute cafe for breakfast first, where i had a bagel smothered in cream cheese, avocado, and bacon. delish! then onward to inland!

on the way we stopped at a roadside fruit stand, which has plenty of fruit, pies, poinsettias, jam, pumpkins, and was a good way to distract from the acres of almond farms we were driving past.

the trip into the mountains was harrowing. we were on the outside lane of a two-lane road on the side of a mountain that just got higher and higher and higher, and let me tell you, i was about ready to quit. but we made it through and up and then into the mountains! and then…

there it is – el capitan. you can’t describe the immensity or capture it in a pic. it’s just ginormous.

we ended up staying in curry village, which is comprised of some lodges, cafes, and a bunch of white canvas square-frame tents. i had the foresight to spring for the heated tent, which was a good thing because it got cold at night!

the first full day in yosemite it rained. it was pretty terrible outside, so we checked out the gift shops and museums, as well as watched the informational video about how the park was formed. we tried to go on a bus tour, but after getting the runaround about 10 times, it was full. boo!

the next day, however, was pretty awesome. the above pic was the view from the walkway that led from our tent to the lodge. that morning, we were on a mission to be able to get to the base of yosemite. after a failed first attempt, the second did the trick.

there was a lot of hiking over big rocks and tricky maneuvers, but thanks to the hiking poles i had the foresight to bring, we got to the base!

that rock is sheer. i don’t know how people climb it! then we headed to the mist trail/john muir trail, where we climbed up and up and up and up along a paved path to check out a waterfall. there was a lot of uphill and it was not fun. but the views were great when we got up there, and good news – it was all downhill from there.

then on monday, we packed up early and left yosemite valley. we took a different route home, which was much less harrowing, and we got to the airport around 2:30, took off a half hour late due to medical, and then we got to MSP about 10:30. it was a short trip, but it was a good one! also, highly recommend yosemite.

as promised, another update on the mid-winter trip to florida.

as the days went on, there was a growing trend of who woke up first (usually kari and then me) and then where the stupid stormtrooper was. the star wars bedroom came with a 3.5′ storm trooper model that ended up in front of bedroom doors. after the second time it was in front of mine, i stuck it in my spare bed in hopes of quitting that game.

no such luck.

anyway, day 4

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE was the theme of the day. it was also a little bit of a lazy day. a few of us went to target early in the morning where we got some birthday swag so jane could dress up. then we headed to cocoa beach, about an hour straight east!

i could sit on the beach all day long and just listen to the surf.

the ocean wasn’t too chilly, and a few of us jjumped in. i waded in into about my knees at most, took a little walk, and picked up some shells. we camped out on a piece of sand for about a couple hours, taking in the sun. it wasn’t very busy at all and i could see how this place is packed in the summertime.

we drove back and made supper at the airbnb – tacos and guac – and hung out to relax.

it was on this day that jane and i were discussing how last time we went to universal, we regretted not going a second day and were seriously considering going the next day while the others went to disney hollywood to see star wars. then kari suggested that we just go on friday before we have to go to the airport, since we’d have the whole day and it closes about the time we’d have to get moving any way.

so that was how we decided to spend another day at universal, but at a different park – the one with hogsmeade and all the rides. excellent choice.

day 5

while the others packed up and headed out to another underwhelming day at disney, jane and i slept in. i had no desire to go from the start, and jane needed a day to be apart. so she spent the morning reading indoors and i spent the morning reading outside on the patio.

at some point, i said we needed to get some cuban food, so we headed out to find lunch.

that seafood salad was delicious and the sandwich rivaled the burrito in california that was as big has her head. there was a long line snaking almost out the door, and people of all types were there, so we knew it had to be good. we asked the lady in front of us what was good and took her recommendations! excellent choice.

then we took the long way back, passed a pirates cove mini golf course (we both hate mini golf but were intrigued) and then somehow inadvertently drove past the conference hotel where my work conference will be in two months! that was weird. but it made me excited for my conference!

then we checked out the lazy river and water park stuff at the place we were staying, which was just as cold as our pool, and paid an exorbitant amount for some drinks then sat in the sun.

the others came back and told the tale of the “rip-off” tower of terror ride that they stood too long in line for.

day 6 – last day

i guess the nice thing about a late-night flight is that you have the entire day to mess around? which is what we did! we packed up and got out of our airbnb by around 9, which was actually pretty good for us. it had been a decent stay for the price!

then off the universal day two – islands of adventure, which has loads of rides. there was also a nice jurassic park section that we took some time to check out, but most importantly, hogsmeade.

oh, it was so packed. but we got into the three broomsticks early and claimed a seat outside! it was great.

hogsmeade is different from daigon alley, including having owl post and the three broomsticks. there was filch’s emporium, which was a bigger shop than any at daigon alley. and of course the butterbeer and butterbeer ice cream! and hogwarts!!

jane and i walked through hogwarts to look at the castle with no intention of going on the ride, and let me tell you – that is the way to go! it was great. we got a little walking tour, saw some stuff, spent some time in the castle, and then didn’t get sick on a ride.

but guess who did? yep, liz got sick on the ride! afterward, she sat down in the three broomsticks and plopped her head on the table in perfect imitation of me in CA.

after some more rides and time checking out the shops on the citywalk, it was time to head to the airport. security took longer than MSP, but that was to be expected. we tried to get into a sitdown place to eat, but it was taking too long and we got some grab n go stuff instead. we were a subdued crowd that late at night, and getting on a jetplane to head home is always kind of a letdown.

i did score a giant toblerone from the duty-free shop, though. so i got that going for me.

our plane took off a bit late due to some taxi-ing problems, and so we ended up flying in a little bit later. alas! my shuttle was leaving at 12:25!! no fear though – the luggage came out of the carousel about 12:10, and mine was one of the first ones.

that shuttle back to st. cloud was totally worth it. i was able to just rest and snooze on the ride back, and then back to wintry reality when i had to scrape the ice off the windshield. ugh. but at least the truck started, and i ended up walking in the door around 2 a.m.

i promptly fell asleep!

and then a three-day weekend to recover! not too shabby!

i did no travelblogging from florida! do you know how hard it is to travelblog in a house with 8 other people? well, i could’ve made it work, but i was feeling the FOMO.

day 1:

we flew out of terminal 2 at MSP, which was a breeze. no line in the bag check and security took like 5 minutes. i ended up taking a shuttle from st. cloud to the airport, which i would definitely do again! it was especially nice because nate could have the car all week and i could park the truck at the shuttle place.

we flew out at 3ish and landed in florida at about 7:30 ET (jumped ahead an hour). then it was chaos while liz tried to find us at the rental car counter. but we connected (obviously) and got our two cars. jane’s license expired and so she wasn’t able to drive, which was ok. we didn’t do a ton of driving.

then to the pretty awesome for the price airbnb, which had a wonderful heated pool on the first night and no subsequent nights. #thankskim liz and i went grocery shopping at walmart at 10 p.m. then it was time to get to bed because the next day was disney!!

day 2:

so, consensus is that no one has to go back to disney. i mean, it was a good thing to go and check out magic kingdom, but it’s not worth the price to get in, in my opinion. after we got through parking, through security, and over the lake (talk about a rigamarole), the main street was full of shops with fancy-pants adult items, like crystal figurines and $200 canvas artwork and jewelry that i would be afraid to wear if i bought it.

i didn’t ride any rides, so i beat it after trying to be with everyone else, just so i could walk through the park and take a look at everything. i ended up finding gaston’s tavern, so i bought a coffee and a souvenir gaston mug and parked it in the corner. it wasn’t much longer when jane called and said “where are you i have to get out of here” and so she and i sat in the tavern for a bit, then took a walking tour of the park. we went up the swiss family robinson tree house (fun!) and then walked through the pirates shop, where we each bought pirate hats to wear for the day.

meanwhile, the other were in line for rides for hours!!! dumbo took two hours! unbelievable! after that, the kids and dudes took a break while the ladies went for fancy lunch in beast’s castle!! if we were able to do THAT without a park ticket, i would do that again. food was delicious, there was grey stuff (delicious – just ask the dishes), and we got a bottle of champagne. plus, jane got a free glass and some extra grey stuff because birthday. we were in the WEST WING which was spooky and thundery, and the beast made an appearance!

we visited gaston’s tavern again, then took a train ride!

then everyone else came back, and the park lit up for the night. there were fireworks and another ride, and jane, emily, and i decided to go check out the pirates of the carribbean ride while blues went shopping for his pirate hat.

we headed back across the lake right at closing time after jane, blues, and emily rode the teacups (i did not due to not wanting to get sick).

so, fun, but i don’t think i need to go back! there were no characters out (needed to stand in a line for a meet and greet), and there were SO.MANY.STROLLERS. omg.

day 3:

i woke up EXCITED for this day because i KNEW what universal held in store. the night before, liz was like, eh, if we don’t leave til noon, whatever, but jane and i got up and said LET’s GOOOO. (liz did say once she got into HP land that ok, she understood why we were antsy to get there.)

security was easier, and it was a faster trek from parking to the park.

jane and i recreated a few pics! then we booked it to HP!!

the main park has daigon alley as the HP park, which was actually pretty cool. it was PACKED though, as i would expect the actual daigon alley to be. it was hidden behind a brick wall right next to #12 grimmauld place and across from the knight bus. first things first: butterbeer!!! then, second things second: robes!

(this is actually real beer, which came after two glasses of butterbeer and with a plate of bangers and mash in the leaky cauldron.)

i bought a $300 gift card so i could get a free wand, and totally worth it. i got my robes, a shirt from borgin and burkes, gifts, socks, etc. plus my free wand!

jane and i sat in knockturn alley for a bit, as it was a little out of the way and dark and danky.

the lines to the rides were much faster than disney, and the kids and other adults went out and about to get on some rides outside of HP. meanwhile, jane and i wanted a quieter bar to sit at, so we ventured from HP and ended up at an irish bar with a pretty awesome musician. and some good drinks!

toward the end of the night, they went on the HP ride again, and i walked through with them all to check out gringotts bank. when it was time for them to get on the ride, i just headed to a side room and waited! that was nice that i didn’t need to go on the ride to see the stuff.

we headed out about 8 p.m. and got home at a reasonable hour! the girls swam in the cold pool and craig played with his fart gun (yes, fart gun). fun day 3!!

 

time for a break while i process that i’m not in warm, sunny florida anymore 🙁

well, when you have a flight that leaves at 6:30 p.m., and you’ve been waking up at 6:30 a.m., that makes for a while before you get home!

nate, for some reason, wanted to head out RIGHT AWAY so i think we were on the road by 7:30. i asked if we could at least take the scenic route up to phoenix, so after about 30 miles on the freeway, we veered off and took a state highway.

scenes of note:

1. arizona grows a lot of cotton.
2. arizona also grows roses and other flowers for out-of-season regions like MN
3. arizona is not green
4. arizona has NO billboards. instead, you can just plant your placard or other such low sign in the median, boulevard, corner, etc. it’s kind of an eyesore, but maybe they think billboards are eyesores.

got to AZ and we took a moment to wait for the science center to open, so it was time for breakfast. i had a chorizo breakfast burrito and had another good food day! i was actually looking for some huevos rancheros, but a chorizo burrito is a good back up.

after that, nate and i headed to the science center, which was NOT what nate was hoping for. he was hoping for a science museum, and this was basically an indoor playground for kids to experience science.

alas.

so we got through that pretty quickly, then took a stroll through the heritage square where the center is located before returning the rental car and getting to the airport.

sigh.

we were four hours early for our flight. yikes! couldn’t even check in til 3 hours before. i read two books at the airport and on the flight.

and then we were back in MN around 11 a.m. ah, spacious traffic lanes! ah, our car which has a push button start! (using a key the entire time we were in AZ was a real drag.) (#firstworldproblems i know)

traffic up 94 was decent and when we got back, the cats were still alive.

thus wraps up another kate and nate vacay. today he said he wasn’t happy to be home :/

me, i’m always conflicted. i like vacation, but boy i like being at home too.

ah well. jiggity jig!

the last full day nate and i had in tucson, we headed over to the east saguaro national park. i did not know this, but there are two sections to saguaro! one is older and one has more cacti. we did our national duty: spent money in the gift shop and then took the loop around the park. we stopped at a couple pullouts and i took a tiny hike.

man, it seemed like getting around tucson was a drag. i had to look up the population, and it’s a half a million, so it shouldn’t seem so pokey (compared to the cities) but i realized that maybe it’s just more spread out and the roads we took were not freeways.

later that afternoon, after we spent two hours driving to get to and back from the national park 20 miles away, nate took a snooze while i went for a run. i headed to a loop trail about two miles away, and started out. it was sunny and about 60º, but i soon wondering if i was running in a “bad” part of town. not that it bothered me, but i did see a couple homeless camps (small, small). i was about a half mile in and my side started getting a stitch in it and i noticed my breathing was getting away from me a bit. later i looked it up, and tucson is about 1000′ higher than i’m used to. BUT i got four miles in in the outdoors and the sun!

this day was probably the best food day! we had brunch at saguaro corners, and it was delicious. a couple sonoran dogs, nate had a salad and i had a birria torta and calebitas, which is summer squash and pico carmelized and drizzled with oil. yum!

that evening we went to a place that had banh mi, the first time i’ve had that! also had a brown sugar milk tea.

then we cleaned out all our junk and started packing 🙁

you know, americans get a lot of grief for not leaving the country, not visiting other places around the world. but you know what? i think visiting different parts of america is pretty amazing, when you think about it.

traveling from avon, mn to tucson, az, is about 1600 miles. in that 1600 miles, you cover grasslands, mountains, woodlands, cities, empty spaces, ponderosas, saguaros, birch, deserts, native history, latino history, colonial history, spanish history. and if you head east, you get a completely different experience. if you head northwest, another completely different experience.

and that whole time? you speak a common language, use a common currency, and generally can find your way around without relearning how to drive. it’s EASY to have these different experiences while traveling in the US.

now, from london to moscow is 1800 miles. just another 200 miles more than nate and i traveled this trip. so, let’s say from MN to los angeles type of trip. in that 1800 miles, here’s the countries you would go through, each with their own language and likely localized languages within them:

• UK
• france
• belgium
• netherlands
• germany
• poland
• belarus
• russia

the euro is, of course, an easy currency, but you also have the pound in there and whatever they use in russia.

so, i don’t know why we americans get a hard time because we don’t travel internationally. is it because we don’t have a hard time of it? we aren’t immersed in a different language? we definitely can learn about different histories and cultures when we travel. because that’s kind of dumb. MN is hardly a hotspot for Latino historical sites. when people visit MN’s north shore, you learn about native americans’ history here and the french fur portagers. there is much different among us while also having much in common. plus, you have an easier time walking into museums and cultural places if they are in your native language, and you learn more.

so, my two cents. traveling in the US is just as valid as traveling across europe.

this morning i was sure that it was at LEAST 7:30 when I started to wake up, and when i looked at my clock, it was 6:40. ay yi yi! i hope this means that the trip home and fall back DST will be easy peasy.

nate, of course, had been awake since 4:30! talk about time zone trauma.

while i had coffee and debated going for a run in the 50º weather, nate took a nap. just as i was about to head out the door, he made some noise, so i held off on the run and we went to the university of arizona (go wildcats) to check out the art museums they had there. i was so super excited to check out the creative photography exhibit, but i was a little disappointed. i had read on the website they had ansel adams, but apparently you needed an appointment to view them? so weird. but it was something, and there was an andy warhol!

and this pretty cool polaroid piece.

after the disappointment, we headed over to the art museum to check out paintings, and that was at least a little more extensive than the photo exhibit. there was an original pollack and o’keefe, too!

this o’keefe is gorgeous.

but the winner of the exhibit was the woman-ochre, which had the WEIRDEST story. it was stolen from the UofA exhibit in the 80s – two people walked in, one of which distracted the person in charge and the other cut the painting from its setting, rolled it up, and got outta there. it’s assumed that they framed it and sold it to someone, and in 2017, someone found it at an estate sale! they did all this stuff to make sure it was in fact the real painting, and now it’s back to its home. so bizarre! there was a guard sitting in the room of this exhibit, which was all about the art heist and the piece of art, and it was hard not to crack a joke.

plus, i got in free because i happened to have my SCTCC ID with me LOL.

after the art, we went to check out architecture at the san xavier missionary, which i posit is about the only nice thing that happened with missionaries in the early americas.

it was a weird visit because there were people there to see the history, people there to see the architecture, and people there because they’re catholic and are praying. so you’re in there taking pics of the the building and there are people who are lighting candles and praying in the pews.

the church itself is actually pretty small, with solid wooden pews that are probably older than the cacti out front. this was a weird vibe, because it’s on native reservation land, so there was a gift shop that had native jewelry and clothing but also crosses and candles. the whole thing was just kind of depressing, so we headed out.

then….highlight of the day…i found a CHURRO TRUCK.

JUST CHURROS is right. i got a pack and some mexican caramel sauce. they were made right there in front of me and were delish. not as good as those churros i got in mexico, but definitely better than the taco bell churros. (not a surprise.)