Boston and Stuff

With only 5 weeks left until we leave, I figured we should give an update on our planning and our recent visit to Boston for a long weekend.

Boston

This summer, had decided we were going to take advantage of knowing two of Erin's friends that live Boston. They moved there a while back from Indy when he started Law School at Harvard. Since we have worked on saving our vacation days, we figured it was best to only go for a long weekend. We each took Friday off and flew out to Boston on Thursday night.

Enjoying some pastries from Mike's.

With the amazing amount of history and sites to see in Boston, we new it would be a jam-packed weekend. Luckily, Katie and Justin were experienced enough to show us the best of Boston. Friday was a long day, with the Freedom Trail and downtown Boston taking most of the day. We swung by MIT for a tour and then past Harvard on our way back to meet Justin for dinner.

Samuel Adams' Grave.

Paul Revere's House.

The weather was looking good for Saturday so we thought we would gamble and do some whale watching. Everyone loaded on this boat in Boston Harbor and we relaxed for a 45 minute ride to where they had last seen the whales. When we got to the whales, there were several other large boats in the area so we knew we were in the right spot. The first whale we saw, a Minke whale, was far away and hard to see, but excitement didn't take long because two Humpback whales surfaced within 50-100 feet of our boat several times over a period of 30 minutes. There was always a scurry to the best view when they first surface but I was able to get some decent pictures. After this, we relaxed again inside the boat and made our way back to Boston Harbor for dinner at the Salty Dog. It wasn't too hot out so we ate outside, and a good thing because the inside of the Salty Dog was packed. After a couple drinks at a rooftop bar downtown and at a local Harvard bar, we crashed feeling very tired but satisfied.

On our way back to Boston Harbor on the whale watching cruise.

On Sunday, the boys and girls split up so they could do some shopping and we could hit up the local Harpoon Brewery. I would highly recommend it since it's only $5 and you get plenty of free beer and the end of the tour. These guys are seriously passionate about their beer and those who drink it. We stopped for a quick drink before saying our goodbyes and heading for the airport. There wasn't anything exciting about the trip home, which I guess is a good thing. Great trip and a special thanks to our hosts Katie and Justin!

-Update-

Now that we are close to the 11th hour, everything in our lives is trip, work, test, house, and domino-related. We have made a "To Do List" with everything we can think of, hoping that this gives these last couple weeks a glimpse of sanity. One of the items on the list to get this blog under control so we'll hopefully be posting a bit more often in the coming month.

We have almost all of our gear purchased and gathered, with the few remaining items coming in the mail this week. What we have packed so far is giving us a total of around 72 lbs with another 3 lbs or so to go. I plan to carry about 10 lbs more than Erin so this puts us around a 43 lb pack for me and 32 lb pack for Erin. This will probably change as Erin gets her "axe" out and starts cutting things out (Our goals were 30 lbs and 40 lbs).

Erin's big exam is in a couple weeks so almost all of her time is devoted to studying at this point. I have gotten lazy the last couple weeks, but I'll start hitting the books hard again soon.

The visas and other documentation we need have given us some trouble, mainly the Brazil visa, but we have our Uganda and Kenya visas already. We'll get our Tanzania visa while volunteering in Kenya the month before and we'll hopefully get the Brazil visa in Argentina the day before at Iguazu Falls.

We have each gotten the first bits of nervousness about the trip, but we are each SO excited. We hope we'll have everything ready in time, but there's a certain point when we'll just have to roll with the punches!

Sam (and Erin)

5 Months and Counting....

As of yesterday, there are only five more months before Sam and I take off on our "Big Trip" for 6 months!  When I say it out loud, 5 months seems like a lot of time, but I know the time is going to fly and there is still so much to do!

Sam is working out of town about 2 hours away almost all week, so it's up to me to take care of everything with the house.  Except I have these two distractions next door that call my attention as soon as I get home from work (did you see the picture in the last post??).

There's still lots of planning to do, and somehow, each of us will be traveling three different times before the big day is here.  We have Sam's sister's wedding, and both of us have to study for licensing/certificate exams that we'll be taking in October right before we leave.  Did I mention I signed up for the half marathon in Indy 8 days before we go?? (yelp!)

The next 5 months is going to be a WHIRLWIND,  but there's so much to look forward to and I can't wait!!

We Have New Nieces!

Ten days ago, Sam and I were introduced to our new twin nieces!  Isabella Rose and Elaina Marie are the adorable daughters of Sam's younger brother and his wife.  The best part is that they live next door, so we get to see them every day.  

They are so beautiful and so sweet!

Sam and I will be the official godparents of Isabella,  but of course we will have to spoil both of them.  Leaving them when later this year when they're only 6 months old is going to be so HARD!  They will have our dog, Domino to keep them company though.

When I was young, I had two sets of godparents, who were both big influences on me.  One of the couples, my dad's best friend from high school, Richard, and his wife, Cathy,  took adventurous trips for as long as I can remember.  My parents went on their first cruise with Rich and Cathy.  I can remember hearing about voyages to the Grand Canyon and Antarctica and so many more.  They've gone on more than one African Safari.  They take time to travel multiple times a year!

They are definitely an inspiration for me and my adventures with Sam.  One rule of thumb that Cathy and Rich travel by is that their top priorities are the crazier adventures and places that may not always be available.   Europe is always accessible, easy to get around, and will always be there.  On the other hand white water rafting, bungee jumping and zorbing and visiting places like Antarctica are opportunities to not to be wasted now!

Hopefully, Sam and I can help to show Isabella and Elaina all the wonderful benefits of travel (and our other nieces/nephews and future kids too!).  What is your inspiration to travel?

Welcome!

Hey there,

Everything on the blog is currently under construction. We hope to have several past adventures posted in the near future. Thanks for stopping by!

Sam and Erin