Hermanson Family » Travel

Depot Bay with Uncle Bob Day 3

Andy — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 22:26:50 +0000

Last night (Sunday Night)was really rough! Olivia woke up at 2:30 and wouldn’t go back to sleep when we wanted so we all didn’t sleep well. Uncle bob made Blueberry pancakes this morning and they were great. We went and saw the big house that Uncle Bob is currently working on. Talk about cool! In the courtyard he is making a privacy wall that is made of broken recycled glass that will be over 8ft high and lit from underneath. Click on this link and you can see the house and my uncle’s site. http://rdharchitecture.com/haineshouse%20in%20progress.html
After looking at the house we went to Depoe Bay to have some lunch at Gracie’s Sea Hag, a local restaurant where the owner plays the funky chicken on liquor bottles. It’s an experience that I think you should all see. Miriam was really hoping to see a whale while we are on the trip so we went on a whale watching boat ride and within 10 minutes we saw a whale feeding right near the inlet. We spent about an hour and a half on the sea and saw 3 whales. It was a great experience but we found out that Miriam isn’t Cruise material. She was sea sick the last 20minutes. It was a bad deal.
The day took a lot out of us so after the boat excursion we went home and all took naps, had a nice dinner and went to bed.

Depot Bay with Uncle Bob Day 2

Andy — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 04:26:16 +0000

We woke early this morning with Olivia (5:30am). This early rising ritual just began and we aren’t sure why. Previously she was waking up at 6:30am. Seeing as we were awake already we decided to go for a walk along the coast (uncle bob lives only 100yds from the ocean), talk about beautiful; waves crashing on the rocks, sun coming through the trees, it doesn’t get much better. When we got back to the house we had a wonderful breakfast, made food for lunch later in the day and left for our excursion. Our first stop was the Yaquina point lighthouse, One of the last few lighthouses left in the nation. Then we went to some tide pools where we watched some of the ocean life “struggling to survive” as the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Information plaque stated. By the time we were done here at the tide pools it was time for lunch, so we took a leisurely drive through Newport on our way to Agate beach for lunch. We picked a nice non windy area behind a sand dune, laid out our things and went to the water for Olivia’s first ocean experience. She was quite excited about the water and her toes in the sand, and didn’t seem to mind how cold the water was. We then had lunch, and relaxed under the umbrella while Olivia played in the sand. After our beach experience we went home, gave Olivia a bath, had dinner and played spades. What a great day!

Depot Bay with Uncle Bob Day 1

Andy — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 01:23:50 +0000

Well our much needed and anticipated vacation has finally arrived! We left Saturday morning at 11:30 and after an hour and a half of crawling along the road to Depot bay we arrived at Uncle Bob’s at 4:45 (usually a 3 hour drive and a 2 hr flight). Uncle bob hadn’t met Olivia yet so it was great to introduce him to his grand niece. We had a beautiful walk along the coast and then sat down to a terrific Italian lasagna dinner followed by ice cream and fresh raspberries. We packed in early as it was a long day for us but we are excited about spending time with Uncle Bob.

Our Minnesota Trip

Andy — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 01:39:24 +0000

As many of you may know, I had Lasik surgery last July. The surgery went well, but I needed to go back for an enhancement on my right eye, so we decided to make it a trip. The trip was great. We flew and it was Olivia’s first flight so we were quite nervous to see how she would handle the flight. To our surprise, she was great. She barely cried and slept most of the time. We had a chance to see our closest friends. Spent time with both families. We stayed with Brian and Jen on Thursday night, which was very generous of them considering they were in the middle of moving (thank you). Got lost in the Fort Custer Maze in Clear Lake IA with the Broadway’s. And surprised my brother with an impromptu visitation on Tuesday morning. I told him we were coming the third week in June and he would be able to see Olivia at that time, all the mean while, we were planning to visit him on Tuesday. He was definitely surprised and we couldn’t have been happier for him to see his niece.

Europe Day 11

Andy — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 03:30:39 +0000

We never knew we had a tour guide in the family until today. Stephen was our personal tour guide for Geneva today, showing us all the sites and giving us the detailed information only a tour guide would know. We took a quick tour of the town and saw places like the first protestant cathedral in the world where John Calvin (the man who made the reformation popular) used to preach in the 1500’s and an apartment where two men in the 1800’s lived while they were trying to sell this new drink they created that was fizzy. The drink didn’t go over very well in Geneva, so they moved to Great Britain to try and sell it there and it turns out the last name of one of the men was Schweppes. For Dinner tonight Sarah and Stephen made a traditional Swiss dinner called Rocklette, named after the type of cheese used as the main dish. The dinner consists of the Rocklette cheese, potatoes, and a heater that heats from the top. A piece of cheese is placed in a small pan (about 3″ in diameter) and placed under the heater until the cheese is melted. Then the cheese is scraped out of the pan and onto the potatoes. It was very good. One last bit of knowledge you may all like to know is that cheese is very cheap there.! 2 pounds of Gruyeres cheese is only about $1.! Here in the states it is $17 a pound!

Europe Day 10

Andy — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 21:52:14 +0000

Following our invigorating morning of souvenir� shopping we went snipe hunting in the� bush near Lake Geneva � Well not exactly.� We went to a medieval town 30 min north of Geneva and then visited some Castle ruins.� The Castles actually belonged to two feuding families who shot cannon fodder and rude insults back and fourth to each other for over 80 years.� We could just feel the love when we arrived at the ruins.� The trip back was quick and painless and just in time for a quick dinner and a couple of games of Skip Bo.� Each team won.�

Europe Day 9

Andy — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 21:23:35 +0000

We were all excited today for our sightseeing.� We had so much to do so we got up 7:30am.� First we were going to take a tour of� a Nestle Chocolate Factory 1.5 hrs away but when we got there, it was closed to tours for the winter.� Luckily it wasn’t the only thing we were going to see in that area so it only shortened our list of things to do.� Next on the agenda was to tour a cheese making factory.� That was very interesting.� The type of cheese they make takes 410 L or 108 gallons of milk to make 35kg or 77lbs of Cheese.� After the cheese factory we took a tour of a nearby castle which was also very cool.� Even though I know that the rich were always in castles I always thought of them as being very dungeon like and as I found out, they are not.� Rooms can be very ornate and beautiful.� Lunch for today was not very special but very expensive McDonalds.� Miriam and I got a big mac combo and an extra cheese burger and it cost us 14.4 Swiss Franks or $10.93 dollars.� It’s only McDonalds…that’s highway robbery!� We finished the day with Stephen playing the guitar and us singing some folk tunes and then a game of zilch, which Miriam won.

Europe Day 8

Andy — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 21:35:21 +0000

We woke up at 9:30 this morning, which was very late for us this trip.� Usually we wake up around 7am or so.� We had a leisurely breakfast and then left to go visit Sarah and Stephen at work.� For those who don’t know, Sarah works for the Lutheran World Federation and deals with many different countries accounting items and Stephen works for Action by Churches together where he writes stories on different world disasters for financial aid.� After seeing Sarah and Stephen we walked down the street and toured the national Red Cross Headquarters.� It was very interesting; one man started the Red Cross back in 1864 by expressing an interest in helping soldiers in war.� After the Red Cross Tour we walked across the street and toured the UN.� That was fairly interesting but very short.� The whole tour was only 30 minutes long and we only saw one room of the complex but none the less it was interesting.� The UN tour ended our tours for the day and we went back to the apartment anticipating our Fondue dinner planned for the night.� The restaurant we went to was styled after the chateau’s of the Swiss Alps including the yodelers.� All in all it was a great day.�

Europe Day 7

Andy — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:51:19 +0000

Today we went to Notre Dame.� We walked from our Hostel to the Cathedral instead of taking the Subway, which ended up being a very good choice as we came up to the cathedral from the backside which gave us an excellent view of the flying buttresses and rose windows.� Talk about a magnificent structure.� When I get the pictures put on the site take the time to look at them.� It is phenomenal.� It took them over 200 years to build it!� After Notre Dame we took the subway back to the Hostel to pick up our luggage and take a train to Geneva.� The trip takes about 3 hrs and goes through some beautiful country side.

Europe Day 6 part 2

Andy — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:42:16 +0000

The sewer tour was next on our list.� I know….it sounds gross but it was very interesting.� Paris had one of the first sewer systems in the world and is one of the most sophisticated.� They had a very good museum with tons of information and it didn’t stink!� After the tour we went to the Arc de Triumph, one of the most well known attractions in Paris.� We decided to walk from the Sewer tour to the Arch and on the way we ate lunch in one of the wealthiest areas of Paris and were given 500 euros or $600 by a Chinese man to buy some little bags at Louis Vitton because he couldn’t by more than two.� We took the money initially but then declined as it seemed a little weird.� The Arch was very cool and large and was built by Napoleon to commemorate his many victories.� It also happens to be the largest triumphal arch in the world.� After this we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap.� While I was in Paris there were a couple of things I wanted to experience, one of them being a true French Dinner.� I made a big deal of this and it came back to bite me.� Miriam and I went to dinner and we had to have the menu interpreted to us.� Well…there was something missing in the translation because when I received my dinner I was served Cow Tongue.� I ate part of it but couldn’t finish it, they hadn’t skinned it and it still had taste buds.� It was gross but I guess I had it coming for creating such a fuss.�