Two Days Left!!

www.fourmonthsinspain.blogspot.com

Hello everyone!

Just two days left before we leave for Spain. I must say that I am pretty excited to get going, so much so that I am up at 2 am writing this blog post because I don't feel like sleeping. The last couple of days have been all about preparation. I have driven all over LA five times over going to all the different places, and yet I am still not completely ready. I still need to buy a couple plug adapters for our computers, a small camera bag, and a couple of other things.

Here are our bags. Almost complete packed and ready to go!

Today I went and got our International Drivers Permits at AAA. Here is a picture of what they look like, along next to a driving map of Spain and Portugal that I picked up.

I guess they IDP (International Drivers Permit) is really just a little booklet that you carry with your drivers license that translates it into other languages. So that is why they require it in other countries, yet do not make you take any tests to get it.

I also bought a couple of new suits at an incredible place on Glendale. They have an incredible deal going, where you can buy three suits for only $299. And when I checked out the suits they seemed pretty nice! But in addition to three suits, they also give you three dress shirts! And three belts, three pair of socks, and three ties! Wow I said, so I went out and teemed up with Laura's father to buy three suits (because I really only needed two new ones to replace my older ones which I have slightly outgrown - woops).

I will have to get you some pictures of the suits later. They are locked in a room with sleeping people right now.

Here is a picture of the store at least.

If anyone is interested, this place is called Georgio Cosani and it is located at 307 Brand Street in Glendale California. Let me know if you buy anything there, because I am curious to know if my blog wields any power over its readers (convincing them to go buy suits. =^)

Well we spent the evening with Becky Grant, and their two kids Zack and Zoey. We had a lot of fun, hanging around at the house and then going out for Sushi at a nearby restaurant after the kids went to bed and Becky's Mom came over to babysit.

Becky & Grant, looking at a different camera than the one I was holding.

Laura and Becky before dinner.

Here are some pics of Laura and I playing with the kids.

And here is a picture of Grant and Zoey.

I have gotten into the strange habit of taking pictures of the different kinds of beers that I drink. Tonight I wanted to try something new and bought some Boddington's. It is a British beer that comes in a can that is nitrogen charged like Guinness to give it a fresh from the tap effect. Here is my picture of the beer.

It is a lot lighter than Guinness and was pretty good. Here is a picture of the Sapporo that I had with dinner also.

Ok, well that is good for now. I have to get to bed because we are taking the triplets (Laura's brothers children), to Hurricane Harbor in the morning. Should be a long day in the sun, and then we leave on Monday! Yikes.

Thanks for listening. Hopefully I won't get sunburned, because that would turn an already rought 12 hour + flight into a real nightmare.

Fire, Day 2 - View Online

Note: If you haven't read the previous post I made this morning, then read that one first. Both are much better viewed online, because there are many pictures and even a video clip! Click here to go online now.

So here is a quick follow up on the fire situation. The road we live on, Triumph Ave, normally is blocked with a gate. Today though, the gate was still down from yesterday, so I took the opportunity to drive straight up the street to see how far away the fire came to our house. At the point I stopped driving it has only been 1/4 of a mile. From there it was maybe 20 or 30 yards to where the fire stopped!

Here is a picture taken from the 1/4 mile point when I stopped the car.

Here is the video that I tried to upload this morning. I gave up on Blogger and found a nifty home for it on Google Video. Check it out here or if that doesn't work, type this into your browser. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4807915861672963862

Actually, I am going to try and embed it directly into the blog here also. Lets see if this works...



Wow, it works! Man Google sure makes it easy.




Here are a couple of pictures that I took driving around the block today. One house came insanely close to getting burnt, and seeing it is partially why I am so impressed with the fire fighters. Notice that the burn line ends just by the house on three sides!

Finally, here is a shot of someone's gate. I guess they left it closed while they were gone, and the fire department knocked it down. Too bad for them, but good thing the firemen got up there and stopped it.



By the way. This is totally unrelated here, but I just watched Conan Obrien's intro for the Emmy's on YouTube. It is pretty funny. Check it out here http://youtube.com/watch?v=SmUVKjbCcVM

Fire!!!!!

Again, this is best viewed online - where you can see all the pictures

Wow, we had a pretty close call! We just had a wild fire come very near to the house. When I came home from school they had roads blocked and I almost wouldn't let me in. On pulling into the yard I noticed a sheriff's car at the neighbors house and went to listen to him explain how "while we aren't evacuating your houses now, the fire department expects the winds to shift this way and then the fires will come directly in this direction" indicating our houses. This was very disconcerting to our neighbor who keeps 22 horses on her property and had another fire come right to her property line 2 years ago.

Now this being my first big fire, and then after listening to our neighbor go on for 10 minutes about the last fire saying "When it comes it comes quick!" like a mantra over and over, it got me a bit spooked. After running around the house and packing up our most valuable things (wedding pictures, computers, clothes) and getting Buster ready to leave by packing him a bag, I waited for the fire department to come and evacuate us. It didn't help that I could see the flames burning in the distance, and moving in our direction.

Of course the whole time I was taking pictures like a good citizen does, especially since I was testing out the new camera Best Buy loaned me because my old one is a lemon. So to your delight I am going to tell the whole story here in pictures.

On the freeway coming home.

Closer

Exiting the freeway at Sand Canyon, this road was blocked off just a couple blocks from where I turned.

Coming up Triumph (our street!)

At our driveway

Here the fire is just starting to peak over the ridge line

Here is another view from the front patio area

This is when I started packing our stuff in the car. I kept hearing the neighbor say over and over again "When it comes, it comes fast!" She went so far as to tell me that the last time they were out in the backyard drinking Margaritas watching it, then all of a sudden the wind changed and it raged right down to their property line. That time they had not time to evacuate and 22 horses on their property! Yesterday they were prepared though, and they were ripping up their property with a tractor making it less friendly to fire.

helicopters kept flying over the house

And dropping water and dirt onto the flames.

There were lots of planes also.

If you click on this picture and enlarge it, you can see one helicopter and two planes, all in one picture!

Those were a few more shots of the flames. They lasted all day long, and then when we thought it was over we saw it flare up again on the hillside, but it looks like that was a controlled burn by the firefighters to created a safety zone, since it soon went out. I tried to take some pictures, but at night they just look like red fuzzy spots, so no use in posting them here.

I tried to upload a video clip I took that shows the fire burning, but it appears it was too large a file.

So that is it for my first big fire. I freaked, calmed down, and then unloaded all of our clothes from the car feeling a little funny. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Final Trip, Illustrated! - Best Viewed Online at FourMonthsInSpain.Blogspot.com

NOTE: This is much better viewed online!!! If you are reading this in your email, go online right now to www.FourMonthsInSpain.Blogspot.com to see some great pictures!!

OK, so I dont want to bore all of you, so I thought when I gave you the finalized version of our upcoming trip to Spain I would add cool pictures! I spent all day yesterday planning out all the final details for the trip. So far we have reservations in all of the places except for two, so I feel good about it. I am waiting for responses on the last couple.

Here is the final itinerary (illustrated version):

Sept 5: Arrive in Barcelona 2:15 PM (1 night). Here is a picture of the Sagrada Familia created by Antoni Gaudi and still under construction in Barcelona since 1883!

Sept 6-8: Fly to Malaga, Rent car and stay in Granada (3 nights) Here are some pictures of Granada's famous Alhambra Palacios Nazaries.




Sept 9-10: Head to Ronda & Andalucian Hill Towns (2 nights)
Andalucia pics taken from this site




Sept 11-13: Move down the coast to Tarifa (3 nights)
Tarifa pics




Sept 12: Day trip into Morocco.
Morocco pics





Sept 13: Day trip to see Gibraltar.
Gibraltar pics



Sept 14-16: Three nights in Salema, where we stay in a cottage overlooking the ocean here http://algarve.co.uk/ Here is Salema

Here is Rick Steves in Salema, the main who writes such excellent travel guidebooks that we bought three for this trip!!!





Sept 15: visit Cape Sagres & Alfambra
Pic of Cape Sagres
Sept 17-19: Head north to Lisbon (3 nights). I got this pic here

Sept 18-19: Using Lisbon as your home base, side-trips to Belém and Sintra.
Here are pics of Belem

Here is one of Sintra

Sept 20: Drive to Coimbra (1 night) I really like this shot I found here

Sept 21-23: Drive to Santiago de Compostela)(3 nights) Here is a beautiful pic that someone took there. http://www.piersallison.co.uk/photos/locations/iberia.asp

Sept 24-Dec 22: Drop off car at airport by 3:30, Catch Flight to Barcelona at 4:30 arrive 6 pm –check into our apartment
Sept 25-27: settle in to our apartment, sightsee Barcelona, relax and prepare for school.
Sept 28: Orientation – First day of classes for Tim!! Here is a picture of the University in Spain, IESE

OK, I am tired of writing.

Goodbye.