10 Day Reboot - What I've Learned

Lesson #1: I think that next time I do this, I will only shop for 1 or 2 days at a time. There just simply isn't enough room in my refrigerator for more produce than that. Also, I think I would have saved a LOT of money if I had made my shopping trip for a shorter duration. I would have been better able to gauge which fruits and vegetables I needed and which ones I still had left over.

Lesson #2: Beware of the beets. Not only do they move things along (if you know what I mean), but they also make things a very intense shade of red. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that I had a major medical issue.

Lesson #3: I will be going off the program next time! For this go-round I didn't really know what I was doing so I tried to stick to the program as closely as possible. But I think I would enjoy it a little more if I stuck to the fruits and veggies I know that I like and not holding my nose to gag down the ones that I don't.

Lesson #4: Going along with the last lesson, I will be eating WAY more leftovers next time. The non-juice recipes on the plan are for more than one person so when I made them, it made way too much for just me to eat. I feel like I wasted a lot of food (and money) because of this. Next time I'll make a veggie dish that I like and eat it for lunch (or dinner) until it's gone. That way I will reduce waste and keep my money in my pocket where it belongs.

Lesson #5: They say that you should make a juice and then consume it right away or else you lose some of the nutrients. However, it is imperative for me to make the juices the night before so that I have everything ready for the next day. If I lose some nutrients because of it, I'm okay with that. I know myself and if I don't have things handy, I will go off course in a millisecond.

Lesson #6: I don't like spending hours at a time chopping vegetables but the more prep-work done at the beginning, the easier it will be in the long run.

Lesson #7: There wasn't one day on the challenge where I was able to eat everything that the plan said that I should. Each day, either I ran out of time to chop things, or I just wasn't hungry enough to eat everything. I'm not sure this is good or bad but I did waste a lot of vegetables that I bought. Again, I think shopping for 1 or 2 days at the most and prepping everything before hand would help a lot with this, I think.

Lesson #8: I do not like coconut water plain. I've tried it in smoothies and love it that way but I just can drink it by itself.

Lesson #9: The first day eating regular food again, no matter how good you try to eat, you will feel sick.  Trust me!

Lesson #10: I really have nothing to say for this one.  I just wanted to end on Lesson 10.  :)

10 Day Reboot - Results

Halle-freakin-lujah!! I finished the reboot without cheating! Although to be honest, I did have vivid dreams of cheating and then woke up thinking "Oh, crap!" Luckily that was all in my head. :)  I was surprised to learn that most of my cravings were for carbs and not for sugar.  Crazy!

So, 10 days of nothing but fruits and vegetables! Did anything happen? Did anything change?

Well, I'll tell you what I've noticed. First of all, I never stumbled on this supposed well of new found energy but that might just be because I have many other hurdles to overcome (like insomnia) before that happens. I think this plan is a step in the right direction and can only help, over time.

I do feel more healthy, over all. I have noticed a change in the clarity of my skin and my hair seems to behave itself more often.  My clothes are looser, which is good.  Also, several of my coworkers caught a cold during this reboot and I didn't get sick!  For those of you who know me know that I catch just about everything that is going around.  My immune system isn't really up to par, so the fact that people got sick around me and I didn't catch it is HUGE for me.

I woke up this morning (Wednesday) not looking forward to jumping on the scale.  I felt bloated and backed up (if you know what I mean) -- sorry for the abundance of information.  To be honest, I was afraid that the scale would say that I was the same weight, or worse, that I weighed more than when I started.  After I got on the scale, I was so shocked that I had to step off and back on 3 times in order to believe what I saw.

Total weight lost during the 10-day Reboot Challenge:  21.4 pounds

I know!!  Holy Guacamole!!

So, would I do this challenge again?  Absolutely!  However, I would tweak it a little bit so that my grocery bill didn't land somewhere in outer space.  I think that I will be revisiting this challenge every 3 or 4 months.  I also think that I will be doing a 3-day juice only fast every month.

10 Day Reboot - Day Ten

Planned Menu
First Thing in the Morning
1 Tbsp fresh ginger root, 8 oz hot water, squeeze of lemon
16 oz. water

Breakfast
Blackberry Kiwi

Mid Morning Juice
Spinach-Fennel-Cucumber

Lunch
Sunset Blend Juice

Afternoon Snack
16 oz Coconut Water, unsweetened.

Dinner
16 oz Coconut Water, unsweetened.
Gazpacho Juice

Before Bed
Hot Herbal Tea (you can add Stevia for sweetness as desired).

*****
Ah, the last day!  I'm probably more excited for this experiment to be over than I should be!  A weird side effect for the end of the reboot plan is that I keep thinking today is Friday!  It's only Tuesday!  I guess in my head I'm associating the end of eating only fresh fruits and veggies with the end of the week.  That is going to stink tomorrow when I can't sleep in.


*****
Actual Menu
First Thing in the Morning
Nothing

Breakfast
Blackberry Kiwi

Mid Morning Juice
Spinach-Fennel-Cucumber

Lunch/Dinner
Sunset Blend Juice

Afternoon Snack
Nothing

Before Bed
Nothing

10 Day Reboot - Day Nine

Planned Menu
First Thing in the Morning
Herbal Tea or hot water with lemon

Breakfast
Melon Mania

Mid Morning Juice
Beet, Celeriac, Carrot Juice

Lunch
Squash & Apple Soup

Afternoon Snack
Crunch & Munch

Dinner
Reboot Green Salad
Corn and Tomato Salsa

Before Bed
Herbal Tea

*****
I'm not going to lie -- today was tough. It wasn't hard because of temptations or hunger level or anything. It was tough because I didn't go grocery shopping on Saturday like I was supposed to and today was the first day I really felt it. Today is an eating day (instead of all juice) and I just didn't have anything prepared.

For breakfast I ended up drinking the rest of the berry smoothy that I made a few days ago and never finished. I didn't have anything left to make juice to bring to work, or the soup for lunch, so I ran to the grocery store before work thinking I would just pick up a pre-made salad there. Unfortunately, all of the salads contained meat or cheese.

I ended up getting a couple apples, an orange, and a bag of baby carrots to munch on throughout the day at work.

The end is so close now, I can hardly stand it! But, I am determined to reach the end without cheating! Unfortunately, "not cheating" meant "going without food" for dinner tonight. I just couldn't look at another salad. Remember way back in high school when you were a Senior and it was close to graduation and you didn't want to do anything? They called it Senioritis. I think I have Veganitis.

*****
Actual Menu
First Thing in the Morning
Nothing

Breakfast
Berry Smoothie

Mid Morning
Apple

Lunch
Orange, Baby Carrots

Afternoon Snack
Nothing

Dinner
Nothing

Before Bed
Nothing

10 Day Reboot - Day Eight

Planned Menu
First Thing in the Morning
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger root, 8 oz hot water, squeeze of lemon
16 oz. water

Breakfast
Sweet N Tart Citrus

Mid Morning Juice
Green Juice

Lunch
Apple-Beet-Carrot Juice

Afternoon Snack
16 oz Coconut Water, unsweetened.

Dinner
16 oz Coconut Water, unsweetened.
Carrot-Kale Combo

Before Bed
Hot Herbal Tea (you can add Stevia for sweetness as desired).

*****
Today I'm still living in Migraine town, although I've moved out to the outer edges and am on my way out (I hope). Because of not feeling well yesterday, I didn't go grocery shopping for the last 3 days of the program. Today is one of the days I was supposed to shop for yesterday so I might have to do some fancy juicing of whatever left over fruits/veggies that I have left in the refrigerator. It might be an interesting day.

This morning I made the Lemon Lime juice that I was supposed to make for dinner yesterday. I really like this juice.

It is day 3 of only juices (and water) and I have had absolutely no issue with hunger or temptation to go off the plan.

Again, because of how I was feeling (headache) I started eating late and just made juice when I was hungry. It ended up not being a lot.

*****
Actual Menu
First Thing in the Morning
Nothing

Breakfast
Lemon Lime

Mid Morning Juice
Green Juice

Lunch
Apple-Beet-Carrot Juice

Afternoon Snack
Nothing

Dinner
Nothing

Before Bed
Nothing

10 Day Reboot - Day Seven

Planned Menu
First Thing in the Morning
8-16 ounces of hot water with lemon
16 oz. water (filtered is recommended).

Breakfast
Minty-Fresh Berry

Mid Morning Juice
16 oz Coconut Water, unsweetened.
Refreshing Fennel-Pear

Lunch
Green Lemonade

Afternoon Snack
16 oz Coconut Water, unsweetened.

Dinner
16 oz Coconut Water, unsweetened.
Lemon Lime

Before Bed
Hot Herbal Tea (you can add Stevia for sweetness as desired).

*****
Today I spent the day in Migraine town (unrelated to diet). Because of that, I spent most of the day sleeping. I got off schedule with the juices I was supposed to drink so I didn't end up drinking all of them.

All of the juices that I did have were pretty good.

*****
Actual Menu
First Thing in the Morning
Nothing

Breakfast
Minty-Fresh Berry

Mid Morning Juice
16 oz Coconut Water, unsweetened.
Refreshing Fennel-Pear

Lunch
Green Lemonade

Afternoon Snack
Nothing

Dinner
Nothing

Before Bed
Nothing

10 Day Reboot - Day Six

Planned Menu
First Thing in the Morning
8-16 ounces of hot water with lemon
16 oz. water (filtered is recommended)

Breakfast
Purple Power Juice

Mid Morning Juice
Green Lemonade

Lunch
ABCs

Afternoon Snack
16 oz Coconut Water, unsweetened.

Dinner
16 oz Coconut Water, unsweetened.
V28

Before Bed
Hot Herbal Tea (you can add Stevia for sweetness as desired).

*****
Today is the first day where I am on all liquid. There will be no eating for the next 3 days -- only juice and water.

I've learned that I do not eat as much as they say that I should. I'm not sure if that is good or bad on this plan but I'm simply not hungry. I didn't drink all of the juices that were planned but I didn't cheat and eat anything else, either.

Today was also the first day that I was supposed to drink straight coconut water. I've used it in smoothies before but hadn't had it straight. Coconut water is loaded with vitamins and potassium so it is really good for you. For some reason, I just could not make myself drink it. I'll have to think of some other cleaver ways to get that in tomorrow.

*****
Actual Menu
First Thing in the Morning
Nothing (late for work)

Breakfast
Purple Power Juice

Mid Morning Juice
Green Lemonade

Lunch
Nothing

Afternoon Snack
Nothing

Dinner
ABCs

Before Bed
Nothing

10 Day Reboot - Day Five

Planned Menu
Breakfast
Very Berry Mango Blend

Mid Morning Juice
Refreshing Fennel-Pear

Lunch
(from day 4)
Baked Zucchini with Tomatoes and Herbs
Reboot Green Salad
Mustard Vinaigrette

Afternoon Snack
Crunch & Munch

Dinner
Garam Masala Spiced Collard Greens
Sweet Potato and Bok Choy Soup

Before Bed
Herbal Tea or hot water with ginger root and lemon.

*****
I've reached the half-way point!

Breakfast was good but very filling. I didn't want to waste any berries by using only part of the containers so I used them all. It turned out good but was too much to drink all for breakfast.

I have to admit that my stomach was a little unsettled today and I didn't really feel like eating much. Breakfast filled me up so much that I wasn't hungry again until after lunchtime when I had my juice.

I brought a big salad for lunch instead because I didn't make the zucchini/tomato thing the night before but I didn't eat it while at work. I brought it back home and ate it for dinner. I was supposed to eat the salad with the mustard vinaigrette that I made a few days ago but I think I must have used old oil or something because it doesn't taste good. Instead I made up some Italian dressing (from the packet) and used that. I guess that could be considered a cheat but I'm not thinking of it like that. I'm choosing to think of it as inventive. :)

I was proud of myself today because I went with my sister to a midnight showing of The Hunger Games. Usually I would use that as an excuse to drink gallons of Dr. Pepper and consume tons of popcorn and candy but I wasn't really tempted to go off of the plan. Other than the popcorn smelling like heaven to me, I was fine with not eating anything.

*****
Actual Menu
Breakfast
Very Berry Mango Blend

Mid Morning Juice
Nothing

Lunch
Refreshing Fennel-Pear

Afternoon Snack
Nothing

Dinner
Big Salad w/Italian dressing

Before Bed
Nothing

10 Day Reboot - Day Four

Planned Menu
Breakfast
Tasty Tart Treat

Mid Morning Juice
Mexican-Style Jugo

Lunch
Refreshing Cucumber Salad
Sunset Blend Juice

Dinner
Sweet Potato and Carrot “Fries”
Baked Zucchini with Tomatoes and Herbs

Before Bed
Herbal Tea or hot water with ginger root and lemon.

*****
Yum! Yum! Yum! My breakfast for this morning was SO good! Instead of chopping up the fruit to eat like I was supposed to, I threw it all in my blender and made a smoothy. By far, this has been my favorite thing on the diet. I did leave out the grapefruit because I've never liked them and I'm happy with that decision because the outcome was fantastic. This is going in my favorite recipe binder. :)

After work yesterday, I made all of my juices for today because I knew I would have no time in the morning to make anything due to an early meeting for work. Unfortunately the day didn't start out perfectly because I couldn't find my keys (long story) and missed the meeting. But, because I prepared ahead of time, I don't have to worry about starving or going out for fast food for lunch because I have my stuff all ready to go.

For lunch, I didn't bring the cucumber salad that the program suggested. I ran out of time last night and so I just ended up slicing up a cucumber and eating that plan (along with the juice, of course).

Also, a friend from work commented that my skin is looking a lot clearer. Hooray! I don't take compliments well at all -- I tend to go either catatonic or into this whole denial routine when a compliment is given, but, it was really nice to have that feedback. Results! After only 4 days!

For dinner I was just too tired after work to make what I was supposed to so I just threw together a big salad and ate that.

*****
Actual Menu
Breakfast
Tasty Tart Treat

Mid Morning Juice
Mexican-Style Jugo

Lunch
Sliced Cucumbers
Sunset Blend Juice

Dinner
Big Salad

Before Bed
Nothing

10 Day "Reboot" - Day Three

Planned Menu for Day Three
Breakfast
Maple & Cinnamon Baked Apples and Pears

Mid Morning Juice
Minty-Fresh Berry

Lunch
(from day 2)
Green Basil Salad

Afternoon Snack
Reboot Green Salad
Ginger Honey Soy Dressing

Dinner
Sweet Potato and Carrot “Fries”
Vegetable Soup

Before Bed
Herbal Tea or hot water with ginger root and lemon.

*****

I'm feeling better today, thank goodness. I didn't end up making the breakfast I was supposed to for this morning because it would have taken too long and I had to get to work. Instead I just had the leftover baked apples with raisins and cinnamon from the first day.

I spent some time in the morning making the berry juice. I was really excited about this one because I love berries and it turned out really good, although it was a little tart. The only problem was the amount of juice. The two other juices I've made have produced a huge amount of juice that almost filled the jug that caught it from the machine to capacity. This juice only produced less than a pint. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to expect to chug gallons of the human blood looking juice and sip my beautiful berry juice to make it last longer.

Lunch was a little rough because it contained a LOT of mushrooms and I am not a mushroom fan. I had also never had an acorn squash before. My lunch did not look very appetizing to me so I made sure I had plenty of water to chase each bite if I needed to. The acorn squash, onion, mushroom concoction tasted pretty good but in the end it was the texture that got me. I gave up after eating about 1/2 of it.

I messed with the green soup a little yesterday when I was making it. It didn't look to appetizing so I got out my immersion blender and went to town. I figured I could just drink the soup if it wasn't very good. The soup turned out pretty bland, actually. Next time I'll have to add more herbs or something. I did eat (or drink) it all though.

I had a salad with me as a snack but I just wasn't hungry after lunch. By the time I started feeling hungry again it was pretty close to when I was leaving to go to the grocery store so I didn't eat it.

At the grocery store today I think I did a little better than I did last time. I shopped for 4 days of food this time and spent $80. I have much to learn about bargain shopping, that is for sure!

*****
Actual Menu for Day Three
Breakfast
Apple/Raisin bake (from day 1)

Mid Morning Juice
Minty-Fresh Berry

Lunch
Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Mushroom and Sage
Green Vegetable Soup

Afternoon Snack
None

Dinner
Sweet Potato and Carrot “Fries”

Before Bed
Herbal Tea

10 Day "Reboot" - Day Two

Planned Menu for Day Two
First Thing in the Morning
Herbal Tea or hot water with lemon

Breakfast
Blackberry Kiwi Blend

Mid Morning Juice
V28

Lunch
Ginger Honey Soy Dressing
Carrot-Dill Salad

Afternoon Snack
Green Basil Salad

Dinner
Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Mushroom and Sage
Green Vegetable Soup

Before Bed
Herbal Tea

*****

Sick, sick, sick, sick, and sick. That is how I describe this day. I had major headaches and body chills all day and ended up staying home sick from work. I made myself eat as much as possible, however. I didn't want to compound my "detoxing" with a side of starvation.

The blackberry kiwi smoothy that I made in the morning was really good! I'll definitely remember that one for future use. The V28 juice was a different matter entirely. That juice contained beets, carrots, celery, tomatoes, radishes, jalapeno, and lots and lots of parsley. It made a LOT of juice and it was all dark red. It looked like a quart of blood, I am not kidding you! Too bad I didn't take a picture. I have to drink this juice again later in the program so I'll try to remember to get a picture then.

To say that the juice was disgusting is an understatement! Maybe if you like V8 juice (which I don't) then you might like this one. The only way I could get it down was to hold my nose and chug. Luckily once it was down, it stayed down -- but I was burping up the taste of parsley the rest of the day.

I started making lunch pretty late in the afternoon and it made a really big salad so I ended up skipping the snack salad I was supposed to have later.

I also started making the green vegetable soup and the acorn squash late (like 7pm) and by the time I finished it was after 8pm. I decided that was too late to eat so I packed it all up and will have that for lunch tomorrow.

I went to bed a little hungry again.

*****

Actual Menu for Day Two
First Thing in the Morning
Herbal Tea or hot water with lemon

Breakfast
Blackberry Kiwi Blend

Mid Morning Juice
V28

Lunch
Ginger Honey Soy Dressing
Carrot-Dill Salad

Afternoon Snack
Nothing

Dinner
Nothing

Before Bed
Nothing

10 Day "Reboot" - Day One

This is how I'm going to update my progress. I'm going to post the original menu plan for the day followed by my account of what happened and then finally the menu that I actually ate. Hopefully those menus will be very similar but, hey, things happen.

I want to stick as closely as possible to the menu on the Join The Reboot website but there are some things I KNOW I won't eat (like bananas) so I've already swapped those things out for other meals.

*****

Menu for Day One

First Thing in the Morning
Herbal Tea or hot water with lemon

Breakfast
Cherry Cinnamon Apple Bake

Mid Morning Juice
Green Juice

Lunch
Arugula Spinach Salad
Mustard Vinaigrette

Dinner
Reboot Green Salad
Ginger Honey Soy Dressing

Before Bed
Herbal Tea (add lemon optional)

*****

Day one has finally arrived. I have to admit, I'm a little excited about the challenge and I'm optimistically hopeful that I will be able to make it the full 10 days without cheating.

Since today is Sunday and church isn't until 1pm, I slept in (my favorite thing) and got up around 9am. I went straight to the kitchen -- after letting my dogs out to do their thing -- and started heating up the water for some herbal tea.

I chopped up the apples for my breakfast (minus the cherries because they are out of season) and put them in the oven. While I was waiting for that, I started the chopping. I chopped up and washed 4 different kinds of lettuce, kale, and spinach. I decided to do it all at once because I want to make it easier on myself throughout the next several days. With the lettuce ready to go, all I had to do was grab a few handfuls and go. Too bad I got burnt out on chopping lettuce and I didn't chop any other veggies for the salad.

When it came time for me to make my first juice, I was excited because I was using my juicer for the first time. The green juice had kale, spinach, cucumber, celery, green apples, and ginger root in it. True to it's name, it came out green -- really green! But to be honest, it wasn't bad at all. I mostly tasted the celery and I like celery so that was fine with me.


I felt fine for the beginning of the day until I was at church and things were screaming to get out. TMI...I know, but that is what happened. After that, I felt fine again until after I ate my first really BIG salad. I've never been a fan of arugula and the salad was full of it. But, I dutifully chowed it down and then sat down to relax a little bit.

Later on in the early evening is when I started getting a headache. I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that I hadn't consumed my weight in Dr. Pepper that day, but whatever was happening, I was starting to feel not so well. I had NO energy or desire to chop any vegetables or eat anything else. I skipped dinner and went straight to bed.

To be fair, the website warned that the first few days would be tough and that I might experience flu like symptoms as my body detoxed from bad stuff. However, I wasn't expecting it to happen the first day! I'm determined to continue, though!

*****

Actual Menu For Day One

First Thing in the Morning
Herbal Tea or hot water with lemon

Breakfast
Cherry Cinnamon Apple Bake (minus the cherries)

Mid Morning Juice
Green Juice

Lunch
Arugula Spinach Salad
Mustard Vinaigrette

Dinner
Nothing

Before Bed
Nothing

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

I think I've gone crazy! It all started when I was home sick from work one day and decided to watch the documentary "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" which had been sitting, unwatched, in my Netflix instant queue for a long time.

I have no idea what made me watch it, or even put it in my queue to begin with, but the documentary was very interesting and informative. It is about a man from Australia who was living with an auto-immune disease and was generally unhealthy. He decided to take an extreme approach and go on a juice-only fast for 60 days.

Along his journey he met a very unhealthy truck driver who had the same disease as him and he gave the man his number when/if the man decided to make a change in his life. For some reason, I identified with this truck driver. He was fat and sick and tired of being fat and feeling sick all the time.

After watching the documentary, I went online to the website associated with the film (www.jointhereboot.com) and learned that they have a number or diet programs listed (of varying lengths of time). I decided that I really wanted to try one so I settled on the 10 day program. It isn't an all juice diet like the guys did in the documentary but it is a combination of eating fruits and veggies and drinking freshly made juices.

The first thing I had to do was buy a juicer (since I didn't have one) and I did a little research before setting on a Breville juicer. Next up was making a grocery list and going to the store. I have to admit that this first trip to the store was PAINFUL! I decided to only buy for the first 3 days but I still filled up my cart with practically the whole produce section! When I checked out the total came out to $175. FOR THREE DAYS OF FOOD! See what I mean -- painful! This darn economy!


I decided to start on a Sunday, because the Saturday before I was going to be in Tucson all day for a Broadway in Tucson show and of course I would have my "last meal" that day.


So now I'm all ready for this crazy adventure. I'm a little scared because I love eating meat and I love dairy (both of which I won't be having for the next 10 days). I'm not really doing this to lose weight, although I hope to lose weight -- if that makes sense. I'm doing this as a jump start for eating healthier, as a way to shock my body into walking d0wn a healthier path.

I'm going to weigh myself Sunday morning (starting day) and then not again until the morning after the last day. I'm not going to share my weight here, as I am too chicken, but I will post how much I lost (if any) at the end. I'm going to try to post my progress every day so stay tuned for the progress reports.

New Blog

I haven't updated this blog in a long time, as you can see. I have a hard time talking about myself because, frankly, I don't think I'm all that interesting. I'm going to keep this blog in case things in my life change and I have exciting things to talk about but don't be surprised if you don't see too many updates here.

But, I do have a new blog that I'm really excited about. It isn't so personal in nature so I have an easier time writing there. The new blog is about my adventures in learning photography. I also post all of the photographs that I take there (well, the good ones anyway).

I'd love it if you would check it out and follow me there. You can also follow me on Google Reader (if you aren't using that, I HIGHLY recommend it). When you are in Google Reader, just click on the Add a Subscription button and type the following: http:

//www.adventureinthedetails.com/blog/?feed=rss2

Feel free to leave comments and rate my pictures. Leaving feedback will help me get better and better. I can take it. I promise. :)

www.adventureinthedetails.com (yes, it is the same URL minus the blogspot)

The Best of Britain and Ireland: Day 8

Happy May Day! Today we woke up and got ready to leave Edinburgh. I was sad to leave because there was so much more exploring that could have been done but I'll have to save that for another trip. :)

Today was a long day of driving but we saw a lot along the way. Our first stop was at Gretna Green. For those of you avid Pride and Prejudice lovers like myself will know that this is where the Bennet family hoped that Lydia was headed when she ran away with Wickam. Gretna Green is famous for runaway weddings. We couldn't actually go into the blacksmith's shop while we were there because they were getting ready to host a wedding so we just passed the time with some shopping. There was a really big store full of touristy goodness but when we went to get in line to pay, we were behind thousands of Japanese tourists. Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration but that is what it felt like. It took FOREVER to get through the line and we ended up being about 5 minutes late to the bus...a big no no. But, we were not the last ones back so I feel a little better about that.

A view of the Gretna Green blacksmith's shop.

A sign outside of the blacksmith's shop

After leaving Gretna Green we drove through Lake Country. We drove through back and scenic roads. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of this. Not sure what I was doing at the time (probably sleeping). Oops. We eventually arrived in Grasmere. Grasmere is a beautiful small town famous for Beatrix Potter, Gingerbread, and the burial site of Wordsworth.

Part of the cemetary where Wordsworth is buried. There was this strange man in a jail uniform running around the town. I'm not sure what was up but I assume it was some sort of May Day celebration. We also heard kids yelling "See a robber, catch him". But I thought it might be better to just snap a picture of him than to tackle him in a cemetary. :)

Grasmere Gingerbread store. The store itself was a teeny tiny room but the Gingerbread was really yummy. I'm not usually a fan but this stuff was good!

Grasmere Gingerbread

We left Grasmere and drove to Chester. This city is surrounded by a wall and since Erin and I hadn't walked a walled city yet, we decided to give this one a go.

Chester

A beautiful cathedral in Chester

A view from the wall surrounding Chester

A watch tower along the wall

Some buildings just inside the wall

A church near where our bus was parked

Next up: Wales

The Best of Britain and Ireland: Day 7

Okay, so it has been awhile since I have blogged about my vacation. I decided that it was about time to finish writing about the last vacation before it is time to go on the next one. So without further ado...here is the start of the second half of The Best of Britain and Ireland.

Day 7 of our trip found Erin and I in Edinburgh, Scotland. We started the day with a guided tour through the city and our tour guide was an honest to goodness Scotsman...accent, kilt and all. After driving through the city and being explained fascinating history (all of which I have since forgotten) we went to the bottom of the Royal Mile to the Holyrood Palace which is the palace is the official residence of the monarch of Scotland.

A tea house on the grounds of the Holyrood Palace.

A cottage on the grounds of the Holyrood Palace.

After visiting the Palace we went to the top of the Royal Mile to the Edinburgh Castle. It was here that our tour guide told us about how much Scotmen hate the movie Braveheart. He said that the movie gets history all wrong, especially with how Robert the Bruce is portrayed. It is really interesting how he put Robert the Bruce on a pedestal and sort of put William Wallace down. Who knows what really happened. I guess movies don't really portray historical facts! :) Haha!

Holyrood Palace (also called Palace of Holyroodhouse)

Our tour group walking into Edinburgh Castle.

Inside the grounds of Edinburgh Castle. The blonde guy was our Scottish tour guide.

A view of Edinburgh from the Castle.

How cute! A doggie cemetary!

A sleeping area inside the castle prison.

Another view of the Edinburgh Castle grounds.

After we left Edinburgh Castle, our tour of the city ended and we were allowed to roam free for a few hours. Erin and I took the opportunity to run back over to the Royal Mile and take a tour of the Edinburgh underground. There were a few of these tours but we chose the one where we got to walk Mary Queens Cross. The underground is reportedly haunted...although we didn't see a ghost, darn it!! This tour was one of my favorite things that we did on our trip. It was so full of history and was incredibly interesting. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a fascination with ghosts and creepy things.

When people actually lived in Mary Queens Cross (a narrow street) it wasn't actually underground but as time went by, the city built on top of the existing street. The poorer a person was, the lower down on the building their family lived. The peasants lived at the very bottom. The picture below is the actual street that people lived on. Of course the hand rails are a new addition for us tourists.

Erin and I striking a pose in the Edinburgh underground. It was really dark down there so the lighting was infrared or something like that.

The final thing that we did today was visit the Royal Britannia. This is the ship that the Queen of England lived on for many, many years. It is also the ship that Charles and Dianna used for their honeymoon.

The Queen's bedroom. I was floored when I saw this. If I was the Queen of England I would certainly have a bigger bed!!

The Dining room.

A formal sitting room.

Today was a long day but it was a wonderful one. I absolutely adore Scotland and I want to go back there some day!

Monsoon Fun

I'm taking a break from posting about my vacation...I'll get the second half up shortly. So consider this post a brief intermission.

Okay. I had a little visitor camping out in my backyard last night. It was time for bed so I went to call my dogs inside for the night. I noticed that my dog Coco was paying particular attention to the grill on my patio so after I more forcefully told her to get inside, I took a better look at the grill to see what was going on. I saw something big moving underneath of it. Now I was freaking out!

For those of you who know me know that I am a BIG scardy cat when it comes to creepy crawlies and critters of almost all types (especially the dreaded spider). Immediately I thought that the thing that had the nerve to hide under my grill was a tarantula. I went into instant protective mode (for myself or my dogs, I'm not sure) and shut the back door very forcefully. That would teach it!! But now I had a problem. If I ignored the critter than my dogs would hunt it down and kill it in the morning. What if it was something poisonous?

I decided to put on my big girl panties and take care of the problem. I shut my dogs in my bedroom so they wouldn't run out of the back door when I opened it and then I got my flashlight and a tupperware container and went hunting. After searching the area around my grill for a minute or two (and getting scared by the light of my flashlight...I was jumpy, what can I say?) this is what I found.

A FROG!! In my backyard!! How does this happen? I can understand snakes and spiders, crickets, and roaches...but frogs? This is the desert after all. Wierd! The only expanation is that it is monsoon time and my neighbors (who have been gone for quite awhile) have a pool in their backyard. Perfect place for frogs to live and breed.

I got my tupperware container and went into action. Thankfully frogs are not one of the critters that I am afraid of so it was easy to get it inside it's plastic prison. And I'm sure my neighbors were glad it wasn't a tarantula so they would not have to listen to me screaming bloody murder every time it twitched.




Now what should I do with it? I decided to march the frog through my house and out the front through my garage. It seemed like a better plan than tossing it over the wall and into my neighbor's pool or giving it a thrilling ride through the city septic system. I left it on the curb to fend for itself (or to hitch a ride to somewhere other than my backyard).


I was pretty proud of myself at this point. I took care of a critter problem without breaking down in hysterical sobs and saved my dogs from the fate of eating a potentially poisonous frog. I went back to the bedroom to free my dogs and guess what I found? Guess how they decided to reward me for saving their lives?

One of them PEED on my BED!!!! Yep...good times.

The Best of Britain and Ireland: Day 6

Hooray for Scotland!! I was so surprised that Scotland turned out to be my favorite place that we visited on the trip. I loved the scenery, the history, and of course the accents. The first thing we did this morning before entering Scotland was to visit a part of Hadrian's Wall in Northern England. This wall was built by the Romans as a military fortification of the northern border of their hold in Great Britain.

Hadrian's Wall

After leaving Hadrian's Wall we drove into Scotland and stopped at the border. We were greated by a bagpipe playing Scotsman dressed in the traditional kilt. I thought this was the perfect way to start our day in Scotland. :)

Our welcoming Scotsman...doesn't he look good in blue. ;)

Our next stop was a "comfort" stop but we got to view the beautiful Jedburgh Abbey founded by King David I in 1138.

Jedburgh Abbey

Our next stop for Lunch was in the town of Melrose. Of course they had an Abbey as well, the Melrose Abbey. It is said that the heart of Robert the Bruce is enshrined here. Pretty morbid but I learned that the Scots love Robert the Bruce (more on that tomorrow).

Melrose Abbey

Melrose Abbey

We walked around the town for awhile. It wasn't very big but there were some interesting shops. Erin bought some earrings there so she could say she got something on Melrose. ;)

Our next stop of the day was the grand city of Edinburgh. I would LOVE to visit there again! We were there for about a day and a half but there was so much that we didn't get to see. (I see another trip coming on!)

A beautiful building in Edinburgh

When walking towards the information center in Edinburgh, Erin and I passed some bagpipers playing their toons. I think I must be my father's daughter because I really liked hearing the echo of the bagpipes in the city. At the information center, we got a map of the city and began our plan of attack.

View from a bridge crossing over into Edinburgh old town

Erin and I decided to go walking the Royal Mile which is about 1 Scots mile running between the Edinburgh castle at the top and the Holyrood Abbey at the bottom. The roadway is very steep and is lined with tall buildings, cathedrals, and of course, many, many shops. One of the first shops we stopped in was a jewelry store where I got a bracelet made out of heather. The stems of the heather are bound together, shaved down, dyed pretty colors, polished up, and made to look like a stone.

A street view on the Royal Mile


A cathedral on the Royal Mile

A view of the city

Erin and I made our way back to the bus and after settling into our hotel room, we left for an excursion...a traditional Scotish night (at least that is what they called it). There was singing and dancing as well as story telling. At the end of the night they had the "Ceremony of the Haggis". Where they brought out this scary looking blob of something on a bed of antlers...yes you saw that right...antlers!! The host of the evening said something in Scots Gaelic over the haggis and then stabbed it with a sword. Then he ate some of it and invited all of us to try some. The waiters and waitresses brought us each a plate with a pile of haggis and a pile of mashed potatoes and turnips. So Erin and I decided to be brave and try it. It actually wasn't too bad. It was very spicy (I'm sure to hide whatever other flavors were in there). But I'm glad that I tried it...just to say that I did.

PROOF!! Erin and I tried Haggis.

Next Up: Another day in Edinburgh

The Best of Britain and Ireland: Day 5

The first thing our tour group did today before leaving Coventry was to visit the Coventry Cathedral. There are actually two cathedrals side by side. One is an older cathedral that was bombed during World War II. Only the ruins of the old cathedral stand today. The other is a newer cathedral built in late 1950s and early 1960s.

A view of the newer Coventry Cathedral.

The spire of the old cathedral.

Another view of the Coventry Cathedral.

Stained glass windows and a beautiful pink tree.

An ornate door.

What is left of a spiral staircase in the old Coventry Cathedral.

Forgive the nudity here. :) There is a local legend in Coventry about Lady Godiva who threatened to ride through the town naked if her husband raised taxes. Well, her husband ordered everyone in town to cover their eyes while his wife was on her "joy ride". Everyone did that except for good ol' Tom who snuck a peek (and was blinded as a result). Now in Coventry, every morning at 9am the clock chimes in the town center and depicts this interesting event. I think it looks like Tom is giving Godiva two thumbs up but apparently that is him covering his eyes. Consequently, this is where we get the term "Peeping Tom".

After leaving Coventry, we drove a few hours to the town of York. York is the most complete midevil city in England. There were narrow streets, really old buildings, and a wall around the entire city. The above picture is the view we saw when we were walking into the city center.

Here is a picture of our tour group. Christina, our tour director) is the brunette with her hand in front of her face (sorry I didn't get a better picture). When we walked through different cities, she would often stop us and tell us about the buildings we were walking by and about the local history. I'm not sure how she kept all of this information in her head but she was amazing with all of the stuff she knew.

A pretty park in York.

The York Castle Museum

York Minster (the largest gothic cathedral in Northern Europe)

After we left York we drove to Newcastle for the night. I was amazed at the differences in architecture between Southern and Northern England. Northern England is definitely more industrial. I was reminded of one of my favorite movies "North and South". If you haven't seen it (or read the book by Elizabeth Gaskell) you should. And by the way, I LOVE MR. THORNTON!! :)

After dinner, Erin and I were still ready to explore so we walked from the hotel down a very steep hill to the Tyne river.

A bridge that crosses the Tyne river in Newcastle

A cool looking building in Newcastle.

Next Up: Day 6 - Scotland