NEW HOME!

HOORAY!!! 
Introducing... The Gatlin's new home!

4 bedroom, 2 bath, stranded bamboo flooring, arched doorways, covered patio, pretty backyard... overlooking a private lake across the street complete with jogging trails and a park down the road.

...and the master closet. OH the master closet. "HELLO, LOVER." 3-rows high and extends the entire length of the bathroom and another @12feet around the corner... (...Garrett, honey, where will you keep your clothes? JK.)

We are moving in next week after we paint and get everything spotless (yes, Amanda the type-A-germophobe must have her way with it first).

Can't wait to have everyone over soon!

Cave dwellers suffer from oenophilia...

Oops. Just realized we never posted about the final leg of our Vancouver adventure... not surprising considering the week we just had! The night before we were to fly home, United Airlines suffered from a computer glitch that almost kept us grounded in Vancouver (Oh, darn the bad luck!)... after a few delays, we made it home safe and sound-- and those dirty TSA people finally let Amanda go through security without going through the full-body scan for the first time ever. Awesome.

(Tangent: Here's an image that will keep you awake at night... Thousands of tourists from all over the world sharing their assorted foot fungus walking through the same metal detector. BAREFOOT. Gross.)

Back to our story...

So, the group decided to go spelunking. Us crazy Americans think this is going to be some kind of "Carlsbad Caverns"-type tour, complete with refreshments, ramps/stairs, and maybe some interior lighting. No. Such. Thing. These two little teenage girls lead us uphill along a 5-mile steep slope like a herd of sweaty buffalo, to a little 2ft x 2 ft hole in the ground, where we strap on helmets with headlights. True Story.

...Journey to the Center of the Earth

As we crawled into the hole in the ground, we are immediately greeted with a 50-foot drop in which we are to descend down a rickety old iron ladder into a cold, damp, pitch-black nothingness. Our headlamps were our guide as we crawled on our hands and knees... this was not for the faint of heart...

 

 AND, ALAS, WE MADE IT OUT ALIVE...!!!!!

...And this is how Amanda felt about all that:

"ARE. YOU. SERIOUS."

So, we rewarded our effort with a little refreshing sippy-sip at a local winery (...WHAT?? NO PICTURES?? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN??)

However...

We did manage to snap some fun shots in front of this lake... Enjoy!

Heather, Laura, Amanda, Adi

<3, The Gatlins!

The Real World

It came to our attention this morning that if we had been the adult cast of a Real World season, we would have gotten poor ratings and canceled after the first day or so... why, you ask?... because -although 6 of us have been living under one roof and sharing 2 bathrooms- all of us are still alive and well! --Barely.

By now, you have heard about the Vancouver, B.C. riots... RIOTS... Yes, we were there. We didn't start that riot... it was always burning, since the world --oh, nevermind.

Our day in Vancouver. What to say about Vancouver. Shall we describe the charm of the resident transients? The exuberant energy of the Canuck fans? The aromatic scent of pot wafting in the breeze? The blue-haired tranny who served us toasted coconut prawns for lunch?

This is a view of the epicenter of the riots... CBC was broadcasting here. About an hour after this picture was taken, fans ripped down the screens and started beating each other with the pieces, flipping cars over & setting them on fire, and looting the local businesses. A good landmark is the "Canada Post" building... look for it in the pics at the news link below:

Toronto Sun (be sure to look at the pics in the slideshow)

Needless to say, Vancouver was a hot mess and we were glad to get out of there. Especially with views like this one waiting for us back at the ferry:

 

-----Moving on...

We have mentioned the culinary expertise of British Columbia... that even the fast-food fish'n'chips are to die for... but have we mentioned the DORITO FLAVORS?!?!?!

From left to right: Sweet Chili Heat, Onion Rings & Ketchup, Zesty Cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Will post more later-- Going Spelunking and wine/cheese tasting!

Je suis très fatigué...

Oooh-weeeee... The Gatlins and company are VERY tired. Have you ever seen the movie "The Sandlot"..? Well, do you remember when Squint's uncle chants.. "FOR-EV-ER...FOR-EV-ERRRR". Well. That's how long the days last here in Vancouver. Because we are in the waaaaay upper hemisphere of the world, the sun comes up around 5am and it doesn't get dark until 11pm. (And, ladies and gentlemen, that's why God invented black-out curtains.)

Not only did we stay up half the night last night acting like RA-TARDS...

 

We kept poor Adam awake giggling like little girls alllllllllllllll night long. Baaahahahaha!










 Chef Garrett was kind enough to wake up early and cook breakfast for the whole clan! (Ladies, he's handsome, he can cook, and he's alllll mine!)

TODAY's adventure. We hiked the entire Little Qualicum Falls park and THEN had high tea and crumpets at Queen Elizabeth's vacation home at the Milner Gardens. (True story, it is a little wisteria-covered cottage in the woods.. they had family snapshots everywhere, including one of Prince William as a baby with Charles and Di, ahhhh-dorable.)

There is a LOT of nature here. Meet Goober. Goober lives a simple life, a humble home beneath his cozy little toadstool... Goober likes to surprise unsuspecting American tourists... Little blonde American tourists, especially... Goober may look harmless, but he is lethal. One can only imagine the agonizing fear of accidentally stepping on him, and slipping and sliding down the side of a mountain to certain death...

While hiking through Qualicum Falls park, one must also beware of Velociraptors...

Tree gnomes....

... floating heads... Weird...

...So glad this (handsome!) photog made it out alive and in one piece!!!!!

Here's a few memorable photos of today's fun!

Laura & Amanda enjoying Qualicum Falls

Adi & Adam... the romance is still alive for these two! Just celebrated 6 years of marriage! :)

More of Qualicum falls...

High Tea & Crumpets with the Brits!

Pretty flowers ALL OVER this island... Smells so good here!

If you look reeeeally close, you can see the goats that live on this roof. Those crazy Canadians...

Snapshots on the table... far left is Charles, Baby William, & Di...

Another beautiful sunset!

Tomorrow......
Stay tuned for exploring the city of Vancouver. (VanCUTEver)
HURRY UP AND GET HERE BEAR AND HEATHER!!!!!! WE MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!

What a wonderful world...!

Just a few pictures of the beauty that surrounds us here!

Enjoying the sunset by the beach

Hummingbird

Bald Eagle flying overhead... (If you click on the image, it will expand to full screen and you can see it...) To say that watching a bald eagle soar through the air is AWESOME is an understatement. They are so graceful and powerful... swooping down into the water to catch fish... Beautiful.

Canadian geese... Which brings up an excellent question: If a Canadian goose is seen IN Canada, doesn't that make it "just a goose?"  --Just sayin'




Today... a hike, some waterfalls, high tea in the garden with the other Brits, ETC ETC  :)

Go (insert team name here)!!!!!!

While spending a few hours in Victoria, B.C. yesterday evening patiently awaiting the arrival of our dear friends Adam & Adrienne...

 We poked our heads into a little gem of a brewpub and discovered that -YES!- even Canadians watch Dallas Mavericks basketball!!!!!!!!!!! (GO MAVS!)

...And while we were cheering on the Mavs, the rest of Vancouver has been cheering on their team, The Canucks, who are competing in their championship game tonight to hopefully win the Stanley Cup!

 

Now... to say our first trip to the grocery store here in "Fwench Canadia Eh?" was an adventure is an understatement. They require you to deposit a Canadian quarter to "rent" your shopping cart... hillarious for a "Steuuuupid Amewicannnn" to try to figure out. (Thanks, sweet little old man for showing us the ropes.)

 

Adi "makes it rain"

 

Bargain Shopping... LOL

BAAAAHAHAHAHA! Garrett models the Canadian apparel...

Yum... Avoine Croquante!!!! ...Whatever that is!

Moose Sighting!!!!!!!

 MOOSE!!!!!!!!!!! (just kidding.)

Adi, Laura, and Amanda in Victoria, B.C.

Bonjour from B.C.!

Bonjour!

We have arrived at beautiful Vancouver Island, British Columbia in Canada!

Amanda has done a LOT of head shaking this trip...

Garrett does impressions. And there is a LOT of French influence here which leaves him with no shortage of material to work with. Everything is written with French subtitles.  ....which Garrett interprets for us in his "I'm a Jolly Frenchman" voice... which coincidentally sounds like a homosexual leprechan with a frog in its throat. (Insert: Amanda's Shaking Head...) There will be many shared SMH moments this trip, I'm sure.

We have also discovered a lot of NATURE here. (We have decided that if Hawaii and Colorado got together and had a baby it would be Vancouver Island.) Mountains, pine trees, beach, and TONS of flowers. Bald eagles everywhere, and unfortunately no moose-sightings yet. However, there is a hot tub right on the water, so a whale sighting is not completely ruled out at this point. Just kidding. (Are you shaking your head?)

We are definately in danger of coming home as big as whales, that's for sure! There are a TON of breweries and wineries here... This morning, many folks were having a morning lager with their breakfast (a custom that I'm sure would catch on in the states if more people visited here). The food is INCREDIBLE. Every meal is a work of art! Last night's dinner consisted of fire-roasted wild-caught fresh salmon, fresh garlic mussels, seafood chowder, and fresh bread with a white-bean garlic hummus spread. Oh. Have. Mercy.

Quick side trip: I seriously just heard one of the guys say this:
"...and it looks like Jesus, in armor, don't make me hit you with my Jesus hammer."
(OK, everybody... shake your head.)

Headed into town to go pick up Adam & Adi, so.... Au Revoir!

The Jolly Frenchman visits McDonalds

"What does this say???"

Happy Garrett at a brewpub in the SeaTac airport :)

Awwwwww....YEAH!

First Blog Entry!

The excitement over our upcoming vacation is absolutely killing us. I laugh as I write that because I'm instantly reminded of Heather's suggestion for the title of this blog ("Go Go, Gatlin!"). We are ALWAYS going somewhere... even if it's just to WalMart... and it is very likely that you will have to run to catch up.

On that note, countdown to Vancouver, B.C. is down to just 3 days... Woohoo! If there's one thing to know about the Gatlins, it is that Amanda comes with accessories. Lots of accessories. A purse, chapstick, sunglasses, cellphone, spare lipstick, kitchen sink... just kidding... so, as you can imagine, packing a week's worth of accessories into one small carry-on suitcase was quite a challenge. BUT, ladies and gentlemen let me present to you the 8th Wonder of the World... Amanda's suitcase, meticulously arranged with a week's worth of cool-weather clothing and matching footwear. Please, hold your applause until the end.
 (*Let it be known that Garrett also comes with accessories... for starters, a Tide pen. Gravity and Garrett are not exactly old friends... especially when Food gets involved. Turns out, Food and Gravity are great friends who like to pick on Garrett (poor guy). Cue the superhero music-- Tide Pen to the rescue!)

Anyway, let's take a walk down memory lane to cover some memorable vacation moments from the past 2 years or so...

 

Strolling down the beach in Maui

Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay

Biking through the perilous mountain peak of Haleakala

Freezing at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco

Breweries in Cali...

...and wineries in Napa

...and don't forget the bridge!!!

Roughing it in the woods of Lake Livingston and....

<--- Our most favorite adventure of all!






Anyway, as you can see, you need a seat belt for this ride... and maybe a crash helmet too. ...Go Go, Gatlin!