August

Missed updating stuff on here from August, but it was very busy! My month of vacation after completing my degree :)

We went to the US from Oslo via Brussels and Toronto. We landed in Toronto, and were picked up by Mom and Dad after numerous customs checks. Driving over the border was another experience - 30+ minutes of questioning and even a vehicle search! But we got home and Carolyn made us a great scallop dinner. The second night home a few good friends from high school came over. It is always nice that every time I go home I can be sure that they will stop by to say hello and catch up. The first week home was reserved for my best friend Katie's wedding. It was a lot of fun and a great kick off to our vacation...and Marius was the belle of the ball!


After the wedding we spent a couple of days with my Mom's side in the Grand Rapids area. But Marius was mostly excited about seeing Florida. We flew into Fort Lauderdale and Divya met us there. We rented a couple of cars and drove to the Keys. We camped two nights at Big Pine Fishing Lodge and the following two nights at Bahia Honda State Park. We snorkeled and visited Key West during our time in the Keys. Aunt Janine and Uncle Jerry joined us down there for the last two days as well. And the final few days in Florida were spent with cousin Jennifer and Shawn in Fort Myers. Marius became very excited about potentially living in Florida! I think Divya enjoyed this alternative US vacation with the Diaz family :)

[Key deer at our campsite on Big Pine]
[Divya and the gators]
[Family Photo on Sanibel Island - The Diaz side]
[Drinks at Hog's Breath Saloon]
[Group picture on the Old Bahia Honda Bridge]
[Bahia Honda]
The final part of our North American vacation was an overnight in Toronto. We managed to sneak 5 of us in a suite - Mom felt pretty sneaky! We walked around the Distillery District and the next day Marius and I went up the CN Tower (flippin expensive at $32 per person!). I would write more details about the whole trip, but the people reading this already know what we did on vacation ;) 



Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 5, 2013 at 8:02 PM

    Not to mention Mom's "I threw my cup out already!"
    on the snorkel/sunset cruise to the reef at happy hour.

    ReplyDelete
  2. hannahSeptember 21, 2013 at 4:52 AM

    I don't know!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JustineSeptember 21, 2013 at 8:14 AM

      Haha sorry, I got lazy Hannah. But that was the jist of it. :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This week on M/S Brennholm

Image
[There's something wrong with the synchrony of the acoustics] My job aboard Brennholm is to work on the acoustic part of my thesis. So I am practicing some sonar and echo sounder scrutinozing. I am also relating the mackerel movement to the currents, but this will be hard since mackerel are so hard to see at all on any of the acoustic equipment since they lack a swim bladder. It is nice to just have a 7:30 to 10 work day though and I have my supervisor right next to me for help. Everyone on the cruise has gained weight, and despite doing some exercise almost everyday I am no exception. We are feed too well on the boats and you don't move around too much. (I was even convinced to try salted and dried whale meat from the Faroes. I stayed far away from the blubber!!) At least I have been able to run 13.5 km the past couple of days with the calm seas. There aren't many options for exercise on this ship compared to G.O. Sars. [The "gym" in the bow of th
Read more

Pancho is 6 months and I'm finally published!

Image
Work is going fine. My boss has given me some lab activities to keep me interested in my work, so I'm testing antibodies. The positive control turned out as expected, but it is such a pretty staining that I have to share the picture. This is an embryo of a starlet sea anemone ( Nematostella sp.) approximately 30 hours old. The green is actin (a protein in cell walls), the blue is nuclei, and the red/pink is clusters of DNA. There are some pretty examples of cell division in this embryo! Also, as of a couple weeks ago I'm officially a published scientist! ....well, the paper has been accepted for publication, so it will likely not be in the journal before next year. The journal is called ICES Journal of Marine Science. Furthermore, this weekend the mountains got a nice thick layer of snow, so I took Pancho up for his first time in a proper bit  of snow (not counting the icy leftovers that were on Jutenheimen this summer). He's now 6 months old and weighs bout 34
Read more

Smalahove

Image
Many Norwegian traditions are distinctly regional. Even recipes are variable by region to go along with dialects that can be different by town separated by just 50 kilometers. This tradition, that both Marius and I were new to trying, was from a town just about an hour and a half east of Bergen called Voss....smalahove, or half of a sheep's head that is cooked in a broth for several hours. Smalahove comes from two Norwegian words: smale = sheep, and hove = head. It is served before Christmas with potatoes, mashed rutabaga, and red cabbage. Many of my friends were telling me that the cheek is supposed to be the best part, and others were saying that they wouldn't dare eat it. So I can now say that I have done something that many other Norwegians haven't dared try. I actually really enjoyed it! It had a texture like corned beef and had a very nice flavor. Marius went as far as to try the tongue, and thought that eating the eye was a normal thing, so tried that as well...bu
Read more