2007: The Year In Travel

Travellerblogue is back up and running and she got me thinking about our travels in 2007. The first 4 months of 2007 were spent traveling around on our honeymoon/post-PhD trip. We started the year off at the beach in Boracay (with Squirt, Kim, and a gaggle of my cousins), then went to Laos via Bangkok for 10 days. Upon our return to Manila we went on an eco tour to the rice terraces of the Philippines with another cousin. We took the opportunity to go to Sagada again and then made our way to Baguio (to visit yet another cousin… sense a theme?).

February saw us back in Manila with trips to Batanes and Bicol. Then we were stateside- first to CA to meet the newest pamangkin, then off to the east coast where we visited family and friends in NH, PA, NY, and RI. In the middle of our stay on the east coast Damon jetted to interviews at Arizona and Utah and I went back to CA to help out with Gavin and Connor while my dad was in the Philippines.

March had us on a new continent with a trip to Rio de Janeiro to visit Jesse and Nanda. We spent 2 weeks exploring Rio and Itatiaia Park. In April we were back to NY for a whirlwind day and a half of unpacking from summer and packing for spring and off to England, Slovenia, and Croatia for a week. A few days back in NY to see Anne of Green Gables and then it was back to the working world.

The first weekend back in Seattle… I flew to CA to meet Damon, got our car from Maia’s house, and roadtripped “home” via Portland. We spent May enjoying the Pacific Northwest with a trip to Victoria and Mount Rainier. The end of May/beginning of June put us on the east coast for Damon’s college reunion.

July was getting ready for our move, a trip to Vancouver, BC for a cousin’s engagement party, and a trip to RI and MA for Damon’s parents’ birthdays and grandmother’s memorial service . We moved to Utah the last week of July, just in time to fly to the midwest for a wedding in Indiana. Before Damon re-entered the working world we snuck in one more trip- this time the annual family trip to Maine.

I was back up in Seattle for work in August and we went to Austin for the Austin City Limits Festival in September. In October I was back in Seattle for work (and my licensing exam) and Damon met up with me there for a weekend. Lest November be the first month of 2007 I didn’t get on a plane, I went to Atlanta to visit some college friends. 2007 ended on the east coast- mostly based out of Providence but with quick trips to NH, MA, PA, and NJ.

Looks like there are still some adventures from 2007 to post about…

I.O.U.S.A.

Sunday afternoon Katie and I were able to get waitlist tickets to a Sundance screening of I.O.U.S.A. The film discusses the national debt through a non-partisan discussion of how we got to where we are, where we are, and where it looks like we’re heading. The film features Comptroller General of the US, David Walker (head of the Government Accountability Office) and Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition.They have been traveling the United States educating the public about the national debt as part of the Fiscal Wake Up Tour along with members of the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation, Committee for a Responsible Federal Government, and Committee for Economic Development.

Like many people, I knew that the federal debt was large. But $9 trillion? In fiscal year 2006, the interest on the debt was $227 billion. That’s $227,000,000,000. Did you know that the only time the US hasn’t had a national debt was 1835? A combination of an aging population about to cash in on the Medicare and Medicaid benefits they’ve paid for and large national budget deficits mean trouble. Without changes to our fiscal policy, future generations will be paying off this debt.

I.O.U.S.A. does a great job of presenting the facts and historical context of an issue that should be one of the most important campaign issues for 2008. If you have the opportunity to see it, I highly recommend it.

Sundance Visitors!

This past week was filled with visitors- my co-worker Renee coming through at the tail end of her leave of absence, another co-worker Katie coming to enjoy the winter before a potential move to Australia, our friend from grad school, Wendy, who was visiting her parents and a boys’ weekend for Damon, some college buddies (Eli, Henry, and Craig), Damon’s cousin Timmy, Damon’s childhood friend Phil and 2 of Phil’s buddies. The boys rented a place up by Park City so I didn’t get to see many of them.

In addition to great skiing at Snowbird, Solitude, and Brighton, I got to check out a few films at Sundance. Friday night we went up to Park City and strolled along Main Street before heading to see King of Ping Pong, a Swedish film about a teenager. The movie was good overall- we missed what I think was probably a key point when Main Street lost power for several minutes. Last night Wendy and I watched a shorts program which was decent- but not my favorite. The Fact Checking Unit short was pretty funny- and Bill Murray was featured in it which was a nice touch. More later on the movie that I really loved this weekend.

Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful…

To celebrate my (Sarah’s) birthday, we hit the slopes again today.  In December it took us about 45 minutes to get up to Alta.  Today it took almost 2 hours.  Traffic in Little Cottonwood Canyon was crawling- because they were doing a 4×4/chains check-point.  So, we got to learn how to put the chains on our car.  14 inches of snow fell in 12 hours.  Here’s what it looked like on the slopes:

Here’s what it looked like on our car when I went to go get it… 2 hours after we intended to leave because they had closed the road to the resort for avalanche control:

I put some thoughts on 2007 here but haven’t managed to load photos up to it yet.