Spring/Summer 2007 Travel Part 2 (Work)

Ottawa

I had a work trip to Ottawa in June and it was beautiful! It's only two hours north of the 1000 Islands so I hope we can make side trips while we are at our trailer there. So many pretty pictures I had trouble deciding which to post. (Unfortunately I didn't get one of the nude cyclists - must have been some sort of protest, but I was walking down the street with a bunch of the doctors and other staff attending the meeting when they rode by!).


These pictures are Canada's parliament, our meeting hotel (very historic), fruit at a farmer's market, and POUTINE! (french fries covered in gravy and cheese curds ... yum)
Orlando
For three years in a row, I ended up going to Orlando in the summer for work. That's what happens when you work for and with nonprofits (hot and sticky = undesireable = cheap). But I've learned to love 1) The Universal Studios Royal Pacific Hotel (I was going to link to it but they have nasty music on the pages so I won't torture you), 2) the Emeril Lagasse restaurant there, 3) the Spiderman ride at Universal (so cool), and 4) the fact that with a room key from the hotel, you get to go to the front of the lines automatically in the park. Steven and I did the parks two years in a row - yes, we are too old for that, but it's fun and you feel special walking past all the common people waiting in the heat.

Oh and I was working (almost forgot). I "presented" a poster at an AAP conference. about teaching pediatric residents about advocacy, which is something I do. Here's a picture of it.

Spring/Summer 2007 Travel Part 1 (Fun)

Busy spring and summer! Lots of trips for fun and work (which are also fun - I'm not the type to sit in the hotel room and order room service much). Here's are two of the fun ones:

Fort Lauderdale

The only reason I go to here is because I had a Southwest ticket I canceled and the credit was going to expire, so I had to go somewhere (that was in 2006). So I went to Fort Lauderdale. I had low expectations - thinking "Spring Break." But it's really nice and now it's an annual trip for me. Amazing houses on the canals. Food wasn't great this trip. This is photo of a hot, hazy day at the beach two blocks from my little hotel, with a cruise ship in the background (some of them look huge in the water - it's kind of surreal).

Las Vegas

No surprises I took advantage of a chance to go to Vegas! Kathy and Jim did their March trip and I joined them. It was really fun because I helped take Kathy out of her element there - she usually doesn't leave the strip (and Jim doesn't leave the sports book) but I always have a rental car, so we explored some other areas and casinos and visited one of Kathy's coworkers who moved out there. Here's Kathy with a martini at a restaurant near Green Valley Ranch (we had fondue!). The second picture is a great memory - we are driving down the highway and this motorcycle shoots past us with a bodybuilder driving it and a woman in a bikini/thong on the back seat. I'm sure they were just going to work like any other day. Only in Las Vegas.