Some of you may not have met my mother-in-law - Gayle.
I have never met anyone so adventurous!
She lives part-time on the Gold Coast and part-time in the Keri-Keri on the beautiful Bay of Islands in New Zealand.
A few years back, she discovered house-swapping. Sounds terrifying - having people in your home. But, she has never had any troubles with people trashing her home. But, the good thing about house-swapping is that you get to stay in their home. She has stayed in places all over the world - free! How cool?
Anyway, the reason for this post is that in case you arent her friend on Facebook, you wont know where she is at the moment - at the Grand Canyon. She is so adventurous! Here are some pictures she has posted (hope you dont mind Gayle).

WOW!

What a beautiful view!

Typical!

Im sure she wouldnt mind me highlighting that as you can see, she is on the upper limit of the ages of people on this tour group. Gayle is super adventurous!

Did I mention that she was CAMPING on the base of the Grand Canyon?

So, at the outset, I mentioned that Kylie's mum does house swapping. This place is in suburban Las Vegas. This description is taken from her Facebook Post;
"This is just as you walk in the door of my house here in Vegas. It is real but any winnings stay in the house and if you run out of cash you have a key to get the money out."
LOL!

So, one of the things that she is doing is spying out the land for us. As you would know, we are going to Las Vegas later in the year so she is looking out for us for places that we should visit!

And, this morning, Kylie and I were SUPER excited to open our emails to get a voucher from Gayle for a "Romance Package at The Venetian Hotel" - we are very spoilt! Thank-you VERY much Gayle! Have a fantastic trip.

It seems like an eternity ago, but its been just over a week since the first meeting back in the newly renovated Kingdom Hall. As the title suggested, it isnt fully complete. The new chairs have not yet arrived, so the existing chairs were put back inside. The new chairs are going to look fantastic. So, once they are in place, Ill take some proper photos. But, until then, here are some pics for you.

Carpet tiles laid and looks fantastic! Funny that it looks alot the rendering (see previous post).

Feature Timber Panel

Love the new chairs and table. In fact, I love the chair so much that I bought one for our home.

Chairs back in the Kingdom Hall. They are green and dont look bad.

New Self-Serve magazine station and sliding notice board unit. New witnessing Artwork.

First meeting in renovated Kingdom Hall.

Now, did I tell you that Kylie and I are learning Hindi? That is the focus until we go on our trip.

If you are friends with me on Facebook or follow my Instagram account, you will know that we are renovating our Kingdom Hall at the moment. For everyone else - guess what! We are renovating our Kingdom Hall at the moment!

I am on the local committee so there was alot of work done before the reno started and there has been an enormous amount of work since then. Here are a few photos (sorry if you have already seen them).

A rendering of what the stage will look like

A brother in one of the congs is an experienced Revit user. So, he was able to put together this rendering to give a sneak-peak of what the stage will look like. I cant wait! But before we get to that .......

Its not often that you see this in a Kingdom Hall

The stage was built of reinforced concrete - designed to last i guess? We wanted to add a ramp, so part of the stage needed to be demolished.

All of the wing walls have now been removed - to open up the stage

Stage is all one level now

Here is the new ramp.

Outside, there was a step which made it difficult for prams and wheelchairs.

Not anymore!

There was carpet to dado height - this has been removed. Between you and I - I was never really a fan of that.

The carpet was removed from the foyer, ready for new tiles.

So, that was from the first weekend. ALOT of work was achieved. Just three more weekends to go.

Well, its 1:13am and I SHOULD be asleep. But, NO!

When we went to Korea/Japan/Thailand in 2009, we took our Compact Digital, Digital SLR and our Video Camera. That was NOT cool! Because I am related to my father, I was completely paranoid that we would lose one of the cameras. I remember it was within about an hour of travelling that I asked Kylie, quite panicked "HAVE YOU GOT THE CAMERA?" And, in the nicest possible way, she told me to stop asking.

It was SUPER annoying to carry around all of those cameras. So, I noticed one day that my workmate had her camera. Most importantly, it LOOKED COOL. So, I asked her questions about it. I researched it, I watched clips about it, spoke to KJ about it. Then yesterday, I asked her to bring it in so I could have a play with it. Which was today..... And, it was AH-MAY-ZING. I took video (HD) and photos with it.

And, so now......I just bought it. Kylie doesnt know yet. But, I guess she will hear about it when she reads this.... though, she wanted me to buy it when I first told her about it a few weeks ago, but purchases like this are a big deal for me.

So, hopefully it arrives soon.

Thats all. Seeya.

Oh, I guess you want to know what camera I bought?

Sony NEX5N.
According to the blurb....

The Sony Alpha NEX-5N Digital Camera with 18-55mm Lens is not a point-and-shoot and not a DSLR, but it holds its place in the market, intriguing those who want the flexibility that interchangeable lenses and numerous manual and creative features can give them, without having to lug around a huge DSLR body. The body is packaged along with an 18-55mm Sony lens, allowing you to start shooting right from day one.

Do you approve? Actually, if you dont, keep it to yourself!!!! Hahhahahaahahahah

Flights - check!
Accomodation - get back to you on that.....

I downloaded an app for the iPhone and iPad. Its pretty cool. Its called Worldmate. The app description is here.

So far, our Itinerary is
Melbourne | Sydney | Los Angeles | Salt Lake City | Las Vegas | New York  and then Montreal | Vancouver | Salt Lake City | Los Angeles | Home
We are flying between these places. However, between New York and Montreal, we have a few weeks where we will be driving to see the two Upstate Bethel homes, Id like to go to Washington DC to go to the US Holocaust Memorial Museam and Niagara Falls. Every day, Kylie sends me AWESOME places to stay on AirBnB - we have a few sorted out and a few still to sort out.

Me in 2001 visiting Walkill

 One of the reasons our flight over was on the cheaper side was because there is a 12 hour layover in LAX. So, what does one do when they have a 12 hour layover in LA? Go to.......

The Happiest Place on Earth? We'll See!

Disneyland! We fly in early in the morning, so we will get to Disney by about 12 and we fly out at 9:40pm, so I think we can stay until about 6. Im super excited about that! For anyone that has gone - what do you think; Should we go to Disneyland or Disney California Adventure Park? Kylie hasnt been to LA Disney and I havent been there since I was 13 (yes, that was a LONG, long, long time ago!).

When in Las Vegas, we have been looking at day tours to go to the Grand Canyon and go on the Skywalk. Have you heard about this? Check it out....

 

I first heard about this in an architecture magazine. Then, I saw a documentary about how it was constructed on the Nat Geo channel. Certainly an AMAZING way to see the Grand Canyon.

Our accomodation is not too far from the Main Strip in Las Vegas. There are numerous shows Id like to see - has anyone seen anything in Las Vegas recently?

When we are in New York, I want to see a show on Broadway. There are MANY I want to see. But the one at the TOP of the list is Spiderman: Turn off the Dark.

One of the features is that Spiderman flies above the audience. There are premium tickets called "Landing Zone"

Has anyone seen the show? I checked prices and hopefully there is a sale box to get them. Back in 2001, there was a TKTS box in Times Square - hopefully that still exists! The score for the show is written by Bono and The Edge, so it will be different to other musicals we have seen.

Anyway, if I write too much today, ill have nothing to write for the next four months....
Thanks for following and thanks for commenting. Makes me feel that others are actually reading this.

Wow! Its been a LONG time since I blogged. A LONG, LONG, LONG time!

Lots has happened since I blogged, but rather than catch you all up on everything that has gone on, Ill catch you up from whats going to happen in the future. And, as of today, the VERY exciting thing that is going to happen is our 2013 North American Odyssey.

Many of you will remember the last North American Odyssey I went on. It was in 2001 and I had this amazing photo taken.

This is a page from my photo album. Unfortunately, 10 days later, those 2 amazing architectural masterpieces were no more and almost 3000 people were killed.

So, the plan was to recreate the 2001 North American Odyssey with Kylie in 2011. But, that didnt happen. Let me take you a step back......

One of the things that have happened over the last four years is that Kylie has gotten involved in 'Stampin' Up' and she has done very well (as is to be expected.) What is Stampin Up? Well, its basically a company that supplies craft products. They supply paper and cardboard, ribbon, stamp sets in a variety of colours etc. Get the idea? Anyway, over the last four years, I have often been tearing my hair out. The picture below explains why....

Anyway, Kylie persevered. And, persevered. And, she is now a Senior Manager at Stampin Up. It used to be just a 'thing on the side' but, she has now quit her job and focuses on this. Her website is here. Check it out. Kylie sells some things on eBay and conducts classes. 

Another thing that happened this week is that Kylie was featured in the Stampin Up demonstrator magazine.

So, because of her perseverance, there was an incentive that was on offer for Stampin Up demonstrators. And, KYLIE ACHIEVED IT! What is the reward, I hear you ask? Well, it is a TRIP to Salt Lake City  FOR HER and ME! And, today, we confirmed dates and flights. So, it is REAL! 

While we are in North America, we are going to visit a few extra places to recreate the 2001 North American Odyssey and add some extra places (Las Vegas, New York City, Niagara Falls, Montreal, Vancouver). Im still without speech that the biggest expense (flights) are covered by the company. Im still expecting the bill ...... but it wont be coming. Without speech I am!

We will no doubt visit some extra places and we have purposely left some space between flights to allow for trips

For example, while we are in Vancouver visiting our great friends Greg and Maureen, we are taking advantage of being over the other side of the world are doing another one of our new favourite pasttimes - Cruising! We are going on a cruise to Alaska. The prices are so much better on that side of the world, particularly at high season. 

Additionally, a few months ago, our friends Travis and Annette went to Europe. They told us about this website that they booked their travel with - Air BnB. Now, I never told them this, but I have to admit that I was worried that they were going to get there and nothing would be confirmed or the accomodation would be terrible. But, their accomodation was at a greatly discounted rate. And, everything was better than expected. I read an article in The Age about AirBnB today, which was REALLY interesting. So, we have found some really nice places at half the price of the hotels in the area.

So, id love to hear about some places you think we should go to in those cities and nearby. Add comments with your suggestions.

So, I might add some blog posts about other stuff weve done recently.