Wedded Bliss and the stuff before.
Posted by Casey Cash on Saturday, July 28, 2012
We left you dangling in Hong Kong back in June 2011. Since then, a lot has happened. To give you the shortened run-down...
We ran the Olympic Day Race at Disney Land Hong Kong. We both finished in times better than we expected and were quite happy. We also saw a population of pink dolphins living in the Hong Kong harbor. These guys are endangered and are legitimately pink. Also witnessed two Dragon Boat competitions, spent a lot of money in an arcade playing games with crazy Asian grandmothers and eventually left for mainland China after a month's stay in a luxury hotel.
Phase 2 of China started out in Xi'An seeing the Terracotta Warriors. Much cooler than we expected. We also road a double bike around the city wall, stopped at a drum tower and ate some tasty street food. Ironically, we both got incredibly sick from McDonalds... This resulted in one of the most morally devastating train rides for me (Casey) as we traveled 15 hours to Beijing with the most critical of upset stomachs and fevers. Once in Beijing, I attempted one calligraphy class and found myself the following day in the hospital with horrible food poisoning. That left us with 4 days to do it all- Olympic Stadium, Great Wall, a noodle making class, a trip to Hooters Beijing (only American food around), the Chinese Hutongs and a Chinese Opera.
After sitting in an airport overnight with the rats back in Kunming, we then flew to Kathmandu, Nepal and stayed with some of the most incredible people at a hostel. While in Nepal we visited yet another monkey temple, ate Momos (Water Buffalo), went white water rafting (class 4), visited Pokhara, hiked near Anapurna, ate at a local place, went to a concert, and flew around Mt. Everest. Nepal was amazing and has since been recollected as one of our favorite destinations. We made a promise to Charlena and An'akla (hostel owners) that we'd return and I hope we follow through.
After we left Nepal, we went to India. Very disappointing. Or...perhaps travelers burn-out. At this point, we had already booked our surprise flights back to the USA...more on that later. I got henna on both hands, apparently the good kind because many locals commented. Andrew bought two shisha pipes (which gave us difficulty through customs). We took a private car to the Taj Mahal, which is when we discovered the solution to heavy traffic---drive on the other side of the road against traffic! It's a little more dangerous, but our driver got us there really fast. Taj Mahal is more impressive in books as it was about half the size as we expected. Pretty - yes... but worth a separate trip to Delhi? Not entirely convinced. We left India slightly disgusted by all the poverty, sense of entitlement, and the blatant con artists. A flight through Paris allowed us to pick up some Cuban Cigars and then we arrived back in the states almost exactly one year ago.
Back in the states-we surprised both sets up parents by showing up on their doorstep. We made it back in time for Maebel and Annaliese (Andrew's brother's girls) to be born. We then took off for a mini adventure with friends to Costa Rica, during which time Olivia and Isabelle were born (Casey's brother's twins). Costa Rica was much more laid back after a global trip. We went horseback riding around a volcano (Andrew was almost thrown). We went white water rafting class 4-5 rapids (Casey fell in). We also went zip-lining (not entirely impressed). The last leg of the trip found us relaxing and drinking too much poolside. We had a blast, but are not likely to return to Costa Rica over some of the other places we've visited.
After returning to Florida, we packed up a U-Haul and headed north permanently. Oh...and one slight detail that I missed....
Andrew asked me to marry him in Hong Kong in front of the Mickey Mouse fountain with Aladdin's "I can show you the world" playing in the background. So, once home...we were planning a wedding. All of the preparations took place over a short period of time and we were married just this past June. We had a great time with our family and friends in that short four-day stint to Orlando. It was not the traditional wedding by any means, but it was great to see everyone having a good time. Highlights--- The BierGarten Rehearsal Dinner, the Hoop-Dee-Doo dinner reception and the spot light dance, and of course... the ceremony and cute little Hans with the ring pillow. I also thoroughly enjoyed watching my oldest nieces / flower girls transform from little girls to little princesses at the Bippity Boppity Boutique in Cinderella's castle. Everything was amazing and I think I can speak for Andrew when I say...We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives!
Two weeks later we went on the Oasis of the Seas through Royal Caribbean. It's the world's biggest ship, which sounds impressive, but we weren't really impressed. Don't get me wrong, we had a blast and really enjoyed ourselves, but it seemed like the extra charm that makes cruises so special just wasn't there. I did try the on board knee boarding and wiped out after a few seconds with a sore left knee...getting old. We stopped over in the Bahamas, St Thomas, and St. Maarten. Our favorite-- St. Thomas. We went snorkeling with Green Turtles (favorite of mine) and were very close to them when the surfaced. We also managed to see an octopus on the move.
We are now officially done with travel...for now. The next few trips will be strictly domestic and include New York and Tampa--- our other two homes. Our new goal--- the Disney World Marathon in January 2013. As for our next adventure--- the Inca Trail seems to be the most recent topic of discussion...but we shall see. Adios for now.
We ran the Olympic Day Race at Disney Land Hong Kong. We both finished in times better than we expected and were quite happy. We also saw a population of pink dolphins living in the Hong Kong harbor. These guys are endangered and are legitimately pink. Also witnessed two Dragon Boat competitions, spent a lot of money in an arcade playing games with crazy Asian grandmothers and eventually left for mainland China after a month's stay in a luxury hotel.
Phase 2 of China started out in Xi'An seeing the Terracotta Warriors. Much cooler than we expected. We also road a double bike around the city wall, stopped at a drum tower and ate some tasty street food. Ironically, we both got incredibly sick from McDonalds... This resulted in one of the most morally devastating train rides for me (Casey) as we traveled 15 hours to Beijing with the most critical of upset stomachs and fevers. Once in Beijing, I attempted one calligraphy class and found myself the following day in the hospital with horrible food poisoning. That left us with 4 days to do it all- Olympic Stadium, Great Wall, a noodle making class, a trip to Hooters Beijing (only American food around), the Chinese Hutongs and a Chinese Opera.
After sitting in an airport overnight with the rats back in Kunming, we then flew to Kathmandu, Nepal and stayed with some of the most incredible people at a hostel. While in Nepal we visited yet another monkey temple, ate Momos (Water Buffalo), went white water rafting (class 4), visited Pokhara, hiked near Anapurna, ate at a local place, went to a concert, and flew around Mt. Everest. Nepal was amazing and has since been recollected as one of our favorite destinations. We made a promise to Charlena and An'akla (hostel owners) that we'd return and I hope we follow through.
After we left Nepal, we went to India. Very disappointing. Or...perhaps travelers burn-out. At this point, we had already booked our surprise flights back to the USA...more on that later. I got henna on both hands, apparently the good kind because many locals commented. Andrew bought two shisha pipes (which gave us difficulty through customs). We took a private car to the Taj Mahal, which is when we discovered the solution to heavy traffic---drive on the other side of the road against traffic! It's a little more dangerous, but our driver got us there really fast. Taj Mahal is more impressive in books as it was about half the size as we expected. Pretty - yes... but worth a separate trip to Delhi? Not entirely convinced. We left India slightly disgusted by all the poverty, sense of entitlement, and the blatant con artists. A flight through Paris allowed us to pick up some Cuban Cigars and then we arrived back in the states almost exactly one year ago.
Back in the states-we surprised both sets up parents by showing up on their doorstep. We made it back in time for Maebel and Annaliese (Andrew's brother's girls) to be born. We then took off for a mini adventure with friends to Costa Rica, during which time Olivia and Isabelle were born (Casey's brother's twins). Costa Rica was much more laid back after a global trip. We went horseback riding around a volcano (Andrew was almost thrown). We went white water rafting class 4-5 rapids (Casey fell in). We also went zip-lining (not entirely impressed). The last leg of the trip found us relaxing and drinking too much poolside. We had a blast, but are not likely to return to Costa Rica over some of the other places we've visited.
After returning to Florida, we packed up a U-Haul and headed north permanently. Oh...and one slight detail that I missed....
Andrew asked me to marry him in Hong Kong in front of the Mickey Mouse fountain with Aladdin's "I can show you the world" playing in the background. So, once home...we were planning a wedding. All of the preparations took place over a short period of time and we were married just this past June. We had a great time with our family and friends in that short four-day stint to Orlando. It was not the traditional wedding by any means, but it was great to see everyone having a good time. Highlights--- The BierGarten Rehearsal Dinner, the Hoop-Dee-Doo dinner reception and the spot light dance, and of course... the ceremony and cute little Hans with the ring pillow. I also thoroughly enjoyed watching my oldest nieces / flower girls transform from little girls to little princesses at the Bippity Boppity Boutique in Cinderella's castle. Everything was amazing and I think I can speak for Andrew when I say...We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives!
Two weeks later we went on the Oasis of the Seas through Royal Caribbean. It's the world's biggest ship, which sounds impressive, but we weren't really impressed. Don't get me wrong, we had a blast and really enjoyed ourselves, but it seemed like the extra charm that makes cruises so special just wasn't there. I did try the on board knee boarding and wiped out after a few seconds with a sore left knee...getting old. We stopped over in the Bahamas, St Thomas, and St. Maarten. Our favorite-- St. Thomas. We went snorkeling with Green Turtles (favorite of mine) and were very close to them when the surfaced. We also managed to see an octopus on the move.
We are now officially done with travel...for now. The next few trips will be strictly domestic and include New York and Tampa--- our other two homes. Our new goal--- the Disney World Marathon in January 2013. As for our next adventure--- the Inca Trail seems to be the most recent topic of discussion...but we shall see. Adios for now.