tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29961436553242596892011-07-07T21:39:16.467-07:00Live vicariously!!!Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comBlogger1061100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-81256969660072785732010-09-04T18:49:00.001-07:002010-09-04T18:49:26.373-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/TIL3J4BAHpI/AAAAAAAAAjI/NaTTAcKCPqA/s1600/zhong+4-766374.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/TIL3J4BAHpI/AAAAAAAAAjI/NaTTAcKCPqA/s320/zhong+4-766374.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513240642882379410" /></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8125696966007278573?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-75704584791765480022010-09-04T18:48:00.001-07:002010-09-04T18:48:05.023-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/TIL21a1lgNI/AAAAAAAAAjA/QgEINr_YyU8/s1600/ZhongCheng-785024.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/TIL21a1lgNI/AAAAAAAAAjA/QgEINr_YyU8/s320/ZhongCheng-785024.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513240291452485842" /></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-7570458479176548002?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-3437996693160722582010-09-04T18:41:00.001-07:002010-09-04T18:41:51.054-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/TIL1X267jWI/AAAAAAAAAi4/oLrWu2orJSo/s1600/2010-08-07+20.17.00-711055.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/TIL1X267jWI/AAAAAAAAAi4/oLrWu2orJSo/s320/2010-08-07+20.17.00-711055.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513238684083391842" /></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-343799669316072258?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-36713043021509830282010-09-04T18:16:00.002-07:002010-09-04T18:34:09.604-07:00I can't believe it has been a year since I have posted to this blog. I have been posting to my http://www.unlockyourwealth.com one since I have just worked my tail off for the last year. My membership website went from a dream last spring to reality this August. We are still uploading tons of content each and everyday to make sure the subscribers feel as though they are really getting their money's worth.<br /><br />I have a new right hand man, he is actually a she and left handed, and my life is much simpler professionally as she takes care of most of the ops details and quality controls everything that goes out under the the Unlock Your Wealth brand and that is so huge for me. I have a book out that I co-authored with some pretty famous folks called Yes You Can! and my chapter focuses on personal empowerment. I have another one coming out this fall call Bushido Business another co-author book where I write about mastering your personal finances for professional success and I begin to unveil my Five Minutes for Financial Wellness formula. My own personal finance book will be out sometime next spring somewhere in the second quarter.<br /><br />We did a neat 2500 mile motorcycle ride this summer to Jackson Hole Wyoming and back with some exciting stops along the way. Fred and I took turns riding the bike and Leonard drove the truck with the boys and the luggage.<br /><br />"The Hub" as I refer to him on Twitter in my posts, and I are facilitating a 300 level university business class at the U of A in the spring on Sports Marketing Entrepreneurship. He will finally get to pass on his wealth of knowledge to the next generation and inspire a bunch of skulls full of mush and ambition to hopefully do something that will make their parents get a return on that college tuition investment.<br /><br />Last but not least, we have a baby. A baby doggie that it. We adopted a miniature Chinese Shar Pei. His name is Zhong Cheng and it stands for loyalty and honor in Mandarin Chinese and he lives up to his name. He is always right by our side. We are training him to be a diabetic service dog. He goes just about everywhere with us now and is super well mannered and good in restaurants and it seems the noisier it is, the better he sleeps when we are out. He just turned 17 weeks old Friday and is just a charmer.<br /><br />Hope all is well with you and I will make it a point to update this more often this coming 12 months. Ciao for Now!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-3671304302150983028?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-48533969797430140602009-07-28T12:34:00.001-07:002009-07-28T12:26:02.320-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/Sm9Qyg05MwI/AAAAAAAAAio/0mOTqJySmeo/s1600-h/bm-image-762325.jpe"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/Sm9Qyg05MwI/AAAAAAAAAio/0mOTqJySmeo/s320/bm-image-762325.jpe" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363594509957018370" /></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-4853396979743014060?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-41327260000277388762009-07-28T12:34:00.000-07:002009-07-28T12:25:36.387-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/Sm9QsO5hhgI/AAAAAAAAAig/ymM0ortxqcY/s1600-h/bm-image-736392.jpe"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/Sm9QsO5hhgI/AAAAAAAAAig/ymM0ortxqcY/s320/bm-image-736392.jpe" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363594402065384962" /></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-4132726000027738876?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-7342673257076445562009-07-28T12:32:00.000-07:002009-07-28T12:24:00.409-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/Sm9QUDHAWYI/AAAAAAAAAiY/lj10WqcgP04/s1600-h/bm-image-740413.jpe"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/Sm9QUDHAWYI/AAAAAAAAAiY/lj10WqcgP04/s320/bm-image-740413.jpe" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363593986583845250" /></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-734267325707644556?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-63159921302917720592009-07-26T19:58:00.000-07:002009-07-26T19:48:53.222-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/Sm0VlRzOmpI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/WHoo0pT7vV8/s1600-h/bm-image-733225.jpe"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/Sm0VlRzOmpI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/WHoo0pT7vV8/s320/bm-image-733225.jpe" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362966461445741202" /></a></p>nothing better than having dinner with friends who proceed to tell you about their fish pedicure while in Singapore!!!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6315992130291772059?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-66524803840964460662009-07-08T19:34:00.000-07:002009-07-08T19:26:29.701-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlVVVa0M35I/AAAAAAAAAiI/2S3vMYEhHh8/s1600-h/bm-image-789705.jpe"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlVVVa0M35I/AAAAAAAAAiI/2S3vMYEhHh8/s320/bm-image-789705.jpe" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356281158290956178" /></a></p>this is Fred from back in his &quot;Farrah&quot; days when he owned FW Spas. A restaurant named Don at Don and Charlies has this caricature istill up in the bar where Fred started the owner collecting sports memorabilia. To all the &#39;59ers...we are looking for our road trip back for the reunion and drag race!!!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6652480384096446066?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-57414353589095670522009-07-06T08:44:00.001-07:002009-07-06T08:45:24.105-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlIcFLECBGI/AAAAAAAAAiA/JQrgrXg_lS8/s1600-h/DSC01106-724107.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlIcFLECBGI/AAAAAAAAAiA/JQrgrXg_lS8/s320/DSC01106-724107.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355373782091564130" /></a></p><div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'>Heather Wagenhals<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'>Designated Broker<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>HQ Real Estate and Investment, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>6401 E Thomas Road<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Scottsdale, AZ 85251<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(480) 522-1066 Office<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(888) 981-9991 Toll Free Fax<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'><a href="www.hqrealestateandinvestment.com" title="HQ Real Estate and Investment, LLC">www.hqrealestateandinvestment.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'>Buy and Sell real estate in a whole new way!<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Heather Wagenhals is a celebrated columnist, Radio Talk Show Host For Unlock Your Wealth&reg; Radio, member of the National Speakers Association, certified NLP Practicioner and Author of the Unlock Your Wealth&reg; crisis management and financial wellness series targeted to those who desire financial independence AND a road map to get there. Heather seeks to give her readers and radio audience the tools to create or fix every area of one&#8217;s financial life in a positive, no nonsense way.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Unlock Your Wealth&reg; Foundation, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>6401 E Thomas Road #106<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Scottsdale, AZ 85251<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(480) 522-1066 Office<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(888) 981-9991 Toll Free Fax<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'><a href="http://www.unlockyourwealth.com/">www.unlockyourwealth.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth"><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=164 height=147 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01C9FD54.BFD446D0" alt="UYW Sig Little"></span></i></a><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:black'><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth">CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HEATHER</a></span></i><u><span style='color:blue'><o:p></o:p></span></u></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><u><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:blue'><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth">LIVE ON SATURDAYS AT 10:00AM</a></span></u></i><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:red'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Webdings; color:green'>P</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:navy'> </span><b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";color:green'>Go Green!</span></b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:green'>&nbsp; Please do not&nbsp;print this e-mail unless it</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:green'> is completely necessary</span><b><u><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:7.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#970623'> </span></u></b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#970623'><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText>&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText>Your message is ready to be sent with the following file or link attachments:<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText>DSC01106<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText>Note: To protect against computer viruses, e-mail programs may prevent sending or receiving certain types of file attachments.&nbsp; Check your e-mail security settings to determine how attachments are handled.<o:p></o:p></p> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-5741435358909567052?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-82398838424601883362009-07-06T08:44:00.000-07:002009-07-06T08:45:14.084-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlIcCu3aEuI/AAAAAAAAAh4/qm_Kz7xQflQ/s1600-h/DSC01269-714085.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlIcCu3aEuI/AAAAAAAAAh4/qm_Kz7xQflQ/s320/DSC01269-714085.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355373740162683618" /></a></p><div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'>Heather Wagenhals<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'>Designated Broker<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>HQ Real Estate and Investment, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>6401 E Thomas Road<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Scottsdale, AZ 85251<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(480) 522-1066 Office<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(888) 981-9991 Toll Free Fax<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'><a href="www.hqrealestateandinvestment.com" title="HQ Real Estate and Investment, LLC">www.hqrealestateandinvestment.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'>Buy and Sell real estate in a whole new way!<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Heather Wagenhals is a celebrated columnist, Radio Talk Show Host For Unlock Your Wealth&reg; Radio, member of the National Speakers Association, certified NLP Practicioner and Author of the Unlock Your Wealth&reg; crisis management and financial wellness series targeted to those who desire financial independence AND a road map to get there. Heather seeks to give her readers and radio audience the tools to create or fix every area of one&#8217;s financial life in a positive, no nonsense way.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Unlock Your Wealth&reg; Foundation, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>6401 E Thomas Road #106<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Scottsdale, AZ 85251<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(480) 522-1066 Office<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(888) 981-9991 Toll Free Fax<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'><a href="http://www.unlockyourwealth.com/">www.unlockyourwealth.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth"><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=164 height=147 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01C9FD55.0C832AA0" alt="UYW Sig Little"></span></i></a><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:black'><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth">CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HEATHER</a></span></i><u><span style='color:blue'><o:p></o:p></span></u></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><u><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:blue'><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth">LIVE ON SATURDAYS AT 10:00AM</a></span></u></i><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:red'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Webdings; color:green'>P</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:navy'> </span><b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";color:green'>Go Green!</span></b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:green'>&nbsp; Please do not&nbsp;print this e-mail unless it</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:green'> is completely necessary</span><b><u><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:7.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#970623'> </span></u></b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#970623'><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText>&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText>Your message is ready to be sent with the following file or link attachments:<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText>DSC01269<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText>Note: To protect against computer viruses, e-mail programs may prevent sending or receiving certain types of file attachments.&nbsp; Check your e-mail security settings to determine how attachments are handled.<o:p></o:p></p> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8239883842460188336?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-53626087626452891272009-07-05T09:36:00.000-07:002009-07-05T09:37:00.931-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlDWrbXoOOI/AAAAAAAAAhw/aFWsz9O9D0I/s1600-h/DSC01041-720932.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlDWrbXoOOI/AAAAAAAAAhw/aFWsz9O9D0I/s320/DSC01041-720932.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355015998513101026" /></a></p><div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'>Heather Wagenhals<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'>Designated Broker<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>HQ Real Estate and Investment, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>6401 E Thomas Road<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Scottsdale, AZ 85251<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(480) 522-1066 Office<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(888) 981-9991 Toll Free Fax<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'><a href="www.hqrealestateandinvestment.com" title="HQ Real Estate and Investment, LLC">www.hqrealestateandinvestment.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'>Buy and Sell real estate in a whole new way!<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Heather Wagenhals is a celebrated columnist, Radio Talk Show Host For Unlock Your Wealth&reg; Radio, member of the National Speakers Association, certified NLP Practicioner and Author of the Unlock Your Wealth&reg; crisis management and financial wellness series targeted to those who desire financial independence AND a road map to get there. Heather seeks to give her readers and radio audience the tools to create or fix every area of one&#8217;s financial life in a positive, no nonsense way.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Unlock Your Wealth&reg; Foundation, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>6401 E Thomas Road #106<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Scottsdale, AZ 85251<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(480) 522-1066 Office<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(888) 981-9991 Toll Free Fax<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'><a href="http://www.unlockyourwealth.com/">www.unlockyourwealth.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth"><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=164 height=147 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01C9FD54.210E3830" alt="UYW Sig Little"></span></i></a><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:black'><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth">CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HEATHER</a></span></i><u><span style='color:blue'><o:p></o:p></span></u></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><u><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:blue'><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth">LIVE ON SATURDAYS AT 10:00AM</a></span></u></i><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:red'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Webdings; color:green'>P</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:navy'> </span><b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";color:green'>Go Green!</span></b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:green'>&nbsp; Please do not&nbsp;print this e-mail unless it</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:green'> is completely necessary</span><b><u><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:7.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#970623'> </span></u></b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#970623'><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-5362608762645289127?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-17841816512924990932009-07-05T09:35:00.003-07:002009-07-05T09:35:23.897-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlDWS5YcCII/AAAAAAAAAho/BtjL5Z-puc4/s1600-h/DSC01028-723899.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlDWS5YcCII/AAAAAAAAAho/BtjL5Z-puc4/s320/DSC01028-723899.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355015577072830594" /></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-1784181651292499093?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-28301944337106834642009-07-05T09:35:00.001-07:002009-07-05T09:35:21.075-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlDWScjwINI/AAAAAAAAAhg/5YoxD8fAAtU/s1600-h/DSC01021-721077.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SlDWScjwINI/AAAAAAAAAhg/5YoxD8fAAtU/s320/DSC01021-721077.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355015569335656658" /></a></p><div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'>Heather Wagenhals<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'>Designated Broker<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>HQ Real Estate and Investment, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>6401 E Thomas Road<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Scottsdale, AZ 85251<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(480) 522-1066 Office<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(888) 981-9991 Toll Free Fax<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'><a href="www.hqrealestateandinvestment.com" title="HQ Real Estate and Investment, LLC">www.hqrealestateandinvestment.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'>Buy and Sell real estate in a whole new way!<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Heather Wagenhals is a celebrated columnist, Radio Talk Show Host For Unlock Your Wealth&reg; Radio, member of the National Speakers Association Certified NLP Practicioner and Author of the Unlock Your Wealth&reg; crisis management and financial wellness series targeted to those who desire financial independence AND a road map to get there. Heather seeks to give her readers and radio audience the tools to create or fix every area of one&#8217;s financial life in a positive, no nonsense way.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif"'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Unlock Your Wealth&reg; Foundation, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>6401 E Thomas Road #106<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>Scottsdale, AZ 85251<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(480) 522-1066 Office<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'>(888) 981-9991 Toll Free Fax<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:#4F6228'><a href="http://www.unlockyourwealth.com/">www.unlockyourwealth.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth"><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=164 height=147 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01C9FD53.DDC94D80" alt="UYW Sig Little"></span></i></a><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:black'><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth">CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HEATHER</a></span></i><u><span style='color:blue'><o:p></o:p></span></u></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><u><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:blue'><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/unlockyourwealth">LIVE ON SATURDAYS AT 10:00AM</a></span></u></i><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Rockwell","serif"; color:red'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Rockwell","serif";color:black'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Webdings; color:green'>P</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:navy'> </span><b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";color:green'>Go Green!</span></b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:green'>&nbsp; Please do not&nbsp;print this e-mail unless it</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:green'> is completely necessary</span><b><u><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:7.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#970623'> </span></u></b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#970623'><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-2830194433710683464?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-66143641377050889372009-07-02T11:40:00.000-07:002009-07-02T11:32:49.910-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/Skz9UkCx4VI/AAAAAAAAAhY/_MoKjIdFZn8/s1600-h/bm-image-769913.jpe"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/Skz9UkCx4VI/AAAAAAAAAhY/_MoKjIdFZn8/s320/bm-image-769913.jpe" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353932586751222098" /></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6614364137705088937?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-84940541887539025752009-07-01T14:29:00.000-07:002009-07-01T14:20:38.099-07:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SkvTJpeYl-I/AAAAAAAAAhQ/FTn4ZJSI4Yg/s1600-h/bm-image-738101.jpe"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SkvTJpeYl-I/AAAAAAAAAhQ/FTn4ZJSI4Yg/s320/bm-image-738101.jpe" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353604744765544418" /></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8494054188753902575?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-87698726230936977032009-07-01T14:09:00.000-07:002009-07-01T14:13:30.518-07:00better late than never. just figured out how to post to the blog with two days left. Hee hee here we are sitting at another hotel in Waikiki the moana Surfrider. here is a photo of fred and connor thoroughly enjoying themselves.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8769872623093697703?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-85533506135387425592009-01-11T11:19:00.002-07:002009-01-11T11:27:36.346-07:00You have to check out the website I built for Fred. <a href="http://www.fredwagenhals.com/">www.fredwagenhals.com</a> So much for him retiring eh? He is so excited to be able to branch out in this direction as more of his focus.<br /><br />Over the years folks have come to him asking for help and now, he decided to market himself to that community since Americans do not wish to work for realistic wages thanks to our lovely unions and everyone wants to manufacture in Asia now. He is taking folks who need product built more affordable and acting as their liaison to the Asian manufacturing community. With his vast knowledge as an engineer and tooling pro coupled with his trials and tribulations finding the right partners in manufacturing, Fred can really shortcut learning curves for companies wishing to manufacture overseas, particularly in Asia.<br /><br />If you have someone who is interested, email us or direct them to the website where their is a form for submission they can fill out with their contact information and have Fred call them.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8553350613538742559?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-14146807956058730322009-01-11T11:11:00.002-07:002009-01-11T11:18:54.310-07:00Fred is very excited this week. Tod and his friends partnered to come up with a "green" product you can find at <a href="http://www.kinesisindustries.com/">www.kinesisindustries.com</a><br /><br />It is THE hit of the Consumer Electronics Show in LAs Vegas where every gadget electonically speaking is featured. It is the largest show in the world and everyone comes to it. They have been featured in several publications, just google them if you would like to read them all. They were stoked when the had received 100 hits on the website the first day. Tod called last night and the count is up to 550,000! All for this little sun/wind cell phone and ipod charger. It is so cool. I think they will retail around $80 but don't quote me on it. The competition is in a booth down the way from theirs but everyone is coming up to place orders for their unit saying it looks better and is more affordable. Fred is such the proud papa on this, it is really cool.<br /><br />We will all have to drop what we are doing on Monday and pitch in to start returning calls for him while they staff up. Hee Hee<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-1414680795605873032?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-53292869430575134552008-12-29T10:42:00.003-07:002008-12-29T10:44:09.010-07:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SVkMGBk5iKI/AAAAAAAAAdo/KgSGjg1is0M/s1600-h/Christmas+2008+001-web.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285268935337937058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SVkMGBk5iKI/AAAAAAAAAdo/KgSGjg1is0M/s320/Christmas+2008+001-web.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>So I am still slacking on the Buffalo and Pheasant but don't we all look cute at Ron and Mary's? Best Christmas dinner we ever had, unanimously.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-5329286943057513455?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-67953114360621348252008-12-28T14:07:00.003-07:002008-12-28T14:20:15.779-07:00I am being totally productive today. I have worked on some Heart Ball stuff, some emails for the hubby, uploaded some photos for processing, swapped some emails and also began planning the February <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Las</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Palomas</span> luncheon I am co-hosting with some <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">girlies</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Ferial</span> and Lila. For <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">those</span> who are not familiar, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">go to</span> <a href="http://www.laspalomas.org/">http://www.laspalomas.org/</a> and check out what we do. It was originally formed as a conduit or liaison organization by my other friends to introduce new and upcoming women to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">philanthrophy</span> and charitable giving. I used to just write about them when I had the society column and now I have taken a more active role. We just had our annual meeting and in the 6-7 years over a million dollars has passed through to worthy organizations here in the greater Phoenix area/Arizona. It is social and charitable with just a $60 commitment for lunch and no more unless you are interested. Email me at <a href="mailto:me@heatherwagenhals.com">me@heatherwagenhals.com</a> and put Las Palomas in the subject line if you want to know more.<br /><br />I will get the buffalo pics and the rest of the pheasant hunt up shortly.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6795311436062134825?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-27756372317968279932008-12-03T17:54:00.003-07:002008-12-04T09:30:36.287-07:00My husband is the most incredible man I know. He fooled me again. we came to South Dakota to the Lindskov Family's Firesteel Creek Lodge on the premise that we were going bird hunting and maybe a turkey or antelope and ya they have some Elk here too but don't count on any 7x7 400 Plus. Well, Hank Jones and Fred had this whole thing planned out from the start when Hank was here earlier in the year, that this was no bird hunt. All along this was meant to be the ELK hunt of my LIFETIME... and it was! I'm practicing with my new tablet PC's handwriting recognizer right now so it is taking me awhile to get this story told. Suffice it to say, they took me out under the auspices that we would look at what was here and "see if there is anything worthwhile" and bird hunt in the afternoon.We all piled into the truck and drove out to the The Little Moreau Elk Ranch. I have never seen so many Elk in my life this big. Ron Kastner our neighbor and my personal hunting consultant kept saying "Get her a nice 6x6 that'll go about 300" I reached across his wife Mary's lap and whapped him with my glove. "Enough", I said and turned as I will have no part of some crappy little elk not wall worthy at the Log Mahal.Our guide Dave Tatum was looking for a particular beast he said he has been admiring for some time. We were in to this hunt for over an hour seeing many great 375 6x6's, and a 7x6 with thick beams. A few buffalo we chased with the truck to see if they would charge us, but they just sparred amongst themselves. By this time Fred is grumping about it being just like Colorado, where we see stuff and we are not allowed to shoot them. Dave calls Les, the ranch owner (Hank is riding in the truck with them) and says he has spotted a nice 7x7 we should take a look at. Dave is convinced that he wants to get a look at this other one first. He has even named it "Nasty'! I said let's go take the 7x7 but he implored me to just look at this once and I can decide from there. He says he usually hangs by himself in one of the bottoms near Dave’s "Thinking Spot".Well, we drove by the thinking spot twice and deep into the bottoms too. He decided to go back and work this other area along the tree lined ridge. He glanced over in this gulley once more then slammed on the brakes. He glanced, then threw the Chevy into reverse and stomped on the brakes once more then he exclaimed," that's him... Freak Nasty." The full nickname was apparent as we were looking at an Elk with tree trunks coming off his head. Dave asked if I wanted to go look at the 7x7 but I was already taking my rifle out of the case. He pulled us around to hide the truck and we all hopped out and Dave and I began our stalk after I chambered a round. He totally knew we were there because FN kept a watchful eye out. Each time we crept in on him and I set up, there were branches or some scrub in the way that I couldn’t shoot through or he’d sense us and he would trot off. Our saving grace was Dave throwing a cow call here and there helping to keep his interest peaked. About the fourth time I dropped to my knee to settle in on the sticks, I finally got my shot and sure enough, ricochet off to his back leg. WHY ARE ALL THESE TREES HERE??? Oh yeah, I’m hunting in the friggin’ woods...Duh. Up we sprang another 100 yards and this guy didn’t get this big for no reason, he packed himself in the thickest stuff he could find and with his white rack, not easy to see. Two ricochets to nowhere later shooting from off the sticks, I finally walked right up on him and freehand piled one in to his heart/lung and dropped him.<br />I’m killing you with suspense I know so you had to read this first to get to the photo. Freak Nasty is an 11x13 non-typical whose green score is 466. Should go top ten and may give me largest elk harvested by a woman in North America.<br /><br />As always, Fredanta Claus always has something sneaky up his sleeve. Looks like my nice column was longer than the naughty again this year, hee hee.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-2775637231796827993?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-35170871526396447582008-12-03T17:43:00.000-07:002008-12-03T17:53:34.134-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/STcpvrtn2bI/AAAAAAAAAdg/78-dxAjlyQo/s1600-h/HPIM0317.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275731387652495794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/STcpvrtn2bI/AAAAAAAAAdg/78-dxAjlyQo/s320/HPIM0317.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-3517087152639644758?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-85516684474163966932008-11-10T09:26:00.002-07:002008-11-10T10:15:30.839-07:00Greetings Everyone! It has been a while since I last chatted with you all but my husband said the honeymoon is over and it is time to go back to work, and work I have.<br /><br />Here are the show times for one of the episodes we filmed in Africa. This one is on the white rhino shown on the Versus network. to see other showtimes, check out <a href="http://www.versuscountry.com/">www.versuscountry.com</a> and look for the show Dangerous Game!<br /><br />Enjoy!!!<br />12/12<br />7:00 PM<br />White Rhino<br />Jeff Rann takes his client and the audience of Dangerous Game on a rare hunt for the elusive white rhino. Although these animals have poor eyesight, their keen nose helps them detect what little danger exists to them, allowing them to deal with the problem their way: straight on charges with the intent to neutralize the threat.<br />12/13<br />2:00 AM<br />White Rhino<br />Jeff Rann takes his client and the audience of Dangerous Game on a rare hunt for the elusive white rhino. Although these animals have poor eyesight, their keen nose helps them detect what little danger exists to them, allowing them to deal with the problem their way: straight on charges with the intent to neutralize the threat.<br />12/15<br />4:00 AM<br />Elephants of the Delta<br />Host Jeff Rann is on the hunt for an elephant, a rare pleasure for him to enjoy what he truly loves. PH of kings, celebrities, CEOs and VIPs, Rann has hunted nearly every game species available in Africa, but his true love is dangerous game.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8551668447416396693?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-57746153812148013342008-09-06T11:28:00.002-07:002008-09-06T11:31:20.397-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SMLMX_hPYxI/AAAAAAAAAX0/GNeoUs2S4Do/s1600-h/CIMG4979.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242977628772590354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SMLMX_hPYxI/AAAAAAAAAX0/GNeoUs2S4Do/s200/CIMG4979.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SMLMYY_z41I/AAAAAAAAAX8/tanayJ1kF1s/s1600-h/CIMG5020.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242977635611698002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SMLMYY_z41I/AAAAAAAAAX8/tanayJ1kF1s/s200/CIMG5020.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SMLMYY1QG1I/AAAAAAAAAYE/_dvMvyGfTMs/s1600-h/CIMG5081-a.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242977635567410002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SMLMYY1QG1I/AAAAAAAAAYE/_dvMvyGfTMs/s200/CIMG5081-a.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SMLMY_qa7EI/AAAAAAAAAYM/4Nipib2JA5A/s1600-h/IMG_1231-aGNU.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242977645990964290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SMLMY_qa7EI/AAAAAAAAAYM/4Nipib2JA5A/s200/IMG_1231-aGNU.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-5774615381214801334?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-61465572565966187422008-07-30T22:27:00.003-07:002008-07-30T22:43:18.953-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJFP3dh-MCI/AAAAAAAAAW8/BUuFzFxJbjw/s1600-h/IMG_1384%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229048456592371746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJFP3dh-MCI/AAAAAAAAAW8/BUuFzFxJbjw/s200/IMG_1384%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJFP3uZzh3I/AAAAAAAAAXE/XIRO2k5A5mg/s1600-h/IMG_1386%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229048461121521522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJFP3uZzh3I/AAAAAAAAAXE/XIRO2k5A5mg/s200/IMG_1386%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>We are leaving camp today. There will be no more contact from here forward. We harvested a red hartebeest, jackyl and a springbok today. No Kudu. There was a 53 that Jeff liked but I was holding out for Hemmingway the 60 incher. I can since FW already has one. We have ahd a ball. Ele, buff, baboon, warthog, porcupine, and hyena left to go. Hope you have enjoyed the blog. I have some video if the tribal dance last night but will have to wait until I have a faster connection to upload it. The plane will be here in 20 minutes.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Ciao for now!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Love F and H!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6146557256596618742?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-33989981654650846132008-07-29T09:59:00.004-07:002008-07-29T10:21:27.758-07:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI9OgTEe0PI/AAAAAAAAAWk/10PRHb1QJsg/s1600-h/IMG_1370%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228484009182286066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI9OgTEe0PI/AAAAAAAAAWk/10PRHb1QJsg/s320/IMG_1370%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI9Og-9TInI/AAAAAAAAAWs/2uUpp42nsk0/s1600-h/IMG_1375%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228484020963320434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI9Og-9TInI/AAAAAAAAAWs/2uUpp42nsk0/s320/IMG_1375%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI9Ohfd5cSI/AAAAAAAAAW0/e9kRbZzQffs/s1600-h/IMG_1376%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228484029689983266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI9Ohfd5cSI/AAAAAAAAAW0/e9kRbZzQffs/s320/IMG_1376%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>In one animal, Fred completed his Big Five and Dangerous Seven today with the harvest of the Leopard. Of all the hunts this was the most action packed and not at all what we had expected. Since we hunted mountain lion with dogs we both felt like we knew what a cat hunt with dogs was going to be like; clearly not the case.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>There are no trees here in the Kalahari Desert where we are hunting so the Bushmen (an ancient tribe of people not black but more of Asian descent) look for prints first instead of letting their dogs out to tree the cat. They look until they jump the leopard where they then let the dogs out. They never did jump the cat but felt he was running so they let out a couple of dogs. They trailed him all the way to the cattle fence into another paddock where they ranch cows (tasty eating for a Leopard with all the two and three day old calves around) we picked up the dogs and hopped the fence and let the Bushmen go at it again. Again they felt like he was near so they let out a dog. Princess immediately picked up the trail and could smell the cat in the wind blowing in our favor. The driver hauled ass after the dogs without much regard for us hanging on the back while we were dodging the large bush remnants that would fly over the truck as he mowed them down. We caught up to the leopard and Jeff Rann was saying to shoot but we were bouncing to much it was near impossible. They stopped and loosed the rest of the dogs as the leopard holed up at the base of this bush. I could not see but Fred did so he aimed right for the neck. I had a shotgun and whacked him good in the shoulder but he kept fighting the dogs. Fred shot again after Jeff said it was safe again to shoot without hitting a dog. He began backing up as he was fighting the dogs from the left which gave me a clear shot to finish him off. </div><div></div><div>Tomorrow a Hemingway Kudu for me and a red hartebeest then off to the Kiri Camp for Elephant and Cape Buffalo. Two more animals and I will have my Dangerous Seven too. We are ahead of schedule by two days.</div><div></div><div>Typically your Professional Hunter backs you up when you take your shots but that usually doesn't make it in to most hunting stories. Not cool to have help evidently. So instead, Fred and I have been harvesting all of the Dangerous Game together. We make a great team as Jeff nor the other PH's have had to take a single shot in our favor. I have to share the computer with others before dinner so I hope you are enjoying the access we did not think we would have. We will have nothing at the next camp. God Bless!</div><div></div><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-3398998165465084613?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-8411123130288581682008-07-28T10:00:00.001-07:002008-07-28T10:15:54.168-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI3-dMvr-dI/AAAAAAAAAWM/WDjy0Eg-urc/s1600-h/CIMG4752%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228114520037915090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI3-dMvr-dI/AAAAAAAAAWM/WDjy0Eg-urc/s320/CIMG4752%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI3-dl0jRXI/AAAAAAAAAWU/fzzPD841D4w/s1600-h/CIMG4775%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228114526769202546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI3-dl0jRXI/AAAAAAAAAWU/fzzPD841D4w/s320/CIMG4775%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI3-dwgD4YI/AAAAAAAAAWc/QHBGhlP3lpw/s1600-h/CIMG4886%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228114529636049282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI3-dwgD4YI/AAAAAAAAAWc/QHBGhlP3lpw/s320/CIMG4886%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-841112313028858168?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-52855185329886167602008-07-28T09:34:00.001-07:002008-07-28T10:00:11.103-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI35pwR8hFI/AAAAAAAAAVk/4wzDTIU4b7M/s1600-h/CIMG4686%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228109238177137746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI35pwR8hFI/AAAAAAAAAVk/4wzDTIU4b7M/s320/CIMG4686%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI35qLjMJTI/AAAAAAAAAVs/h4m4DLT8g4A/s1600-h/CIMG4698%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228109245497222450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI35qLjMJTI/AAAAAAAAAVs/h4m4DLT8g4A/s320/CIMG4698%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI35qs2s5II/AAAAAAAAAV0/Cff4dquricI/s1600-h/CIMG4718%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228109254437430402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI35qs2s5II/AAAAAAAAAV0/Cff4dquricI/s320/CIMG4718%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI35q-n7FNI/AAAAAAAAAV8/dwYyiiVSfCs/s1600-h/CIMG4736%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228109259207283922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI35q-n7FNI/AAAAAAAAAV8/dwYyiiVSfCs/s320/CIMG4736%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI35rbMWsVI/AAAAAAAAAWE/wcD9ju6VIdg/s1600-h/CIMG4805%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228109266876281170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SI35rbMWsVI/AAAAAAAAAWE/wcD9ju6VIdg/s320/CIMG4805%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-5285518532988616760?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-49853274657783615662008-07-27T03:43:00.008-07:002008-07-27T10:14:07.409-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIyspFLIcbI/AAAAAAAAAU8/MtcPhHj5rTE/s1600-h/IMG_1279%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227743089233785266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIyspFLIcbI/AAAAAAAAAU8/MtcPhHj5rTE/s400/IMG_1279%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIyspk0_-WI/AAAAAAAAAVE/VvPFd7bsVLU/s1600-h/IMG_1269%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227743097730890082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIyspk0_-WI/AAAAAAAAAVE/VvPFd7bsVLU/s400/IMG_1269%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIysp7Y7uFI/AAAAAAAAAVM/aqlsnId9KMQ/s1600-h/IMG_1149%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227743103787186258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIysp7Y7uFI/AAAAAAAAAVM/aqlsnId9KMQ/s400/IMG_1149%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIysqak45wI/AAAAAAAAAVU/jG2rSe5bfYQ/s1600-h/IMG_1252%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227743112158832386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIysqak45wI/AAAAAAAAAVU/jG2rSe5bfYQ/s400/IMG_1252%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIysqsVPK_I/AAAAAAAAAVc/tYwhAMiNJS8/s1600-h/IMG_1200%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227743116925021170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIysqsVPK_I/AAAAAAAAAVc/tYwhAMiNJS8/s400/IMG_1200%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>These are in no particular order since I am on someone elses computer here at the grasslands safari camp in Botswana. We picked up fresh leopard tracks today and will head out first thing in the morning to see if we can find him. According to Jeff our guide we are one day ahead of schedule. He did not expect us to have this many harvests at this point especially leaving early to go to a different Lion camp. Ron and Mary will remember this camp we hunted the lion at becuase it was on the lion video they watched. It was Tam Safaris with the Chinese guy who guided Livia the blonde woman who took her cat in two shots. It looks so much like Arizona there. Too wild. Anyhow, enjoy the photos. Sorry they are out of order but I am hurrying. We love you all and we want to have a Dangerous Seven Party when the video comes in. They have some quality footage for a couple of TV shows. It is sooooo beautiful here. The animals and people are amazing. Africa kind of infects your soul. Everyone is gathered at the campfire which overlooks a watering hole where groups of Kudu, zebra, wildebeest, impala, Eland and others take turns at the water. You can really hear the lions roaring right now and if you are a light sleeper, they will keep you up for sure. It sounds like they are right next to you!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Ciao Baby!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-4985327465778361566?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-45386836030516873082008-07-27T03:43:00.004-07:002008-07-27T09:55:21.495-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIyoMuY53WI/AAAAAAAAAU0/jz7jgsTvgGo/s1600-h/IMG_1303%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227738204034686306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIyoMuY53WI/AAAAAAAAAU0/jz7jgsTvgGo/s400/IMG_1303%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-4538683603051687308?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-68366449431785389142008-07-27T03:43:00.003-07:002008-07-27T09:55:20.413-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIyoMuY53WI/AAAAAAAAAU0/jz7jgsTvgGo/s1600-h/IMG_1303%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227738204034686306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIyoMuY53WI/AAAAAAAAAU0/jz7jgsTvgGo/s400/IMG_1303%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6836644943178538914?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-32387646137667368862008-07-27T03:43:00.002-07:002008-07-27T03:56:39.514-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIxT2sCTTSI/AAAAAAAAAUk/yYQq6nzgQAg/s1600-h/IMG_1337%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227645466469158178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIxT2sCTTSI/AAAAAAAAAUk/yYQq6nzgQAg/s400/IMG_1337%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIxT2_PJ_oI/AAAAAAAAAUs/vyuriAyguHo/s1600-h/IMG_1327%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227645471623347842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SIxT2_PJ_oI/AAAAAAAAAUs/vyuriAyguHo/s400/IMG_1327%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>No phone service but I have internet. Here is my Eland from this morning and the lions feeding last night at the camp here in Botswana. They are truning off the generators so I will blog later with the rest of the photos so far.</div><div> </div><div>Cheers!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-3238764613766736886?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-84607010290247679292008-07-26T18:03:00.001-07:002008-07-26T18:03:01.242-07:00Well...we did it. The most grueling hunt for any animal so far. We stalked this gold medal lion for two miles. He never heard us, never smelled us and we crept in to a comfortable 50 yards and set up on him. He looked a us but did not care. We waited an eternity then he stood up. Fred fired first, then I followed. We shot twice and he went down. Fred started at him and Jeff said to wait a minute. Sure enough he popped up and started running away from us. We had to shoot again when he stopped. Just before he laid down, Jeff had us put another shot in him as he was looking our way to thwart a possible charge. We crept up and watched him take his last few breaths. I cried in joyful amazement being able to not only witness but participate in Fred realizing his dream. It made him shed tears too. This is number four in the dangerous seven for our hunts and the last blog we will be able to post. You can call and personally thank AT&amp;T for the lack of photos. Their modem was a bag of moldy oranges I bought and will let them know when I return. Words and photos do not do Africa justice. Political issues aside, the people and being in the bush are truly the most amazing you will ever see. We love you all very much and are so glad you joined us this far. Botswana is where we are going where nobody has any mobile phone service. We will finish out our take with leopard next, then elephant and cape buffalo. God bless you all and we will blog again when we hit Joberg on the way home.Fred And Heather Wagenhals<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8460701029024767929?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-63703325516837217002008-07-23T19:21:00.000-07:002008-07-24T19:22:23.660-07:00Almost got chomped by a lioness today. We stumbled upon her while we thought we were tracking a male lion. She was so huge. She was switching her tail and growling. We backed up to about 30 yards away because we couldn't tell the sex and set up to shoot. I could only see the butt next to the tree. Then her ears pricked up into view. We were steady on her in case she would have charged. They sent one guy back for the truck and made the others without guns stand behind us. We were told to shoot if she charged. Then she stood up fully. They pick one person to charge and we were locked eye to eye. When the motor started and the truck crept toward us she gave one more growl and thankfully trotted away. How cool was that? All on film too!Fred And Heather Wagenhals<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6370332551683721700?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-86781176629506677102008-07-23T19:20:00.000-07:002008-07-24T19:21:22.315-07:00Well...no porcupine but I did get an african kangaroo last night while after the prickly one. A springhare is half rabbit half kangaroo. We saw lots of other night game too, a bush babie which is a night monkey, an aardvark and a rare whitetailed mongoose.This morning we trailed and trailed the paths looking for just one lion track and nothing. We went to check the small lake for the croc. We chose to go in a different way. We went high on the lake closer to where he usually suns. He was there! We set up for the shot, I went first with a brain shot right at the back of his smile and ftGWH followed with a shot to the chest. Done. He didn't move. 3 down, 4 more to go! We definitely need a lion. They are out looking right now while we are at lunch.Heather (Quintero) Wagenhals<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8678117662950667710?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-65312562271103460242008-07-22T19:18:00.000-07:002008-07-24T19:20:19.159-07:00We took a gnu and a hippo Monday. A gnu is a black wildebeest. He popped up after an unsuccessful attempt at stalking a prized bushbuck. One shot rom a quartering towards shot. Gold medal for sure. Having a ball got up on a rhino but he was too small. It is really cold. In the afternoon we harvested a nice sized bull common hippo. We because I shot first and FTGWH shot immediately after. Both perfectly placed. He stumbled then fell into the water. Today was amazing. Right out of the gate we got on a fresh rhino track. When we finally cornered him we continued on foot but apparently a herd of blesbok spooked him and we never caught up to him. Jeff tried to blame my coughing. Anyhow, Ryan another PH on the property found another track. After a mile of unsuccessful stalking I was tiring as my cold is not quite finished. We caught up with Ryan and closed in as far as we could by truck then went on foot. Filemon our tracker led the way and we followed single file for about 260 yards and then we saw him. His back was exposed and jeff sized him up. Big bull. We closed in to about 30 yards and put out our shooting sticks. I thought we were looking at his butt then his massive head popped up. Thank allah they can't see well. The cameraman set up and I had a perfect bead on his left front shoulder. Fw was just waiting for him to turn his head so he could take the first shot. I immediately followed up and squeezed off a round before he could move. He bucked and ran about 75 yards and we could hear his thud. After skinning we determined both shots made it through the heart. Another gold medal harvest coming in at 92 2\8. Just wonderful. The afternoon was fruitless although we did find our croc for tomorrow. No lion, not one spotted so far. We will be after porcupine as soon as we finish dinner. Wish me luck cuz FTGWH is too cold to go.Heather (Quintero) Wagenhals<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6531256227110346024?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-60154650534683819502008-07-21T18:17:00.003-07:002008-07-21T18:23:27.418-07:00We took a gnu and a hippo today. Having a ball got up on a rhino but he was too small.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6015465053468381950?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-84461502554937829522008-07-20T18:18:00.000-07:002008-07-21T18:23:53.646-07:00<p>We each took a giraffe yesterday. 2 down 10 more to go. They are 10ft tall from the chest up. Fred's is prettier and darker spots, but mine had bigger balls. Hee hee. </p><p>We were looking for rhino and eland when we happened upon them so we will be after them first thing in the morning. Maybe lion too. </p><p>Ciao *~H-Dub~*</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8446150255493782952?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-6513306052021557262008-07-18T18:21:00.000-07:002008-07-21T18:23:03.137-07:00Don’t read any further if you do not want to read about killin’. This part of the blog is going to be about our African Safari and our hunt. If you continue to read I am not going to be responsible for nor apologize to those who choose to eat murdered cow and wear leather shoes and have the nerve to tell me I am inhumane.<br /><br />I am supposed to have coverage in South Africa so we will see when I get there. If this is all that I get to upload, then you will have to wait until we return to the states but I will give you a little foreshadowing so you can follow along.<br /><br />We are going after the Dangerous Seven. That includes the Big Five of Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, and Elephant. The other two are crocodile and Hippopotamus. We will be hunting these animals over three camps. We will begin in South Africa where we will pursue the Lion, Hippo, Croc, Rhino and Giraffe. This is the bulk of the trophies we would like to harvest in the shortest amount of time. The reason being is that we will need to leave plenty of time to catch the leopard which is at the Botswana Camp in the Kalahari. We will also take some plains game there as well. Fred, The Great White Hunter and I envision that being the toughest hunt as they are sneaky little devil. We will then proceed to the Okavango Delta to harvest the Elephant and Cape Buffalo.<br /><br />Additionally, the TV show Dangerous Game is filming our hunt for air in the fall. It originally started with just FW’s rhino hunt, but when they found out that it was a husband and wife team going after the full Dangerous Seven in 21 days, they are covering the entire hunt now. This is actually very unique. Many hunters will go a lifetime without attaining the Big Five let alone the full seven. If you read Hemmingway’s Green Hills of Africa you feel first person of what hunting really is and know what a feat it is if you get to hunt Africa just once. Ruark’s account no less is enjoyable. Thanks to Bill I look forward to his email list of other great African literature. They say once you have been to Africa, it captures your heart and you must return. This is FWTGWH’s second trip here. Ron and Mary have been many times and to hear her describe Africa you become impassioned and desirous of a cold shower or a tumble in the sheets with your significant other. I’m sold on just the fact that I am traveling again with my hubby. The rest is bonus.<br /><br />The plan is that I will blog from South Africa with words and photos and in Botswana where there are no cellular providers, I will radio in from camp everyday and dictate emails that Scotty from China can upload. Picturebook Miller can stop looking at this point since I know he won’t read my brilliant prose without photos to go with. This will truly be a world wide effort to keep you all entertained and apprised of our travels.<br /><br />If for some reason this is my first and last entry until we return, I just want to thank Hank, Richard, Earl and my most significant hunting consultant and super intelligent bride Ron and Mary for supporting and encouraging our hunting habit and all the sage advice. Hank, don’t worry, he’ll be loved, Richard, I’ll shoot straight and Earl, I’m paying attention and it will be the tracker for sure.<br /><br />And to Martie, try to leave the zip code more often; what would my blog be without a note to Martie to piss off the rest of the 59’ers with my favoritism. Hee hee. Just kidding, mock Mom, Mock Auntie.<br />Thank also to our Bon Voyage birthday dinner for FW from Carol and Gino, Bill and Beth who brought a wonderful strawberry moussecake that went tete a tete (there are supposed to be tents above the e’s but I can’t find them on my keyboard. French for head to head) with Carolann’s homemade chocolate and banana dream pie<br /><br />Cheers to the rest of you. FWTGWH just asked me if I am writing that he is going kicking and screaming because that would be an accurate depiction of what he is doing. Well… I guess the honeymoon is over. I told him NO, I am writing about your prepubescent exuberance! He said, huh?<br /><br />Enjoy the ten hour days at the office and 112degree heat back in Phoenix whilst we endure harsh winter conditions stalking our prey.<br /><br />We love you all.<br /><br />Fred and Heather Wagenhals!!!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-651330605202155726?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-76698770769164616162008-07-18T14:20:00.003-07:002008-08-13T19:36:28.615-07:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAzlxY3XI/AAAAAAAAAXM/3OuceTWx1so/s1600-h/CIMG4979.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232128122154442098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAzlxY3XI/AAAAAAAAAXM/3OuceTWx1so/s200/CIMG4979.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAzg7G1BI/AAAAAAAAAXU/rrBZznm9B68/s1600-h/CIMG5009.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232128120853025810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAzg7G1BI/AAAAAAAAAXU/rrBZznm9B68/s200/CIMG5009.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAz1JwQ6I/AAAAAAAAAXc/l8jQrLiFEZs/s1600-h/CIMG5020.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232128126283170722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAz1JwQ6I/AAAAAAAAAXc/l8jQrLiFEZs/s200/CIMG5020.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxA0HjQedI/AAAAAAAAAXk/y84F41WET4k/s1600-h/CIMG4946.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232128131221977554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxA0HjQedI/AAAAAAAAAXk/y84F41WET4k/s200/CIMG4946.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxA0B4Dt6I/AAAAAAAAAXs/OXSOqPXM1Xw/s1600-h/CIMG4951.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232128129698609058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxA0B4Dt6I/AAAAAAAAAXs/OXSOqPXM1Xw/s200/CIMG4951.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-7669877076916461616?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-5868286987482361682008-07-18T14:20:00.001-07:002008-08-08T05:51:45.558-07:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAzlxY3XI/AAAAAAAAAXM/3OuceTWx1so/s1600-h/CIMG4979.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232128122154442098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAzlxY3XI/AAAAAAAAAXM/3OuceTWx1so/s200/CIMG4979.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAzg7G1BI/AAAAAAAAAXU/rrBZznm9B68/s1600-h/CIMG5009.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232128120853025810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAzg7G1BI/AAAAAAAAAXU/rrBZznm9B68/s200/CIMG5009.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAz1JwQ6I/AAAAAAAAAXc/l8jQrLiFEZs/s1600-h/CIMG5020.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232128126283170722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxAz1JwQ6I/AAAAAAAAAXc/l8jQrLiFEZs/s200/CIMG5020.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxA0HjQedI/AAAAAAAAAXk/y84F41WET4k/s1600-h/CIMG4946.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232128131221977554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxA0HjQedI/AAAAAAAAAXk/y84F41WET4k/s200/CIMG4946.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxA0B4Dt6I/AAAAAAAAAXs/OXSOqPXM1Xw/s1600-h/CIMG4951.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232128129698609058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SJxA0B4Dt6I/AAAAAAAAAXs/OXSOqPXM1Xw/s200/CIMG4951.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-586828698748236168?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-59453020140784416722008-06-15T09:36:00.030-07:002008-06-25T06:34:37.647-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-cfb60f61a291d925" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v23.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3Dcfb60f61a291d925%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460065%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D762BCB7CD80B9F32389C67FB6FF4A206F51A6245.64CBA211F87F92FFFEF960D345444A2EC353CB29%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Dcfb60f61a291d925%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3Df4G9FBlHQYTLTbLgnznksbJwEJw&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v23.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3Dcfb60f61a291d925%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460065%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D762BCB7CD80B9F32389C67FB6FF4A206F51A6245.64CBA211F87F92FFFEF960D345444A2EC353CB29%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Dcfb60f61a291d925%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3Df4G9FBlHQYTLTbLgnznksbJwEJw&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-5945302014078441672?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-86047348221491814462008-06-15T09:36:00.029-07:002008-06-25T06:05:11.011-07:00<span style="font-size:180%;color:#336666;"><strong>London<br />We arrive unscathed and our porter in Paris had a porter in London waiting for us. As we scurried through the station we found our Driver, Luigi. An Italian living in London, he looks like Robert DeNiro and has that cool Italian persona. As we are acquainting ourselves with him and our Somalia porters (they are telling us about hunting in Africa) there is really thick rubber or oil scented smoke in the train station. Luigi asks us to pick up the pace to a brisk walk, a small run actually because the train station was on fire and he was concerned that we would be stuck. Evidently when a catastrophe or some sort of emergency arises, he says the city shuts its roads down. We fling the bags in our big van (Mercedes) and you would think Fittipaldi or Andretti were his cousins because he drove like a bat out of hell to avoid the section where the fire was and he had us look behind as they were closing the roads right after we passed through them. We really liked Luigi and he gave us so much information we decided to book him for our touristy stuff when he dropped us off.<br />We check in to the Ritz 45 minutes after our arrival (traveling by train rocks, you don’t have to arrive a zillion hours before, you keep your luggage with you, and out you go on your way when the train comes to a stop) We are immediately upgraded to an even better suite than Fred booked because they realized that Fred Bond was in the homeland and back in service to his Queen! We were given the Trafalgar Suite which was so huge; I couldn’t hear FB from the other room when we were unpacking. Again, chocolate, champagne and flowers in a 5 room Kick ass suite that used to be a private dining room that they converted. After resolving the plumbing issues (I think we were the first to stay in the renovated suite) we chose to dine at one of Luigi’s recommendations, Ciccone’s, Italian of course.<br /><br />The restaurant was great. The bar stools were too high and the dining room chairs were too low but we had a window seat opposite the academy for the Arts, a delightful bottle of sangiovese after our Kir Royale starters (aren’t you all having 7 glasses of adult beverages with dinner. We really have to dry out. Hee Hee) and greens I recognize, SAUTEED BROCCOLI!!!!! Whoopee, I’m in heaven, I’m in heaven la la la!!!! I had veal cannelloni and FB had the gnocchi for our main dishes and life was grand with our minestrone and caprese salad first courses. Another great meal. If you think about it, we are getting tough to impress since we have eaten out 3+ times a day for the past 36 days but this place was nice.<br /><br />WE spent the next day to ourselves still recouping from our crazy walks to infinity in Gay Paree. After another killer department store, Harrod's, just like the Lafayette with an opera singer belting out Italian opera in her distinctive soprano and a bronze monument to Dody and Princess Di in the escalators we had lunch at the Café Rouge. Funny, the best French food is not in France. Such irony! After another savory meal and champagne, we just went up and down old bond and new bond streets where the fab shops are. We are specifically looking for Armani because all the buttons on my blazer were falling or have fallen off and with it being the coldest city to date; FB was tired of me looking like a hobo so we went to Sloane Street to find Giorgio. Turned out these buttons were defective for the whole lot so they had extra to replace them and offered to do so for free while we waited. My free button repair cost us a couple of grand since you only get 50pence for one US Dollar, most specifically me because we were in the shopping moratorium so FB made me dust off my charge card for a new coat. I left Phoenix with five bucks in my wallet and was trying hard to not spend any money so I could say I went around the world on five bucks and between chatchkes, perfume for my mom on the Champs Elysee, ATM’s, pregnant pickpockets in Rome I see that is not going to happen. Hee Hee.<br />I embarked on yet another opportunity to make it on the “Locked Up Abroad” show when this Muslim lady walked toward FB. I so totally need anger management and desensitization training because I just snap and weird out on these folks. She sticks her hand out toward me and yelled “GET AWAY FROM ME YOU CRAZY” then she reached toward FB and I can’t remember what flew out of my mouth. Safely out of range about half way down the block, my darling husband cautiously waited then begins to tell me that she said to him that I was rude… I WAS RUDE??? THE LAST GODDAMN THING I AM GOING TO DO ON THIS PLANET IS GIVE A BEGGING WOMAN MONEY WHOSE RELIGION KILLED MORE PEOPLE IN 9/11 THAN ALL THE FOLKS KILLED IN PEARL HARBOR!!!! Allah puhleeez!<br /><br />You have to get cleaned up for the hotel bar here and show up with a tie, no jeans or trainers, hee hee. So we put on the dog tonight with my handsome international man of mystery breaking out his tuxedo and new Lanvin bow tie. Ooh la la! I wore my silver gown and throughout the hotel we turned heads. We dined in the hotel restaurant with somber reverie. FB kept teasing me about it being over and I was still trying to have fun in our last city. As we are perusing the menu, my eyes lit up. There was an orchestra and DANCING!!!! Yeah, hoorah! Nothing is better than being dressed to the tens (love how Bill uses that in his columns) and having by new husband sweep me across the dance floor to Glenn Miller, Sinatra and Dean Martin. Those of you that attended the mock wedding and reception at the Log Mahal know how much dancing with Fred means to me and it was so incredible to have this in our last stop. The meal was fabulous peppered with dancing in between. We had the most incredible time. Once while returning to our table a lovely woman stopped to compliment our dancing and shared that she was 83 and had knee surgery and could not dance but admired seeing us out there. We were the toast of the dance floor because others all ready out there made room for us to cut the rug and it was so sweet for this woman to recognize it. We finished the evening with crepes and tucked in to bed to watch the IRL race. Congrats to Ganassi for winning.<br /><br />Luigi ran us about town looking at all the monuments. We had to get up at 8am to do this, ugh. Thank god there is champagne with breakfast. Nothing is better than champagne and espresso combined when you are riding around on the wrong side of the road all day in stop and go traffic. (Please note sarcasm used here) We had a fun time being toured in London by an Italian transplant. He was so entertaining. He took us past Big Ben, the House of Lords, the House of Commons, and Trafalgar square, the Cathedral, Scotland Yard and Buckingham palace. This was interesting because we had just been to Versailles so I anticipated it being huge. It looks that way on TV. Just like basketball. Then you go to an NBA game and you realize your eyes were fooled by the two dimension screen. Well, for a big palace, I thought it was small. The Tower of London was cool. We watched the coronation of the current Queen's video and saw all the crown jewels for the last 600 years. I need a crown. FB thinks I need one like another hole in the head.<br />We scurried back to the hotel because Sean and his wife were meeting us for Lunch. He is one of FB’s partners and his wife Nicki chose this awesome steakhouse. It was Argentinean beef with a sort of tapas gone steak house feel. 300g was the smallest steak you could order. Sheesh. I hear the song “Feed the World” in my head as they show us the raw cuts of what is available. It’s a good thing too because FB would never let Mumbles live it down if we had mutton or something. Hee hee.<br />As it was they were late because of the Hari Krishna protest spanning 3/4ths of a mile. You have the video uploaded. I jumped in the middle of the street to film it. It was really cool seeing them sing and dance with these big stagecoach rolling shrines saying something of 40 years of Krishna or something. I had never been in a protest before and it was almost my last because where I was filming they began to let the traffic go and a Krishna had to grab me because this blue Lamborghini almost mowed me down! We had a grand time, at least I did. Hee hee. FB could have cared less.<br />We had dinner at Ciccone’s again and this time I ate two plates of broccoli it was so tasty. We went to bed early tonight (11pm) because we had to get up to go to Stonehenge.<br />Yeah! We knocked off another wonder of the world. Luigi was funny. “Youa gonna drivea forra four hours to whata, looka at some rocks? Okay my friend, whatever, but you must plan somefing else lika da Winsor castle cuz youa go all da way, for I fink ten minuta.” He was right, 10 minutes. We spent more time in the gift shop for a chatchkes for me than at the rocks. Hee Hee Okay though we had a marvelous evening planned…a show.<br /><br />We dressed up one last time to go to Her Majesty’s Theatre to see…Phantom of the Opera! Magnificent. Chilling performances, brilliant costumes. The playbill was right! Hee hee. What they forgot to say was any old riffraff can go to the theater in London. We were wayyyy overdressed but it was okay. We met a very nice Polish man during intermission in the credit card business who says their economy is rocking. After the show Luigi drove us to Le Caprice for a 10:30pm dinner. I am sure you are all freaking out about the 180-degree change in our schedules but it is true. Our last meal. FB said he had seen Phantom in NYC but cannot remember a thing about the show except for the mask. He loved it. I married the most romantic man for sure.<br /><br />We did everything we could on this trip, no stopping no napping; we hit the ground running every morning and closed bars and restaurants each night. It was nice to reflect on the vast numbers of activities we completed and wonders we beheld. We strolled home once more and fell asleep to the NASCAR race on TV. The same track where Fred took me to my first race three years ago. Perfect.<br /><br />The honeymoon is over.<br /><br />This has been the most profound experience of my life. Seeing the things we saw, experiencing the things we did together and loving a man who returns that love is so amazing. Paul Xanthopolous, the Master du soignée at the Estate House in Scottsdale asked me what my version of the meaning of life is and I replied simply; to love, and to be a witness to it. I can attest to the love Fred shares with me, keyword WITH. Fred enhances my personal spiritual journey, by joining me at this crossroad to complete it, together. He made this whole trip about me; pleasing me, impressing me, spoiling me and showing his grand love and affection for me. I worked tirelessly also to make it about us, as a married couple now by building new bonds, affirming the existing ones, creating lasting memories, and with all my heart, returning his endless love. The trip is over, but the honeymoon will never end. We learned so much about ourselves and each other on this trip we have vowed to carry those things forward with us. Personally I have been so inspired by what we did and have so much more to share that I will be creating a book from this blogging experience. You have helped with that. I was able to capture so much more of our experiences as a result of trying to keep you all informed and mostly entertained. I did my best to make a complete catharsis of the day every time I sat at the keyboard for you and for us. Thank you for that. Thank you also for the emails affirming I was on the right path with this. I offer you this entire blog with humility and the greatest amount of sincerity. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I have writing. I will leave you with one last thought. Our experiences on this trip and here forward are supported by this man’s work. Since I don’t have the book with me here on the plane I will paraphrase from one of my most favorite authors and educators, the late M. Scott Peck.</strong></span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;color:#336666;"><strong><br /></strong><em>“Marriage is about furthering one’s own personal spiritual journey, to places that cannot be reached alone. Sacrifice on behalf of another’s personal growth will result in even greater growth of the self”</em></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8604734822149181446?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-38028763756063857682008-06-15T09:36:00.028-07:002008-06-25T05:56:05.504-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGJACRR29FI/AAAAAAAAAUE/UtwJ2j1PMSI/s1600-h/IMG_1065.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215801726190679122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGJACRR29FI/AAAAAAAAAUE/UtwJ2j1PMSI/s400/IMG_1065.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGJACpDq1QI/AAAAAAAAAUM/d1YFWcJO8uk/s1600-h/IMG_1083.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215801732573615362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGJACpDq1QI/AAAAAAAAAUM/d1YFWcJO8uk/s400/IMG_1083.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGJADx29NMI/AAAAAAAAAUU/Ht0oVQZUHfA/s1600-h/IMG_1090.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215801752116081858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGJADx29NMI/AAAAAAAAAUU/Ht0oVQZUHfA/s400/IMG_1090.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGJAMtMgJcI/AAAAAAAAAUc/CuNFxrDhkUo/s1600-h/IMG_1101.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215801905483097538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGJAMtMgJcI/AAAAAAAAAUc/CuNFxrDhkUo/s400/IMG_1101.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-3802876375606385768?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-23635146071150636982008-06-15T09:36:00.027-07:002008-06-25T05:50:07.153-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-7e66e7a25762201c" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v21.nonxt1.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D7e66e7a25762201c%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460065%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D3B324A1F714EEDF4DDD8C501DF39F6279EA8EDD2.1B395CFD4C7EAF4330921264F1FF9A970569724E%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D7e66e7a25762201c%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DdwcvP7izLosd12iVeO0BYsbtAzg&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v21.nonxt1.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D7e66e7a25762201c%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460065%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D3B324A1F714EEDF4DDD8C501DF39F6279EA8EDD2.1B395CFD4C7EAF4330921264F1FF9A970569724E%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D7e66e7a25762201c%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DdwcvP7izLosd12iVeO0BYsbtAzg&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-2363514607115063698?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-90413179192356274682008-06-15T09:36:00.026-07:002008-06-25T05:43:32.426-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-8c7d586aea3cc9e4" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v18.nonxt2.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D8c7d586aea3cc9e4%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460065%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D61644771AEF0D5F7E545156DC5F5FCD0C0C1AE19.7CE19B796734AA52D569FCBBFC3EE649A0B6AE7B%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D8c7d586aea3cc9e4%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DVt8RdxMoIqlYcRl5ha0HYhNoZJQ&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v18.nonxt2.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D8c7d586aea3cc9e4%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460065%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D61644771AEF0D5F7E545156DC5F5FCD0C0C1AE19.7CE19B796734AA52D569FCBBFC3EE649A0B6AE7B%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D8c7d586aea3cc9e4%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DVt8RdxMoIqlYcRl5ha0HYhNoZJQ&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-9041317919235627468?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-78166840287954375772008-06-15T09:36:00.025-07:002008-06-25T05:17:51.970-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGI3RGIy7mI/AAAAAAAAATs/j-S5d_kkmqY/s1600-h/IMG_0626.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215792085293264482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGI3RGIy7mI/AAAAAAAAATs/j-S5d_kkmqY/s400/IMG_0626.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGI3RcG2zbI/AAAAAAAAAT0/AKihSCz7_OM/s1600-h/IMG_0630.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215792091190709682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGI3RcG2zbI/AAAAAAAAAT0/AKihSCz7_OM/s400/IMG_0630.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGI3RminZjI/AAAAAAAAAT8/5qdLeqwnrhk/s1600-h/IMG_0637.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215792093991495218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SGI3RminZjI/AAAAAAAAAT8/5qdLeqwnrhk/s400/IMG_0637.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-7816684028795437577?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-84864210483859385182008-06-15T09:36:00.024-07:002008-06-25T05:12:44.662-07:00<span style="font-size:180%;color:#333399;">Today we toured the city with an interesting French man who took us everywhere except where President Bush was because traffic was backed up and the Musee de Rodin because that is where the Ambulance drivers were striking. They call it protesting but essentially it is a strike because the have formal, informal unions. Europe has more protests, like everyday it seems somebody is upset with something. I guess since we don’t live in DC we only see the lazy carpenters union protesting in Arizona with their “SHAME ON (fill in name here)” signs and professional protesters holding them. He was not an archaeologist but he was a documentary filmmaker. He was constantly taking us to places at our areas of interest to “make a picture from this perspective”. Versailles was incredible. The palace was breathtaking. It covers an unbelievable amount of acreage and most of everything has been preserved that was not pillaged for smelting weapons and currency. We saw the arcs, all five of them, and some historic Roman walls still remaining when the city was walled in during the roman era. We visited the Latin Quarter where most of the Latin students lived an many artists, writers and intellects lived like Gaston Leroux (phantom of the Opera) Matisse, Picasso and contemporaries like Apollinaire and Max Jacob. We went to Notre Dame, Orthodox churches and other cathedrals like the Sacre Couer, the church for the lovers, Moulin Rouge and the Red Light District. As we toured we were so blown away by the detail from the artists and architects to leave no stone unturned and so excited by the French government to require by law that every building owner must make preservation repairs and maintenance to the façades of their buildings every 10 years. The Eiffel tour is repainted every seven. We also went by a museum that was designed with a landscape architect who sculpted the walls with a living garden going up the wall. It was really neat with different flowers and grasses in varied patterns.<br /><br />Tonight we dressed up for dinner in the hotel. It was fine dining and FBC enjoyed it but I only fancied the dessert. I made a mistake ordering a salad that had tuna in it so they all freaked out when I just set it aside and did not eat it. I did not complain or send it back, I made the mistake and was still going to pay for it I just didn’t want to eat it so it wouldn’t wreck my appetite or my husband’s by gagging it down but I think since the portion sizes are so small, they all freak out if you don’t lick the plates for some reason.<br /><br />We finally did the Louvre today. We hit the significants like Venus, Mona Lisa, etc. but were really caught up in the huge body of works dedicated to Christ for some reason. Everyone of that era seemed to have their own interpretation of what happened and it is all so different. We also noticed that the statues of nude men went from being bare penii in the Greek and Roman influences to having fig leaves to having small cloths to being covered in the genitalia areas the closer the God movement became the prevalent thoughts of the times.<br /><br />I was most excited by the Musee de Rodin. His fascination of the human art form and sex, explicit sex in sculpture was deeper than I realized. We mused over the Thinker but he had other great works. There was one sculpture that kind of startled me as you come around the corner there is a woman balancing herself in such a way that her legs were spread and there was pretty significant detail of her vulva for a bronze. Additionally, Rodin had the ONLY sculpture I saw the whole trip of a man with an erect penis. It blew me away to see these things during an era where the church was so important and other art was more covered in the human form. He must have been quite a playboy but his portrait led me believe he was part of the fugly crowd.<br />Shopping in the fashion capital of the world is pretty cool. They also get all of the cool stuff before if at all, it comes to the US. We went to the ultimate and oldest mall around which was the Lafayette. First store on the first floor, I meant the zero floor, the ultimate French Store, Louis Vuitton. I haven’t spoke of any shopping exploits in too much specifics because shopping with my spouse is so rock star and over the top it is borderline inappropriate but I do have to tell you this, you would think the world is loaded with millionaires and there is no credit crisis because it took us 40 minutes to check out and pay for our items because of the lines in the store. Everybody and their brother was there it seemed. The whole mall was like that, all five stories of it. Every major brand was there and people were being herded like sheep to cash registers (caisse in French) where pretty, thin French girls would gladly swipe your child’s inheritance right off your debit card.<br />We then departed for lunch at the Eiffel Tower and boy that was a treat. We were totally skeptical at first thinking we were attempting to devour a gourmet meal at essentially a theme park attraction but the Jules Verne café (pronounced Jew-Vay so you never know what the heck people are referring to with their Fringlish (the French’s attempt at English) which is so much more difficult than Spanglish)<br /><br />Fred ordered the veal as a fillet (evidently we in the US are pronouncing and spelling it wrong with our ‘feel-ay’ which is supposed to be ‘fill-it’) was so delicious with more of a stew-like consistency. I had the ribs which was very tasty. It also gave you the luxury of dining high in the sky and not having to pay to ascend the tower.<br /><br />Our day continued to progress in a grand fashion when we went walking for an ATM and right around the corner from our hotel was the original Buddha Bar! We were so excited, well, at least I was. After a stop back at the hotel bar for our afternoon Bellini’s and pretzels, we got cleaned up and headed around the corner. Our last meal in Gay Paree would be at this world famous club. Turned out, it was our best meal there! The unfortunate thing between all the eating and drinking we did in Paris, we were stuffed to the gills or we would have eaten more.<br />We packed in the morning and I did so with great trepidation. One more city, the last in the line, alas, the honeymoon would soon be over. I have been so spoiled to have FBC’s undivided attention for all these days, I am feeling a bit selfish of having to come home and share him with everyone. We stopped one last time on the bridge built for the ambassador where he took a scene from a Jack Nickelson movie and we threw a coin in and he kissed me on the bridge so we would definitely be back. How romantic is that?!?!? I was very quiet all this morning and after our bridge scene, all he did on the way to the train station was chide me about the honeymoon being over and how he can’t wait to get back to reality. I keep contending that it is not over. What else can I do? There was no time to debate it because we were concerned about the excess baggage we now have as we boarded the Eurostar for London. It was pretty cool. You fly at 200mph under the English Channel for about 18 miles. Really wild. Not for the faint hearted being that deep underground. It was so cool though.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8486421048385938518?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-3942180864100555512008-06-15T09:36:00.023-07:002008-06-24T01:09:46.978-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-4ccefdfac691e45" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v16.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D04ccefdfac691e45%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D34A348C8AF8C2537A611E28F0E3318F2052D91F.3EDA244F73952B00EDDC368EA58AA9F3873A350C%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D4ccefdfac691e45%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DrariFKsfaxIOfzXmwmZaZWQabfg&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v16.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D04ccefdfac691e45%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D34A348C8AF8C2537A611E28F0E3318F2052D91F.3EDA244F73952B00EDDC368EA58AA9F3873A350C%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D4ccefdfac691e45%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DrariFKsfaxIOfzXmwmZaZWQabfg&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-394218086410055551?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-24898774303147954632008-06-15T09:36:00.022-07:002008-06-24T01:00:27.939-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-647763d440d2bed3" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v8.nonxt6.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D647763d440d2bed3%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D6802748A255A2FEE8639E9398AF20B974004422A.4338A1B6BAD15D977B1C31B5303FB941BCECD015%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D647763d440d2bed3%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DkVEEy4x98dIwHNvqTh5ix6ObdVs&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v8.nonxt6.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D647763d440d2bed3%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D6802748A255A2FEE8639E9398AF20B974004422A.4338A1B6BAD15D977B1C31B5303FB941BCECD015%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D647763d440d2bed3%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DkVEEy4x98dIwHNvqTh5ix6ObdVs&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-2489877430314795463?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-71988616929294550762008-06-15T09:36:00.021-07:002008-06-24T00:53:40.636-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-732ce6d019807c6a" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v15.nonxt4.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D732ce6d019807c6a%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D6F5FE26372815F93F2DE28CEF1366331C4785A91.1E51FF064406CB89FB7CBD9A7A3EAE3B45C6EBAF%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D732ce6d019807c6a%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DeNAdeKE2qvjlMyZzCpmOAc3yKMg&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v15.nonxt4.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D732ce6d019807c6a%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D6F5FE26372815F93F2DE28CEF1366331C4785A91.1E51FF064406CB89FB7CBD9A7A3EAE3B45C6EBAF%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D732ce6d019807c6a%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DeNAdeKE2qvjlMyZzCpmOAc3yKMg&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-7198861692929455076?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-63912152015003842122008-06-15T09:36:00.020-07:002008-06-24T00:34:43.598-07:00<span style="font-size:180%;color:#000099;">Paris<br />We get off the plane and meet our expediter with the excess weight charge fading in the past. We cleared customs pretty quickly and met our driver from the hotel. A nice big 7 passenger Mercedes van to escort us there. All the cabs here are also Mercedes which is really cool. The driving here is much like Roma with crazy scooter people jetting in and out of traffic and driving between cars which is legal. Actually, everywhere we have been there have been crazy scooter people. I thought Americans were crazy but I think I would take the road rage of America over the way these cats drive, holy moly.<br />We arrive at hotel Crillon and it was so beautiful. Not living in a closet this city! Much better on the suite size this time around too with champagne and chocolates desiring our senses to enjoy them. Again, we look out our bedroom window and there is another wonder of the world, the Eiffel Tower. How lucky can one girl get? They do this cool light show on the hour every evening where the whole thing twinkles and has a laser light show at 10pm. It always seems earlier that what it is here in Europe because the sun stays out so late. It still gets up early but it is not dark until 10:30 or 11pm. So we get ready for dinner and have the concierge book us at the restaurant Severino recommended, La Serre. Everyone was cooing that we selected this super dressy establishment with two Michelin stars and the hotel had a private car take us there (another Mercedes).<br /><br />The restaurant was fashioned in the shape of an old ocean liner on the inside with a roof that retracted. Fred Bond Clouseu (FBC here after) in his white dinner jacket and tie looked smashing and all eyes were on us after we got off the teeny elevator for two plus an operator (like soooo old it was totally cool. All I could think of was cracking a joke from the movie with Adam Sandler when he asks the elevator guy how he likes his job and the operator remarked, “It has its ups and downs” hee hee but I refrained since everyone looked so serious) Everyone is greeting us in French and carrying on as if we are French. It is a little disconcerting because my iPod only downloaded Arabic and the French never made it so I did not practice a lick. We are getting nervous in the sea of tuxedoed waiters thinking we are going to have another crappy French restaurant experience like in Greece. What we have learned is that French people are only assholes when they leave their country. They are actually very nice and accommodating here and think that we do not like them. The maître d returned and I mustered my only French from fourth grade, “Parle vous Anglais?” With a,”Oui” we were on our way to understanding the menu and the chef’s recommendations too. I read this fabulous book which I will enumerate shortly but the author was from Alsace, so I chose a wine from that region as she spoke so highly of it in this book.FBC and I still looked a little concerned because we are not escargot, foie gras or pigeon folk at all. Wild game to me isn’t the kind I can shoot off the porch if they weren’t protected in Arizona (dumb) that taunt my dog with their silly warbles then crap on his head when they fly away. We gulped and dove in to order what we could recognize and the lamb was actually pretty tasty. So tasty in fact, that we bought the cookbook, in French only. We were scared at first but turned out really good.<br /><br />I wanted something to fill my mind along the trip when I wasn’t blogging, exploring or directly interacting with my new husband so I brought along a book I have been meaning to read but it just collected dust. I chose this book more for the social commentary and culture comparisons but I actually derived some real common sense feelings that were more my own hypothesis and now I have confirmation that there are other smart people in the world and we are not just swimming in a sea of idiots. I also derived some great suggestions about gay Paree, dining and entertainment-wise. The book was written by Marielle Guiliano and the title…French Women Don’t Get Fat. The essence of her tome on healthy living is just that, eat less but a big variety, and don’t waste time with not the highest quality ingredients and move more, living healthy. The one thing that struck me was something I was guilty of and she has a better way. Starving first to indulge in something later. She prescribes the opposite, indulge first, and then cut back later. You are less likely to overdo it her way because you haven’t done without. C’est bon. So, as a result, I am indulging in the finest of everything but her way, cut your bite as small as possible to evoke the flavor, texture and taste, and then chew slowly to thoroughly enjoy it, and usually French women get satisfaction out of three or four bites of sinful items and that is enough. Never eat till your full and never go too hungry. It takes some training from the typical excesses of American living but with the portion sizes we have had on the road, plus all the walking (never take a lift unless it is more than four floors you need ascend, take the stairs) in her move more segment, we have totally lost weight, toned up and never said no to anything. I will say this, the US has no idea what chocolate really is. Enough said about the book.<br />I was excited to be in France because I enjoy crepes and wanted an authentic French crepe. Well, not this morning. They make them with some whole wheat flour or something put too much milk or whatever to make them runny and then burn the daylights out of them, throw some sugar on them and call it a crepe.<br /><br />After picking at my breakfast, which is an exaggeration of the book I read, (I did however eat my entire croissant with salted butter and a daub of cherry preserve!) we headed off for the Louvre.<br />Walked to the Louvre, passing a fountain and benches with sculptures all over. Folks were feeding the ducks, playing with their children and reading books all throughout these gardens. It felt very French as we were approaching the museum. I am trying to figure out what park the scene from Gigi was filmed at for the song which that guy (not Louis Jordan but I can’t remember his name) who sang “I love little girls” though I don’t think it was this one, I am on the lookout. We arrived at the museum, took our touristy shots as we approached then proceeded to the gates, where it was closed on Tuesdays. Ugh. We walked about a mile so far to get here. We then start heading back along this street with shops nosing in and out of them. Beggars with babies, grrr, I am now disgusted and appalled when I see these women dragging their kids along to beg for the sympathy vote. Well, when I have on converse sneakers and beggars have on Jimmy Choo; they are not getting a nickel or one French Franck out of me! Now I am talking very loudly at them when they approach at about the 4ft. mark saying “stay away” and alerting others within earshot that there is someone to watch for. FBC just shakes his head and laughs.<br />We ducked into this cool men’s store and acquired some more fab accoutrements for my boulevardier (check dictionary.com for the word of the day from May hee hee, its perfect for him!) The man assisting us was named Ael (pronounced eye-L) and he and his associate scored us reservations at the original Joel Robuchon Restaurant (there is one in Vegas we go to) AND entrée to the prive club le e’toile where the famous and riche go to play!<br /><br />They also send us to lunch down the way where the best club sandwich in town was supposed to be had. You need reservations for everything here. Even though the place looks empty, they won’t seat you without a reservation, period. It was off the foyer of this posh hotel where there was this framed refrigerated panel where you could write in the snowy fuzz on frozen wall. Kinda like a freezefitti of sorts. I had the club and it was outstanding. The salads in Europe are so much better than in the States. Even my husband who likes a little lettuce with his thousand island dressing is totally digging the lettuce and veggies tossed with just olive oil salt and pepper. It really allows the flavors of the greens to come out (which I didn’t even know they had flavor until we found Rocket!!! A type of lettuce in this part of the world) and makes you savor each bite a little bit more.<br />After the grub, we moved on toward the Eiffel Tower. We stopped at the hotel to relieve ourselves of FBC’s new digs and enquired about cabbing it to the tower. Well, since there was a cab strike, the line was huge so we decided to walk it, after all, the doorman said “15 minutes walk” in Fringlish. Well, it looked closer than it was. You could not run it 15 minutes. We walked the Phoenix equivalent of walking from the Esplanade/Biltmore Fashion Park area to our place at the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall. We chose to walk along the river Seine watching the boats and photographing the fabulous sculptures and bridges along the way. The whole time I am on guard with all the strange folk and beggars working the area but then we were introduced to another program entirely. A guy (or girl) will bend down about 4-5 feet in front of you pretend to grab something off the floor and then when they straighten up, they have a thick men’s gold band and say, “excuse me, you dropped this” Uhm, how the hell could I have dropped something 5 feet in front of somewhere I have never been!!!!! Anyway, if nobody bites, they follow you and say, “Hey I found this, what do you think it is worth? I will sell it to you” OR another variation of this is they hand it to you saying you dropped it, when you say it is not yours, they say for you to keep it anyway, then catch up with you a ways down the road and then asks you for some cash as a finder’s fee. I found out the details later on when I asked our driver but I watched the sleight of hand on the first guy and knew something was awry, I just didn’t know what so I walked away from him with great speed. This happened SIX TIMES on the way to the tower! I am so suspicious when FBC started to engage one of them I just yelled at them and threw my mad dog look at FBC and said “keep moving stop talking with these idiots” He is finding this all very entertaining.<br /><br />I cannot believe how big the Eiffel Tower really is. If I had an inkling we may not have walked because it was much smaller in my estimation. After a bottle of water and a few videos for your entertainment dollar, we walked back along the old Champs Elyse and through the new shopping district on Rue de . Our little jaunt to the tower took us only three and a half hours.<br /><br />We had a quiet romantic dinner at Joel Robuchon after our incredible walk dining at this bar that wraps around the totally modern minimalist kitchen where you see your meal prepared right before your eyes. Our driver Laurent answered my ring scammer questions and also shared with us that he is a B-movie star and stage actor. We had him drive us by where Dody Fayed and Princess Di was killed. It was on the thirteenth pillar of this underpass where the French government decided to leave it unrepaired so as to commemorate it. Just up the road by the Seine River they have the flame from our statue of liberty and that is the monument where people go to leave flowers and commemorations for the couple.<br /><br />We go to the bar in our hotel and have THE BEST peach bellini ever on the planet. The bartender shares his secret ingredient plus the fact that the Italians use sparkling wine whereas the French use champagne for the drink. Tuck that away for future reference. They also have those soft salty pretzels too. More later!!!</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6391215201500384212?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-71834325113568604882008-06-15T09:36:00.019-07:002008-06-24T00:21:40.301-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-61b67ca7292f6112" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v2.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D61b67ca7292f6112%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D65C730E36F613A58C75992C646C420382F89BB1A.77EA9CFB0ECE72102180F3C54522842CF2A21D92%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D61b67ca7292f6112%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DKR6DvRUwHdQanKCuB2cz_xATzUU&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v2.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D61b67ca7292f6112%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D65C730E36F613A58C75992C646C420382F89BB1A.77EA9CFB0ECE72102180F3C54522842CF2A21D92%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D61b67ca7292f6112%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DKR6DvRUwHdQanKCuB2cz_xATzUU&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-7183432511356860488?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-56138932863720630982008-06-15T09:36:00.018-07:002008-06-24T00:21:15.809-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-2175e01c260ad4af" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v18.nonxt5.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D2175e01c260ad4af%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D855C3C078A190EE52B756A8D6B690E5DBC104745.7B1EE00F5D9B3A0599990038731D433D34E72E6B%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D2175e01c260ad4af%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3D9DnG_axJ3tTYE3o42QaeCa4IUK4&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v18.nonxt5.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D2175e01c260ad4af%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D855C3C078A190EE52B756A8D6B690E5DBC104745.7B1EE00F5D9B3A0599990038731D433D34E72E6B%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D2175e01c260ad4af%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3D9DnG_axJ3tTYE3o42QaeCa4IUK4&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-5613893286372063098?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-16505804444601656452008-06-15T09:36:00.016-07:002008-06-23T09:29:47.192-07:00<span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000000;">Make sure you see all the pics and videos. I had a tough time uploading on the wireless connection in Rome and Paris was not much better so here you will be slammed with stuff to catch up on. Disfrutas! (Enjoy)<br /></span><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">So…if Greece customs rocked, then Rome rocks harder. We got off the plane and it was like when we land in Phoenix. You are mixing with the folks waiting to get on the plane and you don’t have to go and get stamped anywhere. It was weird not to have to do that, plus I am disappointed I did not get a stamp from their country. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><br />Once we figured out where to go to retrieve our bags (I always have to pit stop before baggage claim, I should have done a coffee table book on toilets around the world because there sure have been some interesting ones!) it took a hundred years to wait for them to arrive. No big deal. After we collected our bags we went looking for our driver since clearly there was not a need for an expediter here and nothing, nothing. We walked everywhere and nobody. I called the hotel and the concierge was so mean when I asked where to meet our driver. He had a completely different arrival time for the plane so the guy waited around for 2 hours supposedly then left. He said he would send him again but since President Bush was in town traffic was blocked is certain areas and it would be at least an hour. Nice. Oh, and it is non-refundable! We had to catch TWO cabs for the entire luggage while he warned me to watch out for pick pockets. I went with the bulk of the luggage and my Italian driver fortunately spoke Spanish so I was able to converse with him while swapping text with CarolAnn. He was very nice and took me by some monuments along the way and shared some insight to the city as well.<br /><br />We arrive at the hotel and are really kind of shocked at the treatment we were receiving; we thought the Italians liked us and not the French. Apparently, I had it wrong. Once checked in and shown to our room, the Presidential Suite, Fred dropped his jaw after entering the salon. This was the size of the closet the last place we were in Greece. The bed was a queen size and must have been made for Napoleon Bonaparte and not the Roman Emperor Fredicticvs Bond Caesar Salad the Great (Emp here forward). Sure enough after checking with our travel agent, this was considered luxury. Grrr. (that’s Fred’s Grrr)<br /><br />After unpacking on the floor we got all dolled up and walked up the street to a restaurant recommended by the concierge and turned out it was delicious. This place had lots of wood and velvet walls but more of a French décor for an Italian Restaurant with their crystal chandeliers than I expected. Most of the Italians so far speak English which is good because I was counting on it being more like Spanish which it is not. We were thankful after the airport transfer snafu and the teeny weensy room that this concierge was better at restaurant recommendations than the Greece one.<br /><br />Again we were lucky to have another Dr. Archaeologist as our tour guide. Fred said he liked this one best and I contend it was because she was a 6ft golden haired Italian babe. Well, she was actually good and a couple of years older than me but she unlike the others we had, was tremendously experienced in actual research with on-sight excavations on several of the ruins we saw along our tour. We visited everything, literally. Well almost, we could not go to the Vatican until the next day because Bush was there and it was closed. He is messing up our groove! The ruins were spectacular. The unusual thing is that the Romans built their current city ON TOP of the existing city. Their aqueducts and sophisticated plumbing and sewage were very thoughtful for the time. The coliseum was also a treat. Seeing where the lions popped up to fight the gladiators, the design of the stadium itself to empty people in 15 minutes, the fact that they can flood the bottom to reenact naval battles and then drain it afterwards. They were certainly ahead of the curve and you would think modern day architects would take a lesson from them.<br /><br />Circus Maximus was pretty cool too as it was the first real racing venue and being Fred built his Romanesque wealth from racing; it had its significance in our tour. The pantheon, the Orthodox Church, the styles of the building it all was pretty amazing.<br /><br />They also had great fountains that you could refill your water bottles or stop it to operate like a drinking fountain. The purest water in all of Italy supposedly. Halfway through the day we stopped at a street side café for lunch. It was delightful as our guide dined with us and she knew the owner. Champagne for lunch is the usual beverage now and lunch in Italy has at least three courses so you have to apply a significant amount of discipline to stop eating and leave enough room for the next course. (I have mastered this technique from the tons of food in the 8-9 course meals you usually have with Francis in HK and the book I read along the way but will give that commentary when in Paris).<br /><br />While we were visiting more ruins after lunch Fred remarked about the graffiti on all the monuments. People carving their names into the stone at the coliseum, spray-paint everywhere, etc. and our guide Livia had an expression in Italian which translated meant, “The idiot’s mother is always pregnant” Hee Hee. We loved that saying! How sad but true.<br /><br />We went to Harry’s Bar of the Harry Cipriani fame where all the movie stars and celebrities go to dine and hang out. This is the second night we kept passing the owner of this other restaurant along the way at Elephant Blanc Ristorante. He kept inviting us for a free drink but the Emp didn’t want to stop. Not posh enough I guess. Harry’s is where the Peach Bellini was invented. We indulged in the original before dinner and we met the owner, Severino Legore. He was a delightful character sitting with us off and on throughout our meal kind of reminding us of Benito from Avanti’s. He gave us some great recommendations for Paris dining as he had just returned. They had a great piano player and singer who did many renditions of 80’s songs from the US. I still cannot get over how they don’t play more traditional music. We were lucky at lunch as there were these gypsy children begging for money and the 12 year old boy was playing the accordion and we were auditorily indulged. We walked for about 15 minutes when we realized we were not exactly back to the hotel and it took us another 20 before we found our way back. The streets were not easily discernable until you are right upon the signs. When we returned, we had to walk up to the gym first before retiring because they don’t give you bedside water. They charge you ten Euro for a 16 oz. bottle of water from your fridge and in the gym where I worked out, it was free. Go Figure. This would be a habit we will now do every night hereafter.<br /><br />The continental breakfast in the morning was lovely, even more so because it was free, and free always tastes better. As Mike Lizanich would say, “Free should not be your typical profane four letter word”. Since the showers were not very big we had to take turns here so Emp would head down and have tea and read the paper to check on how Obama and Hilary were doing. This one particular morning he enlightened me as to the type of folks sitting next to us and the conversations they had before my arrival. Evidently it was a table full of four predators and one man, poor soul as the Emp said. They were at least sexta if not septagenerarions and all cooing about their former husbands (five in total which died) and they qualities they admired and what they were looking for in their next mark. One of them was a Jewish hotel baroness as I discerned by the conversations I was overhearing of celebrating Christmas with the help that worked on Christmas eve (since they lived in the hotel) and that was the most significant memory of her father checking on the parties in his Tuxedo. The Emp keeps reminding me he needs an autopsy when he passes because even though I may not be a predator now, I am still female. I’m sure the daily exchanges with Mitch don’t help either.<br /><br />Today we saw the Vatican, after President Bush vacated the area. I had to make sure I was properly clothed and not wearing my traditional American hedonistic garb that got me refused entry in many of the other churches and mosques. Once past the lines of security we first toured the catacombs. It was amazing to me the foresight these people had in building a monument to survive these many years. We saw popes entombed from hundreds of years before the US was even discovered. Amazing yet was that it jerked tears and evoked an emotion I hadn’t seen from the Emp in the other churches. Weirder yet, when we were in the central part of the church Fred said a prayer for his buddy the Nac and later that afternoon we received an email from Nac and his wife out of the blue saying hi with an update of his condition. We didn’t even think he knew what we were up to let alone our personal email address from our website! Too kooky.<br /><br />Again, we walked past the Elephant guy and again we laughed and joked with him and turned him down for a drink heading back to Harry’s bar for another fabulous meal.<br /><br />One thing that is really pissing me off is these guys that walk up the street with flowers and hand me one, saying I’m so bellisima (beautiful) then trying to fleece the Emp out of cash for it. The one guy was pretty ballsy this time as I threw my hands up to avoid taking the damn thing he stuck it in the front of my dress. These street hustlers and beggars in Rome far surpass the surreptitious characters of Egypt, hands down.<br /><br />Our last day to wander around and we need to get some more Euros since nobody (small merchants) seems to take credit cards let alone AMEX and the Emp tried my cappuccino at breakfast and did not like it. I told him we needed to go to a real Italian espresso bar that serves Illy café beans like my old espresso bar did. Needless to say, this is for David Burke as well, I will never ask the Emp to go out of his way for an espresso as long as I live. Not even to cross the street. Only if the Starbucks nymph is beckoning me from the same side of the street will I ask him to stop as a result. Between David Burke wearing him out all over Hong Kong looking for Starbucks and this episode, I will obtain my caffeine fixes en solo. So, we walk to the ATM machine and I pull out 240 Euro. I keep 40 for me and give the other 200 to my loving husband (which I learned to do in my obedience training crash course from Ron Kastner. Give almost all of my money to my doting husband course 206. BTW-This did not work out so good the first time I was married so I hope Ron knows what he is talking about. Pam Seidenspinner completed the course along with her mother up at the cabin while we were abroad and so with her zeal and enthusiasm, I cannot wait to return and complete the long version.) We enter the espresso bar and voila, no soymilk. None. The Italians are just as bad as the Greeks with this no soymilk thing. So, we leave. The sidewalks are narrow and people park their scooters all along the even more narrow streets. This pregnant girl smoking a cigarette pops out from a doorway and starts begging in Italian for money. There is another girl with her. Fred starts to step aside (I am three steps behind the Emp just like the obedience class from Ron says) then she grabs his arm jerking on him and pleading for money. Erstwhile, the other chickie puts up a piece of cardboard about the emps waist and reaches in his f*#&amp;ing pocket!!! I can see the money I just gave him coming out of his pocket. He realizes what is going on and grabs the money as it comes out. I throw the pregnant chick aside, rip the cardboard into little pieces and begin pummeling the freaking pick pocket chickie until just that moment that I heard, ”On tonight’s episode of Locked Up Abroad we have the wife of NASCAR Diecast mogul Heather Wagenhals in her honeymoon arrest and detainment in an Italian prison.” F-U-©Ð that! The Emp grabbed my hand and pulled me away walking us to the next block. We talked and he said he got his money. I made him count it because I thought I saw her with some. He counted it and said it is all here, 180 and you kept 20. I corrected him and said no, I took 40 and gave you 200 even. I was so pissed. I turned to run back around the corner but the Emp said we would get her later. I boiled the rest of the day. The emp thought it was funny.<br /><br />He said Al Eckers used to tell him to put a rubber band around your money so you can feel it catching on the fabric when it comes out of your pocket. This was not with a rubber band around it. He thought it was cool and worth the 20 Euro for the show?!?!?! Maybe because it wasn’t his 20 Euro that it was so cool. Grrrrr (my grr this time!) The further the day went on, the more I seethed. He thought this was funny too. So funny in fact that he told me, “See what you did, that poor girl is going to have to find another piece of cardboard now that you ripped hers up” Nice. Yep, that is the love of my life right there in that moment.<br /><br />We walked down the Spanish Steps to the shopping district and puttered around there for the afternoon. Had a nice lunch, a crappy cannoli, great gelato and we bought some cool Italian shoes. They don’t give you free stuff here when you buy something like they do in Greece. On the way back up the steps these artists, controlled by the mafia, park themselves atop the steps and hock their wares. Some do caricatures, portraits, or just sell paintings. Funny, everyone had example of their work out and they all have drawn Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. One had Madonna on it that was most realistic so we picked that guy to do ours. The Emp had me go first. He said just by the eyes it was realistic and looked like me. We switched seats and I saw my portrait. I look cross-eyed and like I had surgery to correct a cleft palette! The Emp sat down and his was no better, his looked liked something you would see profiled on Americas Most Wanted. Not bad, at least we didn’t feel fleeced for 40 Euro because now we have kindling for the fireplace at Thanksgiving.<br /><br />We headed back to the hotel and saw a salon. We both wanted and I desperately needed a manicure. We popped in and sure enough they could take us. The Emp got the luxury seat and they had me around the corner in this makeshift manicure area downstairs. It was a blessing in disguise because that is where I met…Federico. I know what you all are thinking but stop right there, it was only a love affair for the hair and the Emp fell for him too. I brought hair color on the trip to re-red my head as you all know I am a natural blonde. The challenge was that I forgot the necessary accoutrements to successfully apply it. The gentleman styling hair next to me spoke very good English; he was interpreting for me as my manicurist was solo Italiano. I asked him what brand of hair color they used and if he could re-red my head. He did in fact have the time.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">We are headed out so I will finish this thought later!!!</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">Since I have had to have my hair done on the road before, I know the formula that my hairdresser back home uses but…Federico knew my colour instantly. I enquired about the proficiency of his English and of course, he spent four years in Beverly Hills training under, guess who? Jose Eber! Too funny because the Emp knows him (Eber) from his Farrah Fawcett days. He begins with another of his assistants and they methodically slap on the colour to my hair. He chides me about having two heterosexual men working on my hair and I said in inimitable Emp style,”Well it should be three or four” Hee Hee. The Emp sat down next to me and we began chatting about what to do for our last night in town. We had started a ritual of dining in the hotel’s fine dining for the last night in each city. I agreed and not because of keeping the tradition but rather to save the poor roses guy because I still had a significant amount of pent up rage towards these a-holes on the street who just wrecked my naïveté for travel and love intoxication replacing it with feelings of constant vigilance toward my surroundings and observances of everyone who passes by as if I am guarding the President of the US or something. IF I was to see another street hustler with roses I would be bound to remove the flowers from his hand and shove them up the hapless soul’s sphincter to exact some sort of revenge for the other two girls and he would not know what just happened. I can tell you exactly why people flip out and shoot up their classmates and do crazy seemingly strange acts of violence now. Because the hostility just envelops you.<br /><br />As Federico used two blow dryers to style my hair with incredible dexterity and the Emp was getting on with him nicely too, swapping one liners with him about the weak American dollar etc. I offered that he have Federico give him a trim since I did a small job on him to clean him up until we return (not professional by any stretch) and WOW, Federico went to town on him too and he looks so much taller and sexier with it shorter on the sides!!! Bellisimo!<br />Dinner was lovely and I had the most incredible minestrone soup ever on the planet. It was a simple broth with finely chopped crisp vegetables that were firm but surrendered immediately with minimal mastication effort. Yum-eee.<br /><br />Back down to the gym for bottled water and off to dream land Bonaparte style before heading to the fashion capital of the world, gay Paree. </span><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><br />The toughest thing getting used to has been everywhere we have been so far, architecturally speaking, they don’t count the floor you walk into the building as the first floor, and it is the zero floor. Except in Egypt where the second floor is the sixth floor for some wacky reason and Dubai had word names for their floors so I don’t recall there but in Greece and Roma, zero floor.<br /><br />We arrive at the airport and proceed to check in to Air France for our next destination and wham, two bags per person limit after we just acquired our seventh suitcase. We thought US Scareways was bad with their $50 per bag over charge, I begged for that rate. They charged us 7.50 Euro PER KILO!!!! I begged and pleaded with the clerk trying to negotiate the price down and altering the weights of the bags partially holding them off the scales so they were not that heavy while my el husband-o Nuevo broadcasted to anyone who would listen how the French hate Americans and what a conspiracy this was. Sorry, but all the coffee table books we have collected plus other chatchkes cost us 972 Euro to take on the plane with us. At 67 cents Euro to the American dollar you can guess how infuriated the Emp was and it seemed as though we could not get out of Roma fast enough with cash in our pockets.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-1650580444460165645?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-2060878925945699792008-06-15T09:36:00.012-07:002008-06-21T02:18:14.279-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFzFAA-8QUI/AAAAAAAAATE/RvdMqmRn01Q/s1600-h/IMG_0362.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214259072642859330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFzFAA-8QUI/AAAAAAAAATE/RvdMqmRn01Q/s400/IMG_0362.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFzFA2xdJdI/AAAAAAAAATM/VF0Y-XimGUg/s1600-h/IMG_0379.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214259087081809362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFzFA2xdJdI/AAAAAAAAATM/VF0Y-XimGUg/s400/IMG_0379.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFzFBSdPbzI/AAAAAAAAATU/g_a6Jc0QXJU/s1600-h/IMG_0403.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214259094513217330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFzFBSdPbzI/AAAAAAAAATU/g_a6Jc0QXJU/s400/IMG_0403.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFzFBhh7a1I/AAAAAAAAATc/goLxYKtFgVo/s1600-h/IMG_0421.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214259098559408978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFzFBhh7a1I/AAAAAAAAATc/goLxYKtFgVo/s400/IMG_0421.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFzFCG_lI-I/AAAAAAAAATk/kYhhs6u0_2M/s1600-h/IMG_0599.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214259108615889890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFzFCG_lI-I/AAAAAAAAATk/kYhhs6u0_2M/s400/IMG_0599.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-206087892594569979?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-56574245491539329042008-06-15T09:36:00.010-07:002008-06-21T01:44:58.448-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-18f38700566853e0" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v16.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D18f38700566853e0%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D63092B4F59E215E5F8A0765A4DE76FA27EA2FFFB.2472E895085E99E412D5F4F6F9504F257BEF7FC6%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D18f38700566853e0%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DJhb5yFHRi6CFc_2Zy6nulJvD4yw&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v16.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D18f38700566853e0%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D63092B4F59E215E5F8A0765A4DE76FA27EA2FFFB.2472E895085E99E412D5F4F6F9504F257BEF7FC6%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D18f38700566853e0%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DJhb5yFHRi6CFc_2Zy6nulJvD4yw&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-5657424549153932904?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-32675759732042770822008-06-15T09:36:00.009-07:002008-06-21T01:31:53.524-07:00<span style="color:#000099;"></span><br /><p><span style="color:#000099;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-853b8af7caf400d3" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v2.nonxt2.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D853b8af7caf400d3%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D711B85C9847D771A844E285944E2DCF300BC4D46.4079EB14C8E9800F3BF11E4DE2ECE1CF07844448%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D853b8af7caf400d3%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3Ds586ApC-i3lFNgbtMXcgkLulz_8&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v2.nonxt2.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D853b8af7caf400d3%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D711B85C9847D771A844E285944E2DCF300BC4D46.4079EB14C8E9800F3BF11E4DE2ECE1CF07844448%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D853b8af7caf400d3%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3Ds586ApC-i3lFNgbtMXcgkLulz_8&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object></span></p><p><span style="color:#000099;">I needed a hard wire connection to finish these uploads because the wireless was too slow for these pics and video.</span></p><p><span style="color:#000099;"></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-3267575973204277082?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-13382095623321449092008-06-15T09:36:00.008-07:002008-06-20T03:04:11.580-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt_jgl41aI/AAAAAAAAASc/93YdmgEaEzI/s1600-h/IMG_0491.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213901241632478626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt_jgl41aI/AAAAAAAAASc/93YdmgEaEzI/s400/IMG_0491.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt_j3dQ_kI/AAAAAAAAASk/PR031Cj3CS4/s1600-h/IMG_0567.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213901247770328642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt_j3dQ_kI/AAAAAAAAASk/PR031Cj3CS4/s400/IMG_0567.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt_kJB3XoI/AAAAAAAAASs/NE9LDVGZcWU/s1600-h/IMG_0338.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213901252487241346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt_kJB3XoI/AAAAAAAAASs/NE9LDVGZcWU/s400/IMG_0338.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt_kbTbILI/AAAAAAAAAS0/D66XmHLuV-Y/s1600-h/IMG_0353.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213901257392726194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt_kbTbILI/AAAAAAAAAS0/D66XmHLuV-Y/s400/IMG_0353.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt_kmIf0AI/AAAAAAAAAS8/kRJ_COql3LE/s1600-h/IMG_0357.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213901260299685890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt_kmIf0AI/AAAAAAAAAS8/kRJ_COql3LE/s400/IMG_0357.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-1338209562332144909?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-89184576908984561282008-06-15T09:36:00.007-07:002008-06-20T02:36:55.131-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt5VGMxS0I/AAAAAAAAASE/Vhy9PGyf8mw/s1600-h/IMG_0446.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213894396959869762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt5VGMxS0I/AAAAAAAAASE/Vhy9PGyf8mw/s400/IMG_0446.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt5VbgrTQI/AAAAAAAAASM/Kbj6oMn2_DM/s1600-h/IMG_0584.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213894402680507650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt5VbgrTQI/AAAAAAAAASM/Kbj6oMn2_DM/s400/IMG_0584.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt5VgpA8MI/AAAAAAAAASU/vKiH3xKltQ4/s1600-h/IMG_0473.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213894404057657538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt5VgpA8MI/AAAAAAAAASU/vKiH3xKltQ4/s400/IMG_0473.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8918457690898456128?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-1419569029100957642008-06-15T09:36:00.006-07:002008-06-20T02:24:13.135-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt28W05P-I/AAAAAAAAAR0/3vbGxKvfUSw/s1600-h/IMG_0292.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213891772903145442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt28W05P-I/AAAAAAAAAR0/3vbGxKvfUSw/s400/IMG_0292.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt28pqKWbI/AAAAAAAAAR8/LMzwu-O6FAg/s1600-h/IMG_0293.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213891777958402482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt28pqKWbI/AAAAAAAAAR8/LMzwu-O6FAg/s400/IMG_0293.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-141956902910095764?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-5140302020264289442008-06-15T09:36:00.005-07:002008-06-20T02:23:53.680-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt28W05P-I/AAAAAAAAAR0/3vbGxKvfUSw/s1600-h/IMG_0292.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213891772903145442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt28W05P-I/AAAAAAAAAR0/3vbGxKvfUSw/s400/IMG_0292.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt28pqKWbI/AAAAAAAAAR8/LMzwu-O6FAg/s1600-h/IMG_0293.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213891777958402482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFt28pqKWbI/AAAAAAAAAR8/LMzwu-O6FAg/s400/IMG_0293.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-514030202026428944?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-27060753601560755132008-06-15T09:36:00.004-07:002008-06-17T15:00:32.088-07:00While on the road I have challenges checking the blog as it sometimes looks like it did not upload. If you are not seeing the most recent blog on top, just click on the 2008 link and it should update your page as the old one may still be stuck in your cache (computer jargon for get a newer copy of the webpage)<div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-2706075360156075513?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-49534409693641788892008-06-15T09:36:00.003-07:002008-06-17T14:56:54.041-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFgxmk7StaI/AAAAAAAAARs/6R37vMuKtLg/s1600-h/IMG_0607.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212971107498505634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFgxmk7StaI/AAAAAAAAARs/6R37vMuKtLg/s400/IMG_0607.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I wish my new husband would ask the waiters to take our photos BEFORE we are half tanked. Hee Hee</div><div></div><div>We are officially drunks (alcoholics go to meetings) since we started drinking at lunch here in Greece. Oh yes, the champagne flows like wather around us. I think we will add a stop on our journey to Betty Ford to dry out before officially returning home. Thank goodness we don't have to drive anywhere, I just have to negotiate walking in stillettos on 1000 year old cobblestone without breaking my neck. It is a challenge when my husband is also walking at an angle on a flat road too so leaning on him is not really an option.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-4953440969364178889?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-28674332824796760582008-06-15T09:36:00.002-07:002008-06-15T09:54:44.447-07:00<p><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-16be434390989bb0" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v18.nonxt5.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D16be434390989bb0%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D2FF2292DE157DAB47931060FD0860B5C33CD36FE.261B2308BF5B6C10AE7506EC14B0CDFAB4C109B0%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D16be434390989bb0%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3D07NWeQCJeOQZxCOAczaMriazokU&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v18.nonxt5.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D16be434390989bb0%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D2FF2292DE157DAB47931060FD0860B5C33CD36FE.261B2308BF5B6C10AE7506EC14B0CDFAB4C109B0%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D16be434390989bb0%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3D07NWeQCJeOQZxCOAczaMriazokU&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object></p><p><span style="font-size:180%;color:#993300;">We walked to a special place by the aqueducts (in the background) right in front of Harry's Bar (The famous Cipriani's)to film this for you. Hope your day with the kid's is grand! Fred says he loves you very much and is so proud of you taking the reins. I told him I knew you would be great!</span></p><p><span style="font-size:180%;color:#993300;">Love, Fred and Heather</span></p><p> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-2867433282479676058?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-28901238713296151052008-06-03T20:56:00.023-07:002008-06-15T06:17:10.432-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-9f412ffd9953216c" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v7.nonxt2.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D9f412ffd9953216c%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D16DCDA02A64729576AE4412FE4B832D94E28A782.54B543E149ADFF926A4CC475A68D61FC4BFF9762%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D9f412ffd9953216c%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3D4OhHBLk7kGiWJlp0f8yOmxmwQVs&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v7.nonxt2.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D9f412ffd9953216c%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D16DCDA02A64729576AE4412FE4B832D94E28A782.54B543E149ADFF926A4CC475A68D61FC4BFF9762%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D9f412ffd9953216c%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3D4OhHBLk7kGiWJlp0f8yOmxmwQVs&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-2890123871329615105?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-86036919146037044962008-06-03T20:56:00.022-07:002008-06-15T02:56:39.509-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTnNBtrU6I/AAAAAAAAARM/5FIJ9vIt_PA/s1600-h/CIMG3982.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212044879758840738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTnNBtrU6I/AAAAAAAAARM/5FIJ9vIt_PA/s400/CIMG3982.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTnNt_si2I/AAAAAAAAARU/m8SvluFfWbA/s1600-h/CIMG3999.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212044891645578082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTnNt_si2I/AAAAAAAAARU/m8SvluFfWbA/s400/CIMG3999.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTnN-2neTI/AAAAAAAAARc/s2y3HOmd3Y0/s1600-h/CIMG4000.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212044896170899762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTnN-2neTI/AAAAAAAAARc/s2y3HOmd3Y0/s400/CIMG4000.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTnOFbJoHI/AAAAAAAAARk/ie9psEB8p2M/s1600-h/CIMG4027.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212044897934745714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTnOFbJoHI/AAAAAAAAARk/ie9psEB8p2M/s400/CIMG4027.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8603691914603704496?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-47351326673990917682008-06-03T20:56:00.021-07:002008-06-15T02:53:15.435-07:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTmS7d_F_I/AAAAAAAAAQk/ndFXAunP0Bw/s1600-h/CIMG3933.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212043881650001906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTmS7d_F_I/AAAAAAAAAQk/ndFXAunP0Bw/s400/CIMG3933.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTmThZwL6I/AAAAAAAAAQs/XjmIXeoCAEo/s1600-h/CIMG3951.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212043891832795042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTmThZwL6I/AAAAAAAAAQs/XjmIXeoCAEo/s400/CIMG3951.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTmUDy0wZI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/Tb5xdDolndM/s1600-h/CIMG3953.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212043901064757650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTmUDy0wZI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/Tb5xdDolndM/s400/CIMG3953.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTmW8fS7bI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/N-FwJYGeA8M/s1600-h/CIMG3959.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212043950643408306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTmW8fS7bI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/N-FwJYGeA8M/s400/CIMG3959.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTmXa_e4fI/AAAAAAAAARE/w6XvP4AT4Wc/s1600-h/CIMG3981.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212043958831473138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTmXa_e4fI/AAAAAAAAARE/w6XvP4AT4Wc/s400/CIMG3981.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-4735132667399091768?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-34031936347067951402008-06-03T20:56:00.020-07:002008-06-15T02:47:59.423-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTlJjr9OuI/AAAAAAAAAP8/PIO13-yH1r4/s1600-h/CIMG3861.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212042621135698658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTlJjr9OuI/AAAAAAAAAP8/PIO13-yH1r4/s400/CIMG3861.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTlJ7XADdI/AAAAAAAAAQE/-V6rw04b_ZI/s1600-h/CIMG3874.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212042627490254290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTlJ7XADdI/AAAAAAAAAQE/-V6rw04b_ZI/s400/CIMG3874.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTlKGR8RSI/AAAAAAAAAQM/emmef_DmPbc/s1600-h/CIMG3899.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212042630421824802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTlKGR8RSI/AAAAAAAAAQM/emmef_DmPbc/s400/CIMG3899.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTlKtV8SlI/AAAAAAAAAQU/3PttQa8lR1M/s1600-h/CIMG3903.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212042640907586130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTlKtV8SlI/AAAAAAAAAQU/3PttQa8lR1M/s400/CIMG3903.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTlK_-UWkI/AAAAAAAAAQc/w4cqcFUWZRw/s1600-h/CIMG3920.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212042645908773442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTlK_-UWkI/AAAAAAAAAQc/w4cqcFUWZRw/s400/CIMG3920.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-3403193634706795140?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-90307261404005545612008-06-03T20:56:00.019-07:002008-06-15T02:43:58.456-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTkJiRJn2I/AAAAAAAAAPU/enst5ugNLTw/s1600-h/CIMG3829.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212041521243201378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTkJiRJn2I/AAAAAAAAAPU/enst5ugNLTw/s400/CIMG3829.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTkJ_3FWnI/AAAAAAAAAPc/eTKp5L1U2Ak/s1600-h/CIMG3833.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212041529186933362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTkJ_3FWnI/AAAAAAAAAPc/eTKp5L1U2Ak/s400/CIMG3833.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTkKLYho8I/AAAAAAAAAPk/JCKonRDMgUg/s1600-h/CIMG3840.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212041532279989186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTkKLYho8I/AAAAAAAAAPk/JCKonRDMgUg/s400/CIMG3840.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTkKm2h4_I/AAAAAAAAAPs/dS_gfQlamHc/s1600-h/CIMG3842.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212041539653592050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTkKm2h4_I/AAAAAAAAAPs/dS_gfQlamHc/s400/CIMG3842.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTkLFZ2bdI/AAAAAAAAAP0/3ZB4d7-vY9c/s1600-h/CIMG3853.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212041547854802386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTkLFZ2bdI/AAAAAAAAAP0/3ZB4d7-vY9c/s400/CIMG3853.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-9030726140400554561?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-20672327645240222572008-06-03T20:56:00.018-07:002008-06-15T02:40:44.235-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTjZzpE-II/AAAAAAAAAOs/R9MK_Qmo2M8/s1600-h/CIMG3871.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212040701273241730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTjZzpE-II/AAAAAAAAAOs/R9MK_Qmo2M8/s400/CIMG3871.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTjaNwToFI/AAAAAAAAAO0/FewVcYC__mU/s1600-h/CIMG3837.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212040708282884178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTjaNwToFI/AAAAAAAAAO0/FewVcYC__mU/s400/CIMG3837.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTjan7aT9I/AAAAAAAAAO8/IwyMa1Q73sQ/s1600-h/CIMG4046.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212040715308781522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTjan7aT9I/AAAAAAAAAO8/IwyMa1Q73sQ/s400/CIMG4046.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTjbJgbGvI/AAAAAAAAAPE/ktdBK7vbqt0/s1600-h/CIMG3811.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212040724322392818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTjbJgbGvI/AAAAAAAAAPE/ktdBK7vbqt0/s400/CIMG3811.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTjbltu8WI/AAAAAAAAAPM/5BwfVIlwTEE/s1600-h/CIMG3820.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212040731894411618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTjbltu8WI/AAAAAAAAAPM/5BwfVIlwTEE/s400/CIMG3820.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-2067232764524022257?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-43200254602187426202008-06-03T20:56:00.017-07:002008-06-15T02:36:58.401-07:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTihtxw3CI/AAAAAAAAAOE/ATzEIth97Hc/s1600-h/CIMG3774.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212039737626385442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTihtxw3CI/AAAAAAAAAOE/ATzEIth97Hc/s400/CIMG3774.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTiiNIZtrI/AAAAAAAAAOM/bG1_FJXQc50/s1600-h/CIMG3786.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212039746042836658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTiiNIZtrI/AAAAAAAAAOM/bG1_FJXQc50/s400/CIMG3786.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTiiUTbrmI/AAAAAAAAAOU/StQnPMerI3c/s1600-h/CIMG3792.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212039747968151138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTiiUTbrmI/AAAAAAAAAOU/StQnPMerI3c/s400/CIMG3792.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTiix8B9xI/AAAAAAAAAOc/hFjBSAFmoqc/s1600-h/CIMG3797.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212039755923060498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTiix8B9xI/AAAAAAAAAOc/hFjBSAFmoqc/s400/CIMG3797.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTijVDMluI/AAAAAAAAAOk/T96UOJZdQ7o/s1600-h/CIMG3806.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212039765348357858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFTijVDMluI/AAAAAAAAAOk/T96UOJZdQ7o/s400/CIMG3806.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-4320025460218742620?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-32030362501622329712008-06-03T20:56:00.016-07:002008-06-13T10:58:53.290-07:00<span style="font-size:180%;color:#3333ff;">Athens<br /><br />What can you say about Athens except, they rock at customs!!! Holy cow, we get off the plane and walk up to this counter, no arrival forms to fill out, the guy asks you nothing about where you are staying, for how long, purpose of visit, nothing! He just stamps your passport and off you go. Baggage claim was a breeze so I am guessing our expediter just met us outside of baggage claim, or, he did not want to lift our suitcases. That was evident when Arthur (the Driver) was throwing the bags in the car. He would not listen to me as we are now seasoned at cramming into a Mercedes sedan and I told him to put them in the back seat with me is the best option and for FW to ride up front as we have done two other times now, but no, he had to cram and he broke one of our good suitcases by hurling it. I don’t get it; the owner of the luggage is right there, why wouldn’t you lift it properly in front of them or ask for assistance if it is too heavy? I guess we are just used to it but it pissed me off when he said," Oh look it is broken" Yes you idiot I saw you break it!!!!<br /><br />Other than that it was pretty seamless arriving at the hotel. They drive like civilized human beings and they have nicely groomed freeways. Even though the buildings are hundreds of years old and look run down, it was still a clean city. Our driver was telling us about how the pollution is being controlled by environmentalists who passed laws regulating the driving days by your plate numbers on the license. Plates ending in odd numbers may drive on odd numbered days end even on even. Pollution hadn’t changed but the car dealerships have seen a boon because everyone buys two cars now to have one to drive every day. So much for the tree huggers’ solution! Hee hee<br /><br />There is massive security in hotels around the world. In Egypt they had metal detectors we had to pass through for entry and this hotel was no different. The hotel Grand Bretagne is 130 year old hotel right across from Parliament and our bedroom view was of the Acropolis. Too wild, woke up Egypt, there were pyramids, here, wake up and there is the Acropolis. Beautiful accommodations and now Fred Bond is excited to see some beautiful people. Except he thought the women all had big butts. Our only hiccup upon arriving at the hotel is the President of France and the Prime Minister of Viet Nam was staying at our hotel so ingress and egress was a challenge.<br /><br />Fred Bond Wagenopoulos (FBW) fit right in with the other Grecian Gods. Except we needed to tease his chest hair so it protruded more and buy him a few gold chains, but other than that, he was ready to be fanned by the vestal virgins. We settled on a couples massage instead.<br /><br />We unwound and had the concierge secure us some reservations at what was, "THE BEST" restaurant in town. Someone needs to explain to me how the best restaurant in Greece is a French restaurant? Suffice it FBW was extremely disappointed. I have a painful existence when I have to quell my desire to choke the living daylights out of a waiter who behaves as those he is the bourgeoisie and I am the proletariat. Don't act like I am putting you out when I am PAYING FOR YOU TO WAIT ON ME!!!! Eek, enough said. Our snack poolside before dinner of pork souvlaki and Caesar salad was much tastier and about two hundred euro cheaper.<br /><br />Our weakened dollar is threatening our shopping and dining experiences. At 59% of its value, we lose big time on each purchase and we will be on this currency the duration of our trip. Ugh. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.<br /><br />After a good night's sleep and our free breakfast courtesy of AMEX, we headed out for the archaeological sites with our guide. Depie was a delightful guide my age who is an archaeologist that lived in England for a time so her English was fabulous. I will spare you the educational details behind what we did. We visited the Acropolis which in Greek means highest point even though it isn't but that is where the Parthenon and amphitheatre are. We also went to the rock where the altar of the unknown God is and the Apostle Paul used to give his talks there.<br /><br />We visited the Olympic coliseum that hosted two Olympics and our hotel is the only one that had the athletes stay both times! FBW can be seen from ancient times performing the discus competition. I will upload the reenactment photo for your pleasure.<br /><br />Greece is 96% Orthodox and has the cool churches. The guy setting up would not let me in the Greek cathedral with shorts on. He was so offended he could hardly speak to me so we had to walk back to the hotel so I could put on some pants. This is the one where Days of our Lives filmed the wedding for Victor Kiriakis nephew back in the 80's. It was stunning (once inside) and very special as they have two significant crypts there. The exterior is being renovated so it is not much to enjoy but just down the street is the oldest Russian Orthodox Church from the 5th century AD. The Greek one is only 16th century so it is so contemporary (yeah, not old enough by our new standards of exploration, hee hee) Unreal the frescoes in the Russian church that are still intact, the carved wood and hand tooled silver icons Blew me away. I lit candles in both churches, venerated all the icons just like in Egypt and am in awe that I have SEEN evidence firsthand of some biblical history and not just the rhetoric and hyperbole bantered about the cognoscenti for lack thereof.<br />We asked for another restaurant with great trepidation. The cabbie talked and talked about what we should be doing instead of what we were doing. Then every time we passed a Greek Orthodox church he was crossing himself madly. He did not like the recommendation so he decided to take us to a place on the water where we could enjoy the sunset. Vosporous was definitely a locals place but we LOVED it so much. For FBW we ordered the mixed grill so he could get a little of everything. The waiter brings a platter the size of a small oil drum after we just devoured a big Greek salad (no lettuce of course). The flavors were amazing. The one shish kebab gave me instant memories of sinking my teeth into some of the meats my grandfather would cook on the grill and I only know what it is called in Romanian. We had a ball, stuffed ourselves to the gills and all on sixty euro. Who knew? It was so funny because the cabbie left us there with his business card to return us, and didn’t charge us for the ride up. How trusting is that???<br /><br />Today we went exploring on our own trying to find some authentic items and a coffee table book. Instead, we bought another suitcase since the cool mall Attica sold our fave line of Rimowa cases so we are now traveling with 7 pieces of luggage instead of six. We also laid by the pool and I almost finished the book I brought along. Grecian sun is amazing. Since it is soooo much cooler here, like in the 70’s you can lay out longer and get a rich chocolately brown color. Perfect for FBW to maintain his George Hamilton in a Speedo glow. Notice the new yellow one! I picked it from one of the shops along the way. He had a heart attack when I broke out my credit card to pay for something, hee hee. First time that happened, he said. Tonight we had dinner at a restaurant in the Placa which is the cool artsy district with the little shops and restaurants along the narrow streets. We had dinner on the street in this café where a fat dog just hung out. Again, another city with dogs everywhere but here is different. These dogs are cared for by the city. The collect them periodically, sterilize them, immunize them and as we see now because our dog (sleeps at the hotel) just got a saving for the summer. They are also not on the move so much like the others looking for food because the neighborhoods where they hang out, the local people and shop keepers feed them. They are very content because they are fat and most often seen napping. Dinner was okay but we met a family from Utah who the husband went to school at U of A. They had three boys and were visiting the islands for three weeks. We walked home from the restaurant through all the little shops and restaurants. It was a twenty minute walk and chilly too. One thing that has jacked this city up is the graffiti. Our guide said that it was mostly the students (university is free here)from Albania and Nigeria protesting, the same ones trying to sell you fake Louie bags outside the Louie store from their cloth on the ground makeshift store. FBW said if he was dictator he would cut their hands off and shove a paint can you know where. It was an interesting walk because everyone was riveted to TV sets setup along the walkway as the Euro Cup has begun and Greece is the current champion. Kinda like the cricket was in India.<br />Our last full day before we have to pack and leave for Rome tomorrow, we walk some more. FBW is having the time of his life. We are sleeping until 8am, lunch around 2 or 3, dinner at 9-9:30. More pool and sunbathing too. Today it seemed that sunbathing was an excuse for everyone to take a nap as we selected our chaises amongst a sea of people in various levels of unconsciousness. Our last night for dinner and we decided on the rooftop dining experience to enjoy the Acropolis once more. I swore to myself that I would post only superficial experiences on this blog and keep the tasty romantic morsels for myself and for live story telling upon return, but this I have to share. While at dinner, we were having the most convivial exchange about what has been and what will be. I have not been anywhere save for HK and FBW has been to Europe. Since we are embarking on a new leg of the journey I said to him, “Are you excited to show me the Rome you know?”<br />He replied, “I don’t really know Rome, I’m just excited to be there with you.” Wow, I am so lucky.<br /><br />It is a good thing we are leaving Greece today because I was going to have to take up smoking. This secondhand smoke is killing me and my former stepmother’s mom smoked two packs a day and killed her husband who never smoked day in his life with lung cancer. So it is a necessity that I start smoking for my own health and welfare it seems. EVERYBODY smokes here and FBW and I were the minority. They have one burning in the ashtray and one in their hand. Outside dining is worse than inside dining as all the smokers are trying to get some fresh air. Big hint….DONT SMOKE AND THE AIR AROUND YOU WILL BE FRESHER! Geez Louise! Hopefully Rome will save me. Oh wait a minute, Bush is on his Euro tour and will be in Rome when we are. I hope he doesn’t goof things up for us like staying in our hotel like the French and Vietnamese ones did in Athens. Eek.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-3203036250162232971?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-80245199264140493122008-06-03T20:56:00.015-07:002008-06-12T04:38:42.822-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEKb2apnMI/AAAAAAAAANc/2q3WPtYJGQY/s1600-h/CIMG3538.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210957717424413890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEKb2apnMI/AAAAAAAAANc/2q3WPtYJGQY/s400/CIMG3538.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEKcX5Q6tI/AAAAAAAAANk/PBPMAtGVJek/s1600-h/CIMG3541.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210957726411188946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEKcX5Q6tI/AAAAAAAAANk/PBPMAtGVJek/s400/CIMG3541.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEKcmoL-KI/AAAAAAAAANs/pA7HGR2hk54/s1600-h/CIMG3551.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210957730366093474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEKcmoL-KI/AAAAAAAAANs/pA7HGR2hk54/s400/CIMG3551.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEKdO3BoEI/AAAAAAAAAN0/CdvZs5hDlZA/s1600-h/CIMG3555.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210957741165748290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEKdO3BoEI/AAAAAAAAAN0/CdvZs5hDlZA/s400/CIMG3555.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEKdUfzl3I/AAAAAAAAAN8/we2wvaI2pt4/s1600-h/CIMG3576.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210957742678972274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEKdUfzl3I/AAAAAAAAAN8/we2wvaI2pt4/s400/CIMG3576.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-8024519926414049312?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-32695515859487244032008-06-03T20:56:00.014-07:002008-06-12T04:31:31.846-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEI22bDFJI/AAAAAAAAAM0/pH8mQalNAXo/s1600-h/IMG_0148.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210955982259295378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEI22bDFJI/AAAAAAAAAM0/pH8mQalNAXo/s400/IMG_0148.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEI3mGKOnI/AAAAAAAAAM8/xrfyRNRpto8/s1600-h/IMG_0158.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210955995056585330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEI3mGKOnI/AAAAAAAAAM8/xrfyRNRpto8/s400/IMG_0158.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEI4OICAaI/AAAAAAAAANE/wydYY5YDDQ4/s1600-h/IMG_0233.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210956005801853346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEI4OICAaI/AAAAAAAAANE/wydYY5YDDQ4/s400/IMG_0233.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEI4ga8UyI/AAAAAAAAANM/QJNFQFuy0a8/s1600-h/IMG_0249.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210956010713010978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEI4ga8UyI/AAAAAAAAANM/QJNFQFuy0a8/s400/IMG_0249.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEI5HYXB8I/AAAAAAAAANU/nGBmyKNXkJQ/s1600-h/IMG_0259.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210956021171161026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SFEI5HYXB8I/AAAAAAAAANU/nGBmyKNXkJQ/s400/IMG_0259.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-3269551585948724403?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-62140718273794454802008-06-03T20:56:00.013-07:002008-06-09T09:34:27.797-07:00<span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">Egypt<br />Well, we got off the plane in Egypt and our hotel liaison met us at the gate. It is so cool when you stay at the nicer hotels because they have these expediter folks like the guy at Mc Donald’s who sets up all the orders for the cashier to grab them. They meet you at your gate with your name on a sign, they carry all your crap, pick up your bags, they sneak you through the staff lines for security and customs then deliver you safely to your hotel limousine driver. Except for when you deviate from the plan. My first experience in Cairo is not a pleasant one as I had to empty my bladder before the 90 minute drive to the hotel (it is only 25 KM but the traffic is so jacked, worse than India, that’s how long it takes) and I was fleeced for cash BEFORE I could use the facilities. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">Yes, they extort cash from you by removing all of the toilet paper from the stalls and essentially sell you a few squares. I mean, what if I had walruses knocking at the back door, I feel like Elaine Benice, “You can’t spare a SQUARE???” This is in EVERY restroom known to man save for our hotel. I learned to carry a roll in my handbag as a result. They do nothing to keep the place clean, just sell toilet paper. They don’t give you towels to wash your hands either, nada. Don’t get me wrong, I do not have a problem tipping a restroom attendant where they service you and the location is clean. None of those things exist here.<br /><br />Fred Bond was concerned but took a business call while on the way to the hotel so the drive for him did not seem quite as long for him. Once to the hotel though, we were awe struck. Just like the brochure stated, a 150 year old hotel at the base of the great pyramid. We had the Presidential Suite also named the Churchill Suite as he often stayed there during the period when it was a hunting lodge for royalty. Every king and queen, president and all celebrities frequent this place if they come to Cairo. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">Sure enough, right outside off the 1200sf balcony off our four chamber suite was the most amazing view of the Great Pyramid. It was so weird seeing it. Like, sure, every morning I wake up at home and there is Camelback Mountain, no big deal, right? But here it is, in all its grandeur, the Great Pyramid. There are three clustered together but all that was in our view was the GP, which was enough. We went to dinner in the hotel at the Al Rubayat, an international restaurant with a dinner show. They had an Egyptian folk dance troupe performing. It was interesting to see it performed. The colors and costumes kind of reminded me of the Romanian performances we used to do at my grandfather’s big parties. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">The food was incredible and I was surprised at how much Fred Bond was risking his “Cuisine comfort zone” by trying very ethnic dishes. Lamb is very popular in the Middle East and it is no wonder as they are amazing at preparing it with all their spices and seasonings. No bland foods in this part of the world that is for sure. We scurried back to the room as we had a big day planned…realizing our childhood dreams of visiting the Pyramids!!!<br /><br />I am so impressed with Fred’s food selections too at breakfast, breaking with traditions, keep your fingers crossed but I think he is officially off the pink stuff in his morning tea. Yeah! Yep, the Pyramids were right off the restaurant view as well. Such a wonder to see with your eggs and tea is the Pyramids. It is truly auspicious and you feel like you are vibrating on a higher frequency here, kind of like Sedona with all the vortexes.<br /><br />We caught up with our guide for the trip Ali. He is an Egyptian man who studied under Zahii Hawass, the guy all over discovery channel, for his master’s degree in archeology and also is fluent in English and French as well as Arabic and the Egyptian Hieroglyphs. He is fascinating to listen to and a wealth of information since he has been touring folks for eleven years. He also enjoys pontificating with great emphasis. He slaps his thigh to have you stand by real close, and then he orates with the volume needed in early byzantine mosques to preach to thousands. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">He will tell you things like this is 70 meters in height then 20 meters in long, Hee Hee. He also won’t let you talk to the street peddlers as they will just try to rip you off as one attempted to with Bond turned Pharaoh Fred at the Mosque of Mohammed Ali (not the “fly like a butterfly” one) He intervened and secured Fred a great deal on chatchkes as we are attempting to try the souvenir thing again. He scolded us telling us that he will take us to ‘quality establishments’ to acquire our souvenirs. We rode camels from the Great Pyramid to the smaller ones. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">Yah-lah! Arabic for lets go, he ushers us in and out of every pyramid, tomb, sphinx, Museum, citadel and archeologically significant place with time for us to browse items personally. We went to Giza, New and Old Cairo and to Memphis, which I thought was in Tennessee. It’s not, and it was the first capital of Egypt and Ramses II statue remnants are there in addition to other Kings, not the Elvis one. Pharaoh Fred likes Ramses because he had 42 wives, 100 sons and 70 daughters. Hmmmm….What was he doing all day?<br /><br />We went to many little shops along the way experiencing the way of Egyptians again through a hermetically sealed bag like in India. </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><br />Carpet school is where young children go for three hours a day before their other studies so they will grow up having a trade. I have a new found appreciation for the carpets. Now at least I see firsthand why they are so expensive. The guy had me sit down and work a few knots. They are all crafted by hand. It takes three months to create one meter of carpet. Funny thing, AMEX seems to charge more for merchants here or something because no one accepts it. The irony is the carpet school was the only place we went that took AMEX and shipped to the US but we have enough rugs to last a lifetime.<br /><br />Pharaoh Fred had to use the restrooms so Ali took us to his friend’s oil and perfume shop. You can’t just get in and out of anywhere without everyone sucking you in for Egyptian tea and then they have to tell you what they do, “without any obligation of course”. Every store is like this, they are very ceremonious. You find yourself buying stuff just to get out of Dodge. It doesn’t work though. Then they want to celebrate your purchase and bring in the entire family from the back room to see that you spent $20 in their establishment. Oh, then they always want to give you a special gift on the house as a sincere appreciation for shopping in their country.<br /><br />Fred’s short sleeve moved and they all had to see Pharaoh Fred’s new tat and tell me what an incredible proclamation of love it was. I have my doubts but they said is says, “I love you and only you”. Well, this guy sucked more than $20 out of us but, if he is right, since we had no ailments to cure, his solution for wrinkles better be right on because I will practice this technique the rest of the trip. This combined with the fat melting massage I learned in India, we should be svelte and younger by the time we hit home!<br /><br />The Papyrus Institute was the next place we went. We received a lesson in the making of papyrus and of course, look around there is no obligation they said. We were enamored with the artistry and the vibrant colors they paint with. We saw several painting we liked like the first calendar and the wedding of King Tut and his queen but we settled on a much larger painting that depicted three scenes, the engagement, the marriage and the honeymoon aptly titled the honeymoon.<br />I pondered something aloud to our guide and my suspicions were confirmed. He receives commission when we spend money in the places he takes us.<br /><br />Our Indian guide did the same thing whereby we were in these crap areas of town but the nicest stores in the area. Ali helped negotiate on the street but conveniently disappears when we are in his friends Shoppe’s.<br /><br />The buildings and Architecture are something to behold. Some of the most magnificent structures are set in the middle of these ugly halfway constructed box type buildings. They have a kooky way of constructing that we would never get away with in the US. First off, I think they only have one architect in the whole area because everything looks the same that is not from the old city. You pour the foundation, erect your building with rebar and pour every floor with concrete, then brick in the walls, then cover the brick with stucco.<br /><br />You do it floor by floor and move people in accordingly. Additionally, you leave the inside undone and leave it up to the tenant to put up walls and tile. Totally screwy. So, there are a ton of buildings that look like they are from a war zone but in reality, they haven’t been finished yet.<br /><br />They have a big holiday coming up so the sheep herders are everywhere running their sheep along canal banks, near agriculture areas and in the city as well. It is unusual though commonplace to see folks walking with their sheep, riding donkeys and camels in with the crazy traffic like India (I have no idea why they waste money painting the lines on the street as it is completely ignored.) The best is PF (new abbreviation for Pharaoh Fred) took a photograph of a guy, on his camel, chatting on one of the coolest mobile phones out there. Unreal.<br /><br />Also, they clearly don’t have the same hand gesture for peace and love as we do in the US because everyone counts or points with their middle finger. It was unnerving the first few times but everyone does it.<br /><br />We went to dinner this night at Abu Nawas, an Egyptian restaurant that had virtually the same menu as the restaurant the night before except they had belly dancing. Their style is slow like the Greeks and the music rocks. PF really liked the drums and I enjoyed the James Bond mysteriousness of the music. We both were nauseated by this folk dance called the tandoorah(sp?) where this guy spins around in one direction for the whole song flipping different colored tambourines without the cymbals making different patterns then whips his skirt off to where he looks like a spinning top. Neat to watch I guess if you are not eating.<br /><br />We spent the next morning at the museum. It was incredible though you were not allowed to use photography, much of the pyramids were like that too. One floor was dedicated to just King Tut and the items from his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Many of the items would just blow you away that they had in there. Beds that were designed to have the feet elevated higher than the head for more restorative sleep (makes sense for your appendages to drain back to your heart and for your lymph to really cleanse your legs and extremities) laden with gold, chariots of gold to carry you into the afterlife, weapons to defend you in the afterlife as you ascend to heaven.<br /><br />The mummy section was cool too. It was amazing to see after all these years how white and straight their teeth were. Also to see how much statues were modeled after their likenesses. If your statue has a straight edged beard, it was carved during your lifetime, if it curls at the end, it was created after you passed. PF and his Queen should have some made, hee hee.<br /><br />We were supposed to have lunch on the Nile Cruise but we skipped the cruise and opted for a buffet along the Nile instead. I learned that my new husband really likes drumsticks made with Middle Eastern seasonings like what I grew up with that they had at this buffet. Feta cheese here has a very buttery consistency. It was great to indulge in all of the cuisine I remember from church as it was even better than I remember.<br /><br />The Nile was cool but not so clean. We refrained from wading in it so we would not get cholera or something heinous like that. The Nile feeds Egypt and cuts the desert in half and creates fertile agricultural lands. Produce is very tasty here and there are no microwaves, everything is prepared fresh and the old fashioned way because they are a health conscious people. It was a good thing we skipped the cruise because we were able to see the religious places this afternoon.<br /><br />The Coptic quarter is where all the orthodox churches are in this maze like neighborhood. We would have never found it on our own. Thirty percent of the population in Egypt is Orthodox Christians. We went to the oldest Orthodox Church in Egypt built on these stilts. It was so incredible. We ran next door to another church that is where the holy family, Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus stayed for a week where God told them to go to Egypt. Unreal. The next stop was a synagogue where Moses hung out and prayed.<br /><br />They had it cordoned off where he knelt. I am still in awe that not only these places exist, but we were there. When we went to the citadel and the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, they covered me up with a green robe since I had shorts on in order to go in. You also had to take off your shoes because followers put their foreheads on the floor to pray. He was entombed there in the corner. The ceiling was incredibly high so the sounds from the holy guy imam (sp?) could reverberate to all (I can’t remember right now how to spell it).<br /><br />We were astonished by the traffic on Sunday morning on the way to the airport. So many folks were out and the driver said that it is the first day of the week and people work on Sunday. They only have one day off here, Saturday, which is why we could not get massages on Saturday. Not in America buddy!<br /><br />Right away I could tell the difference in the country we were now in from others. India was impoverished with a corrupt government, these people were truly needy. Not Egypt. Egypt is another corrupt government masquerading as a ‘pure democracy’ one man one vote but with a difference. These people have cash, they just don’t have self-respect let alone respect for others so they are nothing more than side show carnies and street hustlers.<br /><br />Our tour guide was quite vocal about it when we were asking questions about the country and that yes they are ‘free’ to vote and there is one party and one candidate which everybody votes for, wheee. This country has megabucks, the pyramids and historic sites make big money, big taxes on everything, self-reliance through agriculture and exports. The country imports only cars and other goods but ideally, they are self-reliant. I should watch my comments and reserve the juicy ones for when I return so Interpol doesn’t track us down and we get to star on the TV show “Locked up Abroad” hee hee. I think I am going to read the Koran. It is not a big book, it is written in English for us white bread Americans and it will give me a better understanding of why some care (Dubai) and some don’t (India and Egypt), maybe. Besides, I am almost done with the book I brought. Onward to the homeland!</span><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6214071827379445480?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-14575669531280620562008-06-03T20:56:00.011-07:002008-06-09T09:15:32.130-07:00<span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">We went to the mall and it was paradise. The Mall of the Emirates has everything one could imagine. Not only did it have EVERY major designer, it had local antiquities and a phenomenal grocery store. Fred could not believe how big and how clean this grocery store was. We are thinking of renting a villa and coming back for an extended stay. Prices are still high but much better than in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Burj</span>. Fred had to run back in while I waited outside for our driver. He forgot to acquire the aforementioned <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Speedo</span> for the beach! </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><br />Some guys arrived in pimped out <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">beamers. W</span>ith the first and last cars in the row of specialized plates guys hopped out in their National Dress(Sheikh outfits) and scurried over the middle car to let this guy out of the back seat. He must have been the prince or something. Everyone swarmed around him like he was someone important. What was interesting to see is that all of the Arab dudes walk up to each other and greet by shaking hands and then lip kiss! Evidently they and the Indian heterosexual males are very physically comfortable with each other unlike Americans. Also interesting is whether we were at the mall, water park or airport, they always managed to broadcast prayer time over the P.A. systems.<br /><br />Thank Allah because I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">wasn</span>’t paying attention to my watch and we might have missed a chance to give thanks to the big A for the coolness of the places we were.<br /><br />Before we went on our camel ride, Fred felt like a little ice cream. We went down to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Baba</span> Al Yum Shoppe and paid the US equivalent of $20 for two scoops of ice cream!!! Fred flipped out. Not only did he say he would eat the whole thing, but I said he needed to lick the drips that hit the floor too for twenty bucks. Instead he decided to keep the linen napkin as his consolation prize.<br />We did this guided dune package with a sunset dinner, camel ride, belly dancing and hookah bar. It was like the Bedouin version of Rawhide in AZ.<br /><br />Once I got over the motion sickness of being shoved in the way way back of a Chevy Tahoe (they have every HUGE American made vehicle known to man in addition to every luxury big sedans too. All cars are no older than two years and there are most definitely no Smart Cars here.) We met a lovely couple from Australia, the guy David was a leading cardiologist there and his <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">fiancée</span> Tasha is a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">naturopath</span> Physician who does infomercials for a weight loss product of theirs. We had lots of fun getting to know them as we swapped editorials of our Dubai travels. We enjoyed a camel ride which Fred wanted to go on very badly. Rocky was our camel’s name. Warm weather camels have one hump, cold weather camels have two.<br /><br />The sun had set just a little too much as we were trying to photograph the shadow of us on the camel like you see in the movies. Rocky did stop and pose for us though and he was very nice. He wears an orange crocheted mouth cover because the boys will fight and bite each other if left uncovered. It is much higher than riding a horse for sure and you have to lean way back when they get up and sit down or else you’ll go over the top of their heads.<br /><br />The treat of the evening was a belly dance performance. The music is upbeat and the gyrations fast compared with the Greek style of belly dancing. Fred flipped when he saw she had a bit of a gut on her but that is how they wriggle their abs and hold swords and other things they dance with.<br />Today we have really lost our minds. We are now Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson. We went for more tattoos. I now have a tramp stamp along my lower back. I chose this mirrored peacock with Fred’s name in the middle. If you look closely it is in Arabic so if he leaves me, I won’t be stuck like Angelina Jolie with Billy Bob on my arm with Brad Pitt. Fred <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">snuck</span> off and got his done and I need to have it translated because he had Arabic writing put on his arm and I think it says Meg and Claudia, I am still available for you!<br /><br />Fourteen is the new twelve.<br /><br />Fred thought that maybe if he bought a Sheik outfit that he could go from Fred Bond to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Sheikh</span> Al <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Muhhafred</span> and would renegotiate our oil deal with Saudi Arabia so we don’t have to buy $150/barrel petrol. Instead of that we decided to go skiing. Ski Dubai is the way to go. We hit the mall early this morning because it is very popular and we wanted to enjoy skiing without the crowds. They had green and blue runs but all the cool jumps were closed. Fred was happy because he felt like walking through the pyramids would be easier for me without a broken leg. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">We shopped afterwards and had a great lunch at the souk, which is a mall/marketplace that is more like a bazaar with very traditional Arabian items. They have a great cheese here called <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Halloumi</span> that is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">sooo</span> yummy. I cannot describe the taste save for a cross between mozzarella and feta. Served cubed in salad or grilled in square slices. Very tasty. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">As a result of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">porking</span> out at the souk where we were going to have dinner, we booked a late last supper at an Italian restaurant. It was so lovely. My only problem here is that since it is a Muslim country there is no alcohol allowed except for in the resorts and they tax the heck out of it. $26 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Ruffino</span> Chianti was $250 US!!! I will say one thing, I have been trying since Canada and…I have savoured the Green Goddess and she is good! From here forward my writing style should look a lot more like <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Hemingway</span> as a result. If it’s not, don’t tell me because I won’t believe you. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Hee</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Hee</span>.<br /><br />Toilets here and India for that matter are just weird. First off the buttons are in the wall not the tank. Second, they have a hose with a sprayer that usually comes on your kitchen sink. They are very proper. A restroom attendant will rinse your bowl for remnants between <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">each</span> person's use. They are also square bowls with rounded corners. (Sounds like A Farewell To Arms so far, eh?)<br /><br />We had a terrible blow today as we packed up to leave for Egypt. We could not ship our packed boxes without identifying every article of clothing with its percentage or materials like 45% silk 55% cotton etc., where it was manufactured and where it was purchased. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">IT WAS OUR DIRTY LAUNDRY AND <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">CHATCHKES</span> FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE. Gotta love the US of flipping A. So we very sadly culled the items in the box to see what we could squeeze in our baggage and had to leave many of the souvenirs and gifts we had purchased for our friends and family behind. Onward to the pyramids nevertheless.</span><br /><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-1457566953128062056?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-89294606696778535302008-06-03T20:56:00.009-07:002008-06-08T08:20:44.276-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-2f03ae256f1ef04e" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v17.nonxt6.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D2f03ae256f1ef04e%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D28D2B7B9703E139F43A11465C2C61BFB106E0C3.2C949339294033ECC5DBE754A3107FBD5D9AFF36%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D2f03ae256f1ef04e%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DPy6Iz5IP6E4lm2Vlqb3pM_g2iYw&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v17.nonxt6.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D2f03ae256f1ef04e%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D28D2B7B9703E139F43A11465C2C61BFB106E0C3.2C949339294033ECC5DBE754A3107FBD5D9AFF36%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D2f03ae256f1ef04e%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DPy6Iz5IP6E4lm2Vlqb3pM_g2iYw&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! 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www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-2552095079825927167?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-67803866247177305242008-06-03T20:56:00.006-07:002008-06-08T07:44:33.394-07:00<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-24b9cc7f76ae7a15" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v10.nonxt2.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D24b9cc7f76ae7a15%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D6FF83237A1C5F96CAEC09DC4165B4D1CDE518D48.7BA83DEC7E04EDCA4D3965D66CEFF047A40D3490%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D24b9cc7f76ae7a15%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DvwmFpuyozw4Et552odJIpoT-WZ0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="320" height="266" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v10.nonxt2.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D24b9cc7f76ae7a15%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1330460066%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D6FF83237A1C5F96CAEC09DC4165B4D1CDE518D48.7BA83DEC7E04EDCA4D3965D66CEFF047A40D3490%26key%3Dck1&iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D24b9cc7f76ae7a15%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DvwmFpuyozw4Et552odJIpoT-WZ0&autoplay=0&ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6780386624717730524?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-66333310910512460572008-06-03T20:56:00.005-07:002008-06-07T08:26:39.445-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqnO2MQzcI/AAAAAAAAAMM/sISqY74FWVY/s1600-h/CIMG3450.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209159792514354626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqnO2MQzcI/AAAAAAAAAMM/sISqY74FWVY/s400/CIMG3450.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqnPfjYqII/AAAAAAAAAMU/z--MsyYrc4c/s1600-h/CIMG3452.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209159803617192066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqnPfjYqII/AAAAAAAAAMU/z--MsyYrc4c/s400/CIMG3452.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqnPuDRCrI/AAAAAAAAAMc/8HXKp_g5wE8/s1600-h/CIMG3480.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209159807509007026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqnPuDRCrI/AAAAAAAAAMc/8HXKp_g5wE8/s400/CIMG3480.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqnQPvk4RI/AAAAAAAAAMk/oQrPeyOz1kk/s1600-h/CIMG3477.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209159816553226514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqnQPvk4RI/AAAAAAAAAMk/oQrPeyOz1kk/s400/CIMG3477.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqnQluynLI/AAAAAAAAAMs/gOHRAJtJDfY/s1600-h/CIMG3481.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209159822455512242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqnQluynLI/AAAAAAAAAMs/gOHRAJtJDfY/s400/CIMG3481.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6633331091051246057?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-8188768158911366142008-06-03T20:56:00.004-07:002008-06-07T08:11:26.086-07:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqk6YQjuwI/AAAAAAAAAL0/UKIHkWnly7I/s1600-h/CIMG3391.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209157241858669314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqk6YQjuwI/AAAAAAAAAL0/UKIHkWnly7I/s400/CIMG3391.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqk65OpqPI/AAAAAAAAAL8/xDcDCn5z11M/s1600-h/CIMG3432.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209157250709039346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqk65OpqPI/AAAAAAAAAL8/xDcDCn5z11M/s400/CIMG3432.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqk7N7SVnI/AAAAAAAAAME/oKF-3cObuzs/s1600-h/CIMG3352.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209157256264963698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqk7N7SVnI/AAAAAAAAAME/oKF-3cObuzs/s400/CIMG3352.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-818876815891136614?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-13455540150582510412008-06-03T20:56:00.002-07:002008-06-07T07:39:08.720-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqdDxjut8I/AAAAAAAAALM/H71B2uz3wac/s1600-h/IMG_0028.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209148607175768002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqdDxjut8I/AAAAAAAAALM/H71B2uz3wac/s400/IMG_0028.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqdEbhFbMI/AAAAAAAAALU/lhOEw3kZiQ8/s1600-h/IMG_0093.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209148618438962370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqdEbhFbMI/AAAAAAAAALU/lhOEw3kZiQ8/s400/IMG_0093.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqdEiWmiqI/AAAAAAAAALc/sRiaU1ayCyg/s1600-h/IMG_0034.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209148620274043554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqdEiWmiqI/AAAAAAAAALc/sRiaU1ayCyg/s400/IMG_0034.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqdE5JvTdI/AAAAAAAAALk/dniaw-FsIxw/s1600-h/IMG_0076.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209148626394107346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqdE5JvTdI/AAAAAAAAALk/dniaw-FsIxw/s400/IMG_0076.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqdFLDHbOI/AAAAAAAAALs/Dq70Nbsa1Lo/s1600-h/IMG_0098.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209148631198166242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEqdFLDHbOI/AAAAAAAAALs/Dq70Nbsa1Lo/s400/IMG_0098.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-1345554015058251041?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-49813791930668517612008-06-03T20:34:00.003-07:002008-06-05T13:15:22.289-07:00<span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">Foreign operatives must have calculated our next move because Fred Bond and I were picked up as soon as we exited the plane, skipped customs, went to an express lane for dignitaries and Arab citizens and were in the back seat of a 7 series BMW with flowers for moi, cold towels and bottled water with a pleasant driver from Uzbekistan and to the hotel before we knew it. While driving, Hussein enumerated the differences between Islamic peoples and the Muslims. Muslims are like a sect of the Islamic faith just like we have Catholics, Protestants, orthodox, etc. so we like the Islamic Arabs (they have the BEST shopping AND all the oil!)<br /><br />Once upon the sailboat, aka the Burj Al Arab we were whisked out of the car, passed through the revolving door, hands poured with rose water then offered cold towels by a staff of twelve all knowing we were the Wagenhals, addressing us as Mr. Fred and Mrs. Fred. Hee Hee. Next along the row of servants were fresh dates. I thought CarolAnn imported the freshest dates I had ever savored until these plump masses exploded with flavor in my mouth. Of course, the next guy in line handed us some tea to compliment the date, (I mean doesn’t this happen to you everyday too?) and then we were escorted to our palace in the mast of the ship ten floors up.<br /><br />We had dinner atop the tip of the mast near the helipad (why didn’t we come in that way? It would have been the very Bond thing to do. Oh, well I guess I am not as spoiled as I thought I was. Hee Hee Are you kidding me??? I am so partying like a rock star!!!) It was marvelous. We had this fabulous sommelier from Italy, young kid who really knew his stuff. We skipped dessert because they sent a chocolate mousse cake to our room with a trio earlier that played and sung love songs for us. I know, wake me up, I must be dreaming. Dinner check, $6000,00 Dirhams. (Yes, they use commas instead of decimal points here, I didn’t make a mistake)<br />Our first day here and we have learned that this place is not for the faint of wallet. Just about everything is imported and gasoline is about $2/litre. My cost of living median for this trip is Starbucks. When we went to the mall I went to get a Starbucks and for what I order (as enumerated in the Canada section) it usually costs between $3-4 US. Well, you only get 3.65 dirams per US dollar but still, my usual drink was almost $10 US! Three times what it is back home. Most other countries have been the same so far. The buffet breakfast downstairs IN THE CAFÉ was $70 US per person. We are having challenges since we are such early birds and the rest of the world apparently is on a different clock. Places don’t open to eat until 7-8:00a.m. and stores not until 11:0am. We need to start napping because we don’t have dinner until 9-10pm at evening.<br /><br />We are now huge cricket fans. We have no idea what the F$%&amp;^ they are doing out there but since we met them all at the hotel and was invited to the semi-finals, we now look for it every time the TV is on.<br /><br />This morning we tried a new eatery. Same deal, buffet $500 Dirhams. Here is the kicker though, Fred ordered an Ice Tea and I had a bottle of water. Guess how much? Nope not even close. $10US for one glass of ice tea. The same for bottled water. NO REFILLS. We just returned from the water park which was so much more fun by ourselves getting to go on the rides WE wanted, hee hee Sorry Connor. We met this charming young man of ten from England named Freddie. He helped us to his favorite water slide which was also the steepest. He shared all sorts of information but neglected to tell us that at the end of the three story drop you would receive at no extra charge a nasal douche and enema compliments of the water park. That was our first experience. We then went for the double raft experience and that was so exhilarating. Until the fatties got wedged in front of us and a lifeguard had to move them out of the way. Then they had the tunnel of doom where you hit these twists and turns in total darkness for about 20 seconds.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-4981379193066851761?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-73142161786642660542008-06-03T20:34:00.002-07:002008-06-03T20:49:44.463-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEYQkBEvSbI/AAAAAAAAAKs/YECRHMBQhV4/s1600-h/CIMG3317.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207868230050204082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEYQkBEvSbI/AAAAAAAAAKs/YECRHMBQhV4/s400/CIMG3317.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEYQkpkkrVI/AAAAAAAAAK0/Mm-ePCbnqfA/s1600-h/CIMG3420.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207868240921144658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEYQkpkkrVI/AAAAAAAAAK0/Mm-ePCbnqfA/s400/CIMG3420.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEYQlKbp0hI/AAAAAAAAAK8/IM_Hx5nMP8c/s1600-h/CIMG3355.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207868249742103058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEYQlKbp0hI/AAAAAAAAAK8/IM_Hx5nMP8c/s400/CIMG3355.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEYQleZPdEI/AAAAAAAAALE/syhEdDSIv64/s1600-h/IMG_0028.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207868255100695618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SEYQleZPdEI/AAAAAAAAALE/syhEdDSIv64/s400/IMG_0028.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-7314216178664266054?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-11772128900546781922008-05-21T07:04:00.043-07:002008-06-05T13:18:34.987-07:00<span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">So…who knew a ride to the airport could be so eventful. This time we had a different driver Khan, who took us to the airport. He was very polite and I sure am glad I asked if he was a Seek like his friend Saini, he was Muslim. (Need I say more?) Aside of that he was kind enough to take us to feed a cow. I used Bill and Beth’s Li Shi (lucky money) from the wedding to buy more luck by feeding a holy cow. I fed two, a full grown one and a baby one. It was cool. They also had some grain type of balls that the big cow loved much more than the grasses. Khan says it makes for better milk. Aahhh, I feel luckier already.<br /><br />While we were sitting at a traffic light this girl kept tapping on the side of the window where Fred was sitting. She was pointing to her mouth and the water bottle I was holding. Then from out of nowhere, this moped with two guys in tan outfits start beating her until she ran away! Khan was very nonchalant saying that was a policeman and that they are cracking down on the beggars since it is outlawed. Sheesh. Where’s Ghandi and his non-violent protesting to resolve conflict when you need him? Oh yeah, he was whacked for being a gansta, that’s right.<br /><br />The drive was about an hour or so and we were chatting about the tiger killings yesterday. Khan remarked about more leopard killings and that they (gov’t) has had to start a trapping program because they are worse than the tigers. They caught eleven so far (hmmm…eleven) and that poaching was a big problem. While we were driving I was watching the upper stories of buildings go by and low and behold, on the third story of this residential building with a patio of about 2 foot deep and 6 foot wide was a tiger! I couldn’t believe my eyes so I looked some more and his head moved. By the time I realized I still had the camera in my hand from the holy cow episode, we passed him. I yelled to Khan to stop but by the time he could safely do so(exception to the rule), the building was out of sight and pretty much, we were in the Muslim area so I with my flowing red locks and uncovered face, was not allowed out of the car to run up the street to snap the pic. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><br />I think Fred was disappointed that we didn’t take an auto-rickshaw to the airport…Not! We did learn a lot even though we were shielded from the real India in a hermetically sealed bag. No amount of anti-humectants can combat the overwhelming humidity and crud in the air and that is why so many wear scarves on their heads, not religious doctrine, just bad hair. We learned that Indians do not have personal space boundaries so there are no Seinfeld close talkers here because they all are, much of that applies to driving too.<br /><br />You must ride your motorcycle down the road with your helmet but it only has to be on when you pass by a policeman. Additionally, if you are riding your motorcycle and your mobile phone (they do not have cellular’s here) rings it is very important to stop and take that call. Moving to the side of the road to talk is optional. Heterosexual men walk down the street holding hands. They also have multiple wives and girlfriends as they are called like Warren Jeffs to spread their seed. (GAG) Children under the age of 5 have a clothing optional policy. You may be starving but don’t cook and eat a wild dog for heaven’s sake they may only have 4 million of them left.<br /><br />You will walk amongst the Gods if you tip someone 100INR (100 Rupees equals about $2.50US.) That applies to cricketers or if you are traveling with Fred Bond. Hee Hee. If you are a cricketer, you can spill your milk all over the floor and just leave and people will be happy to clean up after you. There is no service beneath the Indian people, you can literally have them wipe your butt but I would suggest a holistic spa treatment or yoga class instead. Marigold is the auspicious flower for the country and is used in special and commemorative ceremonies. They don’t have swimming on the beaches (although who would want to, ick) but they did in our hotel and Fred was the ONLY guy at the pool in swimming trunks, everyone else had a Speedo on so in Dubai Fred will lose the trunks and Speedo away!!!<br /><br />If you are standing next to a sheik in the first class lounge, there is not sufficient enough opacity to their white gowns and you are able to detect the fact that they do not wear underwear. I am doing my best to avoid being a part of that TV show “Locked up Abroad” but it is very apparent that my alluring attire (selected by my new husband of course) is not so much appreciated here. I also must leave this country quickly because if I do not have Malaria already from several constant attacks, they will want to capture me to study the anti-microbial powers of my blood. I think we will miss the humidity and that faint scent of urine that perfumes the air quite nicely by evening. Well, on second thought…</span><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-1177212890054678192?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-36025322140583612102008-05-21T07:04:00.042-07:002008-06-05T13:17:31.011-07:00<span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">I will finish up the blog from last night on the plane to Dubai. We are finished packing and ready to depart. One thing we learned while in India...twelve is the new eleven. (the 59ers, Ron, Mary and the Tuteroristas, this ones for you!) And Martie I don't want to hear about how tired you are, suck it up and be the queen that you are. Hee Hee.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-3602532214058361210?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-26551458127822540232008-05-21T07:04:00.037-07:002008-05-30T09:01:01.492-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDz3OEYsy6I/AAAAAAAAAFM/hEscXBDyW6I/s1600-h/DSCF0337.JPG"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><strong><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205307090401020834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDz3OEYsy6I/AAAAAAAAAFM/hEscXBDyW6I/s400/DSCF0337.JPG" border="0" /></strong></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><strong><br /></strong></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDz3OUYsy7I/AAAAAAAAAFU/dJgQnIEjSzM/s1600-h/DSCF0341.JPG"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><strong><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205307094695988146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDz3OUYsy7I/AAAAAAAAAFU/dJgQnIEjSzM/s400/DSCF0341.JPG" border="0" /></strong></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><strong><br /></strong></span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDz3OkYsy8I/AAAAAAAAAFc/Wif84OvxK_U/s1600-h/DSCF0364.JPG"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><strong><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205307098990955458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDz3OkYsy8I/AAAAAAAAAFc/Wif84OvxK_U/s400/DSCF0364.JPG" border="0" /></strong></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><strong><br /></strong></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDz3O0Ysy9I/AAAAAAAAAFk/WQChpAGecfs/s1600-h/DSCF0349.JPG"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><strong><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205307103285922770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDz3O0Ysy9I/AAAAAAAAAFk/WQChpAGecfs/s400/DSCF0349.JPG" border="0" /></strong></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><strong><br /></strong></span><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">You are so not ready for this...<br />Let me first begin by saying this is the most surreal experience, better than we ever imagined for our wedding day. Fred will tell you the story of the two of us making a pilgrimage to HK in January to ask Francis if he would receive us and do a small private ceremony with him and his family. We just wanted an exotic yet traditional Chinese ceremony in his home to honor his culture and our gratitude for welcoming us in to his extended family. Francis wanted to throw a party and we reluctantly agreed. “Small party,” Francis said,” Thirty or forty of my friends” he shared. We sat with his secretary Clara to create these Chinese wedding invitations more for commemoration than anything then it started. “I order 500, 250 for you, and 250 for me”. Next thing you know, 15 of our friends made the trek across the pond 13,000mi. to participate in this very special day along with 75 of Francis’ friends and employees who have known and worked with Fred the past 15 years.<br /><br />I did not sleep very well the night before(are you surprised???). I was up with the chickens, woke Lori and prepared for our big day. After a modest breakfast, (too nervous to really eat anything plus I wanted to fit into my dress without my tummy bulging) we were picked up at 7:30am to be transported to Francis home to have our hair and makeup done before the big day. Of course Lori was on time (pretty good all trip considering that is not the norm for her back in the states, heehee) but did delay our departure due to forgetting her deodorant. Do you know how long it takes to ride in an elevator 72 floors? I timed it, one minute and 15 seconds. Hee Hee Nonetheless, we made it to Francis home no worse for wear. This was an extremely emotional day for me. For both of us actually. My eyes are welling up just reliving the day while typing.<br /><br />We arrived at the home and that is where the flood gates started, the saline poured down my cheeks when I saw the elaborate decorations on the gates when we drove up. The lengths the Choi family went to were unbelievable. The red and gold sash that adorned the stairwells, the double happiness symbols on every door and window, the billboard sign of Fred and Heather inside the sitting room were too much for me. I could not stop emoting from the love extended by the Choi family.<br /><br />They sequestered us upstairs to prepare for the event. My TWO hairdressers asked me what style I would like for my hair and I just proclaimed, “Surprise me” and they did. My hair looked just like Lori’s did when she got married. Too funny huh? After the makeup application and dressing, Lori went down to be with the rest of the bridesmaid’s. The former bedroom of Crystal’s is where they kept me until my presentation time. So I don’t belabor you with commentary on customs, just visit </span><a href="http://www.chinabridal.com/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">www.chinabridal.com</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"> to find the traditions and customs for Chinese weddings. I peered out from behind the silken drapery through the sheers to watch the beginning of the festivities.<br /><br />The event was covered by China and HK’s three largest newspapers and 2 TV stations and magazine equivalent to our People Magazine. I saw Fred arrive and join Francis and his family in the garage area. He looked so magnificent in his Ma Qua, a maroon silken gown with white cuffs and a gold vest. Before his departure to Francis home, the 59ers adorned him with the traditional sash and boutonnière. Maryann, the servant in the apartment shared with me later that Fred sneezed when he was being dressed which is a very good omen in Chinese for a healthy union. The paparazzi were all over him. Him with Francis, Him with Margaret, him with the 59ers and Carson and Gary; the photos were endless it seemed.<br /><br />They proceeded up the stairs to the front door where the opposition was laying in wait. The bridesmaids and Harry, a TV personality equivalent to Ryan Seacrest in the US emceeing the event denied the men access. They (and this is third party information because I was not in attendance and unable to witness) made them drink of the three wisdoms which represent the three sides of marriage, sweet, sour and hot. Several concoctions in no particular order were placed on the tray and the groom and his groomsmen had to partake of the mysterious drinks. One represents sour, when a couple may disagree or fight, one represents sweet, which occurs during the kiss-and-makeup phase after the bitterness of disagreement, and one is hot and spicy which is supposed to represent the heat and passion a relationship should always have to keep it vibrant. Of course Fred unknowingly grabbed the hot one with vodka and chili and about died after the first sip. He then designated (a rule you can do to get out of things) Ken Kreuz (my ex-hubby in the Mock Wedding) to finish it whereby he almost thought he was feeling St. Peter tugging at his coat tails when he fell over and thought it was over for him with the pain in his belly. Once the bridesmaids let them in, he and his entourage had to don fuzzy stripper thongs and bikini tops. Bill Dougherty looked absolutely smashing in his HK magazine debut sporting the fuzzy frock with his rendition of the “zoolander look”. The men had to play a series of other games to earn my hand in marriage like when Gary Tsoi had to roll an egg up one side of Fred’s pant leg and down the other only to have it get stuck in the crotch because he was underneath the lining! The coup was when Francis stepped up and reached down Fred’s pant leg to retrieve the egg not believing it was caught in the lining. The last game was Fred nominated three guys to do pushups eating cherries covered in whip cream and then spitting out the pits all while exercising.<br /><br />After Crystal asked Lori if that was enough and Lori agreed, Crystal said she was too easy and it was time for the presentation of the Bride (me). Francis took me by the hand and walked me in to a crowd of friends, family and a sea of paparazzi. I was so overwhelmed with emotion I thanked God was wearing false eyelashes and waterproof mascara. Fred looked at me so lovingly and so many were teary eyed as well. The emcee had the presentation of me where Fred handed me a most elaborate floral bouquet and asked to have me and Francis passed me to him with his approval. We proceeded together for the ceremonial tea service and presentation of the gold bracelets and necklace with Francis and Margaret (acting as my parents). After the receipt of their teacup presented with two hands, Fred and I received the Li Shi (lucky money) from both parents. Li Shi was also passed to attendees for prosperity and fertility for the wedded couple. We then headed off in the auspiciously decorated cars for the ring exchange ceremony and light lunch at the intercontinental.<br /><br />Dress number two! I had to be a quick change artist in a small room with much foot traffic into my more traditional looking off white French wedding gown. I barely had time to run down the hall after dressing because Lori needed help zipping me up, narrowly making my introduction with my new husband Frederick William Wagenhals!!! In a half Chinese half English ceremony, Harry led our speeches to each other, then Sam Lam witnessed our certificate signing and Francis married us (The king of Toys is also a Justice of the peace) Then we had a cake cutting of sorts, a fake cake where you just place the knife in the cutting slot and have your photo op! The masses were then released towards the buffet. (Customary lunch time in HK is one o’clock so the Guay-loes (Chinese term for Americans which means white devil) were starving)<br /><br />After that ceremony, I changed back into my sweat suit sans the sneakers because I left them at Francis home (everyone takes their shoes off at the front door) so I had to wear my Christian Dior heels to the ferry dock, hee hee. Fred, Francis, Margaret, Lori and I went separately and traveled over to Macao via helicopter so we could check in and have things ready for the arriving guests.<br /><br />Everyone had a great time on the ferry swapping Fred and Heather stories, their skepticisms about the relationship at first and their elation that a union of matrimony finally resulted. David Burke is trying to collect a commission out of me because he claims he wore Fred down. New found friends have emerged between oiur friends as a result and we are lucky everyone got a long so well. It is amazing what the power of love can do and how it can polarize others.<br /><br />Dress number three. The reception dinner was over the top. Fred looked so handsome in his Armani suit with Roberto Caviglia red paisley shirt and crystal encrusted black and red tie. I was in my third ensemble of Fendi shoes and a Cheongsam which is a long cocktail dress with mandarin collar and slits up the side to reveal a little leg if you know what I mean.<br /><br />Enter Harry and a full program of fun and games with the most heartfelt and endearing speeches from our friends you could ever imagine.<br /><br />I have more to write but I have not been able to upload for a couple of days because they would not allow me access to this site for some reason. Now that we are in India, I can get the rest uploaded but it will be in chunks so please be patient.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-2655145812782254023?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-79088456634536711162008-05-21T07:04:00.034-07:002008-05-30T08:57:38.227-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-a9kYsy-I/AAAAAAAAAFs/v0odkPi_vAQ/s1600-h/CIMG3280.JPG"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:180%;color:#000000;"><strong><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206050076793555938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-a9kYsy-I/AAAAAAAAAFs/v0odkPi_vAQ/s400/CIMG3280.JPG" border="0" /></strong></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:180%;color:#000000;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:85%;">What can you say about Bombay<br />We are here. It still feels surreal. We are on a round the world trip and at our first destination. Air India was a very hospitable airline. Not knowing what to expect, Indian people are similar to the Chinese in their hospitality and for airline food, it was good, and they kept coming back to see if we wanted seconds or third servings of everything, not in the US for sure. </span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />We were nervous when we exited the airport because we had not found our driver. Concerns were still heavy after we met Jagdeet Saini and we had to walk thorugh the dirt to get to our car, it was a Mercedes though. We had to drive 20 miles to the hotel that took an hour and a half. India is has a virbrant night life because living quarters are so small for so many, everyone goes out and wanders the markets, hence the traffic and travel time.<br /><br />The hotel is totally pimped out. We are in a 104 year old establishment in the rock star suite that EVERYONE, royalty, presidents, sheiks, celebrities and Bollywood actors all have stayed in. There is a royal swing in our accommodations in a turret with hand cut masonry. Unbelievable. We have also been inundated by the Austrailian Cricketeers and their adoring fans staying here.<br /><br />We are a bit disappointed in the cuisine so far, at least I am because I thought it would suck and I could drop 5-10lbs here. We have had continental fare at the café and last night we dined and a private club with international flair cuisine (Jackets required, ahem). Our first course was a camembert soufflé that was the most savory, fluffy melt in our mouth soufflé with these mini onion asparagus croissants to sop up the last of the camembert residue (it was that good). We shared chateaubriand for two of the finest beef anywhere (Cows are holy here so that is probably where the phase came from, hee hee) with roasted root vegetables and spinach like Joes Stone Crab garlic spinach in Florida. We sat next to the piano player who knocked out every tune Fred requested. It was a perfect ending to a day at the pool, Fred’s first Yoga class by an authentic Yogi Practitioner (yeah for me, cross one “to do” off the list!!!) and indulgent spa treatments ( 2nd “to do” authentic aryurvedic healing treatments to restore balance to the soul) We, well, I have worked out everyday here. I could not believe how heavy the weights are here then I realized that 20 on the weights meant 20 Kilos or 44LBS! I nearly killed myself the first day. Eek! Oh, and the best thing was when the little trainer guy Anthony asked me about Fred because he came in to check on my workout progress and gave me a kiss. When I mentioned that we were just married and on our honeymoon he seriously inquired,” Is that a love marriage?” I asked for clarification because I didn’t understand him between the accent and the plainness of the statement. He then said, “Was it arranged or did you choose marriage out of love?”"Uh, We don’t have those in the US," I replied and just walked off. Double Eek!<br /><br />Today we ventured out of the seclusion and safety of our palace to see the sites and find some authentic treasures to commemorate our stop along the world tour.<br /><br />Bombay was returned to the Indian people from British rule in 1948, Jagdeet (JS here forward) shared with us that they are truly missed. A town of 17mm people where it rains four months out of the year, the fabulous British influence and architecture is total crap now. Landlords and building owners do nothing to maintain the quality and integrity of the exteriors. Some let the interiors go as well. Missing windows, rusted wrought iron, chipped paint and missing tiles are the norm, and that is in the good part of town! Our driver offered to show us the poverty areas and Fred and I just looked at each other dumbfounded, we thought we were already there. In order to get to the good shopping areas we had to go through (very fast I might add because JS is a Seek) this total shit area, and wouldn’t you know, it was where the Muslims lived. The ONLY people the Indians hate are the Muslims. Unreal. Kids 4-5 years old running around with no clothes on, chickens inside the shantys with the people, goats tied up on trees along the sidewalks like a city slickers ties up their dog to run in to Starbucks to grab a latte. There are more goats than normal because Ramadan is approaching and they will need them for sacrificing. Don’t pick up the dogs but slit the throat of a goat. There are wild dogs everywhere, just hanging out, screwing on the side of the road in front of shops making more unwanted dogs. The government tried to clean up the dog issue but those lovely PETA folks got involved and guess what, even MORE dogs. It is weird driving through densely populated business and mixed use areas and seeing cows on the side of the road. You can pay a local a couple hundred Rupees to feed his cow some grass and it will bring you luck and prosperity. I won’t give a red cent on this side of town so I am waiting until we go through the Indian part again to feed a good holy cow. Just outside the city limits they have Tigers that kill many Indians each year but they are not allowed to be hunted.(dumb) Our driver found us a hunt to go on for tiger and reindeer (weird combo) but we declined since we would never be able to export the trophy back home. Good gun laws here like Arizona, you can carry a pistol to defend yourself and get a permit that is like a James Bond thing, it is a licence to kill (yes that is how they spell it here)<br /><br />Driving is peculiar to say the least. It is definitely and every-man-for-himself mentality yet there is never a car accident. Except for one today, a cabbie (all the cabs here are 1969 fiats with at least 300K miles on them or a motor rickshaw) hit a guy and his girlfriend on a moped and the machoness of the guy (who clearly didn’t have his third eye focused on God (red dot on forehead is to remind you that God and humility come first)) hopped off and started to whack the cabbie guy over the head! The ultimate display of American road rage I have ever seen. Ron Kastner would like this, women don’t drive. There was a girl on a moped and JS said they never drive and if they see a woman driving, they usually give her 15 meters (usually the distance between vehicles is only 6-8 inches) because women cry and are unpredictable. Hee hee.<br /><br />We popped by Ghandis museum and checked out his gig. Very interesting. He had many sayings we have never heard in the US but should. He is on all of the money here and is revered as the Father of India. I did not know this but he was assassinated by his friend who he would not answer where he got the money to give to the Pakistanis’ to create their own sovereign Muslim nation. The Indian equivalent to $100mm US today. I don’t remember that from Ben Kingsley’s version. Nobody seems to work here because all the men are out playing cricket in these huge stadiums and all the women are their hoping to trap their next husband because Indians are the highest paid cricket players in the world.We stopped at a store that was a small door that led up to this expansive 4 story complex just to made custom Sari’s and men’s wedding clothing. We looked for a nice traditional outfit for me but after the 500 yards of fabric that had this intricate wrapping technique reminiscent of Egyptian mummification, we decided that we would select another type of less complicated garment. Fred bought me this incredibly gorgeous royal blue cropped top and full length skirt encrusted with gold beading, blue and white rhinestones that really defies description. It is being custom tailored (as it seems, apparently I am some large breasted Amazon giant in the countries we travel that is unlike the local folk) and there was no off the rack size that would fit.<br /><br />The driver wanted to take us to the laundry. I didn’t really have an interest but my Husband, Mr. Seven sets of washers and dryers was interested and boy, was it an eye opener. Scores of mud-walled vats of soapy water where they hand wash and beat your garments clean then dry them in the breeze. Ironing is done by irons with hot coals in them circa I don’t know when. There was also a man bathing in one of the tubs so I am real glad that I did not hand over my jeans to be laundered before we went. Fred felt like he should send Connor here to see what real work is like so he appreciates America and Fred’s wealth more than he currently does.<br /><br />We went to another section in the business district to look at local handicrafts. The wood carving is incredible, hand tooling of metal scrolling with very intricate patterns is also impressive. We were looking for an objet d’art to commemorate our trip and found ourselves in these cottage industries stores. When we walked in the owner ran up to Fred and said, ”Are you James bond?” He could swear that Fred was in the movies if not a movie star. Every single soul here has thought that especially in the hotel. We must be in the James Bond suite.We are watching TV and Mc Donald’s does Mc Delivery…ARE YOU KIDDING ME????<br /><br />Local pop music is so great and the music videos are so colorful with lots of nubile young dancing fools but Fred wants to know, where are all the beautiful Indians like on TV? Needless to say we haven’t seen them. Tonight we will dine at a Lebanese restaurant as I enjoy that type of food from my history of the folks in my church that make it. After we will head to a hooka bar and smoke it up!!! When in Rome…Fred says do as the Hookas do!</span><br /><br /><br /></span></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-7908845663453671116?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-3591579114897133732008-05-21T07:04:00.029-07:002008-05-30T04:09:15.638-07:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_f80YsziI/AAAAAAAAAKM/U-pJkXFTW8o/s1600-h/CIMG3267.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206125930210971170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_f80YsziI/AAAAAAAAAKM/U-pJkXFTW8o/s400/CIMG3267.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_f9UYszjI/AAAAAAAAAKU/9WKIynBBEwg/s1600-h/CIMG3274.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206125938800905778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_f9UYszjI/AAAAAAAAAKU/9WKIynBBEwg/s400/CIMG3274.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_f9kYszkI/AAAAAAAAAKc/wWweJyIO6-s/s1600-h/CIMG3275.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206125943095873090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_f9kYszkI/AAAAAAAAAKc/wWweJyIO6-s/s400/CIMG3275.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_f90YszlI/AAAAAAAAAKk/9ZHkwqw0om4/s1600-h/CIMG3276.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206125947390840402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_f90YszlI/AAAAAAAAAKk/9ZHkwqw0om4/s400/CIMG3276.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-359157911489713373?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-7712415891893843112008-05-21T07:04:00.028-07:002008-05-30T04:03:54.871-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_e7kYszdI/AAAAAAAAAJk/yXVOKI_LLRk/s1600-h/CIMG3253.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206124809224506834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_e7kYszdI/AAAAAAAAAJk/yXVOKI_LLRk/s400/CIMG3253.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_e8EYszeI/AAAAAAAAAJs/XW1UDYG_fyc/s1600-h/CIMG3257.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206124817814441442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_e8EYszeI/AAAAAAAAAJs/XW1UDYG_fyc/s400/CIMG3257.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_e8UYszfI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/w3P2ytEX3aU/s1600-h/CIMG3261.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206124822109408754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_e8UYszfI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/w3P2ytEX3aU/s400/CIMG3261.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_e80YszgI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/RGxiBydpYb4/s1600-h/CIMG3262.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206124830699343362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_e80YszgI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/RGxiBydpYb4/s400/CIMG3262.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_e9EYszhI/AAAAAAAAAKE/474mSXE7Aew/s1600-h/CIMG3266.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206124834994310674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_e9EYszhI/AAAAAAAAAKE/474mSXE7Aew/s400/CIMG3266.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-771241589189384311?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-46482443802151126132008-05-21T07:04:00.027-07:002008-05-30T03:59:25.680-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_d0UYszYI/AAAAAAAAAI8/xgcn_ljWJiA/s1600-h/CIMG3243.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206123585158827394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_d0UYszYI/AAAAAAAAAI8/xgcn_ljWJiA/s400/CIMG3243.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_d0kYszZI/AAAAAAAAAJE/MqtW5sqd0mU/s1600-h/CIMG3246.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206123589453794706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_d0kYszZI/AAAAAAAAAJE/MqtW5sqd0mU/s400/CIMG3246.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_d00YszaI/AAAAAAAAAJM/i23GZG7qfPc/s1600-h/CIMG3247.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206123593748762018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_d00YszaI/AAAAAAAAAJM/i23GZG7qfPc/s400/CIMG3247.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_d1kYszbI/AAAAAAAAAJU/Jla11mF75yc/s1600-h/CIMG3250.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206123606633663922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_d1kYszbI/AAAAAAAAAJU/Jla11mF75yc/s400/CIMG3250.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_d2EYszcI/AAAAAAAAAJc/I3tkxuH8xK8/s1600-h/CIMG3252.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206123615223598530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_d2EYszcI/AAAAAAAAAJc/I3tkxuH8xK8/s400/CIMG3252.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-4648244380215112613?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-22689108041247181742008-05-21T07:04:00.026-07:002008-05-30T03:54:56.496-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_c3EYszTI/AAAAAAAAAIU/lr9EmPDg-Ug/s1600-h/CIMG3170.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206122532891839794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_c3EYszTI/AAAAAAAAAIU/lr9EmPDg-Ug/s400/CIMG3170.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_c3kYszUI/AAAAAAAAAIc/yHpPLD2uYxQ/s1600-h/CIMG3219.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206122541481774402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_c3kYszUI/AAAAAAAAAIc/yHpPLD2uYxQ/s400/CIMG3219.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_c30YszVI/AAAAAAAAAIk/efhG_HJqyxg/s1600-h/CIMG3222.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206122545776741714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_c30YszVI/AAAAAAAAAIk/efhG_HJqyxg/s400/CIMG3222.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_c4EYszWI/AAAAAAAAAIs/tqEyvF4efUA/s1600-h/CIMG3226.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206122550071709026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_c4EYszWI/AAAAAAAAAIs/tqEyvF4efUA/s400/CIMG3226.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_c4UYszXI/AAAAAAAAAI0/W7ZtTXiNiG8/s1600-h/CIMG3232.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206122554366676338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_c4UYszXI/AAAAAAAAAI0/W7ZtTXiNiG8/s400/CIMG3232.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_cU0YszOI/AAAAAAAAAHs/rCjSm859V14/s1600-h/CIMG3170.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206121944481320162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_cU0YszOI/AAAAAAAAAHs/rCjSm859V14/s400/CIMG3170.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_cVUYszPI/AAAAAAAAAH0/ZOL1HWEqVtk/s1600-h/CIMG3219.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206121953071254770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_cVUYszPI/AAAAAAAAAH0/ZOL1HWEqVtk/s400/CIMG3219.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_cVkYszQI/AAAAAAAAAH8/c1FymXp_9uI/s1600-h/CIMG3222.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206121957366222082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_cVkYszQI/AAAAAAAAAH8/c1FymXp_9uI/s400/CIMG3222.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_cV0YszRI/AAAAAAAAAIE/J8CpzLJ2aTs/s1600-h/CIMG3226.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206121961661189394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_cV0YszRI/AAAAAAAAAIE/J8CpzLJ2aTs/s400/CIMG3226.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_cWEYszSI/AAAAAAAAAIM/SSGFTrYkJ1s/s1600-h/CIMG3232.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206121965956156706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_cWEYszSI/AAAAAAAAAIM/SSGFTrYkJ1s/s400/CIMG3232.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-2268910804124718174?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-61325733757840129672008-05-21T07:04:00.025-07:002008-05-30T03:46:57.567-07:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_a30YszJI/AAAAAAAAAHE/KXnaEXhffXg/s1600-h/CIMG3170.JPG"></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_a40YszKI/AAAAAAAAAHM/3rQI5R9F7GI/s1600-h/CIMG3185.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206120363933355170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_a40YszKI/AAAAAAAAAHM/3rQI5R9F7GI/s400/CIMG3185.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_a5EYszLI/AAAAAAAAAHU/FiZa5BuccI4/s1600-h/CIMG3186.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206120368228322482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_a5EYszLI/AAAAAAAAAHU/FiZa5BuccI4/s400/CIMG3186.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_a5UYszMI/AAAAAAAAAHc/3KumWKbv8v4/s1600-h/CIMG3198.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206120372523289794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_a5UYszMI/AAAAAAAAAHc/3KumWKbv8v4/s400/CIMG3198.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_a5kYszNI/AAAAAAAAAHk/Bc2vwQAsMts/s1600-h/CIMG3212.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206120376818257106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD_a5kYszNI/AAAAAAAAAHk/Bc2vwQAsMts/s400/CIMG3212.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-6132573375784012967?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-3584636500160173712008-05-21T07:04:00.024-07:002008-05-30T03:39:32.286-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-dxEYszEI/AAAAAAAAAGc/N2_PsoVrb5M/s1600-h/CIMG3170.JPG"></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-dxkYszFI/AAAAAAAAAGk/R9HYH6yfRNk/s1600-h/CIMG3176.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206053169170009170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-dxkYszFI/AAAAAAAAAGk/R9HYH6yfRNk/s400/CIMG3176.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-dx0YszGI/AAAAAAAAAGs/JPIolm2oiEc/s1600-h/CIMG3185.JPG"></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-dyUYszHI/AAAAAAAAAG0/xZ0P3Yyot58/s1600-h/CIMG3186.JPG"></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-dykYszII/AAAAAAAAAG8/nVQz62lFNHc/s1600-h/CIMG3198.JPG"></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-358463650016017371?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-44142366558355094072008-05-21T07:04:00.022-07:002008-05-29T23:21:46.138-07:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-cyUYsy_I/AAAAAAAAAF0/yC-rTjThT4I/s1600-h/CIMG3139.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206052082543283186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-cyUYsy_I/AAAAAAAAAF0/yC-rTjThT4I/s400/CIMG3139.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-cy0YszAI/AAAAAAAAAF8/Yr4l-j_ixrE/s1600-h/CIMG3155.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206052091133217794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-cy0YszAI/AAAAAAAAAF8/Yr4l-j_ixrE/s400/CIMG3155.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-czEYszBI/AAAAAAAAAGE/Dy5i8I5FGWc/s1600-h/CIMG3158.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206052095428185106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-czEYszBI/AAAAAAAAAGE/Dy5i8I5FGWc/s400/CIMG3158.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-czUYszCI/AAAAAAAAAGM/j7iLDCocwzU/s1600-h/CIMG3166.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206052099723152418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-czUYszCI/AAAAAAAAAGM/j7iLDCocwzU/s400/CIMG3166.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-czkYszDI/AAAAAAAAAGU/W15SOgJt8y4/s1600-h/CIMG3164.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206052104018119730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SD-czkYszDI/AAAAAAAAAGU/W15SOgJt8y4/s400/CIMG3164.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-4414236655835509407?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-13354998828188384762008-05-21T07:04:00.018-07:002008-05-27T22:46:09.132-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzxbUYsy1I/AAAAAAAAAEk/jbcTLhV1AWo/s1600-h/DSCF0324.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205300720964520786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzxbUYsy1I/AAAAAAAAAEk/jbcTLhV1AWo/s400/DSCF0324.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzxb0Ysy2I/AAAAAAAAAEs/IUF_RO0BJQE/s1600-h/DSCF0323.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205300729554455394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzxb0Ysy2I/AAAAAAAAAEs/IUF_RO0BJQE/s400/DSCF0323.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzxcUYsy3I/AAAAAAAAAE0/Ukt4twqx1rw/s1600-h/DSCF0329.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205300738144390002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzxcUYsy3I/AAAAAAAAAE0/Ukt4twqx1rw/s400/DSCF0329.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzxckYsy4I/AAAAAAAAAE8/YJncXEuVI5c/s1600-h/DSCF0331.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205300742439357314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzxckYsy4I/AAAAAAAAAE8/YJncXEuVI5c/s400/DSCF0331.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzxc0Ysy5I/AAAAAAAAAFE/3vBc20UT5iI/s1600-h/DSCF0332.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205300746734324626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzxc0Ysy5I/AAAAAAAAAFE/3vBc20UT5iI/s400/DSCF0332.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzvxkYsywI/AAAAAAAAAD8/I6_ZMDFBGWY/s1600-h/DSCF0318.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205298904193354498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzvxkYsywI/AAAAAAAAAD8/I6_ZMDFBGWY/s400/DSCF0318.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzvyEYsyxI/AAAAAAAAAEE/0KtQtN29toY/s1600-h/DSCF0311.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205298912783289106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzvyEYsyxI/AAAAAAAAAEE/0KtQtN29toY/s400/DSCF0311.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzvyUYsyyI/AAAAAAAAAEM/YETfocTkcJo/s1600-h/DSCF0316.JPG"></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzv0kYsyzI/AAAAAAAAAEU/6SFQ1tHrF80/s1600-h/DSCF0313.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205298955732962098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzv0kYsyzI/AAAAAAAAAEU/6SFQ1tHrF80/s400/DSCF0313.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzv00Ysy0I/AAAAAAAAAEc/16O6jZ1D_HY/s1600-h/DSCF0326.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205298960027929410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzv00Ysy0I/AAAAAAAAAEc/16O6jZ1D_HY/s400/DSCF0326.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-1335499882818838476?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2996143655324259689.post-37247413923169002342008-05-21T07:04:00.017-07:002008-05-27T22:26:29.292-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzsfUYsyrI/AAAAAAAAADU/9TiNu5TDcBw/s1600-h/DSCF0300.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205295292125858482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzsfUYsyrI/AAAAAAAAADU/9TiNu5TDcBw/s400/DSCF0300.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzsfkYsysI/AAAAAAAAADc/s7Y6I8Vi5zQ/s1600-h/DSCF0302.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205295296420825794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzsfkYsysI/AAAAAAAAADc/s7Y6I8Vi5zQ/s400/DSCF0302.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzsf0YsytI/AAAAAAAAADk/Fks4iDV5pRM/s1600-h/DSCF0309.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205295300715793106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzsf0YsytI/AAAAAAAAADk/Fks4iDV5pRM/s400/DSCF0309.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzsgEYsyuI/AAAAAAAAADs/I7WvBXao2IY/s1600-h/DSCF0316.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205295305010760418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzsgEYsyuI/AAAAAAAAADs/I7WvBXao2IY/s400/DSCF0316.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzsgUYsyvI/AAAAAAAAAD0/O-sCNz4VBS4/s1600-h/DSCF0319.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205295309305727730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z0tercbfZx8/SDzsgUYsyvI/AAAAAAAAAD0/O-sCNz4VBS4/s400/DSCF0319.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Check out our other sites as well! www.fredwagenhals.com www.heatherwagenhals.com<img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2996143655324259689-3724741392316900234?l=fredandheather.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Fred and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03475523192901073872noreply@blogger.com