NYE and Vegas pics...

Here are some pics from the trip! These are a combo of our stay at Bellagio as well as NYE's. We watched the guy jump his motorcycle up onto the arch at The Paris hotel...you can kinda see him...the blue dot.

We had fun! But it's doubtful Vegas will be a destination stop for us for vacation again in the future! We're on to other cities!

New Year's 2008

And yet another year has come upon us! The last few have been full of good times, but this year we thought doing it Vegas style would be the way to go to ring in the new year! We headed down to the Strip with all good intention to do all we could to ring in the new year in style. Unfortunately, we forgot how crazy people really are. 250,000 showed up on the Strip this year...believably fewer than last year! We watched the big jump over the Arch d Triumph...luckily we didn't go over to the Rio to watch the truck do a back flip. In case you didn't see that one...he didn't do so well. The motorcyle jump wasn't too shabby. People crowded around and cheered him on. There were no bottles (plastic or glass) allowed on the Strip...so everyone walked around with 2 liter bottles of Beer and gallon pitchers full of Budwiser. The clubs were off the hook and the hotels locked down. We rang in the new year in style...and realized we're not that young anymore to really love the scene we found in Vegas. Definately worth the trip...probably won't do another NYE in Vegas. Next year it's on to Rio!

May this next year bring you much happiness and peace. And may all your resolutions be ones you intend to keep and are able to give your all to.

With love and blessings for the new year!
Thompson's

Merry Christmas!

May you find this Christmas full of laughter and love! We wish all our friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Our newest post will be from Vegas for the new year!!!

Tokyo Day 3

My adventure to Tokyo is ending today...and I am on my way to Hong Kong. Today was a day of exploration. It started at the Emporer's Palace and then lead to my first train ride in Tokyo by myself. In Japanese. Needless to say I made it to Shinjuki and had lots of time to shop and admire the great electronics they have for sale!

After Shinjuki I went to visit a local shrine which was then proceeded by an hour train ride to the airport.

I can honestly say Tokyo is a great city. I will definately come back again.

Asia 2008

As luck would have it I have been fortunate enough to make the trek to Asia...for my job! How cool is that...

The first stop is Tokyo. We are here now and having a great time. The people are so nice, the food is great and the weather is actually quite nice. The hotel is gorgeous and tomorrow is site seeing. I am only here for one more day before I head off to Hong Kong and I have found some great photo op sites. So far I have taken lots of pics at the hotel as they have great views of the Tokyo sky line as well as this great Japanese garden outside the hotel. Sushi, lots of sticky rice and really great pork. It's all good here in Tokyo.

I'll send more photos after the big adventure tomorrow!

Cheers!

San Fran Marathon 2008

We had a great time running the San Fran half and full marathon this year. David being the overachiever ran the full, and I ran the half. It was a great day for a run...cool, overcast and a little drizzle every so often. Surprisingly we didn't find the hills too much. The crowds were great, the runners super nice (and overly excited to run as fast as they can). We had a great time and the medals were pretty cool.

Napa Valley

We decided to head to San Francisco for the marathon this year. And in addition to the race, we decided to go up to Napa Valley for a night. We took the Silverado trail through some of the vineyards and decided to stop at the Robert Mondavi and Clos Du Vois wineries. I did a tasting at the Clos Du Vois winery. They are cool places to check out, but after a few they all look the same. I do admit we would have fun having our own vineyard if we had a house like they do! Holy cow those places are massive! And totally gorgeous. Some of the country side reminded me of Tuscany...but we all know Tuscany is just way cooler.

San Fran has been a good trip again. We always love coming back here. And we always stay at the same place. Hotel Nikko is a great place in Union Square, reasonably priced and close to everything. We tried to find the expo for the race on Friday when we got here...but didn't realize that the Piers are numbered evens on one side of the Bay bridge (so Pier 39 where the sea lions are and Fisherman's Warf) and the evens are on the other side of the bridge. Needless to say, we have gotten our walking in! Tomorrow is the big day...go race day!