Changes are in store for Pigonastick. I am revising some of the menus and adding new content. Brian is in on these changes and we are going to update all the pictures and add tons of travel related information. Since we have been to a number of places we thought we would review some of the places we have been, places we have stayed, etc. So, should you find yourself in Tulum, Mexico or Hilo, Hawaii you will know some decent places to stay or visit. These changes should start showing up on the website in the next week or so. I am actually building another website for our photography business so I am rather engaged with that at the moment. Brian, on the other hand, is engaged by his Harry Potter book which he got for his birthday.

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Apparently, we have a smoker in the building. We now have to keep our kitchen window closed most of the time because of this smoker. The smoke wafts into our kitchen window and makes the apartment smell like cigarette smoke. It is absolutely disgusting. We even cooked our dinner without opening the window which would normally allow the heat from the stove escape. When we finally sat down to eat we opened the window and not even one minute went by before more nasty smoke wafted inside our window. I wonder if we can report someone for being a smoker? …that would be nice.

Strangely enough, the children next door have become much more quiet. This has happened since we returned from vacation. We think someone must have reported them for being loud… In fact, I have not heard a peep from them in a day or two. Yay!

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Apparently, we have a smoker in the building. We now have to keep our kitchen window closed most of the time because of this smoker. The smoke wafts into our kitchen window and makes the apartment smell like cigarette smoke. It is absolutely disgusting. We even cooked our dinner without opening the window which would normally allow the heat from the stove escape. When we finally sat down to eat we opened the window and not even one minute went by before more nasty smoke wafted inside our window. I wonder if we can report someone for being a smoker? …that would be nice.

Strangely enough, the children next door have become much more quiet. This has happened since we returned from vacation. We think someone must have reported them for being loud… In fact, I have not heard a peep from them in a day or two. Yay!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Brian was just surfing around and happened upon this news story about voting in Sverdlovsk. Apparently, a number of people voted for Harry Potter to be the new governor of Sverdlovsk. Click here to read the article. Frankly, I would vote for Harry Potter over most candidates that run for office in the US.

I also found an article about a woman from Morocco that has been pregnant for 46 years. Read about that here. I think the Russians enjoy reporting on things that would only make the tabloids in the US…

Russian news makes me chuckle.

The minor league baseball fireworks around here have stopped for the evening. Yay.

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Brian was just surfing around and happened upon this news story about voting in Sverdlovsk. Apparently, a number of people voted for Harry Potter to be the new governor of Sverdlovsk. Click here to read the article. Frankly, I would vote for Harry Potter over most candidates that run for office in the US.

I also found an article about a woman from Morocco that has been pregnant for 46 years. Read about that here. I think the Russians enjoy reporting on things that would only make the tabloids in the US…

Russian news makes me chuckle.

The minor league baseball fireworks around here have stopped for the evening. Yay.

Popularity: 6% [?]

One year ago today we met for the first time in Orlando. We met at about 2:21 PM at the Orlando airport. Brian wore his fancy tan khaki pants with his brand new blue polo shirt from Target and his brown shoes. Katy wore jeans and a red Ralph Lauren polo shirt (also new) and tennis shoes with a Lulu Guinness handbag. (which got stolen in Hawaii before our honeymoon/wedding) I was very surprised that Brian was dressed so nicely. I expected him to be wearing a tie-dye shirt and old battered jeans with Birkenstocks. This was not the case! After hugging (sort of) we went to get our luggage and got lost at the airport due to distraction. After we found my bag we put all 78 lbs of it into the limo.

Then, we went on our way to the “free 15 minute grocery stop” and bought random food and drinks including raisins and some weird lemon drink that Brian had to keep on ice for five days and repeatedly kept asking me if I wanted some. We drove to the hotel and attempted to check-in and failed because it was too early. So, the hotel held our bags for us (and groceries too). We rode the I-Trolley to the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum. We sat next to each other on the trolley and purposely refrained from any contact whatsoever until we accidentally bumped shoulders causing me to jump in my seat! Usually, I find Ripley’s Museums to be amusing and somewhat interesting with memorable exhibits but I really cannot even recall one exhibit in the museum. Brian is more unusual than anything in that museum!

The hotel said we could check-in at 4 PM and got back at 4:15 PM but we still could not check-in. They offered free drinks at the bar and since we do not drink we declined. The manager was supposed to bring us the keys but instead she just waved across the room and we had to pick up our keys. Then we sat down in the two chairs. We continued to sit in the chairs without saying anything until Brian got up the nerve to give me a card. The card was very sweet and mushy and I was mildly horrified. The card is now hanging our above our window.

Not long after, we took a cab to Seasons 52 Restaurant. Brian had made reservations a week ahead of time because it is a very trendy and healthy restaurant. I felt underdressed the entire time that I was there. The menu changes every week and they had a great vegetarian platter that I had. Brian ordered shrimp pasta and later asked me if I was offended by him eating seafood. I said no. We ate our meal in almost silence with a little bit of awkward conversation. Brian gave the waitress a small tip because he is cheap but mostly because she tried to take his plate away from him before he was finished. He also gave the waitress the “look of death” for putting her hands on his plate before he was done. I learned then never to touch his plate. But now he lets me and I’m not afraid!

The restaurant called a cab for us back to the hotel and back we went. We got back to our hotel and I unloaded about 30 lbs of games from my suitcase like Jenga, Mancala, and Clue. Brian brought the Lord of the Rings version of Risk and cards. We played Jenga for a long long time that night. …and that is all you get. –Brian & Katy

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One year ago today we met for the first time in Orlando. We met at about 2:21 PM at the Orlando airport. Brian wore his fancy tan khaki pants with his brand new blue polo shirt from Target and his brown shoes. Katy wore jeans and a red Ralph Lauren polo shirt (also new) and tennis shoes with a Lulu Guinness handbag. (which got stolen in Hawaii before our honeymoon/wedding) I was very surprised that Brian was dressed so nicely. I expected him to be wearing a tie-dye shirt and old battered jeans with Birkenstocks. This was not the case! After hugging (sort of) we went to get our luggage and got lost at the airport due to distraction. After we found my bag we put all 78 lbs of it into the limo and we went on our way to the “free 15 minute grocery stop” and bought random food and drinks including raisins and some weird lemon drink that Brian had to keep on ice for five days and repeatedly kept asking me if I wanted some. We drove to the hotel and attempted to check-in and failed because it was too early. So, the hotel held our bags for us (and groceries too). We rode the I-Trolley to the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum. We sat next to each other on the trolley and purposely refrained from any contact whatsoever until we accidentally bumped shoulders causing me to jump in my seat! Usually, I find Ripley’s Museums to be amusing and somewhat interesting with memorable exhibits but I really cannot even recall one exhibit in the museum. Brian is more unusual than anything in that museum! The hotel said we could check-in at 4 PM and got back at 4:15 PM but we still could not check-in. They offered free drinks at the bar and since we do not drink we declined. The manager was supposed to bring us the keys but instead she just waved across the room and we had to pick up our keys. So, went up to our room which was supposed to be two double beds and saw that it was in fact one king size bed. Katy was in denial and stood in the bathroom. Brian said, “There is only one bed.” Katy replied, “There is supposed to be two beds.” Brian said, “But there is only one.” Then we stared at the bed and proceeded to sit down in the two chairs and dumped all our crap on the bed and used it as storage space. And we continued to sit in the chairs without saying anything Brian got up the nerve to give me a card. The card was very sweet and mushy and I was mildly horrified because it was already awkward because of the bed situation. The card is now hanging above our window. Not long after, we took a cab to Seasons 52 Restaurant. Brian had made reservations a week ahead of time because it is a very trendy and healthy restaurant. I felt underdressed the entire time that I was there. The menu changes every week and they had a great vegetarian platter that I had. Brian ordered shrimp pasta and later asked me if I was offended by him eating seafood. I said no. We ate our meal in almost silence with a little bit of awkward conversation. Brian gave the waitress a small tip because he is cheap but mostly because she tried to take his plate away from him before he was finished. He also gave the waitress the “look of death” for putting her hands on his plate before he was done. I learned then never to touch his plate. But now he lets me and I’m not afraid! The restaurant called us a cab back to the hotel and back we went. We got back to our hotel room and I unloaded about 30 lbs of games from my suitcase like Jenga, Mancala, and Clue. Brian brought the Lord of the Rings version of Risk and cards. We played Jenga for a long long time that night. Brian said we had to address the bed issue so he said we should play Mancala on the bed because we were going to have to use it sooner or later. Five days is a long time to go without touching a bed! We did not follow Brian’s mother’s advice of pinning a sheet across the room. Eventually, we decided to go to sleep. I wore my pajamas with a bra shirt and two other shirts. Brian had on his boxers and a t-shirt. We got in bed and pretended to sleep but also talked randomly for about 30 minutes. Then, Brian got the bright idea to arm wrestle! So, we arm wrestled on the bed. End of Day 1.

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One year ago today we met for the first time in Orlando. We met at about 2:21 PM at the Orlando airport. Brian wore his fancy tan khaki pants with his brand new blue polo shirt from Target and his brown shoes. Katy wore jeans and a red Ralph Lauren polo shirt (also new) and tennis shoes with a Lulu Guinness handbag. (which got stolen in Hawaii before our honeymoon/wedding) I was very surprised that Brian was dressed so nicely. I expected him to be wearing a tie-dye shirt and old battered jeans with Birkenstocks. This was not the case! After hugging (sort of) we went to get our luggage and got lost at the airport due to distraction. After we found my bag we put all 78 lbs of it into the limo.

Then, we went on our way to the “free 15 minute grocery stop” and bought random food and drinks including raisins and some weird lemon drink that Brian had to keep on ice for five days and repeatedly kept asking me if I wanted some. We drove to the hotel and attempted to check-in and failed because it was too early. So, the hotel held our bags for us (and groceries too). We rode the I-Trolley to the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum. We sat next to each other on the trolley and purposely refrained from any contact whatsoever until we accidentally bumped shoulders causing me to jump in my seat! Usually, I find Ripley’s Museums to be amusing and somewhat interesting with memorable exhibits but I really cannot even recall one exhibit in the museum. Brian is more unusual than anything in that museum!

The hotel said we could check-in at 4 PM and got back at 4:15 PM but we still could not check-in. They offered free drinks at the bar and since we do not drink we declined. The manager was supposed to bring us the keys but instead she just waved across the room and we had to pick up our keys. Then we sat down in the two chairs. We continued to sit in the chairs without saying anything until Brian got up the nerve to give me a card. The card was very sweet and mushy and I was mildly horrified. The card is now hanging our above our window.

Not long after, we took a cab to Seasons 52 Restaurant. Brian had made reservations a week ahead of time because it is a very trendy and healthy restaurant. I felt underdressed the entire time that I was there. The menu changes every week and they had a great vegetarian platter that I had. Brian ordered shrimp pasta and later asked me if I was offended by him eating seafood. I said no. We ate our meal in almost silence with a little bit of awkward conversation. Brian gave the waitress a small tip because he is cheap but mostly because she tried to take his plate away from him before he was finished. He also gave the waitress the “look of death” for putting her hands on his plate before he was done. I learned then never to touch his plate. But now he lets me and I’m not afraid!

The restaurant called a cab for us back to the hotel and back we went. We got back to our hotel and I unloaded about 30 lbs of games from my suitcase like Jenga, Mancala, and Clue. Brian brought the Lord of the Rings version of Risk and cards. We played Jenga for a long long time that night. …and that is all you get. –Brian & Katy

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It was 96F yesterday and it is supposed to be 97F today. This is the same place that was -4F just five months ago. Living in a place where the temperature varies 100 degrees is just not comfortable. I am definitely looking forward to living in Hawaii where the daytime temperature varies between 79-81 on a daily basis year round.

We spent yesterday going to the post office, movie theater, and Target. We saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was OK. I really liked the gothic feel in the beginning of the movie. I liked that the movie started off like the book, it was dark and mysterious which is more like Dahl’s writing. Other than that, the movie was a bit off and just weird in ways that just did not work.

In other news, when we left to go to California, we got rid of the Cadillac. This is the first time that I have been carless and I love it. I do not think that I will miss having a car at all. I am glad to get rid of it! Of course, when we move to the Big Island we will have to get a 4×4 but we will actually need a car then. We have been taking the bus or walking everywhere and I like it a lot. We live close to everything since we live on the main street in the city. I think Columbus is more tolerable by bus than by car…

We bought a memory card for our digital camera while we were in California but now that memory card has started doing weird things. It randomly held on to a picture of Brian that I took at his parents house and just spit out the picture two days ago. It also is holding a lot less than it should. Of course, it is past the 30 day return time and Office Max wants the original packaging anyway. Oh well. We bought a newer and bigger memory card for the camera yesterday… Now, our camera is on steriods and the husband could not be happier.

Popularity: 6% [?]

It was 96F yesterday and it is supposed to be 97F today. This is the same place that was -4F just five months ago. Living in a place where the temperature varies 100 degrees is just not comfortable. I am definitely looking forward to living in Hawaii where the daytime temperature varies between 79-81 on a daily basis year round.

We spent yesterday going to the post office, movie theater, and Target. We saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was OK. I really liked the gothic feel in the beginning of the movie. I liked that the movie started off like the book, it was dark and mysterious which is more like Dahl’s writing. Other than that, the movie was a bit off and just weird in ways that just did not work.

In other news, when we left to go to California, we got rid of the Cadillac. This is the first time that I have been carless and I love it. I do not think that I will miss having a car at all. I am glad to get rid of it! Of course, when we move to the Big Island we will have to get a 4×4 but we will actually need a car then. We have been taking the bus or walking everywhere and I like it a lot. We live close to everything since we live on the main street in the city. I think Columbus is more tolerable by bus than by car…

We bought a memory card for our digital camera while we were in California but now that memory card has started doing weird things. It randomly held on to a picture of Brian that I took at his parents house and just spit out the picture two days ago. It also is holding a lot less than it should. Of course, it is past the 30 day return time and Office Max wants the original packaging anyway. Oh well. We bought a newer and bigger memory card for the camera yesterday… Now, our camera is on steriods and the husband could not be happier.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Brian was out frolicking by the river today and happened upon a serene picnic area pictured below. In honor of my father-in-law, we are naming this “Sausage and Friend.” It is named in his honor because he casually referred to the picture as “sausage and…friend.”

While I was out and about I took a much less interesting picture but I will put it up anyway. It is simply a leaf that I saw on the sidewalk…

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Brian was out frolicking by the river today and happened upon a serene picnic area pictured below. In honor of my father-in-law, we are naming this “Sausage and Friend.” It is named in his honor because he casually referred to the picture as “sausage and…friend.”

While I was out and about I took a much less interesting picture but I will put it up anyway. It is simply a leaf that I saw on the sidewalk…

Popularity: 5% [?]

We are home!

We just had a great tour of California. We visited Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Mono Lake, Mammoth Lakes, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Methuselah Tree Grove at 11,000 feet, Bodie (the ghost town), the 49er highway (gold rush cities), Manzanar (Japanese internment camp), saw a great deal of snow at high elevation, and we also hiked a lot.

At Yosemite we stayed a couple of nights in tent cabins that got very cold at night. We needed six blankets to keep us warm. We saw some of the Giant Sequoias and hiked and climbed our way to Vernal Falls. Below are the pictures of our hike. Vernal Falls was at high elevation and relatively crowded but it was absolutely beautiful. The walk up was on wet and treacherous stairs that were 18″ high (stairs meaning chunks of rock made to simulate stairs) and we were constantly hit with mist but it was great. Click here to read more about Yosemite.

The 49er highway was very interesting. It is a modern highway that follows (generally) the path of the old wagon roads along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range where the old boom towns were during the Gold Rush. Our favorite town was Columbia.

I really liked Lake Tahoe. We did not spend very long there but we were there long enough for me to decide that I thought the 20-30 miles before you get to South Lake Tahoe was some of the most absolutely beautiful wilderness I have ever seen. We drove along side the American River and it was great. The trees were large and majestic and the river was strong and full of whitewater. Great for rafting! …maybe we’ll do that someday soon. We are even thinking of spending part of the year near Tahoe. Click here to read more about Lake Tahoe.

Mono Lake was beautiful and strange. It is at about 6000 feet. We really enjoyed walking around there and seeing the strange tufas that protruded from the water and from where the water previously was. Due to the stupidity of the Los Angeles water department, Mono Lake has lost a great deal of water. Fortunately, they are required to fill it back up to its previous level. Below are pictures of Mono Lake and tufas. Click here to read more about Mono Lake.

When we arrived in Mammoth Lakes it was very beautiful but chilly. We stayed in a quaint little place called the Swiss Chalet Lodge–it had a gorgeous view of the eastern side of the Sierras, including Mammoth Mountain. Someday, we may return there and do some skiing or more hiking. To learn more about Mammoth Lakes click here.

Bodie was a large ghost town at 9,000 feet in a high altitude desert where it was -20F in the winter and 70F in the summer. They had 10,000 people and 65 saloons, plenty of whores, and only 2 churches after the population reached 8,000. It was known as a rough and tumble kind of town with few women and children and many bad guys. Gun fights were daily and people were killed all the time. One quote from the diary of a young girl said, “Goodbye God, I’m going to Bodie.” I think that pretty much sums it up. Click here to read more about Bodie.

We also stayed at the base of Mt. Whitney (tallest mountain in the contiguous United States 14,491 ft.) in Lone Pine.

Manzanar was very interesting. Brian’s father actually pointed it out on the road and stopped in so we could see this place. I really had no idea it was out there and I knew little of the Japanese internment camps during World War 2. It was disturbing, sad, and interesting all at the same time. We did not take pictures here as there was little of Manzanar to be seen. However, they have a great museum/memorial to the people who were imprisoned at Manzanar and other facilities. To learn more about Manzanar click here.

The Sierras are not at all humid like it is in the South. It has been very dry and cool most everywhere that we have been. Also, many of these places have been very dusty!

We also just arrived home from a long trip in Hawaii. We had a really great time there and we also gathered a great deal of real estate information and saw a number of properties. We have found a subdivision and we plan to buy three acres of land there when we move in December. We finally have firm plans about moving, yay!

While we were on the Big Island we managed to visit a number of beautiful black, white, green, and salt and pepper beaches. We hiked across pahoehoe and a’a lava and we visited the southernmost tip of the U.S. and also hiked to the summit of Mauna Kea. We visited a ton of waterfalls, boiling pots, and other weird water related things. We also went to Waipio Valley and did some hiking around the Big Island.

Click here to see our trip pictures!

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We are home!

We just had a great tour of California. We visited Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Mono Lake, Mammoth Lakes, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Methuselah Tree Grove at 11,000 feet, Bodie (the ghost town), the 49er highway (gold rush cities), Manzanar (Japanese internment camp), saw a great deal of snow at high elevation, and we also hiked a lot.

At Yosemite we stayed a couple of nights in tent cabins that got very cold at night. We needed six blankets to keep us warm. We saw some of the Giant Sequoias and hiked and climbed our way to Vernal Falls. Below are the pictures of our hike. Vernal Falls was at high elevation and relatively crowded but it was absolutely beautiful. The walk up was on wet and treacherous stairs that were 18″ high (stairs meaning chunks of rock made to simulate stairs) and we were constantly hit with mist but it was great. Click here to read more about Yosemite.

The 49er highway was very interesting. It is a modern highway that follows (generally) the path of the old wagon roads along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range where the old boom towns were during the Gold Rush. Our favorite town was Columbia.

I really liked Lake Tahoe. We did not spend very long there but we were there long enough for me to decide that I thought the 20-30 miles before you get to South Lake Tahoe was some of the most absolutely beautiful wilderness I have ever seen. We drove along side the American River and it was great. The trees were large and majestic and the river was strong and full of whitewater. Great for rafting! …maybe we’ll do that someday soon. We are even thinking of spending part of the year near Tahoe. Click here to read more about Lake Tahoe.

Mono Lake was beautiful and strange. It is at about 6000 feet. We really enjoyed walking around there and seeing the strange tufas that protruded from the water and from where the water previously was. Due to the stupidity of the Los Angeles water department, Mono Lake has lost a great deal of water. Fortunately, they are required to fill it back up to its previous level. Below are pictures of Mono Lake and tufas. Click here to read more about Mono Lake.

When we arrived in Mammoth Lakes it was very beautiful but chilly. We stayed in a quaint little place called the Swiss Chalet Lodge–it had a gorgeous view of the eastern side of the Sierras, including Mammoth Mountain. Someday, we may return there and do some skiing or more hiking. To learn more about Mammoth Lakes click here.

Bodie was a large ghost town at 9,000 feet in a high altitude desert where it was -20F in the winter and 70F in the summer. They had 10,000 people and 65 saloons, plenty of whores, and only 2 churches after the population reached 8,000. It was known as a rough and tumble kind of town with few women and children and many bad guys. Gun fights were daily and people were killed all the time. One quote from the diary of a young girl said, “Goodbye God, I’m going to Bodie.” I think that pretty much sums it up. Click here to read more about Bodie.

We also stayed at the base of Mt. Whitney (tallest mountain in the contiguous United States 14,491 ft.) in Lone Pine.

Manzanar was very interesting. Brian’s father actually pointed it out on the road and stopped in so we could see this place. I really had no idea it was out there and I knew little of the Japanese internment camps during World War 2. It was disturbing, sad, and interesting all at the same time. We did not take pictures here as there was little of Manzanar to be seen. However, they have a great museum/memorial to the people who were imprisoned at Manzanar and other facilities. To learn more about Manzanar click here.

The Sierras are not at all humid like it is in the South. It has been very dry and cool most everywhere that we have been. Also, many of these places have been very dusty!

We also just arrived home from a long trip in Hawaii. We had a really great time there and we also gathered a great deal of real estate information and saw a number of properties. We have found a subdivision and we plan to buy three acres of land there when we move in December. We finally have firm plans about moving, yay!

While we were on the Big Island we managed to visit a number of beautiful black, white, green, and salt and pepper beaches. We hiked across pahoehoe and a’a lava and we visited the southernmost tip of the U.S. and also hiked to the summit of Mauna Kea. We visited a ton of waterfalls, boiling pots, and other weird water related things. We also went to Waipio Valley and did some hiking around the Big Island.

Click here to see our trip pictures!

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