2nd Installment of "Short Stories by Wade; Now with pictures."

The first picture is one of Brynn--love of my life--with 2 kittens; one a black panther and the other a tiger. (I guess they call them cubs--not kittens). Anyway, this was taken while we were on our 2nd cruise. We went to the Mexican Riviera, which included Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. This shot was taken while we visited the Puerto Vallarta Zoo. It was different from most zoos in the states. We never saw the zoo keepers. There was no pavement; it was all dirt. But it seemed quite authentic, especially since we rented a 1970 VW Beetle Convertible to get us there. And the zoo was at the end of a dirt road, past some shanties and the tequila factory. Anyway, there was some guy--not a biologist or zoo keeper--who had a little booth at the zoo with these several species of baby cats. And, for like ten or twenty bucks you could hold them and take pictures. It was a fun cruise.

Next is a photo of me making an ass out of myself trying to do the "Flowrider." This is this awesome surfing machine--it's huge--on the back of the Royal Caribbean "Freedom of the Seas" ship, which was the largest passenger vessel on the ocean at that time--2007. I'm not sure if the current largest ship is actually sailing yet, but I know there is one being built at least. Anyway, you could either stand up and try to surf or you could lie down and boogie board. Both were a lot of fun though I never got very good at either. (Imagine the boy raised in Haskellville, UT not able to surf). Well, this was our first cruise and we went to the Western Caribbean. The ports of call on this one were Cozumel, Mexico (amazing snorkeling there); Georgetown, Grand Cayman; somewhere in Jamaica (can't remember), and Labadee, Haiti, Royal Caribbean's private island and my least favorite. It was far too commercialized and there was nowhere to go. It was a fun vacation though.

The next one is a photo of the Lake Louise Hotel, near Banff, Alberta Canada. A day after Brynn and I were married, we moved to Alaska--for a short 6 months. (I had previously lived up there before I met her back in Utah). Anyway, I've driven the Utah to Alaska and back routes several times. And I'm convinced that the best way is skipping Calgary and Edmonton, and turning west through Banff and Jasper National Parks. Honestly, the scenery in these 2 parks rivals anything I've every seen in Alaska--and I LOVE Alaska. I hiked about a mile or so from a parking lot in Lake Louise and this picture was the rewarding view. I haven't stayed there yet but I plan to. Beautiful.

Lastly is a photo that Brynn took. When we drove back home from Alaska, we wanted to make the trip as scenic and wild as we could, which would mean camping instead of hotels incidentally. A side note: We camped in the snow, down a logging road, just north of Jasper and had a coyote come in and bark and howl all night. What an experience that was. Well, we tried to hit Waterton and Glacier National Parks as well but were turned away at the border crossing by the Canadian Mounties because we reached the gates at 6:02 PM. (They closed at 6:00 PM at that particular crossing). And there was nothing we could do but drive east about 70 miles and cross at Carway. We got into Montana and decided to go into Yellowstone at Gardiner, MT. Somewhere in the park, we came across this picture. Since it was October, it had already begun snowing and there was plenty of fog. Brynn took the picture, though I've tried to take credit for it several times. I'd say it's worthy of any Yellowstone calendar.

And this concludes the 2nd installment of "Short Stories by Wade."