Vegas Vacation

Don’t get too many ideas… we were mostly out there on a business trip! I headed out to Las Vegas earlier this month for the American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Conference. And to prove that it was business, I even sat in on a panel on using social media! So there!

But it wasn’t all business… Farmer Doc came with me (although he skipped out on most of the conference) and we had plenty of time to do some gambling sight-seeing.

Okay. We gambled, too.

We stayed in the Paris hotel. It is beautiful! The inside is decorated to look like you’re outside in the streets of Paris… It was just stunning!

Mystic Aquarium

Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Connecticut for a few days with Farmer Doc. It was mainly a work trip, as I was speaking at the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Association’s annual meeting about equine respiratory disease.

But we stayed for an extra day and made it a for-fun trip, too! One of the great things about heading back to the East Coast (my old stomping grounds) is that (if I can make the extra time to stay) I can always hook up with an old friend or two. This time, I got together with my best friend, Dani. We hadn’t seen each other in a year, and we hadn’t met each other’s husbands before! So it was a chance for the girls to catch up, to meet the boys, for the boys to meet, and for all of us to hang out with their adorable two-year-old.

So what did two young couples do with a two-year-old in tow in Connecticut? We went to the Mystic Aquarium!

The first thing you see is the outdoor enclosure with the beluga whales. (We taught little cutie-pie a new word, and I think “beluga” was her favorite word by the end of the day!)

Washington, DC

I had the opportunity to visit Washington, DC twice this summer! Both trips were thanks to the Farm Bureau, and I had a wonderful time on both trips. The first trip this summer was back in July, and I attended the American Farm Bureau’s Women’s Communications Boot Camp. That trip was jam-packed full of learning and workshops, and we really didn’t have much time for sight seeing.

The second time was earlier in September. Farmer Doc and I went with a group of people from the Indiana Farm Bureau. Our main goal on this trip was to meet with our state senators and representatives, but we did have some fun time built in, too.

We spent the first day in meetings with American Farm Bureau staff learning about some of the legislative priorities for the rest of this year. To be honest, it was a pretty frustrating day. There are a lot of bills that still need to be voted on, but are not being brought to the House floor for a vote. It seems like election year politics are playing a big role in the House of Representatives not getting their jobs done.

But a bright spot of that day was the chance to get up on the roof of a 10-story building for a bird’s eye view of the city. Just like last time, I was struck by the construction and the number of cranes that dotted the skyline.

San Diego

Last week Farmer Doc and I headed out to San Diego. Before you get too jealous of our 4 days in perfect weather with gorgeous scenery, let me tell you that it was mostly a work trip. We went out for the American Veterinary Medical Association, and Farmer Doc had some work to do with the Future Leaders Program.

But we did have some good times while we were there!

The opening session for the conference featured Joan Embery as the speaker. She brought all her friends.



Cheetah!!

Vacation in Maui

A bit of a heads up, this is a photo-heavy post. I took over 2500 pictures while we were in Hawaii, and I had a really hard time narrowing it down to get just a few to post here!

After the AFBF convention on Oahu, we flew over to Maui for a few days of just plain vacation. We drove to the north side of the island and saw some wonderful waves crashing in over the rocks.

There was even a cattle pasture with a beautiful ocean view. Hubby Doc says he is going to require this kind of a view from all his farm calls from now on. I think we’re going to see a decrease in our cattle clients…

Conference in Hawaii

This year, the American Farm Bureau annual convention was in Honolulu, Hawaii.

I tell you, it was torture to have to go to this conference for a few business meetings. Just torture.

We flew all day on Saturday 1/7. By the time we got to the hotel it was 9:30pm Hawaii time, 1:30am Sunday morning our time. We were tired. I took this picture of Waikiki beach from our hotel room, and we passed out.


This was the view from our hotel room the next morning. Gorgeous, no? Yes!

January vacation in Chicago…?

Yes, we started our vacation in January in Chicago. Strange time to go to this cold city? Yes. But it was 50 degrees, and I walked up and down Michigan Avenue with no coat. Actually, pretty great weather for Chicago in January!

This part of the trip wasn’t all vacation. Hubby Doc had meetings Thursday evening and all day Friday. So I was left on my own. At the Intercontinental Hotel. In downtown Chicago. Right on Michigan Ave. Hubby Doc worried that he was going to end up spending more money with me shopping than if he had registered me for the conference!

Really, when left all alone all day long on Michigan Ave, what’s a girl to do?

Never fear, I kept my wallet inside my purse, but I did do some pretty fantastic window shopping!
(After all, we had a week-long trip to Hawaii coming right up!)

Here are a few of the stores I did not go into…

Week of travel

At least this time, Hubby Doc and I were together on our travels!

Last week was a pretty busy week for us. We left Monday evening to head up to Indianapolis so we could be at the Indiana State Fair first thing Tuesday morning. We arrived after the tragedy of the stage collapsing before the concert on Saturday night, but the mood was still a little subdued on the grounds.

We were working in the Farm Bureau building at the Taste of Indiana Farms event for three days on the state fairgrounds.

Hubby Doc got to talk to new people for three straight days. He hated it. Or maybe he loved it. Is he smiling?

Friday morning, after our fair responsibilities were done, we packed up and headed to Grand Rivers, Kentucky for the weekend. Monday was our two-year wedding anniversary, and we wanted to have a weekend away that wasn’t tied to work in some way or another.

Grand Rivers is this really tiny village in Western Kentucky, nestled between Kentucky Lake and Barkley Lake. Just south of Grand Rivers is the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.

We had a very low-key, relaxing weekend. We had no schedule, and no itinerary. It was awesome. We saw a show at the Badgett Playhouse, and spent a bunch of time in the LBL Park.

We slept in on Sunday, drove over to Paducah, KY and spent some more time in the LBL Park before we started a lazy drive back home.

More details to come on all of this later this week. I’m still trying to catch up from the week of being gone! My computer also liked the vacation, and he is whining about having to go back to work this week, too.

Of course, Hubby Doc left this morning for Chicago, and I’m headed to Indianapolis again on Friday… so back on the merry-go-round!