The End?

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for sticking with me this past year and a half. I've really enjoyed sharing my life and travels with you. I'll be moving out to join David in Kwajalein shortly, so I think this is my last post for now. Good luck in all your endeavors!
Amber Bates

Lonely Planet USA, Part Four

Hummy at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America)

Falling Water

David and I, with the rolling hills of West Virginia behind us

" The Smallest Catholic Church in the US"

David and Hummy with the Green Bank Radio

Home!

The road home: We left David's friend's place in Western Massachusetts and headed south through western New York. We drove along the beautiful Hudson Valley and stopped at the Culinary Institute of America for a yummy lunch and then pushed on through, all the way to Allentown.
From there we headed west to see Frank Lloyd Wright's famous house, Falling Water, in south-western Pennsylvania. It was all clean lines and built in furniture and made me want to redesign our dream house. As you can see from the photo above, the house is built above a waterfall. You can hear it throughout the house but you can't see it from any of the windows or terraces!
The next day turned out to be one of our favorite of the trip- riding along the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. It was all curvy roads, farming valleys and mountains. We visited the Green Bank Radio Telescope as well and had a wonderful tour there. It's dish is the size of a football field and it was instrumental in the discovery of the black hole at the center of the universe. We both dream of moving to West Virginia someday and David is excited by the new career path he never considered: radio astronomy.
Unfortunately, after that beautiful day, we had to bolt home, across four states, in some pretty crappy weather. We had to get to Kansas again so that we could spend some time with David's family before heading back to Omaha. They were some hard days, just pushing through 10 and 11 hours. We're not doing that again!
All in all, it was a great trip and there was never any time when I wished we were doing it differently. It was amazing to me how much more I saw when we were on the bike. I looked around and really *saw* more. We had a great time and can't wait to do it again.

Lonely Planet USA, Part Three

Some custom trikes we came across in Northern Pennsylvania

David and Hummy at Valley Forge

Art Deco Hummy

David and I at the Liberty Bell

Independence Hall

The United Steaks of America!

Inside Independence Hall, in the room where the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution were written

Do pineapples start out that small or is that a hybrid?

Hummy's being eaten by a topiary rabbit!

An old bonsai

David goes eye to eye with a guardian lion

A panoramic view of the Hudson Valley and the Hudson River

Dinosaur footprints in Western Massachusettes

David, Shaun and Phil

Shaun and his son Brendan check out the motorcycle

From Upstate New York and Niagara Falls, we headed south to Philadelphia. We spent a week there with my Dad and step-mom, camping in their backyard and seeing the sights. We spent a day in Philadelphia, visited Longwood Botanical Gardens and the Brandywine River art Museum, drove around Valley Forge, went bowling with my dad and took pilates classes at their health studio.
Leaving Pennsylvania, we headed back north, this time up the eastern part of Pennsylvania and up the Hudson Valley to Western Massachusetts to visit some Air Force buddies of Davids. We spent the weekend hanging out with them, seeing some of the small towns and other attractions and generally having a good time.

Lonely Planet USA, Part Two

Liz, Steve, Mike, Josh and David goofing around

Split Rock Light House

David on the "Longest Suspension Bridge in Canada"

The Bates

David demonstrating why the Motel 6 outside of Toronto was so great (yup, that's a beer opener)

Horseshoe Falls

The American Falls

Me on the Maid of the Mist

We've been on our trip for just over a week now and we've covered a lot of distance. We have been to the Irish Fair in Minneapolis, to Duluth and Lake Superior, to Split Rock Lighthouse and to Pennsylvania the long way, through Canada. We had a beautiful, but long, drive through southern Canada and Western New York and are spending the week at my Dad's house in Pennsylvania. Historical stuff, here we come!

Lonely Planet USA, part 1

David and bike, packed and ready to go

David and his grandma Wanda

Candee, David's stepmom, and me

Us with the bike

The steam engine that David's dad has been working on

The engineers studying the problem

The problem: broken rails and a derailed train

On our way across the farms of Kansas

David and Hummy with the train

At least I'm taller than the wheels!

One last train photo

The sunset, and me, seen in David's helmet

My view from the back of the bike

The moon and the passing fields

A beautiful sunset

Tribe, our cat, who lives with David's dad and stepmom

The "authentic" chinese buffet we ate at

Me napping with Tribe

Me relaxing in the shade during a butt break

The bike, also taking a break

David and I started our motorcycle trip last weekend. We saw lots of family and spent a lot of time on the bike seeing the beautiful plains and fields of Kansas. It was great to catch up with people and we're both looking forward to the rest of our trip (even if our backsides aren't!). Next stop, Minneapolis for Irish Faire.

Road Trippin'

Mandy and I

Liz, Mandy, Me and Josh

ppppptttt!!!

All smiles!

Josh and Liz

Josh, Ben, Liz and I out for dinner

Josh and Liz about to go on the Corkscrew

Liz and I on a ride

Liz with a cool old circus poster

Us with an old circus wagon

Liz as a horse trainer

Barnum and Bailey's elephant wagon

My cousin Jennie and I

Aunt Joyce and Uncle Art

Jennie, Me, Aunt Joyce and Uncle Art

Aunt Joyce's Birthday cake, made by Jennie and I

Happy Birthday to you!

Who wants cake?

Michelle and I

Jason and Michelle

As soon as I got back into the US, I left for a week-long road trip through Minnesota and Wisconsin to visit family and friends. My first stop was at my brother and sister-in-laws, Josh and Liz. We had a great weekend together, going to Valley Fair (amusement park), the science museum, going dancing and seeing other friends. I got to spend an afternoon with my friend Mandy- we were in high school together but it had been a few years since we'd gotten together. It was really great to catch up with her.
On Wednesday, Liz and I caravanned together to Milwaukee with a stop at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo WI. It was much bigger than I thought it would be and was all about old circuses and the Barnum and Bailey's circus in particular. We had fun wandering around for an hour or so and we'd both love to go back sometime.
While I was in Milwaukee I caught up with friends and got to spend some quality time with my family there. My aunt celebrated a birthday over the weekend and my cousin Jennie and I made her a carrot cake. It was tiring to head out of town right after getting back in the country but I'm really glad I spent the time seeing people.

Back to Omaha and the Surprise Waiting for Me There

Genny on the lanai of my hotel room- what a great view!

They have penguins at the Hilton Hawaiian Village!

Me and my luggage in HI

Front Yard

Back Yard

Kitchen

Living Room

I flew away from Kwajalein and David earlier this month. It was sad to leave him but I'll see him soon. I treated myself to a night at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and had a great view and wonderfully soft bed. And they have penguins and flamingoes (I couldn't get the picture of them to upload) on the grounds.
Mom picked me up at the airport in Omaha so she was driving when we turned into my driveway- I actually screamed when I saw the place. And not a scream of joy. The pictures don't really show it but nothing, not even mowing had been done since I left 2 and a half months ago. The grass in back was knee high! And the inside- how can you do that to someone else's home?
Our renter has since moved out and he was kind enough to clean up a bit when he did. I've been spending all of this week getting it really clean and ready for David when he gets in. Unfortunately because having a renter went so badly, David and i have decided to sell the house.
Want to buy a house with lots "charm"?