Cancer Update

It has been a while since I have written a cancer update. so here it is....

Oct. 4: I was put on a new chemo drug. It is in pill form and I take 4 pills (once a day). So far I have not had any side effects other than it has turned my hair (and facial hair) a weird blondish/white color. (As a result I have decided to grow out my facial hair so that I can look like a bald, homeless santa clause).

This drug I am now taking is new. It was just FDA approved to be used on patients with soft-cell cancers (which is what I have). So my doctors have me doing a lot of random test to monitor its effects on me as a precaution.

Since taking the drug I have had:

1 Brain MRI

3 EKGs

2 days of 24 hour urine collection...This is fun because you have to stay home all day and pee in a container...during the 24 hours you must keep the container in the fridge to keep your pee from spoiling. Who knew pee could spoil?

1 Heart Stress Test...this test was one of the crazier medical test I have ever had. Most traditional stress test involve you running on a treadmill while you are hooked up to all sorts of monitors. Well mine was very different.

It involved a 50 minute MRI...during the first part I would have to hold my breath for 20 seconds while they did scans. (This kept my heart from moving and getting a better image). I would do several of these until a half an hour had passed. During this whole time I was hooked up to a heart monitor.

After the 30 minutes, I was taken out of the MRI machine and the gentleman conducting the interview then informed me that I would be injected with a substance (I think it was very similar to adrenaline) and that after he injected it it would feel like I had just ran a marathon and would be very short of breath.

He proceeded to inject me and within 10 seconds my heartbeat rose from 86 bpm to 144 bpm. It was a crazy feeling, because I was still just laying completely still. I was very tired and VERY short of breath. During this time I was again had to hold my breath to do a few more scans.

Then I was taken out of the MRI machine again and received the antidote to the original injection. It was a fun way to start my day at 7:30 in the morning.

Well that is the update...I have a appointment the day before Thanksgiving to get the results!

Don't Forget Thanksgiving

I know people get upset that Thanksgiving is overlooked due to stores switching from Halloween to Christmas decorations.

But, I am not letting Thanksgiving go unnoticed this year.

Here is a video to get you in the Thanksgiving Spirit! You can thank me later.

A Decade Since...

Today is a very significant day for me.

One this day TEN YEARS AGO I was told that I HAVE CANCER.

I remember this day as if it was yesterday. I was in a small hospital examination room and in walked some new doctor I had never met. Her name was Dr. Schiff and after a short introduction she relayed the news. You would think that a relationship with another person who shares this kind of horrible news shortly after meeting them would not progress into an amazing relationship.

However, that is exactly what has happened. On this day ten years ago I met the awesome, wonderful, and best doctor in the world. In the decade since we had that wonderful introduction I have put her through a lot. I am not the best patient in the world. I make a lot of decisions that give her stress, but I am thankful for her caring, loving, and mother-like approach she has with me and my cancer treatment.

The few weeks preceding this day I have done A LOT of soul searching and pondered a lot on the past decade of my life. That without Dr Schiff would most likely would not have happened.

In the Last Decade I have:

-Graduated from High School
-Survived a 1.71 G.P.A. during my first year at college
-Served a 2-year Mission for my church
-Had a academic paper accepted to a national conference
-Graduated from College with a B.A. in Communications
-Been a Best Man at a Friends Wedding
-Had Emergency heart surgery
- Made life long friends
- CouchSurfed numerous times at complete strangers houses
- Kissed a girl in a bar
- Bungee jumped off the highest indoor bungee jump
- Won a dance contest at a summer camp
-Traveled to eat amazing food
- Been to many concerts: Imagine Dragons, Fun., Head and the Heart, Sleigh Bells, and others
-Groomsmen in another friends wedding
-Attend my Grandfather's funeral of whom I was named after
-Been interviewed by the Seany Foundation to promote awareness for childhood cancer
-Been 94.1 Radio station in San Diego's kid of the week
-Drove 4 hours for a hamburger
- went skydiving
- Interviewed for a documentary about life after cancer
-Took a Road trip from Utah to Washington D.C.
-Had 10 surgeries
-Been to Australia, Canada, 26 states, Fiji
- Worked for the Make-A-Wish Foundation
-Been to 13 baseball stadiums
- Front Page Story written about me in the Daily Universe
- Attend the 100th Anniversary of the Calgary Stampede
- 10 years of holidays and memories with my family
- Started a Masters program
- Been constipated many times
- Slept at Mark Madsen's house

I have been blessed with a lot of amazing experiences in my life since October 16, 2002. And after this time of reflection and self mediating I have come to the realization that most of these amazing opportunities would not have come to pass had it not been for having cancer.

Yes, I have cancer and it is an intergal part of my day-to-day life; however, it does not define me as a person. That being said I am glad that I have cancer. It has molded me into the person I am today by effecting my personality and outlook on life.

Although sometime it sucks being stuck at home sick and depleted of stamina to go about day-to-day activities ..I would not trade not having cancer for anything.

So, I raise my glass and toast the amazing Dr. Schiff, Cancer, and living each day positively. Here is to another 10 years of school, traveling, eating, treatments, surgeries, and constipated nights.

Cancer cannot take away your will to live...Only you can!

Here is a motto I live by: What is the point of extending life if you are not going to live it!

Bald is Powerful

Wall Street Journal ran a story about the awesomeness of being bald!

Here is the story...

Bald is Powerful


Also I attended the Riggs/ Cardenas Wedding in Twin Falls/Eagle, Idaho.

Here is an awesome picture from that:

Groomsmen Photo

Lastly,

T.J. Maxx is making Pomegranate/ White Cheddar Chips....I am unsure on how I feel about the flavor. I am currently at the point where you keep eating it to determine if you really like it or not and then before you know it you have eaten the entire bag.

If you have tried these chips let me know your thoughts....Thanks!

weekend in San Fran...

This past weekend I was in San Fran...

It was full of great food and awesome people. I would like to just mention two highlights from the trip.

First: I had the honor of being retweeted by BaconBaconsf. This is a delicious food truck in sf that I have been following on Twitter for over 2 years and finally ate here.

Second: I had the opportunity to karaoke at a Korean style Karaoke bar with a actual Korean to this song! It was truly epic and awesome!

This is my new favorite Dance Party song and I am working on learning the moves.

This song is about dressing classy and dancing cheesy! 

September 11th Memories

Today I would like to write about my memories of 9/11.....For my generation this is similar to the JFK assassination. I will always remember where I exactly was as I heard of the terrible news.

It was my junior year of high school and I was on my way to early morning seminary (I was in San Diego so it was sometime between 5 and 6 a.m.). The words streaming out of my radio transformed into horrible images in my mind. Was this the start of World War III? to be honest previous to that day I had never heard of the World Trade Center and was unaware of the massiveness of the buildings.

I walked into Seminary and told my teacher about what I had heard on the radio about terrorists flying into building and the carnage and chaos that resulted. I will always remember her reaction....She turned to me with a very stern face, the similar face you get from a scolding mother, and said that is not something to make a joke of. Being 15, I just looked at her and said I am not joking and then took my seat and was quiet.

After seminary I walked to school, I walked into my first period class and the T.V. was turned to CNN.  During seminary the Pentagon and other plane in P.A. had met their demise.

That entire day we did not follow lesson plans, we did not read textbooks, we did not turn in homework, we were glued to the television. The bell would ring we would move to the next class and just kept watching the horrifying images on the tube.

9/11/01...is a day I will always be able to vividly recall from the recesses of my horrible memory. I just wanted to put them into text and write about them today....

My Mother's Day...I mean Labor Day weekend

Last Friday I went home for my routine three months scans and everything was relatively stable and it was a good visit with my doctor.....unfortunately the medical fun of the weekend did not end there.

I woke up in the middle of friday night with HORRIBLE side pain. I did my usual routine when I am awoken with bad pain; I took some Oxycodone and a long hot shower. This usually alleviates my pain allowing me to drift back to sleep. However, after repeating this process three times I could no longer handle the pain and was pacing around my room taking deep breaths to occupy my mind.

So around 1:30 a.m. and awoke my parents and told them that I needed to go to the E.R. because I was near tears due to the amount of pain I was in. My dad woke up and drove me straight to the Children's Hospital E.R. it was a very LONG ride as I tried not to pass out due to the amount of pain.

Once in the E.R. I could no longer hold in the tears and I started to break down and go into some form of early shock (this is a non-medical diagnosis)....the E.R. people, realizing what I was going through put me in a room right quick and within a half an hour I had Morphine flowing through my veins. This dulled the pain and allowed my body to relax.

After watch reruns from the Republican National Convention on FoxNews I was discharged and was home sleeping in my bed around 6 a.m.

The Story continues....

SATURDAY

Often times my extreme side pain has been caused as a result of constipation. Trying to eliminate this as a cause for the pain I awoke around 8 or 9 a.m. and drank about 8 ounces of prune juice and went back to sleep. Around 3 p.m. there was still no bowel movement and so I got out of bed and drank ANOTHER 8 ounces of prunes juice (by this point the "High" from the Morphine had worn off and my taste buds could better discern what it was tasting and drinking....not very enjoyable). Prune Juice is some nasty crap.

Anywho, after sleeping some more I pooped up a storm that a mother potty training their youngster would be thrilled with (and concerned due to the amount deposited into the "John").

The Story continues....

SUNDAY

I woke up and my mother informs me that my wonderful doctor (she is always aware of my situation) had called and said I could come in a do a intense Chemo treatment in hopes of shrinking the cancer in hopes of reducing the pain. (All the time spent on the toilet the previous evening didn't solve me pain...although I did feel 50 pounds lighter).

I decided against my better judgement to go get some I.V. chemo. I have not had I.V. chemo for at least a year and a half so I knew my body was not use to it and that my world was going to be rocked once again this weekend.

I got chemo, Morphine, and watched hours of diners, drive-ins, and dives to pass the time in the hospital.

The Story continues...

MONDAY

I awoken from my drugged induced sleep to see my mother on her ipad by my bedside....this is when I turned to her and wished her a Happy Mothers Day....(I had been under the influence of Morphine for the better part of the weekend). She informed me that it was only Labour Day and we laughed about it.

The Story continues....

Fast forward to today...Saturday...I am nearly pain free (no side pain just bone and joint pain synonymous with I.V. chemo), but things are improving and I am back at school getting caught up and living life!

I meet with my Utah doctor on Monday to set up the new treatment game plan from here on out....

The Story will continue....

A concert I will always remember!

This past Wednesday 8/22.....I attended the Mumford and Sons concert and it was absolutely fantastic.

The energy, performance, and everything was awesome. I went with Brandon, Jenn, and Lauren. Simply amazing.


Here is a video made of the concert....as my friend brandon described it....at 3:20 is a truly transcendant moment.....It gives me chills every time I watch it. Simply Epic.

If you every have the chance to see Mumford & Sons go and do it.

Summer Travel Totals

Since my midsummer travel update I have traveled to Calgary, Canada; Vista, CA; Providence, RI; Hartford, CT; Boston, Mass; and Newport, RI.

My complete traveling totals are:

Driving: 5, 938 miles 

(This does not include my 20 min. commute to BYU campus/Provo which I have driven many times. It also does not included travel time to and from airports)

Flight Distance: 21, 485 miles

Flight Time: 39 hours 27 minutes



All-in-all I would say that is has been a very fun, busy, eventful, and memorable summer!

I will be blogging about all the events, food eaten, and experiences experienced during these travels.

Steak & Bungee Jumping

While I was in Canada it was required that I try a steak. The Alberta Beef is very famous and Canada gloats abouts the amazingness of their steak. We spent my first weekend in Edmonton. (approx 3 hours north of Calgary).

So at a steakhouse called the Moose Locker I order a filet mignon, truffle oil pasta, and green beans.

Rating: 2 out 5 Bald Heads 

The meal was rather disappointing. It was not even in my top 10 of steak eaten in my life. 

The next day we went to the West Edmonton Mall to go Bungee Jumping.

106 feet of falling. It is the highest indoor bungee in the world.

It was awesome, but I admit it was more intimidating than Skydiving.

One Less Dave Chalk....

This Past Monday (Aug. 6, 2012) I had the honor of attending the funeral of my grandfather. His name was David Chalk and I have the wonderful honor of being named after him. He was a Air Force Vet and therefore received the burial ceremony of a Military Hero. I also had the honor to be a pall bearer of such a wonderful man. Here are some pictures of the service.

Flag draped casket in horse drawn carriage to the burial ceremony 

My grandma receiving instruction of ceremony

21 gun salute!

During the funeral service my grandpa was repeatedly described as larger than life which he exactly was. In the program was a quote I will always keep with me. ..."when you are experiencing life and eating good food think of me..." So, from now on as I go on my foodie adventures I will think of my wonderful grandpa!

I will do my best to carry on his name! I am proud to be a DAVE CHALK. 

Burgers and Parades

The First Friday I was in Calgary was the Big Stampede Parade that kicks off the beginning of fun. We arose rather early in order to get decent seats. (Not super early like some of them crazy folk).  The Parade had a feeling similar to the Rose Parade in Pasadena, but not quite as big and extravagant. The parade lasted for about 3.5 hours.

Once the parade ended the three of us were very hungry. So my good buddy Sam took us to Boogie's burgers.

Here is a picture of what I ordered:

I ordered a single bacon cheeseburger, added with a slice of ham and swiss cheese, and topped off with two hot dogs sliced in half. It was a very hearty hamburger, but it was also super delicious. This meal was in the top three favorite meals I had throughout the entire three week trip in Canada.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Bald Heads

The only reason that it does not receive a 5 blad head rating is because the fries were so-so. They were just slightly above average and nothing to write home about.

Chik-fil-A killed my Travel Buddy

Okay that is a lie!

However, yesterday I had to say goodbye to my best summer traveling partner. Up to that point he had been with me everywhere this summer; Fiji, Texas, Canada, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Arizona to name a few.

But in order for me to sign my contract for my new job I had to say goodbye. It was a very bittersweet moment. 

Goodbye gross nastiest...You kept my face warm.

Until next summer.

Breakfast at Cora's

The second day in Airdrie (this is a suburb north of Calgary) we biked to Cora's for breakfast. It is a nice breakfast spot. It is one of those places that opens at 6 a.m. and is closed by 3 p.m. This means that breakfast is their specialty. I ordered the cinnamon raisin french toast breakfast. It came with two eggs, two strips of bacon, and a mound of fruit. They defiantly don't skimp on the amount of fruit they give you, unlike the breakfast chain IHOP and Denny's. The fruit is also fresh and does taste gross and mushy. 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Bald Heads

The fruit was great, but everything else was just ordinary. I give it a 3.5 for the generous portion of fruit, and every item in the breakfast tasted fresh, homemade, and cooked to order. These characteristics raised the rating a half bald head or so.

Also, when we were leaving to pay a gentleman who looked like the General Manager walked up to me as I was waiting at the cash register. He had one of those weird, creepy, too happy smiles. He looked at me and asked if he could help me. (I would have thought standing at the cash register with my receipt would have been an obvious clue, but apparently not). Then I explained I needed to pay and he smile nodded and then walked pass me out of the restaurant. 

To add to the weirdness, after I paid we went to the dollar store to buy Canadian Candies that I could sample throughout the trip. After I walked into the dollar store I turn down the candy isle and BOOM...there is the same guy. He turned, saw me and gave me the same creepy smile and said Hello. (Just picture a creepy dude with his head tilted slightly). It was really weird and from that time forward I was nervous that he was going to be popping out of everywhere throughout the duration of my trip.

Canadian are weird. EH!

Trip to Canada...cleaning the airport?

I recently returned from a three-week trip to Canada. It was to spend some time with a friend from my mission, and to see his stomping grounds. I have A LOT of food places to blog about, but I will start with one of the more odd experiences I have had this summer. The first Friday I was in Canada I was volunteered to help my friend's dad clean the carpets at the Calgary airport. It was an interesting experience and another random thing to add to the "completed" side of my bucket list. 

Here is my badge...

and a picture of me with the machine I pushed for 6 hours around as we cleaned 8 air bridges.

It was a fun experience and another item to add to the randomness list of my life.

Randomness of Life

For those who don't know I am 1) a social media junkie, 2) a couchsurfing supporter, and 3) enjoy spontaneous randomness. That being said I was able to satisfy all three of these thing this past weekend.  I was on Facebook and noticed a news article about two cancer survivors who are driving around America shooting a documentary about the fact that there is life after cancer. 

You can read that article Here

After I read the article I immediately wrote on their Facebook page to offer my support, and before I knew it was hosting them at my house for Friday and Saturday. They interviewed my for about an hour and a half for their documentary and I took them hiking and showed them around the beautiful state that is Utah. It was a great opportunity and I am glad I was able to meet both Evan and Eli. 

Now for the older guy in the middle of the photo. He was a freelance photographer who took pictures of all three of us throughout the interview and as we "hung out" to run a story of their traveling for the Chicago Tribune. Overall it was a fun experience. 

The highlight of the trip was watching the Opening Ceremony for the London Olympics. It was fun to share that experience with them and a few other friends. The highlight being when Sir Paul McCartney had everyone singing Hey Jude. The entire house was singing and sharing the moment together. 

It is truly an Olympic ceremony that I will always remember!

Trying to be more healthy...We will see how long it lasts

I am trying to be more healthy...I know all my traveling and eating might seem like I am doing the complete opposite, but since my birthday (June 23)...I have not consumed any soda. It is my first step of cutting out sugar and other unhealthy stuff that I eat (Apparently cancer loves sugar...so that means I should consume less). Once again, I am at the beginning of this process so all the unhealthy food I have eaten during my travels will still be blogged about.

However, I also am trying to "Go Green." You all know about this movement of using more organic/natural products..reducing one's own carbon footprint. This being said I decided to try this new toothpaste called Revitin.

I have used it only once so far, but I liked that it was not an overpowering of minty flavor like most toothpastes. It is a nice citrus flavor (It reminds me of some citrus flavored chewing gum). Anywho, it is an all natural toothpaste. 

If any of you have ideas of awesome "Go Green" products that I should introduce into my life...let me know buy commenting or emailing me. I am always open to suggestions. 

I will also be posting about my recent three-week trip to Canada. I am just spending today doing laundry, catching up on work and life, and letting my body reboot.

Thanks for reading...

Boy Scouts and Whataburger

On the last day of the baseball trip we went back to Good 2 go Taco, because it was that amazing. 

Then we I let my father indulge in his guilty pleasure...Boy Scouts! We went to the National Scouting Museum. It was actually a very impressive museum. It was very well done and looks like a lot of money went into the building of it. It was cool to learn a little bit of the history of boys scouts, and now when my dad goes to his next scouting meeting we will be the "cool" guy.






Then we stopped by our last meal before heading to the airport. We stopped at WHATABURGER. This is just a chain fast-food joint, but since we were there we needed to try it.  We split a cheeseburger, patty melt, onion rings, and french fries.

It was a run of the mill fast-food burger. The rating will be in contents of fast-food items and not food as a whole.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Bald Heads

It was a nothing special, but not disgusting fast-food hamburger.

That is all for the baseball trip to Texas. The next several blog post will be about my three week trip to Calgary, Alberta CANADA!

JFK and hamburgers

In Dallas we ate lunch at this Chop House Burger joint in Arlington Texas. I found it on the Diners, Drive-ins, and dives list. (this is one of the first places I look when researching for good places to eat)

This place was located in a kinda run down strip mall. You would never think to stop there without the help of DDD. 

  I ordered their signature Chop House Burger. Char grilled ground beef and slow roasted brisket mixed , house made steak sauce, apple wood bacon and smoked cheddar cheese on a butter toasted bun. It was a decent burger, not my favorite or life changing, but it is a step up of any fast food restaurant. It was a good variation from the normal hamburger because of the brisket that is mixed in with it.
However, the onion rings were pretty awesome! They did not un-seed my favorite onion rings of all time, but it defiantly found a place in the top 5.


Rating: Hamburger  3.5 out of 5 bald heads......Onion rings get a 4.7 bald heads out of 5

During our time in Dallas we also visited the Book Depository....the building where Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK. Since I am a history junky (this was my major before I changed to communication, and so I just got a minor in history instead). It was interesting to take the self-guided tour with headphones and learned a lot about this crazy event in our nation's history. It was fun and I am glad I can cross that of my bucket list.

It is out of the window all the way to the right and second from top that the shot were fired that killed JFK riding down the street in the forefront.

A visit to Mecca

During the trip to Dallas we made a pitstop to the new Dallas Cowboys football stadium. This stadium is considered by many to be the Mecca of football. Here are some pictures from the enormous stadium.

This stadium can seat 80,000 and its total capacity is 110,000. This stadium sells  all 80,000 seats every game. The largest crowd ever was the 2010 NBA All-Star game that was played at the stadium. The crowd was announced at 108,713.

Here is a picture of the gigantic video screen. The screen is 159 feet by 71 feet for 11,200 sq. feet. Below you can see that the dotted line square around the Jersey number is the size od a movie screen, hopefully that helps you comprehend that massiveness of this screen. I am not a gamer, but I would love to play video games on this screen.

As you can see in this picture there are no column in the entire stadium. That way no one has their view obstructed. The stadium is held up by two 300 feet arches that go deep into the ground to supply the needed support to keep the structure standing.

Here is an aerial view.  The raised square in the middle can be opened along with the two glass sides behind each end zone to provide the feeling of being outside and allow for a breeze to move through the stadium. 

The stadium was super awesome. We got to take the tour that consisted of seeing the locker rooms for the players and cheerleaders. Jerry Jones' personal suite (He is the owner of the Cowboys). We also got to go run around on the field after the tour. It was an awesome experience.

Final Fact: It cost 1.3 billion dollars to build

Good 2 Go Taco

As some of your may already know I am a Food Network Junky....I got this next restaurant recommendation from Adam Gertler via the show Best Thing I Ever Ate--the episode is entitled "Hidden Treasures." (In case you would like to YouTube it and watch the segment. 

The restaurant is called Good 2 Go Taco, and its humble beginnings began in a gas station, Unfortunately it has moved locations to a new modern, hipster (no in a bad way), and bigger location to allow for a better experience for the customers. 

I orders two tacos: The Honey Bear and Paris TX

The Honey Bear

This taco starts with a flour tortilla topped with chile-honey bacon, scrambled egg, spinach, and goat cheese. This taco was very good and I am a sucker for goat cheese, but for me the bacon had too much honey on it; however, my father LOVED it and didn't think so...once again that food is like art and everyone has a different preferences and interpretations.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Bald Heads

I would have given it another half to full star if it had been more bacon taste than honey. 

Taco #2

Paris TX 

(This is the taco that was on the best thing I ever ate)

This taco is built on the same awesome flour tortilla as the previous, then grilled flank steak, egg, spinach, hash potatoes, and hollandaise. 

Rating 5 out of 5 Bald Heads

This taco was AWESOME! I crave it at least 3 mornings a week. I would contemplate moving to Dallas so that I could eat this taco everyday.

I am currently in Calgary, Canada and would love recommendations for place here, and I will be in Rhode Island and Maryland in August. Past your suggestions my way!

Annual Baseball Trip with Dad--Part Two: Dallas

After spending two days in the Houston Area my father and I drove three hours north to Dallas, Texas to concluse our baseball trip. We went to the Rangers Baseball Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Arlington is a city just outside of Dallas.

Here is a few pictures. 

The Outside

The inside

The view from outside was very impressive; however, both me and my father were disappointed with the architecture beauty on the inside. We were not impressed with the look or the food at this stadium.

However, Rangers Stadium did have the most expensive item I have seen at a ballpark so far. It is the called the Champion Dog and costs $26.

You would be surprised by how many of them they sell each ball game. You see people all over the ballpark carrying them and eating them.

A visit to Galveston Island

Galveston Island is about an hour or so drive Southeast from the City of Houston, TX. It was interesting to go see the "beach" at the Gulf of Mexico. I stuck my feet in the water and it felt like a jacuzzi. It was crazy how warm the water was.

We made a pitstop for lunch at the restaurant shrimp & stuff

I order this fish and chips and it was really good!

The fish was cooked wonderfully. the fish was moist and tender, and breading was crisp, flavorful, and not overly oily. 

I give the fish a 4 out of 5 bald heads. 

(I am a hard critic here because I grew up in San Diego where I have had many a delicious fish and chips).

I give the chips a 1.5 out of 5 bald heads.

The chips were nothing special. A step above the frozen one you can buy at the grocery store.

After lunch we went to and watched a short film about the great hurricane that destroyed Galveston in 1900.

Here are some pictures of the aftermath:

It was cited that it was the worse natural disaster in American history. You can read more about it READ ME PLEASE!

Afterward we drove to the Houston Space Center and took an awesome tour; followed by another baseball game. 

Annual Baseball Trip with Dad--Part One: Houston

Every summer my father and I go on a baseball trip. I look forward to it every year, and it is always a great time and we are slowly reaching our goal to watch a baseball game in every stadium. This summer we went to Houston and Dallas to watch baseball and eat delicious food. We grade every stadium but the architecture, design, and by the food offered at the stadium.

Houston was our first stop. We  planned it that for the two games in Houston, the Astros would be playing the Padres. Both my father and I were pleasantly surprised by Minute Maid Park in Houston. Here are a few pictures of the stadium.

The outside is very beautiful looking and it has a roof closed during the hot, humid midwest summer. They can close the roof and pump the A/C during the game.











Here is a picture looking out to right field. This was our view for the first game, and then we sat in the first row in right field for the second game. It was fabulous and as usual my father likes to talk with everyone around us. During the second game he did some friendly trash talking with the lesbian couple behind us; however, we never really went through the proper introductions, and the couple called him Padre throughout the course of the game.

Now on to the food at the ballpark. My father good BBQ Brisket Nachos, and they were DELICIOUS! They were the best nachos that both my father and I have had at a baseball stadium. It had corn, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and of course cheese. It was fantastic.

I got gourmet sliders. They were pretty solid for a hamburger. I have had better, but I have also had worse. 

Houston we have a problem and I that is all for this post.

Pictures of Fiji

For those who don't know....I worked for about three weeks in Fiji during the month of June. It was terrifically awesome! Meet some amazing people, had a life changing time, worked hard, and got more mosquito/spider bites than I had gotten in my entire life up to that point.

Anywho, here are some pictures.....

this is a picture of the resort that we stayed at for the first three days on the island of Waya Leilei. This island is about a 1 and half hour boat ride from Latoka (a city on the main island)

the huts that we slept in

on the morning of the last day we hiked to the top of this rock and had an amazing 360 view of the beautifully blue Pacific Ocean.

Our bus got stuck in the village that we were building toilets

here is a group working on a toilet. The Fijian in the forefront with the blue shirt is named Billy. He was a preacher at the local methodist church.

here is a tie that a good friend from Italy gave me. I wanted to give her a thank you shout out!

Summer Update

This summer has been absolutely amazing so far! I have been traveling, eating, serving, driving, flying, sleeping, and getting pretty gross spider bites.

So here is the update so far:

Driving:

Utah to Washington D.C.: aprox 2,122 miles

Utah to Phoenix, AZ: aprox 632 miles

Utah to Vista, CA (Roundtrip): 1372 miles

And countless driving around town and to and from airports.

Flying:

Dulles, VA to SLC, UT: 1,842 miles  Flight Time: 3 hours 39 minutes

SLC, UT to Long Beach, CA (Round Trip): 1188 miles Flight Time: 2 hours 23 minutes

Los Angeles, CA to Nadi, Fiji (Round Trip): 11,004 miles Flight TIme: 21 hours 5 minutes

Totals:

Driving: 4,126 miles

Flying: 14,034 miles

Flight Time: 27 hours and 7 minutes

There is the update of my traveling so far this summer. I still have Houston and Dallas, Texas; Calgary, Canada; Rhode Island; Baltimore, Maryland; and a road trip from Virginia to Utah before my summer will be over!

Also: My birthday was yesterday and I listened to my favorite song as a both reflected on the past year and planned for the upcoming one. Life is so EXCITING! even with cancer.

Here it is:

"Embrace the past so you can live for now!"

 

This past Monday I spent a few hours outside walking around the Sugarhouse area of SLC. I was killing time waiting for my friend during her dance company's practice. As I was walking area I ran into this wonderful burger joint. It is on 21st South and roughly 9 east.







I remember that I had eaten here a few times while I lived in the Sugarhouse area. It is a great place to get an old fashioned hamburger. Two of these hamburgers will do the body good. They are not pricey at all. Each hamburger is $ 1.39.

I give this place a 4 out of 5 bald heads.

You don't go here if you want a big juicy stomach
filling burger. But, for a small lunch that will hold you over until a good dinner. This is the place.

Cornish Pasty Company

To end my time in Arizona, I had to go to my favorite Arizonian Restaurant. This place!

The Cornish Pasty Company! 

This and gay bar tacos are my two favorite places to eat in Arizona and are a requirement every time I am in the state.

The best way to describe it is "Gourmet Hot Packet" it sounds weird, but it is delicious.

5 out of 5 bald heads!

There were 8 people who accompanied me on my visit and they all love it. I have yet to take someone there who did not fall in fancy hot pocket love.

I even made new friends Connor and Shannon Coffin. They were great dinner conversationalists. I hope to meet up with them again during my next AZ visit.