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Debbie Adamson

Joined November 2016 Message
  • Debbie AdamsonUSA 2018-19 Creating Memories
    Day22

    1 bus, 3 planes, 1 car, 44hrs later

     January 4, 2019 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    A quick shower, a call into Krispy Kreme as the hot light was on and a pub snitty parma and we hit the road. It was a good drive home remincsing about our holiday. We finally made it back to Whyalla, it's hard to believe we have done all this in the last 44hrs. We had a great time and have some very special memories. Two great kids to go away with, love them to bits. xxRead more

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  • Debbie AdamsonUSA 2018-19 Creating Memories
    Day21

    Homeward Bound-Sydney-Adelaide

     January 3, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    It was a good feeling being on the plane. We made all of our connecting flights. We got breakfast on this flight, so we had a second breakfast or for Kellie fourth breakfast as they came along with spare egg & bacon rolls and the yoghurt so Kellie grabbed both. It was good to have Aussie bacon. Landed safely in Adelaide and seeing Malcolm was a welcomed sight.Read more

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  • Debbie AdamsonUSA 2018-19 Creating Memories
    Day21

    Homeward Bound-Los Angeles-Sydney

     January 3, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We were nearly an hour late leaving, but we were still getting in the same time. We were all very tired, so as soon as our meal arrived we settled down to get some sleep. Brodie fell asleep before they cleared away the trays. I think he woke up 8hrs later. We had lots of babies around us and they did pretty well. Heard them cry a few times but over all you didn't hear them. Kellie & I probably slept close to 6 hrs. Then we just dozed on & off for the remainder of the trip. The meals were nice again and plenty of snacks to help yourself to. Brodie was actually sitting in my seat and in the last 1hr of trip he found a card that said it was special seat and ask for a treat. After filling out our declaration forms I look at it and there was a birthday message for me. That seat also had a first class toiletries pack which Kellie had claimed earlier. So that was nice. We were put in a holding pattern for awhile and when we landed they didn't have an air bridge for us so we had to exit by stair case then bus to the terminal. The A380 hold about 500 passengers and the buses hold 40 passengers. So the top deck emptied first then it was our time. All the people around us all had connecting flights as well. I didn't think we were going to make it. Getting through customs was pretty easy and everything well signed posted. We just had to queue for everything, we made it to our gate with 5 minutes to spare. We were all hot and bothered by this stage and finding the humidity hard to cope with.Read more

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  • Debbie AdamsonUSA 2018-19 Creating Memories
    Day20

    Homeward Bound-Denver-Los Angeles

     January 2, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We boarded our plane on time in an orderly fashion, once on the plane that seem to go out the window. They boarded front of plane first then worked their way to the back, so a lot of waiting while people get themselves organised. Then families trying to change seats while people trying to get to their seats. Eventually everyone got themselves organised and happy. 2 1/2 hour flight went quickly, we had bought sandwiches and had them on the plane for lunch. We didn't have to go through security again as we went through the concourse to the international airport. Kids not happy as the internet is crap here. Time goes quickly in a airport, just people watching is interesting. It's time to board our plane, in 15hrs we will be in Sydney. Boarding is delayed, hope they make up time in the air.Read more

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  • Debbie AdamsonUSA 2018-19 Creating Memories
    Day20

    Homeward Bound-Steamboat Springs-Denver

     January 2, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C

    Well it was a short night, alarm went off at 4am. Probably didn't need to get up that early as we were packed and had tidied up the night before. Our shuttle picked us up at 5.20am. We had dressed for the plane so not too many clothes on, it was -25 this morning and the shuttle's heater didn't feel like it were working. We also had to pick other people up so he would leave the door open. My feet were like blocks of ice. It was too cold to sleep and eventually it became light, but you couldn't see anything out the windows as they were iced over. After 1 1/2 hours we stopped for a toilet break. After we stopped we all started stripping off it was so hot not sure if the heaters were even working before that. It took us about 3 1/2 hrs to get to Denver. I will never whinge about Australian airports, it was chaos. We eventually found the end of the line to check in, we tried last night but we never got any boarding passes, but we still had luggage to check in. This line felt like it snaked around the airport. Felt like I was in Disneyland all over again. It moved pretty quickly and we had plenty of time, not everyone did. It is all self check-in, which confused us a bit as we thought we had checked in the night before. A United Airlines lady helped us, but had trouble at the self check-in, so she had to take us to the counter and do it. We all started to panic, what was going to go wrong this time. She gave us our boarding passes, next stop security. It wasn't too bad, it's just a stressful process. We ended up having an hour before our flight left.Read more

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  • Debbie AdamsonUSA 2018-19 Creating Memories
    Day19

    Last Day in our Winter Wonderland

     January 1, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 -16 °C

    This morning we woke up to a -21, not that you feel it inside. We tried out the hot springs in town and we decided we wanted to go out to the ones in the mountains. They are more natural, no power, phone reception. As it's a treacherous drive up there, they recommend the shuttle service. We booked for 10.30am, so a lazy morning until then. They picked us up from our accommodation and just down the road we finally saw a moose on our way. Picked up a few more people and we were on our way. Once again a really pretty drive especially with the sunshine. We put our bathers on underneath our clothes as it's a bit of a walk down to the springs. So you find a bench or chair to put your belongings on and strip. Which is not easy to do as it's too cold to stand on the ground without shoes, so you strip the top half then take shoes off then try and stand on top off them to take your pants off. You can't run to the pools as your feet are either frozen to the path, you slip on the ice or you can't handle the little pebbles that are there to stop you slipping over. The first couple of steps into the pool can be icy so you grab the frozen rail and its so cold and your hand is now stuck to the rail. The steps are quite sharp so your carefully feel your way into beautiful warm water. You look around and everybody's hair has icicles. The hottest pools start up the top of mountain and they gradually decrease in temperature down the mountain. We went in the 2 lowest. Wouldn't have liked any warmer as the second to last one got a bit too warm. Then there was a cold pool. The kids went for a quick dip in the cold for a few seconds. The challenge in the cold pool was to swim to the end hop out and sit in a chair in the snow. Quite a few did this. We tried to go further up the mountain but it was too treacherous and cold on your feet. I thought once we were dressed we would go for a walk and have a look, but the kids said they were skinny dipping. Clothing is optional after dark, I think you can go topless through the day. They weren't where families were but you walked past them. So I didn't get to see the higher pools. We had about 1 1/2 hrs there before the shuttle came back to pick us up. We weren't sure how we were going to get back into our dry clothes. My ski pants had frozen as there is so much moisture in the air. We put our boots on and ski jackets and walked back up to this small changing hut which had 3 curtain off cubicles. And a huge line. We finally got changed and was time to catch our shuttle. It was another highlight glad we decided to go out there. A lot better than the town one. It was so pretty and it literally looked like glitter in the air. We got dropped off at our accommodation and we had some lunch and then went back into downtown to do a bit of last minute souvenir shopping and then to the mountain to ride the outlaw coaster. Wasn't much of wait just as well it was so cold. It takes about 5 minutes to get to the top of the mountain in your coaster. Then off you go down the mountain. You control your speed, I wasn't sure if you could fly off the tracks. It was so cold my eyes were watering then the water nearly freezes. I was glad to see the end. We found a place for a hot chocolate and thawed out before catching the shuttle back. Now the ominous task of packing and fitting everything in our backpacks.Read more

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  • Debbie AdamsonUSA 2018-19 Creating Memories
    Day18

    Coldest NYE (& Kentucky F****ed Chicken)

     December 31, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ -13 °C

    Today we went downtown to the ice arena and went on the ice bumper cars and then ice skating. The ice bumper cars were a lot of fun. We had about 20 minutes on them. I just kept spinning around and was a target for other little kids. With the ice skating I stuck with the thing that helps you stay upright. Kellie had done it a few times before so she didn't need help and Brodie was on his own two feet by the end. It was hard work and worn out by the end. We were lucky as it was morning so it wasn't too busy. After, we walked down to our favourite coffee bookshop for a much needed hot drink. It was very cold here today, there is a cold front going through US. It was snowing in Denver today. We had a look around the shops and then headed back to our accommodation. We really are not having a good run with the on-call shuttle, but we eventually got back. We had some lunch and rested before heading to the mountain for the torch light parade and fireworks at 5.30pm. We literally froze down there it was so cold. The torch light parade is a group of skiers coming down the mountain holding red torches. Then the fireworks went off. By this stage it was lightly snowing. The weather said it was -14 but felt like -22 and we totally agreed with that. Straight after we headed into a warm shop to thaw out. Then we caught a bus to the cinema, but needed a bite to eat before the movie. KFC was close by so we went there for tea. As we walk out the door it said "please call again". No thank you, it's not like our KFC. I had a burger it was dry and only had a few pickles on it. Kellie had chicken tenders and Brodie had popcorn chicken it all looked dry. They only had wedges no chips. Kellie had a scone looking thing with hers, but tasted like flour and water. It filled a hole, but would never eat KFC again in the US. Kids added to the title of this footprint. After our scrumptious tea we walked over to the cinema and watched Aquaman, which we all enjoyed. Home by 11pm, don't think I will see the new year in. Happy New Year everyone.Read more

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  • Debbie AdamsonUSA 2018-19 Creating Memories
    Day17

    A Quiet Day

     December 30, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 -5 °C

    First time we didn't have to get up for something. Our bodies needed a rest after all the physical activities we had done. We thought we would go into downtown in the morning, as Kellie & I saw a gift for Sophie as Brodie wants to take something back for her. Then the cinema in the afternoon & grab a few things on the way home. We were jinxed by shuttles today. We just missed the last morning mountain loop run. So we walked down to the bus and caught that into town. Went to the shop and they had sold 2 of the gifts that we had picked out. So we caught the bus back, our hotel shuttle wasn't back on call yet so we had to walk up the hill. We made some lunch and headed out to the cinema. The shuttle was on call by now so we requested one. It never showed up for 45 minutes. Should only have to wait 20 minutes at the most. So we missed the movie. We went back to our room and packed our bathers and went back into downtown to the hot springs. Couldn't really imagine stripping our layers to get into bathers. Bathers on we venture outside to the hot springs. You get hit by steamy cold air, you don't take long to get into the pool. It was like warm bath water. It was heavily chlorinated, the only thing we didn't like every now then you would see a gooshie, it was like running away from a jellyfish. There were little hot spa pools, but they were really warm, one had a waterfall going down the rocks which was a really nice massage. It's what our bodies needed. You can't help but get your hair wet and then it felt like it had icicles in it. It wasn't too bad to get out just really hard to get all your layers back on. Kellie took a few sneaky photos for me, so you can get an idea of the hot springs and the snow. It did start to snow at the end. We caught the bus back to do a bit of shopping. Once again we just missed our bus so we had to wait for 10 minutes until the next one. Then we just missed our hotel shuttle, it really wasn't our day. It is so pretty here at night with all the Christmas lights. We haven't been out much at night time, but would love to drive around at night and have a look. We were home by 5pm, always seems later as it's getting dark at 4.30pm. Day didn't go as planned, but still enjoyed the hot springs and the much needed rest.Read more

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  • Debbie AdamsonUSA 2018-19 Creating Memories
    Day16

    Our 2 Legs

     December 29, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ -10 °C

    Today we had a go at cross country skiing. Probably not the best day to do it as our bodies had used muscles that we didn't know we had. It was a beautiful sunny day to be out. But the coldest place here in Steamboat is the Gondola Transit centre where you meet a lot of your shuttles. Cross country skiing is done on golf courses. So up we went, it was very busy as there was a kids relay race going on. We got fitted up and we had 3 others that hadn't skied before either. So the six of us headed out amongst the racers. We had our area, but you feel really silly when you see how it's meant to be done. We spent about an hour learning different moves. It was physically exhausting using your upper body. Then we went across the road onto the trails. By this stage we are stuffed and hungry. We decided to do the shortest trail, but we went in the wrong direction so all the professionals had to go around us. Kellie couldn't stay in the grooves as she has a leg that turns out and didn't like being locked into that position so she stayed on skating part of the track. Because we went the wrong way we had a small hill to go down. Kellie really hadn't mastered the art of stopping. She came down the hill past Brodie & I and tried to stop but the stop turned into a turn into the edge of soft snow and the more she tried to get up the more she sank into soft snow. It was so funny. We had to try and get her skis off but you kinda have to be upright on them. We managed to get the skis off but she just was over her knees deep in snow. She left 3 big holes next to the track. We decided to turn around and go in the right direction. We did that trail again before finishing and going in for some lunch. The walk back up to the place nearly killed us. We had a nice lunch there and then they dropped us back down to the gondola transit area. We just missed our hotel shuttle, so we had to wait for 20 minutes before the next one came. As cross country skiing is very physical you don't rug up, so we froze waiting for the shuttle. We climbed into bed when we got back and took ages for us to warm up. To learn how to Alpine ski you had to book in 3 days of lessons and was very expensive, so that's why we opted to give cross country skiing a go. No the kids don't want to do that again. We had a laugh though.Read more

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  • Debbie AdamsonUSA 2018-19 Creating Memories
    Day15

    A Lot of Legs of Today

     December 28, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ -16 °C

    Today we were picked up from our accommodation and headed out to do a bit of dog sledding. We picked up another couple, who were friendly and chatted to us on the way. It took about an hour to get to our destination and as there wasn't any toilets at the dog sledding, we stopped in a small town at a bakery. Amazing homemade food, we bought a quick snack and we were on our way again. Once again the scenery was beautiful, but it was hard to see as the windows were frozen. We arrived with the dogs looking at us. We were greeted by Sarah who took us into a heated hut, to put boots on and run through the rules and instructions. It was a bit hard to fit in the hut as there were a few dogs in there. I noticed Sarah was pregnant, later I found out she is due end of January. We weng outside for more instructions, getting a bit nervous as we are controlling the dogs and how will I remember all the actions and commands. Kellie & Brodie went together and I went with a guide, that made me feel a bit better. We helped harness the dogs and hook them up. We weren't allowed to use our phones as our focus had to be 100% on the dogs. Hence no photos, but I had purchased the photo package as they take photos along the way. There were 5 instructors, so the first couple of hundred metres you had a guide on the back with you, then we stopped and they hopped off. Mine hopped into the passenger seat, but the others ride ahead on a snowmobile taking photos and making sure everything is going ok. Brodie drove first and later they swapped. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and it was really enjoyable. We stopped half through at their camp. We went inside a tent like structure which had a fire going and had a hot drink and homemade biscuits. I think we had at least 6 dogs in with us, while she was putting marshmallows into the hot chocolate they were nearly eating them out off the cup so she sprinkled some onto the floor for them. I asked how some were allowed off the leash and others not. The only ones that don't run home get warmth and marshmallows. We taught them a bit of Aussie lingo along the way, which was funny as you forget where you are. I didn't think my fingertips would ever thaw out but they did. It was a long drop toilet stop as well. We had a few photos with the dogs, and the dogs know the routine as about 6 dogs hopped up on the sled so we could have our photos done. I opted to be a passenger on the way down as it is tiring and wanted to experience being a passenger and look around. I was able to catch glimpses of Kellie driving the sled. Should have got my phone out but way too cold. In no time we were back at the base. Back into our boots, you usually have a chance to feed the dogs but we were running a bit late. Sarah gave us all a hug goodbye and it was really sad to say goodbye to the dogs. Sarah's husband Craig heard us say we would like to take one home. He promptly told us they have some up for adoption. These dogs are rescue dogs who haven't made it as a racing dogs or are too old for racing, but they still love to run. I think this will be our highlight of our trip- a truly unique experience. I am glad I chose Snow Buddies because they truly love their dogs. We got back about 2pm, grabbed some supplies for lunch and caught our hotel shuttle back. Rested for the rest of the day. I would do dog sledding again tomorrow, we all really loved this experience.Read more

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