Posted 12:26 AM by MelanieandSteve
AAAA Blog for Nov 18

A lot has happened and many adventures enjoyed. The difficult part is narrowing down all the details that are so grand to us writers in order to keep this blog achieveable for you readers. In short: we are in Broome now, up in the Northern part of Western Australia at the end of the region called Pilbarra and the beginning of the Kimberly region (first days in crock country). We began our Northern route (oops, route is a bad word in Australia) about 18 days ago, and every single of those days has been a discovery, an adventure, and a pleasure. The Australian van lifestyle is something we could get very used to.

People warned us before this trip that Australia is so Huge. People said we shouldn't attempt to drive across it because of the shear size - that we could drive for days seeing no one. Total desolation. Not so far. South of Perth, we barely could get in the car before coming across a must-stop-to-see. Travelling North, there was a cool landmark, city, or national park all the time. We could barely call it a road trip. But now, we're staqrting to get it. The 600 Kilometers from Port Hedland to Broome in our little prone-to-overheat, 70 km/hr max, 1977 Chester Blui (van) took probably 9 hours. . . We saw maybe two gas stations. Where is everybody? But it's fun. The landscape is interesting and varried. And we keep it enjoyable with romantic roadside picnics and stops and beach excursions and we've barely felt the hours pass. Lets hope these aren't famous last words.


Here's what we've done since our last blog on Halloween when we headed North from Perth.

FIVE STAR MEMORIES THIS PERIOD (details below):
A) our adventures in Karijini National Park and it's "Miracle Mile"
B) Work on the Pearl Farm in Denham, and
C) the somewhat ambivalent learning experiences working on the Sheep Farm at Waroora.

NAMBUNG NATIONAL PARK/THE PINNACLES: Bizaar, they are, the Pinnacles are like a land of steeples, or, if we were Don Quijote, we'd think they were soldier guarding the land. Early Dutch explorers thought these rock formations were the remains of an ancient civilization. It's a desert scene of a soft sandy floor, and up out of the silt juts these marvelous rock pillars. They just stand there, slender and patient and very artistic, especially to the pink long shaddows of sunset. We drove through them. Then Melanie jogged through them. Then we did a little exploratory walking and then drove them again and headed out to nearby Hangover Beach for a picnic. Soon it was late afternoon and the shaddows were getting long, we just had to drive them again (#4). But when we finished, it was sunset, and, shouldn't we see sunset over Pinnacles? So we drove it again. #5 -- Pinnacle die hards?

GERALDTON HAD IT ALL: STREET MARKETS, BEACHES, MUSEUM, CATHEDRAL, AND THE BLESSING OF THE FLEETS: Melanie was about ready to stay permanently. But our local friend Kimberly later said we caught the one active day of a usually sleepy town. The beach town had the most pristine coast line. The water was light chrystal blue and the sand pure white and the climate warm and dry to match. The town was alive with the Sunday Markets in the street where we picked up some supplies and met some very friendly people. At fisherman's warf was a "Blessing of the Fleet", basically a waterfront carnival with mariner type competitions, BarBQing families, food and candy booths, and music. When the party ended, we walked next door to the very modern (and free) Western Australia Museum. We also checked out the architecture of the local Cathedral even though I thought I'd burned out on cathedrals in Europe. This one was a bit different. The grey and white striped walls met with orange and white striped archways, and a bright green pulpit. Beauty is in the eye.... But flare is in the heart. Along with all this town-seeing, Melanie took an ocean cliffside jog near sunset, and Mel and Steve visited the colorful kite boarders' beach to lay out and watch them glide, flip, and float.

KALBARRI NATIONAL PARK AND THE ROAD TO IT: LYNTON PRISON COLONY RUINS, THE PINK SALT LAKE, AN ARTISTS PALATE OF CLIFFS AND GORGES, AND A BUSHWACK HIKE DOWN A GORGE:
-The Prison Colony Ruins: We all know the westernized Australia we know today started out as a convenient place for England to send it's prisoners. To this day, Aussies refer to English people as Pommies (Prisoners of the monarch). We spent the night parked at the ruins of a Lynton Prison Colony work camp. Most of the buildings were crumbled but we got an idea of how people lived.
-The Pink Lake: There are dry salt lakes everywhere around here. This particular one has an algae in it that causes the salt to turn pink. At the right angle, this lake, which wasn't totally dry but bright blue with water in the middle, was bright pink around the edges. Amazingly so. Doctor Seuss would be proud. Was Luke Luck's lake actually bubble gum?
-Ocean Cliffs Drive: the cliffs over Kalbarri's churning blue ocean were sheer and shapely. We stopped for views of Natural Bridge, Castle Rock, Eagle Gorge, Pot Alley, and Rainbow Valley. Our guide book jokes that many a backpacker is dissapointed to find that pot alley and Mushroom rock are named only after the shapes of the cliffs. We hiked down Pot alley for a little sun bathing on the beach, and at all cliffs, admired the dark oranges, reds and whites gleaming from the striated rock.
-The Gorges of the Murchison River: the cliffs in the gorges were much the same dramatic colors as the ocean cliffs, only outlined by rivers and forests. We hiked down the beautiful Z Bend and Loop hikes and in Z bend decided to do some bushwacking. We made it to a swimming hole (which turned out to be a little too dry and still for a swim.) It was more like rockwacking as we had to do a bit of scrambling to make it down and up. Down below, we basically had the gorge to ourselves.

DENHAM AND SHARK BAY: SHELL BEACH, MONKEY MIA DOLPHINS, LITTLE LAGOON, FRANCOIS PERON NATIONAL PARK WELL, A DAY OF WORK ON A PEARL FARM, AND THE ANCIENT STROMATOLITES OF HAMELIN POOL:
-Shell Beach and Little Lagoon: Up and down the Shark Bay peninsula were shimmery blue views and inviting adventures. We stopped for Shell beach who’s sand is entirely shells which run 5 meters deep and are so compacted that people can build with it like bricks. Little Lagoon rested just inland and had sand for it's beach. Both beaches had a grade so slight that when we tried to swim, we eventually gave up because we'd have to walk a marathon to get out to where the water was actually deep enough to submerge. Driving North since then, we've found this to be the case with lots of beaches.
-Francois Peron National Park and it's Artesian Well: The Park's 4WD roads were a bit much for Chester Blui, but we made it to the Artesian Well. We climbed in, sat and sipped and warmed our happy souls, but only for a few minutes. The water was so hot we decided to "heat and run."
-Mel's Antipolar Birthday: woke up on 11/6 and something felt special, familiar... What was it? Hint, day after Cinco de Novembre, October showers bring November flowers ... Wait, it's Mel's Southern Hemisphere Birthday, Spring, flowery, six months in weather from this day up North. Hmmm, how shall we celebrate? Go to WORK for a change...!
-November 6, Working on the Pearl Farm: Blue Lagoon Pearl company opperates tours. We didn't want a tour. We wanted hands on experience. We found the boss and asked him if we could join in. Sure, he said, see you at 8am tomorrow. In the morning, James and Peter, dad and son business partners, picked us up in their land cruiser and boat in tow, along with four other helpers, and launched us out to their floating pearl farm, a building in the middle of the ocean on pontoons. They put us to work: pulling in oyster nets, clearing and cutting them from the nets, cleaning their shells, separating healthy oysters from unwanteds, dipping the oysters in wax to protect them from parasites, and then only stopping for snacks and lunch and a free tour given to the paying tourists. We learned a lot about how oysters are seeded, (not a grain of sand like people think), and what they taste like. In the afternoon, they took us out fishing and we were visited by a huge grey dugong (sea cow, much like a manatee) that circled our boat for some time, coming up for air and a good look at us . Kimberly and Bruce (locals) and Ian and Mark (from England) and James and Peter all got together at the local pub afterwards. We could only stop in quickly on the way out of town, but we enjoyed the company and the unique day. Oh, and as a souvenier, James and Peter gave us each a black pearl of our own.
-Monkey Mia Dolphins: another dolphin encounter. We arrived in Shark Bay as the Dolphins just came in to visit. We waded out with the other onlookers. There were about 8 dolphins curiously swimming near us. Unlike Bunbury earlier, we could not swim with them, but we waded out and a few lucky participants were selected by guides to come out deeper and feed them. Melanie was that lucky. The guide gave her a fish and she took it out and the dolphin came right up to her to gently claim it. These are wild dolphins and don't have to be there, but with the offerings of fish, it's understandable that they choose to visit. Magical to interact with them.
-Stromatolites: Ever see a 3 billion year old broccoli looking thing growing uncannily slowly in super salty water? We did. These actual stromatolites were only 3000 years old but are perhaps the oldest living fossels, and are related to the stromatolites of 3 billion years ago which were the first life forms to create oxygen: we owe them a thank you, I think.

CARNARVAN: WE LEEK TEE EET, VEEGIES EEND BANEENEES (if you never heard the song, just ignore that): TOMATO DAY, BANANA DISPLAY, AND CAPSICUMS ON THE WAY: Carnarvan is a friendly city built around it's plantations: veggies and bananas and other tropical fruit (we're in the tropics now) like paw paw (aka papaya) and mango.
-Banana Plantation tour: couldn't miss a chance to learn a little about this fruit - fruit? On our banana Plantation tour, we learned that bananas are not fruits at all, but HERBS! Hmmm? Each huge tree, amazingly enough, only blooms once in it's life, and then dies to fertilize the baby banana trees growing up around it. The definition of an herb (they pronounce the H here) is a plant that flowers once and dies. We also learned that the banana is the only plant that a person could live exclusively on. We got our education on bananas, tried our sample dried banana and chocolate covered one as well as a taste of plantation brewed mango wine, and like a banana, we split.
-Tomato Day: driving by the tomato farm of Carlos and James, we pulled off the road to talk. Super nice guys, they took lots of time to talk and then pick for us three bags of fresh vine grown tomatoes. We only have two tomatoes left now. We eat them "apple style", just gobble them up cold and wet, red and succulent. Along with our free boxes of oranges from down south, we've felt pretty lucky with our etibles (Steve figures he had 12 oranges the other day after squeezing a Liter and a half of juice and drinking it all).
-Along the plantation roads, farms put out produce for cheap. Melanie loves Capsicums (bell peppers here). She bought a bag and we ate those "apple style" too.

BLOWHOLES ON THE BEACH:
different from the ones in Albany. The cliffs, littered with holes above a stormy windy sea sent geysers of water jetting meters into the sky. Sometimes, three or 4 holes next to each other would erupt simultaneously: getting us wet and roaring furiously.

WAROORA STATION: ANOTHER "WORK" DAY ON THE SHEEP FARM, JOGGING WITH EMUS, SNORKELING WITH SHARKS TURTLES AND RAYS, AND LOTS OF FUN PEOPLE.
-Waroora Station: Kimberly, of the pearl farm in Denham admonished us not to miss the Sheep sheering. Lee, the boss and caretaker, took us in. He told us where the most beautiful beaches and snorkerling were, invited us to explore, allowed us to observe and then help work on the sheep farm, and then even one night invited us to stay in a room in the "sheep sheerers quarters" instead of the van, free.
-Jogging with Emus: We asked Lee where Mel might jog: He sent Mel on one of her best jogs of all: 9 kilometers of dirt road over bluffs and cliffs and right to a super secluded white sand beach with bright blue chrystal clear water. A dreamy place. On the way, running over the cliffs, Mel looked to the side and saw two Emus running parallel with her. Running away? When Mel stopped, so did they. Magical.
-Pelican Point Snorkelling: Lee also led us to our own private Ningaloo reef. It required taking a 4WD road, but as of yet, Chester Blui hadn't failed us. From land we could see the black tip sharks, large sea turtles, and manta rays. Mel got cold and couldn't handle swimming for too long, but Steve snorkelled among them. Later, Mel snorkelled at Coral Bay where she was able to rent a wet suit.
-Sheep Sheering: first we observed, then we joined. We helped push the sheep in, learned to brand, helped in clipping their horns and spray them with anti parasite spray, and herd them out to fields. We got dirty and sweaty, and even a little bloody (didn't like this), loved the day and were glad it wasn't a career. Lee, Dusty, Marty, and Casey were all a kick to work with.

CORRAL BAY: IN A WET SUIT MEL SNORKELS AT LAST, VISIT THE SHARK NURSERY
-Corral Bay: a lot like Pelican Point, but next to a shack where Mel could rent a wet suit, we headed out to the corral reefs to see colorful fish, sea turtles and a huge sting ray: Melanie was right over the 6 foot tail before she realized what it was.
-Shark Nursery: a short walk up the coast from Corral bay took us to the Shark Nursery where schools of black tipped sharks, large but harmless to humans hang out. We walked out into the water and stood very still hoping for an encounter. They came close as we watched them frolic below the very clear water.

CAPE RANGE AND EXMOUTH: YARDIE GORGE HIKE, SKINNY DIP PRISON, A BOGGED CHESTER BLUI, AND BITUMENT EVERYWHERE BUT NOT A DROP FOR US:
-The Road in = The Road out: 86 Kilometers to the Yardie Gorge crossing, and then it's homefree paved roads. We made it to about 86 meters from the pavement. We couldn't do it. The sand crossing to the pavement was too deep. We were road blocked and there was no way we'd get across. (as the 4 wheel drivers happily passed on by). We groaned at the thought of our long bumpy 4 wheel drive style return trip, but had no choice.
-Yardie Hike = Making the Best of Things: We took a hike through the Yardie gorge with its deep dark blue water and steep cliffs, looking for rock wallabies but finding none, and spending some time talking to and learning from a very friendly and informative ranger woman who happened to be there. Then we prepared mentally for the long bumpy drive back, emphasis on long ... No, emphasis on bumpy and sandy... No, emphsis on mentally (to have come so far so bumpilly in the first place).
-Stalling Perhaps? = Skinny Dip Prison: Yardie was pretty far from anywhere, and it was right on a little beach. Not too many people were around, and all day there was never a single person on the beach itself. So before we start the gruelling drive back south, why don't we go for a swim. Mel thought of a great idea: why don't we just skinny dip so that our clothes stay dry. No one has been on that beach all day. Just as we found ourselves knee deep in some of that shallow grade water that takes football fields before it's deep enough to submerge, not one, but two different couples came over a dune and began to comb the beach for shells. We ducked down and were stuck. We tried to swim out further for a more comfortable hide out, but it never got deeper, so we just had to wait it out. Clearly the couples had no idea that we were hiding from them naked out there, because they were in no hurry to give us our beach back. This wasn't the last time we'd be stuck that day.
-Unstuck from Water = Stuck in Sand: On the drive south, when we high centered on a bog of soft sand we found that our reluctance to start back on that difficult dirt road was validated. Chester Blui wouldn't budge and we were hours from nowhere. Steve did a lot of digging, Mel did a little forraging for sticks to put under the wheels and some digging also, and then two friendly 4WDers stopped to help with the dig until we were finally freed. Since then, we've been on a few more dirt roads, but Chester Blui has tought us a bit better what his limits are, and we abide by them.
-Exmouth on Sealed Roads (bitumen UK, pavement US): so we headed for the town of Exmouth and the beaches of the north to look for sea turtles who lay their eggs on the beach dunes at nigh. We saw none, but enjoyed the night time beach walk in the national park and decided to head out of town. The park was crammed with wallabies and kangaroos crossing the road. It was one of our more difficult drives: as if that morning wasn't difficult enough. We were very sad when we hit one. But we were going slow and the kangaroo still hopped off, so we only hope that she wasn't hurt too badly.

KARIJINI PLAYGROUND (ER, WE MEAN, NATIONAL PARK AND OUR MOST FAVORITE NATIONAL PARK EXPERIENCE YET) "THE MIRACLE MILE", CLIFF DIVING, WATERFALLS AND RIVERS, AND A LITTLE EDUCATION: Karijini is a land of the most colorful, the steepest, the deepest, and the most beautiful gorges we've seen yet in Australia, filled with chrystal water, swim holes, deep narrows, rock slides, waterfalls, and rock climbs. It was like Australia's answer to America's Grand Canyon (which, if you haven't played down there has lots of hidden slides and falls that one wouldn't even know was there unless they went down to see it for themselves.)
-"The Miracle Mile", Peter does right by us again. Remember Peter, who we met in Perth and who gave us some great advise on a the secret Shelly beach near Albany? Well, he also told us about this must do if you like thrill and adventure hike;- "one that", he says "you won't see in any brochures and the tourist offices and rangers won't tell you where it is." But Peter drew us a crude map just good enough to barely decipher and we planned on finding it. It turns out, we found out later per a guide book, that it's a hike that you can hire "Dave's Adventure Tours" as a rock climbing guide for this Miracle Mile for about 100 bucks: You decend a steep track into the gorge, follow it into deep narrows, you can bridge on the walls or swim the narrows, (about here, you pass a sign warning not to go further unless highly experienced rock climber and until you've registered your intentions to hike this area with the rangers - but the rangers are a bit far away for us to go register at this point.) you can swim Kermit's pool, negotiate narrow ledges and go down the steep Hade's Stairs to where two gorges meet at a junction pool and at a 100 foot waterfall. You swim the pool, and then ... "We're supposed to climb that?" said the fellow hikers we met and teamed up with in the gorge, Josh, Lina, and Jack. Added to any concerns was the appearance of some storm clouds forming which would have halted any climb or escape. It never did rain, thankfully. The five of us helped each other up the "Chimney" route and up into Weano Gorge. There, we found ourselves in the side of a deep pool and then back into the waters of the wider "handrail pool" where a rope has been installed to pull yourself up to the other side. Per the write up for Dave's tours, "It is, unsurprisingly, one of the best experiences of most participant's lives". Well, we liked it best without Dave and with our fun group of five working it out together and alone down below, and maybe it wasn't the best experience of our Lives, but it was definitely one of the best experiences of our Australian Travels so far. Also one of the most beautiful.
-Circular Pool: the playground didn't stop at the miracle mile. The next day we hiked down Dale's Gorge to the beautiful fern lined, cool, clear, swim hole lined by diving boards (we mean, rocks). Steve and I enjoyed a refreshing swim and a few jumps both alone and together off the 5 meter or so high rocks, and even ran into Liz, a friend we'd met in Perth. Small world down there under.
-Fortesque Falls: We hiked down-gorge from Circular Pool, by some smaller falls, next to tree covered rivers, stopping to rest on a tree that bowed like a bridge right over a large glassy section of river so peaceful, and then made it to Fortesque Falls, a long staircase style waterfall cascading forever into the large pool below. Hot from the hike in this late spring desert month, we refreshed again with a few swims and sunbathing moments before the hike out.
-Aboriginal Eye Openings at the Visitor Center: Their Center is more like a museum, and Melanie had been hoping for the opportunity to learn a bit more about Aboriginal Culture. We've been reading a book together called "Rabbit Proof Fences" that mom and dad had given us and much of that history was reflected and explained at this center.
And we were off to Port Hedland and Broome.

PORT HEDLAND AND 600 KM TO BROOME: NO TOWNS IN BETWEEN:
-Why Port Hedland? Because it's a town. That's unique out here. But we got there on a Sunday, and Sundays are ghost town days almost everywhere in Australia. Nothing was open, so we picniced on the beach, did some grocery shopping (the store was open), and headed for Broome.
-600 KM to Broome: (at less than 50 MPH). Time to relax, sit back, wet our shirts so the wind can cool us as we have no air conditioning, and enjoy the road. We actually do and did. It was a great drive with stops for picnics, a beach walk and an enjoyment of watching the scenery change from Pilbarra land to Kimberlay land. 9 hours passed quickly. Will we feel the same on the way to Darwin, 3 times further north?

BROOME: THE TROPICS, HUMAN KIND, CITY LIFE, A BACKPACKER'S RESORT WITH A POOL, AND SUN PICTURES THE OLDEST OPEN AIR THEATER IN AUSTRALIA.
-Back in the City: We nomads thought we'd try out this thing we hadn't seen in a long time: "People and civilization". We hadn't been in a hostel since Perth and the hostels here in Broome have swimming pools and we really needed to do laundry. We hand wash all the time, but eventually we needed a real scrubbing. We checked into the Backpacker's resort with its pool and palm trees and spent the day walking the town, doing some shopping, eating out for lunch, going to a mechanic for some improvements that Steve hoped to make on Chester Blui, making it to pretty Cable Beach just in time to enjoy sunset while standing ankle deep in the bath tub warm water and then getting back to the hostel in time to barBQ dinner, rest a bit, and head out to Sun Pictures.
-Sun Pictures: Here in the tropics, the evenings are blessedly warm and comfortable. The stars shine beautifully, and the breezes keep you happily cool. The climate is fantastic. Capitalizing on this, in 1916, Broom built this old open air theater. Like a drive in, it's out doors so all showingings are after dark. Unlike a drive in, you sit in lounge chairs reclining comfortably with a view of the screen and the stars above. Once this theater showed silent movies until "talkies" came about, and now it plays new releases with surprisingly good accoustics and picture quality and the movie going experience of a lifetime. Duriing the day, it opperates as a museum with tours and info about it's early days. We saw "Runnaway Jury" and when the movie was over, we hated to get up and leave as we were so comfortable under the stars in the inviting balmy atmosphere.
-Other highlights of our Broome Day: a Swim in the hostel's palm lined pool, the first fresh water in door private shower in ages, and a chance to get on the internet to let you all now we are still alive. We decided to stay another day here. A decision we are quite COMFORTABLE with. Steve found a lucky Black Pearl. It's huge. We'll find out later if it's really a pearl, but it definitely is a "pearl" of a memory for Steve.

OTHER NOTES: STILL LOVE OUR FREE CAMPING, JOGGING STILL MAKES MEL'S DAY, LOTS OF WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS, CHESTER BLUI'S ODOM TURNS OVER FOR THE N-TH TIME?, STEVE THE MECHANIC AND GOOD SAMARITAN
-Love Camping: We think that by camping free, we're finding spots that are way more interesting than any pay spot. We are on beach front spots many a time, always beautiful, and never with a view of just the next trailer. We have NO problem with our amenities. We have everything we could want and it's always with us in our little home. Stove, cooler, bed, bottled water for showers, and we have each other.
-Spirit of Mel's Jogs: Mel stilil feels like she gets to know Australia more intimately during her morning jogs. (Steve gets to know the van as intimately when Melanie is gone)
-Wildlife Sitghtings: one of our favorite topis: since the last blog, we've seen more ROOS and WALLABIES than you can count (saddly hitting one roo) . Some have been quite special. Steve slid open the van door one sunrise morning and a family of three roos scurried away. One morning, parked near a peaceful lagoon, we awoke at sunrise to see a roo by the hop right into the water and swim (fishing, we think) and stay in the water up to his chin for most of the morning. EMUS are a special sight - both footprints and as jogging partners for Mel. SPIDERS: At the Lynton Prison Ruins, Mel noticed a bunch of blue sparkles on the ground at night. We got closer to realized that these were the reflective eyes of spiders. Since then, we've seen these blue sparkles at many a stop. Steve looks for them. We've come across a few interesting SNAKES: one on a trail in Kalbarri, one crossing the road, and a baby right in front of Mel on one of her jogs. LIZARDS: Lizards everywhere and we saw a Western Blue Tongued Skink. BIRDS: down south we saw lots of Parrots, we've enjoyed the gallas which are large purple headed white birds that look like cockatoos, we saw one vulture or buzzard preying on road kill, white sea eagles, and several exhotic looking pirds of prey such as falcons and owls. CAMMELS: really, just wild cammels walking on the side of the road. SEA LIFE: The beautiful dolphins, the sharks while snorkelling and at the shark nursery, sea turtles, manta rays (we've seen them jump gloriously out of the water), the Dugong at the pearl farm, and oooh, some jelly fish.
-Chester Blui's Special Day: His Odometer turned over 100,000 km: our only mystery was how many times has that happened?
-Steve Keep Saving People: Besides being our own (quite accomplished and awesome) mechanic for Chester, Steve has been desert land's hero for others more than once. Near the stromatolites, he jump started a family's car, and neither of us even had jumper cables. Steve just worked some miracles with his mobil battery and cords and wires. Then, even more in the middle of nowhere we stop to help some friends from Germany travelling across Australia, Renata and Carl. Steve providing tools that they needed to repair a wire and then he once again jump started their car without cables (we bought cables after that). Karma, we hope you're paying attention. Of course, it's because of Steve that Chester keeps on ticking.
-Steve looks darn good in his Aussie leather hat, and it keeps his long curley hair out of his eyes (almost long enough for a pony tail now).
-"Grand Canyon Tie Die" can't compete with North Western Australia Tie Die: If you spend time in the Grand Canyon, anything white of yours will become red thanks to the silts and red sands. Well, it's all red here too. Towns are all red, our car is covered in red, inside and out, and our clothes - especially the ones that have been on hikes in the dark red gorges have been naturally tie died.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO: Dolly P, Laura G, Paula G, Claudia C.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
TO: Kara and Alex

HAPPY WEDDING
TO: Julie and David.

HAPPY VOTING AND VETERANS DAYS
TO: Everyone of voting age (finally a holiday they celebrate here as well)