Long Overdue Update - Where You Can Find Us Now!

A LOT has happened in the 7+ years since our last update here. Some good, some bad but at the end of the day we're still alive and well!

Our travel adventures haven't stopped even though our updates here on AshDrew Travels have. That's the main reason I wanted to take a minute for a quick post to let you know where you can now find us.

If you are looking to get into hiking, trying to figure out what hiking clothes to buy or where in Colorado to hit the trails visit us at HelloTrail. In the past seven years we have made Steamboat Springs, Colorado our home away from home (and hopefully sometime soon our ACTUAL home) and found a unique peacefulness up in the mountains.

I have always loved the outdoors but there was something magical during our first visit to Steamboat in June of 2011 months following a tragic family accident that I haven't been able to shake, nor do I want to.

HelloTrail is our way to help inspire and motivate others to enjoy nature as much as we do and to #getoutside and #gohike!

Maybe the mountains aren't your thing. No problem but I bet Hawaii is up your alley!

Given the fact that the Navy made me live there for 3 years and that Ashley fell in love with the islands as soon as she got leid - sorry I'm good at bad jokes - at the Kauai airport it just made sense for us to share our knowledge of the Heavenly Hawaiian Islands.

So Hawaiianly was born! We are working on content that will help you plan and get the most out of that Hawaiian vacation you have been putting off all these years!

The moral of the story is to enjoy every single day to the fullest no matter where in the world you are. Sure, both Colorado and Hawaii make it easy to enjoy yourself, but at the very least find a place near you where you can unwind, take a deep breathe and know everything will be alright.

We look forward to hopefully seeing you soon at either of our sites so don't be a stranger!

All the best,
Ashley & Andrew

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Flowers, Flowers Everywhere!

Ever since moving back to St. Louis I have been itching to go to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to put my new camera to use. Sunday happened to work out best even though Andrew had to work... but for once it wasn't raining! Although it was a weekend, the gardens weren't super busy, yet. I paid my $4 to get in and headed off to my favorite areas. Disappointment began to set in when I started to realize I was at the tail end of tulip season. I was able to get a few shots of almost dying flowers, but I guess that is better than nothing. My intended target, the Japanese Garden... my favorite! No matter how many pictures I snap while here, I still end up taking the same exact ones just because it is so beautiful. The Temperature House is another great one. It reminds me of Florida because its hot and humid inside with just simple flowers and bright and cheery tiles everywhere.

While walking aroudn I picked up a free tree (basically looks like a small branch that is wrapped in something damp at the base) called a Black Gum. Unfortunately, I don't think it will ever get a home because when it matures the width is expected to be 30 to 60 feet and it's not like we have a yard of our own anyways. It's a good idea though and it almost makes me want to plant it in some random field around here.

My last stop before leaving was at a small tent selling some awesomeness! I ordered the mozzarella and chicken dog that was smothered in homemade slaw and honey mustard. They also were selling some pretty delicious looking fresh squeezed juice, but there was carrots in it, so I decided to pass at least this time. I can't wait to go try other things Urban Eats has to offer at their permanent location in Tower Grove. Enjoy the pics!

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Let's try this again!

We always have great intentions to keep our blog going, but quite frankly, it just isn't as easy when you aren't exploring the streets of Europe! Much has happened since the last update. We have left the beautiful state of Colorado and are in the good ol' Cardinals Nation! It's been about 2 and a half weeks since our venture back east and I am pretty sure our heads are still spinning.

Andrew and I both have jobs... I transferred to a different Dick's Sporting Goods here and Andrew is currently working with Big Shark Bicycle. Erin and Bill were brave enough to offer up their spare bedroom for us while we make all attempts to find a place to rent or even buy. We originally were going to rent until we realized the high costs for such a mediocre place. Buying a home soon entered our mind to get more bang for our buck, but that hasn't been much of an easy task either! Long story short, we are still looking and hope to find our "dream" place soon.

Since being here we have been able to fit in quite a bit of visiting with friends and family, which is always a good thing. We made it back just in time for Easter and an awesome tree dedication for Andrew's Grandma. The tree is right next to a baseball diamond... don't think Edna would want it any other way!



Stay posted... hopefully next post will be about our new place!!!

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Well Hello 1/1/11!

2011 began just as good as 2010 ended. This was Ashley's first Christmas away from home but we were lucky enough to have great friends out here (Rox & Brad) to spend it with. We piled all of our Christmas presents under their gorgeous tree (real of course unlike ours) and then proceeded to play some obligatory Christmas Eve drinking games (A**hole in case you are wondering). Then it was time to get some zzzzz's while Santa went from chimney to chimney. Everyone slept in a little bit but we were all anxious to see what was inside all the wrapping paper. Since all of us must have been good boys and girls this year it took some time to open everything up. Afterward we decided to go see "Little Fockers" to get some laughs in before the rest of the festivities.

Roxanne prepared an amazing prime rib dinner (from Whole Foods where even raw meat looks tasty!) that was washed down with some equally amazing beverages. The Samuel Adams/Weihenstephan "Infinium" beer was a hit as was the Fat Bastard Cabernet (very good for a low priced French wine). Keeping with the theme we even had some tasty wine for dessert. "Wine Spectator" magazine had an article about port wine recently and one that had good reviews was a 10 year old Dow Tawny Port. It had been 11 years since I had a port wine (first type of wine I remember trying actually...outside of Adelaide, Australia wrapping up a six month deployment the ship was nice enough to arrange a wine tour) so I figured it was time to give it a shot again. Being around 20% alcohol it might not be a wine for everyone, but even Ashley was willing to give it a try.

There is never a dull moment when spending a couple of days with Rox & Brad and we would not have it any other way. So much fun was had that we decided to have a more relaxed New Year's Eve. Ashley had to work that day (booo!) so I had planned a Whole Food's dinner of my own (remember the beautiful raw meat!). Flank steak, rice pilaf, salad, Bordeaux for me, Riesling for Ashley was on the menu. Ever since going to Paris (France that is...not Rox's hometown of Paris, IL) we have been spoiled by REALLY good champagne so we found a deal on a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Brut. This was the perfect occasion as we were able to utilize our champagne flutes that Ashley's Aunt Debby and Uncle Al got us prior to our wedding in October. It was a tasty, easy drinking champagne that we wanted to get the most out of hence the reason we toasted 3 times zones!

Both of us are very thankful for the 2010 we had (new job and married) and can only hope that 2011 brings as much joy to our lives!

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2010 Year In Review

We hope everyone had a Happy New Year! Hope 2011 is just as great as last year, if not better! We put together a year in review photo slide of 2010, enjoy!

Free photo slideshow customized with Smilebox

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Ten Months Later!

It has only been 10 very quick months since our last post and OH MY has a lot happened (for one, we got hitched in October!!)! I'm not sure where to start but with Christmas tomorrow we both want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe Holiday. Unfortunately we will not be able to make it home to spend Christmas with our families (Ashley's in Tampa, mine in Illinois near St. Louis), but luckily we have some great friends here in Denver (Rox and Brad) that have invited us to spend the weekend celebrating with them.

On the Christmas Dinner menu is prime rib from Whole Foods which Rox claims looks delicious even in its raw state. We will be toasting the meal with a new champagne beer brewed by Samuel Adams and Weihenstehpan (one of our favorite German breweries) called "Infinium" and I am sure that will not be the only beverage enjoyed throughout the day! Thanks to our loving families we have plenty of gifts to open before the main meal later in the day. Ashley will no doubt be taking lots of pictures to share with everyone so stay tuned!

So what is in store for future posts?? There is never a dull moment in our lives and we hope you all will enjoy what we have to share. Look for updates on Ashley's constant job search (she's been working at Dick's Sporting Goods since we moved to Colorado, but still wants to find something in marketing), wine reviews for the budget conscious wine lover (Ashley only drinks whites and I prefer reds so there will be something for everyone), adventure updates (we've already been snowboarding once this winter and have a half-marathon planned for the end of February), and anything and everything in between!!

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Colorado Here We Come!!

Saturday February 6th will be the next journey in our lives. We will be hopping in the car to head out to Denver, Colorado for Andrew to start working with the US Handcycling Federation. His official title is the Fund Development Coordinator. We are both very excited about the new opportunities and can't wait to see what the city has to offer us. I will begin to look for a job as well and hope to find something quickly! Keep your fingers crossed!

Well I will try to update this blog whenever we do something fun... so check back from time to time for pictures and good stories!

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