FAQs

Here are some answers to FAQs I've been hearing lately.

Q: How was your vacation?

A: It was great! Our adventure started in Southern California at the wedding of Philip's best friend Ben. The wedding, an outdoor affair, was lovely, and afterward, on the way from our hotel to the airport, we drove the PCH, stopping along the way to see some dramatic seaside cliffs. Beautiful! I also got to see my good friend Marcia while we were out there, which was a blast.

Then we spent five days at Glacier National Park in Montana. I cried when it was time to leave; I could easily have stayed another five days. The park is breathtaking, with vivid wildflowers, majestic mountains, interesting wildlife, and glassy lakes, but what I remember the most was the absolute silence out there. While hiking on the trails, we couldn't even hear a bird chirping; all was perfectly quiet. It's a bit uncomfortable at first to be honest, but once I got used to it, I relished it. We hiked hard, doing a three-mile hike, a six-mile one, and a 12-mile one. I was sore the whole time, but in a good way. I really looked the part of a hardcore outdoorswoman, thanks to my husband's help. Who would have ever believed that Erika Larson would one day be the proud owner of clunky hiking boots?

We saw a lot of the park in the short time we were there, though there's tons more to see on a return visit someday. We visited the two historic lodges located within the borders of the park, Lake McDonald Lodge and the Many Glacier Hotel, as well as the first visitor accommodations built just outside the park's west entrance, Belton Chalet. We also spent a day in the less-traveled northwest area of the park, the North Fork, where the Polebridge Mercantile (amazing baked goods) and the Northern Lights Saloon (bizarre and super-awesome) are located. The wee town of Polebridge was a trip. All their electricity comes from generators, and the evening we patronized the saloon, it was pizza night. That was the only thing on the menu. The baker from the Merc next door had hand-made the pizza dough. It was some of the best pizza I've ever had!

A couple other highlights were driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road (the road that bisects that park and provides access to the park's interior, including sub-Alpine regions) and "white-water" rafting. I put "white-water" in quotation marks because I spent most of the trip down the river with my legs dangling lazily off the side of the raft. By the end of the summer, when the winter snowmelts are basically over, the rafting trip becomes more scenic than wild. We stayed in a cabin at Silverwolf Chalets, which was cozy, adorable, and adults-only! (We highly recommend Becky Lomax's Moon Handbook about Glacier - we carried it with us the whole time, and it's how we planned our entire itinerary.)

At the end of the trip, we drove to Sandpoint, Idaho, to visit Philip's uncle Tim and aunt Toni. They were great hosts, taking us out on their ATVs and on a gondola up Schweitzer Mountain.

Q: How was your trip to Hawaii?

A: Again, it was great! I went on my first-ever press trip a couple weeks ago, and it went above and beyond my expectations. I fell in love with the group of writers, editors, and publicists with whom I spent the week. The whole bunch was fun, considerate, inquisitive, positive, and adventurous. Hilton hosted us and totally spoiled us with in-room goodies, turndown service, and incredible meals. I got to do some really cool things, like zip-lining in a Kauai rainforest, swimming under a waterfall on the Big Island, participating in a dolphin encounter, taking a surf lesson in Waikiki (I got up on my first try!), and enjoying some authentic Hawaiian entertainment. There was some work involved (hearing publicity pitches and interviewing people), but honestly, it was mostly just a ton of fun. I missed my husband a lot, but he kept busy attending an important management meeting in Alabama and going to a Tigers/Sox game with my dad and to Mike Kotsis' bachelor party in Chicago.

Q: How's the house? Are you getting settled?

A: The house is a blessing and I adore it, but we haven't gotten settled really at all. With all this crazy travel, we haven't had any time. Philip just got the yard under control last weekend - what a beast (the yard, not Philip). We also shopped for and put an order in for new living-room furniture! This is a major accomplishment for the Mr. and Mrs. Philip Huenekes, who are extremely cautious and slow-moving when it comes to large purchases. Now that we've got our sectional sofa all picked out, we can move on to painting the walls, and then finally, unpacking all the boxes.

I'm very excited about the remainder of 2007. I don't have any work trips or freelance projects on the calendar for the rest of the year (it's a miracle!), so I'll be able to focus on the house and the holidays. I'm hugely relieved. Check out pics from our vacation on Flickr; I'll get the Hawaii photos up soon.