Sunday, August 17, 2008
bonus late breaking news
A first for me: I saw fireflies tonight. We went for a walk at Beaver Lake, a little too late for the route that we chose. As it was getting dark, we spotted what looked like blinking eyes in the distance, but when we got closer we realized that they were fireflies. It was a very nice welcome!
day 9, the last day; the end.
More visiting in the morning, then we headed out for Syracuse around 10 am. We expected to get here in time to see the Michelangelo exhibit at the SUart gallery for a couple of hours and drop my dad off at the airport around 3:30. That worked out perfectly. The exhibit is really nice. Much smaller than either of the other two museums of the trip, but something that can be appreciated many times- the skill that is involved with even the sketches is quite impressive. I expect it might be part of my lunch time routine, until it is gone in October.
After that, I went to my friend and colleagues house. He and his wife had generously offered to let me spend the night in their spare bedroom until I could move into my apartment on Monday.
Our route:
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And now the journey is over, and the new one is beginning.
After that, I went to my friend and colleagues house. He and his wife had generously offered to let me spend the night in their spare bedroom until I could move into my apartment on Monday.
Our route:
View Larger Map
And now the journey is over, and the new one is beginning.
day 8, the music festival
The trip is almost done, but there is one more thing to do. My dad really wanted to go to the Chenango Blues Festival, it's near Syracuse. Well, relatively near, it's actually about 1.5 hours from Syracuse, about 4.5 hours from Buffalo, and about 2.5 hours from where we're going to spend the night, at another cousin's house in Corning, NY.
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The festival was nice, but I was tired, and left early with my cousins. My dad and other cousin stayed 'til the end. I really enjoyed two shows, although I only heard Cephas and Wiggins live. Samual James I heard after my dad got there and brought the cd he bought.
I had beef on white (?) for the first time, a simple sandwich that is roast beef, in au jus, on a kaiser roll with pumpernickel and salt. Also horseradish if you like it.
We whiled away the evening with stories and jokes. I was invading a girls night a little bit, but they didn't seem to mind too much. It was a very nice visit.
Another comfortable nights rest.
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The festival was nice, but I was tired, and left early with my cousins. My dad and other cousin stayed 'til the end. I really enjoyed two shows, although I only heard Cephas and Wiggins live. Samual James I heard after my dad got there and brought the cd he bought.
I had beef on white (?) for the first time, a simple sandwich that is roast beef, in au jus, on a kaiser roll with pumpernickel and salt. Also horseradish if you like it.
We whiled away the evening with stories and jokes. I was invading a girls night a little bit, but they didn't seem to mind too much. It was a very nice visit.
Another comfortable nights rest.
day 7, or five states in a day!
Our main goal for the day was to get to my cousins outside of Buffalo, NY. We succeeded, but a bit later than we thought we would be. We had a very nice visit, and a very comfortable nights rest.
This is our route:
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Here is a picture:
travel day 2008 August 15.
This is our route:
View Larger Map
Here is a picture:
travel day 2008 August 15.
day 6, Chicago part 2
I'll be even more brief, now that I have actually arrived in Syracuse.
Very little linear progress was made Thursday as we spent all of it in Chicago. Some of the things we saw were: Buddy Guy's Legends and Lurrie Bell, Jazz Record Mart, the Chicago History Museum, several Chicago neighborhoods, House of Blues Chicago and Deana Bogart.
We walked about 5 miles (or so it seemed) and all the while the Blue Angels were practicing for the air show on Friday. It was jaw dropping to see the blue jets roaring around over head, seemingly darting between the tall building of the Chicago skyline. That went on for about four or five hours, all afternoon, while we walked from our parking near the Trump International Tower, to Buddy Guy's Legends club. The club wasn't crowded at all, which made for very intimate setting with Lurrie Bell, and a very enjoyable set of Blues standards.
Then we walked to where I written down that the House of Blues was (hob), but I'd gotten a North written as a South (or maybe it was the magazine I had transcribed it from that got it wrong). It didn't actually make that much of a difference for our route anyway. We walked up State Street with all the business people, made dinner reservations, then headed over to Jazz Record Mart. I bought two cd's, Out of the Cool by Gil Evans because it was playing in the store and sounded so great, and The Clown by Charles Mingus, because I wanted to expand my Mingus collection (to two cd's). They're both really great.
Now the great treck up to the Chicago History Museum, which was open until 8 pm on Thursday nights. It took about 45 minutes of wandering the hard Chicago pavement to get there. A long walk, but it was really nice to see more than just the office buildings of downtown. We passed many brownstones (I guess), and a neighborhood that seemed to be entirely restaurants. Finally, our destination was in sight. While not as impressive as the Field museum, it was still really cool to see all the Chicago history. I had forgotten what an important city it is!
The food at HOB wasn't particularly inspired, but the atmosphere was fantastic, as was the entertainment. We couldn't stay for the whole show, but I really enjoyed Deanna's performance. I'll be looking for some of her cd's in the future.
Our trip out of Chicago was mostly uneventful. We ran into some traffic, so out speedy escape wasn't so speedy, but still we did get to a hotel out of town. It also started out 5 state day, but that is the next story.
Here are some pictures:
Very little linear progress was made Thursday as we spent all of it in Chicago. Some of the things we saw were: Buddy Guy's Legends and Lurrie Bell, Jazz Record Mart, the Chicago History Museum, several Chicago neighborhoods, House of Blues Chicago and Deana Bogart.
We walked about 5 miles (or so it seemed) and all the while the Blue Angels were practicing for the air show on Friday. It was jaw dropping to see the blue jets roaring around over head, seemingly darting between the tall building of the Chicago skyline. That went on for about four or five hours, all afternoon, while we walked from our parking near the Trump International Tower, to Buddy Guy's Legends club. The club wasn't crowded at all, which made for very intimate setting with Lurrie Bell, and a very enjoyable set of Blues standards.
Then we walked to where I written down that the House of Blues was (hob), but I'd gotten a North written as a South (or maybe it was the magazine I had transcribed it from that got it wrong). It didn't actually make that much of a difference for our route anyway. We walked up State Street with all the business people, made dinner reservations, then headed over to Jazz Record Mart. I bought two cd's, Out of the Cool by Gil Evans because it was playing in the store and sounded so great, and The Clown by Charles Mingus, because I wanted to expand my Mingus collection (to two cd's). They're both really great.
Now the great treck up to the Chicago History Museum, which was open until 8 pm on Thursday nights. It took about 45 minutes of wandering the hard Chicago pavement to get there. A long walk, but it was really nice to see more than just the office buildings of downtown. We passed many brownstones (I guess), and a neighborhood that seemed to be entirely restaurants. Finally, our destination was in sight. While not as impressive as the Field museum, it was still really cool to see all the Chicago history. I had forgotten what an important city it is!
The food at HOB wasn't particularly inspired, but the atmosphere was fantastic, as was the entertainment. We couldn't stay for the whole show, but I really enjoyed Deanna's performance. I'll be looking for some of her cd's in the future.
Our trip out of Chicago was mostly uneventful. We ran into some traffic, so out speedy escape wasn't so speedy, but still we did get to a hotel out of town. It also started out 5 state day, but that is the next story.
Here are some pictures:
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| road trippin' 2008 August 14 |
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
driving, day 5 - not much driving
Today we only had to go from Racine, WI to Chicago, IL. We did that, parked at the north end of Grant Park and walked down to The Field Museum. I really enjoyed this museum, and am very glad that I visited it. It is waaay too big to see the whole thing in one day, or even appreciate very well in a week. Well, maybe in a week you'd be pretty comfortable with it.
We saw only a fraction of their collections: ancient peoples of the Americas, native poeple of the northwest coast, ancient Egypt, Tibet, Reptiles, Gems and Meteorites, and inside Natural Disasters. We paid for three temporary exhibits, on top of just regular admission, for a total of $33. We only had time for one of the temporary exhibits, and could have easily just gone with the regular admission of $15, had we known there was so much to see. Next time, I think I'll just get the $15 rate, and stick with that.
I truly enjoyed both the ancient Americas and Egypt collections. It rekindled my interest in Egypt and reminded me of the amazing things that the Native Americans did. Both of these collections had hundreds of actual artifacts, and not many replicas.
I could go on and on about all this stuff, but I'll just leave it with this: I'm looking for a haida art poster/print and something Egyptian (probably a replica of something I can hang on the wall).
After leaving the museum, we walked back to the car, paid our $20 for parking, and headed for U.S. Cellular Field to catch a White Sox game. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be, the game sold out just a couple of minutes before we got to the ticket window. Oh well.
So, we headed for dinner. We got lost in the concrete canyons of downtown Chicago. Eventually we found our way to Solerno's, which was actually a good place for being just a random pick with no guidance. Better than the place in Madison.
That's all for now.
Here are some pictures:
We saw only a fraction of their collections: ancient peoples of the Americas, native poeple of the northwest coast, ancient Egypt, Tibet, Reptiles, Gems and Meteorites, and inside Natural Disasters. We paid for three temporary exhibits, on top of just regular admission, for a total of $33. We only had time for one of the temporary exhibits, and could have easily just gone with the regular admission of $15, had we known there was so much to see. Next time, I think I'll just get the $15 rate, and stick with that.
I truly enjoyed both the ancient Americas and Egypt collections. It rekindled my interest in Egypt and reminded me of the amazing things that the Native Americans did. Both of these collections had hundreds of actual artifacts, and not many replicas.
I could go on and on about all this stuff, but I'll just leave it with this: I'm looking for a haida art poster/print and something Egyptian (probably a replica of something I can hang on the wall).
After leaving the museum, we walked back to the car, paid our $20 for parking, and headed for U.S. Cellular Field to catch a White Sox game. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be, the game sold out just a couple of minutes before we got to the ticket window. Oh well.
So, we headed for dinner. We got lost in the concrete canyons of downtown Chicago. Eventually we found our way to Solerno's, which was actually a good place for being just a random pick with no guidance. Better than the place in Madison.
That's all for now.
Here are some pictures:
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| road trippin' 2008 August 13 |
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
driving, day 4
I'll be brief, I think.
We covered the rest of South Dakota, all of Minnesota, and much of Wisconsin, currently we are in Racine, WI.
There were a couple of exciting things we saw today, but they weren't the scenery. We saw our first accident: a semi was laying on it's side on the other side of I-90. Nothing obvious about why, just laying there, taking a nap maybe. Actually, it looked like the shoulder had a steep, uh, bicep, and the truck had pulled a little too far over onto it. Later, after crossing the Mississippi River, a biker's helmet fell off the back of their bike and bounced across the lanes right in front of us. Nobody panicked, and the biker didn't even notice.
We stopped for dinner in Madison, WI, like we knew where we were going. We got off I-90 onto highway 30, followed it until it ended, made a left on the first busy street, and a right into Cafe La Bellitalia's parking lot. I was hoping for something similar to Amalfi's, and this had a good look for it. I was a little disappointed, maybe because of the Midwest spin on the Italian food. I could definitely see it being a winner if I was a local.
That's about it. Oh, and we're about a day ahead of where I thought we would be by now. I think we'll take some extra time in Chicago.
Here is our route:
View Larger Map
Here are some pictures:
We covered the rest of South Dakota, all of Minnesota, and much of Wisconsin, currently we are in Racine, WI.
There were a couple of exciting things we saw today, but they weren't the scenery. We saw our first accident: a semi was laying on it's side on the other side of I-90. Nothing obvious about why, just laying there, taking a nap maybe. Actually, it looked like the shoulder had a steep, uh, bicep, and the truck had pulled a little too far over onto it. Later, after crossing the Mississippi River, a biker's helmet fell off the back of their bike and bounced across the lanes right in front of us. Nobody panicked, and the biker didn't even notice.
We stopped for dinner in Madison, WI, like we knew where we were going. We got off I-90 onto highway 30, followed it until it ended, made a left on the first busy street, and a right into Cafe La Bellitalia's parking lot. I was hoping for something similar to Amalfi's, and this had a good look for it. I was a little disappointed, maybe because of the Midwest spin on the Italian food. I could definitely see it being a winner if I was a local.
That's about it. Oh, and we're about a day ahead of where I thought we would be by now. I think we'll take some extra time in Chicago.
Here is our route:
View Larger Map
Here are some pictures:
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| road trippin' 2008 August 12 |
Monday, August 11, 2008
driving, day 3
Sorry for the lame post about day 2- it was late and I was tired. This one will be a little better.
Yesterday we got up at 6 am, which I think was 5 am back at home, the timezone I'm still in. It was early for the road too, we only saw a few cars over the next hour. Plenty of animals though: moose (10's of them), a few mule deer, maybe an elk or two, a herd of cows, a pen of horses and later in the day some antelope. These were all on top of the Big Horn Mountains, around 9000 ft. It was pretty flat, so the edges of the mountains are the really interesting parts.
Soon we headed down the side, and saw few more of those ancient stones that make these mountains so interesting to me. See a picture down below.
We headed for Mt. Rushmore, stopping in Gillette, WY for breakfast at Lula Belle's Cafe. When we got to Mt. Rushmore, I wasn't too excited about it. We had passed through Keystone, the biggest tourist trap we'd seen yet. On top of that, the people were doing there tourist thing at Mt. Rushmore, and jingoistic things kind of put me in a foul mood. It was really crowded too. Soon it was threatening rain- we heard thunder overhead. The crowds disappeared once the first drops fell. At first the rain was light, which was okay, but when it really picked up, we sought shelter in the sculptors studio. I started to notice more of an openness in the crowd- they weren't all aloof. I didn't really think about it then.
The rain let up and we continued back toward the car. Soon it picked up again and were forced to seek shelter in the information center. It was really coming down! Hail and cats and dogs! We waited it out for about half an hour before getting impatient. "Just five more minutes, and then we make a break for it" we said. It didn't let up, so we ran. We got soaked! I felt one of the pea sized hails smack my thumb. We dried out eventually.
The rest of the day, briefly: Badlands and South Dakota Prairie.
Here is our route for Monday:
View Larger Map
Here are some pictures:
Yesterday we got up at 6 am, which I think was 5 am back at home, the timezone I'm still in. It was early for the road too, we only saw a few cars over the next hour. Plenty of animals though: moose (10's of them), a few mule deer, maybe an elk or two, a herd of cows, a pen of horses and later in the day some antelope. These were all on top of the Big Horn Mountains, around 9000 ft. It was pretty flat, so the edges of the mountains are the really interesting parts.
Soon we headed down the side, and saw few more of those ancient stones that make these mountains so interesting to me. See a picture down below.
We headed for Mt. Rushmore, stopping in Gillette, WY for breakfast at Lula Belle's Cafe. When we got to Mt. Rushmore, I wasn't too excited about it. We had passed through Keystone, the biggest tourist trap we'd seen yet. On top of that, the people were doing there tourist thing at Mt. Rushmore, and jingoistic things kind of put me in a foul mood. It was really crowded too. Soon it was threatening rain- we heard thunder overhead. The crowds disappeared once the first drops fell. At first the rain was light, which was okay, but when it really picked up, we sought shelter in the sculptors studio. I started to notice more of an openness in the crowd- they weren't all aloof. I didn't really think about it then.
The rain let up and we continued back toward the car. Soon it picked up again and were forced to seek shelter in the information center. It was really coming down! Hail and cats and dogs! We waited it out for about half an hour before getting impatient. "Just five more minutes, and then we make a break for it" we said. It didn't let up, so we ran. We got soaked! I felt one of the pea sized hails smack my thumb. We dried out eventually.
The rest of the day, briefly: Badlands and South Dakota Prairie.
Here is our route for Monday:
View Larger Map
Here are some pictures:
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| road trippin' 2008 August 11 |
driving, day 2
After our extravagent stay at the Livingston Motor Inn, we decided to eat on the cheap today. We stopped at Albertson's on the way out of town an picked up a few things, then headed for Yellowstone!
What we saw during the day: Devil's slide, Mammoth Hotsprings, Mammoth, Norris Geyser Basin, Veteran Geyser eruption, upper Yellowstone falls, bison in the road (see photos below), mud volano, North Fork of the Shoshone River canyon, Cody WY, Big Horn Mountains, Pre-Cambrian Granite (2.5 GYr old!!).
We spent the night at 7700 feet (2350 meters) at the Cabin Creek Meadows primitive campground.
We only saw Wyoming today. But it sure was cool!
Here is our route:
View Larger Map
Some crappy cell-phone pictures of the trip:
What we saw during the day: Devil's slide, Mammoth Hotsprings, Mammoth, Norris Geyser Basin, Veteran Geyser eruption, upper Yellowstone falls, bison in the road (see photos below), mud volano, North Fork of the Shoshone River canyon, Cody WY, Big Horn Mountains, Pre-Cambrian Granite (2.5 GYr old!!).
We spent the night at 7700 feet (2350 meters) at the Cabin Creek Meadows primitive campground.
We only saw Wyoming today. But it sure was cool!
Here is our route:
View Larger Map
Some crappy cell-phone pictures of the trip:
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| road trippin' 2008 August 10 |
Saturday, August 09, 2008
driving, day 1
Last night was a blast: we had a few people over for wine and a good send off. I think it was the right thing to do. I'm very pleased that the that my Château Margaux (1978) and and my wifes Clos Du Val (Zinfandel, 1977) were both excellent!
The next morning we went to breakfast, loaded the car, had a tearful departure, and got out of town only about 30 minutes late.
The drive itself was mostly uneventful. We did see a few thing though: coulees, scabland, forest, mining, beautiful Montana fly fishing rivers,bubble mammatus clouds, purple rocks, lighting and a little rain quite heavy rain actually, twice, open pit mines, a complete rainbow with a little double at either end, and another thunder storm.
With all that list, I must say that the most interesting things to me were the geology and stones exposed along the roadside, and the lightning storms. We don't get those too often in the pacific northwest.
Also, leaving home was not that easy, but I think the really great send off party lastnight really helped show that we have plenty of great friends that will sticking around in with Stephanie.
Here is our route so far:
View Larger Map
The next morning we went to breakfast, loaded the car, had a tearful departure, and got out of town only about 30 minutes late.
The drive itself was mostly uneventful. We did see a few thing though: coulees, scabland, forest, mining, beautiful Montana fly fishing rivers,
With all that list, I must say that the most interesting things to me were the geology and stones exposed along the roadside, and the lightning storms. We don't get those too often in the pacific northwest.
Also, leaving home was not that easy, but I think the really great send off party lastnight really helped show that we have plenty of great friends that will sticking around in with Stephanie.
Here is our route so far:
View Larger Map
Thursday, August 07, 2008
phone info
For those interested parties, our home phone service has been canceled. If you need to reach either of us, use our cell phones. Those numbers haven't changed, and won't for a long time. If you need them, send me an email.
Monday, August 04, 2008
poll: what to do first in Syracuse
At least one person noticed that I put a poll up. Things I thought about putting on the poll, but didn't, were:
- work on my pronunciation of Syracuse
- call my wife (I'm going to do that really first, no matter what you guys pick)
- work on LIGO a bit
- catch up on my inter-web reading
Thursday, July 31, 2008
two last rides
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Seeing that the time draws near for departure, it is only natural that some loose ends be tied up. One of them was to get in a farewell ride with as many of the mad cows that remain. Norm and I rode on Wednesday, early in the morning. I was quite impressed with my own riding- I hadn't used the bike in a couple of months. Many of the other riders have new positions at work, and we've lost our critical mass when a couple of people moved away. Anyway, I managed to stay on the bike the whole time, albiet pretty slow at times. Especially cool was clearing Fred & John's, a twisty trail with a couple of sections of moon dust. We finished up in about an hour and a half.
There was apperantly some confusion as to when the ride was going to be, so a follow up ride on Thursday was required for some of the other riders. We had really hoped that the weather would stay comfortable, in the 80's. Not today, it was a hot day, in the low 90's, so we rode under the beating sun. Still did pretty well, but was ready to call it quits after two loops.
It was really nice to get a little more riding in, and I am currently reconsidering my biking situation out in New York. We'll see.
Monday, July 21, 2008
oh noes! The Starbucks is closing!
The Starbucks I frequented during my April trip to Syracuse is closing! It's a good thing I won't be staying at that hotel nearby when I move out there in a month.
Final Fly Fishing in Washington
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This is where Corey and I went fishing one last time before I take off for grad school. We both really like the place marked "Iron Horse Park Access", it was very scenic, the flow was slower, and it was very wadable. I would definitely come back here.
Pretty much everything below the Cle Elum River was very hard to wade in. We spent some time near a park, marked "South Cle Elum", had two very hairy wades (out and back), but that was were the fish were. I caught one nice 9-10" cutthroat trout in a pool at the west end of the light blue track (zoom way in!).
We also stopped at Teanaway River, where there is a nice pool with some smaller fish. The river was very low by this date, so There wasn't much fishing to be done. It really reminded me of the first stream I fished on: Canyon Creek. The stream bed was the same kind of large river rocks and the water was pure-clear.
There were no more fishing places, but we looked at a couple of the other spots. Stopped at Umtanum bridge, but the river was very high. Also at the last corner. In the upper canyon, between Cle Elum and Ellensburg, we looked near Swak Creek, and at the Thorp Bridge. But again, too high. No where to wade. At this rate, a boat is in our future.
While at Teanaway River, we rested and smoked a cigar each, CAO Brazilia. The cigar man had made it sound like I wouldn't enjoy this smoke, but I found it to be very pleasant. Not too heavy or strong. So, I don't know what he was talking about.
To sum up, a very nice drive with some fishing. The Iron Horse Park area has a denser forest feel, and will be on our repeat list. Driving the Yakima Canyon is always a beautiful experience. The craggy rocks and golden hillsides (nice way to describe "dessert") are very easy on the eyes. Those stones are heart warming to me, and since I wasn't driving I really got to take a good look.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Coffee review: Daily Grind
a simple boring brew that will be drinkable by the most people.
specific review info:
Not much going on, but it isn't bitter at all. Also, pretty watery- not really in a bad way though. I wouldn't want to drink it regularly, but it's kind of nostalgiac, even though I don't have a lot of coffee history to reach back on.
specific brew info:
had it with breakfast at the sandstone cafe, added some sugar and little creamer stuff.
specific review info:
Not much going on, but it isn't bitter at all. Also, pretty watery- not really in a bad way though. I wouldn't want to drink it regularly, but it's kind of nostalgiac, even though I don't have a lot of coffee history to reach back on.
specific brew info:
had it with breakfast at the sandstone cafe, added some sugar and little creamer stuff.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
coffee review: Peet's Major Dickason's roast
Summary Comment: smooth, rich tast, almost chocolaty. This is my most favorite roast yet!
Specific review info:
The good flavors happen all the way through the mouthful- from beginning to end. No aftertaste that need rationalizing. Some subtle flavors in there that I'm not sure what to call yet.
Specific brew info:
This is my daily brew, 3.5 scoops (7 tablespoons), to 13 oz water, with a couple of teaspoons of sugar and enough milk to bring it to 16 oz.
Specific review info:
The good flavors happen all the way through the mouthful- from beginning to end. No aftertaste that need rationalizing. Some subtle flavors in there that I'm not sure what to call yet.
Specific brew info:
This is my daily brew, 3.5 scoops (7 tablespoons), to 13 oz water, with a couple of teaspoons of sugar and enough milk to bring it to 16 oz.
Friday, May 16, 2008
coffee review: Pike's Place Roast
Summary Comment: a little more burnt taste than I like, but drinkable.
Specific review info:
While the flavor is pretty clear, it lacks a body. Most of the flavor is punctuated at the end, by the (not necessarily bad) burnt taste.
Specific brew info:
This was a commercially brewed cup from Starbuck's at the corner of 395 and Clearwater in Kennewick. I added two sugars (maybe one too many) and a bit of whole milk.
Specific review info:
While the flavor is pretty clear, it lacks a body. Most of the flavor is punctuated at the end, by the (not necessarily bad) burnt taste.
Specific brew info:
This was a commercially brewed cup from Starbuck's at the corner of 395 and Clearwater in Kennewick. I added two sugars (maybe one too many) and a bit of whole milk.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Palouse Falls
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| 20080511_p |
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Coffee Review: Tully's House Blend
Summary Comment: a little weak, but not too bad.
Specific review info:
At one point I thought I tasted brandy, and no, I hadn't added any myself. So, there are some interesting flavors in there, but the general body is pretty mild.
Specific brew info:
This was a commercially brewed cup bought at the Kennewick Fred Meyer Tully stand. I added one packet of Sugar in the Raw, and a few tablespoons of whole milk.
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