We finally found the derned ocean! Lots of those ginormous seagulls were lazing about the beach as we took a stroll on John's lunch break.
Friday, August 01, 2008
We found the Pacific! Ho!
We finally found the derned ocean! Lots of those ginormous seagulls were lazing about the beach as we took a stroll on John's lunch break.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
It's rumored that we're near the ocean, though you can't get to it from here!
That's true...you can smell it off in the distance, the Pacific awaits, crashing, retreating, shooshing and swaying in moon-time, but do you think I could go take a look-see? Not from anywhere round here!!! It's only two blocks away, and yet covered by private marinas and side to side apartment towers so huge it feels like we're being swallowed up by concrete and palm fronds. I went for a meander around the neighborhood yesterday after walking John back to the conference after his first break and was a little disappointed to not get any nearer the ocean that I am at the hotel.
John at least had a good day at the conference, though being gone til 7:00 PM on so little sleep was a bit much. I think they should keep those things within the 8 hour work day mark, but whatever. He said it was all pretty interesting, and we went to dinner in the hotel restaurant to gab about his day, then for a walk to, again, try to find this ocean but had to settle for a very large fountain where some of the biggest seagulls we've ever seen were having a bath. Not to alarm anyone, but Long Beach seems to be a bit of a 'hood, California style. Not anything horrible, but there's a pronounced police presence here, and lots of homeless people loitering about. So when we came upon a large gang of hoodlums on bikes that were lurking by the marina, we decided we were too tired to deal with any riff-raff and headed back to the hotel, around 8:30, where we both crashed almost immediately.
My day was rather boring, and after I was accosted on the street, in my original search for some waves, by some punk-ass with Bryl creamed, stringy hair and a "wifebeater" (a tank top for dudes who need to flaunt their machismo) whom I had been keeping an eye on and then suddenly he sidled up RIGHT NEXT TO ME, I got a little spooked and decided to hide in the hotel for the rest of the day. I wussed out on going to the pool feeling too vulnerable now to put on my revealing bathing suit, so I stayed in my jammies and watched 2 movies (The Big Lebowski and Lost In Translation), read my book, worked on a super-cool beading project, finally taking a shower around 5:30 PM. Oh, and the accessible shower completely blows. It flooded the entire bathroom floor, so I had to use up our towels mopping everything up, ringing out the towels, then doing it all again. I hung the towels out on our tiny little balcony, which is enough to stand out on but not to sit, and they're still not dry this morning. After all the ringing, my left hand is really sore and weak, so I've been pouting about that. That's my writing hand, and I can barely hold a pen in it now! Hrrrrumph. Our bathroom in Holly-weird better be better than this.
John and I had the breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant around 7:30 this morning, then he left for another day of library fun. He's so cute talking about the library stuff :)~ Oh, and we realized that the stairway right near our room leads directly to the pool, so I'm excited that I don't have to traipse around the corridors and elevators in my swimming gear, especially since there's a whole basketball team staying here and the guys are constantly running around the hallways! I think I'll head down for some pool time around 11:00! Wheeeeee! Now all I need is a fruity drink with an umbrella in it!
Anyway, we read that there was a big thunderstorm in Minneapolis with tornado warnings, so I'm a little worried about the babies, but I'm sure they'll just tuck in under the bed like usual. Maybe I'll call and leave them a message on the answering machine, the poor little loves!! We hope all is well at home, and I'll write again tomorrow! Maybe I'll have something fun to report ;)~
Love to all,
R&J
John at least had a good day at the conference, though being gone til 7:00 PM on so little sleep was a bit much. I think they should keep those things within the 8 hour work day mark, but whatever. He said it was all pretty interesting, and we went to dinner in the hotel restaurant to gab about his day, then for a walk to, again, try to find this ocean but had to settle for a very large fountain where some of the biggest seagulls we've ever seen were having a bath. Not to alarm anyone, but Long Beach seems to be a bit of a 'hood, California style. Not anything horrible, but there's a pronounced police presence here, and lots of homeless people loitering about. So when we came upon a large gang of hoodlums on bikes that were lurking by the marina, we decided we were too tired to deal with any riff-raff and headed back to the hotel, around 8:30, where we both crashed almost immediately.
My day was rather boring, and after I was accosted on the street, in my original search for some waves, by some punk-ass with Bryl creamed, stringy hair and a "wifebeater" (a tank top for dudes who need to flaunt their machismo) whom I had been keeping an eye on and then suddenly he sidled up RIGHT NEXT TO ME, I got a little spooked and decided to hide in the hotel for the rest of the day. I wussed out on going to the pool feeling too vulnerable now to put on my revealing bathing suit, so I stayed in my jammies and watched 2 movies (The Big Lebowski and Lost In Translation), read my book, worked on a super-cool beading project, finally taking a shower around 5:30 PM. Oh, and the accessible shower completely blows. It flooded the entire bathroom floor, so I had to use up our towels mopping everything up, ringing out the towels, then doing it all again. I hung the towels out on our tiny little balcony, which is enough to stand out on but not to sit, and they're still not dry this morning. After all the ringing, my left hand is really sore and weak, so I've been pouting about that. That's my writing hand, and I can barely hold a pen in it now! Hrrrrumph. Our bathroom in Holly-weird better be better than this.
John and I had the breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant around 7:30 this morning, then he left for another day of library fun. He's so cute talking about the library stuff :)~ Oh, and we realized that the stairway right near our room leads directly to the pool, so I'm excited that I don't have to traipse around the corridors and elevators in my swimming gear, especially since there's a whole basketball team staying here and the guys are constantly running around the hallways! I think I'll head down for some pool time around 11:00! Wheeeeee! Now all I need is a fruity drink with an umbrella in it!
Anyway, we read that there was a big thunderstorm in Minneapolis with tornado warnings, so I'm a little worried about the babies, but I'm sure they'll just tuck in under the bed like usual. Maybe I'll call and leave them a message on the answering machine, the poor little loves!! We hope all is well at home, and I'll write again tomorrow! Maybe I'll have something fun to report ;)~
Love to all,
R&J
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
We've Arrived in Long Beach!
After a very, very, very long day and night, we dragged ourselves into our fluffy Marriott bed last night at 2:30 AM Pacific time (which is 4:30 to y'all at home, and to our tired bodies which had been up almost 24 hours!). John just left a few minutes ago to register at his ELUNA conference, and I'm still blinking like a mole at the morning light with my coffee and Cheez-It's. This hotel doesn't have a continental breakfast, so I'll have to wander downstairs to the overpriced restaurant, or test my navigating abilities (which are inadequate at best) to find something cheap to eat and hopefully a convenience store where I can get a few non-perishables. Sigh. Already I'm feeling the agoraphobic hermit taking over me.
So, we left the condo in the responsible hands of John's brother, Dave, said goodbye to the little stink-bombs, and took the bus and LRT to the Humphrey terminal. Our flight departed early, and despite the "jimmy-legs" really bothering me, I did get a few winks, although not more than a few minutes at a time, therefore I refuse to consider it official "sleep". John said he got a little sleep and that he kept waking himself up with his own snoring. I'm not sure if that was truly the case since I didn't hear him, but I also wear earplugs and am used to his sleeping noises, so maybe I just tuned it out. We ran into a co-worker of John's and her beau, also headed to the conference and to the same hotel, and they offered to drive us to the hotel in their rental car, so that was very nice! Unfortunately, the National Rental guy was really slow. I mean, REALLY slow. Dude didn't get us out of there until after 1:45 AM, and then as we got to the gate to check out, the Check Engine Oil light came on, so we had to go back to fetch a new car, which took until after 2:00, then we still needed to drive all the way to Long Beach. Thankfully, at that hour, there was very little traffic and we made here where the staff were super-friendly and got us into our rooms in less than 5 minutes, where we promptly passed out.
I'm at a little bit of a loss without my John, I must confess. He's the planner, I just sort of tag along behind, taking note of where the food and bathrooms are at any given stop on the itinerary. It's one of those Yin-Yang features that has helped our relationship, even though you might expect the opposite. And I do have a bit of a fear of going out alone, so I've got to be a little Braveheart today. I can't just sit in here and eat Cheez-It's all day. Well, not that I couldn't do it, I am most certainly capable, just that at some point, ya know...I'm going to run out of Cheez-It's. And me without food is a dangerous thing!!
We ended up with a handicap accessible room which is impressive from an accessibility standpoint, and makes me beam with delight for those with disabilities. For us, however, it's kind of a pain in the ass. The shower floor is absolutely flat, of course, and there's a sprayer instead of a regular shower head. John warned me that the water would run all over the rest of the floor, so I'll have to keep that in mind when I finally decide to bathe. The toilet is great for me with my short legs, and the T.P. is so near the floor you almost have to get off the camode to reach it. Again, not too big a deal for me, but for my 6' hubby, a bit of a stretch.
Christ, it's only 9:29! What am I going to do with myself all day? He's gone til 7pm!!!! Oh, and I'm very quickly losing any nerve I had to actually squeeze into my two-piece to hang by the pool. That might have to be a Hollywood Hills Hotel thang, at least then John will be with me to suffer the humilation of "shark-bait" whiteness in the land of the tan. Plus, it looks like it's an outdoor pool here, and amazingly, it's cooler here than in Minneapolis. Last night it was 65 degrees!!!
Well, I should put on my brave face and go for a walk. I'll post again soon!
Love to all ;)~
R&J
PS: We have not felt any earthquake activity, thankfully! They said there were a bunch of aftershocks yesterday, but we missed all of that. I went to sleep wondering what earthquake protocol is...hmmm, the earth opens up beneath you, debris is falling from every which way, where the fuck you gonna go??
So, we left the condo in the responsible hands of John's brother, Dave, said goodbye to the little stink-bombs, and took the bus and LRT to the Humphrey terminal. Our flight departed early, and despite the "jimmy-legs" really bothering me, I did get a few winks, although not more than a few minutes at a time, therefore I refuse to consider it official "sleep". John said he got a little sleep and that he kept waking himself up with his own snoring. I'm not sure if that was truly the case since I didn't hear him, but I also wear earplugs and am used to his sleeping noises, so maybe I just tuned it out. We ran into a co-worker of John's and her beau, also headed to the conference and to the same hotel, and they offered to drive us to the hotel in their rental car, so that was very nice! Unfortunately, the National Rental guy was really slow. I mean, REALLY slow. Dude didn't get us out of there until after 1:45 AM, and then as we got to the gate to check out, the Check Engine Oil light came on, so we had to go back to fetch a new car, which took until after 2:00, then we still needed to drive all the way to Long Beach. Thankfully, at that hour, there was very little traffic and we made here where the staff were super-friendly and got us into our rooms in less than 5 minutes, where we promptly passed out.
I'm at a little bit of a loss without my John, I must confess. He's the planner, I just sort of tag along behind, taking note of where the food and bathrooms are at any given stop on the itinerary. It's one of those Yin-Yang features that has helped our relationship, even though you might expect the opposite. And I do have a bit of a fear of going out alone, so I've got to be a little Braveheart today. I can't just sit in here and eat Cheez-It's all day. Well, not that I couldn't do it, I am most certainly capable, just that at some point, ya know...I'm going to run out of Cheez-It's. And me without food is a dangerous thing!!
We ended up with a handicap accessible room which is impressive from an accessibility standpoint, and makes me beam with delight for those with disabilities. For us, however, it's kind of a pain in the ass. The shower floor is absolutely flat, of course, and there's a sprayer instead of a regular shower head. John warned me that the water would run all over the rest of the floor, so I'll have to keep that in mind when I finally decide to bathe. The toilet is great for me with my short legs, and the T.P. is so near the floor you almost have to get off the camode to reach it. Again, not too big a deal for me, but for my 6' hubby, a bit of a stretch.
Christ, it's only 9:29! What am I going to do with myself all day? He's gone til 7pm!!!! Oh, and I'm very quickly losing any nerve I had to actually squeeze into my two-piece to hang by the pool. That might have to be a Hollywood Hills Hotel thang, at least then John will be with me to suffer the humilation of "shark-bait" whiteness in the land of the tan. Plus, it looks like it's an outdoor pool here, and amazingly, it's cooler here than in Minneapolis. Last night it was 65 degrees!!!
Well, I should put on my brave face and go for a walk. I'll post again soon!
Love to all ;)~
R&J
PS: We have not felt any earthquake activity, thankfully! They said there were a bunch of aftershocks yesterday, but we missed all of that. I went to sleep wondering what earthquake protocol is...hmmm, the earth opens up beneath you, debris is falling from every which way, where the fuck you gonna go??
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Buggin'
OK, I don't know about any other Macintosh users out there reading this, but we've been having trouble viewing our blog from our Macs. I think it's some goofy thing with our service, but who the hell knows. Anyway, we'll be checking into that, so hopefully this doesn't affect my mum's computer since I know she likes to read this and uses a sweet Mac. We're getting syked about the trip, and as I write this I shudder thinking about all the cleaning that needs to be done before we head out. Yikes...we need to have more parties at our place because that's the only time I get the place clean. Well, except when John & I are having a spat, then we do what I call "avoidance cleaning". Mum always teases me when I complain about having to do chores, "You two need to argue about something, hee hee!" I'd rather have a messy place and be Schmoopie ;)~
Well, we've got our pool gear! The swim suit I was going to get looked really dumb in person and had those awful "floating orb" boob things that I can't stand, so I decided on this bottom and a top similar in style to this but the colors match the little skirty thing (or one can only hope...I'm not known for my fashion sense) and John tried on his trunks and they still fit. He hates the trunks, but they're functional, so ya know, whatever. I think they're kinda funky; they're plain grey while dry, but when you get them wet a bunch of black Chinese dragons appear in the fabric. But then again, I have a disturbed taste for some of the cheesiest shit known to man (I once bought a shirt in Tijuana that said, "I got drunk in Tijuana!"...need I say more?) so I decided to stay out of the issue. If he has a beef with his trunks, he can take it up with them. I also found myself a nice thin robe with a hood that will help me *try* to keep my paleness to a nice shade of Minnesota eggshell. I hate tans nor do I do it well. I go from translucent white to peeling lobster in 30 minutes flat. I probably won't sit in the sun too much, but I do plan on doing my laps early, before there's too much pee in the pool, and then maybe reading my books a bit before the sun gets too hot. I'm a little afraid of doing laps in that suit...which is another reason to hit it before anyone else is there. Maybe I'll just float gracefully ;)~~
I'm a little nervous about our flight/hotel/rental car coordination. We're getting into LAX at one in the morning or some ridiculous time, so we'll need to hail a cab or shuttle to the Long Beach hotel. Then leaving Long Beach, we'll have to shuttle back to LAX, pick up our rental car, head for the Hollywood Hills. For our departure on Tuesday, we'll have to check out of the hotel at 11 AM, screw around for about 6 hours until the Dodgers game, watch most of the game (while also lugging our most valuables with us-gods forbid to leave it in a rented Prius for someone to make off with), then probably have to cut out of the game to head back to LAX, return the car, then wait for our 11:00 PM flight home. Oy vey. "Cheap" flights are getting shittier and shittier. Pretty soon we'll be just taking a fucking Greyhound everywhere. Bullocks to that!!
Regardless of the strange connection worries, we're getting excited! I can't wait to be blogging some actual travel news!!!!!!!!!!!
Soon, very soon!
Love, R&J
Well, we've got our pool gear! The swim suit I was going to get looked really dumb in person and had those awful "floating orb" boob things that I can't stand, so I decided on this bottom and a top similar in style to this but the colors match the little skirty thing (or one can only hope...I'm not known for my fashion sense) and John tried on his trunks and they still fit. He hates the trunks, but they're functional, so ya know, whatever. I think they're kinda funky; they're plain grey while dry, but when you get them wet a bunch of black Chinese dragons appear in the fabric. But then again, I have a disturbed taste for some of the cheesiest shit known to man (I once bought a shirt in Tijuana that said, "I got drunk in Tijuana!"...need I say more?) so I decided to stay out of the issue. If he has a beef with his trunks, he can take it up with them. I also found myself a nice thin robe with a hood that will help me *try* to keep my paleness to a nice shade of Minnesota eggshell. I hate tans nor do I do it well. I go from translucent white to peeling lobster in 30 minutes flat. I probably won't sit in the sun too much, but I do plan on doing my laps early, before there's too much pee in the pool, and then maybe reading my books a bit before the sun gets too hot. I'm a little afraid of doing laps in that suit...which is another reason to hit it before anyone else is there. Maybe I'll just float gracefully ;)~~
I'm a little nervous about our flight/hotel/rental car coordination. We're getting into LAX at one in the morning or some ridiculous time, so we'll need to hail a cab or shuttle to the Long Beach hotel. Then leaving Long Beach, we'll have to shuttle back to LAX, pick up our rental car, head for the Hollywood Hills. For our departure on Tuesday, we'll have to check out of the hotel at 11 AM, screw around for about 6 hours until the Dodgers game, watch most of the game (while also lugging our most valuables with us-gods forbid to leave it in a rented Prius for someone to make off with), then probably have to cut out of the game to head back to LAX, return the car, then wait for our 11:00 PM flight home. Oy vey. "Cheap" flights are getting shittier and shittier. Pretty soon we'll be just taking a fucking Greyhound everywhere. Bullocks to that!!
Regardless of the strange connection worries, we're getting excited! I can't wait to be blogging some actual travel news!!!!!!!!!!!
Soon, very soon!
Love, R&J
Friday, July 04, 2008
Hollywood Hills
We booked our hotel in Hollywood today! It's called the Hollywood Hills Hotel. Check it out and see for yourself how funky and weird this place looks. There's some posh place called the Magic Castle that we can go to as guests...it's like one of the highest rated hotels anywhere but it's exclusively for magicians or some weird ass thing, but I love it! It sounds absolutely droll, and you all should know my love of all things droll ;)~~ This is where they hold the Houdini Seances!!!!! I'm usually not one for exclusivity and hold places that have dress codes in fairly low regard, but....for some reason this seems more like a place where people just want to feel fancy rather than be all richy rich snobbery blobs.
We're getting really excited, and even more now that I know there are pools at both hotels so I can keep up with my workouts that I've taken to calling my "spa days"; makes it a bit easier to stick to it ;) Much as I shudder at the thought of the sanitary conditions of hotel pools, I'm going to suck it up for this trip. How can you go to California and NOT spend every day near the pool eating bon-bons?! I've just been window shopping online at Kohl's and I think I found the suit I want . Hopefully it will hide my undesirable bits (i.e. my belly & booty) cuz I'm sure the place will be filled with a bunch of hard bodied babes that will make me miss my forever-gone gymnasts body. Sigh.
Ah, but speaking of all things gluttonous, I've been getting the California lowdown on restaurants from one of my online buddies who is from Studio City, lives in Nashville, and is a punk rock lovin' sous chef!! So I've gotten some cool hints for some eateries we've gotta hit while we're there. I wish she still lived there to show us around. Though I'm not thrilled about flying again, I am excited about hitting the CA. I do love it there, as shopper-scary driver-wildfire-heaven such as it is, it's got palm trees lining the sidewalks, and the Pacific is perfect natural beauty in a big earthy bowl, a sight and sound comparable to none. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!!!
California, here we come!
We're getting really excited, and even more now that I know there are pools at both hotels so I can keep up with my workouts that I've taken to calling my "spa days"; makes it a bit easier to stick to it ;) Much as I shudder at the thought of the sanitary conditions of hotel pools, I'm going to suck it up for this trip. How can you go to California and NOT spend every day near the pool eating bon-bons?! I've just been window shopping online at Kohl's and I think I found the suit I want . Hopefully it will hide my undesirable bits (i.e. my belly & booty) cuz I'm sure the place will be filled with a bunch of hard bodied babes that will make me miss my forever-gone gymnasts body. Sigh.
Ah, but speaking of all things gluttonous, I've been getting the California lowdown on restaurants from one of my online buddies who is from Studio City, lives in Nashville, and is a punk rock lovin' sous chef!! So I've gotten some cool hints for some eateries we've gotta hit while we're there. I wish she still lived there to show us around. Though I'm not thrilled about flying again, I am excited about hitting the CA. I do love it there, as shopper-scary driver-wildfire-heaven such as it is, it's got palm trees lining the sidewalks, and the Pacific is perfect natural beauty in a big earthy bowl, a sight and sound comparable to none. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!!!
California, here we come!
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Next Stop: California!
This love train will be rolling on into Long Beach, California on July 30! John's got a conference to attend, and since he's not been to Southern CA we decided we may as well make a little vacay out of it. So we'll be checking out Los Angeles, San Diego and the surrounding areas from July 30-August 6 and I'll be writing you every detail right here! We're going to spring for a Prius which will probably save us money in the long run what with gas prices and all. Oooh, maybe I can show John the skanky motel where Katie butchered my knee in Santa Monica! Ahhh, good times, good times.
I'll have to investigate some funky restaurants to check out. Of course we've gotta have an In and Out Burger, and we may be able to catch some Big Lebowski specific stuff (I'll have to watch the movie and see if I can find the name of the bowling alley they're always at or something) and some of my online buddies reside there, so maybe their bands will be playing, or we can catch some no-name act at the legendary Whisky A-Go-Go. I've only been through San Diego briefly; I'd always planned on moving there for college, so it will be fun to see more of it. We thought about stopping down in Tijuana, but I'd rather not relive my experience there, and we just heard some nasty news about the situation down there so that's likely not going to happen. One of my fave bloggers lives in San D so I might have to stalk some of the martini joints she's always raving about.
So check back in July, and I promise, we'll be hooked in ;)~
I'll have to investigate some funky restaurants to check out. Of course we've gotta have an In and Out Burger, and we may be able to catch some Big Lebowski specific stuff (I'll have to watch the movie and see if I can find the name of the bowling alley they're always at or something) and some of my online buddies reside there, so maybe their bands will be playing, or we can catch some no-name act at the legendary Whisky A-Go-Go. I've only been through San Diego briefly; I'd always planned on moving there for college, so it will be fun to see more of it. We thought about stopping down in Tijuana, but I'd rather not relive my experience there, and we just heard some nasty news about the situation down there so that's likely not going to happen. One of my fave bloggers lives in San D so I might have to stalk some of the martini joints she's always raving about.
So check back in July, and I promise, we'll be hooked in ;)~
Friday, May 23, 2008
HIt Counter
Aw man, I just added a new hit counter and thought it'd be cute to start it at number 69 (it's funny to me, anyway) and it's already at 70 cuz I viewed it. I should've selected "unique visitors", not "all hits". Oh well, start reading our site, give us hits!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Don't Forget The Podcast!
Don't forget to listen to our geeky podcast, just click the first link under "links" to subscribe! And forgive my nasally, squeaky voice, man, I hate my voice, egads! We got back to work today which made us kind of happy to get back to routine, but also kind of sad because, well, it's work :( Next trip will be to San Diego, CA (on the tail end of John's conference for work in Long Beach) in late July/early August. See you then!
Love to all ;)~
R&J
Love to all ;)~
R&J
Saturday, May 10, 2008
"Til These Badlands Start Treating Us Good"
Here's the final stop on the journey: the Badlands. I love how the sky and soft clouds look against the dusty, rocky hills. Sorry about the crap in the one picture, our lenses are seriously dirty.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Deadwood, Ded Good
Another day in Deadwood has been as leisurely as a vacation day away in the drizzling rain could be. We both slept very well, and got our continental breakfast early which was a refreshing change from our fatty bacon and eggs breakfasts the past few days. We had toast, juice, coffee and bananas. We went out on a walking tour of the town, then climbed a zillion steps and up steep sloping hills to visit the Mount Moriah Cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Potato Creek Johnny and Seth Bullock (among many others, obviously) are buried. Holy shit, my legs have not been that active in far too long! The cemetery was muddy due to all the rain, and it's all on an amazingly steep hillside which makes me cringe for the grave diggers, yikes. There are several mass graves of the poor peasants of the time, labeled as Potter's Fields, in various areas of the cemetery which was a little disconcerting. There was an area that was for the Chinese immigrants whose bodies were eventually moved back to China; all but two people whose graves looked rather eerie on either side of the sign explaining the site. I was also interested to learn that there was a prominent Jewish population that made history in Deadwood, so I took a photo of the sign that showed where the Jewish folks were laid to rest, each marked with the Star of David. We never made it to Seth Bullock's grave which we later looked up to find that it was buried WAAAAAAY up further on the hill, so we would have never made it that far anyway! There is some rather interesting facts about this cemetery at (http://deadwood.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={FDD11CF4-F861-473A-BF57-29C897B35DF0})
if you're interested in reading about it.
After our long trek to and from Mount Moriah, we decided a large dinner was in order. We chose to dine at The Gem Steakhouse where John had a steak dinner, and I chose quesadillas which were good but I felt kind of weird getting those in a steakhouse. I was afraid I'd never be able to finish a steak and potato type dinner, but it turned out I couldn't finish the quesadillas, either. A fifty foot walk back to the Celebrity for some lounging in style to watch the game and rest up for the long drive home. We meant to use the whirlpool bath once more, but I crashed watching the game and was out like a light until morning. Reluctantly, we checked out early after another light breakfast and leisurely showers in the gorgeous shower with the elephant shower head.
On our journey home, we took a three hour detour through the Badlands. Even though it was bitterly cold, windy and rainy, it was a beautifully rugged place and we again found ourselves marveling at how the Lakota people survived in these lands. We never did see anything other than prairie dogs and a lone antelope wandering the prairie, but there are black-footed ferrets, bison, coyotes, bighorn sheep and even rattlesnakes (and everywhere birds and hawks of all sorts!) that live in the Badlands. You can literally see and feel that you're driving through the winding hills of an ancient, dried up ocean that is impossibly huge. I can see why those that live here love it, but I can also see what a hard life it would be. We enjoyed a meal at the Cedar Pass Lodge; John had the Indian Frybread Taco (which was fantastic!), I had the Albacore Tuna on marble rye, which was unique because it had grilled red onion and didn't use any mayo-it was delicious. We then set off on the long, long drive home that landed us in our condo around 11:15 pm last night (Thursday). The babies were happy and squeaky to see us :) It feels good to have a few days to acclimate to regular life again, do laundry, catch up on our internet sites and sleep in! YAY! I'll post some final photos to enjoy :)~
if you're interested in reading about it.
After our long trek to and from Mount Moriah, we decided a large dinner was in order. We chose to dine at The Gem Steakhouse where John had a steak dinner, and I chose quesadillas which were good but I felt kind of weird getting those in a steakhouse. I was afraid I'd never be able to finish a steak and potato type dinner, but it turned out I couldn't finish the quesadillas, either. A fifty foot walk back to the Celebrity for some lounging in style to watch the game and rest up for the long drive home. We meant to use the whirlpool bath once more, but I crashed watching the game and was out like a light until morning. Reluctantly, we checked out early after another light breakfast and leisurely showers in the gorgeous shower with the elephant shower head.
On our journey home, we took a three hour detour through the Badlands. Even though it was bitterly cold, windy and rainy, it was a beautifully rugged place and we again found ourselves marveling at how the Lakota people survived in these lands. We never did see anything other than prairie dogs and a lone antelope wandering the prairie, but there are black-footed ferrets, bison, coyotes, bighorn sheep and even rattlesnakes (and everywhere birds and hawks of all sorts!) that live in the Badlands. You can literally see and feel that you're driving through the winding hills of an ancient, dried up ocean that is impossibly huge. I can see why those that live here love it, but I can also see what a hard life it would be. We enjoyed a meal at the Cedar Pass Lodge; John had the Indian Frybread Taco (which was fantastic!), I had the Albacore Tuna on marble rye, which was unique because it had grilled red onion and didn't use any mayo-it was delicious. We then set off on the long, long drive home that landed us in our condo around 11:15 pm last night (Thursday). The babies were happy and squeaky to see us :) It feels good to have a few days to acclimate to regular life again, do laundry, catch up on our internet sites and sleep in! YAY! I'll post some final photos to enjoy :)~
Thursday, May 08, 2008
The Celebrity Hotel
Here's our very swanky hotel in Deadwood! The view of the mannequins in the window across the street is creepily charming, and as you can see, the room totally rocks! You would never know the rooms would be this nice inside by looking at the plain, flat exterior.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Hi Deer!
These deer visited us both mornings at Legion Lake and could be seen throughout the day nibbling on the grasses, how sweet!!
Devil's Tower and Deadwood
Today began with a lovely, early morning hike around Legion Lake to say goodbye to our lovely cabin in the woods. The resident Osprey was making is morning circles searching for some breakfast, the mallards were quacking away and there was a noisy woodpecker that was a fantastic escape artist avoiding my cameras capture of him. Oh well, he was cool looking with a huge plume on his head, and we awoke to him pecking away at our cabin's walls.
Our next stop was Devil's Tower, which is actually in Wyoming. I drove today and it was a pleasant, and remarkably fast, drive into Wyoming via the scenic route rather than the interstate. Wyoming seemed even more cowboy country-ish than the Black Hills, and there's red clay ridges cutting into the grassy countryside everywhere that is rustic and pretty. We pulled up to the massive tower awestruck by this thing which is incorrectly attributed to the Devil. If there were a devil, it most certainly couldn't be responsible for this wonder smack dab in the middle of an environment that seems to be mismatched; they believe it was once a volcano, or the inside remnants of a volcano, or just a bubble of magma that popped up. Whatever it is, it seems as if it should be sitting in Hawaii and not in Wyoming! On the long, slow ascent up to the visitors center where you start the walking path around it, there's a village of prairie dogs that skitter and chirp and do cute little doggie dances with each other that are worth a stop of the car to snap photos. They seem to communicate to each other the ever-present danger of golden eagles circling overhead, they are fast and have many underground tunnels to take refuge in. The walk around Devil's Tower is not too long, a mile and a quarter I believe, a bit of a challenge but there are many places to rest, and there is a unique sound that surrounds the tower: the wind. I've never heard wind like this, it's almost like invisible water falls crashing down around you, but yet it's still. It's both sunny and shady, hot and cold along the trail of trees and massive rock. The forest surrounding the tower is a silent beauty, it smells of pine strongly but not overpowering. The rock that has fallen from the tower are huge columnar formations that have broken away and look as if they could kill an entire village in one swoop. After our walk, we shared a little picnic and took a load off, then headed onto Deadwood, SD.
Deadwood, if you've not heard of it, was a gold rush town that has an interesting history. John got into a tv series called "Deadwood" that's based on the whole story, but it was too realistically gory for me to watch so I don't know much about it, other than what he's told me. Most people seem to have an ideal about these cowboys as silent, stoic and honorable men like in old John Wayne movies. They were anything but. It was a grizzly time, so it's definitely an interesting history, but again, it's a pretty disturbing, lawlessness which I find difficult to comprehend. The town today looks a lot like the old west, one story towns from the movies, so much so it almost looks like a movie set. It's filled with casinos, there are slot machines in every window, there are even fake prostitutes in the second story window of the building across from our hotel window, how quaint! But....a little creepy.
Our hotel is the highlight so far, though. We were planning on spending only one night here, so we booked Room 218 of the Celebrity Hotel along Main Street, and upon seeing this grand suite, we promptly went back downstairs to secure it for a second night. It is the largest, most tasteful and extravagant hotel room either of us have seen, and for the low low price of $99 per night, (that's right, $99) we decided to extend our trip another day to enjoy this great escape. I can't even describe it, so we will let the pictures do all the talking.
Our next stop was Devil's Tower, which is actually in Wyoming. I drove today and it was a pleasant, and remarkably fast, drive into Wyoming via the scenic route rather than the interstate. Wyoming seemed even more cowboy country-ish than the Black Hills, and there's red clay ridges cutting into the grassy countryside everywhere that is rustic and pretty. We pulled up to the massive tower awestruck by this thing which is incorrectly attributed to the Devil. If there were a devil, it most certainly couldn't be responsible for this wonder smack dab in the middle of an environment that seems to be mismatched; they believe it was once a volcano, or the inside remnants of a volcano, or just a bubble of magma that popped up. Whatever it is, it seems as if it should be sitting in Hawaii and not in Wyoming! On the long, slow ascent up to the visitors center where you start the walking path around it, there's a village of prairie dogs that skitter and chirp and do cute little doggie dances with each other that are worth a stop of the car to snap photos. They seem to communicate to each other the ever-present danger of golden eagles circling overhead, they are fast and have many underground tunnels to take refuge in. The walk around Devil's Tower is not too long, a mile and a quarter I believe, a bit of a challenge but there are many places to rest, and there is a unique sound that surrounds the tower: the wind. I've never heard wind like this, it's almost like invisible water falls crashing down around you, but yet it's still. It's both sunny and shady, hot and cold along the trail of trees and massive rock. The forest surrounding the tower is a silent beauty, it smells of pine strongly but not overpowering. The rock that has fallen from the tower are huge columnar formations that have broken away and look as if they could kill an entire village in one swoop. After our walk, we shared a little picnic and took a load off, then headed onto Deadwood, SD.
Deadwood, if you've not heard of it, was a gold rush town that has an interesting history. John got into a tv series called "Deadwood" that's based on the whole story, but it was too realistically gory for me to watch so I don't know much about it, other than what he's told me. Most people seem to have an ideal about these cowboys as silent, stoic and honorable men like in old John Wayne movies. They were anything but. It was a grizzly time, so it's definitely an interesting history, but again, it's a pretty disturbing, lawlessness which I find difficult to comprehend. The town today looks a lot like the old west, one story towns from the movies, so much so it almost looks like a movie set. It's filled with casinos, there are slot machines in every window, there are even fake prostitutes in the second story window of the building across from our hotel window, how quaint! But....a little creepy.
Our hotel is the highlight so far, though. We were planning on spending only one night here, so we booked Room 218 of the Celebrity Hotel along Main Street, and upon seeing this grand suite, we promptly went back downstairs to secure it for a second night. It is the largest, most tasteful and extravagant hotel room either of us have seen, and for the low low price of $99 per night, (that's right, $99) we decided to extend our trip another day to enjoy this great escape. I can't even describe it, so we will let the pictures do all the talking.
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play
Again, I must reiterate: wow. It’s hardly to be believed that this place is part of the same, flat, farming state that borders our own, the landscape here reminds me of Pennsylvania. The weather has been absolutely perfect. We keep remarking that we picked the perfect time to come (rock on for May 2 weddings!) because there are hardly any people on the roads. There are tourists, but not too many, so it’s quiet but not completely isolated. Very romantic.
Today we were up and at ‘em around 5:30 (Mountain time) and got on the road by 6:45 to our first stop, the Crazy Horse monument which supposedly opened at 7, but that was a lie, so we took some pictures from afar and left for Mount Rushmore. We were wholly impressed with Mount Rushmore, say what you will about the controversy surrounding its making. There’s a nifty little trail and audio tour that you can take to see some very cool views over the Black Hills. There are more chipmunks than you could ever possibly imagine, and there are also mountain goats! I was hell bent on seeing a mountain goat before we left, and as you’ll see from the pictures, right before we left two of them appeared out of nowhere right in front of the visitors center!! Amazing! It topped off a bit of an unpleasant patch in our trail journey where I got really sick, so I was happy to have it end on a high note ☺
Onto Rapid City for a bite to eat at the Firehouse Brewery where we shared a delish meal, followed by a walk where John almost bought a tuba from an eager salesman (haha!), then to enjoy some iced drinks at Dunn Bros and login to the internet to post yesterday’s entry. We giggled and acted like a teenage couple hovering over our iMac with our icees, it was quite fun, and helped me recover a bit from whatever the hell it was that struck me at Rushmore. We were then going to go to the Wind Caves, but the long drive and the hour and a half journey they promise (all underground with over 300 steps to walk) didn’t sound like it would be best for me today, so we ended up going back to Custer State Park to drive the Wildlife Loop Road. That turned out to be the highlight of the day as you will see in our photos that follow!! We saw wild turkeys, two kinds of deer, antelope, burros, prairie dogs (we think) and of course, BISON! We actually saw wild bison! We even got out of the car and stood to take pictures of a whole herd of bison with their little young ’uns, it was absolutely incredible! A lot of the animals we saw were very close to the car so we got good photos, but the burros, oh my gawd the burros were the cutest things! They literally walk right up to the cars! John was out taking some photos and there was this adorable dark brown burro that started making a bee-line for him, so we made for the car where he kept right on following us. While I love animals, and these did appear friendly, they are wild so we kept the windows up even though it broke our hearts to drive away from those sweet faces, it’s probably for the best. We’ve got pictures of other folks who stopped to pet the burros and who blocked their cars to try to beg food from the passersby ☺ What silly loves!
Monday's Mileage: 156.8
Roadkill Report: Zero!! Double happiness!
(This post is from Monday, last post was from Sunday but we didn't have internet access so they are both a day late.)
Today we were up and at ‘em around 5:30 (Mountain time) and got on the road by 6:45 to our first stop, the Crazy Horse monument which supposedly opened at 7, but that was a lie, so we took some pictures from afar and left for Mount Rushmore. We were wholly impressed with Mount Rushmore, say what you will about the controversy surrounding its making. There’s a nifty little trail and audio tour that you can take to see some very cool views over the Black Hills. There are more chipmunks than you could ever possibly imagine, and there are also mountain goats! I was hell bent on seeing a mountain goat before we left, and as you’ll see from the pictures, right before we left two of them appeared out of nowhere right in front of the visitors center!! Amazing! It topped off a bit of an unpleasant patch in our trail journey where I got really sick, so I was happy to have it end on a high note ☺
Onto Rapid City for a bite to eat at the Firehouse Brewery where we shared a delish meal, followed by a walk where John almost bought a tuba from an eager salesman (haha!), then to enjoy some iced drinks at Dunn Bros and login to the internet to post yesterday’s entry. We giggled and acted like a teenage couple hovering over our iMac with our icees, it was quite fun, and helped me recover a bit from whatever the hell it was that struck me at Rushmore. We were then going to go to the Wind Caves, but the long drive and the hour and a half journey they promise (all underground with over 300 steps to walk) didn’t sound like it would be best for me today, so we ended up going back to Custer State Park to drive the Wildlife Loop Road. That turned out to be the highlight of the day as you will see in our photos that follow!! We saw wild turkeys, two kinds of deer, antelope, burros, prairie dogs (we think) and of course, BISON! We actually saw wild bison! We even got out of the car and stood to take pictures of a whole herd of bison with their little young ’uns, it was absolutely incredible! A lot of the animals we saw were very close to the car so we got good photos, but the burros, oh my gawd the burros were the cutest things! They literally walk right up to the cars! John was out taking some photos and there was this adorable dark brown burro that started making a bee-line for him, so we made for the car where he kept right on following us. While I love animals, and these did appear friendly, they are wild so we kept the windows up even though it broke our hearts to drive away from those sweet faces, it’s probably for the best. We’ve got pictures of other folks who stopped to pet the burros and who blocked their cars to try to beg food from the passersby ☺ What silly loves!
Monday's Mileage: 156.8
Roadkill Report: Zero!! Double happiness!
(This post is from Monday, last post was from Sunday but we didn't have internet access so they are both a day late.)
Monday, May 05, 2008
Black Hills
Wow, well, we made it to Black Hills! It is more beautiful than I could have imagined. Even the developed areas are wild and free by city slicker standards. This would be a cool place to run a restaurant or bed & breakfast, or just own a little cabin to spend the summers. Wow, that’s the only thing I can say to describe it here. Wow.
We started the day with a peanut butter sandwich and were on the road by 8:30 am to get a jump on the long day ahead of us. We stopped at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, which was a disappointment: I was thinking a literal palace made entirely of corn, but it’s actually a community center with large art made of corn above some seats on a basketball court. Not great. Something to do with fire regulations, I think. BAH! We did happen across Lake Mitchell, though, and found an impressive flock of pelicans and got some awesome pictures of them!
My sweet love did ALL the driving today, except for a small stretch of highway between the Wall Drug (which is a big tourist attraction, though I’d never heard of it before this, and much better than the Corn Palace of Shame) to the next rest stop after I started having a panic attack about how winding the roads were going to get. I’m glad we switched seats, because that panic was nothing compared to the mortal fear I experienced later as we drove up the side of a mountain to get to the Sylvan Lake Lodge, egads. At one point, there’s a tunnel that is big enough for only ONE car, though it’s a two-way road. The Sylvan had some funny situation going on, so the manager called the Legion Lake Resort to hold us a cabin. It is the cutest cabin, perfect for a little romantic stay in the woods ☺ We’re ill equipped for a cabin stay, but they’ve got a little grocery store and restaurant at the bottom of hill, nice and convenient, and my idea of “roughing it”.
We were amazed at how many deer we saw on the way up the mountain, and they were right outside the car just looking up at you like, “Hey, how’s it going? Got any food?” We haven’t seen any wild bison yet, but they are here in this very park, Custer State, and there are warnings everywhere about how dangerous they are. I’d love to see some and take pictures from afar, WAY afar! That’s the beauty of having a zoom lens. After we settled into our cabin, we took off on a walk, and right outside the cabin looking straight at us were three very friendly deer!! They stayed there and looked at us with interest while we shot a buttload of pics, I couldn’t believe it! I suppose to people out here the deer are as common as squirrels, but to us, it’s so incredible to get that close to them! They nibbled on the grass demurely as we admired them and they never did get spooked, not once, even with all the clicking of our digital cameras.
We explored the large, mountainy ridges that surround this tiny serene lake, and then settled down near the waters edge to admire the mallards coupling, the birds twittering, the fish jumping, and a very large Osprey trying to get dinner for himself. We’ve got photos of it all, never fear! The fluffy sprawl of clouds over the lake had me mesmerized until the chill in the air finally sent us to the cabin to snuggle in for the night. So now we’re here relaxing in silence, no tv, no water park or kids running down hallways, no freeways, no cars, no sounds (except the chorus of our bellies that are strangely in unison, I hope my IBS isn’t contagious), no internet access…just us in this grand place that I imagine is quite similar to what it was when the world was new to human life.
Tomorrow’s agenda: Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, find an internet café (preferably a Caribou coffee, I’m dying for a chai latte!) so we can post this and our photos, then off to tour the Wind Caves, which are reportedly some of the largest caves in the world! YAY! Now I’m off to take a look at the beautiful gemstones I found for a STEAL at the Wall Drug. In case you’re wondering, I picked up 2 rose quartz, an amethyst, moss agate, blue lace, clear quartz, blood stone, fancy jasper, obsidian, malachite and adventurine, all for only $3.07!!!!!! I’m very tempted to stop back there to pick up more because they were so cheap, hopefully time allows. I would still like to stop off at a couple of the trading post places around Rapid City to look for totem animal carvings, cuz I’m into freaky stuff like that. Whee!
Our live animal report for the road is good: we saw LOADS of pheasants, ducks, cows, horses, regal white cranes and deer roaming around alive and well!! It is, however, a sad day for lots of others ☹
Roadkill Report: 3 bunnies, 9 pheasants, a raccoon, a muskrat (perhaps), 2 “chunkies”, and 2 “tiny somethings”. Lots of semi tires also lots their lives today; tons of rubber bits on the road.
Today's Mileage: 366.7
Restaurant Report: Today we only ate out once at a shitty little place called the Cactus Grill near the Wall Drug. It was food, that’s about all I can say for it. I kept telling myself that we were eating better than they did in the old west, and at least I’m not turning tricks for my meals like the ladies of those days had to. Ick.
We started the day with a peanut butter sandwich and were on the road by 8:30 am to get a jump on the long day ahead of us. We stopped at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, which was a disappointment: I was thinking a literal palace made entirely of corn, but it’s actually a community center with large art made of corn above some seats on a basketball court. Not great. Something to do with fire regulations, I think. BAH! We did happen across Lake Mitchell, though, and found an impressive flock of pelicans and got some awesome pictures of them!
My sweet love did ALL the driving today, except for a small stretch of highway between the Wall Drug (which is a big tourist attraction, though I’d never heard of it before this, and much better than the Corn Palace of Shame) to the next rest stop after I started having a panic attack about how winding the roads were going to get. I’m glad we switched seats, because that panic was nothing compared to the mortal fear I experienced later as we drove up the side of a mountain to get to the Sylvan Lake Lodge, egads. At one point, there’s a tunnel that is big enough for only ONE car, though it’s a two-way road. The Sylvan had some funny situation going on, so the manager called the Legion Lake Resort to hold us a cabin. It is the cutest cabin, perfect for a little romantic stay in the woods ☺ We’re ill equipped for a cabin stay, but they’ve got a little grocery store and restaurant at the bottom of hill, nice and convenient, and my idea of “roughing it”.
We were amazed at how many deer we saw on the way up the mountain, and they were right outside the car just looking up at you like, “Hey, how’s it going? Got any food?” We haven’t seen any wild bison yet, but they are here in this very park, Custer State, and there are warnings everywhere about how dangerous they are. I’d love to see some and take pictures from afar, WAY afar! That’s the beauty of having a zoom lens. After we settled into our cabin, we took off on a walk, and right outside the cabin looking straight at us were three very friendly deer!! They stayed there and looked at us with interest while we shot a buttload of pics, I couldn’t believe it! I suppose to people out here the deer are as common as squirrels, but to us, it’s so incredible to get that close to them! They nibbled on the grass demurely as we admired them and they never did get spooked, not once, even with all the clicking of our digital cameras.
We explored the large, mountainy ridges that surround this tiny serene lake, and then settled down near the waters edge to admire the mallards coupling, the birds twittering, the fish jumping, and a very large Osprey trying to get dinner for himself. We’ve got photos of it all, never fear! The fluffy sprawl of clouds over the lake had me mesmerized until the chill in the air finally sent us to the cabin to snuggle in for the night. So now we’re here relaxing in silence, no tv, no water park or kids running down hallways, no freeways, no cars, no sounds (except the chorus of our bellies that are strangely in unison, I hope my IBS isn’t contagious), no internet access…just us in this grand place that I imagine is quite similar to what it was when the world was new to human life.
Tomorrow’s agenda: Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, find an internet café (preferably a Caribou coffee, I’m dying for a chai latte!) so we can post this and our photos, then off to tour the Wind Caves, which are reportedly some of the largest caves in the world! YAY! Now I’m off to take a look at the beautiful gemstones I found for a STEAL at the Wall Drug. In case you’re wondering, I picked up 2 rose quartz, an amethyst, moss agate, blue lace, clear quartz, blood stone, fancy jasper, obsidian, malachite and adventurine, all for only $3.07!!!!!! I’m very tempted to stop back there to pick up more because they were so cheap, hopefully time allows. I would still like to stop off at a couple of the trading post places around Rapid City to look for totem animal carvings, cuz I’m into freaky stuff like that. Whee!
Our live animal report for the road is good: we saw LOADS of pheasants, ducks, cows, horses, regal white cranes and deer roaming around alive and well!! It is, however, a sad day for lots of others ☹
Roadkill Report: 3 bunnies, 9 pheasants, a raccoon, a muskrat (perhaps), 2 “chunkies”, and 2 “tiny somethings”. Lots of semi tires also lots their lives today; tons of rubber bits on the road.
Today's Mileage: 366.7
Restaurant Report: Today we only ate out once at a shitty little place called the Cactus Grill near the Wall Drug. It was food, that’s about all I can say for it. I kept telling myself that we were eating better than they did in the old west, and at least I’m not turning tricks for my meals like the ladies of those days had to. Ick.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Sioux Falls
Chillen' here in Sioux Falls, SD, which to me seems a lot like Edina, or maybe Red Wing. It's like a big suburb. What strikes me is that the streets seem very empty, though there are lots of people about, and what strikes John is the large amount of smokers here. It's kind of curious to see so many smokers, I guess we've gotten used to the non-smoking luxury of Minneapolis. We're currently in our Best Western Ramkota Hotel room at the end of a long hallway of families with kids who are here solely to utilize the water park and I just have to thank the gods we didn't book a pool side room. The room is quite nice, very "chain hotel-esque" which is okay because we know what we're getting: a decent bed, a coffee maker and a safe place to kick our feet up. At least I don't feel the need to worry that there's a dead hooker under the bed.
I drove most of the way here until I got my mid-day sleepies and we switched spots at the saddest little rest stop you ever did see. The drive was an absolute luxury with virtually zero traffic the entire way. We had our upbeat tunes cranked most of the way to get us pumped for driving and we had fun singing and goofing together. There were countless hawks and eagles on the way, and we saw a massive eagles nest before we even got out of Minneapolis, so that was cool. It was beautifully sunny, but so windy it was hard to maneuver our little boxy Toodlebug! Of course, our Toodlebug was the coolest car on the road, contrary to what all these red, sporty cars would have you believe.
Once here in Sioux Falls, we lounged a bit before heading out to scope out a couple of bead stores. The first was a cute little shop that had a free class going on, they had some of the most unique jewelry I've seen in a long time, and they were selling the most beautiful cabochons I've ever seen!! They had a cute sign that said, "Shoplifting is bad karma". I'll try to find their website to post with our other links. The second store was a complete ripoff; they were selling mini-strands of gemstone chips for twice the price of what a normal strand should cost, all their beads were in champagne glasses that cluttered the entire store which made it hard to find anything, and they didn't have anything I wanted there anyway, so we split. We ended up eating at a funky diner that seemed to be a local hot spot, and the food was good. John had a corned beef and swiss sandwich with coleslaw, and I went the full fried/fatty selection with a fish sandwich and fries, which I'm now paying for in a big way :( We did have a very pleasant walk near The Falls that we'll post pix of in a minute. Sadly, they're right near a sheep slaughter house which I tried to ignore as we drove past on the way in and out of the parking lot. It seemed like most of Sioux Falls residents were at The Falls, and they're celebrating Cinco de Mayo today (for some reason) so there was live music and kids all crawling everywhere out on the rocks having fun. We took photos of some geese and their little goslings!!!!!! The mama in one of the photos is just giving me the evil eye even though I was far away shooting with the zoom lens. Cute motherly protector of those little yellow fuzz balls!
Anyway, I meant to make this a quick post because we haven't done too much yet, but here I've blogged most every detail! Geez, a blabbermouth even in writing ;)~ Anyway, tomorrow's post will be from Sylvan Lake, which reports are saying got 24 inches of snow the other day. Hmmm, flash floods...let's hope not!
Roadkill Report:
Three raccoons, a very decomposed deer (half of it, anyway), something that looked like a dog, and something that looked like nothing we could figure out...like a raccoon/fox. A silent lament for all the roadkill, please.
Mileage: 258.2
I drove most of the way here until I got my mid-day sleepies and we switched spots at the saddest little rest stop you ever did see. The drive was an absolute luxury with virtually zero traffic the entire way. We had our upbeat tunes cranked most of the way to get us pumped for driving and we had fun singing and goofing together. There were countless hawks and eagles on the way, and we saw a massive eagles nest before we even got out of Minneapolis, so that was cool. It was beautifully sunny, but so windy it was hard to maneuver our little boxy Toodlebug! Of course, our Toodlebug was the coolest car on the road, contrary to what all these red, sporty cars would have you believe.
Once here in Sioux Falls, we lounged a bit before heading out to scope out a couple of bead stores. The first was a cute little shop that had a free class going on, they had some of the most unique jewelry I've seen in a long time, and they were selling the most beautiful cabochons I've ever seen!! They had a cute sign that said, "Shoplifting is bad karma". I'll try to find their website to post with our other links. The second store was a complete ripoff; they were selling mini-strands of gemstone chips for twice the price of what a normal strand should cost, all their beads were in champagne glasses that cluttered the entire store which made it hard to find anything, and they didn't have anything I wanted there anyway, so we split. We ended up eating at a funky diner that seemed to be a local hot spot, and the food was good. John had a corned beef and swiss sandwich with coleslaw, and I went the full fried/fatty selection with a fish sandwich and fries, which I'm now paying for in a big way :( We did have a very pleasant walk near The Falls that we'll post pix of in a minute. Sadly, they're right near a sheep slaughter house which I tried to ignore as we drove past on the way in and out of the parking lot. It seemed like most of Sioux Falls residents were at The Falls, and they're celebrating Cinco de Mayo today (for some reason) so there was live music and kids all crawling everywhere out on the rocks having fun. We took photos of some geese and their little goslings!!!!!! The mama in one of the photos is just giving me the evil eye even though I was far away shooting with the zoom lens. Cute motherly protector of those little yellow fuzz balls!
Anyway, I meant to make this a quick post because we haven't done too much yet, but here I've blogged most every detail! Geez, a blabbermouth even in writing ;)~ Anyway, tomorrow's post will be from Sylvan Lake, which reports are saying got 24 inches of snow the other day. Hmmm, flash floods...let's hope not!
Roadkill Report:
Three raccoons, a very decomposed deer (half of it, anyway), something that looked like a dog, and something that looked like nothing we could figure out...like a raccoon/fox. A silent lament for all the roadkill, please.
Mileage: 258.2
Friday, May 02, 2008
Delayed
We're delaying our departure by one day due to winter storms/tornado warnings in South Dakota, which sound like they will be dissipating tonight into just rain tomorrow. This is a bit of a relief since we weren't quite ready to go anyway.
We slept in a bit this morning, then headed out to Hell's Kitchen for breakfast which was EXCELLENT. Man, that place is the shizz! The bison sausage is handmade on the premises (I believe) and it is better than any sausage I think I've ever had, and trust me, I'm a sausage freak!! I had the Lemon Ricotta Hotcakes, which come with fresh berries on the top and are so good and moist that you don't even need syrup. John had the Bison Benedict with bison steak which he felt was not as good as the bison sausage, but still yummy. We both had coffee because they serve the really good stuff, and our meal was a bit on the expensive side, but hell, it IS our 10th anniversary, after all. No better excuse to blow our money :)
We wandered down to the library because we still had an hour on the meter, and I got wrapped up looking at my new favorite blog (http://oggi-icandothat.blogspot.com/), I was trying to find a cookbook author she blogged about who had Japanese bread recipes, but couldn't find it. We made it back to the car with 3 minutes to spare, then came home to start packing and finish cleaning. Soon, we'll be heading out to catch a matinee of Iron Man (!!) and grub some buttery popcorn. Hopefully we'll come back home for some Schmoopiness, then to bed early so we can head out early, early, early tomorrow!!
YAY! Soon, we will be on the road! Next post will most likely come to you via Sioux Falls!
Love to all ;)~
R&J
We slept in a bit this morning, then headed out to Hell's Kitchen for breakfast which was EXCELLENT. Man, that place is the shizz! The bison sausage is handmade on the premises (I believe) and it is better than any sausage I think I've ever had, and trust me, I'm a sausage freak!! I had the Lemon Ricotta Hotcakes, which come with fresh berries on the top and are so good and moist that you don't even need syrup. John had the Bison Benedict with bison steak which he felt was not as good as the bison sausage, but still yummy. We both had coffee because they serve the really good stuff, and our meal was a bit on the expensive side, but hell, it IS our 10th anniversary, after all. No better excuse to blow our money :)
We wandered down to the library because we still had an hour on the meter, and I got wrapped up looking at my new favorite blog (http://oggi-icandothat.blogspot.com/), I was trying to find a cookbook author she blogged about who had Japanese bread recipes, but couldn't find it. We made it back to the car with 3 minutes to spare, then came home to start packing and finish cleaning. Soon, we'll be heading out to catch a matinee of Iron Man (!!) and grub some buttery popcorn. Hopefully we'll come back home for some Schmoopiness, then to bed early so we can head out early, early, early tomorrow!!
YAY! Soon, we will be on the road! Next post will most likely come to you via Sioux Falls!
Love to all ;)~
R&J
Saturday, April 26, 2008
South Dakota
That's right! The Schmoopies are off again on another journey, this time to South Dakota! I know, you're probably thinking, "Gee, is that really a travel destination hot spot?" But it really is! There is actually a lot to see there, at least according to all the travel brochures and those South Dakota commercials with the catchy jingle. We'll be seeing Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse memorial, the Badlands, Devil's Tower, the Corn Palace and miles and miles of clear, open roads, or one would hope anyway.
We'll be leaving on Friday 5/2, the 10th anniversary of the day we made our Schmoopie-ness legal and have been in wedded bliss ever since, starting the special day off with a breakfast at Hell's Kitchen downtown. (If you haven't been to this fine establishment, you'd best get on it, it's ded good. If you go for Sunday brunch, don't be shocked that the wait staff serve you in their jammies.) Then we plan on heading straight to Rapid City to hole up in this little romantic hidey-hole, assuming there's a vacancy: http://www.powderhouselodge.com/index.htm. The rest is all up in the air at this point, we'll just see where the days take us.
A little unnerving is the fact that it is currently snowing outside, and the forecast for the week is looking quite shitty, but let's try to think positive and hope there is no inclement weather for us during our trip. I turn into a crazed freak woman when driving in crappy weather, so yeah, keep your fingers crossed for us.
This brings me to another horrifying thought: I've got to actually get this condo CLEAN before we leave. Yikes, time to get on that! We'll be blogging and podcasting when we can!!!!
Love to all,
R&J
We'll be leaving on Friday 5/2, the 10th anniversary of the day we made our Schmoopie-ness legal and have been in wedded bliss ever since, starting the special day off with a breakfast at Hell's Kitchen downtown. (If you haven't been to this fine establishment, you'd best get on it, it's ded good. If you go for Sunday brunch, don't be shocked that the wait staff serve you in their jammies.) Then we plan on heading straight to Rapid City to hole up in this little romantic hidey-hole, assuming there's a vacancy: http://www.powderhouselodge.com/index.htm. The rest is all up in the air at this point, we'll just see where the days take us.
A little unnerving is the fact that it is currently snowing outside, and the forecast for the week is looking quite shitty, but let's try to think positive and hope there is no inclement weather for us during our trip. I turn into a crazed freak woman when driving in crappy weather, so yeah, keep your fingers crossed for us.
This brings me to another horrifying thought: I've got to actually get this condo CLEAN before we leave. Yikes, time to get on that! We'll be blogging and podcasting when we can!!!!
Love to all,
R&J
Sunday, July 08, 2007
At Long Last
We have made it home. After waking up with my arms and hands numb from that Sleep Inn bed that may as well been made of stone, I vowed that we were not spending another thin dime on rented sleeping arrangements. We hauled it all the way from Ohio to Minneapolis yesterday. Leaving at 7:30 AM or so, we drove through the rest of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois (with all the scary drivers that place breeds), and Wisconsin and rolled into our home garage to unload the car for the very last time around 10:00 PM. We're toast.
I drove us through the mess that is the Chicago freeway system, passing up a 5 car pileup in the center lanes and I even blew past a toll area (accidentally); I fully expect to receive my ticket in the mail. I relinquished driving duty to the steady nerves of my husband once we passed the city, only after having to peel my white-knuckled hands from the wheel. I like Chicago, but holy gods, only if it's via the El. People have got to be insane to navigate that place in a car. John took us safely and calmly the rest of the way. There were TONS of deer running amok in Wisconsin, so I was trying to stay alert to warn of any bounding fawns near the roadway. Such a long drive brought relief to see the lights of our familiar downtown skyline. Our total mileage for this journey was an impressive 2709.7 miles!!
The kitties were pleased as punch to see us and, of course, woke us up around 4, 5, 6 and 7 o'clock with their chasing and pining for our comatose attention. After kicking Vesta out and getting Boo to lay down by me, we slept in gloriously this morning, and not one of my limbs felt like it was going to fall off! It was a lovely trip, but always a relief to sleep in ones own bed, and to have the kitties trade off laying on my lap all day! John's working on the photo album in iPhoto, and as soon as I've had enough lounging on the couch watching Man vs. Wild, I'll do some photo editing, too. Right now though, I've got to catch up on my tea drinking and laying about with our babies :)
Thanks for joining us on the road!! See you next trip!
Love & hugs,
R&J
I drove us through the mess that is the Chicago freeway system, passing up a 5 car pileup in the center lanes and I even blew past a toll area (accidentally); I fully expect to receive my ticket in the mail. I relinquished driving duty to the steady nerves of my husband once we passed the city, only after having to peel my white-knuckled hands from the wheel. I like Chicago, but holy gods, only if it's via the El. People have got to be insane to navigate that place in a car. John took us safely and calmly the rest of the way. There were TONS of deer running amok in Wisconsin, so I was trying to stay alert to warn of any bounding fawns near the roadway. Such a long drive brought relief to see the lights of our familiar downtown skyline. Our total mileage for this journey was an impressive 2709.7 miles!!
The kitties were pleased as punch to see us and, of course, woke us up around 4, 5, 6 and 7 o'clock with their chasing and pining for our comatose attention. After kicking Vesta out and getting Boo to lay down by me, we slept in gloriously this morning, and not one of my limbs felt like it was going to fall off! It was a lovely trip, but always a relief to sleep in ones own bed, and to have the kitties trade off laying on my lap all day! John's working on the photo album in iPhoto, and as soon as I've had enough lounging on the couch watching Man vs. Wild, I'll do some photo editing, too. Right now though, I've got to catch up on my tea drinking and laying about with our babies :)
Thanks for joining us on the road!! See you next trip!
Love & hugs,
R&J
Friday, July 06, 2007
Brunswick, OH
Wow! We drove all the way from Newark to Brunswick, Ohio in 10 hours!! Wheeeeee! We could probably keep going for a couple more hours, but by then we'd be in NOWHERE Ohio and we really could use the rest anyway. At least we made it all the way through Pennsylvania. There's a lot of trees and mountains in Pennsylvania, which are undoubtedly beautiful, but too much bad ju-ju floating in the air for my taste. There are religious crosses everywhere, and when we stopped to pee at a rest stop, there were throngs of people praying. Just too creepy for us agnostics. I thought of Deliverance the entire way. Not our bag, baby.
The drive otherwise was uneventful. I drove until about halfway through PA, then John took over so I could eat a sandwich, then I took over for him once we hit the first rest stop in Ohio. I couldn't stand the thought of stopping again in PA, and there really aren't many opportunities, anyway. It is ALL highway. So now we're at a Sleep Inn which is popular with truckers because of the bare bones layout, but that's all we need. In fact, we're kind of regretting not just opting for the Sleep Inn's the whole way, but sometimes they're harder to come by within the cities, they mostly dot the highways. Plus it's kind of smelly and there are ants in here. Better than roaches, but still bugs. I really am ready to be home, I think. I can't wait to see the babies and do our laundry. And get back to my workouts!!! Oy, I've got to make up for lost time!
Anyway, we'll probably make it as far as Madison, WI tomorrow, so we should hopefully be home by mid-day, early evening on Sunday. ROCK HARD!!
Love to all,
R&J
The drive otherwise was uneventful. I drove until about halfway through PA, then John took over so I could eat a sandwich, then I took over for him once we hit the first rest stop in Ohio. I couldn't stand the thought of stopping again in PA, and there really aren't many opportunities, anyway. It is ALL highway. So now we're at a Sleep Inn which is popular with truckers because of the bare bones layout, but that's all we need. In fact, we're kind of regretting not just opting for the Sleep Inn's the whole way, but sometimes they're harder to come by within the cities, they mostly dot the highways. Plus it's kind of smelly and there are ants in here. Better than roaches, but still bugs. I really am ready to be home, I think. I can't wait to see the babies and do our laundry. And get back to my workouts!!! Oy, I've got to make up for lost time!
Anyway, we'll probably make it as far as Madison, WI tomorrow, so we should hopefully be home by mid-day, early evening on Sunday. ROCK HARD!!
Love to all,
R&J
Yankee Stadium
We came, we saw, we got our butts kicked. But.....not before giving those Yankees bastards a run for their money!!! What a great game to see in Yankee Stadium! We almost won, allllllmoooossst. There was a whole section of Twins fans up in the nosebleeds with us to cheer the hometown heroes. And as far as nosebleed seats go, um, yeah, this is the stadium to have them. A cool view, the place is MASSIVE and you feel like your going to fall at any second, it's teetery, the stairs are old and crumbly and look as if they were made for a city of elf-sized feet, but it was damn neat. You literally feel like you're on top of New York City. You can see the subway rumbling by, a view of the Bronx sprawling out behind and the New York sky stretched above. The food was cheaper than at the Dome, except for beer which was $7 for one kind only (I think MGD), but all the vendors come way up to the tippy-top! Even the hot dog guys! And let me just say that carrying anything up those rickety stairs is a challenge, so kudos to the brave souls that haul those hot dog carriers above their heads to reach all the fans!
Still, we both agreed that Royals Stadium (Kansas City) is our favorite so far, followed closely by Baltimore. Jacob's Field (Cleveland) is very cool as far as view goes, in the heart of downtown Cleveland, but Royals Stadium is hard to beat, it's way cool and has the best food fare. Getting to Yankee Stadium SUCKED because the subway system here sucks major ass, so we stood in the hot, muggy platform for 45 minutes waiting for what was labeled as the only train (the 4) to go to the Stadium only to have some worker FINALLY come and tell a bunch of us that we actually COULD take the 4 express. Bloody hell. But we made it and it rocked nonetheless!!
After leaving the game, we made our way back into Manhattan to wander around a bit. It was raining so it was kind of a bummer, but we had supper at a neat little soup & sammie shop and took a long stroll. The crowds are pretty unbelievable here. Even at 8 pm, the downtown streets are jammed with people. This literally is a city that never, ever sleeps. Times Square has become something of a carnival, there is neon blaring and hundreds of people milling about shopping and taking photos. As much as I despise crowds, New York City is really fucking cool. There's just no denying it.
It's a tad disappointing to have to turn right back around and head home, but we are going to try to catch another AAA game on the way home and possibly catch a movie (Ratatouille or Transformers) at a drive in somewhere along the way. We've also been perusing the maps sketching out another trip for the future. There's so many places we'd like to see!!
Anyway, it's my turn for the shower & John's going to post some photos of Yankee Stadium!! Whoo-hoo!! Catch you somewhere in PA or OH!!
Love to all :)
R&J
Still, we both agreed that Royals Stadium (Kansas City) is our favorite so far, followed closely by Baltimore. Jacob's Field (Cleveland) is very cool as far as view goes, in the heart of downtown Cleveland, but Royals Stadium is hard to beat, it's way cool and has the best food fare. Getting to Yankee Stadium SUCKED because the subway system here sucks major ass, so we stood in the hot, muggy platform for 45 minutes waiting for what was labeled as the only train (the 4) to go to the Stadium only to have some worker FINALLY come and tell a bunch of us that we actually COULD take the 4 express. Bloody hell. But we made it and it rocked nonetheless!!
After leaving the game, we made our way back into Manhattan to wander around a bit. It was raining so it was kind of a bummer, but we had supper at a neat little soup & sammie shop and took a long stroll. The crowds are pretty unbelievable here. Even at 8 pm, the downtown streets are jammed with people. This literally is a city that never, ever sleeps. Times Square has become something of a carnival, there is neon blaring and hundreds of people milling about shopping and taking photos. As much as I despise crowds, New York City is really fucking cool. There's just no denying it.
It's a tad disappointing to have to turn right back around and head home, but we are going to try to catch another AAA game on the way home and possibly catch a movie (Ratatouille or Transformers) at a drive in somewhere along the way. We've also been perusing the maps sketching out another trip for the future. There's so many places we'd like to see!!
Anyway, it's my turn for the shower & John's going to post some photos of Yankee Stadium!! Whoo-hoo!! Catch you somewhere in PA or OH!!
Love to all :)
R&J
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
New Jersey!
We made it to New Jersey unscathed! It's kinda depressingly industrial here, but we've seen it before so no big whoop. I started the day driving, but because I couldn't sleep (again) and ended up taking a Benadryl around 1:00 AM, I was too groggy to be behind the wheel, so John took over and drove us all the way, yay for Schmoopie!! I'm getting a bit better at navigating, and I can't believe I didn't get us lost on the turnpike because the directions to the hotel were pretty funky. But we're here now at the Courtyard Marriott right next to the airport, decidedly the best hotel we've had yet, a bit more fancy but not bourgeois fancy. We decided that since it's rainy and gloomy here, we'll probably skip out on doing late night New York City fireworks tonight. As cool as it sounds to watch fireworks over Lady Liberty, to be dealing with all the people and rain and traffic to get back here sounds like pure aggravation (for me especially), we figured we may as well get a good nights rest, head off early in the morning for a full day and save $50 in the process.
Yesterday we finally made it to Cooperstown, toured the Baseball Hall of Fame and saw Doubleday Park, which is the agreed upon "spiritual birthplace of baseball", if not the actual birthplace. The HOF was really cool, a bit smaller than I envisioned it, and a lot more crowded with idiots than I'd hoped, but still very groovy. TONS of pictures taken there. None of the trinkets they had were neat enough to warrant opening of the wallet, so we passed on those. Neither of us are shoppers, anyway. We stopped off and ate burgers at a little joint along the touristy streets of the town. We got lucky and found a little cottage-style motel room that was very homey and they had a little flock of ducklings that they took care of!! I got pictures of the ducks having their daily bath in the kiddie pool :) Happy ducks!!
Since most of our trip has been driving, it's been harder to blog this time around. Overall, we've not done too much. There have been cute little things on the road we've seen, like wild turkeys, sheep, horses, cows, loads of hawks. The tolls are so frequent now that I've stopped keeping track. We've spent a good deal of money on them, let's just say that. The roadkill tally is always ticking, but mostly now all we see are muskrats. I'll post the mileage later since I've neglected once again to remember to bring the book up to the room. I've taken a crapload of 15 second video of trees and scenery with our small camera, so I don't know how much fun those will be to watch until I splice them together to make arty stuff. Other than that, we're just happy to be on a journey away. I miss the kitties terribly, so I guess I won't be too upset to get home in a few days to see them, but for now I'm loving being footloose and fancy free, as they say. I wish it were easier to travel with cats, but I don't think Boo would stand for that. Vesta's too unpredictable to say for certain. They will be such loves upon our return, though :)
Anyway, I've rambled long enough. We hope all is well at home. Have a great 4th of July everyone!!
Love,
R&J
Yesterday we finally made it to Cooperstown, toured the Baseball Hall of Fame and saw Doubleday Park, which is the agreed upon "spiritual birthplace of baseball", if not the actual birthplace. The HOF was really cool, a bit smaller than I envisioned it, and a lot more crowded with idiots than I'd hoped, but still very groovy. TONS of pictures taken there. None of the trinkets they had were neat enough to warrant opening of the wallet, so we passed on those. Neither of us are shoppers, anyway. We stopped off and ate burgers at a little joint along the touristy streets of the town. We got lucky and found a little cottage-style motel room that was very homey and they had a little flock of ducklings that they took care of!! I got pictures of the ducks having their daily bath in the kiddie pool :) Happy ducks!!
Since most of our trip has been driving, it's been harder to blog this time around. Overall, we've not done too much. There have been cute little things on the road we've seen, like wild turkeys, sheep, horses, cows, loads of hawks. The tolls are so frequent now that I've stopped keeping track. We've spent a good deal of money on them, let's just say that. The roadkill tally is always ticking, but mostly now all we see are muskrats. I'll post the mileage later since I've neglected once again to remember to bring the book up to the room. I've taken a crapload of 15 second video of trees and scenery with our small camera, so I don't know how much fun those will be to watch until I splice them together to make arty stuff. Other than that, we're just happy to be on a journey away. I miss the kitties terribly, so I guess I won't be too upset to get home in a few days to see them, but for now I'm loving being footloose and fancy free, as they say. I wish it were easier to travel with cats, but I don't think Boo would stand for that. Vesta's too unpredictable to say for certain. They will be such loves upon our return, though :)
Anyway, I've rambled long enough. We hope all is well at home. Have a great 4th of July everyone!!
Love,
R&J
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Buffalo Bisons vs. Rochester Red Wings
After leaving the wondrous countryside of Canada, we took a Maid of the Mist boat tour of Niagara Falls which was romantic, wet and wild!!! They drive the boat right up into the spray of the falls, so you get a good soaking. We got some spectacular pictures (and lots of them) so we'll have to post those as soon as we can. We had a leisurely walk around the park after the tour to dry off, then once the crowds started getting awful we made for the car to head for Buffalo to get a hotel, relax and then go to the AAA team, The Bisons, game, which pains me grammatically to say, but yes, they are called the BISONS, with an 's'. The game was so relaxing and I've decided I think I like 'A' and 'AAA' ball better than the majors. It's such a different feeling, more relaxed, more quiet, just a plain old game with big spirit. We were weirded out by the 3 mascots they had, though, still trying to figure that one out. The Rochester Red Wings (who are one of the Twins' minor league teams) were losing big in the 7th, so we decided to leave a bit early because I was a zombie, the game was going on really late and we wanted to get back to the hotel. Thankfully, this hotel had a feather bed so I was able to FINALLY get some sleep. These hotel beds have been so hard that my limbs fall asleep before I do, then I can't sleep. So I'll have to do some of the driving today now that I'm well rested.
Hope all is well back home. We'll be heading to Cooperstown as soon as we finish getting ready. We're debating going to see 4th of July fireworks in New York City or just skipping it. It sounds so romantic and extravagant, then when we thought about taking a subway (or worse, driving) out of there at midnight, suddenly it doesn't sound that pleasant. Either way, we'll post the results here!
Love,
R&J
Hope all is well back home. We'll be heading to Cooperstown as soon as we finish getting ready. We're debating going to see 4th of July fireworks in New York City or just skipping it. It sounds so romantic and extravagant, then when we thought about taking a subway (or worse, driving) out of there at midnight, suddenly it doesn't sound that pleasant. Either way, we'll post the results here!
Love,
R&J
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Day 3: St. Catherine's, Ontario
We finally made it to Canada!! Holy crap, what a long day in the car. We've been driving for about 10-11 hours. We went through Detroit, took a few pictures of Tiger Stadium, which is about to be torn down, and of Comerica Park and proceeded to get the heck out of there. It was a very depressed city, almost all of what we saw was completely run-down buildings and shitty roads in dire need of repair. Deserted streets void of everything but the early-bird panhandlers who aren't shy about approaching people in their cars. We got in the "tunnel to Canada" and I got some awesome video clips of that. I felt all weird and shaky after the customs drive through "interview", but moments later we were in Canada!! It right away felt different than America; very safe feeling and things better cared for, certainly more than in Detroit.
We made our way to the Point Pelee National Park which is the southernmost tip of Canada and other than me getting a wee bit crabby at the parks lack of signage, we had a lovely time. There were tons of tourists, birds, bees, bugs, and even a snake: we got a couple of photos of him!! The tip has been withered down to a little slice of sandbar that's being eroded all the time by the crashing waves of Lake Erie. It's a dangerous place to be because of the severe undercurrents, there are signs reflecting that everywhere and yet people let their little kids wade around in it anyway *rolls eyes*.
Then we drove for hours and hours up the rural road along the coastline, the 3, which has got lots of farms that are right on the shoreline. It strangely resembles Minnesota, other than having rows of corn and crop bordering a massive lake. Drivers here are much more courteous and I've decided we need to buy a lake home here because it rocks. The other cool thing: NO ONE here owns a Scion XB because they're not for sale here yet, so we've had loads of stares on the highway, and a couple of inquiries about what kind of car it is. A couple of small crowds formed to admire it while it sat in the Pelee parking lot. The dude at the hotel desk asked John all about it, said he loves it and really wants one. Everyone loves The Toodlebug :)
Tomorrow our plan is to spend the day at Niagara Falls. We'd like to take the Maid On The Mist tour, which I think is a boat ride under the falls that gets people REALLY wet, so hopefully that all works out. I know nothing about Niagara Falls other than it's a big waterfall and a hot tourist spot. I'm hoping it doesn't mean three-hour waiting lines and idiot parents with screaming kids, but that's probably wishful thinking. Even though John did the majority of the driving today (I still didn't sleep well, so he was a love and took the wheel), I did the last leg and I'm completely exhausted. I think I'll be going nite-nite soon.
We'll post tomorrow after Niagara Falls, probably from some Comfort Inn in Buffalo, NY.
We made our way to the Point Pelee National Park which is the southernmost tip of Canada and other than me getting a wee bit crabby at the parks lack of signage, we had a lovely time. There were tons of tourists, birds, bees, bugs, and even a snake: we got a couple of photos of him!! The tip has been withered down to a little slice of sandbar that's being eroded all the time by the crashing waves of Lake Erie. It's a dangerous place to be because of the severe undercurrents, there are signs reflecting that everywhere and yet people let their little kids wade around in it anyway *rolls eyes*.
Then we drove for hours and hours up the rural road along the coastline, the 3, which has got lots of farms that are right on the shoreline. It strangely resembles Minnesota, other than having rows of corn and crop bordering a massive lake. Drivers here are much more courteous and I've decided we need to buy a lake home here because it rocks. The other cool thing: NO ONE here owns a Scion XB because they're not for sale here yet, so we've had loads of stares on the highway, and a couple of inquiries about what kind of car it is. A couple of small crowds formed to admire it while it sat in the Pelee parking lot. The dude at the hotel desk asked John all about it, said he loves it and really wants one. Everyone loves The Toodlebug :)
Tomorrow our plan is to spend the day at Niagara Falls. We'd like to take the Maid On The Mist tour, which I think is a boat ride under the falls that gets people REALLY wet, so hopefully that all works out. I know nothing about Niagara Falls other than it's a big waterfall and a hot tourist spot. I'm hoping it doesn't mean three-hour waiting lines and idiot parents with screaming kids, but that's probably wishful thinking. Even though John did the majority of the driving today (I still didn't sleep well, so he was a love and took the wheel), I did the last leg and I'm completely exhausted. I think I'll be going nite-nite soon.
We'll post tomorrow after Niagara Falls, probably from some Comfort Inn in Buffalo, NY.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Day 2: Ann Arbor, MI
We're safely tucked into our Comfort Inn for the evening in Ann Arbor. Got my hot tea and Blogger, John's got the remote and baseball galore: the world is as it should be. John slept like a log last night, I didn't sleep very well last night, but was refreshed enough to enjoy a nice continental break-trist with Schmoopie and open my CUTE birthday card and present -- an iPod Shuffle!! My big honkin' iPod is starting to do funny things, so he got me the teeny one that will fit perfectly into a small pocket or even just my hand when I have no pockets, and it's PINK!! YAY! My card was super-cute, I'll have to post a picture of it :)
Our day was filled with driving, driving and more driving. We spent a good portion of the day stuck in the hoards of Chicago traffic and the construction nightmare that is their tollway. I took lots of video clips of trees whizzing past and the traffic jams to show why we don't mind Minneapolis after all. John did all the driving today, which was a relief not only because I was tired, but he handles city driving much better than I do.
We saw a flock of sheep running around, a couple of wild turkeys, lots more birds of prey, horses and little baby calves :) All happy and alive!
Roadkill Report: one deer, one muskrat, one stiffy raccoon and lots of bits. Poo :(
Tolls: $3.90
Today's Mileage/Gas: 293.4, and 35.1 miles to the gallon (not as good as yesterday because of all that idling on I94). Gas set us back $26.03.
Our day was filled with driving, driving and more driving. We spent a good portion of the day stuck in the hoards of Chicago traffic and the construction nightmare that is their tollway. I took lots of video clips of trees whizzing past and the traffic jams to show why we don't mind Minneapolis after all. John did all the driving today, which was a relief not only because I was tired, but he handles city driving much better than I do.
We saw a flock of sheep running around, a couple of wild turkeys, lots more birds of prey, horses and little baby calves :) All happy and alive!
Roadkill Report: one deer, one muskrat, one stiffy raccoon and lots of bits. Poo :(
Tolls: $3.90
Today's Mileage/Gas: 293.4, and 35.1 miles to the gallon (not as good as yesterday because of all that idling on I94). Gas set us back $26.03.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Beloit Snappers WIN 3-0!
We made it to our first destination, Beloit, Wisconsin. I (rachel) drove the entire way today and it felt good to be on the scenic highway again, I feel like I could drive to Red Wing with my eyes closed now that we've driven down this way so much lately. It's beautiful as ever, the hawks, eagles and black vultures were out in full force, as was the stinkiest road kill I've ever smelt!
The drive was pleasant, the weather was absolutely perfect and we had fun singing to our silly songs together :) Once we hit Madison, Wisconsin the drivers became noticeably more rude, but I didn't use many expletives, so I must've been more relaxed than I thought. We made a stop for lunch about 11:30 to share homemade sammies, fresh berries and some Quaker snack mix and then again right before we came into Beloit, about 4:30 for more sammies, bananas and snacks at the most pristine rest area. My driving knee was really bothersome which I've never experienced before so it was nice to walk a bit.
Once in Beloit, we snatched up a hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express, another gem among roadside rooms, it's clean, uniquely designed and they even have a pool! If I would've remembered my suit, I could've gotten up early and done laps thus keeping up with my workout!! Then off to the Snappers game for a fan-TAB-ulous time!! It was the coolest game ever! We got scalped tickets for $4, and I met the mascot, Snappy the Turtle, right away and got pictures with him!! YAY! The game was great, very cool to watch these minor leaguers, they're so good but still a little rough. I loved all the errors, so unpredictable!! They won 3-0 and had fireworks after the game and we took some video of those :) There were the CUTEST kids there. One set of siblings had a funny, lighthearted peanut fight, playfully whipping peanuts back and forth; we had fun watching them. There was also the most adorable little girl who shyly came over to get Snappy's autograph on a novelty pink bat, she waited silently and patiently for him to finish with other kids. As he signed her bat, she sat down next to him, watching him intently with her hands crossed, then she politely said, "Thank you, Snappy". He patted her on the shoulder (you know that mascots never speak) and she bounced away to show off her treasured item to her parents. Later, she found him again and led him over to get her mom to take pictures with him. As John put it, "Now THAT is precious."Today was such a relaxing and romantic day! We needed it, John is SO relaxed. He's never more at home than when he's traveling AND watching baseball. I think maybe we should become mascots for a living so we can do both all the time ;)~
A change in trip plans; we decided tonight that since The Taste of Chicago is going on all weekend, and Chicago isn't really known for its pleasant traffic, and there are no tickets available to the Detroit Tigers/Twins game, we're just going to head off to Canada. Hell with it, I've never been there and I'd love to spend my birthday in a foreign country! So we'll be off for Windsor and Toronto tomorrow! Lots more driving, lots more memories ;)
Love to all!
R&J
Roadkill Report: Many deer out there today, stinky beyond stink and probably their spirits hovering over their carcases rolling their eyes at all the SUV's, then gallivanting away into astral fields a-plenty. A kitty bit the dust, as well as a fox and I think there might've been a skunk out there, too. A silent lament to all the poor animals today :(
Gas Tally: $26.55, and check this: 37.3 miles to the gallon!!!!!
Today's Mileage: 334
The drive was pleasant, the weather was absolutely perfect and we had fun singing to our silly songs together :) Once we hit Madison, Wisconsin the drivers became noticeably more rude, but I didn't use many expletives, so I must've been more relaxed than I thought. We made a stop for lunch about 11:30 to share homemade sammies, fresh berries and some Quaker snack mix and then again right before we came into Beloit, about 4:30 for more sammies, bananas and snacks at the most pristine rest area. My driving knee was really bothersome which I've never experienced before so it was nice to walk a bit.
Once in Beloit, we snatched up a hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express, another gem among roadside rooms, it's clean, uniquely designed and they even have a pool! If I would've remembered my suit, I could've gotten up early and done laps thus keeping up with my workout!! Then off to the Snappers game for a fan-TAB-ulous time!! It was the coolest game ever! We got scalped tickets for $4, and I met the mascot, Snappy the Turtle, right away and got pictures with him!! YAY! The game was great, very cool to watch these minor leaguers, they're so good but still a little rough. I loved all the errors, so unpredictable!! They won 3-0 and had fireworks after the game and we took some video of those :) There were the CUTEST kids there. One set of siblings had a funny, lighthearted peanut fight, playfully whipping peanuts back and forth; we had fun watching them. There was also the most adorable little girl who shyly came over to get Snappy's autograph on a novelty pink bat, she waited silently and patiently for him to finish with other kids. As he signed her bat, she sat down next to him, watching him intently with her hands crossed, then she politely said, "Thank you, Snappy". He patted her on the shoulder (you know that mascots never speak) and she bounced away to show off her treasured item to her parents. Later, she found him again and led him over to get her mom to take pictures with him. As John put it, "Now THAT is precious."Today was such a relaxing and romantic day! We needed it, John is SO relaxed. He's never more at home than when he's traveling AND watching baseball. I think maybe we should become mascots for a living so we can do both all the time ;)~
A change in trip plans; we decided tonight that since The Taste of Chicago is going on all weekend, and Chicago isn't really known for its pleasant traffic, and there are no tickets available to the Detroit Tigers/Twins game, we're just going to head off to Canada. Hell with it, I've never been there and I'd love to spend my birthday in a foreign country! So we'll be off for Windsor and Toronto tomorrow! Lots more driving, lots more memories ;)
Love to all!
R&J
Roadkill Report: Many deer out there today, stinky beyond stink and probably their spirits hovering over their carcases rolling their eyes at all the SUV's, then gallivanting away into astral fields a-plenty. A kitty bit the dust, as well as a fox and I think there might've been a skunk out there, too. A silent lament to all the poor animals today :(
Gas Tally: $26.55, and check this: 37.3 miles to the gallon!!!!!
Today's Mileage: 334
Groggy Excitement!
Well, I've not slept that hard in many moons! My normal 5 AM internal clock overslept until 7! Since I'm still covered in sleep-fairy-dust, John is fixing egg sammies for us so I can wake up a little over tea. He's bubbling with his usual travel excitement and I imagine he literally leapt out of bed. My throat is pretty tender :( so I tossed all the meds we have into my bag just in case I get ill on the road. There's nothing I loathe more than having to purchase expensive meds that I know I've got sitting at home getting closer to expiring. So far, my hot tea is nice and soothing!
Anyway, now that you've got the blow-by-blow on our morning activities, we should be heading out by 10:00 AM, if not sooner. Dave should be here to pass the condo torch to around 9:00 and by then we should be pretty much ready to hit it!!! Yipppeeeeeee!
Next post: Beloit, WI!
Anyway, now that you've got the blow-by-blow on our morning activities, we should be heading out by 10:00 AM, if not sooner. Dave should be here to pass the condo torch to around 9:00 and by then we should be pretty much ready to hit it!!! Yipppeeeeeee!
Next post: Beloit, WI!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Road Trip 2007 Starts Tomorrow!
Well, we're officially off on another road tripping adventure tomorrow! We'll be hitting Beloit, WI, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Cooperstown and New York City. If you haven't guessed, it's a baseball themed tour, and we're hoping to catch some great games along the way. Starting it off with some minor league fun in Beloit, maybe catch a tour of Wrigley Field or scare up some scalped seats to a game in Chicago, see the Tigers in Detroit, hopefully see the Toronto Blue Jays, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstowns and finally, *drum roll, please* see the TWINS vs. the Stankees (NY Yankees for you non-baseball fans) at Yankee (f-in') Stadium!!!!!! We might also be able to make a Chicago White Sox game on the way home, time permitting. We are SUPER EXCITED!!! WHOOOOO_HOOOOO!
So tonight we're eating up the last of the leftovers (and I feel like I could quite possibly puke up three days and 6 meals worth of Chinese food right now) and charging up all of our battery powered items. We'll be making a late night trip to Cub for some last minute items like cough drops, fruit and snacks. I'm depressed about leaving the kitties, but they will be in the capable company of John's eldest brother. Dave, if you're reading this, take good care of the babies :) Pet them, love them, call them "pretty kitties" and don't kill them when they wake you up at 4 AM begging for food.
Anyway, we'll be posting all week long and probably recording our own goofy and maybe even a little creepy podcast that no one cares about but us, but feel free to tune in. Check back!
Love to all :)
R & J
So tonight we're eating up the last of the leftovers (and I feel like I could quite possibly puke up three days and 6 meals worth of Chinese food right now) and charging up all of our battery powered items. We'll be making a late night trip to Cub for some last minute items like cough drops, fruit and snacks. I'm depressed about leaving the kitties, but they will be in the capable company of John's eldest brother. Dave, if you're reading this, take good care of the babies :) Pet them, love them, call them "pretty kitties" and don't kill them when they wake you up at 4 AM begging for food.
Anyway, we'll be posting all week long and probably recording our own goofy and maybe even a little creepy podcast that no one cares about but us, but feel free to tune in. Check back!
Love to all :)
R & J
Sunday, February 25, 2007
COMING SOON: BASEBALL ROAD TRIP!!!
Hi Everybody!
We're planning another road trip! We're super excited and can't wait until June/July to start posting :) The plan is to go to Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Niagra Falls, Cooperstown, New York City (Yankee Stadium!!), Pittsburgh, back through Chicago and home! There are Twins games in Detroit, New York and Chicago that we would catch, we plan a stadium tour in Toronto, visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and perhaps catching a Pirates game in Pittsburgh. It'll be quite a haul, but we're ready to take our new car, dubbed "The Toodlebug" out on the open road. I'd love to make another stop at the Field of Dreams, especially this year, because it was such a beautiful and even spiritual place. It really does feel like a place where dreams come true. We'll see if we have time to swing it.
If you're into Podcasts, we've got our own Travel-Cast where you can listen to us babble about our fun times and silly adventures :) Anyway, stay tuned folks!
We're planning another road trip! We're super excited and can't wait until June/July to start posting :) The plan is to go to Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Niagra Falls, Cooperstown, New York City (Yankee Stadium!!), Pittsburgh, back through Chicago and home! There are Twins games in Detroit, New York and Chicago that we would catch, we plan a stadium tour in Toronto, visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and perhaps catching a Pirates game in Pittsburgh. It'll be quite a haul, but we're ready to take our new car, dubbed "The Toodlebug" out on the open road. I'd love to make another stop at the Field of Dreams, especially this year, because it was such a beautiful and even spiritual place. It really does feel like a place where dreams come true. We'll see if we have time to swing it.
If you're into Podcasts, we've got our own Travel-Cast where you can listen to us babble about our fun times and silly adventures :) Anyway, stay tuned folks!
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