It is always an adjustment when you move to someplace new -- always. There's just no getting around that. One of the biggest adjustments besides weather (which honestly isn't that much different than Georgia in the summer time) is the food. Not only is your variety gone, but you knock what you do have down a little further when you figure out where you can and cannot eat. Case in point, dealing dealing with a four-day shack attack. What's a shack attack you ask? Well, to be blunt, it's finding the wrong piece of chicken that's apparently sat there in a hot box for several hours and festered with bacteria such that when you eat it you are rendered incapable of holding in/down food for the next four days. Lovely scenario, no?
Said shack attack, as I said, lingered around for several days, and made life very unpleasant. It was difficult to eat since I would have to run to the bathroom within two hours of eating to avoid being sick in front of everybody and/or avoid SEVERE intestinal cramps -- it's really bad when they both happen at the same time. As such, you get dehydrated and easily cramp. Try playing a tennis match with little to no sustenance in your body for four days -- it ain't pretty, I lasted a whopping four games before my legs shut down. My opponent played a good match though, so all the credit to him. I have learned that I can not take a chance any longer on eating something unless I have seen it myself come off the stove or grill, or have a drink that was not made with bottled water. Oh yeah, the water tears up my stomach. My stomach must be more sensitive than post people's because most people haven't had multiple rounds of this stuff like I have -- I've had three, though this has been the longest one. One only lasted a morning, got sick and it was over.
Another thing that takes getting used to is "Island Time." Case in point, your laundry gets picked up and you're told you'll get it back by 7 that evening. You don't get it until seven the next evening because the driver apparently had something better to do. Not a GREAT argument considering I don't have to do the laundry myself, but nonetheless, why hasn't the whole punctuality thing made it down here? Bear in mind A LOT of these aggravations stem from lack of sleep and nutrition stemming from said shack attack!
A few bits of nostalgia hit me the other day. They didn't make me homesick or anything (still waiting for that to blindside me), but they were nice memories. I enjoyed thinking about tennis with Amigo in Athens once or twice a week. Just getting away for the weekend(s) (thanks again Amigo), and viewing with disgust the Love-birds and their trials and tribulations...well I don't need to go to anymore detail about that. The pinot noir and tapas at Casa Mia, the sushi, the Thai Food at Thai Spoon...ahhh yum. Those usually followed by dancing at 80's Bar with Skinny and/or Nasty and AD joined too. I don't miss A LOT of things about where I worked, but I do miss having the music turned up in the lab and making fun of Nasty's singing (and vice versa). I miss the group lunches. I miss the quiet Saturdays to myself. And God do I miss Frohmuller's!
All of these things are nice when isolated, but the combined picture unfortunately isn't worth me leaving where I am now (heck, I'll only be here another 14 months) and what I'll have and be able to do! Not going to lie though, there are times when it would seem really nice, but then where would I be? Somewhere I'd rather not find myself in the long term... And some of them if I were to stay or go back for them, they wouldn't be there anymore because the situation and circumstances were short term anyway, though weren't they fun! I'm missing them at the moment because I miss when I was able to do nothing when I wanted to. I didn't enjoy it most of the time because there literally was nothing to do...
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Mini Eurotrip
Background
I was browsing the internet at work one day (oh the shame! *Wink* in late June/early July and came across an email from Delta advertising some pretty good fares to Europe, and in particular Budapest. Now, Budapest is a city that I had wanted to visit for quite some time, partially because for Americans it's not necessarily a well-traveled destination and I got to put another country on my list. What I found was a very enjoyable, colorful city. I had also wanted to visit Prague when I was in Europe for two months in the summer of 2007, but never made it out there. SO, I played around with some dates and found a fare for about half of what one would expect to pay for a transatlantic fare in the summer. Considering I would be starting medical school at the end of August (have since started) I pounced, not knowing if I would even get the chance to go back any time in the next three or four years AND with a bargain that good. The bargain allowed me to splurge a little more on the hotel side too Smile The end result was flying into Budapest, and out of Prague.
Booking the ticket was a little bit of a challenge because every time I tried to book a particular itinerary it would come up unavailable. I called Delta and they were incredibly helpful and in a nutshell told me to book through Northwest, because the identical itinerary was available through them. In a nutshell I wanted a PTV for the overnight to distract me from the inevitable lack of sleep. For the return I knew a good book would suffice, because, well duh, I was supposed be awake Wink So, in the end I booked a flight through AMS on KLM, connecting to Malev. Interestingly enough, after booking with NW, I transferred the flight over to my DL SkyMiles account (I'm stackin in miles for somebody's who 23, haha) and when I checked my itineraries I noticed that a SECOND itinerary (routed through CDG) was posted. After spontaneously emptying the entire contents of my GI tract I promptly called the friendly folks at Delta, prepared to battle this one down. Nothing had shown up on my credit card statement (the NW one had, so I knew it should've). My thought was if worst came to worse my dad could always accompany me (I'm a Jr.), haha. As it turns out, I never had to get ugly because even though it was posted in my itineraries, it was "On Hold" so I was told, and no payment had been received. Apparently the incredibly helpful agent I spoke to at the onset of purchasing the ticket had put a placehold on it for me should I want that routing. There were plenty of routings through CDG when I was trying to book, but I wanted the KLM flight, as mentioned, specifically for the PTV. So, after about three minutes that was cleared up and the itinerary removed. It wasn't that big of a deal, I understand they're still getting all their ducks in a row from the merger.
NOW, having rambled on and on with that soliloquy, let's get to the flying part!
17 August 2009
I arrived at the airport just after 1400 for the 1640 departure from ATL. It was very hot that day. I had checked in online and was going to just walk on through and present my passport at the gate. I was not checking any bags. However, when I got there, there were a grand total of three people in line at the KLM counter, so I went ahead and had my passport scanned. I proceeded through the T-Gate security in a slugish four minutes and meandered my way down to the E-Concourse. I splurged and treated myself to a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc and some sushi while the KLM A332 was prettied up at it's usual home of E-22.
I exchanged some money into Hungarian Forints, which incidentally thicken up your wallet as it's approxmately 200 to 1! The name of the A330 was the Plaza de Something Madrid. An odd name for any aircraft, I thought, much less a Dutch one... but I digress.
Boarding started an entire hour prior to scheduled departure, which I thought was rather odd. I had a window seat toward the back (sorry don't remember which one) and settled in. We sat there in the aircraft for approximately 45 minutes before FINALLY pushing back and meandering toward the Southern runway and lifted off.
A note, KLM's economy seats I find recline more than their Delta, Austrian, and Lufty counterparts, but their lumbar is just in an awkward place for me. In order to be comfortable I had to stuff two pillows under my neck despite the presence of the adjustable headrest. Delta wins the seat competition for me.
The PTV system was fine, a sufficient number for the flight at hand. Over the course of the flight I wanted, though not necessarily entirely, Star Trek, 101 Dalmations, Memoires of a Geisha and Changling. The interface was very user friendly, though getting the blasted controller in and out of its place could be a bit of a challenge if you aren't thin as a cotton swab because your hip/thigh significantly impedes your access and work room since the bloody thing has to be tilted for removal. I would put it an infinitesimal notch below Delta since Delta's is a touch screen and I don't have to fumble with the controller and above Austrian's for being AVOD (only two carriers I've flown with PTVs).
The dinner service was just bad, but that was mostly personal preference. I fail to comprehend how black olive and green beans mix with penne rigate and some unidentifiable cheese. YUCK! Our attractive blond frequently came by with water, wine, and any other libation that struck our fancy. The breakfast service was excellent. We received, IIRC, a ham, egg, and cheese hot sandwich and a box that had IIRC some granola, cheese, and a few other goodies. Much better than Delta and Lufty (the only other two carriers I've flown on overnights).
The flight itself was uneventful, which is what you want. There were no screaming babies *bounces up and down* and the crew were friendly. The movies and drinks were plentiful, and I just rode out the flight with maybe forty-five minutes of sporadic sleep. Made for a fine flight, but an unpleasant morning, as we shall see.
We landed around 7am in Amsterdam on what could only have been the infamous Polderbaan as we taxied forever. I thought we had landed in Rotterdam and were taking the road the rest of the way... We deboarded in the E concourse. I went through immigration and made my way over to the C Concourse, which is a much less pleasant environment than the E Concourse I must say! It was a very easy connection though. I stopped by the bathroom to brush my teeth and freshen up as best I could before my two hour layover. Annoyingly, my gate, C10 was situated right at the end of a moving sidewalk that bleeped "MIND YOUR STEP" every time somebody got to the end. I mean really, airports all over the world have these things and people manage to not spontaneously impale themselves on the end without having to be told to watch your step... In a nutshell, it got old very quickly. Thankfully I had my iPod and cranked it up while I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I'm behind on the times) until boarding time came. By this point I was hitting a wall. It was approximately the time I would have normally been going to bed (I had just spent two weeks in Mountain and Pacific Time) and was starting to have to fight sleep, something I do not normally do. It made for a slow two hours.
The Malev 738 strolled up to the gate and about forty-five minutes later (and twenty minutes late) we boarded. I had seat 9A, a windowless seat, bah! Oh well, I just pulled out my book and cranked the iPod again. The FAs came by with a drink service and offered a ham or cheese sandwich, which was nothing special. I was taking all the Coca Cola though that they offered me in a vain attempt to stay awake Smile This flight was even more uneventful than the KLM flight. The Malev seats were comfortable, but rather flimsy, I doubt they would survive being used in a long haul operation.
Being a Schengen flight and me not having checked any bags I saw very little of BUD-2. I bolted for the taxi line in the hopes of getting my happy ass to my hotel so I could grab two or three hours of much needed nap time. Normally when traveling in Europe I take public transportation to/from airports BUT, in both Budapest and Prague the airports aren't well connected enough and my proficiency in Hungarian and Czech is nonexistant, so I decided paying more for the taxi was worth not getting lost and not being able to decipher where the hell I was and needed to go. The same went for later in the week when I wanted to go to Memento Park, there was no metro, so I took a taxi. Had I been in France or a German speaking country a) the transit links would've been much better, and b) I would be able to make myself understand and understand enough to get my happy ass in the right direction Smile That is by no means a slight on Hungarians or Czechs, merely me being self aware of my deficiencies!
I stayed at the Hilton West End, very nice hotel in a good location for anyone who may be planning a trip to Budapest. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Budapest. And by some chance of fate, or I'm just that lucky, I was there on August 20, Hungarian independence day! I found Budapest a very friendly and open city, and it was very easy to meet people. One day I spent the day with a German and two Swedes. One of the Swedes had actually lived in my hometown while studying at UGA (bizarrely small world). The German, amusingly to me and the Swede, grossly extrapolated the correlation between Borat and American society. The four of us met on a river cruise of the Duna (Danube in English). A tried and true trick of mine when traveling in Europe is to search out people speaking English with accents -- 9/10 times they're single/double travelers just wandering around looking to meet people such as yourself. I also did a bus tour of the city to get familiar with it.
Some of the highlights included Memento Park and just meeting the random people. On Hungarian Independence Day (August 20) I spent the day with a Hungarian and some Belgians. I had a very good time. They enjoyed racing up and down random stairs that faced buildings. The fireworks display that night was amazing, with Buda Castle in the background it was just breathtaking. It lasted about half an hour. The bridges were lit up and there were air races during the day!
The next day it was time leave Budapest :( and head to Prague. The train ride was LONG. I didn't get much sleep the night before. My first seat mates were Spanish ladies, and they were very nice. After they left the train in Bratislava a mother and son got on. They have to be quite possibly the most obnoxious pair of people I have ever had the pleasure of sharing a space with...The kid felt it was ok to put his feet everywhere, the mother apparently felt no need to correct him. I would have been quickly reprimanded for that (even now come to think of it). After they got off (thankfully) in Brno, a younger couple got on. I thought this would be interesting, but no. The guy smelled like the salami sandwich that he was eating (which reeked by itself with no assistance). Compared to Hungarians the Czechs didn't smile nearly as much. I wonder if that's a Slavic thing? Russians never smile either. The train arrived in Prague late, and I took the metro two stops down to my hotel (carefully chosen for its proximity to the metro line). I checked in and explored a little bit of Old Town before bedding down for the night.
Overall my impression of Prague was that it is overrated. It had a DisneyWorld feel to it. It was much harder to meet people and it was much more crowded than Budapest (as in suffocating). The buildings were gorgeous from an aesthetic standpoint, but honestly, it's just too much. Paris even yields its prettiness. Turns out Prague was a trophy city/money dump for the Hapsburgs and as such EVERYWHERE you go is insanely beautiful that it's a little off putting. Plus, add again that Prague is a huge tourist city (and not much else in August).
24 August 2009
It came time to leave, and honestly I was ready to go. I didn't enjoy Prague as much as I had anticipated, though I think some of that was anticipation of moving in the coming five days. Anyways, to ensure a quick ride to the airport I took a cab to the airport. The cab driver must have thought it amusing because I was swaying and jerked all over the place during the ride. I had to look down at my feet as he sped at sixty kmh through tiny side streets barely big enough for the car, all the while revving the engine!
We arrived at PRG, which is a very nice airport, very clean, modern. It reminded me of Munich's aiport. Delta uses Terminal 1. I had a little scuffle with the check-in agent, though. He was of the opinion that my small carry on was fine, but that my backpack was too large to fit into the overhead bin. Never mind that people were carrying bags on the plane that were still larger than my two put together...admittedly it was a bulky book bag but that was mainly because there were three Harry Potter books in them and they had all slid on top of each other -- in other words easily adjustable. I argued with him and then the supervisor for a minute or two and said, "I'll happily put it under my seat, there's no need for this bag to be checked." She finally relented either realizing that the check-in agent was being overzealous or she realized I was going to be stubborn. Either way the two bags fit very nicely on top of each other in the overhead bin, hardly taking up any space...
I watched the flight from either ATL or JFK (dunno which) arrive. Its first officer was a woman, I think the first I had seen for an international flight, though that's not a HUGE number to pull from. I waited about an hour before seeing a really long line at my gate, B8, and panicked thinking it was mine. Turns out it was the one for B9, but a few others had panicked like me and a short line was forming, so I joined it and chatted with the people around me.
Soon we were through security (I hate individual gate security in the EU, drives me nuts) and then milled around the gate area for about twenty minutes before boarding started. I made my way to 36J and got settled. Before completely getting settled I went to the lavatory and I noticed there and on the way back that this aircraft had not been cleaned very well, perhaps something to do with unions at PRG? I've flown Delta quite a bit over the Atlantic and this aircraft was frankly not up to par. It was mostly the bathrooms, and it was mostly trash, not filth, but nonetheless...
The movies on this flight were the Soloist (couldn't get into it) and Monsters vs. Aliens (I watched just to kill time). The meal was an interesting chicken dish, better than the KLM pissy-pasta, though nothing special. The FAs came by frequently enough to be satisfactory, but this was another mundane flight across the ocean that did what it needed to do.
I must mention however that there were about fifteen YOUNG kids in my section, and two or three of them were allowed to holler and scream at will for the entire flight. One of them had this obnoxious "ehhhhhhhhhhhhh" every time he didn't get something he wanted...which was apparently often. We flew over Canada and down through Michigan. On approach into Atlanta we basically flew down I-85, over my house incidentally, the Mall of Georgia, and a few other local landmarks. For the last hour of the flight the girl sitting directly behind me talked as though she were giving dictation. I discreetly looked back and listened, though I couldn't understand a word of her Czech, and I swear hear seatmate just sat there with this glazed over petrified look on her face, every ten minutes or so mutter a "oh" while this girl seriously JUST KEPT TALKING, it was kinda funny, but seriously, how do some people talk that much....
We landed on the North runways with little incident. I proceeded through Passport control, didn't have to wait for baggage check!! and then went through customs and security, and hopped on the train back down to the South Concourse where I was picked up.
I must say I enjoyed the trip, in retrospect incredibly glad I did it, though I don't know if I would make Prague a destination again! Any comments are welcome, though again, I chose to include more of the rest of the trip than most people do. Thanks!
I was browsing the internet at work one day (oh the shame! *Wink* in late June/early July and came across an email from Delta advertising some pretty good fares to Europe, and in particular Budapest. Now, Budapest is a city that I had wanted to visit for quite some time, partially because for Americans it's not necessarily a well-traveled destination and I got to put another country on my list. What I found was a very enjoyable, colorful city. I had also wanted to visit Prague when I was in Europe for two months in the summer of 2007, but never made it out there. SO, I played around with some dates and found a fare for about half of what one would expect to pay for a transatlantic fare in the summer. Considering I would be starting medical school at the end of August (have since started) I pounced, not knowing if I would even get the chance to go back any time in the next three or four years AND with a bargain that good. The bargain allowed me to splurge a little more on the hotel side too Smile The end result was flying into Budapest, and out of Prague.
Booking the ticket was a little bit of a challenge because every time I tried to book a particular itinerary it would come up unavailable. I called Delta and they were incredibly helpful and in a nutshell told me to book through Northwest, because the identical itinerary was available through them. In a nutshell I wanted a PTV for the overnight to distract me from the inevitable lack of sleep. For the return I knew a good book would suffice, because, well duh, I was supposed be awake Wink So, in the end I booked a flight through AMS on KLM, connecting to Malev. Interestingly enough, after booking with NW, I transferred the flight over to my DL SkyMiles account (I'm stackin in miles for somebody's who 23, haha) and when I checked my itineraries I noticed that a SECOND itinerary (routed through CDG) was posted. After spontaneously emptying the entire contents of my GI tract I promptly called the friendly folks at Delta, prepared to battle this one down. Nothing had shown up on my credit card statement (the NW one had, so I knew it should've). My thought was if worst came to worse my dad could always accompany me (I'm a Jr.), haha. As it turns out, I never had to get ugly because even though it was posted in my itineraries, it was "On Hold" so I was told, and no payment had been received. Apparently the incredibly helpful agent I spoke to at the onset of purchasing the ticket had put a placehold on it for me should I want that routing. There were plenty of routings through CDG when I was trying to book, but I wanted the KLM flight, as mentioned, specifically for the PTV. So, after about three minutes that was cleared up and the itinerary removed. It wasn't that big of a deal, I understand they're still getting all their ducks in a row from the merger.
NOW, having rambled on and on with that soliloquy, let's get to the flying part!
17 August 2009
I arrived at the airport just after 1400 for the 1640 departure from ATL. It was very hot that day. I had checked in online and was going to just walk on through and present my passport at the gate. I was not checking any bags. However, when I got there, there were a grand total of three people in line at the KLM counter, so I went ahead and had my passport scanned. I proceeded through the T-Gate security in a slugish four minutes and meandered my way down to the E-Concourse. I splurged and treated myself to a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc and some sushi while the KLM A332 was prettied up at it's usual home of E-22.
I exchanged some money into Hungarian Forints, which incidentally thicken up your wallet as it's approxmately 200 to 1! The name of the A330 was the Plaza de Something Madrid. An odd name for any aircraft, I thought, much less a Dutch one... but I digress.Boarding started an entire hour prior to scheduled departure, which I thought was rather odd. I had a window seat toward the back (sorry don't remember which one) and settled in. We sat there in the aircraft for approximately 45 minutes before FINALLY pushing back and meandering toward the Southern runway and lifted off.
A note, KLM's economy seats I find recline more than their Delta, Austrian, and Lufty counterparts, but their lumbar is just in an awkward place for me. In order to be comfortable I had to stuff two pillows under my neck despite the presence of the adjustable headrest. Delta wins the seat competition for me.
The PTV system was fine, a sufficient number for the flight at hand. Over the course of the flight I wanted, though not necessarily entirely, Star Trek, 101 Dalmations, Memoires of a Geisha and Changling. The interface was very user friendly, though getting the blasted controller in and out of its place could be a bit of a challenge if you aren't thin as a cotton swab because your hip/thigh significantly impedes your access and work room since the bloody thing has to be tilted for removal. I would put it an infinitesimal notch below Delta since Delta's is a touch screen and I don't have to fumble with the controller and above Austrian's for being AVOD (only two carriers I've flown with PTVs).
The dinner service was just bad, but that was mostly personal preference. I fail to comprehend how black olive and green beans mix with penne rigate and some unidentifiable cheese. YUCK! Our attractive blond frequently came by with water, wine, and any other libation that struck our fancy. The breakfast service was excellent. We received, IIRC, a ham, egg, and cheese hot sandwich and a box that had IIRC some granola, cheese, and a few other goodies. Much better than Delta and Lufty (the only other two carriers I've flown on overnights).
The flight itself was uneventful, which is what you want. There were no screaming babies *bounces up and down* and the crew were friendly. The movies and drinks were plentiful, and I just rode out the flight with maybe forty-five minutes of sporadic sleep. Made for a fine flight, but an unpleasant morning, as we shall see.
We landed around 7am in Amsterdam on what could only have been the infamous Polderbaan as we taxied forever. I thought we had landed in Rotterdam and were taking the road the rest of the way... We deboarded in the E concourse. I went through immigration and made my way over to the C Concourse, which is a much less pleasant environment than the E Concourse I must say! It was a very easy connection though. I stopped by the bathroom to brush my teeth and freshen up as best I could before my two hour layover. Annoyingly, my gate, C10 was situated right at the end of a moving sidewalk that bleeped "MIND YOUR STEP" every time somebody got to the end. I mean really, airports all over the world have these things and people manage to not spontaneously impale themselves on the end without having to be told to watch your step... In a nutshell, it got old very quickly. Thankfully I had my iPod and cranked it up while I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I'm behind on the times) until boarding time came. By this point I was hitting a wall. It was approximately the time I would have normally been going to bed (I had just spent two weeks in Mountain and Pacific Time) and was starting to have to fight sleep, something I do not normally do. It made for a slow two hours.
The Malev 738 strolled up to the gate and about forty-five minutes later (and twenty minutes late) we boarded. I had seat 9A, a windowless seat, bah! Oh well, I just pulled out my book and cranked the iPod again. The FAs came by with a drink service and offered a ham or cheese sandwich, which was nothing special. I was taking all the Coca Cola though that they offered me in a vain attempt to stay awake Smile This flight was even more uneventful than the KLM flight. The Malev seats were comfortable, but rather flimsy, I doubt they would survive being used in a long haul operation.
Being a Schengen flight and me not having checked any bags I saw very little of BUD-2. I bolted for the taxi line in the hopes of getting my happy ass to my hotel so I could grab two or three hours of much needed nap time. Normally when traveling in Europe I take public transportation to/from airports BUT, in both Budapest and Prague the airports aren't well connected enough and my proficiency in Hungarian and Czech is nonexistant, so I decided paying more for the taxi was worth not getting lost and not being able to decipher where the hell I was and needed to go. The same went for later in the week when I wanted to go to Memento Park, there was no metro, so I took a taxi. Had I been in France or a German speaking country a) the transit links would've been much better, and b) I would be able to make myself understand and understand enough to get my happy ass in the right direction Smile That is by no means a slight on Hungarians or Czechs, merely me being self aware of my deficiencies!
I stayed at the Hilton West End, very nice hotel in a good location for anyone who may be planning a trip to Budapest. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Budapest. And by some chance of fate, or I'm just that lucky, I was there on August 20, Hungarian independence day! I found Budapest a very friendly and open city, and it was very easy to meet people. One day I spent the day with a German and two Swedes. One of the Swedes had actually lived in my hometown while studying at UGA (bizarrely small world). The German, amusingly to me and the Swede, grossly extrapolated the correlation between Borat and American society. The four of us met on a river cruise of the Duna (Danube in English). A tried and true trick of mine when traveling in Europe is to search out people speaking English with accents -- 9/10 times they're single/double travelers just wandering around looking to meet people such as yourself. I also did a bus tour of the city to get familiar with it.
Some of the highlights included Memento Park and just meeting the random people. On Hungarian Independence Day (August 20) I spent the day with a Hungarian and some Belgians. I had a very good time. They enjoyed racing up and down random stairs that faced buildings. The fireworks display that night was amazing, with Buda Castle in the background it was just breathtaking. It lasted about half an hour. The bridges were lit up and there were air races during the day!
The next day it was time leave Budapest :( and head to Prague. The train ride was LONG. I didn't get much sleep the night before. My first seat mates were Spanish ladies, and they were very nice. After they left the train in Bratislava a mother and son got on. They have to be quite possibly the most obnoxious pair of people I have ever had the pleasure of sharing a space with...The kid felt it was ok to put his feet everywhere, the mother apparently felt no need to correct him. I would have been quickly reprimanded for that (even now come to think of it). After they got off (thankfully) in Brno, a younger couple got on. I thought this would be interesting, but no. The guy smelled like the salami sandwich that he was eating (which reeked by itself with no assistance). Compared to Hungarians the Czechs didn't smile nearly as much. I wonder if that's a Slavic thing? Russians never smile either. The train arrived in Prague late, and I took the metro two stops down to my hotel (carefully chosen for its proximity to the metro line). I checked in and explored a little bit of Old Town before bedding down for the night.
Overall my impression of Prague was that it is overrated. It had a DisneyWorld feel to it. It was much harder to meet people and it was much more crowded than Budapest (as in suffocating). The buildings were gorgeous from an aesthetic standpoint, but honestly, it's just too much. Paris even yields its prettiness. Turns out Prague was a trophy city/money dump for the Hapsburgs and as such EVERYWHERE you go is insanely beautiful that it's a little off putting. Plus, add again that Prague is a huge tourist city (and not much else in August).
24 August 2009
It came time to leave, and honestly I was ready to go. I didn't enjoy Prague as much as I had anticipated, though I think some of that was anticipation of moving in the coming five days. Anyways, to ensure a quick ride to the airport I took a cab to the airport. The cab driver must have thought it amusing because I was swaying and jerked all over the place during the ride. I had to look down at my feet as he sped at sixty kmh through tiny side streets barely big enough for the car, all the while revving the engine!
We arrived at PRG, which is a very nice airport, very clean, modern. It reminded me of Munich's aiport. Delta uses Terminal 1. I had a little scuffle with the check-in agent, though. He was of the opinion that my small carry on was fine, but that my backpack was too large to fit into the overhead bin. Never mind that people were carrying bags on the plane that were still larger than my two put together...admittedly it was a bulky book bag but that was mainly because there were three Harry Potter books in them and they had all slid on top of each other -- in other words easily adjustable. I argued with him and then the supervisor for a minute or two and said, "I'll happily put it under my seat, there's no need for this bag to be checked." She finally relented either realizing that the check-in agent was being overzealous or she realized I was going to be stubborn. Either way the two bags fit very nicely on top of each other in the overhead bin, hardly taking up any space...
I watched the flight from either ATL or JFK (dunno which) arrive. Its first officer was a woman, I think the first I had seen for an international flight, though that's not a HUGE number to pull from. I waited about an hour before seeing a really long line at my gate, B8, and panicked thinking it was mine. Turns out it was the one for B9, but a few others had panicked like me and a short line was forming, so I joined it and chatted with the people around me.Soon we were through security (I hate individual gate security in the EU, drives me nuts) and then milled around the gate area for about twenty minutes before boarding started. I made my way to 36J and got settled. Before completely getting settled I went to the lavatory and I noticed there and on the way back that this aircraft had not been cleaned very well, perhaps something to do with unions at PRG? I've flown Delta quite a bit over the Atlantic and this aircraft was frankly not up to par. It was mostly the bathrooms, and it was mostly trash, not filth, but nonetheless...
The movies on this flight were the Soloist (couldn't get into it) and Monsters vs. Aliens (I watched just to kill time). The meal was an interesting chicken dish, better than the KLM pissy-pasta, though nothing special. The FAs came by frequently enough to be satisfactory, but this was another mundane flight across the ocean that did what it needed to do.
I must mention however that there were about fifteen YOUNG kids in my section, and two or three of them were allowed to holler and scream at will for the entire flight. One of them had this obnoxious "ehhhhhhhhhhhhh" every time he didn't get something he wanted...which was apparently often. We flew over Canada and down through Michigan. On approach into Atlanta we basically flew down I-85, over my house incidentally, the Mall of Georgia, and a few other local landmarks. For the last hour of the flight the girl sitting directly behind me talked as though she were giving dictation. I discreetly looked back and listened, though I couldn't understand a word of her Czech, and I swear hear seatmate just sat there with this glazed over petrified look on her face, every ten minutes or so mutter a "oh" while this girl seriously JUST KEPT TALKING, it was kinda funny, but seriously, how do some people talk that much....
We landed on the North runways with little incident. I proceeded through Passport control, didn't have to wait for baggage check!! and then went through customs and security, and hopped on the train back down to the South Concourse where I was picked up.
I must say I enjoyed the trip, in retrospect incredibly glad I did it, though I don't know if I would make Prague a destination again! Any comments are welcome, though again, I chose to include more of the rest of the trip than most people do. Thanks!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
A New Journey...
It finally came time to leave for Dominica. I had five days to basically get everything together, but I'm a good packer so that was hardly an issue.
To detail my venture into a new part of the world I figured it would be beneficial to both myself to detail it here and beneficial to anyone here who may want to read it...haha.
29 August 2009
This flight to Antigua was non-stop on Delta, but it left at 1000...I mean really, can we not get some lights at the airport in Antigua to facilitate more reasonable departure times AND even more, connection times upon which this flight undoubtedly needs...Ok, rant over!
So, I was dropped off at the airport by the family and had a long goodbye. Even though this was an international flight, I checked in at the kiosk, which is a beautiful contraption that greatly eases the hassles of getting through the check-in process. Why more people don't use this option is beyond me, it's literally a two-push process. Adding a passport scan does nothing to impede the process! The whole thing took two minutes and then I was immediately directed to the baggage drop
The security was its usual self---that is to say a bunch of idiots acting like they can't read and/or have never been to an airport before...so getting through that took about ten minutes.
When I checked the flight status online before leaving for the airport the flight was schedule to leave from T7, which would have been wonderful as obviously that's right after security, you don't even have to go down the escalator! However, upon checking in I discovered that the flight had been rescheduled to leave from E2. Which, of course, is the farthest possible gate from the security check point being at E (the last concourse) and Gate 2, at the END of the concourse! I'm not a huge fan of taking the people mover, I usually just prefer to walk, but I got down to C and noticed that I was about twenty seconds ahead of a train, and figured, what the hell, I'll just take the train. Probably a good thing I did that too as literally the minute after I got to the gate they started boarding. Interestingly, upon check-in I got the "This flight is overbooked, please see gate agent for details blah blah blah" message. This was the second DL flight in a row where I'd gotten that one (previous one was 13 August PHX-ATL). So, when I get to the gate, hoping MAYBE they'd route me through JFK for some perks (it's happened before) or some other way, they told me, no, we're fine....so why do I get the message in the first place??? I mean really
So, all that being said it came time to board out 737-700. New livery, don't have the registration, but it did have winglets. The configuration had the PTVs and the slimline seats. Seated next to me was a young eight or nine year old whose aunt was sitting further up. Next to him was a women who I would guess is in her fifties or sixties going to Montserrat. The kid sitting next to me behaved perfectly with the exception that he got finger happy with his PTV and kept pressing the same button sixteen times when the menu didn't act fast enough. Of course, that proceeded to freeze the PTV every five minutes. Mine worked perfectly, and I watched a little LIVE TV until we got out of range, and then I watched The Proposal while the meal service came around, but it was nondescript so I really don't remember what it was, lol.
We lined up for take off and meandered our way to the South runways, and we start rolling, and we just keep rolling, and never speed up....I remember thinking to myself, "gentlemen up front, this little stretch of pavement doesn't keep going...it's gonna end, what's the deal here...?" Well, the deal was we had to go back to a gate, though we didn't deplane. They turned on the TV systems for us so that was very generous of them. Turns out, the plane had been repaired, and the part used to repair it was the part for a 737-800, not a 737-700, so I guess that means the plane couldn't have been legally dispatched. So, after an hour we were back on the runway (the TVs were never turned off, the safety thing having been displayed prior to the initial non-take off) and this time we made it into the air!
Because I'm just that lucky there were about forty young kids on this flight. Most of them were well behaved, one or two of them had cranky moments during pressurization, but then settled. There was one, however, of course, in the aisle across and back from me who felt the need to scream and holler on and off pretty much the entire flight....and his parents did nothing about it. The lady in my row even said something about it, but nothing. I may be setting myself for bad karma but dammit control your children on a flight!
The flight itself was rather uneventful minus the screaming kid. I swear I'm done with VFR routes!! Having never been to the Caribbean before it was nice to fly over some of the islands. Just before touching down on the runway in ANU we either hit a pocket of air or the pilot felt like keeping us on our "toes" because the plane basically bucked up and right back down and we become a Deltoid Wave, with a good chunk of the plane going "awwooooo" during the process, and then we all had a good laugh about it as the plane touched down.
Now the hectic part begins. I've flown enough (though not nearly as much as some of you road warriors -- did you like that shameless kiss up?) to out of the way destinations to know that if you're not flexible and expect everything to run with German efficiency you'll have a coronary after a while, so I went into the airport expecting "Island Time" to be in full force. Immigration was actually fine, being no faster or shorter than anywhere else really. Baggage claim, however, was horrendous. There were only three flights on the ground and it took a solid hour for my bag to come of the belt...insane considering the baggage claim belt is literally thirty yards from the plane.
Anyway, once that conundrum was over and done with, it came time to get to where I'd be staying that (one and only) night. I decided to stay in Antigua 1) the flight was cheaper and 2) to get another stamp in my passport (travel geek supreme here). I originally searched for a Hilton or Holiday Inn affiliated hotel for the points (Hilton Honor Silver woot woot) that I'd get from the hotel program AND the airline program...hey, double dipping is beautiful thing. Alas, no affiliated hotels seemed to exist in Antigua...major bummer. So, I did the next best thing...HOTELS.COM! Yeah, so I had no idea about any of these places, so I went with the cheapest one closest to the airport with cable TV and AC. I chose The Verandah. Turned out it was very nice, though I was by far the youngest person staying there that was not being accompanied by an adult. No matter really since I didn't get there until around six in the evening, and I would be basically just sleeping there. The room was very nice as you can see.
And so was the outside.
I chilled in my room that night (it gets dark in the Caribbean around six thirty, maddening to me) reading and watching old tennis matches on the Tennis Channel (I don't even have that at home!).
The next morning I had a little bit of time to kill before checking out, so I decided to sit on the beach and read my book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I didn't have much time, but since I'd paid for the private beach...
Noon came around and it was time to check out. It took about a half hour to get to the airport. Since my flight wasn't until 1640 I was in no rush to get there, but where else could I really go with a fifty pound bag and nowhere to put it? In a nutshell I paid my exit fee (which it turns out a short stayer like me didn't need to, live and learn) and then schlepped my bag up two flights of stairs to the air conditioned restaurant. I leisurely read my book and ate some lunch before going back down the stairs to check my bag in. Despite LIAT policy being ONE carry on, I was able to check my bag (50.5 lbs) and walk through with a backpack and a small rolling suitcase that easily weighed close to thirty pounds (twice their limit of fifteen). I didn't say anything and neither did they.
I still had a while to kill so I just watched the tarmac, unfortunately pictures aren't allowed. I was paged to the desk after a while, and I panicked, thinking my flight was cancelled, or delayed, or something was wrong with my checking, etc, etc. About fifty scenarios went through my mind. Turned out to be the Ross University welcome person/lady/ma'am just wanting to make sure that I had everything in order to arrive in Dominica, which I did. Right after that a flight from San Juan, PR arrived with about twenty students on it, so it was nice to at least have somebody to talk to. A month later I've seen a few of them, but not many.
Two flights were going to Dominica within about ten minutes of each other, and mine was delayed. Just my luck. Either way, we boarded our little puddle jumper and settled in. I was very glad this was to be a short flight because Jay Jay the Jet Plane could have done cartwheels around this plane (side note: can planes do cartwheels??) The flight was uneventful and we landed on a tiny airstrip that turned out to be Dominica just as the sun was starting to set. Immigration was no problem, and surprisingly enough neither was baggage claim. My bag arrived unlike many, thank God. Ross was there to meet us and a group of us set out toward Portsmouth (the airport being in Marigot). The road was windy and steep, and not one you'd drive for jollies. Most of the roads here are like that. We were dropped off at the Housing Office where we waited for our bags. They were loaded on a separate truck that tailed us by about forty-five minutes. Our bags eventually arrived and the landlords called.
My apartment is fine, it's not what'd you find in the states, but nothing here is. According to many students it's one of the nicer complexes in the area that doesn't cost and arm and a leg. The landlord has been responsive to anything I needed. Apparently the last tenant destroyed the apartment so many things had been replaced. I got a new table, new refrigerator, settee, and dry erase board. Makes me wonder how destructive and negligent the former tenant was. I was have twice-weekly maid service and classes are less than ten minutes by foot, which is great for sleeping late in the morning! Some people have half hour to forty-five minute walks. For those who care my road is Balvin Rd. which branches off Moo Cow Trail (seriously). Moo Cow Trail is appropriately named as at any random time five or six cows can be found tethered grazing. Sometimes they look at you rather blase and ignore you, and sometimes they voice their "displeasure" at being disturbed by, you guessed it "mooing" at you.
So all in all the first impressions are good!
To detail my venture into a new part of the world I figured it would be beneficial to both myself to detail it here and beneficial to anyone here who may want to read it...haha.
29 August 2009
This flight to Antigua was non-stop on Delta, but it left at 1000...I mean really, can we not get some lights at the airport in Antigua to facilitate more reasonable departure times AND even more, connection times upon which this flight undoubtedly needs...Ok, rant over!
So, I was dropped off at the airport by the family and had a long goodbye. Even though this was an international flight, I checked in at the kiosk, which is a beautiful contraption that greatly eases the hassles of getting through the check-in process. Why more people don't use this option is beyond me, it's literally a two-push process. Adding a passport scan does nothing to impede the process! The whole thing took two minutes and then I was immediately directed to the baggage drop
The security was its usual self---that is to say a bunch of idiots acting like they can't read and/or have never been to an airport before...so getting through that took about ten minutes.
When I checked the flight status online before leaving for the airport the flight was schedule to leave from T7, which would have been wonderful as obviously that's right after security, you don't even have to go down the escalator! However, upon checking in I discovered that the flight had been rescheduled to leave from E2. Which, of course, is the farthest possible gate from the security check point being at E (the last concourse) and Gate 2, at the END of the concourse! I'm not a huge fan of taking the people mover, I usually just prefer to walk, but I got down to C and noticed that I was about twenty seconds ahead of a train, and figured, what the hell, I'll just take the train. Probably a good thing I did that too as literally the minute after I got to the gate they started boarding. Interestingly, upon check-in I got the "This flight is overbooked, please see gate agent for details blah blah blah" message. This was the second DL flight in a row where I'd gotten that one (previous one was 13 August PHX-ATL). So, when I get to the gate, hoping MAYBE they'd route me through JFK for some perks (it's happened before) or some other way, they told me, no, we're fine....so why do I get the message in the first place??? I mean really
So, all that being said it came time to board out 737-700. New livery, don't have the registration, but it did have winglets. The configuration had the PTVs and the slimline seats. Seated next to me was a young eight or nine year old whose aunt was sitting further up. Next to him was a women who I would guess is in her fifties or sixties going to Montserrat. The kid sitting next to me behaved perfectly with the exception that he got finger happy with his PTV and kept pressing the same button sixteen times when the menu didn't act fast enough. Of course, that proceeded to freeze the PTV every five minutes. Mine worked perfectly, and I watched a little LIVE TV until we got out of range, and then I watched The Proposal while the meal service came around, but it was nondescript so I really don't remember what it was, lol.
We lined up for take off and meandered our way to the South runways, and we start rolling, and we just keep rolling, and never speed up....I remember thinking to myself, "gentlemen up front, this little stretch of pavement doesn't keep going...it's gonna end, what's the deal here...?" Well, the deal was we had to go back to a gate, though we didn't deplane. They turned on the TV systems for us so that was very generous of them. Turns out, the plane had been repaired, and the part used to repair it was the part for a 737-800, not a 737-700, so I guess that means the plane couldn't have been legally dispatched. So, after an hour we were back on the runway (the TVs were never turned off, the safety thing having been displayed prior to the initial non-take off) and this time we made it into the air!
Because I'm just that lucky there were about forty young kids on this flight. Most of them were well behaved, one or two of them had cranky moments during pressurization, but then settled. There was one, however, of course, in the aisle across and back from me who felt the need to scream and holler on and off pretty much the entire flight....and his parents did nothing about it. The lady in my row even said something about it, but nothing. I may be setting myself for bad karma but dammit control your children on a flight!
The flight itself was rather uneventful minus the screaming kid. I swear I'm done with VFR routes!! Having never been to the Caribbean before it was nice to fly over some of the islands. Just before touching down on the runway in ANU we either hit a pocket of air or the pilot felt like keeping us on our "toes" because the plane basically bucked up and right back down and we become a Deltoid Wave, with a good chunk of the plane going "awwooooo" during the process, and then we all had a good laugh about it as the plane touched down.
Now the hectic part begins. I've flown enough (though not nearly as much as some of you road warriors -- did you like that shameless kiss up?) to out of the way destinations to know that if you're not flexible and expect everything to run with German efficiency you'll have a coronary after a while, so I went into the airport expecting "Island Time" to be in full force. Immigration was actually fine, being no faster or shorter than anywhere else really. Baggage claim, however, was horrendous. There were only three flights on the ground and it took a solid hour for my bag to come of the belt...insane considering the baggage claim belt is literally thirty yards from the plane.
Anyway, once that conundrum was over and done with, it came time to get to where I'd be staying that (one and only) night. I decided to stay in Antigua 1) the flight was cheaper and 2) to get another stamp in my passport (travel geek supreme here). I originally searched for a Hilton or Holiday Inn affiliated hotel for the points (Hilton Honor Silver woot woot) that I'd get from the hotel program AND the airline program...hey, double dipping is beautiful thing. Alas, no affiliated hotels seemed to exist in Antigua...major bummer. So, I did the next best thing...HOTELS.COM! Yeah, so I had no idea about any of these places, so I went with the cheapest one closest to the airport with cable TV and AC. I chose The Verandah. Turned out it was very nice, though I was by far the youngest person staying there that was not being accompanied by an adult. No matter really since I didn't get there until around six in the evening, and I would be basically just sleeping there. The room was very nice as you can see.
And so was the outside.
I chilled in my room that night (it gets dark in the Caribbean around six thirty, maddening to me) reading and watching old tennis matches on the Tennis Channel (I don't even have that at home!).
The next morning I had a little bit of time to kill before checking out, so I decided to sit on the beach and read my book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I didn't have much time, but since I'd paid for the private beach...
Noon came around and it was time to check out. It took about a half hour to get to the airport. Since my flight wasn't until 1640 I was in no rush to get there, but where else could I really go with a fifty pound bag and nowhere to put it? In a nutshell I paid my exit fee (which it turns out a short stayer like me didn't need to, live and learn) and then schlepped my bag up two flights of stairs to the air conditioned restaurant. I leisurely read my book and ate some lunch before going back down the stairs to check my bag in. Despite LIAT policy being ONE carry on, I was able to check my bag (50.5 lbs) and walk through with a backpack and a small rolling suitcase that easily weighed close to thirty pounds (twice their limit of fifteen). I didn't say anything and neither did they.
I still had a while to kill so I just watched the tarmac, unfortunately pictures aren't allowed. I was paged to the desk after a while, and I panicked, thinking my flight was cancelled, or delayed, or something was wrong with my checking, etc, etc. About fifty scenarios went through my mind. Turned out to be the Ross University welcome person/lady/ma'am just wanting to make sure that I had everything in order to arrive in Dominica, which I did. Right after that a flight from San Juan, PR arrived with about twenty students on it, so it was nice to at least have somebody to talk to. A month later I've seen a few of them, but not many.
Two flights were going to Dominica within about ten minutes of each other, and mine was delayed. Just my luck. Either way, we boarded our little puddle jumper and settled in. I was very glad this was to be a short flight because Jay Jay the Jet Plane could have done cartwheels around this plane (side note: can planes do cartwheels??) The flight was uneventful and we landed on a tiny airstrip that turned out to be Dominica just as the sun was starting to set. Immigration was no problem, and surprisingly enough neither was baggage claim. My bag arrived unlike many, thank God. Ross was there to meet us and a group of us set out toward Portsmouth (the airport being in Marigot). The road was windy and steep, and not one you'd drive for jollies. Most of the roads here are like that. We were dropped off at the Housing Office where we waited for our bags. They were loaded on a separate truck that tailed us by about forty-five minutes. Our bags eventually arrived and the landlords called.
My apartment is fine, it's not what'd you find in the states, but nothing here is. According to many students it's one of the nicer complexes in the area that doesn't cost and arm and a leg. The landlord has been responsive to anything I needed. Apparently the last tenant destroyed the apartment so many things had been replaced. I got a new table, new refrigerator, settee, and dry erase board. Makes me wonder how destructive and negligent the former tenant was. I was have twice-weekly maid service and classes are less than ten minutes by foot, which is great for sleeping late in the morning! Some people have half hour to forty-five minute walks. For those who care my road is Balvin Rd. which branches off Moo Cow Trail (seriously). Moo Cow Trail is appropriately named as at any random time five or six cows can be found tethered grazing. Sometimes they look at you rather blase and ignore you, and sometimes they voice their "displeasure" at being disturbed by, you guessed it "mooing" at you.
So all in all the first impressions are good!
Monday, August 3, 2009
ROAD TRIP Out West!!!!!
To act as kind of the piece de resistance myself, my mom, and my brother decided we wanted to see a little bit of America before my chance was up. Mama had never been to many of these places either, and Michael likes to travel, though I'm not sure if he does as much as I do. Anyway, we had originally planned on making this a short one week trip going to Yellowstone and then staying in the Colorado/Wyoming/Montana area to comply with what was then my vacation schedule at work. Once I knew I was accepted to medical school that changed rather quickly. We decided to push back the trip until after I left work to give me more time to work with whomever would be hired to replace me. Since we could now be a little more flexible, we decided to extend the trip a little bit and include Las Vegas and Arizona in the itinerary. By extension this also meant we would go through Utah, though now having seen some of it, I want to go back and see more!
1 August 2009
Arrived at the airport on a rather nice, albeit overcast, morning in Atlanta. Our flight, DL1901 was due to depart at 1057, so we arrived at the airport around nine. We had little trouble putting the bags through, though Mom did have a mini meltdown when she couldn't find her bankcard. Ten minutes later the disappearing debit card was found and order was restored to the universe ;)
The security line was the longest I had ever seen in Atlanta, backed up almost to the arrivals. I had stood in a line half as long for about 45 minutes before, so I trotted over to the T-Gate security. It was predictably short, but apparently the long lines were deceiving because we were all through at about the same time. Whoops, oh well. Murphy's Law!
Made it through and down to A30. We grabbed a quick breakfast, and strolled down to A30, to find that our flight had been moved to another gate. Thankfully it was A29, so we endured a stressful twelve-foot dash to the other side of the concourse... The flight boarded on time. Our flight was operated by a 757-200 in the Citgo livery with the AVOD IFE. We boarded and I nabbed my window seat, 39A. I love window seats because though you have to do the double excuse me to get up, you're ensured at least one side of your body is not going to be bumped, slammed, or crowded. And if you're tired it makes a perfect head prop! We were delayed a few moments because for some reason people don't get the whole "it's a full flight, please place your bags wheels first" thing. After that was settled, we pushed back and head toward the North runways at ATL. We were fourth or fifth in line for take-off, so our wait wasn't too bad. We lifted off and were on our way.
1 August 2009
• Delta Flight DL1901 ATL–Denver – Departs 1057, Arrives 1209
• Rental Car Budget Rental
• Lodging Holiday Inn Express – Hill City, SD
o 2 Queen Bed/2 Room Suite w/ Sofa Bed
I had the window seat, and my mom had the aisle seat. My brother was across the aisle. My mom and I lucked out as our middle seat was the only empty seat on the plane. We didn't luck out as much, however, with the PTVs, they would work, but the audio kept blinking out. I didn't care too much considering I needed to catch up on my Harry Potter, so I read a good chunk of Harry Potter 2 on that flight. We landed in Denver with little incident.
- DEN is a cool airport, laid out just like ATL.
- Baggage claim took no time at all.
- Bussed out to the rental car center. A little issue there as the reservation required some tweaking due to my age being under 25. In the end the agent upgraded us from our Taurus-sized reservation (which would have been sufficient) to an Edge. This was outstanding because this afforded us PLENTY of room (three people) and we had room left in the back for our giant backs. The car was quiet, spacious, and got really good gas mileage. It took about an hour and a half to get all that sorted out, but it was time well spent considering we would spend a nice chunk of time in the car over the coming two weeks.
- Left the airport and headed into downtown Denver. The final destination for that night was Hill City, SD, where we would be bedding down that night. We drove through downtown Denver a little bit. Mom wanted to see the stadiums, so we did that before heading North. We could've headed straight that way, however, there was a toll road, AND we wanted to see a least a little bit of the city, so we went south first and then up through downtown Denver. I-25 was our road for a LONG time. We drove up through Cheyenne and then from Cheyenne through a seemingly ENDLESS grassland before making our way into South Dakota. It was almost dark by the time we crossed the state line. By that time there was something to see, but it was too dark. The hotel was nice, standard fare Holiday Inn.
2 August 2009
• Badlands National Park
• Crazy Horse Monument
• Making way into Wyoming – Distance between Hill City, SD and Sheridan, WY 230 miles/ 4 hours drive
• Devil’s Tower
• Lodging
o Candlewood Suites, Sheridan, WY
o One 2-bed Suite and one 1-bed suite
We woke up relatively early, wanting to make as much of the day as possible. We woke up to find about 8,000 bikes in the little town. Unbeknown to me I schedule this part of the trip during freakin' Sturgis Rally Week, which pretty much rules the Black Hills during that week. It was fine, they were very nice, but yeesh, there were just so many motorcycles on the road, and only a few were wearing helmets (weirds me out all the time as my home state has a helmet law). We literally saw them come from every corner of the country. It hurt my hind end to think that somebody drove a motorcycle from Dade County Florida to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Even moreso when one considers that apparently motorcycles rarely travel above 60mph (at least the non-crotch rocket types). I did not know this, but apparently my younger brother is an encyclopedia of all things motorcycle -- news to me.
We left the hotel and proceeded toward Mt. Rushmore via the Needles Highway. It was absolutely gorgeous! It took about two hours, and along the way we stopped and had bison sausage (yum, considering I hate ground meat). We made it to Mt. Rushmore, where I started to sugar crash, so we also had lunch there. The monument was cool, and the parade of states or whatever it's called (all fifty state flags leading up to it) was interesting. We walked around and below the monument, and no, you cannot actually walk up on it. After Mt. Rushmore we headed over to Crazy Horse, which wasn't far away at all we came to find. We were met by a literal sea of motorcycles, FAR outnumbering the cars.
I think we all found Crazy Horse much more inspirational than Mt. Rushmore probably because it wasn't finished and the story behind its building and builders is just incredible. One guy for years doing all of that by himself, it's just mind-boggling to think about it! I grabbed a rock that I was later able to break up into a few pieces so some friends could have one too. Don't worry folks, the rocks were in a pile just for that purpose.
After Crazy Horse it was later in the afternoon, and we started to make our way into Wyoming (again). We went from Hill City up to Rapid City, where we would pick up I-80W. In Rapid City we grabbed some food (Wendy's or Arby's, I can't remember which at this point) and a portable DVD player, which was fantastic for the long car ride that night as we drove through Wyoming, and then again later as we drove through Utah and onward to Las Vegas, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The drive across I-80 was much better than the drive from Cheyenne. There was a little more than grassland this time around, though not a ton. We drove by the Devil's Tower, but didn't go inside the park. Why pay $10 when the best view of it is going to be from far away? We're talking about an 800ft tower of solid granite here! So we did the perfunctory photo ops, got some ice cream and mosied onward. We were over-nighting in Sheridan, WY that night, another small town. It was dark when we got there. The hotel was a little difficult to find, as it was located behind a Wal-Mart (which we all know are small buildings...)and there was no sign high in the air or visible on the ground. We ended up calling the hotel, and duh, we had seen the Wal-Mart so by then it was easy to find :) The Candlewood Suites are very nice, and I would definitely stay there again.
3 August 2009
• Proceed to Yellowstone National Park
• Distance between Sheridan, WY and Yellowstone Eastern Wyoming Entrance is approximately 200 miles/ 3.5 hours
• Lodging
o Travelodge Gardiner, Montana
o Two 2-bed Standard Rooms
We woke up relatively early, around seven, which was fine for us since our bodies thought it was 9. We needed a few things, so we went to the aforementioned Wally World and acquired a few things we needed and also grabbed some breakfast at McDonald's (the only time I'll eat there is breakfast). We then headed out in our fantastic Edge back to I-80. We didn't stay on that road very long, however, as we were very close to the Montana state line, and that part of Montana was well away from where we were interested in going. So, we got off the interstate basically at the foot of a mountain range, and then started to drive along it, before slowly making our way up, and up, and up, and up, and up, and up, and well, you get the general idea. Some of the roads at the top were being worked on and weren't paved. I would have hated to be in one of the plethora of RVs that we saw and try to navigate that road. Again I was loving our car, it handled the bumps beautifully. After going up, of course we had to come down. Now, we're not accustomed to such high mountains, some yes, but not like that, so, mom was breaking a little hard and I was starting to smell the brakes a little bit. I suggested we stop at a little rest stop which turned out to be a waterfall, so we stretched a little bit. It was mostly downhill and flat from there and then we had a LONG drive to Cody, WY. We passed through Emblem, WY, which had a STATED population of a whopping 10. TEN! Why even put up a sign??? And the city had a post office, so 20% of the town worked at the post office. We went through a lot of small towns in Wyoming that had small populations. We eventually made it to Cody, and decided to have a sit down lunch. Cody is I guess a decent-sized town for Wyoming, so it had a nice downtown with restaurants and shops, though nearly every one of them had something to do with cowboys (not really my thing). While Mike explored the cowboy extravaganza, I walked around some other stores. About that time the bottom fell out of the sky and I was worried that would persist as we weren't that far from Yellowstone (our ultimate destination). It turned out to be a mostly passing storm, and we headed out of Cody and onward to Yellowstone. It remained very overcast. IIRC it took about an hour or so to reach the main gate of Yellowstone, and then another thirty minutes or so to reach the main circular road of Yellowstone. The Yellowstone events were far to numerous to describe in detail but saw Old Faithful, some bison, bears, and a bunch of elk. Since we got there relatively late in the afternoon, we had about five hours of daylight, which was sufficient. What I didn't realize about Yellowstone was how large the place is and how far apart all the attractions are. You spend a lot of time just looking at trees and grass going in between everything.
We entered the park from the East and went South. The park has a Figure 8 road system in the middle. We went around the south and then up to the North on the Western part of the Figure 8 since we were staying in Gardiner, MT at the North entrance. Gardiner is a town of about, oh, 800 people, so in the summer the population of tourists easily outnumbers the locals. We found our hotel, and had to push our way through about ten people trying to find rooms for the night. We were smart and booked all our hotels about two months in advance. This turned out to be a brilliant idea (of mine ;) ) because they were turning people away and they were having to drive fifty miles away to Livingston, MT. Very glad that didn't have to happen for us...
The rooms weren't anything special, but since we would only be sleeping there, it wasn't a huge deal for us. Needing to chill for a few minutes I went to the hotel next door and had a gin and tonic. There were some other travelers in there as well. We chatted for a little while and then I went back to my digs and went to sleep!
4 August 2009
• Yellowstone National Park
• 1645 – no later than for wagon excursion/cookout
o
o Roosevelt Lodge
• Lodging – Travelodge in Gardiner, MT
The next day was more Yellowstone. We went around the other side of the loop. The highlights were certainly the Yellowstone Grand Canyon. It was a long straight walk down, but the views of the two waterfalls were incredible. I was somewhat worried that seeing this "Grand Canyon" would a) be a disappointment after having seen the Grand Canyon in Arizona and b) result in a letdown when we got to that one the next week. Turned out that neither of my apprehensions were validated. The walk back up, however, was just awful any way you split it...
After that we went to a "cowboy cookout". In a nutshell we were taken on a wagon ride for about thirty minutes, and then they fed us stakes, and beans, and some salad. I'm not a huge red meat eater so that satisfied my red meat craving for a few months. I think that was the last time I've had red meat since then, and it's almost October as I write this.
5 August 2009
•
• Proceed through Yellowstone to Grand Teton National Park
• Make way to Idaho Falls, ID – Distance between Grand Teton and Idaho Falls is approximately 110 miles/ 2 hours
• 1400-1700: Michael fishing in Jackson, WY
• Lodging
o Hampton Inn, Idaho Falls, ID
o 2 bed/1 sofa bed suite
o
• Dinner in Jackson, WY
We were pretty much ready to move on after basically two days in Yellowstone. Even when hiking I'm not sure how some people spend a week there... We checked out and left Gardiner around nine and began heading the South. We had originally planned to do some horseback riding that morning, but we had heard that there were some serious construction delays between Yellowstone and Grand Teton, which we needed to go through, so we canceled the horseback riding, and went straight down. Turns out that was a very good idea because it took us almost five hours to get from Gardiner down through Yellowstone and to and through Grand Teton. Grand Teton is gorgeous, but it's a photo op, and not much else, especially after being naturedout out in Yellowstone. I think some of it is that Yellowstone and much of that area is covered in grass and trees. I live on the East Coast which has very dense greenery, it's nothing special to me.
We headed into Jackson, WY, where we had arranged to go fly fishing. Mom would go shopping, lol. Initially I wasn't overly enthusiastic about it, fishing isn't really my thing, but fly fishing at least is engaging unlike cast-and-reel which is just boring because you sit there more often than not. I hooked one, but it was so small that when I yanked the inertia of the rod and line let the fish fly off. So it was a victim of itself!
After fishing we walked around Jackson for a little while, and ate at a Thai restaurant. I LOVE Thai food and had been having a craving basically since we left Altanta...so, we had Thai food. By that time it had gotten dark, so we decided to head on our way. We were stopping that night in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Another state on the itinerary, but we wouldn't be there very long. We decided to stay in Idaho Falls because we would have to drive by it on our way to Salt Lake City, and stopping would knock off about an hour and a half of driving time the next day to Salt Lake City. Considering we'd basically been in the car the last three days, we knew that we would need a little bit of respite. So, a two hour drive later, we arrived in Idaho Falls. Nice town/city from what I could tell. We had a lot of trouble finding our hotel because even though I had Mapquest on my iPhone, it didn't account for the fact that the main road was closed. SO I basically just found the hotel location and used said Mapquest to navigate toward it. God what would we have done without the iPhone on this trip!!! We had an atlas, but that was for MACRO-navigation. The iPhone was a God-send when we had to MICRO-navigate, especially at night. We stayed at the Hampton Inn there, but we literally fell asleep and woke up! I chose Hamptons a lot because their beds are incredible. That, and the double dipping Hilton AND Delta points. I'm a points junkie!! They pay off!
6 August 2009
• Leave Idaho Falls for Salt Lake City – Distance between Idaho Falls, ID and Salt Lake City, UT is approximately 215 miles/ 3 hours – be best if arrival is before/around lunchtime
• Lodging
o Embassy Suites Salt Lake City
o 2 bed/2 room suite
o
• o Mormon Tabernacle Choir Rehearsal – 2000 to 2130 at Tabernacle or Conference Center
o Swimming in Great Salt Lake
o Historic Temple Square
The next morning we weren't in an overwhelming rush to get moving because Salt Lake City was to be a relaxing day where we just stayed downtown...or so we thought, stay tuned for that one. We washed the car because it's nice burgundy color was tinged brownish-orange after going through Yellowstone and Grand Teton. We were then on our way down I-15. It was a pleasant drive. We stopped somewhere in northern Utah for lunch at a place called TacoTime. Puts TacoBell to shame, although I'm not entirely sure how tater tots go with a burrito...Question for the theologians I guess...
We got into Salt Lake City around oneish, and thought that since we didn't have any major plans, that we would go over (West from I-15 on I-80) to the Salt Lake, here's where the adventure begins. We get most of the way down I-80, and we see that our exit has been closed. Having seen the railroad crossing type things all along roads in Wyoming, we figured it was either weather or construction related. So we go around on a backroad. Well we there and we discover that the blasted interstate is closed in both directions there. Why you ask? Because there was a police shootout. Why that made it necessary to close the Eastbound lane when the shooting was Westbound I'm not entirely sure, but, somebody apparently felt like that was a good idea...
We stopped at a gas station to refuel, and to ask about the incident. We initially thought we could wait it out, but some people were saying it took them almost two hours to go one and a half miles. I quickly decided that I would go crazy. So, we found an alternate route down and around the mountain rain we were beside. It took about an hour and a half, but even if that was a little more time, we got to see a little more. Finding the hotel was a little difficult due to the maddening layout of the Salt Lake City street naming system, which I can't even begin to describe, lol.
I found a great deal at the Embassy Suites in downtown Salt Lake City, so that meant we could see a few things without having to drive, AND we would be in a nice hotel so we could relax a little bit, which was most definitely needed. We ordered dinner to the room and enjoyed lobster macaroni and cheese along with some delicious chocolate cake. Shortly afterwards we went to Temple Square, which was about five blocks up the road. It was very interesting, almost eerie atmosphere. We also went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsals. That was very interesting, though it was not easy to understand the words to the songs. They say that auditorium has great accoustics, I beg to differ. Everybody there was polite though, very friendly.
7 August 2009
• Proceed to Las Vegas, NV – Distance between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas is approximately 420 miles/ 6 hours
• Blue Man Group
o 2200 Venetian Resort
• Possible Activities – any shiny object that catches our eye as we troll through the desert
o Zion National Park
o Bellagio fountains at night in Las Vegas
o Treasure Island sidewalk ship show
o Gondola ride at the Venetian
o Casinos
• Lodging
o Luxor Resort
o 2 queen-bed suite
We didn't make a rush to get going out of Salt Lake, seeing as we didn't HAVE to be in Las Vegas until around 9pm. We went back to the place we had wanted to go to explore the Great Salt Lake, and this time there were no impediments to our getting there. We arrived at a place called Saltair just a few minutes before nine. We had little interest in actually going in, but we were just curious as to how it worked. We walked around behind the building and across a lawn, then a long stretch of hardened sand, and then rocky wet sand, and then a stretch of wet sand before we finally get to the water, which absolutely reeked. I mean reeked beyond reek. So we walked around in it for a few minutes, too the pics, and then got back in the car and started the long drive to Vegas. We stopped in St. George, Utah for gas and some food and kept on down the road. moved from more of just an arid grassy area to a full on rocky desert as we began to move toward Arizona and then into Nevada. Mom commented on how all the rocks we were driving near/through/around gave the landscape an "unfinished look". I loved it. I think Arizona/Utah is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and wouldn't mind living there, though maybe not Phoenix, haha, because it's just too hot.
I tried to read a little bit between the Nevada state line and Las Vegas, but something about the road made the car vibrate a lot, and I got a litte sick, and then was ready to get out of the car. We saw Vegas coming for like thirty minutes before we ever got there...it was rather annoying, lol. This time we had little trouble finding our hotel, the Luxor. It was easy to find...it's a freakin pyramid! We valeted the car and didn't see it again until it was time to check out!
We relaxed for a little while after the long drive and then explored some of the strip right next to us. We were at the far, south end of the strip, so some of the Las Vegas landmarks were a little too far for walking distance. Let me just say that traffic on Las Vegas Blvd. is ungodly. We went over to Exaclibur and then New York, New York where we rode the roller coaster.
We went back to the Luxor where we had dinner at the MORE buffet. It was really good, I ate way too much and there was just about everything we could have wanted. We then headed down to the Venetian where we had tickets to see Blue Man Group. I had seen them in Berlin, so I knew we were in for a good show. It was a very good show, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. However, leaving the Venetian and walking a little ways down the strip was a maddening experience. Way too much people, all drunk or passing out cards for hookers...By the time we got back to the hotel we were ready to go to bed and as such did.
8 August 2009
• Hoover Dam
o 1010 – North Lobby of Luxor Hotel
o
• Cirque du Soleil KA
o MGM Grand Resort
o
• Lodging – same as night before
We were able to sleep a little late and had breakfast at the Food Court at the Luxor before being picked up by a tour bus for a tour of the Hoover Dam. It was about a forty-five minute drive out to the site, and there was considerable traffic getting down to the site, but we finally got there. We first went on the river down below the dam, and got some GREAT views. It was really hot though. It was much more comfortable at the TOP of the dam. After we came up from the river bed, we went down into the dam, and all around in there. It was really interesting and BIG. I would hate to have to be the ones who would climb all 1745 stairs (if that's even the number, there's just one LONG staircase that goes straight from bottom to top.
We stopped in Boulder City to look at some sheep (not my idea) and then at Ethel's chocolate where certain types of M&Ms are made. On the way back to the hotel we drove through Henderson and past Wayne Newton's complex and the Las Vegas airport. Interestingly there was a Korean Air 777 making a take off roll as we drove past. If my memory bank serves me correctly the flight heads to either Los Angeles or Vancouver before heading onward to Seoul. (Ok, NERD moment over). While we were still on the bus the driver brought up the subject of tips and how much he usually gets. I thought that was rather tacky considering one isn't obliged to receive a tip, especially when one asks for it...
We then made it back to the hotel, where we cooled off, showered, and grabbed a small bite to eat before going across the street to the MGM Grand for Cirque du Soleil Ka. Interestingly enough, due to the shape of the Luxor pyramid the music from the pull travels up the side of the wall and can be heard when you stand next to the window! I was looking forward to this show, I had heard it was outstanding. We got there early enough to have something to drink and play some slots. Mom and I played the penny slots and I had just put my last twelve dollars (of twenty-five) in the machine when I noticed that the line for the show was getting long, so I started max betting every time. Well three shots of that and I'd won over $100. I promptly cashed out and we headed for the line!
The show was OUTSTANDING. I loved it! The acrobatics, the movements, even the wacky plotline were just amazing. I would definitely recommend the show to anyone interested. It was MUCH easier getting back to the hotel that night as the MGM Grand is just across the street from the Luxor. As such, we did not have to weave through or fight nearly as many drunk idiots. We went to sleep early again as we wanted to get up and moving in order to ensure that we wouldn't get held up in traffic crossing the Hoover Dam into Arizona, or at the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park (our destination for that day).
9 August 2009
• Proceed to Grand Canyon – Distance between Las Vegas and Grand Canyon is approximately 120 miles/ 2.5 hours
• 1230 – Grand Canyon Helicopter Ride
o Grand Canyon National Park Airport
We left pretty early for the aforementioned reasons. I handled the check-out while Mom and Mike got the car. After two days of not seeing it it was like saying hello to friend you hadn't seen in a while, haha. I did the driving today since Mom did all the driving between SLC and Vegas. We headed out through Boulder City and down toward the dam. We grabbed some breakfast at In-and-Out Burger, which was surprisingly good. We also gassed up in Boulder City, and then proceeded onward over the Hoover Dam (again) and then on a windy, twisty highway to I-40, which took over an hour. One of the things I love about being out West is that on the open road you can MOVE. Speed limits aren't a big deal, and there aren't as many cars to clog the highway.
There were a few fires on the way up to the Grand Canyon, but thankfully they were controlled. Wildfires can be a significant problem in this part of the country, and I would hate to think we came all that way and wouldn't be able to do our helicopter tour! But it turned out everything was fine, and we made it to the Grand Canyon airport with time to spare. I had to empty out my camera as it was full, but other than that we waited around for like half an hour before getting in the helicopter.
I cannot use enough words to describe flying over the Grand Canyon, it was just unreal. I had been there about a year prior, and it was impressive then, but this was just majestic. Word to future travelers, thirty minutes in a helicopter is plenty, the stomach gets queasy! After touching down we had to find something to eat to settle the stomachs, and then we proceeded to drive across the South Rim. I was loving it, but Mom and Mike seemed to think it a little bit of a letdown after flying over it. Whatever, phooey on them! ;) It was getting to be around four or five in the afternoon by the time we had seen the South Rim and done the obligatory shopping, and we still had a good two hour drive ahead of us, so we got moving. En route we decided to make a lodging change. We had originally planned to stay in Tuba City after the Grand Canyon, and then go to Monument Valley, and stay in Flagstaff the next night. However, we got to thinking and since a) we had already missed the turn and b) checking in and out of hotels can be a PAIN, and c) we had a much better accommodation in Flagstaff than in Tuba City, we decided to spend both nights in Flagstaff. Seeing Tuba City the next day confirmed that to be a brilliant idea! Rearranging the reservations, however, proved to be a little difficult as the phone service blotched in and out. We had to fudge a little with our story to cancel the reservations in Tuba City, but rearranging in Flagstaff was no problem. Yet another reason why I love Hampton Inns, never had a problem with them! The room was amazing. Basically an apartment that was VERY comfortable. We grabbed dinner at the Sizzler across from the hotel parking lot. I wasn't crazy about but Michael wanted to eat there and he enjoyed it, so all was cool. We did some laundry and started packing up some clothes and things that we wouldn't need until we got home, as the trip was fast coming to an end ;(
o10 August 2009
• More Grand Canyon Activities
• Painted Desert – approximately 2.5 hours from Flagstaff
• Indian Reservation
• Monument Valley, Utah – 3 hours from Flagstaff
• Four Corners Monument
• Lodging
o Hampton Inn & Suites Flagstaff
o 2 Queen bed/Sofa bed 2 room suite
Mike decided he wanted a day to just relax, so Mom and I head out to Monument Valley. It's the stereotypical view of the West. It was about a two hour drive to get there, and we had to go through Tuba City (remember from the night before). Almost all of that day's driving would go through the Navajo Nation, so it was interesting to see that. In one town (unfortunately I don't remember which) there was an exhibit on the Navajo Code Talkers...in a Burger King.
Monument Valley was/is gorgeous, but the road was unpaved, and we thought it would be time better spent to head on to the Four Corners, which was about 90 miles away. This is where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet at one point. It's in the middle of freakin' nowhere, but well worth seeing! We got some cool pictures, and Indian Frybread. YUM! The drive back was INTERMINABLE! I thought we were NEVER going to get back to Flagstaff. We were hauling, but still being passed! We grabbed some food at a Subway in Flagstaff not far from the hotel.
I like Flagstaff, it has cool weather (I was wearing a jacket in August) and it has lots of trees. I wouldn't mind living there, some parts of Phoenix, I don't know...
We got back to the hotel to find Michael sprawled out on the couch with the entire series of Home Improvement (mine, BTW) on the coffee table. We relaxed that night, and decided to sleep a little later the next day, as the drive to Phoenix isn't that long.
11 August 2009
• Sedona – lunch
• Proceed to Phoenix – Distance between Flagstaff and Phoenix is approximately 145 miles/ 2 hours
• Diamondbacks Game – 1830
• Lodging
o Hampton Inn and Suites Glendale West Gate, Glendale AZ
o Two king-bed/sofa bed suites
We woke up a little later than usual and took our bags down to the car. I took care of check out while Mom and Mike took care of the car...it was a good system that had been working the whole trip...why spoil it now! It took about an hour to get down to Sedona, which was pretty much gorgeous the entire drive. The setting is beautiful, but unless you live there or want to shop, there's not much to do. I suppose if I had gone with a different group of friends we would have gone hiking, but IDK how that would go...lol. We drove around looking at some of the outrageously expensive homes and beautiful scenery. There was a lot of construction going on to the South of Sedona, so that made navigating a little difficult -- sadly enough this was the same construction that I encountered LAST year! We ate at a Mexican restaurant in a complex called Tlaquepaque (sp??) It was pretty good, and satiated my desire to eat Mexican food in Arizona, haha.
The drive down to Phoenix was uneventful, bar one slightly misread set of directions on the 101. Basically we got off too early, but that is easily remedied. I picked the hotel for two reasons. 1) I knew the area somewhat from my previous visit to Arizona and 2) one of my best friends lived nearby. Basically it was between a hotel in the Scottsdale/Paradise Valley area (East of Phoenix), or a hotel in Glendale (West of Phoenix). Glendale was cheaper and also won out because I knew that there was a large eating/entertainment complex right across the street -- Westgate. Mike and Mom also liked it because the University of Phoenix Stadium was right across the street.
We arrived at the hotel and checked in, and then headed into downtown Phoenix (which I am delighted to say I dodged booking a hotel in, haha) for the Diamondbacks Game. It was a lot of fun! The Diamondbacks won, and I got to see Jeff Francour (playing for the Mets) hit a homerun for the first time in my life--pathetic I know.
We went back to the hotel and I called Steele who came and picked me up. We went across the street to Westgate where we just sat and talked and caught up--for like four hours! We also did some karaoke, which is a specialty of mine. My best songs are Gin Blossoms' "Follow You Down" and Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks' "Gold Dust Woman".
About two I went back to the hotel, and sleep!
12 August 2009
• Lodging – same as night before
We got up around ten the next day and went across the street to Cabela's -- basically a West Coast Bass Pro Shop. Mike had asked to go there. Steele met us a little after that and took us around Phoenix. We went around Phoenix, over to Paradise Valley and Scottsdale, then through ASU and Tempe, before heading back to Glendale. Steele and I took the car to get cleaned/washed (it was covered in dust). We hung out in the pool a little while, and then met up with Steele's sister and her daughter for dinner at a Japanese restaurant at Westgate. We explored the fountains and got some ice cream. Steele and I went back to her place where we talked with her parents for a little while before I needed to head back, we had to be at the airport a little early the next morning. A good ending to a great trip!
13 August 2009
• 1045 – Depart Phoenix – Delta DL1792
• 1740 – Arrive Atlanta
We departed early, I guess around 0730 and gassed up the car before heading to Sky Harbor airport. We turned in our car and had some breakfast after checking in. Everything leading up to the flight was pretty boring and inconsequential. I was hoping we would have the PTVs again on the flight back, but alas, no such luck! Oh well, I had Harry Potter, which I really wanted to finish anyway. I did stop reading to watch Monsters vs. Aliens, a movie I would not recommend to anybody unless they had to watch it... I did buy a salad onboard and it was really good, sans the fact that it ONLY had ranch dressing (YUCK!). Other than that the flight was your standard fare Delta domestic service -- not bad, not great. We landed a little early I think, and had to wait FOREVER for our bags, and then we headed home.
1 August 2009
Arrived at the airport on a rather nice, albeit overcast, morning in Atlanta. Our flight, DL1901 was due to depart at 1057, so we arrived at the airport around nine. We had little trouble putting the bags through, though Mom did have a mini meltdown when she couldn't find her bankcard. Ten minutes later the disappearing debit card was found and order was restored to the universe ;)
The security line was the longest I had ever seen in Atlanta, backed up almost to the arrivals. I had stood in a line half as long for about 45 minutes before, so I trotted over to the T-Gate security. It was predictably short, but apparently the long lines were deceiving because we were all through at about the same time. Whoops, oh well. Murphy's Law!
Made it through and down to A30. We grabbed a quick breakfast, and strolled down to A30, to find that our flight had been moved to another gate. Thankfully it was A29, so we endured a stressful twelve-foot dash to the other side of the concourse... The flight boarded on time. Our flight was operated by a 757-200 in the Citgo livery with the AVOD IFE. We boarded and I nabbed my window seat, 39A. I love window seats because though you have to do the double excuse me to get up, you're ensured at least one side of your body is not going to be bumped, slammed, or crowded. And if you're tired it makes a perfect head prop! We were delayed a few moments because for some reason people don't get the whole "it's a full flight, please place your bags wheels first" thing. After that was settled, we pushed back and head toward the North runways at ATL. We were fourth or fifth in line for take-off, so our wait wasn't too bad. We lifted off and were on our way.
1 August 2009
• Delta Flight DL1901 ATL–Denver – Departs 1057, Arrives 1209
• Rental Car Budget Rental
• Lodging Holiday Inn Express – Hill City, SD
o 2 Queen Bed/2 Room Suite w/ Sofa Bed
I had the window seat, and my mom had the aisle seat. My brother was across the aisle. My mom and I lucked out as our middle seat was the only empty seat on the plane. We didn't luck out as much, however, with the PTVs, they would work, but the audio kept blinking out. I didn't care too much considering I needed to catch up on my Harry Potter, so I read a good chunk of Harry Potter 2 on that flight. We landed in Denver with little incident.
- DEN is a cool airport, laid out just like ATL.
- Baggage claim took no time at all.
- Bussed out to the rental car center. A little issue there as the reservation required some tweaking due to my age being under 25. In the end the agent upgraded us from our Taurus-sized reservation (which would have been sufficient) to an Edge. This was outstanding because this afforded us PLENTY of room (three people) and we had room left in the back for our giant backs. The car was quiet, spacious, and got really good gas mileage. It took about an hour and a half to get all that sorted out, but it was time well spent considering we would spend a nice chunk of time in the car over the coming two weeks.
- Left the airport and headed into downtown Denver. The final destination for that night was Hill City, SD, where we would be bedding down that night. We drove through downtown Denver a little bit. Mom wanted to see the stadiums, so we did that before heading North. We could've headed straight that way, however, there was a toll road, AND we wanted to see a least a little bit of the city, so we went south first and then up through downtown Denver. I-25 was our road for a LONG time. We drove up through Cheyenne and then from Cheyenne through a seemingly ENDLESS grassland before making our way into South Dakota. It was almost dark by the time we crossed the state line. By that time there was something to see, but it was too dark. The hotel was nice, standard fare Holiday Inn.
2 August 2009
• Badlands National Park
• Crazy Horse Monument
• Making way into Wyoming – Distance between Hill City, SD and Sheridan, WY 230 miles/ 4 hours drive
• Devil’s Tower
• Lodging
o Candlewood Suites, Sheridan, WY
o One 2-bed Suite and one 1-bed suite
We woke up relatively early, wanting to make as much of the day as possible. We woke up to find about 8,000 bikes in the little town. Unbeknown to me I schedule this part of the trip during freakin' Sturgis Rally Week, which pretty much rules the Black Hills during that week. It was fine, they were very nice, but yeesh, there were just so many motorcycles on the road, and only a few were wearing helmets (weirds me out all the time as my home state has a helmet law). We literally saw them come from every corner of the country. It hurt my hind end to think that somebody drove a motorcycle from Dade County Florida to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Even moreso when one considers that apparently motorcycles rarely travel above 60mph (at least the non-crotch rocket types). I did not know this, but apparently my younger brother is an encyclopedia of all things motorcycle -- news to me.
We left the hotel and proceeded toward Mt. Rushmore via the Needles Highway. It was absolutely gorgeous! It took about two hours, and along the way we stopped and had bison sausage (yum, considering I hate ground meat). We made it to Mt. Rushmore, where I started to sugar crash, so we also had lunch there. The monument was cool, and the parade of states or whatever it's called (all fifty state flags leading up to it) was interesting. We walked around and below the monument, and no, you cannot actually walk up on it. After Mt. Rushmore we headed over to Crazy Horse, which wasn't far away at all we came to find. We were met by a literal sea of motorcycles, FAR outnumbering the cars.
I think we all found Crazy Horse much more inspirational than Mt. Rushmore probably because it wasn't finished and the story behind its building and builders is just incredible. One guy for years doing all of that by himself, it's just mind-boggling to think about it! I grabbed a rock that I was later able to break up into a few pieces so some friends could have one too. Don't worry folks, the rocks were in a pile just for that purpose.
After Crazy Horse it was later in the afternoon, and we started to make our way into Wyoming (again). We went from Hill City up to Rapid City, where we would pick up I-80W. In Rapid City we grabbed some food (Wendy's or Arby's, I can't remember which at this point) and a portable DVD player, which was fantastic for the long car ride that night as we drove through Wyoming, and then again later as we drove through Utah and onward to Las Vegas, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The drive across I-80 was much better than the drive from Cheyenne. There was a little more than grassland this time around, though not a ton. We drove by the Devil's Tower, but didn't go inside the park. Why pay $10 when the best view of it is going to be from far away? We're talking about an 800ft tower of solid granite here! So we did the perfunctory photo ops, got some ice cream and mosied onward. We were over-nighting in Sheridan, WY that night, another small town. It was dark when we got there. The hotel was a little difficult to find, as it was located behind a Wal-Mart (which we all know are small buildings...)and there was no sign high in the air or visible on the ground. We ended up calling the hotel, and duh, we had seen the Wal-Mart so by then it was easy to find :) The Candlewood Suites are very nice, and I would definitely stay there again.
3 August 2009
• Proceed to Yellowstone National Park
• Distance between Sheridan, WY and Yellowstone Eastern Wyoming Entrance is approximately 200 miles/ 3.5 hours
• Lodging
o Travelodge Gardiner, Montana
o Two 2-bed Standard Rooms
We woke up relatively early, around seven, which was fine for us since our bodies thought it was 9. We needed a few things, so we went to the aforementioned Wally World and acquired a few things we needed and also grabbed some breakfast at McDonald's (the only time I'll eat there is breakfast). We then headed out in our fantastic Edge back to I-80. We didn't stay on that road very long, however, as we were very close to the Montana state line, and that part of Montana was well away from where we were interested in going. So, we got off the interstate basically at the foot of a mountain range, and then started to drive along it, before slowly making our way up, and up, and up, and up, and up, and up, and well, you get the general idea. Some of the roads at the top were being worked on and weren't paved. I would have hated to be in one of the plethora of RVs that we saw and try to navigate that road. Again I was loving our car, it handled the bumps beautifully. After going up, of course we had to come down. Now, we're not accustomed to such high mountains, some yes, but not like that, so, mom was breaking a little hard and I was starting to smell the brakes a little bit. I suggested we stop at a little rest stop which turned out to be a waterfall, so we stretched a little bit. It was mostly downhill and flat from there and then we had a LONG drive to Cody, WY. We passed through Emblem, WY, which had a STATED population of a whopping 10. TEN! Why even put up a sign??? And the city had a post office, so 20% of the town worked at the post office. We went through a lot of small towns in Wyoming that had small populations. We eventually made it to Cody, and decided to have a sit down lunch. Cody is I guess a decent-sized town for Wyoming, so it had a nice downtown with restaurants and shops, though nearly every one of them had something to do with cowboys (not really my thing). While Mike explored the cowboy extravaganza, I walked around some other stores. About that time the bottom fell out of the sky and I was worried that would persist as we weren't that far from Yellowstone (our ultimate destination). It turned out to be a mostly passing storm, and we headed out of Cody and onward to Yellowstone. It remained very overcast. IIRC it took about an hour or so to reach the main gate of Yellowstone, and then another thirty minutes or so to reach the main circular road of Yellowstone. The Yellowstone events were far to numerous to describe in detail but saw Old Faithful, some bison, bears, and a bunch of elk. Since we got there relatively late in the afternoon, we had about five hours of daylight, which was sufficient. What I didn't realize about Yellowstone was how large the place is and how far apart all the attractions are. You spend a lot of time just looking at trees and grass going in between everything.
We entered the park from the East and went South. The park has a Figure 8 road system in the middle. We went around the south and then up to the North on the Western part of the Figure 8 since we were staying in Gardiner, MT at the North entrance. Gardiner is a town of about, oh, 800 people, so in the summer the population of tourists easily outnumbers the locals. We found our hotel, and had to push our way through about ten people trying to find rooms for the night. We were smart and booked all our hotels about two months in advance. This turned out to be a brilliant idea (of mine ;) ) because they were turning people away and they were having to drive fifty miles away to Livingston, MT. Very glad that didn't have to happen for us...
The rooms weren't anything special, but since we would only be sleeping there, it wasn't a huge deal for us. Needing to chill for a few minutes I went to the hotel next door and had a gin and tonic. There were some other travelers in there as well. We chatted for a little while and then I went back to my digs and went to sleep!
4 August 2009
• Yellowstone National Park
• 1645 – no later than for wagon excursion/cookout
o
o Roosevelt Lodge
• Lodging – Travelodge in Gardiner, MT
The next day was more Yellowstone. We went around the other side of the loop. The highlights were certainly the Yellowstone Grand Canyon. It was a long straight walk down, but the views of the two waterfalls were incredible. I was somewhat worried that seeing this "Grand Canyon" would a) be a disappointment after having seen the Grand Canyon in Arizona and b) result in a letdown when we got to that one the next week. Turned out that neither of my apprehensions were validated. The walk back up, however, was just awful any way you split it...
After that we went to a "cowboy cookout". In a nutshell we were taken on a wagon ride for about thirty minutes, and then they fed us stakes, and beans, and some salad. I'm not a huge red meat eater so that satisfied my red meat craving for a few months. I think that was the last time I've had red meat since then, and it's almost October as I write this.
5 August 2009
•
• Proceed through Yellowstone to Grand Teton National Park
• Make way to Idaho Falls, ID – Distance between Grand Teton and Idaho Falls is approximately 110 miles/ 2 hours
• 1400-1700: Michael fishing in Jackson, WY
• Lodging
o Hampton Inn, Idaho Falls, ID
o 2 bed/1 sofa bed suite
o
• Dinner in Jackson, WY
We were pretty much ready to move on after basically two days in Yellowstone. Even when hiking I'm not sure how some people spend a week there... We checked out and left Gardiner around nine and began heading the South. We had originally planned to do some horseback riding that morning, but we had heard that there were some serious construction delays between Yellowstone and Grand Teton, which we needed to go through, so we canceled the horseback riding, and went straight down. Turns out that was a very good idea because it took us almost five hours to get from Gardiner down through Yellowstone and to and through Grand Teton. Grand Teton is gorgeous, but it's a photo op, and not much else, especially after being naturedout out in Yellowstone. I think some of it is that Yellowstone and much of that area is covered in grass and trees. I live on the East Coast which has very dense greenery, it's nothing special to me.
We headed into Jackson, WY, where we had arranged to go fly fishing. Mom would go shopping, lol. Initially I wasn't overly enthusiastic about it, fishing isn't really my thing, but fly fishing at least is engaging unlike cast-and-reel which is just boring because you sit there more often than not. I hooked one, but it was so small that when I yanked the inertia of the rod and line let the fish fly off. So it was a victim of itself!
After fishing we walked around Jackson for a little while, and ate at a Thai restaurant. I LOVE Thai food and had been having a craving basically since we left Altanta...so, we had Thai food. By that time it had gotten dark, so we decided to head on our way. We were stopping that night in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Another state on the itinerary, but we wouldn't be there very long. We decided to stay in Idaho Falls because we would have to drive by it on our way to Salt Lake City, and stopping would knock off about an hour and a half of driving time the next day to Salt Lake City. Considering we'd basically been in the car the last three days, we knew that we would need a little bit of respite. So, a two hour drive later, we arrived in Idaho Falls. Nice town/city from what I could tell. We had a lot of trouble finding our hotel because even though I had Mapquest on my iPhone, it didn't account for the fact that the main road was closed. SO I basically just found the hotel location and used said Mapquest to navigate toward it. God what would we have done without the iPhone on this trip!!! We had an atlas, but that was for MACRO-navigation. The iPhone was a God-send when we had to MICRO-navigate, especially at night. We stayed at the Hampton Inn there, but we literally fell asleep and woke up! I chose Hamptons a lot because their beds are incredible. That, and the double dipping Hilton AND Delta points. I'm a points junkie!! They pay off!
6 August 2009
• Leave Idaho Falls for Salt Lake City – Distance between Idaho Falls, ID and Salt Lake City, UT is approximately 215 miles/ 3 hours – be best if arrival is before/around lunchtime
• Lodging
o Embassy Suites Salt Lake City
o 2 bed/2 room suite
o
• o Mormon Tabernacle Choir Rehearsal – 2000 to 2130 at Tabernacle or Conference Center
o Swimming in Great Salt Lake
o Historic Temple Square
The next morning we weren't in an overwhelming rush to get moving because Salt Lake City was to be a relaxing day where we just stayed downtown...or so we thought, stay tuned for that one. We washed the car because it's nice burgundy color was tinged brownish-orange after going through Yellowstone and Grand Teton. We were then on our way down I-15. It was a pleasant drive. We stopped somewhere in northern Utah for lunch at a place called TacoTime. Puts TacoBell to shame, although I'm not entirely sure how tater tots go with a burrito...Question for the theologians I guess...
We got into Salt Lake City around oneish, and thought that since we didn't have any major plans, that we would go over (West from I-15 on I-80) to the Salt Lake, here's where the adventure begins. We get most of the way down I-80, and we see that our exit has been closed. Having seen the railroad crossing type things all along roads in Wyoming, we figured it was either weather or construction related. So we go around on a backroad. Well we there and we discover that the blasted interstate is closed in both directions there. Why you ask? Because there was a police shootout. Why that made it necessary to close the Eastbound lane when the shooting was Westbound I'm not entirely sure, but, somebody apparently felt like that was a good idea...
We stopped at a gas station to refuel, and to ask about the incident. We initially thought we could wait it out, but some people were saying it took them almost two hours to go one and a half miles. I quickly decided that I would go crazy. So, we found an alternate route down and around the mountain rain we were beside. It took about an hour and a half, but even if that was a little more time, we got to see a little more. Finding the hotel was a little difficult due to the maddening layout of the Salt Lake City street naming system, which I can't even begin to describe, lol.
I found a great deal at the Embassy Suites in downtown Salt Lake City, so that meant we could see a few things without having to drive, AND we would be in a nice hotel so we could relax a little bit, which was most definitely needed. We ordered dinner to the room and enjoyed lobster macaroni and cheese along with some delicious chocolate cake. Shortly afterwards we went to Temple Square, which was about five blocks up the road. It was very interesting, almost eerie atmosphere. We also went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsals. That was very interesting, though it was not easy to understand the words to the songs. They say that auditorium has great accoustics, I beg to differ. Everybody there was polite though, very friendly.
7 August 2009
• Proceed to Las Vegas, NV – Distance between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas is approximately 420 miles/ 6 hours
• Blue Man Group
o 2200 Venetian Resort
• Possible Activities – any shiny object that catches our eye as we troll through the desert
o Zion National Park
o Bellagio fountains at night in Las Vegas
o Treasure Island sidewalk ship show
o Gondola ride at the Venetian
o Casinos
• Lodging
o Luxor Resort
o 2 queen-bed suite
We didn't make a rush to get going out of Salt Lake, seeing as we didn't HAVE to be in Las Vegas until around 9pm. We went back to the place we had wanted to go to explore the Great Salt Lake, and this time there were no impediments to our getting there. We arrived at a place called Saltair just a few minutes before nine. We had little interest in actually going in, but we were just curious as to how it worked. We walked around behind the building and across a lawn, then a long stretch of hardened sand, and then rocky wet sand, and then a stretch of wet sand before we finally get to the water, which absolutely reeked. I mean reeked beyond reek. So we walked around in it for a few minutes, too the pics, and then got back in the car and started the long drive to Vegas. We stopped in St. George, Utah for gas and some food and kept on down the road. moved from more of just an arid grassy area to a full on rocky desert as we began to move toward Arizona and then into Nevada. Mom commented on how all the rocks we were driving near/through/around gave the landscape an "unfinished look". I loved it. I think Arizona/Utah is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and wouldn't mind living there, though maybe not Phoenix, haha, because it's just too hot.
I tried to read a little bit between the Nevada state line and Las Vegas, but something about the road made the car vibrate a lot, and I got a litte sick, and then was ready to get out of the car. We saw Vegas coming for like thirty minutes before we ever got there...it was rather annoying, lol. This time we had little trouble finding our hotel, the Luxor. It was easy to find...it's a freakin pyramid! We valeted the car and didn't see it again until it was time to check out!
We relaxed for a little while after the long drive and then explored some of the strip right next to us. We were at the far, south end of the strip, so some of the Las Vegas landmarks were a little too far for walking distance. Let me just say that traffic on Las Vegas Blvd. is ungodly. We went over to Exaclibur and then New York, New York where we rode the roller coaster.
We went back to the Luxor where we had dinner at the MORE buffet. It was really good, I ate way too much and there was just about everything we could have wanted. We then headed down to the Venetian where we had tickets to see Blue Man Group. I had seen them in Berlin, so I knew we were in for a good show. It was a very good show, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. However, leaving the Venetian and walking a little ways down the strip was a maddening experience. Way too much people, all drunk or passing out cards for hookers...By the time we got back to the hotel we were ready to go to bed and as such did.
8 August 2009
• Hoover Dam
o 1010 – North Lobby of Luxor Hotel
o
• Cirque du Soleil KA
o MGM Grand Resort
o
• Lodging – same as night before
We were able to sleep a little late and had breakfast at the Food Court at the Luxor before being picked up by a tour bus for a tour of the Hoover Dam. It was about a forty-five minute drive out to the site, and there was considerable traffic getting down to the site, but we finally got there. We first went on the river down below the dam, and got some GREAT views. It was really hot though. It was much more comfortable at the TOP of the dam. After we came up from the river bed, we went down into the dam, and all around in there. It was really interesting and BIG. I would hate to have to be the ones who would climb all 1745 stairs (if that's even the number, there's just one LONG staircase that goes straight from bottom to top.
We stopped in Boulder City to look at some sheep (not my idea) and then at Ethel's chocolate where certain types of M&Ms are made. On the way back to the hotel we drove through Henderson and past Wayne Newton's complex and the Las Vegas airport. Interestingly there was a Korean Air 777 making a take off roll as we drove past. If my memory bank serves me correctly the flight heads to either Los Angeles or Vancouver before heading onward to Seoul. (Ok, NERD moment over). While we were still on the bus the driver brought up the subject of tips and how much he usually gets. I thought that was rather tacky considering one isn't obliged to receive a tip, especially when one asks for it...
We then made it back to the hotel, where we cooled off, showered, and grabbed a small bite to eat before going across the street to the MGM Grand for Cirque du Soleil Ka. Interestingly enough, due to the shape of the Luxor pyramid the music from the pull travels up the side of the wall and can be heard when you stand next to the window! I was looking forward to this show, I had heard it was outstanding. We got there early enough to have something to drink and play some slots. Mom and I played the penny slots and I had just put my last twelve dollars (of twenty-five) in the machine when I noticed that the line for the show was getting long, so I started max betting every time. Well three shots of that and I'd won over $100. I promptly cashed out and we headed for the line!
The show was OUTSTANDING. I loved it! The acrobatics, the movements, even the wacky plotline were just amazing. I would definitely recommend the show to anyone interested. It was MUCH easier getting back to the hotel that night as the MGM Grand is just across the street from the Luxor. As such, we did not have to weave through or fight nearly as many drunk idiots. We went to sleep early again as we wanted to get up and moving in order to ensure that we wouldn't get held up in traffic crossing the Hoover Dam into Arizona, or at the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park (our destination for that day).
9 August 2009
• Proceed to Grand Canyon – Distance between Las Vegas and Grand Canyon is approximately 120 miles/ 2.5 hours
• 1230 – Grand Canyon Helicopter Ride
o Grand Canyon National Park Airport
We left pretty early for the aforementioned reasons. I handled the check-out while Mom and Mike got the car. After two days of not seeing it it was like saying hello to friend you hadn't seen in a while, haha. I did the driving today since Mom did all the driving between SLC and Vegas. We headed out through Boulder City and down toward the dam. We grabbed some breakfast at In-and-Out Burger, which was surprisingly good. We also gassed up in Boulder City, and then proceeded onward over the Hoover Dam (again) and then on a windy, twisty highway to I-40, which took over an hour. One of the things I love about being out West is that on the open road you can MOVE. Speed limits aren't a big deal, and there aren't as many cars to clog the highway.
There were a few fires on the way up to the Grand Canyon, but thankfully they were controlled. Wildfires can be a significant problem in this part of the country, and I would hate to think we came all that way and wouldn't be able to do our helicopter tour! But it turned out everything was fine, and we made it to the Grand Canyon airport with time to spare. I had to empty out my camera as it was full, but other than that we waited around for like half an hour before getting in the helicopter.
I cannot use enough words to describe flying over the Grand Canyon, it was just unreal. I had been there about a year prior, and it was impressive then, but this was just majestic. Word to future travelers, thirty minutes in a helicopter is plenty, the stomach gets queasy! After touching down we had to find something to eat to settle the stomachs, and then we proceeded to drive across the South Rim. I was loving it, but Mom and Mike seemed to think it a little bit of a letdown after flying over it. Whatever, phooey on them! ;) It was getting to be around four or five in the afternoon by the time we had seen the South Rim and done the obligatory shopping, and we still had a good two hour drive ahead of us, so we got moving. En route we decided to make a lodging change. We had originally planned to stay in Tuba City after the Grand Canyon, and then go to Monument Valley, and stay in Flagstaff the next night. However, we got to thinking and since a) we had already missed the turn and b) checking in and out of hotels can be a PAIN, and c) we had a much better accommodation in Flagstaff than in Tuba City, we decided to spend both nights in Flagstaff. Seeing Tuba City the next day confirmed that to be a brilliant idea! Rearranging the reservations, however, proved to be a little difficult as the phone service blotched in and out. We had to fudge a little with our story to cancel the reservations in Tuba City, but rearranging in Flagstaff was no problem. Yet another reason why I love Hampton Inns, never had a problem with them! The room was amazing. Basically an apartment that was VERY comfortable. We grabbed dinner at the Sizzler across from the hotel parking lot. I wasn't crazy about but Michael wanted to eat there and he enjoyed it, so all was cool. We did some laundry and started packing up some clothes and things that we wouldn't need until we got home, as the trip was fast coming to an end ;(
o10 August 2009
• More Grand Canyon Activities
• Painted Desert – approximately 2.5 hours from Flagstaff
• Indian Reservation
• Monument Valley, Utah – 3 hours from Flagstaff
• Four Corners Monument
• Lodging
o Hampton Inn & Suites Flagstaff
o 2 Queen bed/Sofa bed 2 room suite
Mike decided he wanted a day to just relax, so Mom and I head out to Monument Valley. It's the stereotypical view of the West. It was about a two hour drive to get there, and we had to go through Tuba City (remember from the night before). Almost all of that day's driving would go through the Navajo Nation, so it was interesting to see that. In one town (unfortunately I don't remember which) there was an exhibit on the Navajo Code Talkers...in a Burger King.
Monument Valley was/is gorgeous, but the road was unpaved, and we thought it would be time better spent to head on to the Four Corners, which was about 90 miles away. This is where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet at one point. It's in the middle of freakin' nowhere, but well worth seeing! We got some cool pictures, and Indian Frybread. YUM! The drive back was INTERMINABLE! I thought we were NEVER going to get back to Flagstaff. We were hauling, but still being passed! We grabbed some food at a Subway in Flagstaff not far from the hotel.
I like Flagstaff, it has cool weather (I was wearing a jacket in August) and it has lots of trees. I wouldn't mind living there, some parts of Phoenix, I don't know...
We got back to the hotel to find Michael sprawled out on the couch with the entire series of Home Improvement (mine, BTW) on the coffee table. We relaxed that night, and decided to sleep a little later the next day, as the drive to Phoenix isn't that long.
11 August 2009
• Sedona – lunch
• Proceed to Phoenix – Distance between Flagstaff and Phoenix is approximately 145 miles/ 2 hours
• Diamondbacks Game – 1830
• Lodging
o Hampton Inn and Suites Glendale West Gate, Glendale AZ
o Two king-bed/sofa bed suites
We woke up a little later than usual and took our bags down to the car. I took care of check out while Mom and Mike took care of the car...it was a good system that had been working the whole trip...why spoil it now! It took about an hour to get down to Sedona, which was pretty much gorgeous the entire drive. The setting is beautiful, but unless you live there or want to shop, there's not much to do. I suppose if I had gone with a different group of friends we would have gone hiking, but IDK how that would go...lol. We drove around looking at some of the outrageously expensive homes and beautiful scenery. There was a lot of construction going on to the South of Sedona, so that made navigating a little difficult -- sadly enough this was the same construction that I encountered LAST year! We ate at a Mexican restaurant in a complex called Tlaquepaque (sp??) It was pretty good, and satiated my desire to eat Mexican food in Arizona, haha.
The drive down to Phoenix was uneventful, bar one slightly misread set of directions on the 101. Basically we got off too early, but that is easily remedied. I picked the hotel for two reasons. 1) I knew the area somewhat from my previous visit to Arizona and 2) one of my best friends lived nearby. Basically it was between a hotel in the Scottsdale/Paradise Valley area (East of Phoenix), or a hotel in Glendale (West of Phoenix). Glendale was cheaper and also won out because I knew that there was a large eating/entertainment complex right across the street -- Westgate. Mike and Mom also liked it because the University of Phoenix Stadium was right across the street.
We arrived at the hotel and checked in, and then headed into downtown Phoenix (which I am delighted to say I dodged booking a hotel in, haha) for the Diamondbacks Game. It was a lot of fun! The Diamondbacks won, and I got to see Jeff Francour (playing for the Mets) hit a homerun for the first time in my life--pathetic I know.
We went back to the hotel and I called Steele who came and picked me up. We went across the street to Westgate where we just sat and talked and caught up--for like four hours! We also did some karaoke, which is a specialty of mine. My best songs are Gin Blossoms' "Follow You Down" and Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks' "Gold Dust Woman".
About two I went back to the hotel, and sleep!
12 August 2009
• Lodging – same as night before
We got up around ten the next day and went across the street to Cabela's -- basically a West Coast Bass Pro Shop. Mike had asked to go there. Steele met us a little after that and took us around Phoenix. We went around Phoenix, over to Paradise Valley and Scottsdale, then through ASU and Tempe, before heading back to Glendale. Steele and I took the car to get cleaned/washed (it was covered in dust). We hung out in the pool a little while, and then met up with Steele's sister and her daughter for dinner at a Japanese restaurant at Westgate. We explored the fountains and got some ice cream. Steele and I went back to her place where we talked with her parents for a little while before I needed to head back, we had to be at the airport a little early the next morning. A good ending to a great trip!
13 August 2009
• 1045 – Depart Phoenix – Delta DL1792
• 1740 – Arrive Atlanta
We departed early, I guess around 0730 and gassed up the car before heading to Sky Harbor airport. We turned in our car and had some breakfast after checking in. Everything leading up to the flight was pretty boring and inconsequential. I was hoping we would have the PTVs again on the flight back, but alas, no such luck! Oh well, I had Harry Potter, which I really wanted to finish anyway. I did stop reading to watch Monsters vs. Aliens, a movie I would not recommend to anybody unless they had to watch it... I did buy a salad onboard and it was really good, sans the fact that it ONLY had ranch dressing (YUCK!). Other than that the flight was your standard fare Delta domestic service -- not bad, not great. We landed a little early I think, and had to wait FOREVER for our bags, and then we headed home.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Friends...
It's amazing the people I thought were really good friends, that over the last twelve months I've hardly spoken to. Some of it was/is my doing because certain events transpired that made me realize I am probably better of without them, and some I would have preferred to see on a regular basis but they obviously didn't reciprocate.
I've been very blessed to have some very good friends nearby this past year because I've needed them. I've learned that a few good friends are priceless, and that they should be cherished and appreciated. Maybe I go overboard in my appreciation, but I want my friends to know that I have and do appreciate them for who they are and simply being there.
On the flip side, I very frequently see my friends having more fun when I'm not around. I'm sure a good chunk of it is perception because I'm only seeing pictures and hearing stories, and I don't know what how people retell stories about me, though, so I'm sure it's not as grand as it seems!
A LARGE part of it is I have responsibilities at the moment that most of my friends simply do not. I'm envious of their ability to pretty much do whatever they want whenever they want. On the plus side I'm much more financially independent than they are, at least for the time being. So after thinking it through I don't think it's as much being envious of the event as the fact that I have to be prudent and responsible. I can't go out twice in one weekend because I will be rendered nonfunctional by the time Monday rolls around. I can't get plastered for the same reason on either of those nights...bummer.
I am starting to get emotional about leaving. Up until now I haven't really felt any "pangs" but the last three or four days have been rather "pangish" and I'm only hoping it doesn't get worse! Hope springs eternal they say...so it probably will. Sheisse! I guess a small part of me worries that their friendship means more to me than vice-versa, and who the hell needs that again?
I've been very blessed to have some very good friends nearby this past year because I've needed them. I've learned that a few good friends are priceless, and that they should be cherished and appreciated. Maybe I go overboard in my appreciation, but I want my friends to know that I have and do appreciate them for who they are and simply being there.
On the flip side, I very frequently see my friends having more fun when I'm not around. I'm sure a good chunk of it is perception because I'm only seeing pictures and hearing stories, and I don't know what how people retell stories about me, though, so I'm sure it's not as grand as it seems!
A LARGE part of it is I have responsibilities at the moment that most of my friends simply do not. I'm envious of their ability to pretty much do whatever they want whenever they want. On the plus side I'm much more financially independent than they are, at least for the time being. So after thinking it through I don't think it's as much being envious of the event as the fact that I have to be prudent and responsible. I can't go out twice in one weekend because I will be rendered nonfunctional by the time Monday rolls around. I can't get plastered for the same reason on either of those nights...bummer.
I am starting to get emotional about leaving. Up until now I haven't really felt any "pangs" but the last three or four days have been rather "pangish" and I'm only hoping it doesn't get worse! Hope springs eternal they say...so it probably will. Sheisse! I guess a small part of me worries that their friendship means more to me than vice-versa, and who the hell needs that again?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A final adventure
So today I booked my ticket to Budapest and Prague. I have wanted to visit these two cities for quite some time. I will be spending about two and a half days in each city. I found a fare that was about half the price of a normal transatlantic flight, so I had to pounce.
I had wanted to go to Prague and Budapest while I was in Europe in 2007, but the times just didn't work out. As it turns out, I probably could have done a day trip to Budapest while I was in Vienna, but then I would have been pushing Vienna, ahhhh the decisions a traveler must make!! I'm going to stay at a youth hostel and hopefully will meet a few people.
I had a little trouble at first purchasing the ticket through Delta's website. I know they are in the process of merging with Northwest and all that but it was a little aggravating. Every time I tried to book the ticket on Delta it would say "This service is unavailable at this time" despite the fact that it was showing available. It was probably just as well because the flight I had looked at the day before wasn't available. I strolled over to Northwest's website and low and behold there was a better flight for a little less money!
I'm a little apprehensive about going by myself, BUT, I've traveled alone before, and I managed then just fine. I think this will be better because I'm a lot more outgoing person now, and I'm a lot more comfortable in my own skin. Without spewing a soliloquy of psycho dribble, since about March 2008 (New Orleans ACS) I've figured that I am me, and I'll do what I want as long as I get what needs to be done, done. I'm going down my path, and if you want to come along, GREAT!. If you don't, that's great too, but don't get in my way.
I had wanted to go to Prague and Budapest while I was in Europe in 2007, but the times just didn't work out. As it turns out, I probably could have done a day trip to Budapest while I was in Vienna, but then I would have been pushing Vienna, ahhhh the decisions a traveler must make!! I'm going to stay at a youth hostel and hopefully will meet a few people.
I had a little trouble at first purchasing the ticket through Delta's website. I know they are in the process of merging with Northwest and all that but it was a little aggravating. Every time I tried to book the ticket on Delta it would say "This service is unavailable at this time" despite the fact that it was showing available. It was probably just as well because the flight I had looked at the day before wasn't available. I strolled over to Northwest's website and low and behold there was a better flight for a little less money!
I'm a little apprehensive about going by myself, BUT, I've traveled alone before, and I managed then just fine. I think this will be better because I'm a lot more outgoing person now, and I'm a lot more comfortable in my own skin. Without spewing a soliloquy of psycho dribble, since about March 2008 (New Orleans ACS) I've figured that I am me, and I'll do what I want as long as I get what needs to be done, done. I'm going down my path, and if you want to come along, GREAT!. If you don't, that's great too, but don't get in my way.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Excellent News!
Well, all the hard work finally paid off. I was accepted into Medical School!! Woohoo!!! Ok, it wasn't my first choice, nor was it how I had envisioned things turning out, but then, when does life ever turn out that way? I don't know who said it, but this past year I have learned that life is, indeed, what happens when you're busy making other plans.
No more uncertainty about tomorrow (about this anyway). No more waiting! No more sitting by while people whom you watched coast through while you busted your butt get where you wanted to go while you're seemingly stagnant.
While I'm excited, on the flipside it's going to be sad leaving work. I work with some great people, and leaving without making a clean break has never been one of my stronger suits. I don't want to just leave and never talk to anybody again because I'm 23 years old, and I can't keep starting over and over and over for the next sixty years. Frankly it would be easier if they would be rude and unpleasant about it!!! Haha. I'm just kidding about that! It's not going to be easy. Most of the people I work with are very nice, caring, and friendly people. More than I could have asked for. I don't think I was expecting Donald Trump or the fictional Miranda Priestly, but I wasn't expecting such a close-knit group of people to work with. I am thankful everyday for the great opportunity.
I don't want to make a big deal about it because it's enough to me that I'm going, and I'm going for me. My circle will know and beyond that it doesn't matter to me. I've learned a lot through the past year and this process. The most important thing is that a few good people in my life matter infinitely more than the many I know. What happens to them usually doesn't affect me, and I'm sure they couldn't care less about me, so why go through the trouble and draw attention to myself?? Most everyone will find out in time anyway, no?
So, that being said, I now have a long list of things ahead of me to do. Finances, housing, travel arrangements... the list is endless. Luckily planning is one of my strong points.
No more uncertainty about tomorrow (about this anyway). No more waiting! No more sitting by while people whom you watched coast through while you busted your butt get where you wanted to go while you're seemingly stagnant.
While I'm excited, on the flipside it's going to be sad leaving work. I work with some great people, and leaving without making a clean break has never been one of my stronger suits. I don't want to just leave and never talk to anybody again because I'm 23 years old, and I can't keep starting over and over and over for the next sixty years. Frankly it would be easier if they would be rude and unpleasant about it!!! Haha. I'm just kidding about that! It's not going to be easy. Most of the people I work with are very nice, caring, and friendly people. More than I could have asked for. I don't think I was expecting Donald Trump or the fictional Miranda Priestly, but I wasn't expecting such a close-knit group of people to work with. I am thankful everyday for the great opportunity.
I don't want to make a big deal about it because it's enough to me that I'm going, and I'm going for me. My circle will know and beyond that it doesn't matter to me. I've learned a lot through the past year and this process. The most important thing is that a few good people in my life matter infinitely more than the many I know. What happens to them usually doesn't affect me, and I'm sure they couldn't care less about me, so why go through the trouble and draw attention to myself?? Most everyone will find out in time anyway, no?
So, that being said, I now have a long list of things ahead of me to do. Finances, housing, travel arrangements... the list is endless. Luckily planning is one of my strong points.
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