For those of you who keep track, yes, it's WAY past my bedtime now, but I am so amped up to be back home that it's keeping me up. So I am reporting from MA where I arrived safely at home around 11:30 pm. I'll do more of a recap of the last day tomorrow, but let's say that it's great to be home, although quite surreal.
DC was a blast. By choosing to stay in Little Stanton, it cut down on our trip to DC and we got to Arlington in the early afternoon. Fellow ex-pat (and friend) Aileen joined us as we walked through the Air and Space Museum followed by the WWII Memorial. For dinner, we joined another ex-pat Sara and her roommate at this swanky place called Matchbox down near Chinatown. Despite my whining, we walked all the way over to the FDR Memorial before cabbing it back to Sara's place, where we crashed.
This morning, we had our first home cooked breakfast of the trip, courtesy of Sara. So good. And then we were off to Philadelphia and then back home. Unfortunately, due to timing, we had to cancel the Red Bank, NJ part of the trip.... which means that I'll have to check out that place soon. Who's in?
Anyway, have some more videos to post tomorrow. Until then, stay classy USA.
Showing posts with label Road Trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Road Trip. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Now in E.D.T.
That's right folks... I'm now on Eastern Daylight Time. So for all you West Coast folks, be aware that I am now operating 3 hours ahead of you all... in the future! It's been a bit strange though. Since last Wednesday when we left Vegas, I've slowly lost 3 hours of time while driving. I guess it didn't really matter considering how I've been driving 8-9 hour days anyhow.
We're on Day 10 of the Road Trip. The rest of the Chicago trip was fun. Yesterday morning, we hung out with Allison over by the UIC area. Then, we went to Wicker Park with Cathy and Brian to check out the street festival and had "New Haven" style pizza. The evening was relatively chill, which was probably good because we had a 6:30 am wakeup session this morning so we could ge on the road as soon as possible.
Right now, we're in Little Stanton, PA, a small town outside of Pittsburgh. The good news is that our trip to DC will be a short one; we'll be there in 4 hours if all goes well. One thing interesting about the drive now is that instead of flat plains or desert that we saw throughout the southwest and midwest, the roads are now full of trees, which is a great change of pace. Also, it's reassuring that each exit usually has a gas station now. No more fears of being stranded in the desert.
En route to Little Stanton, we took a drive around Washington, PA, which is where Dan was working for the past year. In a throwback to the past, we had dinner at Ponderosa. You just don't see those anymore in the New England area.
Anyway, tomorrow should be fun checking out DC once again and seeing some close friends over there. Then after that.... back home on Wednesday.
As a fun postscript for you all, I'm back on the road on Friday to Toronto, then back to Chicago by next week. With that kind of momentum, I'll be back in the Bay Area by mid August. Forget the East Coast! Anyone want to find me a job?
We're on Day 10 of the Road Trip. The rest of the Chicago trip was fun. Yesterday morning, we hung out with Allison over by the UIC area. Then, we went to Wicker Park with Cathy and Brian to check out the street festival and had "New Haven" style pizza. The evening was relatively chill, which was probably good because we had a 6:30 am wakeup session this morning so we could ge on the road as soon as possible.
Right now, we're in Little Stanton, PA, a small town outside of Pittsburgh. The good news is that our trip to DC will be a short one; we'll be there in 4 hours if all goes well. One thing interesting about the drive now is that instead of flat plains or desert that we saw throughout the southwest and midwest, the roads are now full of trees, which is a great change of pace. Also, it's reassuring that each exit usually has a gas station now. No more fears of being stranded in the desert.
En route to Little Stanton, we took a drive around Washington, PA, which is where Dan was working for the past year. In a throwback to the past, we had dinner at Ponderosa. You just don't see those anymore in the New England area.
Anyway, tomorrow should be fun checking out DC once again and seeing some close friends over there. Then after that.... back home on Wednesday.
As a fun postscript for you all, I'm back on the road on Friday to Toronto, then back to Chicago by next week. With that kind of momentum, I'll be back in the Bay Area by mid August. Forget the East Coast! Anyone want to find me a job?
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Videos Tomorrow
Sorry folks! Looks like my sketchy internet connection will prevent any video updates from going up until tomorrow. But don't worry - I have two already good to go and they feature some special guests.
Until tomorrow in Pittsburgh...
Until tomorrow in Pittsburgh...
In Buehrle We Trust!
Greetings from downtown Chicago in the Gold Coast district! We got here yesterday afternoon after an 8-hour drive from Omaha. It's kinda odd being here in Chicago to a certain degree. For one thing, this is my eighth day into this road trip and I think we're officially past the half way mark in the US when we drove across the Mississippi River. To another degree, we hit a city that I've been to before and it's great seeing familiar faces. The last part is that I expect to see more urban cities and areas during the rest of the drive back home. No more deserts or large plain land.
Our first stop on the trip was in Evanston, IL, where we checked out Cathy and Brian's new condo in Evanston. After checking out the place (which is still in the process of being unpacked and settled), I turned to my sister and said, "You're all growns up." Seriously. What an adult thing to do! The new pad is very cool and more importantly, very spacious.
This is probably my fifth time in Chicago, and every time I'm out here, I've always had a great time. Dan's old roommate lives out here and gave us free tickets to the White Sox/Blue Jays game out in US Cellular Field. The pitchers were the Sox's ace Mark Buehrle and Jay's ace Roy Halladay. It was a great pitcher's duel, but what was more remarkable was that the game only took 2 hours, 10 minutes to complete! When do you see that happen? The game was followed by a fireworks show.
Afterwards, I met up with my friend Allison, who just moved to these parts, and we went to a few bars in the Gold Coast area. The area has plenty of them! One thing that I heard from two different people: this district is known for much older men "trolling" on much younger women. Who knew? Take notes Rohit.
Anyway, some video updates will come later today. Hope you all are having a great weekend!
Our first stop on the trip was in Evanston, IL, where we checked out Cathy and Brian's new condo in Evanston. After checking out the place (which is still in the process of being unpacked and settled), I turned to my sister and said, "You're all growns up." Seriously. What an adult thing to do! The new pad is very cool and more importantly, very spacious.
This is probably my fifth time in Chicago, and every time I'm out here, I've always had a great time. Dan's old roommate lives out here and gave us free tickets to the White Sox/Blue Jays game out in US Cellular Field. The pitchers were the Sox's ace Mark Buehrle and Jay's ace Roy Halladay. It was a great pitcher's duel, but what was more remarkable was that the game only took 2 hours, 10 minutes to complete! When do you see that happen? The game was followed by a fireworks show.
Afterwards, I met up with my friend Allison, who just moved to these parts, and we went to a few bars in the Gold Coast area. The area has plenty of them! One thing that I heard from two different people: this district is known for much older men "trolling" on much younger women. Who knew? Take notes Rohit.
Anyway, some video updates will come later today. Hope you all are having a great weekend!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Get Right to the Heart of Matters
I am somewhere in the middle of America, trying to get to the heart of the matter... which is that the heart is what matters most. Sorry, the temptation to integrate the Counting Crows song was too much.
For all of you who don't get that reference, I am now in Omaha, NE. On our way out of Denver, I fulfilled yet another life long dream and ate breakfast at a Sonics. Yes, that fast food joint does actually exist. The drive to Omaha was pretty boring. Unlike the drive through the desert, to LA, or to Denver, there was absolutely nothing interesting along the way. It was all flat lands and to add a little twist, lots of cornfields. I started to smile when we entered Nebraska and rejoined the I-80 for the first time since crossing the Bay Bridge.
Omaha is one spread out city. We went to Mister C's for dinner. The place is a true townie kind of restaurant, which was a nice change of pace from the chain restaurants we've been frequenting. We got some nice steaks, good wine, and good conversations. Afterwards, we checked out the local theater to see The Simpsons Movie. Very funny movie. What was more amazing was that the tickets only cost $7.50!!!! Pretty amazing if you ask me.
Anyhow, tomorrow we head over to the Windy City (and real civilization if you ask me) for a two day break. Looking forward to see my family and some friends in Chi-town.
As a sort of apology, no video updates for today. There literally was nothing to film!
For all of you who don't get that reference, I am now in Omaha, NE. On our way out of Denver, I fulfilled yet another life long dream and ate breakfast at a Sonics. Yes, that fast food joint does actually exist. The drive to Omaha was pretty boring. Unlike the drive through the desert, to LA, or to Denver, there was absolutely nothing interesting along the way. It was all flat lands and to add a little twist, lots of cornfields. I started to smile when we entered Nebraska and rejoined the I-80 for the first time since crossing the Bay Bridge.
Omaha is one spread out city. We went to Mister C's for dinner. The place is a true townie kind of restaurant, which was a nice change of pace from the chain restaurants we've been frequenting. We got some nice steaks, good wine, and good conversations. Afterwards, we checked out the local theater to see The Simpsons Movie. Very funny movie. What was more amazing was that the tickets only cost $7.50!!!! Pretty amazing if you ask me.
Anyhow, tomorrow we head over to the Windy City (and real civilization if you ask me) for a two day break. Looking forward to see my family and some friends in Chi-town.
As a sort of apology, no video updates for today. There literally was nothing to film!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The Land of Coors
Greetings from Denver, CO. Unlike last night when we were driving well into the evening, yours truly drove beyond 55 MPH and sped through the flatlands known as New Mexico. As a result, we got to the Coors Brewery just before they closed and got a chance to take the tour and check out the tasting room. This place is Coors Light HQ. Who knew it was that popular? In the tasting room, I stuck with my roots and had a Molson Canadian (Molson and Coors joined together a few years ago) and a Blue Moon. Yummy beer, and their tasting size was huge.
Our plans to watch the Rockies game were dashed when the hotel mixed up our reservations and I had to go corporate on the front desk. It was your typical case of bad customer service. Fortunately, we DID get a room and by the time we got it, the game had already started, so we opted to head downtown to the ESPN Zone.
Tomorrow, we head through the heartland of America to Omaha, NE. Woot!
Our plans to watch the Rockies game were dashed when the hotel mixed up our reservations and I had to go corporate on the front desk. It was your typical case of bad customer service. Fortunately, we DID get a room and by the time we got it, the game had already started, so we opted to head downtown to the ESPN Zone.
Tomorrow, we head through the heartland of America to Omaha, NE. Woot!
I Support Gov. Richardson!!!
Greetings from Albuquerque, NM! Dan and I just got in like an hour ago. I went the complete game with about 12 hours of driving with pit stops at the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon... both of which were amazing sights to see. For dining, we went all out and had lunch at CJ's (Carl's Jr) and dinner at Taco Bell. What a one-two combo, eh? Who wants to go running with me when I get back home?
Besides the two touristy spots, we drove through two isolated rainstorms. It was quite surreal as it was sunny everywhere except this patch of the highway where it poured so hard that I couldn't see anything in front of me for a brief period. Don't worry guys - I slowed down, despite my continual plea that "I drive fast!"
Tomorrow, we head north to Denver, CO. If all goes well, we will check out the Coors brewing tour followed by a Rockies game. Enjoy Part 7, which I posted below.
Besides the two touristy spots, we drove through two isolated rainstorms. It was quite surreal as it was sunny everywhere except this patch of the highway where it poured so hard that I couldn't see anything in front of me for a brief period. Don't worry guys - I slowed down, despite my continual plea that "I drive fast!"
Tomorrow, we head north to Denver, CO. If all goes well, we will check out the Coors brewing tour followed by a Rockies game. Enjoy Part 7, which I posted below.
My Bad...
So for the first six parts of the video journal, replace "June" with "July." Thanks for pointing this out Tina. It will be revised when I release the "Special Edition" of these videos.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
In the Black.... by $60
Greetings everyone from Imperial Palace, in the heart of Las Vegas, NV. It is freakin' hot outside... somewhere around 102 degrees. I can safely say that I brought to heat to Vegas. Okay, lame joke. Please don't switch to another website.
I left California around 2 pm. As I was driving I-15, I saw a bunch of hotels in the distance and sure enough, these were the first casinos on the other side of the border. We got to the hotel about an hour later.
It's been a fun two days so far. Yesterday, after checking into our hotel, we went over to the ESPN Zone in New York, New York to check the BoSox game. Then we hit the casinos hard. Wait, it was just me. I ended up winning about $100 on slot machines (Deal or No Deal baby!) and then losing $40 in blackjack. Today, we've been just roaming around and I made one final appearance at Slots A Fun and Circus Circus. Tonight - much more tomfoolery.
Anyway, the next update will be somewhere in the Southwest. We head to the Grand Canyon and NM tomorrow, and then Denver the day afterwards. Stay tuned!
I left California around 2 pm. As I was driving I-15, I saw a bunch of hotels in the distance and sure enough, these were the first casinos on the other side of the border. We got to the hotel about an hour later.
It's been a fun two days so far. Yesterday, after checking into our hotel, we went over to the ESPN Zone in New York, New York to check the BoSox game. Then we hit the casinos hard. Wait, it was just me. I ended up winning about $100 on slot machines (Deal or No Deal baby!) and then losing $40 in blackjack. Today, we've been just roaming around and I made one final appearance at Slots A Fun and Circus Circus. Tonight - much more tomfoolery.
Anyway, the next update will be somewhere in the Southwest. We head to the Grand Canyon and NM tomorrow, and then Denver the day afterwards. Stay tuned!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Goodbye California... land of Arnold
Today's my last day in California. Dan and I have spent the last two days down here in Westwood/LA and it's been a blast. We went to a great Dodgers game that was exciting in the end, had some great Mexican food, but most importantly, got a chance to chat and catch up with some of my close friends that I've made here in CA. Big ups to Melinda for being a great host. Also a special thanks to everyone who've called or came out to visit me yesterday.
As I drive over to Vegas today and cross the California-Nevada border, I'll know that I am leaving behind some great people. Until next time...
As I drive over to Vegas today and cross the California-Nevada border, I'll know that I am leaving behind some great people. Until next time...
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