Tales of an Aimless Drive

Disney World

2011-03-30T21:44:00.002-04:00

I completely forgot, but we're going to Disney World tomorrow. We'll be posting up :)

Thanks to this blog....

2011-03-20T18:18:00.000-04:00

I've been getting more into photography. Even so much as to enroll in a photography course in my last block of undergraduate work. The reason is simple: To bring the readers (you guys) better photos, and one photo I took at Niagara Falls is one of the biggest contributors to traffic to this blog. I feel that the pictures I post simple don't do proper justice to what we see in our travels. I am going to up the ante. I will do better :)

Last week in Basic Photography class, we created our first images. I'm the only guy in class with my own camera. They all are using a Canon SLR, specific model unknown. I am using the Nikon D70 my mother sent me to test out. My images came out like crap. My peers, who couldn't even turn on the camera, were coming up with assignments that made mine look terrible. I just couldn't figure out how to hold the lighting. So today, in my competitive nature, I took my camera out and snapped a few hundred pictures and figured it out. Then came home and played with Gimp (free photo editing software) until I made my images how I saw them when I snapped them. The subject is my friend 1969 CJ-5.

Side note: We chose Jobin Photos as our 'mark' from our favorite movie. No significant meaning.

NHL Hall of Fame

2011-03-07T23:13:00.001-05:00

I was never really a huge follower of sports teams. I had my favorite team like every other guy, but following them religiously is hard when you're living in foreign countries and not using internet all time. That all changed in 2007.

My friend Adam asked me if I wanted his extra ticket to see the Washington Capitals play. I always thought hockey was cool but had never been to a NHL game. The rest is history. Jen and I went to a game for my birthday in 2009 and she's been hooked since.

December 2009 From our seats, 8 rows up. Caps/Flyers in Philly

February 2011 in DC...Cap/Islanders

At any rate, we love hockey now. Since we're moving in June, we have little money for spring break. The two places I wanted to go (Acadia National Forest and Nova Scotia) are out due to no camping until May. I wrote off spring break in order to save money for the move. Then it struck me....why don't we go to the NHL Hall of Fame?

Jen found out that MegaBus runs to Toronto. For those of you who don't know, MegaBus and BoltBus both can run super low fares and claim decent leg room and WiFi capable buses. It would be 9 hours by car or 10 hours by bus. After looking into the rates, we were sold. For $4.50, Jen and I are going to the NHL Hall of Fame in Toronto! Updates to follow.....:)

Here's our potential route. Delaware to Toronto without driving? Yes please.

Route option for MegaBus

Updated route

2011-03-06T16:03:00.000-05:00

1. Pittsburgh- Hotel
2. Lake Hudson Recreation Area, MI- camping
3. Chicago, IL- Hotel
4. Devils Lake State Park, WI- camping
5. Minneapolis, MN- hotel
6. Fargo ND- can't really find a place to camp yet
7. Grand River National Grassland, SD- camping
8. Mount Rushmore, SD- passing through
9. Devils Tower, WY- camping
10. Crazy Woman Canyon, WY- who knows
11. Custer National Cemetery, MT- undecided
12. Bozeman MT- undecided
13. Salt Lake City, UT- hotel
14. Four Corners- passing through
15. Monument Valley- camping
16. Destination

Total mileage: 4,000 miles
Total States: 17

Not all that bad....

2011-02-27T18:17:00.000-05:00

Recently I found out my school slot date for some additional education post-undergraduate graduation is in November. Initially, Jen and I began sweating it immediately because it would be another 5-6 months without me getting paid. Then an idea struck.

My mother lives in south eastern Arizona and has some property with a studio attached to the detached garage. A possibility would be for us to relocate temporarily and work out there, significantly decreasing our cost of living and being near my mother for the first time in 10 years. The icing on the cake, naturally, is the splendor of the southwest and the "explorability" of the region. I've spent 4 years reading amazing stories and gawking at wonderful pictures and videos of other on their South Western adventures. Now is our time.

Seeing as how we're going to be moving across country, what kind of adventurers would we be without seizing the opportunity? Below is our tentative route. Some points are specified for camp grounds, while city points are specified for our chosen lodging requirements. We're looking at around two weeks to see more of our country. As details are ironed out and unfolds, I'll keep you updated.

A Vehicle Update

2011-02-20T20:45:00.003-05:00

I know it has been forever since I've updated about the CJ, but truth is that it is rather difficult to modify a vehicle on a college budget. However, slowly but surely it is getting there. Since last posting she's been painted and lined. Mountain Valley Customs actually has her right now getting a new dash board and gauges put in so that she's completely reliable now. I can't wait to see her again.

Next up will be a brand new custom cage with stereo and new tires. The cage, as it sits, has a support bar right over our heads that we constantly bash on. We'll also add normal seatbelts to make daily driving a little more friendly.

A Brilliant Story

2011-02-01T09:57:00.002-05:00

Due to attending college, I get plenty of time to read amazing travel stories online. I read a LOT of trip reports, books, and magazines on other's international travels. For the first time, however, I have stumbled upon a story that was so magnificent I had to share on our personal blog.

Frederick and Josephine left Belgium on a journey that would take them through Africa, then shipped to Japan, driving through Russian Siberia, Asia, the -Stans, and back in Africa before heading home to Belgium. All in their Land Cruiser. The account I just read was the harrowing journey the Democratic Republic of Congo on their second stint in Africa. The small part of their journey, relative to the overall trip, was the most riveting account I've ever read on vehicle dependent travel.

This compelling story is filled with qualities found in a HBO mini-series. Unsupported, non-sponsored, and seeking an adventure, Frederick and Josephine find that and more in DRC. Good people, bad people, corruption, days making no progress, dense jungles, open savannas all have their place in this story.

Frederick and Josephine's story can be found here on ExpeditionPortal.com. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Here's a few of the pics I poached from their thread to entice you:

Ireland 09-10JAN2010

2011-01-26T09:38:00.019-05:00

The fourth day was quite a bit slower than our first three but just as fun. It was a day that I personally had been looking forward to. The Guinness Storehouse and Jameson Distillery was on our to-do list and I was ecstatic. In order to save on time for potential additional events, we decided to cash in on the earlier tour at the storehouse and the lunch time distillery tour.

Catching breakfast at the Maldron, we moved down to the parking garage we were forced to store our car at the night prior. I forget if I mentioned, but many hotels have limited car park space. Therefore, due to our late check in, we had to park a few blocks down in a parking garage. What's a little more walking?

We drove down to the storehouse to one of the only free parking lots I remember in Ireland. We walked down into the main entrance, stopped for a few photos, and presented our pre-paid tickets to the check in. Guinness Storehouse reminded me of King Jame's Castle. The tour was self guided so we could wander around and take our sweet time.

Right outside the front entrance

Moving from the ticket booth to the fun zone

The 9000 year lease granting rights to the brewery

As we moved in, there was a quick orientation above the encased lease right in front of the enormous gift shop. After that, we were free to move wherever we felt. There are 7 floors to mess around on and they're built in the shape of a giant pint glass. There are escalators and elevators for all, and it culminates at the top Gravity Bar. It's the highest tourist attraction in Dublin, and you can cash in on a free pint of Guinness and take in 360* view of the city. It covered the ingredients, history, tools, shipping, manufacturing, and on and on. You can even be certified to pour a pint of Guinness. Technically it takes 119 seconds to pour the perfect pint. You'll be happy to know I sailed through the vigorous process and am a proud recipient of the certification.

Anywho, onto the pictures.

Post orientation moving into exhibit

Just a cool thing by the entrance

Barley area

Thats all barley

Again, lots of barley

The hops used. They're about 2 floors tall

The yeast is the key. There it is unsecure.

As it says, it's a national treasure

They're pretty particular about their water

It was something cool to see an indoor waterfall

A description of their water

Us under the waterfall

They're pretty pumped about beer. Me too.

List of Brew Masters.

Pondering my prospects as a Guinness Brew Master.

Old school machinery

Free sample? Yes please.

To Jen's credit, she tried it. Unfortunately I had to drink both of ours.

Then I saw this. I don't need a chart to tell me if I like a beer or not. Hah

Pouring my perfect pint

Guinness Book of World Records was created for bar keepers to settle drunken debates

The first steam ship to carry Guinness across the globe

The art of Coopering. They made all the casks for Guinness

Tools of Coopering

Gravity Bar

Great view

Cashed in on the free pint here

After we were done here we had to move to the Jameson Distillery. We decided to leave the car parked so we wouldn't have to find a parking spot and allow me to walk off the beer. Have a beer and a half in 2.5 hours is by no means enough to get me intoxicated, but better safe than sorry. The walk to the Distillery was only about 15 minutes and it was a really nice morning.

Unlike the sprawling Storehouse, the Distillery is no longer in operation but has been converted into a huge guided tour. It's pretty a nice setup. Honestly, I don't think it was nearly as cool as the Storehouse, but I do like my whiskey.

On to the pictures.

The old front entrance?

The gate into the main courtyard

What it looked like in the old days. That sack is 220lbs. Sucks for that guy

Touching this stone is supposed to bring luck

Mixer

More old-school tools

I forgot what this was about. Again, write down the picture and number

An old washback. 1 of 4 I believe

Distillation process

Barrel room

Showing the different ages of whiskey. As you can see, the older=the more product they lose. Hence the increased price

At the conclusion in the tasting room

Lesson learned for the Distillery, if you enjoy the taste of whiskey and such volunteer immediately. They can only take 4 women and 4 men so jump on it. At the very end, you get to taste the difference between bourbon, scotch, and whiskey on the house. I didn't because I had to drive and I still hadn't eaten since our 800am breakfast.

After the tour and the quick tasting we moved back to the Storehouse to gift shop and pick up our car. It was pushing 300pm easily by then and we still hadn't eaten. However, there was a piece in my book that I really wanted to attempt. There was a bar crawl that hit some of the oldest and best bars in Dublin.

After dropping our car off at the Maldron, we moved down towards Doheny and Nesbitt. It was founded in 1850 and it is right in the government buildings area. We arrived there around 330pm on a Sunday, so it was relatively empty. A young guy about to head off to college in NYC was tending bar and we had a great conversation about pub crawls in Ireland and his potential life in NYC.

From outside

The coolest pub crawl I heard of was called the "12 Pubs of Christmas", or the "Golden Mile". It depends on the time of year. Around Christmas, a few hundred people get together and go down the Golden Mile to 12 pubs dressed in Santa suits. Any other time of the year, its just called the Golden Mile.

Also, there are 26 pubs in Dublin that all got together and created something quite nice. They all had a coaster company put a design in similar style and you can grab one or two from every pub you go to. I would love to go back and try that challenge.

Our next stop was McDaids. Founded in 1779, I found it amazing that I was having a beer at an establishment almost as old as my home country. Apparently a lot of famous literary people frequented there like Brendan Brehan. I'd be lying if I wrote that I knew who he was. This is the first place where I noticed locals looking at us. Don't know if it's normal, but it definitely stopped me from taking as many pictures and being as forthcoming with the bartender. He was nice though and took a picture of us and gave us a couple coasters.

Outdoor on the corner

Grabbing a drink at McDaids

After McDaids we had 4 more pubs to hit. However, it was after 600pm and we hadn't eaten since 800am. I had alcohol of some form in my stomach since 930am. The math, even now, doesn't add up in my favor and we were starving. However, we made a rookie mistake. We were so hungry that we just jumped on the first opportunity we found. It was a hole in the wall joint called the Pizza Stop.

Pizza Stop was not terrible, but it was not great. The garlic bread that we ordered with our spaghetti and bolognese and chicken kiev came out as an appetizer while the side salad we chose to share came out with the meal. The service was typical of Ireland, so I can't complain there. However, we did have to ask another server for our check as ours was in the back on her cell phone for 15 minutes. The thing that put a sour taste in our mouth was the price. At this point, we had been in Ireland for a while and were familiar with pricing vs. quality. We paid a premium for mediocre food. Such is life, lesson learned. To give you an idea, we didn't even take a picture of it or anything in it.

Post-dinner, we went to the third pub Grogan's Castle Lounge. As we walked in, we noticed that there were a lot more people. We grabbed a seat, but since we'd just had dinner my motivation was at an all time low. The entire day of drinking finally got to me.

From across the street

This signaled the end of our trip for the most part. The following day we woke up, returned the car and hit the airport. The immigration portion for the US is in the Dublin Airport, so it's really easy for people like us who fly light.

Conclusion: Ireland was amazing. We took a lot of lessons learned over the summer travels and spring road trips and applied them here. Lessons still had to be learned for this trip as we found out and shown, but with the exception of hotels, they were minimal impact lessons.

Planning played a large part of our success along with bringing sources of information with us. I brought Frommer's Ireland: day by day and Jen brought Fodor's See It: Ireland. Also, we bought Collins Ireland Road Atlas at the airport. It was perfect for driving around the country and had really good drill down maps. The two touristy books complimented each other perfectly in our pursuit to see what we could. It was the trip of a lifetime, and I really hope you enjoyed reading about it.

Ireland 08JAN2011

2011-01-23T11:32:00.017-05:00

The Western Hotel and Bar had an early and free breakfast that Jen and I decided to capitalize on before the next leg of our journey. We were the only ones in the restaurant due to getting there as the doors opened. They have a full breakfast menu to select from and a table set up for drinks, cereal, fruit, and bread. It was quite fulfilling and a great way to start the long day ahead of us.

Our plan for the evening was to leave Galway City for our eventual stop at Kilkenny. Along the way, we planned to stop at Bunratty Castle, Limerick, Cashel, and then the destination. The night prior was supposed to have the region covered in ice, but as with everything else in our trip, our luck prevailed. We were on the road to Bunratty Castle just in time to watch the sun break the horizon.

Another image that has found it way on our wall. Just before the sun breaks the horizon

Our first stop, Bunratty Castle, is supposed to be one of the coolest places to visit during the summer. Combined with the adjoining Folk Park, the castle helps recreate life in Ireland during the 19th century. You can even plan to do the Medieval Banquet, which includes a 4 course feast and live entertainment. Since we were just passing through, we couldn't just skip this huge castle without at least checking it out. Again, another benefit to traveling in the off season and super early in the morning is we get run of the mill.

It is referred to as a Tower House. Thing is huge

Love the cool gray of pre-dawn

Adjacent tavern

Running with the sun

Our next stop was Limerick. We were both pretty excited about this one because King John's Castle was supposed to be a completely open exhibit and quite interactive. When we arrived at Limerick, we found that navigating the streets to be quite simple compared to Dublin. We found a parking spot right next to the castle entrance. Unfortunately we didn't know this at the time, so we wondered around looking for it.

Anybody home?

Sun breaking over the city

A look down the street from King John's to St. Mary's Cathedral

Since our books said the castle didn't open up until 900am and we didn't even know HOW to get into the place, we decided to check out St. Mary's Cathedral. The cathedral was founded in 1168 and on the site of the King of Munster's palace. It's also the oldest building in Limerick still in every day use (Resource).

The "Great West Door" which is allegedly the original entrance to the palace

Pretty serious organ

Some renovation was under way while we were there

We were beginning to wonder if Ireland celebrated Christmas on a different day. Christmas stuff everywhere

We were only at St. Mary's for a brief amount of time due to both its smaller size and our desire to go see the castle. After asking the kind gentlemen manning the admission table for pointed directions for the castle entrance, we realized that we literally parked across the street. They opened as we were walking up. The man apologized because apparently they were opening late. Not like we would've known otherwise.

The castle itself has some fun history so I'll just hit on a couple points here to peak your own investigation. The Vikings were the first to actually have a fortification here in the 10th century. The remains were found during the construction of the new visitors center. Upon the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in 1172, the city was burned to the ground. King John had a castle built in his name and it was finished around the turn of the 13th century. In 1642, the castle was besieged and both parties mined under the castle walls. The occupying Protestants surrendered just before the sieging force felled the walls. However, the damage was done and that section had to be taken down anyway (Resource).

Here the bonus of traveling during the off season is well seen.

Indoor forge

Enjoying my punishment

The gate wall

From atop the gate wall

From the main gate wall

Catapult. Cool

Queen Jen addressing her people

King in deep thought. Apparently he was a jerk. The audio clips told us so

Isn't there supposed to be fire here? Facepalm.

Issuing out cannon balls and such. Powder room

On of the tower stair cases. It was cool because you could go pretty much everywhere

Excavation site inside the castle walls

A model of the castle being built

The corner of the castle you don't want to be sent to

We spent a good amount of time in King John's Castle, hitting every little nook and staircase we found. The only thing we didn't do was watch the opening video mostly due to excitement of seeing the actual castle itself. One thing we noticed, however, was the lack of King John Castle schwag in the gift shop. I'm the type of guy that likes to buy a professional photo, map, or something to frame of key place I've visited and loved. This fit the bill, but the shop fell short.

After we left the playground, rather the castle, we hopped back in our roller-skate car and jumped back on the highway toward Cashel. The draw to the small town is the Rock of Cashel. Cashel itself has history dating back to 5th century when St. Patrick allegedly converted the King of Munster. The remnants we see today are from the 12th and 13th centuries (resource). Our books said that we would simply round a corner and the Rock would come into an inspirational view. It did not disappoint.

A view before entering town

Under the cathedral. Original wall painting can be seen here

West side in the cemetery

East side just outside the Reception Center
There's no roof, so there's plenty of light inside

South side with the sun still on the rise

They rebuilt a room to look as it would've in the Rock's history

The Round Tower is 90ft tall and built in 1100

The sun rising had a cool effect on the roofless building. Minute by minute the view changed

After hanging out at the Rock of Cashel for an hour or so we decided it was time to grab some lunch. Jen and I headed down the hill, leaving our car at the car park, and down into the Medieval Quarter. Apparently there are a lot of little shops and such that are worth mentioning in our travel books, so why not spend a minute checking them out?

At the bottom of the hill we found the Cashel Woollen Store. Everything inside was made in Cashel and from Irish wool. We popped in because I did not have gloves and my fingers were frosty. Here we met the nicest lady in the world. She spoke like Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, was extremely pleasant and helpful. She told us the best places to eat, shortcuts to around the town, and talked with us for 10 minutes about everything we'd done and where we were going next. We left to get lunch with a promise of our return.

Home of the Nicest Lady in the World

As we walked down into town, Jen and I couldn't figure out what we wanted to eat. Seeing as how we still had another city to get to and a LOT more things to see, we did not want to invest the time into a sit down restaurant. Fast food is not nearly as prevalent as in the United States (definitely not a bad thing), so we decided we were going to pop into a super market and hit the deli. We made our version of the chicken stuffing sandwich, got a bag of chips, and a bottle of pepsi max. It was definitely the most affordable meal we'd had our entire trip, but expect to pay for bags if you need on.

Walking down into town

A cool castle hotel

As promised, we returned to the wool store. The Nicest Lady in the World gave us a warm welcome and asked us how lunch was. Jen bought a nice off white scarf from her and we were back on our way.

The Nicest Lady in the World

Our delicious lunch in the car and marked the end of our Cashel stop. We hopped back on the road for Kilkenny. This was to be our stop for the evening, so we decided to hit the Kilkenny Castle then the Tourist Information Center for hotel options.

Kilkenny Castle was finished at the turn of the 13th century. The Butler family bought it in 1391 and sold it in 1920. The east wall was brought down in the Siege of Kilkenny in 1650, which explains why the castle was only 3 sided. The east wall had the original entrance and faced the estate, known now as the Kilkenny Park, if I remember correctly.

The castle has undergone a lot of restoration. On the tour, the guide said that when he first started working there the library had no floor and he could see into the basement. The level of renovation is remarkable. Using pictures of the past, they've recreated much of the castle and have even obtained some of the original items that the Butler family auctioned off.

We walked the property for a half hour waiting for our tour to begin. The art gallery was closed for renovation, so we got a discounted tour rate. We also popped in the Castle Kitchen for a hot drink. I had a double espresso and brownie, Jen had a really good lookin' hot chocolate.

NOTE: Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside the castle. What do ya do?

From the park on the east side

From the SE corner where the 4th Tower once stood

Just a tree.

West side from the garden

Western side on the interior

Hot chocolate on a cold day. Score

Castle Kitchen

On the sidewalk outside of the castle

This is where the trip began getting a tad bit hectic. We parked on the side street so we needed to get moving before we got a ticket. We needed to find the tourist office and traffic was beginning to pick up. It wasn't terribly hard, per say, to find the tourist office. However, there was nowhere to park. Luckily, I decided to sit with the car and send Jen in alone. I say luckily because they were closing the minute she approached.

Here's where our plans changed. After hearing our limited Kilkenny options (most were outside the main area we were interested in checking out), we decided to implement one of our lessons learned--#6: Travel by night. The following day we were planning on hitting the Guinness Storehouse and Jameson Distillery. Therefore, we drove back to Dublin and grabbed simply reserved another two nights at the Maldron.

Day 3 finished with us collapsing in our hotel room. What a great day, and with beer and whiskey in scope for Sunday, Day 4 looked just a promising....

All pics can be seen here.

Ireland 07JAN2011

2011-01-18T15:46:00.000-05:00

Our second day found Jen and I rising early for the first leg of our road trip. Our plan for the day was to drive to Galway City after hitting the Cliffs of Moher. We just grabbed breakfast at the Maldron Hotel when they opened at 700am so we could get out on the road, hopefully ahead of traffic.

Traffic in Dublin wasn't necessarily that bad. With copious amounts of roundabouts and efficient lane adjustments and usage, the Irish DOT seems to have nailed road building in cities where buildings came before cars. Even young countries like the United States haven't figured out how to either drive or conduct road work with 10 times the space. Before we knew it, we were out on the highway to Galway City.

NOTE: Jen came up with a funny way of figuring out the highway system. M= Major highways, N= Not-so major highways, and R= Really small highways.

Riding up the M1 to the M50

On the M4 out of Dublin to the M6

Jen was a great navigator for the trip. While I was driving, she'd keep her nose buried in both the Collins Road Atlas (a must buy for drive-tours of Ireland) and our touristy books. On our way, she noticed a castle in Athenry that we could stop by. My personal favorite thing in Europe is cathedrals and castles. Doesn't get much better than that, so we stopped.

Athenry Castle is a 13th century utilitarian looking castle. Not your fancy pants comfortable place to have tea, rather a place to project power and protect your people. The castle has recently undergone renovations using the same methods to rebuild that were used in the original construction.

Outside one of the walls. The tower hall on the left is the most famous

This castle actually had a moat. Cool

Close by across street was the Athenry Priory. We didn't know it at the time, but there is some quality history there. It was also built in the 13th Century and was Ireland's first university. Apparently in 1644, the Dominican friars opened it up for students. Shortly afterwards, Oliver Cromwell came across the isle from England and destroyed the priory and killed the friars. To rub salt into the wound, Cromwell then turned the priory into his stables so his horses could desecrate the place of higher learning and prayer (Resource). That spelled the end for the first Irish university.

The priory from the adjacent street

Didn't realize this was fuzzy until now

If you click on it, you can zoom in. Otherwise use the resource link

It had a nice sized cemetery

Shortly afterwards, we were back on the road. It seems like everywhere we turned there was history. If you note the sunlight in our photos, not much time passes between locations. By the time we had hit a few key junctions, we were at Dunguire Castle. The castle is known for having medieval dinners and is supposed to be quite the good time. Unfortunately, one draw back of traveling on the cheap to Ireland is a lot of places are closed for winter (CFW). Such is life. We were still able to snap some pictures, check out the exterior, and walk the grounds for many of the sites.

As you may be able to tell from these photos, we didn't bother getting terribly close. This castle was just a "since its on the way" type view. I was adamant about stopping to take a photo and Jen was game. While we wish we could've stayed for hours at everything we saw, we were on a tight travel schedule to maximize time at Galway City and the Cliffs of Mohers.

From across the highway

The pedestrian gate was open, but we opted to park and shoot

The drive by shooting style of photography was used quite a few times on this trip. Between the CFWs and early driving, there were plenty of opportunities for us just to walk the old grounds by ourselves with free reign. The next place I'm going to show photos of were drive-by pics, and I can't really offer any additional information. However, there was a sense of how old Ireland really is and a sort of jealousy of the sheer quantity of history.

The next spot we sighted was literally an old walled in tower. It fit the 12th or 13th century theme of every other defense structure we'd seen, however it had a more modern aspect to it. It was literally the entrance to a neighborhood. Ireland has so much history and historical sites, that some of the locations just stand with little fanfare. On day 4, we saw a farmer tending his fields with an old tower much like this one serving as the entrance to his driveway.

Well preserved and a well manicured field. Note: this one makes a great black and white photo and is an 8x10 on our wall now :)

How cool is it for them to drive through a castle to run to the grocery store?

After driving for a few hours in awe of Ireland's beautiful and historical countryside, we finally arrived at the Cliffs of Moher. The weather was slightly overcast and windy. With some wind. And some more wind. While Jen and I were vigilant in making sure that we brought our wind/water proof gear, I did not think to bring goggles. To give you an idea of the intensity of the wind, we heard a car alarm going off as we walked toward the visitors center. I turned around facing the wind, fearing that I accidentally set off our alarm. Within seconds, my eyes were watering and I couldn't hear the car alarm anymore. I had to walk within 10m of the car because I couldn't see just to find out it was the one next to ours.

As we moved to the Visitors Center, we saw stores literally built in to the ground. It reminded me comically of Hobbits in Lord of the Rings. When we arrived to the center, I was surprised to see the entire facility also built under ground with two stories and a restaurant. Have to love efficiency. We moved beyond the center towards O'Brien's Tower to have a look at the cliffs. I'll let the pics speak for me.

Low impact store fronts

Model of the visitors center
Cool wood carving right outside the Visitors Center

The Cliffs of Moher

O'Brien's Tower. Built to impress the ladies by Sir Cornelius O'Brien

We wound up going to O'Brien's Tower and paying the extra fee to go to the roof top. From there we were able to grab a better view of the cliffs and snap a few pictures. While it has been said that O'Brien built it for the ladies, other sources say that he was a visionary and sought tourism as a means to climb Ireland out of poverty.

You can tell by my facial expression that the wind is killing me. I had my hood up between pics

South side of the cliffs. I believe the tide was out while we were there

Such a small staircase

O'Brien coat of arms hanging on the second floor

After spending some time at the cliffs we grabbed a quick bite at the Visitors Center restaurant. It was here that Jen and I found our new favorite sandwich; chicken and stuffing. Who would've ever thought? The first variation we had there was chicken salad with stuffing. The second was a breaded chicken cutlet with stuffing. Both amazing. Try it, you may be surprised. We've actually made it several times at home already.

After our life-changing sandwich, we got back on the road and head back up N67 toward Galway City. There were a few places on our hit list there. However, our priority was to establish a bed to sleep in for the night. The best way we figured to do it was to visit the Tourist Info Center again, seeing as how our first experience was so productive and positive. The Galway City Tourist Information Center proved to be just as pleasant as Dublin Airport. They guided us to a cozy hotel called the Western Hotel and Bar. Accommodating staff, great deal, walking distance to the local spots we were looking for, and a safe place to park the car.

Picture is from here. I didn't realize we didn't take a picture until we left

Our first order of business was to get down to Lynch Castle. I have a friend in my class who's last name is Lynch and his parents visited Galway the summer prior. Considering everything we had seen up until now, I was pretty excited to see another castle in the center of a city. As a testament to the utility of said castle, we walked right by it and didn't even notice.

Turns out Lynch Castle was converted into a bank, and according to what I read it was more of a mansion. We had rushed from the cliffs to see this castle before it closed and it turns out that its just been converted into an AIB bank with the only historical section being the foyer with pictures and descriptions. Epic disappointment. Of course, I still took pictures of it...

Maybe the truck is why we walked past it

The only exterior indicator of its history

Just some historical references to its architecture

Oddly, I was actually disappointed about this. Hopefully the Galway Cathedral wouldn't let me down like this. We had to make a stop first. Jen had been really excited about going to Galway City because it was the home of the Claddagh ring. The ring began being produced in the 17th century outside city walls at a local village and is used as a token of love or a wedding band. Wear it with the heart facing out and you're single. Turn it around and you're married. Well, the jewelery store that original began mass-producing the ring is called Thomas Dillon Jewelry Shop. Allegedly the original shop, the rings here can be bought with an "Authentic" inscription, certificate of authenticity, and a lifetime warranty. 40 or 50 Euros bought the ring.

Outside Thomas Dillon's Jewelry store

Close-up of the ring itself

After Jen had her ring, we moved toward the Medieval Quarter. We didn't find it because I misread the map and took the wrong road. However, because of this we stumbled upon the Spanish Arch. The arch is one of 4 in the city that were built in the 1500s. During this time period, the Spanish Armada would stage out of Galway City for their voyages out west (Resource). The arch is a hint of the influence the Spaniards brought to the city.

Posing by the original section

After referring back to the map, we decided to move down the Riverwalk path towards the Galway Cathedral. There wasn't supposed to be anything special about the Riverwalk, however I discovered how to use a new feature on camera; shutter speed. So what should have been a 15 minute walk, I dragged out to half an hour of stopping and taking pictures of the all the locks and toying with the camera. Here's two photos of me goofing around.

I hate how flashes ruin the ambiance of the moment

Water looks cool

At any rate, we finally get to the bridge that crosses the river to the cathedral. Due to my goofing off, we missed the cathedral being open. So, we just walked around the outside and looked at the architecture and found a door with glass windows that we could look inside. Outside looking in, she looked pretty sweet. A little disappointed that we couldn't make it inside, I decided I was going to make up for it by grabbing some pictures of the outside.

The cathedral itself isn't that old. It was only built in the 1950s and 1960s. It's official name is Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heavan and St Nicholas.

(#6-Travel by night when speed-touring. When traveling by day, you have to rush to beat closing times. However, if you travel by night, then you are where you need to be during the day)

My personal favorite. It's hanging on our wall now :)

Bell tower closest to the river

By the front entrance

Massive entrance wall

After the cathedral, we moved to check out St Nicholas Collegiate Church back in the shopping street (back by Lynch's 'Castle'). It was one more I wanted to check out and then possibly attempt to find the medieval quarter again. While walking down back streets to the main shopping street, we smelled this mouth-watering odor coming from a kitchen. St. Nicholas was in sight and we pushed on, not seeking out the source.

St. Nicholas Church is quite small in comparison to the Galway Cathedral but has more history. It was founded in 1320 and is Ireland's largest medieval parish church (resource). It now belongs to the Church of Ireland

St. Nicholas Collegiate Church

From the adjacent alley we approached from

The reason we didn't spend a terrible amount of time at St. Nicholas' was simple. We hadn't eaten since the Cliffs of Moher and the aforementioned smell induced grumbling stomachs and watering mouths. Since we could not figure out exactly what we wanted to eat, we decided that we were going to chase down that smell. Turns out, the kitchen had attracted our attention two full street lengths and turns down to a place called Finnegans.

Finnegans claimed to have traditional Irish food and we hadn't really delved into that quite yet. Upon entering, we found that like most Irish places we'd been to thus far, it was a small establishment. My biggest pet peeve right off the bat was the positioning of the tables. I am one of the types that likes to have his back to the wall so I can see everything. The only table that faced the center of the room had a large pane glassed window. I let my inhibitions go, and sat with my back to the door.

Glad I did. The food was delicious. Jen had the fish and chips while I had the home baked lasagna with a chowder starter. The chowder hit the spot after being in the cold all day, and Jen's exact words were "this is the best fish and chips I've EVER had". The lasagna wasn't the best, but it was good in its own right. The service is a little slow, but I noticed a difference in in Ireland. They come up to you and ask if you're ready, then when they bring the food, then only if you signal them. After I got used to asking for a refill or pacing myself, I liked not having a server hover. I'm calling Finnegan's a success.

Hindsight, I'm curious as to why they had an American flag on their doorway...

Fries and coleslaw came with my lasagna. Perfect compliments. With the beer, of course

After a well earned meal, we decided it was time to move back to the hotel to check out their bar and maybe some dessert. It had been a long day, and our plan for day 3 called for even longer. However, circumstances prevailed and the day went on even longer than anticipated....

Day 3 coming soon. As usual, all pics can be found here. Feel free to leave comments with suggestions or questions. We saved all of our maps and such.

Ireland 06JAN2011

2011-01-12T14:03:00.000-05:00

We usually try to plan some sort of trip for the breaks I'm given in school, whether small or big. The breaks are a welcome change from the first stint in the military when I couldn't even get a pass if the world was ending. For the winter break of 2010/11, we thought of going to the Dominican Republic. However, we sat on our hands for a little to long and prices sky rocketed. Upon further review, Ireland some how popped into the equation.

Ireland's peak tourist time is from May through September. Seeing as how we were looking for the first week in January, I'd say we were choosing the cheapest available time. This proved to be true. We found cheap flights, cheap hotels, and cheap car rentals. There were some downfalls to this method though. For instance, a lot of small castles, bed and breakfasts, and other tourist attractions are closed during winter to offset cost and maximize profits during the summer months. Also, the weather is not generally favorable during Irish winters. Actually, it's supposed to be brutal. Rain, wind, and near freezing temperatures are supposed to be the norm.

This being said, we scored big. Really really big. The weather was generally amazing. Just cold enough to make you bundle up a bit, but completely tolerable for site seeing and walking around all day. It rained/sleeted once, and it was while we were driving back from Kilkenny to Dulin and only for a few moments.

The trip was pretty simple itself. We flew from Philadelphia to Manchester, England for a quick connection to Dublin. US Airways was our primary carrier to England and for our return flight on our nonstop from Dublin to Philly. The travel was relatively painless as we packed light and didn't check any bags. We found these super sweet pocket size duffel bags at REI and I just put one in my pack and one in Jen's carry on. After the trip, we put our crap we bought in our packs and carry on and put our dirty clothes in a duffel bag. No checked bags for the return trip either. Perfect. Best 9 bucks a pop we spent.

Jen was kind of hosed on the PHI-->MAN flight. She was stuck between me and another guy who wouldn't give her an armrest either. I took an Advil PM and went to sleep for around 6 hours and she didn't get a wink.

Here's where I'm going to introduce something new for this blog. Along our trips we have a Lessons Learned section in our journal and we're sharing them. They'll be in parenthesis with a corresponding number.

(#1- Make Jen take an Advil PM. That way everyone sleeps, everyone's happy)

Manchester was fun because the British immigrations officer was really interrogative and unresponsive to our answers. I thought we were going to jail. Finally, he handed back our passports and smiled, told us to enjoy our trip and let us go. Maybe it was just the dry British humor I always hear about.

Manchester: (#2- Reserve the first and last night of your trip. Immigration and Customs doesn't like it if you don't have a place to stay. Makes you look suspicious. We picked a place in our books and crossed our fingers that we could stay there)

Here's some photos of the travel portion.

Our gate at Philly

Boarding the flight to Dublin from Manchester

First site of Ireland

Customs. By the way, don't take pictures here. It's extremely frowned upon. Whoops.

Anywho, so we bust through customs and were in the terminal. We rented a car from Avis online, so we just had to pick that up. Here's where our first impression of the Irish people come into play. Everyone we met and talked to was completely nice and helpful. The people at the Avis desk were completely helpful with the laws and rental process of Ireland and guided us to the Tourist Information desk. There, a guy gave us more information than we knew what to do with and saved us a lot of money. The can search all hotels and bed and breakfasts for vacancies and book rooms for a small charge. He found a hotel, directed us to it with multiple maps and off we went.

(#3- Take 5 mins to freshen up in the restroom before leaving the airport. We changed out of our sweats into weather appropriate clothing, brushed our teeth and washed our faces and felt a million times better)

After the Tourist Info section, we stepped out into the brisk-but-sunny afternoon and caught an Avis shuttle to the rental lot. Upon arrival, I noticed that I have shoes bigger than our car. We rented a go-cart.

Nissan Micra

Initial inspection

Jen thought it was "soooo cute"

The first day in Dublin was a race. First, we went to the hotel that Tourist Info sent us to. We wound up at the Maldron Hotel. It was far enough away from the Temple Bar area to be relatively inexpensive and close enough to be a 5 minute walk to O'Connel Street. We checked in, dropped our bags and began the great race through Dublin to catch as much as possible before everything closed at 5pm.

We initially intended to hit the Guinness Storehouse first because it was the farthest point west that we wanted to see. Then we were going to find our way back into the center of the city hitting spots along the way. We next made our first rookie mistake. We caught a cab. Traffic is pretty slow in downtown Dublin that you only really need a cab after last call and if you're incapable of walking. If you meet either of those criteria, jump on it. Therefore we jumped out at Christ Church.

Christ Church is fully functional and was actually doing a service or something when we popped by. After a short wait, we were allowed access.

Christ Church from the courtyard

Hard to find a good place to put the gorilla pod

Apparently there's some sort of poem or song that was inspired from the mummified cat and mouse. They were found in the pipe organ.

Some of these people really got hooked up on the burial shrine things

Original foundation for the Augustinian Canon's priory from 1163-1537

Our next stop was just a few blocks away at the Dublin Castle. The original castle was pretty sweet, but began looking reminiscent of most late 18th century castles I remember seeing on mainland Europe. An actual fortress turned into a giant palace, turning from military stronghold to political asset. We got there just in time to find out their last tour was sold out. No problems, snap a couple pics of the outside and call it good. :)

Jen standing guard fashionably

One of the buildings

Inner courtyard

Old tower with the priory behind it

You can see what I mean. The original towers were built in the 12th century if I remember correctly

Next we hit the Chester Beatty Library. They had some an awesome exhibit of religious artifacts, but I was not allowed to take my camera or book bag anywhere. They had it locked down pretty well. They had a lot of items, writings, carvings, holy books, etc, some dating from the 10th century and earlier. Pretty amazing stuff. It was literally right across the street from the Dublin Castle and next to the State House.

State House

Our next stop was one of my highly anticipated site for me. We hiked it over to St. Patrick's Cathedral just as the sun was setting. My big things are castles and cathedrals. Mostly because people are motivated to build for God and leaders are motivated to build for themselves. I remember going to a castle in France that had a bath tub so big, it had a bridge across it for the servants to tend the king.

At any rate, I'll let the pics speak for themselves. The cathedral was inspiring.

Approaching through the park

Stain glass over the gift shop

No words for this....

Yours truly

Just a nice monument for a guy

I think this is where the choir sits? Not catholic, dunno

Something dating back to the Crusades

Monuments to Irish Soldiers and Airmen

Handel's Messiah was sung here and here is one of the original copies

Just a nice pic of a window

We wanted to see the Post Office and the Ha' Penny Bridge before the day was out, but we opted for dinner seeing that we had time before the Post Office closed. We stopped at La Caverna for a quick enroute meal. Coolest part? There was bacon in our Caesar salad. Score. The restaurant was pretty decent.

Very small place, but tasty

I obviously couldn't wait. Had a calzone, Jen had Garlic Chicken

The Ha' Penny Bridge was only cool cause I liked the story. I thought it would be a cool thing to go check out. Apparently, it used to have a toll of a half penny per crossing. I was just curious as to how you justified half a cent. Guess you had to be there....

We were disappointed afterwards. We went to the Post Office to check it out hoping to get inside. In our guide books, it was listed as being open until 630pm. We arrived at 610pm and it was closed. Perhaps new hours for 2011? The history is cool because it is where Ireland read their Declaration of Independence and made a stand. There's still bullet holes in the building.

At this point, we were getting really tired. We had flown across the Atlantic to England, landed in Ireland, drove to Dublin, walked for at least 6 hours at this point. It was time to head back to the hotel. Not before I had my first Guinness in Ireland. We stopped by a pub on O'Connel Street and I had two quick brews before rolling back to the hotel.

(#4- Don't rush locations. We got really tired and it took the fun out of it)

Nice place. Didn't spend a lot of time there. Just beer and go

Nom nom nom

Pic of the hotel. Limited parking, get there early

At the hotel, we just grabbed some dessert, another beer, and off to bed for an early start. Day 2 coming soon....

All pics can be found here: http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/korisu56/Ireland%20Jan2011/

Christmas and Ft Benning road trip

2011-01-11T08:55:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. Jen and I went to her family's place in Riverside, MD to hang out with her family for the first time in a couple years. Her father's family from Illinois came over as well so it was quite an affair.

Jen's brother, sister, and mom

From left to right: Me, Eric, Philip, DJ

Needs no caption

Jen's Parents

Jen and her dad

So Christmas came and went, as did New Years. Jen had to work, so I just went out to the bar with a couple friends and took it easy. New Years Day was supposed to be extremely busy for this guy.

My good friend Bill Sieber asked me to do a favor for him. Not one to shy away helping friends, I had no problems tagging along. He wound up asking me to drive his jeep behind him from Delaware to Ft Benning, Georgia for his move. Yay. Luckily, I love a good road trip so I prepped my bag for the 15 hour night drive and 2.5 day recoup in Georgia.

Naturally, I took a couple of pics. The drive wasn't too shabby. I-95-->I-85. That's it. Too easy. Only a couple pics of the trip itself due to driving a TJ on 35s and watching a Scrubs marathon.

First fill up and link up with Carr right outside Ft Belvoir VA

Fill up again

15 hours later...arrival at his house

They got a sweet house

The coolest part about the drive was my ability to retrace my steps. My career and my adult life kind of started at Ft Benning in 2003. I flew there in September to start as an infantry private and time started flying from there. My first stop was to Sand Hill. This is the training area for all the infantry OSUTs and AITs.

My training battalion was E Co. 1-50 "Play the Game". If I only knew how powerful that motto was in the Army at the time. To my disappointment, and later my relief, they were getting ready to renovate it and seal it off. I got there as they were finishing up the fence and talked the construction crew into letting me get in there for some pics.

Where it all begins

Front of the barracks. Sad.

My company area from the traffic circle. I was the first cycle through Echo.

My platoon area in the CTA. A lot of time spent there.

The long corridor down to the chow hall. Had to run this route a lot.

Me in front of the CTA entrance.

Chapel I went to Sunday services at when afforded the opportunity

Graduation field. New privates graduate by the National Infantry Museum now.

Reviewing stand

Marching route. Almost 7 years had passed since I walked this route after getting my blue chord.

My battalion emblem.

Next I went over to main post for Airborne School. I wanted to see the old barracks I had stayed in and some of the training areas. It had also been almost 7 years, so there were bound to be changes. Again, I found myself very lucky that I had gotten there just in time. They were about to cordon it off and tear it all down to build new barracks. Alpha Company was empty and derelict as well. I also took some pictures of the training area. Pretty sweet to retrace my steps like this.

After my steady dose of nostalgia, I headed over to the new National Infantry Museum. It reopened in 2007 after being moved off post in a brilliant new building. To say the museum was an improvement would be quite an understatement. It would compare to seeing a deck of baseball cards then going to the Baseball Hall of Fame. It just didn't compare. Enough rambling, I'll show a couple of pictures. The main site for the museum is www.nationalinfantrymuseum.com.

The initial part is called The Last 100 Yards. It belongs to the infantry as they're the ones on the ground. It's something cool and I won't post pics so hopefully you'll go see it :)

The rest of the pics can be seen in this album : http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/korisu56/Ft%20Benning%20road%20tip%2001Jan11/

Fall and Winter 2010

2010-12-28T20:25:00.001-05:00

Wow. It never ceases to amaze me how time flies. We haven't traveled nearly as much as the summer, but we seem as busy as ever. I guess we'll just go chronologically from where we left off.

September went pretty slow after we returned home. It was a welcome reprieve from all of the traveling we had done all summer. We did make two trips this fall though, both for significant reasons.

In mid-October Jen and I decided to go visit Philadelphia. It is close enough that we feel guilty for never going and seeing the sites. Jen and I went to the National Constitution Center where they had a current exhibit of Military art and were advertising a November showing of Restrepo. Restrepo is a documentary based on Sebastian Junger's (also wrote The Perfect Storm) War, chronicling the 173rd's tour of Afghanistan in 2007 in the treacherous Korengal Valley.

Here's a cool Jeep at the exhibit:

Me signing our family's name on the guest copy of the United States Constitution. Pretty cool.

We then moved over and barely got in to see the Liberty Bell. Being that everything on the Liberty Mall is run by government agencies, everyone was shutting down at 5pm on the dot. Luckily we squeezed out a photo by the bell. Here's Jen:

The end of October found us travelling to Texas. The main reason was for Dolby and Cerre's wedding in San Antonio. Dolby was my best man for my wedding, and I was honored to return the favor for my best friend from high school. As a military brat, its hard to have friends since you were younger. Dolby is one of my few remaining links to my past and is a brother to me. Here is a picture of us graduating high school in 2003.

At any rate, during the planning of our trip Jen had the great idea of visiting some friends who've become like family to us over the last 3 years. The Kohles lived just a short two hours away at Fort Hood and it would seem an injustice to not visit them while we were in the same state. So the last week of October we flew out to San Antonio, rented a car, and drove to the Kohles for a day and night of shenaniganry. For some reason, not many pics were taken. I guess we were just having too much fun.

After the evening of festivities, it was time to pack it up and move to San Antonio to celebrate my oldest friend's wedding. We arrived on Thursday, checked into La Quinta down the road from the main hotel area and got the party started immediately. For the next three days, the party hat never rested. We met some great people from all walks of life and had a great time with friends of old. The River Walk is a beautiful area with some fun times. Thursday night started at Waxy Oconnor's and went to link up with the main party at a place that will remain anonymous due to the haziness of the evening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j23uSdm-dQ

The rehearsal day went rather tame. We went to the cathedral, rehearsed and went to have hors d'oeuvres at a nice outdoor area. Post party went to Howl at the Moon on Riverwalk. It was a large piano bar which was pretty cool. One thing led to another, and it turned into a party.

The following day was the big day. I'll let the pics speak for themselves. Congratulations Dolby & Cerre.

Needless to say, Texas was a hit in our book. So much so that we put Ft. Hood first on our wish list. Let's hope so! Again, thanks to the Kohles for putting us up for a night and congratulations to Dolby and Cerre.

Next trip, and final for 2010 came in December for Jen's grad school graduation. After two long years of working two jobs and going to grad school, Jen completed her requirements for her degree. To top it off, before we even left for graduation she passed her Women's Health Nurse Practitioner board.

So the weekend of my birthday, we planned to drive out to Cincinnati to watch her graduate and see the Bearcat campus for the first time. The trip was almost jeopardized on Thursday when I came down with a stomach virus and was almost carried to the ER. However, I wasn't going to be the cause of the monumental occasion being cancelled. Sucked it up and drove on. Jen and her parents left on Friday morning while DJ and I left Friday afternoon after DJ's last final.

Saturday was the commencement ceremony followed by briefly walking around campus. It was windy and cold so the pics are few and far between. In the evening, we had reservations to Primavista. It had a killer view from a hilltop of the city. We need a better camera so we can capture how everything actually looks and feels.

Sunday morning of the 12th, we took off and headed home. There was a great snow storm across Ohio, but most of the trip was uneventful. I was looking rough because I only had two pieces of bread and ginger ale to eat on Saturday. It was a long weekend.

Last but not least, we visited Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. Our book called 1000 Places To See Before You Die pointed this place out to us and we pursued it. It was described as "one of the world's finest horticultural displays". Who could turn that down? We went the week of Christmas and at night so we could see the place lit up for the holiday season.

If you're interested in going, make sure you dress warm in the winter. It was the only hindrance of the entire experience.

There are a lot of indoor and outdoor displays. It is a nice display. There's a small fountain show, a large model train display, and a bunch of indoor green houses that are filled wall-to-wall with flowers. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.

Well, that's 2010 in a nutshell. It was a busy one, but a great one. We went to a lot of places, saw a lot of things, met a lot of people. It is a great world out there, and we're going to enjoy it.

I'm going to sign off with a couple pictures of us ice skating at the local indoor rink. I've gotten a little into ice hockey and am going to be playing a little with my friends this coming year. Next time you hear from us, we'll be back from Ireland. We got a new camera for the occasion, so hopefully the images will be improved for the next year.

Summer '10

2010-10-02T18:32:00.001-04:00

Wow. What a summer. Washington State, British Columbia, Arizona, New Mexico, Las Vegas, and New Orleans were all on the agenda and all were seen. Due to the sheer amount of travelling and people met this summer, I'll let the pics do most of the talking. Sorry in advance for the difference in picture sizes. The pictures are coming from 5 or 6 different sources.

First stop for us together was New Orleans. Jen's family had a family reunion that we were invited to. We stayed one block down from Bourbon Street off of Canal Street at some chain hotel whose name escapes me (busy summer, remember?). For those who've never been, Bourbon St is overwhelming with sights and sounds. Everything from hookers to Bible thumpers and beer to concoctions that would make Hemingway pass after one round.

Next stop for me was Washington State for some training and evaluation. Last real obstacle to commissioning. Sweet. Here's a few pics. Good times.....pfft.

So anywho, that was a little treat. Met a few great guys and it was over before I knew it. After graduation, Jen and I met up with my father and step mom to hang out for his 50th birthday. Then a little side trip up to Whistler/Blackcomb Mountains for a couple of days. It was great to see family as too much time passes between visits.

Could go all day long with pics from that trip. Awesome time and have to say thanks to Dad and Aminta for having us up. Also, the Van Dykens should be thanked for allowing us to sleep in their sweet new bed in their cottage. For the curious ones in the crowd, that is one of my younger sisters that jumped into my arms.

So it was back home for a few days. It was really only to reset and refit to fly out to Arizona to see my mother and Tod. I hadn't seen them in almost a year (if memory serves) and I needed to relax in the desert. Nowhere better to do it in my humble opinion. During my stay, my mother and I went to New Mexico to go do some exploratory wheeling around Alamagordo. Thanks Kevin for squaring away a great weekend.

Had a great time camping on that overlook and seeing the bustling town of Alamagordo light up. Very cool view and even better company around the campfire. The next day we drove along a very long fire road that had some stunning views. The Southwest Texas/New Mexico chapter of Military Jeepers are very gracious hosts and thanks to my grandmother for letting us get her jeep filthy :)

What a summer, aye? Well that's not it. The crown jewel of the entire summer was still to come. Jen's brother was turning 21 at the end of August so a year out we planned a trip to the great Las Vegas for the event. It was our first time to Sin City and we were going to make the best of it. Jen and I stayed out for a few extra days and saw the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. Put about 1000 miles on the rented JK in the two days we had it. Worth it.

As one can surmise it was a busy summer. I hope you enjoyed the quasi-read/picture post. It was a great summer packed with family and travelling. I could literally write a book about this summer's experiences. Thank you for all those who took us in and provided us with life long memories.

Lesson Learned

2010-10-02T18:27:00.000-04:00

So it's actually hard to maintain one of these. I'll attempt to do better, as we've had a lot of journeys this last summer. I'll briefly finish up the April trip and then catch you up to this point.

Day 3: Green Mountain NF, VT

2010-04-11T18:00:00.001-04:00

This was our long day. We crossed back into the good ole USA around 0645 and had a good time explaining to the border agent why we were only in Canada for less than 24 hrs with a chainsaw strapped to our Jeep. Haha.

In conjunction with being our long day, this was our most uneventful day. We wound up riding I-90 most of the way.

One pleasure was eating at a place called [URL="http://www.dinas.com/"]Dina's[/URL] in Ellicottville, NY. The town can be described as 'postcard-esque' as a small ski town and had a little bit of money. It was definitely very good food in a clean environment.

Other than that, just straight driving making a push for Green Mountain National Forest. Let me tell you about Vermont. It was like I stepped into another world. I could probably spend an entire week just in VT and NH.

We got to Kelly Stand Rd (class II, closed during winter) and decided that we should get gas and dinner groceries before proceeding (good decision). While in town, I bought a couple bags of kiln dried wood just in case all the wood in the forest was wet. Pretty funny because the people in and outside the store kept telling me to use my chainsaw. I've learned that I would rather carry two bags of wood and not need them than only have wet wood around me.

On our way to Grout Pond by way of Kelly Stand Rd, we had to cross four bridges that went over a 15m wide whitewater creek. The creek was fast moving and loud. Pretty amazing.

About 3 miles in, we started seeing sporadic spots of ice and snow. About 4 miles in, it was covering about 50% of the ground. At mile 5, I have to drop it into 4Lo a couple of times to keep on keepin' on. At 6 miles in, a Ford Explorer Sport Trac comes down the road we're heading up and stops. We get out and meet in the middle and he says:

"You guys can go as far as we did, but it gets very slushy and icey up there. If you have better tires than I do, you..."

"I don't. Just some shyte streeties in a loaded down WK. We'll turn around"

It is much worse in spots than this photo is taken, but Jen was paying attention to the map and I was trying to not get us stuck.

I found the type of personality and manners people in this region seem to have expounded upon. This gentleman and his wife stopped at every bend of the road to make sure I was still plugging along until we got down far enough where there was no snow or ice at all. For being a complete stranger, I was kind of amazed seeing as how many people in the Mid-Atlantic less than cordial (due to cities like DC, Philly, Balt, all of Jersey, etc). There are always a couple of exceptions.

At any rate, we got back far enough down the road to what was a pre-established camp site. Not really what we were looking for, but it was a necessary change due to our inability to make it to our primary. To the backup it was. It was a great night and we slept like babies with the creek running quickly by us. Now just a few pics for you :)

Day 2: Niagara Falls

2010-04-06T13:20:00.000-04:00

Our day started early as we woke up to a brisk cold air with the temperature being around 36⁰. Even though Jen was in a 0⁰ Northface sleeping bag, she still complained about how freezing it was while Chris enjoyed the cold air with his sleeping bag wide open. After gathering all of our things, we headed out of camp towards Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada around 0750.

Passing through New York, we stopped by a small town called Ellicottville where we ate breakfast at somewhat of an upscale restaurant called “Dina’s.” Whether it was because it was Easter morning and everyone was dressed up for church or this was how the people normally dressed, it looked like the town was definitely made of some money. Either way, if you ever stop by Ellicottville, New York, make sure you stop by Dina’s and get either the breakfast burrito or the quiche lorraine- absolutely amazing!

We finally arrived in Canada around 1156 where we were bombarded with questions about why we were going to Canada. “Apparently the falls look better on the Canadian side,” we said. The customs officer with the Canadian uniform states “I think so.” (Of course he would. He’s Canadian)

At around 1230, we finally arrived at KOA Niagara where we were less than happy with our campsite. Apparently a narrow parking space for an RV is suitable as a camping site. Looking around we only saw RVs and unleashed dogs which caused Joey & Dusty to continuously bark. This was unacceptable. Instead of forfeiting our deposit, we spoke to the main desk and asked to be given a cabin so our dogs don’t drive us crazy all night. The “Kabin” (as they call it) consisted of one queen size bed and 2 bunk beds with a small wooden desk. It’s all we needed to stay for the night-we weren’t planning to stay in the room that long anyways because we had so much to see in Niagara.

About an hour later we drove towards the city of Niagara and went to Skylon tower (which is supposedly the best view of the falls in town). We took an elevator up to the observation deck where we were blown away by the view. Jen also enjoyed the view, however was scared to get too close to the steel barrier because of her fear of heights. We could see both the American and Horseshoe falls which were absolutely gorgeous. To get a better view, we then drove down to Niagara Falls park where the view was awesome but due to the mass amounts of tourists from all over the world that were, for the most part, rude and annoying, we didn’t stay long. Overall, everyone probably says the same thing about Niagara Falls-it’s amazing. However after about 2 hours, there really isn’t much left to see of the falls. The only thing we wish we could’ve done was to take a helicopter ride above the falls..maybe next time.

By this time we were starving and decided to find a nice restaurant in town. Driving towards camp we noticed a nice Greek restaurant. Jen had never tried Greek food so we decided to check it out. It was called KouTouki and was probably the best meal we’ve had in a long time. Here is what we ate (yeah we know we went overboard)

Appetizer:

· Saganaki ‘OPA’ (flaming cheese)

· Kalamaria Tiganita (calamari)

Entrée:

· Jen-Kota Gemisti (stuffed chicken with roasted red pepper, feta cheese, covered in white wine and garlic cream sauce)

· Chris-Kleftiko (leg of lamb stuffed with herbs and feta cheese)

Wine & Beer:

· Reif estates white wine (Niagara local wine)

· Alfa Hellenic (lager)

The waitress was amazing and we found out that this restaurant was a family restaurant with the daughter working as the waitress and bar tender, the mother as the hostess, and the father as the chef. The food is a little pricey (averaging around $20) however you will definitely get your money’s worth. PLEASE check it out if you’re ever in the area. You will love it!

After stuffing our faces, we headed back to KOA and fell asleep early in a food coma. Waking up early tomorrow for our 6 ½ our trip to Vermont. ..

Trip Update: Day 1

2010-04-04T21:03:00.000-04:00

So here's a little update on what we've done so far on our trip thus far...

Day 1:

Our trip began with a little set back when Jen decided to press snooze 4 times while Chris had no concept of what time it was. When realizing we were late, we packed up quickly and headed on our way to Allegheny National Forest aka "The Land of Many Uses" (nice slogan eh?-we thought so). Unfortunately we were unable to take the CJ as planned, however came up with a plan to turn Jen's Jeep into our family expedition vehicle.

The first leg of our trip took us through the rolling hills of Mennonite country, where Joey raced around the Jeep freaking out at every horse that we passed. Driving through Lancaster, capital of the Amish people (according to Jen), we decided to stop for breakfast at Bob Evans instead of having a nice home-cooked Amish meal. (Good job us)

At around 1445, we arrived at Loleta, Pennsylvania where we scouted out our campsite thanks to some advice from Expedition Portal. With Jen's blessing, we headed to Marienville to buy supplies for the night which consisted of hot dogs, Kilbasa, pork & beans, SoCo 100, & ginger ale. We moved 8 miles back to the site and set up for the night.

After we set up the tent, Jen started dinner while Chris decided to use his brand new chainsaw and maul to stockpile firewood..like a real man. Only problem, he didn't know how to use it. After 20 minutes of avoiding the instructions-the chainsaw finally started and we were finally able to get some wood to start our fire. (I wonder how long it took cavemen to start a fire? HAH)

2 cribbage games, mustard on Dusty's face, and weird turkey sounds from the woods later, we packed things up and headed for bed. What an end to a day...

April '10 Trip Planning Update

2010-03-26T16:18:00.000-04:00

So we altered our trip by about 100 miles, but nothing serious. Ausable Chasm is closed to camping for the season despite the highlighted bit on their site saying "Open Year Round". Such is life.

Instead, we are making the third day's driving from Niagra Falls to Green Mountain National Forest. This will be a little shorter of a drive (1.5hrs) and hopefully we'll be able to get camp set up before sun down.

Also, we've finished buying everything we need. Everything is on our packing list and we are just waiting for our CJ to get back to start prepping it.

Never Ceases to Amaze Me...

2010-03-20T20:43:00.000-04:00

The extent that Mountain Valley Customs guys take care of their customers. Do I have a story for you guys today....

I'm still supposed to be camping tonight. I drove the 180 miles to MVC on Friday to pick up my CJ and drive another 180 miles NW to Allegheny National Forest. While at MVC, the CJ got a new-to-me 4.2L and a paint job. Pics will be posted in my build thread later. I was there long enough to bleed breaks and drive the CJ off the lift and onto my dolly.

After the 2nd leg of my trip, I pull into the campsite and link up with Zach (j33per on MJ). I still need groceries so we unload the CJ and fire her up. First time fire, purrs like a kitten. I drive 2 miles and start getting a loud tap and lose all oil pressure. Noooooo!

I call Rob, Matt, and Damien (MVC) and they all immediately start the impossible task of tele-trouble shooting an engine problem. Then the ridiculous part starts:

Matt loads his personal jeep up at midnight with his kid brother and his oldest son and drives the 180 miles out to middle of nowhere to change an oil pump in a field.

They work from 0400-0800 with only breaks being to warm their hands up by the fire. When Matt went to pour the oil back in, we took a whiff and smelled fuel. Not good. Fired up, same noise with no pressure. Weak. I go to take a 2 hour nap and prep for the drive back to MVC. When I get back in reception range, I get a text from Rob to call ASAP.

Rob ordered a crate 4.2L to replace the troubled engine. 4 years/1 million mile warranty to make everything right.

If you've read this far, you know that this was not something that they had to do. They could've just bandaged the motor I bought and sent me on my way.

Here's to you guys. I should have my CJ back by the end of the week.

Update on Build

2010-03-03T17:10:00.001-05:00

I know it has been a long while since I have posted here, but I'm getting ready to get the CJ back!The big delay was Mountain Valley Customs trip to Motorama '10. I was lucky enough to get invited there to hang out for both Saturday and Sunday to take in the sights and see the different tastes in motorsports. Here are a couple of pictures of the booth I worked. There was MVC's '50 Mercury and his sweet '04 TJ-ish. I'm new to photography, so don't laugh too hard about the pictures. :)

Preparing the CJ for April

2010-01-24T22:19:00.001-05:00

Jen and I are planning a trip that will take us across 9 states and 6 destinations. During that week, we will be visiting Allegheny National Forest, Niagra Falls, Ausable Chasm, White Mountain National Forest, Boston, and Mystic, CT. The trip will be 1500 miles from start to finish, not including exploration of areas of interest.

Embarking on a trip this long in a 25 (going on 26) year old CJ is not something to be taken lightly. Challenges presented are many and include storage, the dogs, comfort, and equipment preparation.

As I write this, the CJ is sitting at the shop Mountain Valley Customs in Millmont PA for an engine transplant, lining the tub, and paint job. The great folks there were actually the ones who sold the CJ to me when one of their customers decided it wasn't for him anymore. Since then, they have been the mechanics who've built my custom work when I couldn't do it myself. Can't speak highly enough of these guys.

Eight hours after getting there, my friend and I had disassembled the entire front end, pulled my cage, and had it prepped as much as a couple ameteurs could. More to come after I get it back and as planning comes along.

The Epiphany

2010-01-24T20:21:00.000-05:00

Jen and I took a trip to Virginia Beach the summer of '09. Somehow it didn't hit me then. It was an amazing 2 day trip. It was just us and our dogs, together, doing what we wanted when we felt the desire to do so.

First Landing State Park was only six hours or so from our apartment in Wilmington, Delaware, so it wasn't a huge chore to visit. It had been on our list during our residency in Virginia but my job had kept me wrapped up quite well. Since the pictures were few and the epiphany later, the story ends here.

Fast forward to November of '09. I was trying to get a camping trip together in George Washington National Forest with Military Jeepers. During Camp MJ the previous April, a couple of friends and myself learned a hard lesson about ill-preparation for camping. We had little food, a lot of beer, and no foresight. Therefore, with this trip I wanted maximum planning with ample supplies for a January trip. I didn't know where we were going in GWNF, but I knew I'd be ready for it.

Jen sat this one out due to it being in the mountains in January. I considered it a dry run for our April '10 trip. She was awesome in helping me prepare for this by helping me select and purchase cold weather clothes and gear required for a trip of this magnitude.

It was this trip that I decided that I wanted more exploration in my life and that I wanted Jen there with me. Due to our work and school lives it won't always be possible, but it will be the primary motivator in the planned trips. Since it was this trip that sparked the future, I don't feel that the report is warranted here. The report is on Military Jeepers or Expedition Portal if you so desire to read it.

With this epiphany, we are making more of an effort to explore our country and the world. There's a lot of world out there to see, so we had better get a jump on it so we can see more of it.

More to come, enjoy the read and get out there and do it yourself.