Friday, August 1, 2008
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Madison to Chicago
Trip Update: We spent a pleasant few days in the Madison area, and are now hanging out in Evanston, IL, a suburb of Chicago. We're heading into the city today.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
12 days in review
So, we haven't posted in 12 days. So what? That means that this post will be extra juicy.
Two weeks in (photographic) review:
Scottsdale
I did not take any photographs in Scottsdale, because it was A) Hot, B) 117 degreec C) Aunt Paula documents these things way more thoroughly then I do. I'm confident that most readers of this blog received an email from her with photos from our visit. If not, drop me a line and I'll send it along. That said, we had and were shown a great time with Paula and Shel. One of our favorites was the new art museum which had some incredible exhibits. We also managed to meet up with two of my friends from school who P and Shel sort of adopted for the weekend, which was a huge treat to them.
The Grand Canyon. It's big. We took a hike in the late afternoon when we arrived. What's interesting about hiking there is that all hikes start out with a steep downhill, and end with a steep uphill, so it's easy to get fooled and think you haven't gone that far.
Zion National Park- Possibly the most beautiful place we've visited. The morning after we camped there, we were treated to rainbows across the canyon and waterfalls that only exist in the hour after it rains hard.
We also did a hike up to angels landing, which involves climbing over a thousand feet through some tight areas. Often, you are on a rock ridge looking down a sheer cliff on both sides.
Moab, UT - We camped at a strange hostel and then paid a quick morning visit to Arches NP.
Ridgeway, CO - We camped out at the famous Orvis Hot Springs, and had 48 hours of clothing-optional fun. No cameras allowed outside of the lobby. However, on our drive to Boulder, we saw some incredible rainbows. One of them was literally moving alongside of the car.
Boulder, CO- We couchsurfed for 3 nights through an amazing network of friends. Threw a party, drank Bosnian coffee, had numerous jam sessions, and contemplated tubing down Boulder creek. No photographs were taken by me, however some of our new friends should be sending some along.
Omaha, NE - Again, no pictures taken. Not too much to say about Omaha itself. It has a vibrant music scene, and Jesse and I saw a good concert at a very swanky local venue. We couchsurfed in a house called "Hotel Frank". This is a 100-year-old mansion with about 20-25 people living in it. I'll say this- the downstairs bathroom was possibly the dirtiest/foulest/most unsanitary place I've ever seen in the course of my life.
We drove from Omaha to Madison, WI this afternoon. Here we are, all caught up
Two weeks in (photographic) review:
Scottsdale
I did not take any photographs in Scottsdale, because it was A) Hot, B) 117 degreec C) Aunt Paula documents these things way more thoroughly then I do. I'm confident that most readers of this blog received an email from her with photos from our visit. If not, drop me a line and I'll send it along. That said, we had and were shown a great time with Paula and Shel. One of our favorites was the new art museum which had some incredible exhibits. We also managed to meet up with two of my friends from school who P and Shel sort of adopted for the weekend, which was a huge treat to them.
The Grand Canyon. It's big. We took a hike in the late afternoon when we arrived. What's interesting about hiking there is that all hikes start out with a steep downhill, and end with a steep uphill, so it's easy to get fooled and think you haven't gone that far.
Zion National Park- Possibly the most beautiful place we've visited. The morning after we camped there, we were treated to rainbows across the canyon and waterfalls that only exist in the hour after it rains hard.
We also did a hike up to angels landing, which involves climbing over a thousand feet through some tight areas. Often, you are on a rock ridge looking down a sheer cliff on both sides.
Moab, UT - We camped at a strange hostel and then paid a quick morning visit to Arches NP.
Ridgeway, CO - We camped out at the famous Orvis Hot Springs, and had 48 hours of clothing-optional fun. No cameras allowed outside of the lobby. However, on our drive to Boulder, we saw some incredible rainbows. One of them was literally moving alongside of the car.
Boulder, CO- We couchsurfed for 3 nights through an amazing network of friends. Threw a party, drank Bosnian coffee, had numerous jam sessions, and contemplated tubing down Boulder creek. No photographs were taken by me, however some of our new friends should be sending some along.
Omaha, NE - Again, no pictures taken. Not too much to say about Omaha itself. It has a vibrant music scene, and Jesse and I saw a good concert at a very swanky local venue. We couchsurfed in a house called "Hotel Frank". This is a 100-year-old mansion with about 20-25 people living in it. I'll say this- the downstairs bathroom was possibly the dirtiest/foulest/most unsanitary place I've ever seen in the course of my life.
We drove from Omaha to Madison, WI this afternoon. Here we are, all caught up
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Bruser Bonanza
Way overdue:
I'm just putting this out there -- we love the Bruser family. Though our visit to their home in San Diego was slightly shorter than planned, it really felt like we were stopping at home.
To all our dedicated readers who also happen to be Jewish mothers: We ate in SD. Yes, we ate and ate well, thanks to Cheryl and Tony:
1) home-smoked brisket, delicious beans with bacon and cilantro, home made cole slaw, sweet corn.
2) Payeyeya with a multitude of land and sea life, including clams, sausage, chicken, shrimp... etc...
3) Mexican style mac and cheese (tortilla chips and jalepenos baked in).
We did some cool stuff too with kyle and ally and their friends, as shown in the pictures below.
Adventures at the tidepools. Unfortunately, it was high tide when we showed up, but it was cool anyway.
Allie gets a sweet new (used) bike that I found for her on eBay.
Kyle left abruptly for a backpacking trip, so we journeyed on to Scottsdale...
I'm just putting this out there -- we love the Bruser family. Though our visit to their home in San Diego was slightly shorter than planned, it really felt like we were stopping at home.
To all our dedicated readers who also happen to be Jewish mothers: We ate in SD. Yes, we ate and ate well, thanks to Cheryl and Tony:
1) home-smoked brisket, delicious beans with bacon and cilantro, home made cole slaw, sweet corn.
2) Payeyeya with a multitude of land and sea life, including clams, sausage, chicken, shrimp... etc...
3) Mexican style mac and cheese (tortilla chips and jalepenos baked in).
We did some cool stuff too with kyle and ally and their friends, as shown in the pictures below.
Adventures at the tidepools. Unfortunately, it was high tide when we showed up, but it was cool anyway.
Allie gets a sweet new (used) bike that I found for her on eBay.Kyle left abruptly for a backpacking trip, so we journeyed on to Scottsdale...
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Oh yeah, we did other stuff that hasn't been posted
P.S. On our way to LA from Santa Cruz, we went backpacking in Big Sur, Ca. 22 miles round trip to a campsite with natural hotsprings built into the rock cliffs above the river.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
LA: Expensive, Expansive, Exhausting
Dear Readers,
Please accept my apologies for the lapse in posting once again. Jesse and I were in LA for nearly a week, staying with Jesse's friend EB at her parents place in Studio City. They were wonderful hosts. However, I have resolved that LA is a worthless excuse for a city and I never want to go back there ever again. For one, you have to drive everywhere, no matter where you are going. And you also must expect traffic- it doesn't matter when. There WILL be traffic. LA is expensive. Jesse and I have been able to find cheap and decent eats in other cities. In LA, everything on the menu is at least $10- Sandwiches, pancakes, burritos, all $10. Theres also that whole smog thing.
So anyhow, we still managed to have a great time while we were there. Here's a few selected photos.
Venice Beach is a very unique place to people-watch. There were a number of (talentless) street musicians, except for this guy. As you can see, he has one of those one-man-band rigs that he made himself. He did an incredible rendition of My Generation for us.
Jesse and Jeromy (EB's BF) ate some tasty crapes at the LA farmers market.
Please accept my apologies for the lapse in posting once again. Jesse and I were in LA for nearly a week, staying with Jesse's friend EB at her parents place in Studio City. They were wonderful hosts. However, I have resolved that LA is a worthless excuse for a city and I never want to go back there ever again. For one, you have to drive everywhere, no matter where you are going. And you also must expect traffic- it doesn't matter when. There WILL be traffic. LA is expensive. Jesse and I have been able to find cheap and decent eats in other cities. In LA, everything on the menu is at least $10- Sandwiches, pancakes, burritos, all $10. Theres also that whole smog thing.
So anyhow, we still managed to have a great time while we were there. Here's a few selected photos.
Venice Beach is a very unique place to people-watch. There were a number of (talentless) street musicians, except for this guy. As you can see, he has one of those one-man-band rigs that he made himself. He did an incredible rendition of My Generation for us.
Jesse and Jeromy (EB's BF) ate some tasty crapes at the LA farmers market.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)