Middle seat to Michigan

Sorry for so long between blogs, but I've been BUSY!! As the title suggests, I had to ride the middle seat all of the way from Phoenix to the big MI. I was presenting for an Indian Casino north of Lansing and the landscape was definitely middle America and unlike any I've seen before. The pic is from my hotel window and I thought it looked pretty pastoral and winterlike. It sure FELT winterlike. Another thing I've never experienced is "wind chill". Well folks, I'm here to testify that it exists. When the wind blows, you immediately feel 15 degrees colder all at once. Brrr! The good news was I made about $600 on the craps tables while I was there. That made me feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy on the inside. The casino was VERY nice on the inside, but everyone smoked everywhere and I don't think their A/C handled it very well because I had to take about 2 showers a day to keep from smelling like an ashtray. Good people up there. Oh yeah, they had a car dealership nearby that was called Krapole Cars. Sorry, but that doesn't make me want to buy a car...





Last week was my last trip of the year and it was up to southern Oregon to a place called Klamath Falls - or as the locals call it, "K" Falls. I bet it's really pretty in the summer for golf, but it rained the whole time I was there. Pretty nice little condos I stayed in at the Running Y Ranch and they had a great chocolate cake at the bar/restaraunt in the main lodge. The downtown was nice. Some old buildings, some newly built, more modern ones. The pics are of a forest road I started down then turned back before I became another Oregon statistic in 2006. They also had a killer light display at Moore's park in K Falls.

Merry Christmas! (And Happy Channukah for my Jewish friends) See you in 2007!

Ohanapekosh - gesundheit!

Second part of our camping experiences. Jennifer was in for this ONLY because she had had several chances to shower in between. My original plan was to camp outside of Dayton, WA, but that whole area was evacuated due to forest fires. Instead, we ended up at the gorgeous Ohanapekosh camp grounds. It was the best time of the year because right after Labor Day, the place is practically empty. We also had the best campsite thanks to a helpful Ranger. A-21 was secluded and close to the rushing river behind us. Plus, we got to have a fire! You see where I'm going with this - S'mores and hot dogs (although, not together). We took a gorgeous hike to Angel Falls and also to Grove of the Patriarchs on Curt's suggestion. I will tell you from experience that the water is definitely glacier water and COLD!

Some Fam, Some Friends, Some Spokane...

So we left Zion for a lonnnnnggggg drive up to McCall, Idaho to see Jennifer's Uncle Rodger and Aunt Joanne who is on the mend after a poisonous spider bite. They live up there in the summers (smart people that they are) and have a cabin in what Rodger had told us is set to be the next Jackson Hole or Vail. Driving up there, I was thinking to myself, "That man is crazy. Plus, I don't believe what he is saying about the Jackson Hole - Vail thing." :)
Well, once you GET to McCall, it all becomes clearer. Maybe the picture below of the lake at sunset will give you and idea of what he was talking about. Too bad I can't fly a plane because that would be the best way to get there. Anyone out there wanna fly me to McCall?

After McCall, we travelled through hazy western Idaho (due to so many wildfires in Washington state) and made our way to Spokane to visit w/ Jason and his girl Lisa. Lisa made us this awesome spread of waffles.
Always a good time to see Jason and we will hopefully be seeing him when he heads down here in October. Other than that, we went to Pig Out in the Park. Sort of like the Scottsdale Culinary Festival, but much more straight forward in the name department. It was interesting to see all of the changes in Spokane since I was there 8 years ago, yet, so much has stayed the same.

From there, we were off to see Curt and Kathleen in Yakima, WA. No pics, and I have no idea why. Kind of mad at myself for this. Kathleen made us homemade salsa after their son Tyler and I went into their garden to get all of the ingredients fresh - onion, cilantro, tomatoes. I remember when Rose and Tyler were MUCH smaller, but again, that was MANY years ago. Much thanks to the McFarlands for their hospitality. For those of you who were there, Curt is the pastor who married us and it was awesome to reconnect with them. They are headed out to Oklahoma to see the Felts, and Curt will be doing the wedding ceremony for Lucas and Melissa.

The Joy of My World Is in Zion

Wow! I came through this area briefly with Jason about 3 years ago, but did not have the chance to actually explore the area. We could have spent a week or more just at this site, but had to spend our short time on hikes aong the river near the campsite and up a tough route to Scout's Landing. Next time I'd like to rent the gear and take the one to The Narrows. I must say that the campsite was great because it was so close to the river and the Visitor's Center which has a free shuttle to all of the spots in Zion. Fire restrictions, so no fire which meant no S'mores :(
The view from our campsite was amazing though (I think the big rounded mountain to the left is called The Watchman):


Because Jennifer was such a good sport about the tough hike, we had dinner at a nearby cafe, The Spotted Dog Cafe. Nothing beats fatigue like filet mignon, sauteed prawns, and a nice bottle of chardonnay.




The next day we were off on our 13 hour car ride to McCall, Idaho. We figured if we woke up early in the morning, we'd pack up camp and leave. Well, I woke up at 3AM and decided to pack up in the pitch black of night, but the ground was so hard I either busted or left several tent stakes there. A 30 minute packing attempt turned into an hour and a half of muffled cursing at the hard ground and bent stakes.

Month-long Sabbatical

This is the last I'll see of this place for a month. The car is loaded, the camping gear packed, and my skills at speed filling at the gas stations have been honed for the month of September in which Jennifer and I will be road tripping it across the West. Our "Tour Dates" are as follows:

-Zion Nat'l Park, Utah
-McCall, Idaho
-Spokane, Washington
-Yakima, Washington
-Mt. Ranier Nat'l Park, Washington
-Seattle, Washington
-Portland, Oregon
-Napa Valley, California
-Los Angeles, California



By the way, did I mention the new "toy" I acquired? Yes, after 8 long years without, I once again have a vehicle with air conditioning. And I finally own a car with power everything and it is NOT red. So many firsts that I am thinking of having a baby's first b-day party for it.... That should help bring in more diapers which are sorely needed since I've been waxing and buffing it with them. Look for more postings soon!

Technical note:

Joe's Travels

I figured out how to allow for comments by anyone so feel free to comment away...

The stars at night....

So I just got back from meetings in Houston and there's not much really to say or any pictures for that matter. They had a nice mall.... that was about it. And if you've seen one mall, you've seen them all. Basically, there was an "indoor" mall right next to an "outdoor" mall, but near the indoor mall there was a man made river. The area was called the Woodlands and it was very nice looking with a bunch of trees and that man made river by the mall and all, but with the heat and humidity of Texas added in. I guess they are opening a Ferrari dealership somewhere nearby, but when I checked on housing prices on Zillow.com, the nearby houses were going for $150k. Not sure what's going on there.

The hotel I stayed in - Hotel Sofitel - was nice and had a huge mural painted in the common area. They had a gift shop where they sold french pastries and french sparkling lemonade. Plus, all of the travelers spent a lot of time just hanging out in that common area which was very European of them. Plus I heard a lot of different accents. I'm pretty sure the hotel chain is french and it was kind of nice to be reminded of France, except that the hotel rooms were bigger in THIS french hotel. Well, you know what they say about Texas. My first day I got there early enough to hang out by the pool for a while and enjoy my apricot soleil. It's basically a buttery croissant circle with sweet apricot preserves in the middle. It looks like an edible little sun. Mmmmm, delicious!

Since there wasn't much to do in Houston, I was pretty happy to get back home, whereby, Jennifer, Robyn, Jeff and I went to Bobby Q's last night. It's this fantastic BBQ joint off the I-17 where the old Bobby McGee's used to be. Best BBQ and macaroni & cheese EVER! And I usually only like Kraft. Go figure. Sorry no pics from this trip, but I'm headed to Montana on Monday so look for some good ones from Big Sky Country when I return. Ciao!

Toot, toot!

So, I have been doing the hardcore tourist thing over the weekend in Chi-town thanks to the benevolence of my old friends Amanda and Lucas (not that Lucas has been around, but thanks buddy for letting me crash in your room while you and Melissa were at the lake - Sorry about the sheets! The ones I use at home are rubber....) From the pics you can see the "Bean" at the park - so many parks and public spaces. I guess this is thanks to Montgomery Ward (the actual guy, not the store) who forced the city to plan for public spaces along the lake. Tempe should do the same...

But I digress. Last night I was FORCED to head out on the town with 6 beautiful women. Although they were raucous and rowdy at times, they were suprisingly well behaved. I have to say I did not get the "Vince Vaughn" treatment from any of them. After many drinks and many bars later, the celebration of Colleen's 29th birthday was a complete success. Or at least I think it was.... Last I heard, she was working on some booty calls at 2 in the morning ;-)

Today we managed to make the Architectural Boat Tour which was sold out yesterday. Some good pics here and in the link to

more pictures

LOTS of condos and high-rises going up along the river. I guess it's prime to have a pool and a gym in the building you live in - in case anyone is looking to make the move to Chicago. BTW, I am getting what I am told is the WORST impression of Chicago. It's like when tourists visit Phoenix on a 75 degree day in late February and think we have the BEST weather. Well, it's sunshine and rainbows here this weekend and I guess I would need to return to Chicago in January to be thoroughly dissuaded to move here. But in the meantime it's been weather heaven!

Want some cheese w/ that whine?

And we are off!.... My first official trip of the blog was to Napa for Rebecca and Mark's wedding. Rebecca is one of Jennifer's best friends from Arcadia and they used to play volleyball together. Jennifer says no one will ever set for her as well as Becky did. Anyway, here are some pics from the trip. I will try to include a link to a bigger album when I can. We stayed at the John Muir Inn which was nicely located in a central area of the valley, but a little spartan as far as accommodations go. There was a Marie Calendar's next door which made breakfast an easy task each morning and they gave you $5 off each morning. The wedding was at the Archer Preserve which was a beautiful nature preserve with a fantastic drive up a very narrow winding road. The drive alone was worth it if you follow Redwood straight east. I guess there is a hike back there, but I'm not sure if the preserve is open to the public all of the time.

We stopped at the Mumm sparkling winery which is the sister winery to the one we visited in Reims, France. This one was a lot more industrial, but a little off the beaten path and I would highly recommend it. We also visited another sparkling winery - Domaine Carneros - which is owned by Taittinger and is a very large castle on a hill with the view I included here. BTW, they have to call it sparkling wine because only sparkling wine from the Champagne region can be called such. Great upgrade and $50 "refund" from Hertz when I raised a stink that they didn't have the car I reserved online when I arrived w/ my Gold Club membership. I felt like Seinfeld (anyone can just TAKE a reservation, it's KEEPING the reservation that's the hard part!). They wanted to give me an SUV as an upgrade and I told them that wasn't much of an upgrade with gas prices being what they are in California... The whole 3 day rental cost $38 - and this was on Memorial Day weekend! SCORE!

We'll be heading back there soon I hope to visit Brooke and Sean and also Josh and Helene in SanFran. More pics then. I'm off to Chi-town Friday so get ready Amanda and Lucas! And I'm bringing my umbrella for what I hope is an incorrect forecast for "scattered" thunderstorms... I'll try to bring the AZ sunshine with me on the plane.

Genesis

Hey yo... Decided to start a blog this morning and so this will be my first entry. Feel free to poke around and I will be sure to let you know when I update it. As a teaser, I am publishing a pic of where my next trip will be. Can you guess where this is?

P.S. I lied, my next trip will actually be this weekend when I head to Napa for a wedding. But the pic is of my next BUSINESS trip ;)