The Justin Chronicles

India 2009

2010-01-12T22:37:00.002-05:00

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=194177890506%3A927758193

Journal...
December 18 - 20

In our flight from Atlanta to Dubai to Delhi, our longest delay was on the Tarmac at ATL airport. Really, the trip was easy and straight forward. I prefer this route over the Atlanta - Paris - Bombay itinerary I took five years ago.

The food on the Emirates flight was the best. They had some nice chicken curry with chowpatties. They also had a place to charge your laptop or iPod!

In the Delhi airport, going through immigration, Sona and I split up. She went through the Indian line and I went through the foriegner line. Neither of us knew the address of the location we were staying at. We both got asked by the officials. My official asked me where my wife was when I told him that my inlaws booked the place. He told me that next time we can go through the line together.

The place Sona's family aranged for us is a four story apartment building about 30 minutes away from the Delhi airport (with no traffic at 4 AM). We're comfortably on the first level above the garage.

The streets are bussling outside with comers and goers. There's a vegetable cart vendor right outside the window selling his wares. Plenty of trucks and two-wheelers zooming back and forth.

We had a nice, relaxing morning. Mom made nice chai and salad with saussage for breakfast. The girls have gone shopping. Meanwhile, Papa and I plan to go to the Lotus Temple.

It turns out that the Lotus Temple is closed on Sunday. I took a few photos from outside the gate. Nearby, there was a 1.5 km queue to get into this tiny Hindu temple. No idea what the draw was, but everyone was disciplined staying in line. That's rare for India.

We met with Vishal's sister Mona and his brother-in-law Nikunj. He is an Indian Air Force hellicopter pilot. He has an accomodation from a Kashmere rescue mission from 2005 (the same time I was last here) where he rescused 32 soldiers from behind enemy lines under the further threat of an avalanche. He had recently completed a UN mission in the Congo. This week he is on the way to the Andamans Islands through Chennai.

Papa treated us all to coffee and chai at Khan Market. It's an upscale retail area near many of the government and diplomatic offices. It's near the Lodi district area. There are some Lodi Gardens we drove by that I would like to go back and see.

Dec 21 ~

Last night we had a nice dinner with Suni's inlaws. Suni's husband's name is Vishal. His parents names Renu Aubree and Khera Uncle plus Krish and Karan. There was very nice paneer and really great sweets. Rasgullas and carrot halwa and gulab jamun. They gifted Sona and I some excellent gifts; ties, cuff links, ceramic plate, and a very nice jewelry box.

This morning (6:49 AM) Sona, Mama, Suni, and Sara and I are all in a taxi on the way to the Taj Majal. It is Sona's and Sara's first time. Suni, Mama and I will be going for the second time. It's about a four hour drive. We've been going for about 30 minutes now.

With one stop at a tourist friendly (with tourist prices) road house, we made it to the Taj at around 11:00 AM. Our tour guide, Suchin, helped us organize an electric car to take from the parking area to the "VIP" entrance. Here are the things that were different / new at the Taj since I had visited almost exactly five years ago.

- The electric cars are new. Last time I took a cycle rickshaw.
- You purchase tickets away from the entrance. Last time I bought my ticket right outside the gate.
- We went through the East (aka VIP) entrance. Last time I went through the West entrance.
- We had a guide inside the site. Last time I explored by myself (with my driver who spoke no English).
- They sold us shoe covers for 10 Ruppies. Last time I simply threw my shoes into a big pile with everyone else's.
- They had built wooden steps over the marble ones. Appently, when it rains, lots of people used to slip there.
- It was 20 Ruppies for Indians, but 750 Ruppies for foriegners. I don't remember the difference being that much this time.

- They had added barriers ao that you could not walk to the very edge of the Taj on the river (back) side.
- The car ride through Agra seemed to have a lot more traffic, people, and general busy-ness. I could be wrong, but I remembered it being a litle quieter and rural last time.

Things that were the same...

- The touts are horrible. They come at you from every angle, all at once. The tour guide does nothing to help. I took to yelling NO to scare them off. That seemed to work quite well.
- The Taj is beautiful to behold. It was great to share with Sona. This was the whole purpose of the journey back, of course.

Once we left the Taj, Sona and the girls wanted to go to a marble / stone cutting shop. We saw a demonstration of how it is done. Even Sara got a chance to try. We then sat through the sales spleel and had to walk through the guantlet of various jewelry and other nick-knack vendors.

There was a bit of drama when the driver claimed that we had not paid for the trip to FS. The next five minutes consisted of some quick phone calls to Vishall and some intense arguing. Soon, everything was sorted.

Having sufficiently experienced Agra and the Taj Majal, it was time to make our way to FS. En route, we had the challenge of finding a hygenic place for lunch.

Not far ouside the city, we stopped at what looked like a descent roadside cafe (they call them dhobas here). After seeing the bird poop in the chairs, and me having sat in it, I think Sona and I were sufficiently turned off by the place. While Suni, Sara, and Mama ordered lunch, Sona and I stayed in the car and made do with the sausages, bread, and fruit Mama had brought for breakfast.

Arriving at FS this time was quite different from my arrival five years ago.

- They had a designated parking area for tourists that was new. Last time, my driver took me directly to the main gate.
- They arranged it so that you must take an autorickshaw between the parking area and the gate. They scam you with fake negotiations between the tour guides who force themselves on you and the drivers.

- The touts were just as bad here as the Taj. Last time, I don't recall being bothered at all. This time, you couldn't stand for five seconds without being accosted by annother guy selling post cards or jewelry.
- The "guide" took us to his kronies to give them a chance to sell Suni and Mama some clothes to donate to the holy man who lived in the palace. This was a new scam. The last time I was here, I went directly into the tomb and simply bought some string to tie for a wish.
- Sona noted that they expected her to make an "optional" donation inside the tomb. They were quite upset with her when she didn't.

We had thourouhly had enough of the tomb area. The next stop was the palace next store which I had never been to before. This made the trip to FS worthwhile. It was a beutiful palace, restoreed (work in progress in some areas) and well maintained, especially the flower gardens. We spent the rest of the evening here.

Heading back to the car required us to get into the autorickshaw again. This time, as expected, they didn't take us directly back to our car. Instead, they took us to an area where we had to walk by more shops. So annoying. The whole setup was disgned to give touts as many opportunities as possible to accost you.

The car ride home was delayed twice by crossing some train tracks. They don't have the rail road crossing timed vey well with the coming of the trains. (I think they may be manual. An individual is signaled somehow to raise / lower the beam.). We waited quite a while for the the train to pass each time. In the meantime, the locals are walking their motorbikes under the beams and accross the tracks. Very dangerous, but common from what Mama says.

Eventually, even with the intense Agra - Delhi traffic, I fell asleep for most of the rest of the trip home. Meanwhile, Sona played A/C policeman. The driver kept turning the A/C off and setting the flow to outside. This was bothering us all, but Sona kept him in line. We had a comfortable ride home with one last, quick stop for fruit.

December 22 ~

We made no plans this morning. It was a chance for everyone, especially Sona, to sleep in a bit and catch up on some rest. Mama made a light breakfast for Suni, Pspa, and me. I relaxed and read The Thirteenth Tale - a book Sona read a while ago that she's now lending me.

Around 10 AM, Sona woke up and joined us. Just about the same time, Sumi came in with Krish. Sumi had a great plan to take an autorickshaw to see Humayan's Tomb. So, Sona, Suni, Sumi, Krish, and I all squeezed into a auto' and headed out for some Delhi adventure.

H's T was a great sight seeing stop. The place was filled with school children, some who wanted to take their picture with me. I refused this time. The place was also lacking touts, only one or two. That was great. Finally, the place was beautiful. We explored the various tunnels and tombs.

There was one building that Suni and Sona were pushing me to explore. The stairway had no exit, but they insisted I continue. Finally I turned around and found another stairwell that took us to the top of the building. We all had a laugh at my expense.

We finished up the self-tour with some cool drinks. We then organized an auto' for the trip to the outdoor mall area. This required us to switch auto's as the first driver wouldn't take us accross states.

Once at the mall, I managed to find free wifi at the KFC. Meanwhile, Suni fed Krish some fried chicken. The girls joined Sumi for some shopping while I finished up using the wifi.

We all met up at a dhoba where we had Afghanni chicken, X, and X for lunch. It was really excellent! Great choice, Sumi!

We found a auto' driver who was willing to take us all the way back home - without swapping auto's. Once we made it home, it was time for another jet lag nap.

I woke for some good mutton curry. We tried to play some videos on a the new DVD player that Papa had purchased, but it only played MP3s and photos.

We played cards instead. For some reason I had lost all the strategy that I had when we all last played in Atlanta. The girls were all beating me real bad.

Sona's family helped me organize a taxi for tomorrow's trip to Gorgaun to visit with the Saxena's.

December 23 ~

Sona and I woke early to be ready for the taxi at 8 AM. We headed out for the one hour journey accross Delhi. With one stop at a sweet shop for a gift for the Saxena's, we made it to the busy National Media Center intersection. The trouble is we passed it and missed the turn. Because the entrance is right next to the highway, there was no easy way to turn around. Our driver spent the next 15 minutes struggling through horrendous traffic so we could make it back.

We found the house! The Saxena's gave us a very warm welcome inside. We spent some time looking at all of Rahul's wedding albums. He was married back in February. Then, Auntie had prepared a wonderful Indian veg brunch for us. We chatted about the changes in Gorgaun since I was last there, flying planes, and all sorts of other things. Uncle's brother also joined for a bit. He's an engineer at a nearby towel factory.

We took the taxi to our next stop, Qtub Minar. This is tower built many years ago. I saw it when I was here five years ago. We met Suni, Krish, Sumi, and Mama there. They didn't believe that Sona was an Indian citizen, which really upset her. I didn't have to bother with the ticket counter because Sumi had found a ticket lying on the ground at M's tomb the day before. When everyone else arrived, we pretended not to know them. They bought Sona's ticket and all was settled.

What a difference five years makes! Most of Delhi is the same as I remember it. Many of the highways and fly-overs that were under construction then are now finished, but otherwise all looks to be about the same. All except the Qtub Minar. They really turned this into a proper tourist destination. The tower has been restored nicely. What was just dirt and gravel has been turned into beautiful lawns. The columns have been restored and roofs have been added, much like it was supposed to be way back when. It was really nice to visit the second time and see all the improvements.

After the Qtub Minar, all six of us plus the driver squeezed into the tiny Indacar. Sona sat on my lap. The next stop was the Indian version of the strip mall. These are everywhere here. Sumi needed to stop for some food for Krish. She bought us some Thumbs Up soft drinks and some rolls that were kind of like the Indian version of a wrap / gyro.

Once we had some fuel for our stomaches, we made the convoluted trip to the Garden of Five Senses. I'd never been nor heard of this place before. The trip was convoluted becase it seems most Indians are unaware of this place. Furthermore, the expansive construction of the Delhi Metro / Subway had made this place quite hidden and difficult to drive to.

The Garden was nice. We caught part of a children's puppet show. We then took the path though the various plants and trees. I was a bit distracted as I was eating the roll that Sumi had bought for me and enjoying the Thumbs Up. Plus, I had given a stray dog some of the chicken that had fallen from my roll. This was a mistake as now this dog wouldn't stop following us. The dog provided for another distraction. Eventually we made it through most of the garden to a little Indian ice cream vendor. It's nut flavored and semi-sweet. It comes in a small cyramic bowl, wrapped with foil and a rubber band. We all shared tastes from the home made all-natural spoons. They were just small strips of a bamboo-like wood.

Finished up at the garden, we all piled back into the car (literally). It took a while to get back to the house with all the Delhi rush hour traffic. Once there Sona and I stayed in the car while everyone else jumped out. Papa jumped in and we headed out to find a place to buy chicken and mutton. This proved to be an adventure in itself as no one in that car had any idea where the shop was. We must have asked a dozen people on the street before we found it. Sona took the time to buy some shampoo at one of the many drug stores in the area.

We headed home to finish with the car and give Mama the food we bought. Everyone stayed at the house while I walked the trechourous couple blocks to the nearby IKON hotel office. They gave me the password to the wifi and I was properly online. I spent some time catching up on everything from my trusty iPod.

Reaching home, Mama had made great fried chicken and dall. We relaxed before heading out again. This time it was jumping in an auto' for the night time Govinvraj Market.

We were hoping for a bustling street market, but not much was happening except the permanent shops. The word was that the police had not allowed the night market to take place because of the Christmas holiday. The veg market was open though. Mama and Papa both bought lots of veggies for taking back to Chennai. They say that with the heavy rains in Chennai the veggies aren't the best and are expensive.

We took the auto' back to the guest house. Before bed, Sona, Suni, Sumi and I played cards. I started to remember the strategy now and was doing much better.

December 24 ~

Sona and I woke up a bit later on this day for a taxi to take us across town again. This time we headed to Lodhi Gardens. This was somewhere I saw from the road while riding with Nikunj. It wasn't in any of the guide books or advertised, but we thought we would take a chance. It was worth it! The garden had hardly any people there. Sona and I enjoyed the place nearly on our own. They had a beautiful Bonsai Tree garden, some tomb and mosque ruins, a duck pond, and even a jogging path. The park was clean and provided a nice diversion from the hectic streets of Delhi.

After our walk in the park, we took the taxi to nearby India Gate. Sona wasn't so keen on seeing it up close. Instead, we took some quick snaps from the round-about.

We then headed over to a shopping market area to meet up with Mama, Suni, Sara, Sumi, and Krish. There was some confusion about where we were supposed to meet up, but thanks to the power of mobile phones, we eventually caught up with each other.

The girls shopped for saris while Sara and I relaxed at the next door McDonalds. It's with noting that while I didn't eat at any western eateries (KFC, McDonalds, etc) they make great landmarks for meeting up. They also provide good indoor resting areas.

The next stop was a mens suit, sherwani, and X shop. The girls were keen on buying me an elaborate X for my introduction as Sona's wife at this week's parties. I picked one out, tried it on and was satisfied and ready to go. It wasn't that easy though. I tried on several more before everyone agreed to the one I had chosen.

The girls wanted to do some more shopping. This meant it was time for Sara and I to get into an auto' and head back to the guest house on our own. Once home, I venturedout onto the streets of Delhi to fond the IKON Hotel where they had the free Internet. I got a little lost on the way, but found it. I found my way back with no problem at all.

The evening was then for relaxing and eating.

December 25 ~

We woke for Christmas in Delhi! Everyone had to get up very early as we had a 7:00 AM flight to Chennai. We all got out the door successfully, but beteen the two taxis, we somehow forgot a bag back home. Sona, Papa, and I were in one taxi and continued to the airport. Mama headed back to the house in her taxi.
- Show quoted text -

We all met successfully at the Delhi domestic terminal. It looked incredibly similar to the Bangkok airport. Probably the same architect.

Once at the gate, it turned out that we had more time. Per Sumi's recommendation (she would be joining us later in the evening on a different flight) Sona bought us all chocolate chip muffins at Costa Coffee. We all scarfed these down on the flight.

The first leg of the flight from Delhi to Hyderabad, Sona and I kept ourselves busy wantching Bones on my iPod. On the next leg from Hyderabad to Chennai, I slept and Sona caugh up with Papa.

We took taxis from the airport to Sona's home. Because it was the first time there as a married couple, Mama performed a Aarthi to welcome us and ward away the evil eye.

Sona's home is BEAUTIFUL. Too many rooms to count. Artifacts from all over the world. The latest addition seems to be the sketches of Nanhi, Mama, and Sona that Papa did. They are over the kitchen table.

Sona had fun noticing how many things had changed since two years ago when she was last home. The rooms had all been expanded and changed. She got acclimated again. Meanwhile, my number one job was to get the wireless Internet going.

I had a couple challenges getting the wifi going, but soon enough I was connected again!

Sona and Suni headed out to the beauty parlor and I caught up on all my email and other things. The evening was more relaxing at home plus a nice walk around Defence Colony with Sona and Mama. While walking around, we met Mama's friend Tasneen. Her husband and son are into cars. They had a half Ferrari (litterally) that they were working to restore. Inside auntie had a full sewing shop going, even on Christmas Day.

December 26 ~<- <- <-

After an early sleep the night before, it was an early rise (letting Sona lie in a bit).

After breakfast, Sona and I "trekked" to the St. Thomas church on top of a small hill. The walk on the road (no real sidewalks here) was hectic. We paused in the center isle with traffic running on both sides. Sona knew what she was doing, but I was nervous.

We took the steps (representing different periods in Jesus' life) to the top. There was a good view of Chennai from the top. We walked to the other side for a great view of the airport. The planes take off almost directly over the hill.

The walk back wasn't as hectic, but probably just because I'm getting used to it. We ate a great veg lunch and then freshened up. The schedule then changed. We had to meet Suni's inlaws. Uncle's knee was bad and so he couldn't make it this evening to Sumi's birthday party.

We took an auto' to auntie's and uncle's place. They were very sweet. They gave us a shoal and some flowers. We had snacks (thattai) and coffee. Suni drove us back to Mama's and Papa's house in her husband's SUV (very nice - rare here in India).

Back at Mama's and Papa's house, it was some brief relaxing before the party. For the party, Papa had set up a stereo and disco lights on the terrace. It was a proper dance floor. Sona and Vishall did the BBQ'ing while everyone enjoyed plus drinks. We danced and played party games until late in the evening. Mama and Papa put on a great party.

December 27

Time for another lie in this morning. Suni took us away for an out to eat lunch. On the way, we stopped at the beautiful home of one of Mama's long time ago house guests. It was Sahbu (uncle) Shabita (his daughter) and Aaliya (his grand daughter).

We stopped at at Sangeeta's for an excellent lunch. Then, we stopped at Suni's place. She has a lovely apartment. Ragu and Suni even spent to cover the terrace. It's a nice place with a cool breeze and beautiful views of the nearby river.

I snoozed while Sona and Suni watched a DVD. Then, it was time to head out again. We started with a stop at Elliots beach. I thought it was busy there until we drove to to Marina beach. Pradeep met us for a nice stroll along the sidewalk.

We then drove to a restaurant Karai Kudi. We had Chettinad Chicken, Appam, Kottu Barotha. Pradeep was gracious enough to treat us!

For the first time since arriving in India, Sona and I had an evening to ourselves at Suni's place.

December 28

Pondecherry / Aurovillo

We woke early at Suni's. Time to get ready for the day trip to Aurovillo and Pondecherry. We passed by several sites that were familar to me: Crocodile Park, Mapalidapuram, and beautiful sceens of the beach. We took a roadside pic nic after passing all of these things. It's a bit hectic for me to pic nic immediately next to the highway. Nevertheless, it was nice to experience something that I know was part of Sona's childhood.

We had to ask directions a few times, but eventually made our way to the Aurovillo visitors center. We got our passes and made the short 1km walk to the visitors viewpoint. It was then that Sona and I learned that we couldn't go inside the structure, only view it from a distance.

We walked back to the visitors center entrance. Everyone browsed the boutiques, but no one bought any of the overpriced items.

Next stop was the Pondecherry Beach. We struggled to find a parking space. We eventually settled on a space in a street vendor area. It was nice because it was close to the city park. Unfortunately, they wouldn't allow us to take our pic nic into the park. This meant it was time for mutton curry in the car.

After lunch, we walked into the park for a bit. It seems that both Sona and I were having sour stomachs. We stopped at a public (eg pay) bathroom on the way out of the city. The final stop before leaving Pondecherry was some rice and food shopping for Mama.

The ride back to Chennai was a bit hectic. Both Sona and I were having stomach troubles. We didn't want to miss the lake boat rides so we took a chance and stopped by. This turned out to be the highlight of the day. We all ate some snacks while we waited. We managed to fit everyone in the same boat.

The boat driver asked if we would pay for some extra time. Mama paid an this gave is some extra twists and turns and even more rocking. The kids loved it and so did the adults!

We thought it would be a short ride home after the boats, and normally it would have been. Unfortunately, we ran into some AWEFUL traffic. Eventually, the travel-wery group of is, arrived safely at home. Time for some rest.

December 29

We didn't have much planned today. The day was mostly open with the evening reserved for a party in Sona's and my honor. This would be where Sona and I would be introduced to Sona's parent's friends as a newly married couple.

We spent some time in the morning calling Julius' parents and Rashmi's parents. Rashmi's parents were out of town. We did get in touch with Julius' parents. We invited them to the evening's party at the Sukumarans' house.

I spent some time researching flying / plane rentals in Chennai. I found a company that did rent. The issue was, I learned, I needed permission from the government to fly in India as an American. My research on this was fruitless. The result, no flying for me in India at this time

December 30

Sona and her sisters spent most of the day shopping. They were looking at jewelry and other things. I spent the day relaxing and working at the very lovely and very comfortable "Susho" house.

The intention was to have dinner and see the beach at the race club after they returned. Pradeep was to join us as well. Unfortunately, shopping took longer than anticipated. We ended up staying in for dinner and missing out on the race club with Pradeep.

December 31

More relaxing at the 'Susho' house today.

We took a few hours to head back to the jewelry shop. This time I joined to see what all the hub hub was about.

For the evening's New Years Eve festivities, we headed to the Gandi Nagar Club. They had a live band, a live DJ, great starters, and a very tasty dinner. They even had ice cream for dessert.

It was a bit wired how they had it organized. The dinner area was separate from the sitting and drinking area. Once you got your plate of food, your only two choices were sitting in the senior citzens area or standing and attempting to scarf down the dinner with one hand. We chose to sit in the senior citizen area. We didn't feel too bad. We did have some senior citizens with us.

We took to the dance floor to party the last hour of 2009 away. Nearly everyone joined us. Suni, Sara, Pradeep, Shirley, Sona and even Mama.

They played Final Countdown as we counted down the last few seconds of the year. Then the fireworks started! What they lacked in size and flare, they made up in Quantity. The firewoorks will still going even as we made it to the club house.

Back in Defence Colony, as we drifted to sleep, we could hear fire crackers going off in the distance. Thus, started 2010.

January 1

With the new year underway, it was time for more relaxation at the 'SUSHO' house. Sona's goal for the day was to finish up her last minute shopping for gifts. Meanwhile, I packed up and organized the photos from our trip. How the two weeks flew by.

January 2

Chennai / Delhi / Dubai / Atlanta

It was time for a very early rise (3:30 AM) to bead to the Chennai airport. Our first leg from Chennai to Delhi was scheduled to depart at 6:45 AM.

Due to bad weather in Delhi (fog like you wouldn't believe) our flight didn't actually leave until 8:30 AM. Both Sona and I slept through nearly the entire flight.

It was time once again to claim our bags and move from domestic to international. At Delhi airport they have a special bus that moves people through the airport - literately accross the runways from domestic to international.

Flying photos!

2009-04-21T21:27:00.004-04:00

After finally getting my instrument rating back in October, I've been doing a lot more PIC (Pilot in Command) flying. Sona and I have have been having a great time exploring more Georgia towns and taking small trips. She's an excellent passenger and a great photographer. Nearly 100% of the photos are taken by Sona. The trip to La Grange was in a Yellow Jacket plane with my good buddy Bryan Turner.

The ability to just get in a plane and fly somewhere is a wonderful concretization of what it means to be free and to have freedom of choice and movement.

I've included links below to several of the flights we've taken recently.

Atlanta to Savannah (PDK - SAV)
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=16v9pei2.1enffw06&x=1&y=9lnrpm&localeid=en_US

Atlanta to La Grange (FTY - LGC)
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=16v9pei2.cp0278ie&x=1&y=dmlroo&localeid=en_US

Cloudland Canyon - Old Backcountry Loop

2009-02-18T20:16:00.003-05:00

A reader posted a question about the trailhead for the Old Backcountry Loop at Cloudland Canyon. To find the trailhead go to the overlook area. Then, either by car or by walking on the road, go south to the Group Shelter. There's a large field to the east of the group shelter. There are some pic-nic tables closer in to the woods under the tree cover. Don't go that far in. Closer to the road, there is a very light, unmarked path through some sparsely branched trees. The trail quickly starts to become more obvious as you move through the trees. You soon notice that some old blazes have been painted over with some brown / purple paint. Continue to follow these covered blazes all the way to the river at the bottom for a spectacular spot in this beautiful park. Hope that helps!

Yes, we're engaged!

2009-01-02T20:13:00.003-05:00

Sona and I are engaged. Thank you everyone for your warm wishes. Happy New Year! 2009 is going to be a fantastic year!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=16v9pei2.2bhwm78m&x=1&y=-4f80hf&localeid=en_US

Flight to Franklin, North Carolina

2008-12-30T20:00:00.000-05:00

My buddy Jeff joined me for a flight to Franklin, North Carolina.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=16v9pei2.6rglnnuu&x=1&y=wdd2tr&localeid=en_US

2008 Tybee Christmas

2008-12-30T07:45:00.002-05:00

Photos...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=16v9pei2.26ed11li&x=1&y=-e9jzas&localeid=en_US

2008 White Elephant

2008-12-23T11:36:00.002-05:00

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=16v9pei2.2e2svi6u&x=0&y=-dyenbp&localeid=en_US

Thailand

2008-11-02T22:27:00.004-05:00

The "Best" Photos...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=16v9pei2.b1jtn3n2&x=1&y=2d19to&localeid=en_US

The Entire Album...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=16v9pei2.6lpuglwu&x=1&y=-7tyud5&localeid=en_US

I'll post my journal later. Still a work in progress.

Cloudland Canyon Georgia State Park

2008-09-20T08:31:00.004-04:00

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.8s0ii6cq&x=0&y=-kesqh3&localeid=en_US

Sona, Sona's parents, and I had a great time relaxing and hiking in Cloudland Canyon Georgia State Park. It's about a two and a half hour drive from Buckhead. Like any of Georgia's parks, it's best to arrive in the day time. There is almost no light in the park at night (a good thing), but it makes the short drive from the highway to the cabins a hectic one.

The cabin was very comfortable, complete with full electric kitchen, two bedrooms, a fireplace, and even cable TV. Sona's mom was disappointed she didn't bring more food to cook since there was a full kitchen ready to be used. We bought firewood, but it turned out to be too warm to need it. We just kept it for the next camping trip.

Saturday morning Sona and I got up early to hit the hiking trails. There are three main trails. The West Rim Loop goes around the the cabin area where we stayed. The back country trail goes around the primitive camp sites. There is a second back country trail that connects Cloudland Canyon with Lookout Mountain. They closed this trail a while back (not sure when). It wasn't on the par's trail map, but it was in the hiking trail book I had brought (one of the benefits of having an 8 year old trail book.

We began the morning with the first half of the West Rim trail. It's a fun hike with stunning views of the cloud filled canyon all along the way. The trail takes you to the stream in the bottom of the and then back up to the tourist lookout area on the other side. The notable sightings included a huge bull frog, some birds, and some beautiful wild berries and flowers. Too many daddy long-legs spiders to count too.

Once at the tourist lookout area there are well built stairs (very similar to the ones at Amicollola Falls) down to two beautiful waterfalls. The hike back up was tiring, but not so bad.

We then set out to find the trail head for the unmapped (closed) back country trail to Lookout Mountain. There's no trail connecting the Group Lodge with the lookout so we (annoyingly) had to walk along the road. I don't know why they didn't put a trail or sidewalk in for this. Our first couple attempts to find the old trail head were misses, but Sona gets the credit for finally getting us on the right path.

The trail was in rough shape. Lots of overgrowth and some slippery sections due to erosion and no maintenance. We forced our way through and to the stream at the bottom. It was worth it! What a stunning view with a beautiful rock fall and overhang.

We walked under the overhang and then over the rockfall to the other side of the stream. There were remnants of an old footbridge there. When we saw this, it all made sense as to why this trail was closed and the on on the other side of the stream, on Lookout Mountain, was open and well maintained. There must be a trail head somewhere on Lookout Mountain to get you started on the proper trail.

We didn't want to push ourselves too hard. We skipped the Lookout Mountain loop trail and headed back up to the tourist lookout area.

31st Birthday

2008-07-02T20:50:00.002-04:00

Photos...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.a3d03uxe&x=1&y=-qep1ig&localeid=en_US

Lake Lanier Camping

2008-06-16T20:22:00.003-04:00

Pretty awesome weekend. It's not often you camp, boat, and hike all in one weeekend.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.5do7t63e&x=1&y=34hqvw&localeid=en_US

Grand Canyon, Arizona

2008-05-01T18:21:00.004-04:00

Photos...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.4tneq1w2&x=1&y=-yj5tbd&localeid=en_US

Friday April 25Atlanta – Phoenix – Flagstaff

Saturday April, 26

Maswik Lodge, Grand Canyon Village

Sunday April, 27

Indian Garden Campground, Grand Canyon Back Country

In less than 48 hours Sona and I have gone from Buckhead, Atlanta to Indian Gardens, Grand Canyon in Arizona. The trip began with some late night flights across the country. We drove from Phoenix to Flagstaff, arriving at our hotel at around 2:30 in the morning Saturday. We didn’t sleep long as we wanted to get to Grand Canyon early. We had no Back Country permits yet. Without those, we wouldn’t be able to camp in the Canyon as planned.

The day drive was nicer than the night drive as you could see something. Regardless, there’s still not much to see in the Arizona dessert.

We passed a few small towns and small airports before entering the park. We headed straight to the Back Country office and successfully obtained our permits. We were all set for two nights and three days of camping. We then headed to the Bright Angel Lodge to make hotel and food arrangements. This was for the night before trekking and the night we return. We got the very last room available for both evenings. With everything sorted, this left us with five hours to explore the park village and shop for camp food.

Sona needed to rent some trekking poles at the General Store. The attendant was incredibly slow. Eventually we had all of our food and supplies.

We went over to the canteen at the lodge nearby. We loaded up on carbohydrates with a pasta lunch. Then exhaustion hit us. We didn’t feel like doing anything. We researched our entertainment options a bit more. Soon, we headed to the Maswik Lodge where we would be spending our first night in the Village.

Still too early to check in, we kept ourselves busy planning for the rest of the evening. The plan was to see the sunset at one of the eastern lookout points. Afterwards, we were going to see a ranger give a talk on the Canyon.

Your first view of the Grand Canyon is stunning. It’s one of the many things in the world which doesn’t fully translate into photographs. Sona ran into the shop for a minute. I just hung out at the lookout near Bright Angel Lodge. I lifted by legs over the side of the wall. There wasn’t any danger as there’s a ledge just a few feet below. When I did this though, I nearly gave an older woman behind me a heart attack. I apologized for giving her a scare.

After resting in the hotel for a bit (finally!) we took the car out to the Yavapai Observation Station. There were people from all over the world – French, Dutch, Chinese, Russian. It was interesting to observe how each nationality behaved during an introspective event like sunset at the Grand Canyon. We stayed until “the lights went out.” It was chilly!

Sona had “flicked” a blanket from the hotel to use during the ranger talk later. We both found this very humorous sine the talk turned out to be indoors! The ranger was quite entertaining. We weren’t sure what we were in for as he started the evening with some strange comments. He also sounded to be about 100 years old.

The ranger started the evening with a question and answer session. We learned some interesting things about condors, how they reproduce, why lead is an issue, and why their legs are white. It’s because they pee on them (too keep cool). We left a little early because we weren’t sure what time the canteen at the lodge closed down. I had an excellent burrito. Sona, on the other hand, got something that resembled a burrito, but could have been more aptly referred to as a “disappointment”.

We crashed back at the hotel – we had a 5:00 AM wake up the next morning.

In the morning, after several false starts due to Sona’s failure to set her watch to Arizona time, we loaded up our non-camping gear into the car, put on our packs and headed to the Bright Angel trailhead. It was really windy and very cold. We kept up a good pace to keep warm. The views were spectacular. We stopped to take photos periodically, but really didn’t take a break until an hour in. We scarffed down some Pop Tarts, hydrated, and then moved on.

We had the trail mostly to ourselves. We took in the beautiful scenery. Things went smoothly all the way up to Indian Gardens campground. We chose our campsite and set up the new tent. Thankfully, there were rocks nearby to use as hammers. The ground was extremely hard, making it difficult to get the tent anchors down. We explored the camp a bit and stumbled upon the start of the Plateau Point trail. No daypack, but wearing our hiking boots with water in-hand, we hid our flip-flops and headed down trail.

It was now early afternoon, with no cover from the sun. It was the first time since arriving at the Grand Canyon that we were hot! We made it to the Point. It was well worth it. This was the first view we had of the Canyon bottom and the very green Colorado River. We found some shade – although very little – under some rocks. Looking out for scorpions, we relaxed for a bit. The trip back was faster and cooler. This left us with a few more hours to kill before sunset.

Sona taught me how to play Rummy. She’s very good, but I can now hold my own. I taught her how to play Texas Hold ‘Em. The Ranger came by to make sure everything was in order before we turned in to sleep.

Monday April, 28

Bright Angel Campground, Grand Canyon Back Country

The trek from Indian Gardens campground to the Bright Angel campgrounds was a tough one. It involves miles of shear cliffs and a set of switchbacks known as the Devils Corkscrew. Nevertheless, we did the hike in just a few hours.

Toward the end of the hike we stopped briefly at a rest house. There I named a mischievous little squirrel “Rascal.” At one point, he was sitting right on my bag, attempting to get at some food. I proceeded to threaten to bop him. I didn’t actually bop any squirrels until the next day. Rascal made out lucky.

We chose a site at Bright Angel campgrounds. This turned out to be a disaster. After setting up the tent, we huddled inside for a nap. Shortly thereafter we were awoken to near 100 degree temperatures baking us inside our little man-made greenhouse. We moved our maps to the ground still shaded by the short trees. This didn’t last long. Soon, our entire camp site was exposed to direct sunlight. It was hot! We took a little walk to inspect the rest of the campground. We soon found another camp site that was nearly completely shaded. We moved camp and enjoyed a much cooler afternoon.

To cool down even further, we walked over to the Bright Angel Lodge. They have an air conditioned canteen complete with Scrabble! Sona and I proceeded to play a very evenly matched game. The heat must have been affecting Sona as she usually kicks my butt in Scrabble. We took the short walk back to the camp, trying not to eat any of our snacks. We had made a steak dinner reservation back at the Lodge. We wanted to be plenty hungry. We were. Sona and I completely devoured the steak dinner plus chocolate cake too.

Tuesday April, 29

Bright Angel Lodge, Grand Canyon Village

Sona and I woke up at 4:00 AM to walk down to the Bright Angel lodge. We had organized a hot breakfast there. This also allowed us to use the Bright Angel facilities which were much nicer than the ones at camp. They even had hot water. Sona added to the list of wildlife observed on the journey by seeing a scorpion in the ladies' room. Unscathed, we entered the canteen for pancakes, bacon, fruit, and more. Eager to get the hike started, we ate quickly and headed back to pack camp. This allowed us to be on the trail by 6:00 AM.

We conquered the Bright Angel to Indian Gardens trail in only 3 hours. We took a leisurely break, complete with precocious little squirrels running around. Interestingly, they dig themselves in the dirt and lay very flat when they think they've been observed.

Due to a pipe break, there was no water to be had in between Indian Gardens and the Rim. We filled up our Nalgenes and bladders (external not internal) and started for the first rest house. The first rest house marks the 1/3 mark for the rest of the trail.

By this time it was after 10:00 and getting hot! The heat was slowing us down so much that we were at about half the pace we had been earlier in the morning. To make things even a bit more challenging, we had to deal with mule trains up and down and the associated sites and smells.
We finally made it to the first rest house. There were lots of nice people there to chat with while we had lunch. One of them brought a conspicuous looking package that contained her "birthday cake". The dessert was substantially unattractive enough for one of her friends to ask if she had been sick.

Sona and I needed a long break. Eventually the whole nice group of people had changed into a bunch of rambuncious children. This was enough to drive us away even when faced with the scorching mid day heat.

The next 1.5 miles was the hardest all day. Heat and exhaustion were draining beyond any of our expectations. We soldiered on, taking frequent breaks in the sometimes rare shade. We reached the last rest house victorious and ready to take on the last 1.5 miles.

The last 1.5 miles seemed to never end. I kept saying to myself and Sona that we were almost there even though we never seemed to ever really be “almost there.” Thankfully much of the latter part of the hike was in the shade, complete with a small section of snow under a ledge.
Once we reached the top, we were careful to make no wrong turns on our way to the Bright Angel Lodge. We checked in to a room with a spectacular view of the canyon, reveling in our accomplishment and asleep by 8:30 PM.

Wednesday April, 30

Manzanita Campground, Sedona

The drive from the Grand Canyon to Sedona passes right by the best preserved Meteor Crater in the world. That is, if “right by” means 30 miles out of the way each way. No matter, once Sona and I saw the billboard for the crater, we were too curious to pass up the opportunity.

On the way to the crater, digital highway signs warned of high winds for the next 20 miles. They weren’t joking. We were nearly blown off the highway, and then, once we reached the crater, had some scary moments where it felt like we’d be lifted right and pushed into the void. We found the sign on the way into the crater visitor’s center stating that an informative movie showing on a “modern indoor movie theater” played periodically. Finally, a “modern” movie theater!

All jokes and dangerous winds aside, the trip to the Meteor Crater was well worth the trip. The museum was nice. The architecture of the visitor center was very impressive. The tour guide, Eduardo, was very funny and informative. Finally, the crater was very impressive.

The next stop on the short trip to Sedona that took nearly six hours was a quaint little resort. They had creek side cabins and a small café with an excellent buffalo burger sandwich. We thought about springing the $190 to stay for the night, but then passed it up for the much more rustic Manzanita Campground down the road. At only $18 a night, how can you beat that deal?
Eventually…we made it to Sedona. Sedona turned out to be a lot nicer than I expected. I had heard about all the spiritual vortex tours and psychic readers that are synonymous with the place. They aren’t as obtrusive as I expected. The surrounding views and friendliness of the place definitely makes it worth a visit.

We started our tour with a stop at the Visitor’s Center. Sona had been waiting almost 24 hours for her Grand Canyon hike victory ice cream so we checked that off the list too. The next stop was the Church of the Holy Cross. This was for both the views from and the views of the church itself. This was one of the coolest churches I’d ever seen in my life. The architecture was so unique and beautiful, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

The next stop was the regional airport. They have an observation point to watch sunsets from. We were so exhausted from all the travelling, we took the opportunity to zone out in the car before heading out into the chilly wind. Supposedly, the rock formations surrounding Sedona change colors as the sun sets. We didn’t really see this, but took in the still beautiful and impressive sunset.

We headed back to Manzanita Campground with wine in hand. We got a nice fire going and spent the rest of the night toasting our travels and telling stories.

Thursday May, 1Sedona – Phoenix – Atlanta

Napa Valley, California

2008-03-16T20:05:00.003-04:00

Sona and I had a great time exploring the following six wineries on in Napa Valley on Saturday. We did tastings at each. To save ourselves any trouble driving around Napa after all those sips (that add up fast) we signed up with Napa Winery Shuttle.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.alik1cgi&x=0&y=-7bvph9

Hagafen

This place was small and very friendly with great wines. The tasting was free thanks to our driver Carl's connections.

Black Stallion

This place had less friendly employees, but was beautifully designed and fun to explore. The wine was very nice. A shared tasting cost us $5.

V. Sattui

Great gourmet deli and outdoor BBQ. Apparently one of the few wineries that can also sell food. (Napa county has a LOT of regulations on what businesses can and can't do.) We stuffed ourselves on a picnic so we didn't spend a lot of time doing a tasting here. The few tastes we had were OK, but nothing super.

Alpha Omega

Not open for more than a year, they are still building at this place. The people made up for the rough surroundings. Very nice folk and really good wine. This was the most expensive tasting at $10 per person.

Folie A Deux/Napa Cellers

We were fairly "wined out" when we arrived at our fifth tasting room. We still tried a few that were pretty good. The grounds here are nothing special.

Andretti

Started by the famous car racer, this place had the feel of old Italy. The wines were excellent, even after tasting all day, and the grounds were beautiful.

We had dinner at a fantastic Italian place called Uvo in downtown Napa. Our second night in the simply named Wine Valley Lodge was really pleasant.

I brought breakfast in on Sunday morning...

Chattanooga, Tennessee

2008-02-22T07:08:00.004-05:00

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.bb2reeyi&x=1&y=-eucnl1

I've only ever passed through Chattanooga, Tennessee. With not much planned for the weekend, Sona and I figured, why not check out Tennessee? It only took about two hours to get from Atlanta to Chattanooga. Our first stop was Ruby Falls on Lookout Mountain. The tour through the tunnel was very tame. It's an easy stroll that could have been much more exciting with a better guide. Our guide was fairly unentertaining. Finally arriving at Ruby Falls was nice. The music and lights are tasteful and fun.

We headed downtown for lunch at a brew pub. The service was OK, but the food was pretty good. Downtown Chattanooga is pretty nice. It's clean and easy to get around. The aquarium is there. It has some cool looking architecture, but has lost some of its lustre now that the Georgia Aquarium is open.

The next stop was the Incline Railway back on Lookout Mountain. We drove to the top of the mountain, following TomTom's directions. We ended up in a residential area that included the *upper* stop on the railway. It seemed kind of odd to drive to the top of the mountain and take the train down. It was a fun little ride though. Sona and I sat right in the front on the way down and stood in the front again on the way back. We had a great view both ways! The short ride was quite fun.

Our final stop was Rock City. We really didn't know what to expect at this over advertised tourist spot. Essentially it's some very manicured trails through some pretty interesting rock formations. Contrast this with the natural trails I typically explore on the weekends. The most interesting spot is "Lover's Leap".

Rock City has a bizarre side though. There's a cavern that has been outfitted with black light gnome dioramas. It's extremely weird. Sona and flew through this, hurrying by many tourists who had stopped to take photos. We were a bit weirded out as we left the park and headed back to Atlanta.

Soleil Restaurant Atlanta

2008-02-15T06:16:00.004-05:00

Sona and I had a lovely Valentine's Day together spite of having dinner at Soleil restaurant in Atlanta. I hadn't been to this Buckhead dinner place before, but won't go back. Parking was available and no valet which was a plus. It was downhill from there. Once we ordered, it took a very long time for us to get our soup and salad. The appetizers weren't bad, but the same quality would be easy to find just about anywhere. The entrées were a mess. My rib eye was chewy and grizzly and the au gratin potatoes were runny. At least the asparagus was decently cooked. Sona's filet cutlets weren't anywhere near cooked the way she ordered them. She had to send it back. Our deserts came. They brought Sona the wrong one. Again she had to wait. On the way out they gave Sona a long stemmed rose, which was nice, but the gesture seemed trite after the poor service and quality of food. Even if this place had been spectacular, it was way overpriced. For the experience we had, it felt like highway robbery. Don't go to Soleil in Atlanta.

Yosemite National Park, California

2008-02-06T19:53:00.000-05:00

Photos...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.c0iyej6i&x=1&y=37rcu5

Sona and I had a great time exploring the Yosemite National Park in California. It's everything that you've heard and more!

Cochran Shoals Trail

2008-01-31T19:31:00.001-05:00

Photos...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.6q2c4jru&x=0&y=-fo45f1

Sona and I had a great time exploring the Cochran Shoals Trail in northwest Atlanta. We got a little turned around a few times. That made the trail all that much more fun. Especially when we found a fallen tree that was outfitted with some boards to make a bridge. Having the Dobbins Air Force Base near by made for dome fun airplane watching too. The trail is also mountain bike friendly.

Radiant Party 2008

2008-01-31T19:31:00.000-05:00

The Radiant Systems 2008 kick off party was fantastic. Sona dressed in a beautiful saree that she brought back from India. We had food, wine, and tons of fun.
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Salt Lake City continued...

2008-01-05T08:38:00.000-05:00

The crew returned to the hotel much sooner than I expected. The weather was really bad and they closed the mountain road. It looks like I picked a good day to be sick. After spending most of the rest of day in bed, I finally left with the crew for Red Iguana. It's a highly recommended Mexican restaurant in Salt Lake City. The wait was long, over an hour. But the food and service were worth it. The difference in the wait staff from Hoppers was night and day. We soon returned to La Quinta and had our latest night yet with everyone turning in around ten.

Monday
Bryan, Brandon and I woke up to a call from John informing us that the road to the ski resort was closed. We slept in a little later than usual and had a late breakfast. We checked the road conditions again. Still bad. We relaxed for a few more hours and eventually the roads were clear enough for us to head out. We got a late and shaky start. Bryan and Brandon hit the blues at the top of the mountain. They had some rough conditions including having their masks immediately freez up. Brandon gave up after one run and headed to the spa. I don't blame him. It was about 8 degrees outside. Bryan did a few more runs. In the meantime, I tried to get over my cold on the green runs. Since snowmobiling was cancelled, Tyler and John were able to join me for a few runs. John and Tyler did great for newbies. John (like Brandon and Bryan) had some issues with his goggles and had to sit out a couple runs. Beat from the weather, we all headed back to La Quinta to get some pre-New Year's Eve rest. Bryan took care of finding us a good sushi restarant to have the final meal of 2007. The place was casual and good with some of the best edemame any of us had ever had. Afterwards, we headed to downtown for some bar hopping. It was cooooooold! Really cold. I'm not sure how how all those girls were surviving in their skimpy little dresses. Seriously. We started out at a place called The Red Room. It's one of those communist-leader-themed restaurants that for some reason have become popular in the past few years. It's a good place for girls silly enogh to wear a short-sleaved, short-length dress in 8 degree weather I guess. We had one round of drinks there. (I abstained since I was the designated driver.). We moved on to a little dive bar, but quickly moved on when we found that they only served beer. The next spot was one of the all-time weirdest place I've ever been in my life. It was called Monk's Jazz Club. It was underground and down a narrow hallway. The music was some strange reggae mix. The people were just downright strange. Complete with some weird woman who seemed to keep taking pictures of Brandon, Bryan, and I. It was getting close to midnight and I wanted to spend it in a half-way decent place. We headed a few blocks away to a place called Port 'o Call. It was your standard dance floor / bar / pool hall. We had a good time bringing in the New Year in good company and a so-so cover band. :)

Tuesday
Ther first day of the new year! Scott, Nicole, and I were the only ones up for skiing. I took the trusty Camry up to the mountain and met up with the Hughes. We had spectacular weather. Blue skies, very little wind, and no snow. It was even warm enough in the middle of the day for us to shed a layer of clothing. We took the ski tunnel over to the Mineral Basin and skied accross to Alta. Alta was great! Wide open green and blue runs all over the mountain. Plus, there are no snowboarders. We tied ourselves out with a full day of skiing and returned to Snowbird center via the now-borring Chipps Run. I now finally had a chance to give Scott and Nicole their Christmas presents. I didn't realize it when I bought them, but I ended up getting them four sophomore rock and roll albums. None of which either of them had. It was now time to leave the Hughes'and join the rest of the crew back at La Quinta.

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Snowbird, Salt Lake City, Utah 2007

2007-12-30T15:03:00.001-05:00

Sunday
Last night I started getting a sore throught. This morning I'm too sick to ski.

Saturday
Today was a MUCH better day for me on the slopes. The crew and I got up early and arrived at Snowbird in time to be some of the first on the snow. I had some hot chocolate at the Forklift restaurant and was ready to go. Today's plan was to take Snowbird's one-of-a-kind ski tunnel to the other side of the mountain. The mineral basin is there and had lots of green runs for me to try and recover my skills. I skiied on my own for a while really getting my skills back, but a little lonely. Luckily Scott and Nicole spotted me from a chairlift. We spent the rest of the morning skiing down Chipp's Run to join everyone for lunch at Rendevouz.

Friday
Today was a rough day. No problems with the flight. We made it right to Snowbird after landing too. TomTom took us right there. We had a quick lunch at Birdfeeder, standing out in the cold. We didn't realize that there was a sit down cafeteria immediately below us. We put on our gear and did a quick run on the bunny slope. No problems there. Just required navigating around all the falling beginners. We the took the Tram to the top of the mountain. They packed more people in the tram than I thought possible. It was rather uncomfortable. A few people were screaming that there was no more room. It was not a good experience. The next time around we took the Peruvian Express, a four seater lift which was much more comfortable. The tram is definitely overrated. I had a really tough time with the blue run (Chipps Run) on the way down. This was made worse by the fact that we accidently took a double-black diamond for one small portion. I took so long to get down the run that Bryan and Brandon went ahead to the next run without me, which was fine. I appreciated that they waited as long as they did. I took a break and spent the next hour or so exploring some of the various green (beginner) runs on the east side of the mountain. Eventually, I was completely spent. John and Tyler arrived at the resort soon after looking good in their shiny new ski equipment. Brandon and Brian finished up their riding for the day and we all loaded up the car to head to the La Quinta. We all took some quick rest, cleaned up, and headed out to Rocky Mountain Pizza and Pasta. Good food, ample portions, and good times. Later, we were all asleep by nine.

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Christmas 2007

2007-12-27T16:31:00.001-05:00

Photos...
http://picasaweb.google.com/justindomnitz/2007_1224ChristmasTybee http://picasaweb.google.com/justindomnitz/2007_1220OatlandZoo

Christmas in Tybee Island, Georgia was fantastic again this year. Rob, Jeanne, Mom, Dad and I all had a great time relaxing and enjoying the holiday. The first day was great fun exploring the Oatland Island Nature Center. It was pouring rain, but we still had a great time checking out the animals. The wolves were especially cool to see.

Sunday Jeanne and I did an island / beach jog. We ran by an older man who had us laughing when he said, "I'm jogging too, just a little slower." We spent the afternoon window shopping in Savannah, drinking margharitas. We fished off the day eating Thai food on the island.

Monday was Christmas Eve which is "cookie day" in the Domnitz household. Mom and Jeanne spend the day making the most wonderful goodies for all of us to munch on. Rob and I had an adventure at the island barber shop where we were offered beer and fruit while we waited. We both left a little weirded out and had octopus bracelets to boot!

Tuesday was Christmas and a time for gift exchange and the wonderful feast that Mom does every year. Regretfully, I had to leave and head back to Atlanta after dinner. The rain was some of the worst I've ever driven through for the first three hours. I did make it home safe and sound though.

Introducing Justin TV!

2007-12-23T10:52:00.000-05:00

I've posted all of my home videos of the last seven years (since going digital) on YouTube. Check them out at the following site.

http://www.youtube.com/justindomnitz

Check back often for new videos!

Amicolola Falls, Georgia

2007-12-19T22:26:00.000-05:00

Aseta, Bryan, Sona and I had a great time hiking the Amicolola Falls in North Georgia this past weekend. Brrrrrr! It was cold. We even saw a few snow flurries!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.b7ls2vcy&x=1&y=-3xj5kj

Stone Mountain, Georgia

2007-12-10T22:09:00.001-05:00

What a hike! Over seven miles up and down and around...

Photos...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.2ldoxs1e&x=1&y=-egtp3p

White Elephant 2007

2007-12-10T22:06:00.000-05:00

Good times! Good times!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.6515k88i&x=1&y=-ekfd4e

San Francisco, California

2007-12-05T21:59:00.000-05:00

Sona and I had a great time in San Francisco last weekend.

Here's our itinerary...

Day 1
Fisherman's Warf
Pier 39 (Sea Lions)
Chinatown (Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory)
Cable Car to Nob Hill & Russian Hill
Grace Cathedral
Masonic Temple
Union Square (Macy's Christmas Display)
Tonga Night Club

Day 2
Golden Gate Bridge
San Francisco Hiking Trail
Exploratorium

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.6xob8qje&x=1&y=-sufrio

Boston, Massachusettes

2007-11-25T22:30:00.000-05:00

Kristin was right! Boston is great. But, cold!

Photos...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.8rqj3qei&x=1&y=b260ye

India Videos

2007-11-21T19:06:00.000-05:00

It's been almost three years since my adventure in India. I've decided to post the video of my friend Suresh's wedding (which was the main reason for my trip) on YouTube.

Here's the one with me dancing on the streets of Hyderabad (you'll see me after about 20 seconds)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0jr4jqp2Wc

Here are the rest in chronological order (each video is about 5 minutes long)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhyCjZXsWME

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS9eKdL9Vjo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au34SzggAQs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9a03wE23Fg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzxgOcueeyY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QESCSY0QfRI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTUsYWa_Cmo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SozEBbSiG7w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qPirV9NSWQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjGrSWHBSOE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CyzvBGiX8E

Halloween 2007

2007-10-28T20:15:00.001-04:00

Great Halloween party this year! Thanks to everyone for coming. See you soon for the holiday party!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.95a2r2cy&x=1&y=-d9vukh

South Carolina Mountains

2007-10-13T06:38:00.000-04:00

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.4gkcvxeq&x=1&y=kxy3sf

Lindsay and I headed to the South Carolina mountains this weekend. We stopped by the Pumpkintown Festival on Saturday and the Fall for Greenville Festival on Sunday.

Peru

2007-09-20T19:53:00.000-04:00

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.4fsw8sjm&x=1&y=-202b93

Rafting photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.4fdauxre&x=1&y=vcs25n

September 17, 2007

A far as adventures go, Peru is off to a slow start. I left Atlanta with a bit of a head cold - not ideal. I´m feeling much better now. Three relatively uneventful plane flights brought me to Lima. Mary and I met up in Miami. We did have a bit of drama in Lima when Mary’s bag went missing. We still haven’t tracked it down. We filed a lost bag report where a lady named Tatiana was very helpful. We took a taxi to Hotel Estefan where we found out, thankfully, our plane to Juliaca the next day wasn’t until the afternoon. We slept in a bet, had a breakfast of toast and jam and met some of our fellow travelers - all very interesting people. We headed back to the airport in the tour bus - this time, seeing some nicer parts of Lima. The weather was overcast. You could see that the buildings were bright colors, but without the sun, there was no shine to Lima. (The view from our room was not very pleasant.) We saw the coast and some shops.
Back at the airport Mary and I headed back to the Avianca and American Airlines offices to see if we could track down her bag. They were of no help. I got quite upset at the American Airlines representative and expectantly the more upset I got, the more helpful he became. This still didn’t reap any benefits. We’ll just have to check in again later.
Mary and I made some attempts at calling back to the US to contact her insurance company. No luck there either. Thankfully, while all this was going on, a weird rash that had appeared on my hands earlier went away. We gave up, had lunch, chatted a bit more with our new travel companions and boarded our last plane (for a while) to Juliaca.
September 18, 2007
The past 24 hours have been some of the toughest on any adventure I’ve ever been on. Upon arriving in Juliaca, several of our travel companions noted how they could immediately feel the affects of the thinner air. By contrast, I was almost over my cold and feeling good. I really couldn’t feel much affects from the altitude. The drive to Puno was nice. The downside was that our guide didn’t know the answers to any of the questions that we asked. He also didn’t offer any information about the area we were traveling to. Like in Tanzania a year ago, I augmented the guide’s bits of information with narratives from my trusty Lonely Planet.
The Hotel Italia in Puno was nicer than Estefan's in Lima. The city center is a short walk away. We had a fantastic dinner and returned to the hotel for some much needed rest. This was when the challenge began. I fell into some fitful sleep and woke up around 3 AM. I went to the restroom and felt completely sick all over - everything started to hurt. I began to have trouble seeing and was getting cold sweats. I immediately sat down. I thought it was some kind of intestinal trouble, but it turned out to be altitude sickness.
I’m not taking Diamox like I did in Kilimanjaro because I have some annoying side affects. Going from sea level in Lima to 4000 meters in Puno in one day is also something I’ve never done.
Eventually, the sick feeling passed, but it did scare me quite a bit. When I returned to bed, Mary (who I’m sharing a room with) was also awake and said she was ill too. We both decided that we needed to be very careful getting out of bed and especially going downstairs to breakfast the next morning.
We woke up a few hours later, both still feeling the affects of altitude sickness. I had a splitting headache. We tried to put down as much breakfast as possible. I began to feel better, but Mary seemed to be getting worse. Determined, we took the cycle rickshaws to the port to take the boat to Taquile Island on Lake Titicaca for a hike and lunch. The boat ride was very smooth, but long. Three hours. Once you see the start of Lake Titicaca, it all pretty much looks the same from there.
Mary still wasn’t feeling well, but it seemed that I was recovering from my cold, my headache, and the altitude sickness. Once we arrived at the island Mary became even sicker. I did my best to take care of her. We slowly made it up the path to a level spot when our now (and much better) tour guide Henry told some excellent stories about the history of the Lake and the Incas. Mary wasn’t up for lunch. This was too bad because it was fantastic grilled trout with potatoes and vegetable soup.
September 19, 2007
After lunch we had a bit of a hike back to the boat via a traverse. Mary was still ill, but was a trooper. She made the trek back in good time. We arrived at the Amantani Island where we met our home stay family. Or hostess was Norma and she seemed very sweet. Because Mary was ill, Henry arranged for us to stay low on the mountain.
At the house we met the patriarch of the family, Rufino. He was the grandfather, the most friendly, and most talkative of the group. We put Mary to bed and he brought her some local illness remedies. We weren’t sure what she was eating, but Rufino was confident it would help. I wanted to continue my recovery from the sickness earlier in the day so I skipped the trek to the top of the island. Instead, I chatted with Rufino. I understood almost everything we talked about from family matters to local island politics. We also watched the sun set behind the mountain. It was pretty, but probably would have been more so without the clouds.
I relaxed a bit and then woke Mary up for dinner. It was a very interesting feast. The soup appetizer was nice. The entrée was made up of sour cucumbers, boiled yams, potatoes, and oka (a local vegetable). There was also boiled cheese which I found the hardest to put down. It was incredibly salty. This was made even more of a challenge because Mary gave me hers as well.
After dinner Mary and I gave our gifts to the family. We had brought rice, sugar, and pasta plus oranges and bananas from the port market. They were a little excited, but I think expecting this. They were not expecting the toys that I brought. Crayons, a 3'D puzzle, and a video game. With no computer literacy, they had trouble understanding the video game, but were very excited and intrigued. Mary later translated the video game instructions into Spanish using the dictionary that she brought.
After dinner they dressed me in traditional island clothing. Mary headed back to sleep. I left with Norma for the fiesta. I chatted a bit with some other tourists from different tour companies. The rest of our crew joined shortly after. The party was tons of fun. this was one of the moments that makes the whole trip worth while. Norma and I danced quite a bit. I tried to show her some "American¨moves which she thought were very funny. I even bought her a Coke. We all took tons of photos - some great ones of the group. We also had fun making jokes about how we were at the highest disco in the world at 4000 meters! The walk back to the house was very pleasant with a stunning view of the moon and stars. There was also some very interesting and beautiful looking heat lighting on the lake horizon. None of the locals could give me a good explanation, just saying it was a storm. I think it might be something that is unique to this area as I’ve never seen anything quite like it before.
The beds were very comfortable and warm. Plus, I wore my long underwear. I still had a bit of trouble falling asleep. At one point I had to get up to go pee, which wasn’t fun, as I had to put my boots back on. It was very cold outside. We were very lucky though as we were in the only home stay house that had a sit down flush toilet.
I had another rude awaking at three in the morning when I woke up with an absolutely forehead splitting headache. I rolled over, grabbed some ibuprofen and some water and hopped for the best. I somehow managed to fall back asleep. When I woke in sunshine at about 645 AM, I was feeling a bit better, but not 100%. At about 700 AM, went to freshen up which was the same time that breakfast was ready. This meant that I caused delays in our departure. Mary wasn’t too happy about this, but whatyougonnado?
We said bye to our hosts and left on our motorboat under overcast skies. We’re about an hour into our ride on the way to the reed islands. Later today the plan is to further explore Puno. Mary is getting more rest. I am about to do the same.
September 20, 2007
Observations about Peru…1. They do not take any American dollar bills that have any tears or marks. They are completely neurotic about this. 2. In smaller buses, luggage goes in a rack on the top. If it’s raining, your bag gets soaked. (Thankfully this hasn’t happened yet.) 3. The ´C´ in the shower is for ´caliente´...usually. 4. 99% of the buildings are unfinished and an eye sore. This is because a building is only taxed when it is finished. This way, no one pays taxes. 5. ATM machines give dollar bills...sometimes. 6. Potatoes are very small here.
Mary and I took a tour to Sillustani after returning to Puno yesterday. This was our first experience with Peruvian rain and wind. The ruins were nice to see and the little trek was good exercise. The weather made it a bit cold and uncomfortable. We had dressed for it though and managed fine. We hoped to stop at a festival on the way back, but it had closed. We did see two beautiful rainbows on the return.
Dinner was at another restaurant on Lima Rd. last night. This time I tried the guinea pig. That was a mistake. It’s incredibly bony and greasy. I’m sticking with alpaca from now on.
Mary and I did some shopping and videotaping on the way back to the hotel. I bought a couple sweaters and some other gifts. Mary did the same.
The night brought another horrible headache. This time, thankfully, not as bad as the previous night’s. I found myself thinking ¨what the hell am I am doing here?¨, but it passed. This morning we are on a tour bus going from Puno to Cuzco with some site seeing.
September 21, 2007
Last night was my first good night’s sleep since leaving Lima. I feel great! We had a fantastic day touring the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Our tour guide Roberto is very knowledgeable and a great storyteller. The day was filled with lots of ¨Japanese photo stops¨. That’s what I call getting off the bus and back on again quickly, only to take a photo. The scenery was nice though - much better than the previous day. After passing through Juliaca, I was really worried about what I had gotten myself into. Juliaca was one of the ugliest, most rundown cities I’ve ever seen in all of my many travels.
The scenery in the Sacred Valley was beautiful. The ruins were much more impressive and inspiring than I thought they would be. We did make one stop that I didn’t enjoy. The GAP women’s weaving project. When our tour guide said that there was a program designed to teach the wives of porters useful skills, I didn’t expect them to be taught 800 year old practices.
September 22, 2007
We are at our first camp (Wayllabamba) on the Inca trail tonight. The hike was relatively easy today compared with a lot I’ve done in the past. The scenery was beautiful though. The mountains here are really quite stunning. Our lunch stop was right next to the Urubamba River. Stunningly beautiful. I’m comparing everything to the Kilimanjaro trek I did last year. The lunches at Kili were sack lunches. The lunches here are freshly cooked and hot. They even put a dinning tent up for us. At Kili we just popped a squat wherever. They have flush toilets here. Kili just had long drops. At Kili I had my own tent. Here I’m sharing one with Mary. The company will be nice and the tent will also be warmer.
The trail so far is actually used by local farmers. Along the way we had to step over lots of cow and donkey dung. We passed a huge bull on the trail at one point. Donkeys later. The highlight of the wildlife viewing was definitely the largest and tiniest humming birds. Ironically, they live in the same part of the world! We also saw countless dogs, chickens, and even kittens.
Everyone is having fun, joking and laughing at each other. We’ve all gotten to know each other really well after almost a week together. Mary does seem to lead the effort with jokes about me though! One of the funniest lines of the day was when Tony tried to pass a joke over Alyssa. She wasn't listening. Her husband Rob asked her to turn around. She said, "so explain to me why you're an idiot." I thought that was one of the funniest lines I've ever heard.
Now that we are on the Inca Trail, we have some new people with us. There is a French couple that is from an island near Madagascar (Le Reunion). A couple from Sweden. A couple from Slovenia and Peru. It has been lots of fun getting to know all of the new people.
Another difference from Kili is that, on the Inca Trail, there are vendors selling drinks, snacks, and even shoe repair! One of the vendors was a girl named Ada. I enjoyed speaking Spanish with her. My Spanish skills have definitely improved since coming here. I gave both Ada and the artist that I bought the painting from one of my cards. It will be fun to hear from them.
Yesterday, staying in Ollantaytambo was really fun. The hotel had a garden setup that was very nice to spend time in. Mary and I were on the first floor. The second floor was incredibly creaky. We heard all sorts of noise all the way up until falling asleep. The same noises woke us in the morning.
Earlier yesterday evening we all had fun in a European style cafe complete with bad service. It was a very nice piece of much needed civilization. Dinner was at Mayapata Pizzeria and was fantastic. Mary led the way once again with funny accounts about me - especially about a purchase I had made earlier. The funniest comment was when Julie suggested that it would also keep me warm later.
Tonight is very relaxing. The guides are playing soccer with the local children. Everyone is relaxing, chatting, writing postcards or reading. Dinner is in a short while. I'm sure we'll all be sleeping soon after.
September 23, 2007
Today was our toughest trekking day. The next two are supposed to be a lot less strenuous. We left camp at 7am, which meant that we had to get up at 5:30am. As it seems is typical with me, I took time getting my gear packed back up. I was the last to sit down for breakfast. It was OK though. We all left camp for the hike together.
The hike was definitely reminiscent of many of the days on Kili. Especially after we went over the pass and had the knee-jarring hike all the way (not quite) back down. The whole crew did really well. The break at the top of Dead Woman's Pass was really nice. We cheered everyone as they arrived. We took a really excellent group photo before leaving.
It poured in camp during lunch. It seems to have stopped now. Everyone is trying to snooze in their tents. Instead, the porters are tying down the tents and making quite a racket.
I continue, thankfully, to be in good health. I've got a couple spots on my heals where I think blisters are forming. Definitely manageable for now. I will likely be very sore tomorrow though.
September 24, 2007
Today was our third largest, but not most difficult day of trekking. The best part of today was seeing all of the ruins. The folks who take the train to Machu Picchu are truly missing out on some remarkable sites. The only down side to the day was that we were either in the clouds or under an overcast until the near very end. The good news was that this meant that it never really got too hot or too cold all day. This was also tons better than the pouring rain and thunder / lightning we had the night before. I took some fantastic shots of the ruins. I've also got some great ones with my RADS / BP banner to share with the folks back home. The local guides were very happy that I included the Peru flag in my banner.
At this final camp, Winaywayna, there is the option to pay for a hot shower. I'm not going to bother as it's a lot of trouble to get there from our tent site. All my clothes are dirty anyway. I really am wishing that I had brought my sandals. They wouldn't have been useful on Kili and, of course, not on Rainier. Here they would have been great at camp.
The folks on this trip are really great. It's amazing that after eight straight days together, no one is fighting. Everyone seems to genuinely like each other. We are all having a great time. Even the French folks from Reunion Island have warmed up. I'm trying to learn some French as one of the two (their names are Amelie and Paschal) doesn't speak any English or Spanish.
September 25, 2007
I spent four days without a toilet with a seat and some of the most disgusting toilets ever. I woke up progressively earlier each morning. Culminating in today's 3:45am wake up call. Each night, I slept in the middle of the wilderness with nothing but a bit of thin layer of plastic between me and all the elements of nature. It was all worth it. I conquered the Inca Trail.
The morning started with a bit of comedy. Those who know me well know I like to give myself a little extra time in the morning. To that end, I set both my alarms for 3:30am even though the official wakeup call wasn't until 3:45am. Apparently, both Mary and I slept through one of them. While it didn't wake either of us up, it did wake up one of our neighbors, Mike. He was sure to give me a hard time the rest of the trip.
The early wake up was worth it. We took off at a frenetic pace. Mike and Mary were the first two hikers through the Sun Gate. I was probably number 20 or so. We had a few hikers cut in front of us, which they weren't supposed to do. No matter.
At the Sun Gate we had reached our highest point for the day. We took a nice long break. Mary broke out her Kit Kats and M&Ms. We pigged out on our snack and Mary's chocolates. We arrived at what was supposed to be the best view of Machu Picchu. We saw nothing but clouds below. We sat down on our ponchos and waited. Occasionally we would all blow three times - this is a superstition in Peru. As if our guide, Roberto, had ordered it himself, the mist slowly began to clear. The view can't be fairly described in words and the photos I'm sure won't do it justice. I didn't think that I would be as impressed with Machu Picchu as I was. It was just beautiful. We took lots of time taking scenic and group photos. Then, after a quick trip to the nicest and cleanest (pay) toilet we'd seen in 4 days, Roberto gave us an excellent walking tour. We learned more about the history of Machu Picchu and the Incas.
We had to decide whether we wanted to hike another mountain (the big one behind the ruins in all the Machu Picchu photos) or head down to the town to relax or go to the hot springs (Aguas Calientes). Mary, Rob, and Mike decided to try for the hike. Alyssa, Kate, Tony, and I decided to head to the springs. After several near head on collisions on the town bus, we made it back to our bags, got our bathing suits, and headed up to the springs at the top of the small town.
The springs were actually really nice. We got some tips moving from pool to pool from one of the locals who was their as a treatment for her high blood pressure. Paschal and Amelie joined shortly. After the springs, we all had a great lunch. (I had tropical pizza.) Tony, Mary, and I decided to eat at the restaurant next store. We had an uncomfortable moment when the waitress asked us to go inside. We eventually argued are way into staying on the patio. All was right with the world. We were having a tasty lunch, the train was going by, and it was raining slightly, but we were dry. Incidentally, there were no cars in the town at all. Seems you must take either the train or the bus into town.
It turned out that Mary was the only one willing to risk missing the train to the hike up to Wymawana. Rob and Mike both turned back. I would have done the same had I been with them. Everything worked out in the end. We were all together. We all had our belongings. No one had suffered any notable injuries. We were all just a bit sore. We boarded the train and played Yonker all the way back to Ollantaytambo. Rob and I were leading Mary and Alyssa by quite a margin, but they came back afterwards in the end. We didn't get to finish the round unfortunately and will have to get back to it later.
The coach ride back to the hotel in Cuzco showed us a beautiful sunset with some of the brightest yellows you've ever seen. Back at the hotel, things were rushed because of a relatively early dinner appointment. Many were aggravated, as there wasn't much hot water for showers. Dinner was at a kitschy buffet style restaurant complete with "traditional" Peruvian music and dancers. I made what turned out to be a very good decision by ordering from the a la carte menu. Several people got sick from the buffet the next day including poor Kate who had been one of the toughest travelers to that point. I was beat and turned in for the night. We had been awake since before 4am! At 1am, Mary came in with stories of some hijinks and laughter from the evening - including lots of conversation about how nice Julie's breasts were. I fell back asleep, but wasn't at risk for missing any of the previous night's details. I had plenty of stories recounted to me over the next 24 hours. Mary made a bit of noise taking a bath and moving around, but eventually the long day of conquering the Inca Trail and obligatory celebrations came to a quiet end.
September 27, 2007
Yesterday, I woke early while everyone was sleeping pne off. It was a productive morning of buying stamps and catching up online. It was our free day in Cuzco. Mary and Mike had booked rafting for the day. Others were doing city tours and horseback riding. Rafting was definitely my top choice of all the options. A bunch of us wanted to do paragliding, but the operator was in Brazil.
Mike, Mary and I got picked up from the hotel around 9:30. It was a pleasant hour and half drive to the river and rafting outfitter location. On the way we got to know our rafting companions from Denmark and Belgium. The girl from Denmark was saying how she always falls in when rafting. She reminded me of the foreign exchange student character from The Simpsons. Upon suiting up we met the other groups there to raft. They are some very nice university students from Israel.
We had our safety briefing and jumped in the rafts. The rafting was great. Not too challenging to be dangerous - I'm not the best rafter. But, challenging enough to still be a lot of fun. The scenery was beautiful with lots of Inca terraces covering the mountains along the way. We also saw some ruins, mostly of an old bridge and lots of livestock walking around. The water was cold - really cold. With no booties or gloves to with the wet suits, our hands and feet were quickly going numb. The most unenjoyable part of the day was a small trek we had to make along the river to avoid going through a class 3 rapid with armature rafters. We were all saying that we would have much rather taken our chances with the water than with the treacherous walk on the sharp and slippery rocks.
Everyone did fine on both the rafting and the trekking. Pieter (one of the two from Belgium) slipped a bit upon entering the water, but that was it. A bit numb from the cold water, we carried the raft on our heads and rushed into the sauna. It quickly warmed me to the core. I followed this with a nice hot shower. Lunch was an excellent chicken and rice lunch with ice cold Coca-Cola.
On the ride back to Cuzco, I finally finished Shantaram - book about one man's adventure in India. I'd been reading on and off since I was in the UK earlier this year.
We all met up for dinner later on. Mary and I were sad to hear that Kate had fallen ill from the previous night's dinner. It wasn't the same without her. We had a nice dinner in the square after going to see our rafting photos at the outfitters' office. After a great dinner where I discovered that Peruvian tortilla means rice and onions - not the flower variety I'm used to. After dinner, we went to some dive bar. We all proceeded to get tipsey on local beer. The conversation, of course, turned blue again. It was tons of fun.
Michael, Evelyn, and I were the first to leave. We got a taxi instead of walking the 10 or so blocks. The taxi driver made an illegal left turn to quickly get us home. I was very excited about having a CD-ROM with the rafting photos. I tried using the hotel computer to post them. I was a bit tipsy, the computer was slow and in Spanish. I was competent enough to email a couple photos back home, but not more.
Back in the room, Mary returned. We were both tipsily trying to pack everything up again. Eventually, I passed out. I woke up at 2:30am to see that the light was still on. Mary had passed out reading the jungle itinerary. I asked her where she was going to sleep. She turned off the light. Thus ended our last night in Cuzco.
September 28, 2007
Thursday morning we headed to Cuzco airport to catch the plane to the jungle - a city called Puerto Mayallto. Upon arriving, as we saw in the Juliaca airport, they had local performers at baggage claim. This time it was some scantily clad boys and girls performing a local dance. Contrived, but not completely unentertaining.
The first thing you notice upon arriving is the smoke. It's caused by all of the slash and burn that the farmers do here, Bolivia, and Brazil this time of year. It's the dry season and the only time this method of clearing will work.
We had a short bus ride to the Rainforest Expedition office where we left most of our gear in preparation for our canoe ride into the jungle. We stopped by a snake farm where I had my photo taken with a boa constrictor and an anaconda. We also saw some tarantulas in the roofing of the hut. The bus ride to the port led us past a few banana farms.
September 29, 2007
The powered canoe brought us to our Pasada Lodge. We were all breathing a bit hard from all the steps up from the lake. The lodge was really nice - complete with clean flush toilets, but no doors to the rooms. They give you lock box to lock your valuables in.
We had a quick rest and then headed into the jungle for a couple hour hike / tour. They have a tower that rises above the tree line you can climb. It wavers as you get up to the top. This scared a lot of our group. At the top, the view was spectacular. The best part of the tour was seeing a macaw fly a complete circle around the tower. Both Tony and I were in awe when we saw this. After the hike we had a tasty dinner complete with chocolate cake. We were getting up at 4am the next day so we all tucked under our mosquito nets and turned in for the night.
The early wake up call was so that we could get to the Oxbow Lake before it got too hot outside. To get there we had to take the powered canoe to another port in the Yamaopata river where we had a half hour hike a manually powered (with ore) boat on the lake. We saw tons of beautiful birds. A lot of the folks in our group were rally excited and ran off all the names. I was enjoying it too, but didn't make any notes of the birds we saw.
We parked the boat for a short while to see if we could see the giant otters that the lake is famous for. We entertained ourselves my fishing for piranha. I was excited to be the first to catch a fish. I became a minor celebrity with my fish, but then Michael caught a bigger one. The otters never showed, so we wrapped up our fun little trip to Oxbow lake. Back at the lodge we prepared for our hike to the macaw dry lick. The macaws had already stopped by for the day. The time waiting in the little hut was so exciting that I literally fell asleep in the oppressive heat. The Larium continues to give me weird dreams. I actually had a short dream about being in trouble with the FBI.
Sick of sitting in the heat and not seeing anything, some of us headed back to the lodge. On the way, our tour guide Luis showed us a huge tarantula. We also made note of the walking tree on the return. Lunch and a nap filled the rest of the afternoon. The day was capped with a short boat ride to the local shaman. We all thought it was crap, but had fun getting our faces painted and having samples of Para Para - a Viagra substitute...supposedly.
In the night, I'm pretty sure we had a visitor in our room. Probably a cat I hope. I also heard a girl scream in surprise at one point. I also woke up with the Aussies at 4am for their tour. Sleep still managed to be pretty good. Waking to the noises of the jungle is actually quite nice.
Today we traveled back to Lima and then home. Peru was great, but I have to say it was our travel companions that really made this trip awesome.

Doll Mountain Campground

2007-08-27T07:31:00.002-04:00

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.bvwxjp0a&x=1&y=-idjt9z

We had two last minute cancellations for the camping trip. Brandon fell ill and wasn't up for going. Jeff got a ticket to the Georgia game and opted for that adventure instead. That made the crew Lindsay, Bryan, John, Tyler, and me. This was Lindsay's first time camping so we were all excited for her.

The afternoon drive started benign enough. I had programmed the coordinates of the camp site into the GPS. Getting there was, in theory, going to be foolproof. Alas, that turned out not to be the case as the coordinates led us to a private residential area. No problem, there was a store nearby to ask directions. The only complication was that Tyler and John were in a separate car and we had lost sight of them. Eventually, with a bit of reasoning and a whole lot of luck. They ended up in front of us. Bryan honked his horn and tried everything he could to get Tyler's attention. Eventually we were able to pull up next to them, coordinated and then found our camp site.

It wasn't long before more comedy ensued. We were all putting up our tents and inflating our air mattresses when we heard a big rush of air, some rattling noises, and the shut off of one of the air pumps. John had accidentally vacuumed up a bunch of gravel with the mattress pump.

Not to be outdone, a short time later Bryan was putting the ice in the cooler and managed to put a couple holes in a beer can in the process. John selflessly grabbed the bear can and quickly drank the remnants of the beer. In true Gator fashion!

With camp set up, we had some free time. Bryan relaxed. John and Tyler took a walk. It was time for Lindsay to try out her new fishing poll. Once she had it assembled we realized a serious oversight. The "complete" kit did not contain any fishing line! Embarrassed, but determined, we headed to the closest store about 3 miles away. We picked up the fishing line and a stack of wood for the camp fire.

Now that we had all the gear, Lindsay and I headed down to the water. We sucked at casting that thing. Every other time the line would get tangled up. Several times, we had to cut the line and try again. Needless to say, we didn't catch anything.

With our fishing ventures over for the day, I broke out my new gas grill. I started cooking the noodles and chicken while Bryan and John attempted to start fires without matches. Eventually John and Bryan resorted to modern techniques and we had quite a nice fire going. I served up dinner. Tyler and John augmented the pasta and chicken with hotdogs. It was an eclectic, but very enjoyable feast.

We had fun telling stories and making smores by the camp fire. When we wrapped up the evening and got into our tents we all had a shock. It was probably close to 100 degrees with 99% humidity in the tents. We all laid there, on top of our sleeping bags, trying not to move. We were in for an uncomfortable night when we were visited by some comic relief. Out of the commotion of everyone settling into our tents we heard Tyler yell, "Don't touch me!". We were all feeling exactly the same way. We all laughed histerically. Eventually sleep came and it did cool off enough for us to cover up with our sleeping bags, but never zip up.

The highlight of the second day of camping was definitely the two hiking trails a few miles from camp. The Oak Ridge Nature Trail was an easy little jaunt. The Talking Rock Nature Trail was a much more challenging and fun hike. My favorite part was doing a trail run towards the end. Everyone did great.

Lindsay, Bryan, and I made another attempt at fishing. This time we took a much more strategic approach by first attempting to discover where the fish were. We threw bread crumbs in here and there, but still got no nibbles. Instead I served up the menu as planned - tuna and pasta.

Later, we all told ghost stories around the camp fire. It was a much cooler night so entering our tents was actually quite enjoyable this time around.

The second and last morning involved more whole wheat pancakes and canned fruit cooked by yours truly. We then packed up and, not without some sadness, left our trusty campsite and all of the very nice people behind.

Happy Hour

2007-08-23T22:03:00.000-04:00

Thursday night was a great time at Twist and Tavern in Buckhead. Everyone met for sushi and drinks and a great time socializing. Ryan and Sara were guests of honor as they have recently become engaged. Lots to celebrate!

Photos...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.4s9xfcxm&x=1&y=-1xtdal

Brad's Party

2007-08-18T22:05:00.000-04:00

Are you with E&Y or Brad's rock band? That was the question to ask at Brad's party in Tributary on Saturday. The party was a fraternity throw-back style party. Lots of folks from Georgia, Auburn, Florida playing Flip Cup and Wii.

Photos...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.7eldp6t6&x=1&y=-s8pq63

Destin, Florida

2007-08-12T11:05:00.000-04:00

Photos...
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August 12, 2007
Destin is like most beach resorts I've been to. How much fun you have is still all about who you're with. With Bryan, Brandon, and Tyler here, Destin is a blast. I flew us from PDK (in Atlanta) to DST (Destin) on Friday night. We took Falcon Aviation's Cessna 182. It's pretty much a 172 with a bigger engine and retractable landing gear. We received clearance to fly right over Atlanta's main airport (ATL) which was pretty cool. You could see jets taking off right underneath us. Tyler put me under the hood. I flew simulated instrument conditions all the way to the island. There were a few storms that ground needed to vector us around. We talked to a ground station the entire way - transitioning every few miles. It was night by the time we reached the island. Destin looked stunning with all the hotels lit up as we flew in. I overshot final quite a bit and had to make a quick S-turns to get back on track. There were some strong crosswinds, but my landing was perfect. I'm really looking forward to another flight tonight.

Arabia Mountain

2007-07-31T20:01:00.000-04:00

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.3vtihfmq&x=1&y=2s5sp2
Kristin and I went on another great hike in the South East part of metro Atlanta called Arabia Mountain. It tested our navigation skills a bit as there's a good portion of the trail isn't well marked. For the second time, we saw deer. See the photos!

New York, New York

2007-07-13T17:46:00.000-04:00

Photos...
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July 6, 2007
I almost regretted my decision to take the earlier flight. We got put into a traffic pattern over DC for about an hour. But, we have just landed safely. Through some intense turbulence too!
The Atlanta airport is a whole different animal on Friday nights. Filled with moms and holiday makers instead of business travelers. I think some of the people I saw had never been to an airport before!

I am waiting for Bryan to come pick me up now. For some reason, smelling saltwater when I get to NYC always surprises me. I guess it shouldn't considering Manhattan is an island!

July 7, 2007
Last night Bryan and I checked into the Sheratan a couple hours after my 10:30 arrival. We had passed an entrance with a long queue of good looking people on the way to the hotel. We figured that was the place to be and headed there. It was a really cool nightclub on the top two floors of a medium sized high rise (called Twentieth on Fifth).

The wait to get into the Empire State building observation deck wasn't as bad as everyone predicted. We went early and moved through the queue quickly. I am glad I finally got to see this amazing view on my third trip to NYC.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge was a lot of fun. The views of the city and the bridge itself were spectacular. The bridge is deceptively high up. On the return we saw our one and only movie star for the weekend. Famke Janssen from X-Men and Nip/Tuck walked right by us.

Here is our itinerary for day 1.
Empire State Building

Central Park
Metropolitan Museum of Art

WTC Site

Harbor Cruise

Battery Park

Wall Street

Brooklyn Bridge

Saw Famke Janssen

China Town

Times Square

July 8, 2007
Everyone predicted long lines at Balthazar's in SOHO, but we got right in. The food was very high quality, but nothing I can't find in Atlanta. Still very glad to have eaten there. One interesting thing was that there were playing cards stuck to the ceiling in several spots. Apparently these were left from a private party six years earlier when a magician somehow managed to throw them and have them.

Seeing the Yankees trounce the LA Angels 12 to zip was a blast. New Yorkers really have a love and pride for their baseball team. The stadium is a bit old fashioned compared with Atlanta's Turner Field. I guess that's why NYC is building a new one.

Here is our itinerary for day 2.
Breakfast at Balthazar's
SOHO

Greenwich Village

Columbus Circle

NY Yankees Vs. LA Angels at Yankee Stadium

Little Italy

Peachtree 10K Roadrace

2007-07-04T18:10:00.000-04:00

Happy Independence Day everyone!

John and I ran the Peachtree 10K Roadrace here in Atlanta. We had a blast! Our time wasn't too shabby at 1:12.

Photos...
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Burnt Hickory Loop

2007-07-01T19:38:00.000-04:00

Photos...

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Kristin and I did the five mile loop up and around Kennesaw Mountain today, just outside of the Atlanta Perimeter. We saw two young deer, which was the highlight of the very enjoyable hike.

30th Birthday Party

2007-06-26T20:21:00.000-04:00

Monday I turned 10,957 days old. In other words, I'm 30!

Saturday night I had one of my best parties ever. Lots of my family and close friends came to celebrate. We had an 'destination' theme which was lots of fun. As you can see from the photo, Bryan and I wore Indian style dresses.

Thank you everyone for the beautiful and sentimental gifts.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.abtjfvk6&x=1&y=-uben1j

Cozumel

2007-06-05T20:44:00.000-04:00

What a great time in Cozumel! Eight incredible dives in less than 48 hours. From left to right, me, Jeff, John, Bryan, Erik, Brandon, Scott, and Edmund.

Photos...
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Lake Lainier Memorial Day 2007

2007-05-28T20:55:00.000-04:00

Photos...
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We had a beautiful day at the lake with bits of drama mixed in here and there. We started out first thing in the morning. I piloted theboat out of dock and got us to a good spot for some wake boarding. Bryan tried wake boarding first, but didn't have much luck. I went second and did better than last time at the lake, but gave up afternot too long. Later, Brandon would get on and show us all up.

We had rented a jet ski too which was a lot of fun. Everyone took turns taking it out. You had to be careful though because they can get going pretty fast. You don't want to hit the water going 50 milesan hour.

We took a break for sandwiches and relaxing on one of the beaches. It was time to take the jet ski back, but John and Kate hadn't returned yet. We looked for them for a bit, but they had gotten themselves pretty lost. Eventually, we found each other and headed back into port to turn in the jet ski. The rental place wasn't too happy, but hey, everyone was OK, just a little poorer from the late fees.

The rest of the afternoon we spent tubing and relaxing on morebeaches. I tried my hand at some really fast speed boating, I think getting us air born at one point (not on purpose). Everyone managed to avoid really bad sunburn and there were no injuries to us or any ofthe rented equipment to report.

Crystal River Diving

2007-05-17T19:49:00.000-04:00

Photos...
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The green stuff on our backs and shoulders is duckweed.

Tybee Weekend / Mom's Birthday

2007-04-29T12:18:00.000-04:00

Photos...
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Mount Rainier Expedition

2007-04-22T11:35:00.000-04:00

Photos...
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April 15, 2007

In the “Posh” tent now with whole crew. They don’t call it “posh” because it’s luxurious. They call it “posh” because that was the name of the company that originally made it. The guides are great – Rachel and Brent. One more will join us for the summit attempt on the last day. The team is really strong. I’m the youngest student, but not the strongest for sure. The team is Fredrick from Tahoe, Dave from Indianapolis, Greg from Seattle, and Steve from California. We’ve been together since 6:30 AM on Saturday. We did the dear check and headed to Rainier National Park quickly. Alpine Ascents (the company guiding) has special permission to be on the mountain even though most of the park is closed due to the floods earlier this year. We put on our 60 lb packs and snow-shoed up to our first camp spot. It was a relatively short hike, but it was my first time in snowshoes and with that big of a pack. Arriving at camp was only the start of our work. We had to level the snow and put up tents. We had beautiful weather up to this point, but it turned nasty quick.

It got really cold, started snowing, and became very windy. We got the tents up, completed a few other chores, and headed into the posh tent for “Thanksgiving” dinner. We all told stories and had a great time. To travel light, we only brought three tents for seven of us. This meant that Dave, Fred, and I had to bunk in a small three-person tent. It was tight, but I was actually relatively comfortable and slept pretty well. I tried to pee in my pee bottle, but had a terrible time with that with two other gents in the tent. The snowstorm that came in was crazy. The wind tried to lift our tent several times. I fulfilled my job as a tent holder very well (from earlier in the night).

In the morning, the weather thankfully turned beautiful again. We moved to a small slope nearby and practiced the different methods for kicking steps in snow and using the ice axe. After a quick lunch we returned to camp to learn knots.

Afterwards we returned outside to learn how to put together our harnesses and rope up. That brings us to now…hot drinks and getting ready for dinner. Looks like pizza tonight. Very tired from today’s activities. Looking forward to getting some more good sleep tonight!

April 16, 2007

I’m a little worried that I’m eating my lunch goodie bag too quickly. We’ll see… Will try to ration more. Today is day three. We will probably have Fred join us in our tent again. Weather was good so he slept in the posh last night. Tonight the weather is absolutely horrible. It’s been windy and snowing all day. This morning we had great fun practicing self-arrests down some fairly steep slopes with our ice axes. I didn’t realize but you can self-arrest even with no ice axe – you use your hands and feet and it works surprisingly well. I was a bit scared of this at first, but actually found it really fun. Even the head first on stomach slide was cool. The biggest problem is that I got really wet from the snow. I’m having trouble drying out even now hours later.

We returned to the posh to warm up and have an informal Q&A. Afterwards we took a quick break and continued skills. This time we learned about setting anchors for crevasse rescue.

My big toes are hurting me like after the big Table Mountain hike last year. I’m going to try and sort this out tonight. I don’t want damage like last time.

The guys here are really cool. Everyone is well traveled and very successful. It seems we can talk about Microsoft and Google forever. I’m going to try and get a poker tournament going tonight.

I’m still healthy and having a great time. There are four more days to go and probably our hardest day (except for the summit day) tomorrow.

The iPod is working great – really glad I brought it.

April 17, 2007

Today was another really fun day. The weather continues to be horrible. This led to our decision to not move to Camp Muir today. We had a really great pancake breakfast. Since I didn’t bring a bowl for meals, I’ve been making use of my Nissan Stainless mug. It’s turned out to be excellent. For the pancakes, Brent and I invented a new delivery system. You slice them into strips and eat them with a spork out of the mug. It really works quite well.

After breakfast we headed to a nearby very steep slope. I was quite intimidated by it at first. I was even having trouble concentrating on the instruction while standing there. We broke up into groups to make anchors. Dave and I put together a very solid anchor made from pickets. We then proceeded with instruction on repelling, ascending a fixed line, and belaying. I find the whole thing tons of fun. In the end, I didn’t see the slope as intimidating at all. I even complimented our guides on the excellent instruction.

By the end, I was starving and out of energy from all the steep ascents. We returned to camp and the posh.

I devoured lunch and drank tons of water. Refreshed, we returned to the snowstorm outside. Brent dug a snow pit to determine avalanche conditions. It was interesting, but in the end, the lesson was that you really can’t be sure. Always err on the side of caution.

There are some unpleasant things about spending seven days on a mountain, of course. I haven’t shaved so I’m looking a bit grizzly. The worst part is going poop. You have to go in the latrine that we’ve built. This is basically a pit with a wall to block some wind and snow. When you’re done, you have to pick up your own poop and put it in a plastic bag called a “blue bag”. It is really disgusting, but it does keep the mountain sanitary for the next climber or hiker. It’s all part of the training and experience.

It’s a bit odd having gone as long as we have now without any contact or news from the outside world. Cell phones should work at the next camp. I will be able to call my folks and maybe even check my email. We’ll see.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a tough physical day. We’ll be snowshoeing and pulling sleds all the way to the next camp. Taking down and building a new camp is going to be tough.

With the weather the way it’s been – four days of almost non-stop snow of various types – it’s unlikely we’ll be able to summit on the last day. That’s disappointing, but still a great adventure. I may even try and come back this summer to attempt another summit. I’m still not 100% sure about doing Denali. It’s 21 days. That would be a good portion of my allowed time off from work. I definitely couldn’t do that AND go to China for the Olympics or Peru to do Macchu Picchu.

April 18, 2007

Today matches my record for the longest I’ve ever gone without a shower. Five days. I did that that previously on Kilimanjaro. Tomorrow I’ll pass that record. Boy do I stink!

It has been a tough day. I woke up feeling a cold coming on. Thankfully I seem to have beaten it before it took hold. My feet are also giving me trouble. I solved the big toe problem thankfully. Now it seems my feet can’t dry out. They feel like they are burning in spots. They become painful when I put pressure on them. This had to come on the day when were moving camp.

Tearing down camp was a lot harder than I expected. Dave and I had an especially hard time digging the dead-man anchors out (which were for the tent). We even got excited and high-fived when we thought we were done. It turned out we had several more to go.

Eventually we had everything packed and were hooked again to our sleds. We started hiking to Camp Muir, 400 feet higher up. Having our packs and pulling sleds was tough. We were all getting tired fast. The weather didn’t help either. It was snowing like crazy. We were in a complete white out. We finally made it to where Brent had fixed some lines for our scent up to Panorama Point. This would be the steepest part of our climb to the next camp. Brent checked for avalanche conditions and determined it was a no-go. This was better sweet. It meant that we couldn’t go to Muir today, but it also meant we didn’t have to pull our sleds and carry our packs up the steep slope any more.

We went down about a 100 yards to flat area and put up camp. This took a while, but camp looked even better once complete as we had learned a lot since the first day. I decided to stay in the tent to try and dry out my feet to see if that helped. The other guys are in the posh chatting. Brent was kind enough to come check on me and even take a look at my feet. I really hope they are feeling better by tomorrow. I’ll go back to the posh later for dinner. For now I’ll just chill and enjoy my hot tea.

April 19, 2007

We spent today practicing prussiking and crevasse recovery. We had our best weather yet. Blue skies and no snow. This evening we’re “socked in” as Brent would say. Visibility is about 100 feet and it’s snowing like crazy. The crevasse recovery was lots of fun. I volunteered to be “let down” into the simulated crevasse. It turned out that “let down” meant I would be jumping down a steep snow slope and jerked to a stop by the rope team. It was still great fun.

When it was my turn to arrest for the “jumper” I was surprised how tough it was. It really hurt when stopping them. It was even worse holding on while they dangled over the edge.

Two of our team left today. Fred decided he wanted to go get an injury he sustained self-arresting checked out by a doctor in town. This meant that Rachel to leave with him.

Tomorrow we will do a simulated summit attempt to Camp Muir. We’ll leave at daybreak, try to reach Camp Muir, and return to camp by 2:00 PM. This should put us back in Seattle by 8:00 PM. It will be nice to be able to check email and call family and friends on the way back into to town.

We’re turning in early now in preparation for tomorrow’s big day. I’m really looking forward to my first shower in seven days!

Seattle, Washington

2007-04-22T11:34:00.000-04:00

Photos...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.96izu6vq&x=1&y=-ydcsi2

I spent a day with my buddy Chirs in Seattle before heading to Rainier National Park. Here are the photos.

Powers Landing Trail

2007-04-08T20:15:00.000-04:00

Photos...
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Betws-y-Coed, Wales

2007-03-30T07:15:00.000-04:00

Photos...

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Londontown & Windsor Castle

2007-03-20T15:03:00.000-04:00

Me and one of the Royal Guards at Windsor Castle.

Photos...
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I've lost count of the number of times I've been to London now, but just like people say, London never gets old. There is always plenty to do in London. This time around Annie joined me for a lovely weekend. Instead of dropping 35 pounds for a round trip train ticket, we opted for a 10 pound return ticket on a coach (bus). It was great because they were doing construction on the train lines this weekend. We probably saved time and money. We stayed in the Club Quarters hotel in the Financial District as this was a very central location for all of our planned stops. The first stop was the TKTS booth in Leicester Square where (just like the one in NYC) they sell day-of show tickets for half price. Annie and I weren't sure which show to pick so we settled on Guys and Dolls. The show turned out to be fantastic. I recommend it to anyone looking for an upbeat, non-weird theatre show to see. After picking up the tickets, we headed to the National Gallery to see the Renoir exhibit. Annie's employer, Erst & Young, is a sponsor so our entry was free.

Itinerary
- Saturday
Renoir
Tate Modern
Guys & Dolls
Piccadilly Circus
- Sunday
Windsor Castle
Spitalfields Market

More to come...

Party @ Justin's!

2007-03-04T17:30:00.000-05:00

Photos...
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Edinburgh, Scotland

2007-02-26T13:31:00.000-05:00

Edinburgh antics!

Photos...
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February 25, 2007

Edinburgh, Scotland

With one free weekend left in the UK before heading back to the good ‘ole USA, I decided to head north to Edinburgh, Scotland. My good Birmingham buddy Annie joined me for the adventure.

Our journey started as most of mine do these days with a short train ride to the Birmingham International Airport. Annie knows lots of folks in Brum. We ran into her friend Jason on the train. He does cancer drug research. Arriving at the airport, we wished Jason well and were off to the Flybe check in counter.

We had a bit of a scare when they still had Annie on the reservation instead of her Chinese first same Danhe. Thankfully, the issue was only with her baggage check reservation. We grabbed a drink, relaxed, and started to discuss possible itineraries for the weekend.

Upon arriving in the Edinburg airport, the baggage claim was in chaos. There was a Scottish / Italian rugby match the next day and the Italians were at the airport in force. This would be a reoccurring them throughout our weekend. Italians were everywhere. We recovered our luggage and made our way to the city bus. In no time at all we ended up at the proper stop just a few blocks away from our hotel. It was cold and rainy and I had trouble orientating so we hopped in a cab to take us the rest of the way. We later found that the cab took us a bit out of the way, but getting to the hotel quickly was worth the few pounds, even if we were overcharged.

The hotel was nice. I had trouble figuring out how to turn the radiator on in my room. There was also a telephone constantly ringing in the room across the hall. Very annoying. With the radiator sorted and the front desk resetting the phone line, it was time to get a drink. Just a block away was a pleasant night club / bar called Cargo. The crowd was good looking and well behaved. Annie introduced me to a new drink, Malibu Rum and grapefruit juice. Our first night in Edinburgh was a resounding success.

The next day, we rose early and headed straight to Edinburgh Castle for some sight seeing. The Castle is really beautiful. Annie and I had a fun exploring the different walkways, views, and exhibitions. The highlight was a Scottish performer in traditional dress who, when having his photo taken with me, got a genuine scare out of me when he raised and pressed his thankfully dull but authentic fighting sword against my through. Annie and several other tourists got a fantastic photo at my expense.

The next stop was to see a colorful character outside the Castle raising money for a Leukemia charity. He was dressed in an actual Braveheart costume, painted face and all. He was great fun to talk to. The photos turned out great.

Across the street was the --- where you can see authentic Scottish garments (including kilts) being weaved. This wasn’t so exciting, but they did have some unique gifts here. I still didn’t buy anything though.

The Whiskey Exhibition across the street was quite nice. As part of your admission you receive a dram glass and a Whiskey tasting. I’ve never really tried Whiskey, but of course, it’s the biggest drink in Scotland. It’s nice, but still a taste I’ll have to work on. The exhibition featured some rather silly things such as a character in one of the videos being “transported” to the distillery through the drink. I think the goofy individual had an American accent. Not sure what to make of that. The next video had much better production and featured an interesting set of scale distillery models. Here you learn the difference between Grain Whiskey and Malt Whiskey. The majority of whiskeys are a blend of the two. This was followed with a theme park style ride depicting the history of whiskey in Scotland. It was not too impressive, but somewhat educational. The final part of the tour featured details on the “nosers” who determine the right blend of the whiskeys for the final product.

We followed the Royal Mile to Cannongate Road and then to Holyrood Park. Here they have their parliament building designed by an obviously ultra-modern architect, but not ultra-modern in a good way. Facing south we faced a much more attractive view, Holyrood Park with Arthur’s Seat at the top. Arther’s Seat is a small mountain (remnant of a volcano) that you can easily make your way up. Supposedly there is a way to the very tip top, but we couldn’t find it and neither could some of the other tourists we chatted with.

We changed our route slightly on the way back to the hotel so that we went down Princess Street. Princess Street is where all the nice shops and cafes are. Eventually we made it back to our cozy hotel for a nice afternoon nap.

Dressed for a night out, we headed to the bustling Victoria Road near the Castle. We found the restaurant we were looking for, The Grain Store, right away, but they were all booked up for the evening. They were very friendly, but regretted that they had no open seats available. This was the same story at the next three restaurants, but eventually we made it to the Green Doom Steakhouse. We quickly received our drinks, but it was another two hours before our dinner arrived. Annie and I noticed how long, but weren't completely annoyed as we were thouroughly enjoying each other's company. This was the best steak that I had yet had in the UK, but still overcooked and underspiced. You just can't get a good steak in the UK.

The next stop was the Espionage Night Club.

The next morning we made an early start for the Waverly Train Station to head up to North Berwick. I have a great uncle who has lived there for the past thirty years or so. I had met him when I was two, but obviously don’t remember. He’s an artist and a pottist. He picked both Annie and I up at the train station and drove us for the quick ride to his home in a farm area. Uncle Dave and Frances have a wonderful home surrounded by fields of produce and a view of Bass Rock and the North Berwick Castle. It was foggy and raining that morning, but I’m sure it looks spectacular when the weather is nice. We took a walk on the beach and returned for a warm bowl of Frances’ homemade soup. Dave threw some pots for us and poured us a couple drams of Scottish whiskey. Frances served a fantastic Dinner. We all shared stories, laughed, and talked about old times (not really for Annie and I, but for them). We really had a great time.
We made it back to Edinburgh International with plenty of time to spare. The trip back to Birmingham was uneventful except for my being a bit hungry. I passed up every chance I had for some dinner, thinking I would get something on the plane or at the Spar next to my suite in Birmingham. The sandwich choices on the plane where cheese and onion or tuna so a passed. I made it to the Spar five minutes before they closed, but they closed early so I was out of luck for the evening. These things happen in the UK, but rarely happen back home. Service here is just different.

What a great time in Edinburgh! I definitely hope to return for the music festival later this year.

Itinerary

Day 1

Drinks at Cargo

Day 2

Edinburgh Castle

Kilt Weaving

Whiskey Exhibition

Holyrood Park

Arthur’s Seat

Princess Street

Green Door Steakhouse

Espionage Night Club

Day 3

North Berwick

Bass Rock

Crystal Rock Beach

Traditional Scottish Sunday Roast

“Wee” Harbor

Dublin, Ireland

2007-02-17T12:34:00.000-05:00

Me at the Guinness Storehouse Gravity Bar with my pint of Guinness. It was actually really good! (Please ignore my hat-hair.)

Photos...
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This was my two-day itinerary. It worked well for me. I make note later of things I wish I had skipped so read on.

Day 1
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral
Guinness Store House
Smithfield Chimney Viewing Tower
Hop On / Hop Off Bus

Day 2
Kilmainhan Gaol
Phoenix Park
Dublin Zoo
Bram Stoker Dracula Museum
DART Train

Guinness Storehouse Bar – 12:15 PM
This place is great. It’s rare than I see an exhibition that excites me and / or is well done. The Guinness Storehouse here in Dublin is awesome! What a great time, even on my own. I’m at the restaurant now, just below the Gravity Bar (where I’ll be having my “free” pint of Guinness soon.) The stop at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral before this was, by comparison, utterly boring.

The trip into Dublin last night was uneventful. I love uneventful travel. Although I did have serious trouble understanding the Aircoach driver while he made the stop announcements. The Lansdown Hotel is really nice and a short walk from the City Centre. It has a quaint outside and traditional bar downstairs. The rooms have been recently renovated and are very modern and comfortable. This was a much better Expedia experience than in the Britainia at Manchester Airport.

Back at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, it was more interesting to see the tourists than the church. The group in front of me was quite annoying. It’s funny that everyone back in the States talks about how American tourists have such a bad reputation abroad, but I don’t see it. Even the worst American tourists I’ve come in contact with are better many others I’ve run across. The ones at the Cathedral (not Americans) were loud, they pushed everyone, and they didn’t queue. You’d think Saint Patrick’s was a rock concert! I saw the same thing at Warwick Castle the other week. Ridiculous!

This trip to Dublin is the first time I’ve invested in one of these “city passes” that is all inclusive. So far, it’s been great! Just the fact that I was able to skip the queue at the Guinness Storehouse and the Dublin Zoo was worth it. That probably saved me at least an hour and a half. The Hop On / Hop Off bus was cool too.

The Bram Stoker Dracula exhibit was a waste of time and effort. Skip this. If it wasn’t for the gentleman outside who gave me a 15 minute overview on the history of Stoker beforehand, it would have been a complete loss. This made up for it a little.

The National Botanical Gardens was the only stop on my itinerary I never made it to. It became cloudy and very cold on Sunday afternoon so I skipped this and headed back to the hotel.

The Chimney Viewing Tower was a complete waste of time. Don't bother with this one at all.

Warwick Castle

2007-02-13T16:52:00.000-05:00

Me in front of Warwick Castle!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.67ymbnjy&x=1&y=-zb2zl6

Snowy Birmingham

2007-02-09T03:21:00.000-05:00

New Street, Birmingham, England, in the snow.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.cb1yqyv2&x=1&y=merujp

It's been miserable weather here in Birmingham this week. It's snowed the better part of two days. I walk about a mile each way to work every morning and evening. Navigating in the ice and slush with my dress shoes was not a fun task. Finally, I took my "trainers" out of my gym bag and swapped, making for a less fashionable, but much more comfortable and safer trip to and from work.

Sunny, Sunny, London

2007-02-07T02:18:00.000-05:00

London Eye against cloudless London sky.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.4u9ni1om&x=1&y=-ccnad5

2 February, 2007
North Acton

This evening, my coworker Melanie and I headed to the Birmingham, Snow Hill train station after work for our weekend journey to London. Melanie wasn’t too happy with my choice to walk to the station, considering our huge bags. Regardless, she was a trooper and we made it just fine. We had about an hour to kill so we looked around for a restaurant. One woman stopped and asked Melanie if she needed some help. Note, she did not ask me. This part of the story will become more important later. We had a quick bite at Subway and then caught the train to Londontown!

The ride was relatively uneventful. To save some money we had to take the long train. We arrived in London a little after 9:30 PM, jumped right on the Tube and headed to North Acton where our hotel was. This was where the adventure really started. There wasn’t a lift so we had to lug our bags up the steps. While I was waiting on Melanie, a young gentleman not offered, but forced Melanie to let him help her with her bags. We then proceeded to the road where it was completely unobvious where our hotel was. En route to the road another young man asked Melanie where she was from. He was quite excited to hear we were from the States and ran off screaming, “Rock f*cking London!” I stopped at the gas station to get directions to the hotel. The gentleman was very nice and even came outside to point out the hotel. On the way, another young man asked Melanie if she needed directions. I couldn’t believe it. I’d never had help offered to me like this before. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice, just very entertaining to see how one-sided it was. Eventually we made it to the steps of the hotel, checked into our rooms and called it a day.

3 February, 2007

Melanie and I had a fantastic time today exploring parts of London that we had never been to before. We got an early start. We had a bit of excitement when we attempted to find a faster way from the hotel to the Tube stop. We ended up making a circle right back to the hotel. I noticed a pretty girl walking the same way as we reoriented ourselves. I noted the same girl once we (finally) got on the train. Even with the morning’s misadventures, we were still on the hop on / hop off ‘Original Bus Tour’ before 10:00 in the morning. We took in some sights from the top of the bus. The London Eye was our first stop.

When we exited the bus I saw the same pretty girl and thought that this was really weird now. What are the chances? I went to trade in the voucher we had bought on the bus for our tickets and there she was again. Finally, I decided to say hi. I then asked if she wanted to join us for site seeing. She said she’d join us. Her name is Kylie. The three of us boarded our “flight” on the London Eye which was great. We had spectacular weather. Just amazing for London in January.

We weren’t sure what was next, but Kylie suggested St. Paul’s Cathedral. After reading that there were hundreds of steps to climb to get the top, I was all over that. It would be training for my mountain climb in April, of course. Kylie and Melanie weren’t to happy with all the steps, but we had a good time anyway. We couldn’t really get the Whisper Room to work for us though.

We couldn’t find a Nando’s nearby so we opted for the Café Rouge. The food and service were actually quite good. Kylie ordered a pineapple juice which, for some reason, I found peculiar.
Afterwards we headed to the relatively new Globe Theatre which is a faithful reproduction of the original built by Shakespeare and his partners.

Then headed to Regents Street for some window shopping. Kylie had to leave us after this.

We finished the evening at a restaurant called Sketch. It was one of the coolest and weirdest restaurants I’d been to at the same time. The pod-style bathrooms are reason alone to check this place out near the intersection of Regents and Conduit.

More later...

Aiko, Atlanta

2007-01-27T14:38:00.000-05:00

Thursday night, Club Grandview headed out for Aiko Sushi in Buckhead. It's a pretty cool lounge / sushi bar. The food was great. The company was even better. In attendance was Jeff, John, DP, Buddy, Betty, Sarah, and Ryan.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.4ysxm9t2&x=1&y=t0nq5c

London, England

2007-01-14T09:13:00.000-05:00

Me and the Queen of England!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.52l8m5ee&x=1&y=4sab58

Paris, France

2007-01-08T00:58:00.000-05:00

The photo is from the second level of the Eiffel Tower.

Photos from the trip...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.2cjiwz5i&x=1&y=-blu770

My flight over was one of the worst crossing of the Atlantic that I’ve done. I’ve lost count, but it’s more than 10 round trips now. I was arriving in Paris at 6:00 AM. I was heading right to the Capgemini office after landing. I really needed to get some sleep on the plane. Just as I was nearly asleep the first time, the lady next to me started to talk to the stewardess about some makeup she wanted to buy duty free. This annoyingly went on for several minutes. Eventually I began to snooze again when the lady next to me started talking to the stewardess again. This time it was to find out whether she could get through airport security with her newly purchased makeup. The stewardess and my neighbor had a grand time discussing this at great length, as if it was a matter of worldly importance and much urgency. Nearly half an hour later, they stopped. A bit later, the stewardess returned once again to inform my neighbor that she had to commit to buying the makeup as they were closing out the duty free till. Great! I could finally get some sleep. Too late, we were landing.

Upon arriving, as normal, I navigated through immigration and recovered my bag from the luggage carousel. This is when I discovered that my pull-out bag handle had been damaged somewhere along the way by Delta. My bag was rather large as I was staying in Europe for almost three weeks. The damage would mean that I would now have to either entirely carry my bag or use the built-in handle and drag it while bending forward. The latter option was really the only one.

I took the RER (different from the ‘Metro’) to the La Defense where the Capgemini office is. Upon arriving, I’m absolutely surrounded by fashionable Parisian men and women on their way to their luxurious offices. In the meantime, I’m a jet-lagged fool bent over like the Hunch Back of Notre Dam (incidentally, just down the road) lugging my broken bag down the street. I knew lots of eyes where on me. One gentleman was even kind enough to point out that I was using my luggage incorrectly. I thanked him, but regretted that I couldn’t follow his advice. I met with my colleges at Capgemini. At lunch I purchased a brand new bag. Apparently my new luggage made me look Parisian enough. A few tourists even asked me for directions. I wasn’t really of any help.

The meetings at Capgemini went very well. We were very productive. I’m working with them to design changes to our software which will allow us to meet some French specific requirements.

Later I checked into the Hotel Charlemagne. The hotel is nice and surrounded by lots of restaurants. I chose one that didn’t look too busy and had some of the past veal I’ve ever had in my life.

Today had been a long day, but I still needed to press a shirt for the next day. The hotel clerk only spoke French. Even after using a language translation tool, I still was unable to communicate what I was looking for to hotel clerk. I eventually gave up and just decided I would wear a sweater over my wrinkled shirt the next day.

More meetings at Capgemini. More navigating the Metro and RER with my huge (but fashionable) bag. Then, this evening I was heading to see Big Ben! I never actually saw Big Ben, but I did take the Eurostar round-trip from Paris to London. It’s an extremely comfortable way to travel. Unfortunately, along the way one of my favorite scarves (a gift from my sister) was either lost or stolen. Otherwise, it was much better than the Delta flight only two days before.
Now in London, I had dinner with my colleges near Hyde Park I stayed at the Corus Hotel. Very nice, but apparently some of the guests had already become a bit amorous in the late hour. I heard a woman very clearly having quite an organism as I exited the lift. Once her rapture was complete, I heard a gentleman in an extremely thick British accent yell, “Now look at that!” I’m not sure exactly what the two were up to. Thankfully, my room was several hallways away from the commotion.

I’m back in Paris now for a relatively work-free weekend. I’m really looking forward to exploring the city. I’ve never really been to Paris.

January 7, 2007

Today and yesterday will filled with some exciting sight seeing. Unfortunately, they lacked (with the exception of one Metro stop) adventure. They lacked romance through and through.

Saturday morning I headed out early to attempt a least part of the walking tour Vincent had written up for me. I hadn’t yet really explored Paris on foot so I wasn’t yet sure how to judge the distances on my map to which I had transcribed the tour. It took quite a while to get only part of the way to the start. I stopped for some breakfast / lunch. Thinking that the 4.60 euros I was charged for a juice was a rip-off. Anne Christine later confirmed that this is the normal price. I still think that’s a rip-off! She also told me that 18% VAT and 20% service is already included in restaurant food prices. That means the tips I did give were very generous.

The first major tourist stop was Arc de Triumph. This is the largest round-about in the world. The one made famous by National Lampoon’s European Vacation movie in the 80’s. The trip to the top was fun. I met a nice couple from Texas.

The next step was Versailles. For this, I had a personal driver. My very gracious coworker Anne Christine. She had a family lunch scheduled out that way and offered to give me a ride. Versailles was extremely gaudy. Each room is really an assault on the senses. It’s kind of like if you turned P Diddy’s “crib” into a monument 400 years from now. Still interesting to see though. The gardens weren’t as nice though because it was cold and very rainy.

I warmed up a bit at a bar nearby with a glass of red wine. Anne Christine took me on tour of the town and then a further tour of Paris. We stopped at Le Pub in the Latin Quarter area near the Pantheon. We had fun trying some locally made drinks.

I retired to my hotel and tried again one of the nearby restaurants. Again the food was great, but this time the service was really quite awful. I’ll try a different place tonight.

This morning I had trouble getting out of bed – finally did so around 10AM. For some reason there was no hot water so, in true French fashion, I stepped shaving and a shower.

New Years Eve 2007

2007-01-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

The photo is my neighbor Barbara and I. New Years 2007!

DP and I had a great time checking out the babes at Downtown Countdown 2007.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.5n6u2h3a&x=1&y=e282xk

Florida Springs Diving

2006-12-31T09:17:00.001-05:00

Byran and I had a great time spending a couple days diving some Florida Springs. We dove the Blue Grotto, Devil's Den, and Ginnie Springs.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.cf2u3v12&x=1&y=-hyru3q

Taos

2006-12-12T22:30:00.000-05:00

December 7, 2006 7:37 PM

No issues with today's travels. Took Marta to the Atlanta airport, then to Cincinnati Airport where there was some snow. Cincinnati is nice, but similar to Paris in that you have to go outside on a bus to change terminals. There was a minor issue at the Albuquerque Airport when I found out that the shuttle I reserved wasn't running. Thankfully there was another shuttle running at the same time. I had to wait for a bit, but eventually made it on the long ride to Taos. The Indian Hills Inn is OK, but nothing special. After settling in a bit, I decided to explore town a bit. I went up to the bar at Doc Martin's. I got lucky and met a really sweet girl named Camille. We chatted a bit and then went our separate ways for the evening.

December 11, 2006 8:06 AM

Friday morning I rose early to meet Scott, Nicole, and Erik in the lobby of the hotel. Their bus was right on time. We grabbed a quick continental breakfast and then jumped back on the bus for the short trip to Taos Ski Valley. It was great catching up. We were all excited about hitting the slopes. The drive was nice with plenty of sunshine to start the day. We rented our equipment and started with the first chair, skipping a warm up on the bunny slope altogether. The snow was in pretty good shape. Everyone did well enough on the first run skipping the bunny slopes was a good idea. On the second or third run I had my one and only fall for the weekend. I let my skis get separated and it was into the snow for me. Nothing was hurt except my pride. Scott was trying out his new helmet-cam. He didn't get the crash, but did get me in the embarrassing act of collecting my gear. After lunch, we were all feeling totally beat. Scott, Nicole, and Erik had been on a bus all night. I had travelled all the previous day. Plus, none of us had skilled in almost a year. We did a couple more runs and then called it a day. The local shuttle wasn't running and the bus wasn't heading back until 5 PM. This gave us the whole afternoon to kill. Taos Ski Valley doesn't have a lot of shops or activities, but we made the best of it. We rested at the hotel for a bit and then I played tour guide (which I love to do). My guidebook suggested a restaurant called Apple Tree. Most of us had the mango chicken enchiladas which were incredible. I had a very large glass of wine and managed to entertain everyone with my stories and antics. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes by accident.

Saturday morning we woke to more blue skies, great for skiing comfort and visibility, but not so great for the terrain. This time we boarded the bus and headed to a different resort called Red River.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.74wx4yf2&x=1&y=-wcbltg

White Elephant 2006

2006-12-03T21:47:00.000-05:00

The second annual White Elephant party at my place had a great turn out! Lot's of BlueCubers and close friends were there for the excitement. Some great gifts including a bottle of rum, a "movie night", and some wine glasses. The 24 poster was also a big hit (not really)!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.5j4e5kmm&x=1&y=-yixdsg

Sweet Water Creek Hike

2006-12-03T21:29:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning, one my hiking buddies, Kristin and I headed West of Atlanta to do the Sweet Water Creek Hiking Trail. It was a beautiful day for a hike! The trail wasn't very challenging, but kept the pace up to make sure we got some exercise.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.76ce7zn2&x=1&y=lj846r

Thanksgiving 2006

2006-11-25T17:32:00.000-05:00

More relexing in Tybee Island, Georgia for the Domnitz family. We had lots of naps and enough food to feed an army. :)

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.c0fdy7sm&x=1&y=qjn3fu

Red Top Mountain Hike

2006-11-23T18:53:00.000-05:00

Candice, Kristin, Bryan and I took in the Red Top Mountain hike last Sunday. It's really more of a "hill" than a "mountain". :)

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.5z7ip6d2&x=1&y=-t6wz1j

New York, New York

2006-11-11T22:23:00.000-05:00

I spent the weekend visiting my friends Mary and Jacob in NYC. They've got a great place in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan. I arrive in the morning on Saturday. Their place has a great view of the city. We started our day with a hike through Time's Square and then on to the Empire State Building. I really wanted to go to the observation tower, but the line was over two hours long. The day happened to be Veteran's Day and, of course, we ran into the Veteran's Day parade. Thankfully, it wasn't a repeat of the Seinfield Puerto Rican Day Parade. We were actually able to cross the street in between "floats". The "floats" consisted of a lot of military guys in armored vehicles. Fun to watch, but we had more hiking to do! We continued to explore more of Manhattan including the Saturday Farmer's Market at Union square and the street vendors further down. We stopped by a chocolate place that had chocolate syringes which were popular for the kids. Really cool place called... Mary was gracious enough to not make Jacob and I go to a lot of shops. The one we spent the most time in was called Cockpit Turbulence. I did something completely uncharacteristic of me and fell in love with a leather jacket they had for sale there. I ended splurging and buying the pricey item. I'm very excited about it. We finally made it to China Town / Little Italy where we found a nice street-side cafe and had fantastic Italian food with Sangria and dessert. It felt like 9PM by the time we were done, but it was about a little after 4PM. The sun sets really early here! Beat from all the hiking, we jumped on the subway to head back to Mary's and Jacob's for some rest before going out for the night. More details later...

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.56d6yiue&x=1&y=vn07db

Halloween Party!

2006-10-29T20:24:00.000-05:00

Saturday night we had quite the party at my place. Tons of great costumes, great food, and dancing. Special thanks to Candice and Bryan for cohosting the party with me. Below are the winners of the contests.

Best overall costume: Polina Wilson - gold digger
Best use of household materials to make a costume: Brandi & Mariano Trevisan - aliens
Sexiest costume: Julie Mei - gothic fairy

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.9qmiw2ti&x=1&y=-otfwoc

Mountain Drive

2006-10-29T20:16:00.000-05:00

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.bte0ng3a&x=1&y=-tynevi

Pumpkin Carving

2006-10-28T11:20:00.000-04:00

Friday night Bryan, Candice, Sharon, John, and Angela all came over for some serious pumpkin carving. This was the pre-party celebration. Clearly, Candice is the most talented pumpkin carver as she completed two to everyone else's one.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.aqtpnu12&x=1&y=-pvjg6m

Camping North Georgia Mountains

2006-10-22T16:48:00.000-04:00

Candice, Bryan, Brandon, Liz and I headed north to the great North Georgia Mountains this weekend for some real camping in the wilderness! We headed out of town at around 7:30 PM. The journey took us up through Dahlonega and finally to Suches where we thought the camp was. We had made good time up to this point, but couldn't find the road to take from of Highway 60. We back tracked a few times, covering quite a bit of North Georgia. Eventually we made it to Neels Gap where there was a map. We discovered that road 42 would go to road 69 and take us right there. The problem, we soon realized, was that road 42 is actually a hunting access road. To make things even more dangerous, visibility was only about 10 to 20 feet with all the fog. Over five hours later, at 1:00 AM we almost decided to turn around and go home. Thankfully, we pressed on and came to the camp only minutes later. By 4:00 AM we had camp set up, a small fire going, and Brandon had cooked us all black bean soup and rice for dinner. The trip only became more challenging though as the clouds moved out and the night got colder. It probably came close to freezing. Everyone managed to keep warm enough though, and at about 11 AM we rolled out of our tents to a spectacular blue sky. We had a relaxing breakfast of bagels, bacon, and grits. It was time to hike! We headed up the road to a small trail. It was a nice diversion, but nothing challenging. It did make for some beautiful photos though. Afterwards was a late lunch, and a nap that everyone enjoyed. Thanks to Bryan and Brandon's diligent efforts to chop the wood earlier, I started a blazing fire. Bryan pointed out that, for it to last, we needed to ration the wood. I agreed and, again thanks to Bryan's effort, we had a brilliant fire all evening long. Great stories were told, pasta, corn, and smores were eaten. Good times were had by all. Tired out again, we headed for our tents. Somewhere in the middle of the night, the rain came, and it came hard. By around 8:30 AM when I got out of my tent, everything was soaked through. I managed to get the half of the Duralog that we had left started. We burned the rest of the trash we had that was dry and had a decent fire going for the morning. Once everyone was awake, we packed our tents, the rest of the food and headed in town for some hot and juicy burgers at Ruby Tuesday. What a great time!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.aizoyzge&x=1&y=9nzx4u

Auburn Game

2006-10-17T09:33:00.000-04:00

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.ap6byaku&x=1&y=aoy6du

Gold Branch Trail

2006-10-17T09:32:00.000-04:00

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.7rhcd2qm&x=1&y=-3vz4z2

Six Flags

2006-10-04T17:31:00.000-04:00

Bryan, Candice and I had a great time at Six Flags on Sunday. The weather was great. Goliath was an amazing experience. (It's their newest roller coaster, and this was my first time.) We were a bit disappointed that Acrophobia (one of my all-time favorite rides) was broken. Fright Fest has begun though, and that made up for it. :)

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.4lvvdfym&x=1&y=btukih

The bathroom ceiling is done!

2006-09-25T09:27:00.000-04:00

Before:

After:

After over a year of having a hole in by bathroom ceiling, I have finally finished patching it up. I picked up the first set of supplies on August 18 and finished the job on September 25. It took me about two full days of drywall and painting work, and several nights of mudding and sanding. I'm pretty pleased with the final results. You can definitely tell that someone has patched the ceiling, but I think it looks really good. Since I repainted the entire ceiling, I think that overall, it looks even better than before! I took photos along the way chronicling the adventure. This was the first time I had ever done anything like this on my own.

Full sequence of photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.2ivdbh72&x=1&y=7940sd

Boxster Maintenance

2006-09-23T23:04:00.000-04:00

John, John, Scott, and I had a great time doing some maintenance on our Boxsters on Saturday. I think I made out the best with an ignition switch replacement, oil change, convertible top hack, and car wash!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.4znsdcj2&x=1&y=-cuf4pk

Club Fever

2006-09-22T22:00:00.000-04:00

Crazy times at Club Fever in Atlanta!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.6r4df3v2&x=1&y=-n0ya1d

Lake Lanier

2006-09-16T18:51:00.000-04:00

What a great time at Lake Lanier! Candice, Bryan, Jason, Brandon, Liz, Luke and myself had a great time wakeboarding and tubing and taking in a beautiful Atlanta day.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.bzy2am2u&x=1&y=4pf34h

Jones Bridge Trail Hike

2006-09-10T19:03:00.000-04:00

Candice, Lindsay, Julie, Sarah, Bryan and I went for a little adventure right outside of Atlanta today. We hiked the Jones Bridge Trail along the Chattahoochee River near Roswell. It was a relaxing hike with some interesting views of the old Jones Bridge (only half of which is left).

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.3d9yucly&x=1&y=2gpoax

Key Largo

2006-09-07T15:28:00.000-04:00

September 1, 2006

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.3ln9d3nq&x=1&y=jsujb4

Dirk doing a back flip (sorry it's sideways)...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5115769381352962536

The "Great Key Largo Adventure" began at the Grandview, Buckhead, Atlanta. Bryan, Brandon, Jeff and I were all ready to go - car loaded up but John (a.k.a. Sally) was taking his time. Eventually, we got going down 85 where we hit some intense traffic. We left with enough time for traffic, thankfully. Security and boarding was no problem. We even met two other Georgia Tech grads in the waiting area on their way to Puerto Rico. We arrived in Miami in a downpour - very typical I think. The girls in the airport looked great. John even managed to get a phone number on the plane. After some antics at the Alamo rental counter (where we met up with Walter and his girlfriend Mary Beth) we headed to South Beach, Miami. It was hot, muggy, and still soaked from the rain storm. For this reason, I don't think as many people as usual were out and about. The streets were still fairly busy with each restaurant / bar owner posting attractive and sometimes scantily clad women encouraging the now eight of us into their establishments. (We picked up Alex in South Beach.) We finally settled on Gloria Estevan's Cuban restaurant. The drinks and food were great. The musicians started off with Santana's Oya Como Va which I thought was a little cheesy. On the way back to the car we stopped in Mango's where the hostesses were amazing and wearing these over-the-top outfits (showing a lot of skin). Bryan and I danced with a lovely couple of girls named Michele and Judith.

More to come...

El Azteca & Andretti Speed Labs

2006-08-26T12:07:00.000-04:00

Friday night Bryan, Candice, Matt, Brandon, Liz and I all headed to Andretti Speed Labs for some indoor go cart racing. I have to say I thought it was going to be lame, but it was actually TONS of fun. We fueled up beforehand on some Mexican food at El Azteca.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.947d4uyu&x=0&y=-cc9glx

Heat Scores
Rank / Driver / Time
1 / Matt / 30.469
2 / Brandon / 30.734
3 / Justin / 31.836
4 / Bryan / 33.479
5 / Candice / 40.595
6 / Liz / 43.472

Justin
0:38.492
0:33.851
0:34.852
0:34:292
0:34.744
0:33.633
0:35.575
0:34.030
0:35.402
0:34.711
0:33.861
0:31.836
0:34:606
AVERAGE 0:31.836

Busy weekend...

2006-08-13T19:54:00.000-04:00

What an intense weekend. It all started with a fresh car wash for the Porsche. Now the weekend could really begin. Bryan, Candice and I headed further into the Atlanta suburbs to Startime for some miniature golf. Candice scored better than both of us while I checked out all the cute moms. (The girls without kids were too young for me.) Saturday morning was an early start (again) for the suburbs on my motorcycle. I joined Ken, Joanna, and Bob from the Roswell Rider's Club at Atlanta Motor World in Alpharetta. We made it all the way to Ball Ground with only a drizzle, but soon after I was completely soaked. We changed plans due to the weather and had lunch at the Huddle House. I dried out a bit and warmed up with a couple cups of coffee, then we hit the road again. Thankfully, Joanna had a fleece that she lent me which kept me a lot warmer. I took highway 400 home for the first time and got even wetter with even more rain. At times I was wondering why I was doing this, but it was a fun adventure anyway. I made it home safe and dried off a bit while doing some very boring and mundane chores at home. In the mail came my new Duramatic Porsche diagnostic software. This let me reset the airbag code in my Boxster which came on the other week. John came by and we talked business for a few hours before heading to Wild Bills in Gwinnett. There we met up with Bryan, Candice, Teresa, and Christy. John, Bryan, and I all rode the mechanical bull. It was Bryan's treat and a great time was had by all. John didn't manage as well as Bryan and I though. Sunday morning was another early rise to meet Tracy for a hike in the Perimeter area at the Johnson Ferry Trail. Sheesh, I'm tired!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.2on1ewhi&x=1&y=9ceg5u

Tybee Island

2006-08-06T21:00:00.000-04:00

My family and I had a little reunion at my parents new house in Tybee Island this past weekend. I arrived late on Thursday to the warm smiles and hugs of my sister, grandma, and mom and dad, plus a little pee pee from Wednesday the family dog. Jeanne and I got up really early on Friday and had a great little jog in the neighborhood and on the beach. We had a relaxing breakfast and then headed back to the beach for some swimming and sunbathing. August is jellyfish season at Tybee. It didn't take long before Jeanne, Dad, and myself were all stung. I think a stingray got me as it's been almost a week and I still have the mark. The ammonia / water spray does wonders for alleviating the burning though. Jeanne and I had a fun time walking down the beach to get hotdogs for everyone. I even managed to get a margarita for Jeanne with the measly $3.75 I had left. Beat from the sealife stings and the sun, we headed back to my parents' beautiful home for some rest. We then headed to Dewey's Dockside for some great seafood (although Jeanne couldn't seem to find something tasty). We took in the Pirates movie which, despite all of my friends giving it very poor reviews, I thought it was quite enjoyable. Next stop was the airport to pick up my brother-in-law Rob. Rob, as usual was all smiles. We returned home where my parents gave yet another tour of the hours while I completely crashed in bed. The next day felt like we were at a real vacation resort. For $10 per person you can pay to access a pool with a view of the ocean. We swam in the pool, swam in the ocean, and took strolls on the beach. Lunch was margaritas, burgers, and onion rings. Mom spoiled us later with a fantastic shrimp boil. We finished off the night with a game of Clue. The next morning was brunch at the Dolphin Reef restaurant. The food was great and someone all of the people working there are Russian girls. Who would have thought? Sad to leave, but anxious to get the drive over with, I headed back to Atlanta. What a great weekend!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.7he6ulla&x=1&y=-z23u4e

Braves Game!

2006-07-29T21:00:00.000-04:00

I had a great time with Mike and his father at the Braves game Sunday. The Braves lost, but we had a great time having hot dogs and Cracker Jacks.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.6vzubjke&x=1&y=-jy3jam

Tanzania

2006-07-18T21:00:00.000-04:00

July 1, 2006 8:23 AM – Cape Town Airport

After my last day at the Shoprite office yesterday, Conrad and I left the braai a bit early to pick up some chickens and check out the competition. He graciously invited me to stay with him for my last night before heading on holiday. Once we arrived at his home, we had a little excitement. He had run out Our first day of safari was of power, but he had no more juice in his cell phone to purchase more. He had no key to get into his home since he always uses the electronic garage door. So, as he says to me, “I’m going to have to break into my own house. When the armed guards get here, stick your hands out of the car and say the password.” Without letting me ask any quests, he ran off! As I sit there in his car in the car, all of these images of altercations with security guards come to mind. Soon I hear the alarm go off and then it stops. Eventually, he manually opens the garage and we head in. We started the braai by candlelight and ended it quite toasty after five or six bottles of wine. Jeannie, Sam, and Yuri joined the lekker kaier. This morning Conrad woke me up at 5:00 AM. I thought it was a bit early for a 8:40 AM flight, but I got up anyway. Conrad is the boss. J As we prepared to leave, he realized that he had set his cell phone to an hour early. We all had a laugh and relaxed before heading to the airport.

July 1, 2006 11:52 PM – Mount Meru Game Lodge

After a full day of traveling, Chika and I have made it safe and sound to Tanzania. Chika met me at the Jo’burg airport where we caught the flight to Dar es Salaam. The flight also stopped at Zanzibar, making a long day on a plane. When we arrived at Kilimanjaro Airport, we followed a KLM 747, which meant that we had to wait a LONG time to get our tourist visas all sorted. The visa office didn’t accept traveler’s checks so Chika was kind enough to spot me the $50. We met our driver for the next day named “Roger.” His English was very poor, but at least he was a slow and courteous driver. We arrived at the lodge and had a very odd dinner consisting of an “avocado mouse” appetizer, which was more like guacamole ice cream. Yuk. The dinner was OK, but Chika and I were both beat! We did spot some very interesting bird life and a zebra outside of our rooms. We called the first day a success and turned in for the night.

July 2, 2006 5:58 PM – Migunga Forest Camp

I awoke to a much better breakfast. This and the rest gave me an overall better feeling towards Tanzania this morning. We left the Game Lodge at 7:30 AM to head to Swala Safari’s office in Arusha. Chika and I signed about a million travelers checks and were all paid up. We had our first view of Arusha, which is a quaint little town in part, and a disaster in the other. We passed the Shoprite and I took photos from the car. People were everywhere and traffic was horrible, but I didn’t really think anything of it. I was just excited to get to my first Tanzanian safari. Because of this, my window was all the way down. I was almost a victim of a theft! A teenage boy ran by the side of the car, reached in and tried to steel my camera right out of my hands. Thankfully I held on and he ran off. Our driver was very embarrassed, but I told him not to worry. Everything was OK. We finally got through the traffic and had our first view of the Tanzanian countryside during the day. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever seen people carrying wheat on their own backs. It’s also the first time I’ve ever seen REAL nomads. They are called the Maasai people. Unbelievable those in this country people are still herding cattle and sheep with no concept of a permanent home or property rights. Most of the lad was just bush, but there were corn and coffee farms here and there. We took one pee break in what Chika has started to call “five star toilets,” that is, no toilet at all, just the bush. I did fine, but Chika couldn’t manage with the cars going by. We finally found her a private toilet at the entrance to our first safari location, Lake Manyara National Park.

Our first day of safari was a resounding success. We managed to have fantastic sightings of elephants, giraffes, buffalo, hippos, monkeys, baboons and more. My goal was to see a lion, but after a whole day, no such luck. Hopefully tomorrow in the Serengeti.

July 4, 2006 6:34 PM - Ikoma Bush Camp

I just finished an 8 km hike up the Rabanda Hill in the Serengeti with Chika. It took us about 2.5 hours and took us up about 100 meters. Chika did really well, but the guide didn’t set the right expectations and now she’s a little more nervous about Kilimanjaro. We just have to see how things play themselves out.

What an amazing two days! Yesterday we traveled from the camp outside Lake Manyara through the Ngorongoro Crater into the Serengeti. It was a beautiful drive and we saw tons of wildlife. In the Serengeti, like most game parks (I believe) they do controlled burns to provide short, fresh grass for the animals. The short grass is so that the animals won’t fear predators. We drove very close to one of these fires and lots of grasshoppers started jumping in the car. These and horse flies were our only uninvited passengers – thank goodness. This was also the first time in my life that I was able to see lions in the wild. There were four females in a pride. They were a little far away, but it was an exciting event nevertheless. Finally, I got to see some cats!

The Ikoma camp isn’t as nice as the previous one. There’s no hot water (although there is supposed to be as they keep fires going). Also, there’s no electricity. After sunset there is only torch and candlelight available. The food here is pretty good. Nothing beats the fillet we had at Migunga though. Both Chika and I have managed to stay healthy so far. This morning’s game drive was the best so far though. We left at 6:00 AM and headed straight to the wildebeest migration. It was really fantastic. We saw them running, playing, and fighting. Thousands of them! The best part was the picnic Chika, Roger (our driver), and I had right there with the wildebeests running around us. The rest of the game drive was excellent with lots of sightings. We spent hours looking for cheats, but no luck there. We did see more lions. Chika is keeping track of everything.

July 5, 2006 Migunga Forest Camp

Chika and I just wrapped up dinner with a long philosophical discussion. I think I had too much wine, but, hey, I’m on vacation. We had a fantastic time today in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater. Last night we had an OK time on the night drive. The highlight was seeing a heard of giraffes running. Nothing compared to today’s sightings at the crater though. We saw, not only beautiful scenery, but cheetahs, rhinoceroses, and a pride of twelve lions! It was spectacular. Everything except the rhinoceros was basically beside our car. We saw wildebeest fight again. We saw similar behavior with the gazelle yesterday. On the way to the Crater we also had some excitement. We stopped at the Serengeti Visitor’s Center (on the way out) to get petrol. Chika and I were stretching our legs when someone said “there’s a lion behind you.” Sure enough, at the top of the small high behind me, right at the entrance to the Center was a huge female lion licking her chops. It was a bit scary as she couldn’t have been more than 20 meters away. We quickly jumped in the truck with Roger and drove over for a closer look. We also stopped to get photos with the local Maasai people. Chika got a little scared when she was surrounded by “warriors.” No one was attacked. The photos turned out great.

July 6, 2006 Protea Machame

Today was a relaxing day with an early game drive in Tarangire. There were logs of elephants, but we weren’t able to get very close. Having finished a full five-day safari in Tanzania, I have to say it was way above and beyond my two trips to Kruger. Kruger has much more luxurious accommodations, but if you can handle the ruggedness of Tanzania there are a lot of reasons to come here instead. The game viewing is better. Tons better. There’s no comparison between the two. In Tanzania, we had the same driver for all five days. In South Africa, different drivers each time. The South African drivers didn’t know what we had and had not seen so time was wasted. Day after day we rode in the same comfortable Toyota 4Runner. We also really got to know and become friends with our driver, Roger. He is the best! Tanzania also has much more varied scenery. Tropical areas. Plane areas. Hills. Rivers. Lakes. Rocks. Everything. When we finished our safari (sadly) we headed back to Arusha and to Machame for the night. We stopped at an overpriced souvenir shop. I did buy a few things, some more art for my place and some gifts for friends and colleagues.

July 7, 2006 6:15 PM - Machame Camp

I’ve completed day one.

July 8, 2006 3:01 PM – Shira Camp

I’ve completed day two. I was so beat and we got back to camp so late last night, that I didn’t write anything. I’ll catch everyone up now. The first day started with confusion. Chika and I understood that Nelson was going to pick us up at our hotel at 9:00 AM. He didn’t show up until after 10:00 AM. This wasn’t a good start for the guy that is supposed to get us to the summit of Kilimanjaro. We traveled to the Machame gate where semi-chaos surrounded us. Nelson wasn’t much help. We followed him to the check in station, but just stayed there. It wasn’t until I asked that he told us to get into the queue. Once in the queue, we met two gentlemen who were joining us for the hike. Mike from California and Johan from Holland. Both are great guys. I’m sure they will end up being life long friends. The queue was long so I asked Nelson what we should do. He waved me to the front so we all got out of the queue. Turns out that we just lost our place in the queue. We got back in and finally finished with the check in process. Chika and I need to rent sleeping bags and some other equipment. By the time we were sorted it was 12:00 PM and we hadn’t started our hike yet. I was getting agitated at this point. Nelson told us it would be another half an hour and then quickly changed his store to “go now with one of the porters.” Anxious to get started, we headed up with one of our porters, leaving Nelson behind to finish the paperwork. Somewhere along the way, I lost my sunglasses (which I really liked). Thankfully, Chika had an extra pair to lend me. Our hike started at 1800 meters and ended at 3034. This is probably the altitude I’ve ever covered in one day on a hike. The hike started in the rain forest near Moshi. It had rained the night before and again that morning. This mean that our first hike was in mud. Lots of deep, dirty, thick mud. The kind that makes squishing noises when you step in it. This was just the start of the dirt. Now at the end of the second day, EVERYTHING is dirty. Me, my clothes, my beds, my tent, everything. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Overall the hike was comfortable and cool as we were covered by low clouds most of the time. Everyone did really well. We had one short break for lunch. Arrival at Machame Camp was around 6:00 PM. I couldn’t get a GPS signal on this hike because of the tree and cloud cover. This means I don’t have a track for this part. We were greeted with popcorn and hot tea at camp. In between our snack and dinner we were treaded to our closed and most spectacular view of Kilimanjaro’s peak thus far. Dinner was soup, toast, noodles, potatoes and stew. It was really fantastic. Desert was avocados which I think have been doing a number on my stomach. It could also be all the medications I’m taking (Diamox for altitude and Larium to prevent against Malaria). The tent was comfortable and I slept relatively well. The only other symptoms I’ve been feeling have been some ringing in my ears and some tingling in my hands and feet. I think these are all due to the altitude and the strenuous hike. This morning we set out for the camp I’m at now at around 9:00 AM. The hike was tougher than yesterday, cloudier, and colder, but we made good time. They say “pole pole” here which means “slowly slowly.” Camp is much more open here. Yesterday we were surrounded by trees. Tomorrow should be an easier day as we do the contour walk to Barranco Camp.

July 9, 2006 5:00 PM – Barranco Camp

Chika, Mike, Johan and I just finished our arrival snack at our third camp – Barranco. The porters really do a fantastic job here. Every morning I pack up my sleeping bag and large pack and head out for the day’s trek after breakfast. When I arrive at the next camp, my tent is all set up and my sleeping bag and large pack are here waiting for me. They have hot coffee, tea, or chocolate available and also a snack – usually popcorn, peanuts, and cookies. They cook our dinners every night, which have been fantastic. The first night we had pasta and potatoes with stew. Last night we had rice and stew. I’m starving after today, which was our longest hike so far. I can’t wait for dinner. Tonight’s camp is the same altitude as yesterday’s camp (3900 meters) but we went all the way up to 4700 meters to help with acclimatization. Of the four in our group, I had the toughest time with a mild headache and heavy breathing and increased heart rate. Nothing serious, but good to know before we start back up tomorrow. Last night was rough. I’m hoping to get a good night’s rest tonight. It was really cold last night even with several top and bottom layers and my sleeping bag. I’ve started wearing my thermal underwear today. There was frost on everything when I woke up. It almost looked like it had snowed (which it had not). We’ve had great weather for all three days of hiking so far. Today, it was even a little warm at times. There were some very nice minutes during the hike when we stopped for lunch. We were joined by a Canadian and a Brit and a drum. Johan, who is in our group, also plays the drums. They got together and we had some great lunchtime entertainment. Chika was also the first of us to fall on her butt. She did it on the way down a steep section from Lava Tower. Thankfully, she wasn’t hurt in any way. Tonight’s camp is right up against the peak of the mountain. It’s nice to look back in my photos and see how far we’ve come in three days. Everyone is in good spirits and still healthy. Johan is starting to feel the affects of altitude like I am. Tomorrow will be a tough hike. The next day will be the toughest.

July 10, 2006 7:16 PM – Barafu Camp

It’s cold. Everything is even dirtier than before – somehow that’s possible. The crows are calling all around. It’s the morning of day four and everything is starting to take it’s toll. Last night was another restless night of sleep. I was warmer though because Mike showed me the proper way to seal my sleeping bag around my head. Each morning the porters go the nearest stream and get us water. They then boil it and fill our daypacks for us. I also use the tablets to purify it to be extra safe. Johan threw up from altitude sickness. He felt better afterwards, but was a bit embarrassed. I tried to use my training to help him out. Everyone was concerned and caring. Today we’ve got another tough hike and tonight we head to summit. Tomorrow is all the way down the mountain.

July 11, 2006 10:35 PM – Moshi

I summated! I climbed to the top of Kilimanjaro. The highest peak in Africa. I’ve touched the “snows of Kilimanjaro.” The excursion was filled with drama and excitement. After completing a full day hike from Barranco to Barafu camps, we ate an early dinner and went straight to bed around 6:00 PM. We awoke at 10:00 PM, getting only a fitful couple hours of sleep. At 10:45 PM we headed for the summit. I took longer to get ready than Chika, Mike, and Johan. This meant I had only just enough time to grab a quick cup of coffee and grab a biscuit before heading out on the biggest hike of my life – so far. It was a full moon so we didn’t even need our headlamps. We could see the trail beautifully. The hike started on some rocky areas where a little scrambling was required. Passed that we head straight up the mountain to Gillman’s Point.

July 12, 2006 11:00 AM – Kilimanjaro International Airport

This took us the better part of six hours with only short two or three minute breaks. This was probably the toughest six hours of my life both physically and emotionally. At Barafu (our starting camp for the hike) the air already has a third less oxygen than normal. I would get winded just turning over in my sleeping bag at night. The four days of hiking leading up to this had several purposes. To get us fit for the final hike. To get us to the location of the start of the final hike. And, most importantly, to get us acclimated to the thinner air. Every step that we took up the mountain meant that we were breathing less oxygen for the same number of breaths. We were all getting more and more tired. Several times I stood there, bent over, with my forehead on my walking sticks thinking about anything but giving up. We all had issues. I was exhausted. Chika was OK, but tired. Johan was feeling the affects of altitude sickness, although mildly. Mike was cold and couldn’t get his feet warm. There were times when I was a little dizzy and I think I even hallucinated some flashes of lights a couple times. Everyone encouraged each other and just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I have to give our guide Nelson credit. This is where he really was in his element. He kept us going. He set the right pace. He only allowed us to break at certain times and for certain lengths. He’s a big part of our (“Team Mandela”) success. There are two unofficial points on the way to Gillman’s Point. India Point is the point where, for whatever reason, Indian tourists have had enough and turn back. There’s nothing especially interesting about this part of the hike, but I took a photo of everyone and we kept going. Jamaica Point is the port where, supposedly, all the Jamaican tourists turn back. We passed this, but were all just happy to be standing under our own ability. By this time it took almost three breaths to get some amount of oxygen you normally get in one. When we finally reached the top of the steepest part of the climb, called Gillman’s Point. I was so delirious that I thought we had reached the summit. When I saw Chika crying and Johan throwing up I was convinced so I started crying too. In a couple minutes Johan recovered and informed me we had another two hours and 200 meters to go. Demoralized, but determined, I kept trekking. Along with the acclimatization hikes we’d be doing, I’d also been taking Diamox to help combat altitude sickness. At this point, I was breathing heavily and my heart rate was high, but I was still healthy. I kept going. Soon we started to walk on snow and Ice. The climb was still an ascent, but not as steep as up to Gillman’s Point. The scenery was beautiful! Absolutely stunning. We were surrounded by glaciers and the air was crystal clear. No clouds were surrounding the peak at this time – thankfully. We’d been above the lower clouds since camp Machame and were hoping they’d clear before we summated. Unfortunately, they were still there. We couldn’t see any of Africa below us. Regardless, the view was still stunning.

Step after step, breathing hard, aching everywhere, I eventually saw the sign which says “Congratulations, you are now at Uhuru Peak, Tanzania, 5895M. AMSL Africa’s highest point. World’s highest free-standing mountain. One of world’s largest volcanoes. Welcome.”. I started crying. I mean really crying like I hadn’t done maybe ever before in my life. I just collapsed and wept for joy. For the accomplishment. For the excitement. For every challenge I have ever faced. My revelry was quickly interrupted when Nelson grabbed my arm and told me to get up. Sitting on the ground would make me very cold if I stayed there longer and that could be very dangerous at the top of the mountain. Chika, Mike, and Johan also later admitted that they also wept at the top.

Chika and I had heard different stories about digital cameras not working at the summit. I had brought a disposable film camera just in case. This didn’t do me any good as the sun was just starting to rise at 6:20 AM when we summated. The disposable camera doesn’t have a flash. The real problem, I discovered, when digital cameras at altitude is the cold. The cold kills the batteries over the hours that you ascent. When you get to the top, they are completely dead. Thankfully, I had a fresh set. I rushed over to my bag and quickly grabbed them from the bottom of my daypack pocket. I believe this is where I lost my pocketknife. It was an inexpensive one I had brought from South Africa and thankfully not the Victorinox that I’ve had almost all my life.

July 12, 2006 4:09 PM – Nungwi Village Resort

We took a quick group photo in front of the sign and then I got out my banner. I had Chika take two quick photos. One with my South Africa Rugby cap that Conrad lent me. Another with my Porsche cap. I took a quick snap of Chika with the banner I made her. It was getting quite busy at the top as more and more people made it up. Chika and I went to find Nelson. We only found the two porters who had joined for the summit hike. They said Nelson had headed down with Johan because he was ill (altitude sickness). The porter went for Mike and we all started the long haul back to camp. I took some beautiful sunrise photos on the way. Once we passed Gillman’s Point things got rough again. The path became all dry gravel. Very steep and very slippery. I fell a couple times, but was OK. I took one last picture with my FujiFilm FinePix of the gang taking a break in the gravel. I say “last” because after that I took a big fall and cut my hand in a couple places. The next time I went to take a photo, the lens didn’t open. Thankfully I can still view and download the photos. AT this point I was utterly spent. I had no energy. I was emotionally a wreck, especially after the spill. One of the ports actually held my and sometimes my arm all the way through the rest of the steep parts. I felt like a grandma (no offence to grandmas everywhere). I didn’t care. All I wanted to do was get back to camp in one piece with no further injuries and rest. Around 11 AM we all made it back to camp. My thoughts were all over the place. I was elated that I had made it to the summit. I was pissed off that I fell and hurt myself. I’m not sure why I was so mad, but I imagine the high altitude, fatigue, and lack of sleep all contributed. I had a few minutes in my tent and it was time go again. We’d been hiking almost non stop for 12 hours now and we had another eight to go. I ate some soup and put down as much pasta as I could (which wasn’t much). We settled our tips with the ports and the guide and headed out of the park – all the way to the gate. Chika and I were very sore and tired. It was slow going.

July 12, 2006 1:20 PM – Taxi

Just met Diva and Evan – owner of Crystal Hotel on the East Coast of Zanzibar in bank. Chika says stereo in taxi has only two volumes – on full or off. ATM card got eaten. Trucks and cards have Japanese writing on them (like “driving school”).

July 13, 2006 7:07 PM Nungwi Village Resort

Embarrassingly, Mike and Johan passed us on the way down. They had both rested and started later than us. Eventually Chika and I made it to the rain forest again. The terrain became wet, muddy, and very slippery. This slowed us down even more. Nelson had predicted that we would reach the gate by 6:30 PM. By 7:00 PM it had gone completely dark. We were still several kilometers away from the gate. Nelson had a headlamp with nearly dead batteries which didn’t do us any good. Thankfully, I had the LED keychain flashlight my friend Du Toit had given me for just such emergencies. We were almost completely in the dark, in a Tanzanian rain forest. We had been hiking for almost 24 hours non-stop. Chika was very scared. To be honest, I was a little scared too. Nelson was no real help. We manage to stay calm, and near an hour later, we made it to the gate. Thankfully the car was there waiting for us. I thought I’d be having my first shower in six days in a matter of hours. No dice. I discovered that Nelson’s company had left our bags (we didn’t take to the mountain) at his office across town 40 km away. Not trusting that they would get us our bags in time for our 11:00 AM flight, we insisted that they get them that night. This meant we had two hours to kill. Smelling like mountain and covered in mod, we sat down at a “tourist friendly” restaurant for some Indian Food. The restaurant had little guinea pig like animals running around our feet. It was still a nice break from mountain food. Eventually Nelson returned with all our bags. We headed to the hotel for our first sleep in almost two days. I woke up with a small cold (probably from the stress of the hike). Breakfast was great and refreshing. It was time for me to head to Zanzibar for diving! A short Precision Air flight later, our driver whisked us away from the arrivals terminal. The van had a weird disco party bus feel to it. We navigated through a Stone Town traffic jam and stopped at a bank so I could get cash. The ATM machine ate my card. I was able to get it back and draw cash from another card, thankfully. Chika and I passed the next hour and a half ride to the resort sharing childhood memories. We passed countless poor villages and slums. Eventually we made it to the resort area. It’s nice, but aside from the warmer water, I can’t see any reason for someone who lives in Cape Town to come here for holiday. Everything is a bit run down and has seen better days. This is what I imagine Havana is currently like. Of course, that’s just a guess. I’ve never been there. Our arrival date in Zanzibar was just a travel / recovery day. We made arrangements for our scuba dives, relaxed, and had an out-of–order, but very enjoyable dinner on the beach. I was awoken in the middle of the night by what I thought was a tsunami warning. It turns out that it was only the local mask’s nightly prayers to Allah. This morning’s dives were really spectacular. The equipment we were provided by East Africa Dive Center was great. The dive masters were cool and the sites were spectacular. Chika is an accomplished diver and a real pleasure to have as a dive buddy. The rest of the day was relaxing with the exception of some confusion about whether I had intended them to was my clothes or not. Eventually everything was sorted when I got my clothes back, albeit a bit damp.

July 15, 2006 12:18 PM Serena Hotel Stone Town

As hard as I try, there is no such thing as a day in Tanzania without drama. Yesterday, Chika and I met for a relaxing breakfast before my scuba course. The only specialty the local PADI shop offered was Peak Performance Buoyancy. I did that one. I was completing the theory part when Chika walked up and informed me that there’s been a mix up and we didn’t have a place to stay tonight. I wrapped up what I was doing and headed to BB’s Internet Shop to try and straighten everything out. Chika and I consorted and I decided to get back to the Resort to see what was up. By the time I made it back they had sorted it out – thankfully. That sorted, I headed back to the East Africa Diving Company to finish the course briefing. We broke for lunch so Chika and I tried a new place on the island for lunch. Lunch takes a long time on Zanzibar Island, but this was the most extreme yet. It took them almost two hours to cook my pizza. This was apparently because the oven is outside and doesn’t work when it’s raining. It was pouring. Pizza was eventually had and back to the dive shop I went. Neils and I kitted up for the skills dive, or as he like to call it the “games” dive. We had a great time trying different things underwater like taking off our fins and “moon walking on the bottom” and doing reverse pushups against the surface of the water. I banged my knee hard on a clamshell. I’m not used to wearing a “shorty” and being able to get cuts and scrapes. The second dive was just plain fun. We checked out all the local reefs and practiced perfect buoyancy. I didn’t wear a single weight. It was great.

Zanzibar!

2006-07-17T21:00:00.000-04:00

Scuba diving and spice farm tour photos are now online.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.3ei0u3da&x=1&y=3hsntj

Tanzania! Kilimanjaro!

2006-07-17T15:25:00.000-04:00

I kept a journal of my travels, but haven't transcribed it to the computer yet. I'll add it in a later post.

There are a lot of photos in the album. I put what I think are the ten best ones at the beginning. The rest are in chronological order. I have not uploaded photos from Zanzibar yet. Those will come later. Enjoy!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.bqbe56m6&x=1&y=2ey0kw

More Mossel Bay Photos & VIDEOS!

2006-06-25T14:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks Salmon Gerbert!

Who doesn't want to see me fall of an ostrich? Twice!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8192537775402645363

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.5d2lcavm&x=1&y=a5n7st

Reading Assignments

2006-06-22T23:00:00.000-04:00

In my travels over the past year, I've spent lots of time in airplanes, trains, boats, cars, and just about every other means of travel. In other words, I've had a lot of time to kill. Below are links to some of the books that I've read during my travels. Some good, some bad, some just OK. I'll let you decide.

More Table Mountain Photos

2006-06-19T12:23:00.000-04:00

Thanks Karen Watkins!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.bdjyhk8y&x=1&y=b7s0e5

Table Mountain, Right Face - Arrow Face Traverse

2006-06-17T13:16:00.000-04:00

On Friday I hooked up with the Cape Town Meridian Hiking Club (www.meridian.org.za). This Table Mountain hike is listed in Mike Lundy's book, Best Walks in the Cape Peninsula (see below). According to Mike, "This route is for experienced mountaineers only." Karen Watkins (author of Adventure Walks and Scrambles in the Cape Peninsula) was our fun-loving hike guide. We would have been lost without her!

This hike was tough. The toughest I've ever done. I have hiked up Table Mountain before, but on the comparably boring route known as Platteklip Gorge. For the Right Face - Arrow Face Traverse, we didn't go all the way to the top. We stopped about 100 meters short when crossing over at the Fountain Ravine. This hike required more scrambling and had more exposure than I had ever experienced. 'Scrambling' is non-technical rock climbing, that is climbing where the use of ropes and other equipment is not required and your hands and feet will do. 'Exposure' in this context means exposure to heights. There were several points on this hike where you're on a ledge less wide than your typical sidewalk while there is a 100 meter drop to one side of you and a rock face to the other side. The most amazing part of the hike is on the Right Face - Arrow Face where the path seeming ends and then you look to your right and find a crack in the mountain face! You actually go into the mountain twice in order to navigate the path. Karen had a good laugh when I was temporarily stuck while sliding my way through one of the cracks. I'll post her set of photos as soon as I get them.

If you're new to hiking, I absolutely DO NOT recommend that you do this hike. Get some experience first doing some which are more tame. This is not an easy hike and does require you to be really confident emotionally. I had previously done eight hikes in the Cape Peninsula to prepare for this one. Kilimanjaro here I come! :)

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.1gpyyn4y&x=1&y=gleqgf

Mossel Bay & Oudtshoorn

2006-06-11T12:56:00.000-04:00

This weekend, my coworker and friend Salmon Gerber invited me to travel to Mossel Bay and Oudtshoorn, South Africa with he and his wife Lelanie. Salmon’s parents have a beach house in Mossel Bay which is a popular holiday location. His parents live their year round as they are now retired.

Salmon and I left work immediately after quittin’ time on Friday. We picked his wife up and hit the road for the four hour drive to Mossel Bay. Our only break was at a Whistle Stop restaurant (similar to a Shoney’s in America). This was about two hours into our trip. The funniest thing was that I ran into two people that I knew there. What are the chances!?! Chris and Brood were on their way to a town near Mossel Bay and stopped by our table to say hello.

We arrived at Mossel Bay to warm welcomes from Salmon’s parents including coffee, tea, and cake. Salmon’s parents have a beautiful home with a semi-private flat as part of the home which they gave me all to myself. They treated me really wonderfully. I felt like part of the family.

The next morning Salmon and I walked down to the nearby beach for the sunrise (see photos). Mrs. Gerber made a fantastic breakfast and then the three of us hit the road again for the hour drive to Oudtshoorn. It was my turn to drive. I was pleasantly surprised at how the Opel Astra performed. Opel is GM’s South African brand. It didn’t accelerate very well, especially up hills, but it was still fun to drive and handled fairly well. The most beautiful part of the drive is Robertson Mountain Pass. It is drives like this that really make me wish I had my Boxster here.

The first stop in Oudtshoorn was the Cango Caves. Salmon and I opted for the adventure tour while his wife opted for the standard tour. The standard tour takes you through six of the large chambers which is very nice. The adventure tour only takes you through two of the large chambers, but you get to do some real exploring. You must navigate your way through the Ice Chamber, Devil’s Workshop, Devil’s Chimney, and The Letterbox. This takes you 1.2 km into the cave and requires that you crawl on your back, stomach, and wiggle your way through openings no larger than 40 cm across. I know have proof-positive that I’m not closterphobic. Salmon took some great photos which I’ll post at a later date, so check back!

The second stop in Oudtshoorn was the Crocodile Farm. They had a wide variety of animal in a very nice setting. I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen a Jaguar before in real life. I don’t remember any zoos I’ve ever been to having one.

The last stop in Oudtshoorn was the Highgate Ostrich Show Farm. The excitement here was focused around my attempts at being a South African cow boy. Yes, I tried to ride an ostrich. It’s much harder than it looks. Salmon took videos of the two failed attempts which left me bruised and dirty on the ground. It was still fun anyway. I’ll post the videos here as soon as I have them.

Evening back at the Gerber household was very relaxing. We took a quick drive down The Point in Mossel Bay. This is where the Mossel Bay lighthouse is and also an area of natural tide pools where kids swim in the summer months.

Before leaving Mossel Bay we stopped at the museum to see some South African history complete with a 500 year old post office. It was used way back in the Vasco da Gama days.

We made the most of our drive home with stops at the bungee jump bridge. There are photos in the photo album of a couple doing a “bridge jump” (which is not the same as a bungee jump). Don’t worry, I didn’t do either a bridge jump or a bungee jump, but it was fun to check out the site and watch other folks take the plunge.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.64xs2eiq&x=1&y=l2haax

iTunes Error -50

2006-06-03T18:04:00.000-04:00

If you download TV shows on iTunes you may have run into error -50. In South Africa I have a flaky Internet connection. This happens to me quite often. The problem is that I couldn't restart the download once this happened. iTunes support wasn't helpful in resolving the issue, but I figured out a simple way to clear the error.

- Close iTunes.
- Navigate to the ..\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Downloads folder.
- Delete all the temporary folders.
- Start iTunes.
- Click Advanced -> Check for purchases...
- Log in (if necessary).
- Your download will restart from the beginning.

This won't necessarily keep the error -50 from happening again, but at least you'll be able to try the download again.

Rebreather Photo

2006-06-03T03:01:00.001-04:00

As promised, here's a better photo of Pawel, Don, and myself. :)

Rebreather SCUBA

2006-05-27T15:33:00.000-04:00

Today I received an intro into rebreather scuba in a short pool session. My instructor was none other than the famous Don Shirley. See the following link for an amazing story regarding extreme depths and rebreathers.

http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200508/dave-shaw-1.html

I hope to replace this extremely boring photo with one of Don and I soon so check back. If you're not familiar, the basic idea behind a rebreather is that it recycles your air. This is as opposed to traditional scuba which is "open circuit" where your exhaled air goes to the surface as bubbles. In a rebreather, things are MUCH more quiet and, interestingly enough, you can kind of even speak to one another underwater (since you're speaking into an air pocket instead of a regulator). Rebreathers "scrub" the exhaled air of the carbon dioxide. This means that you get about six breaths for every one you would normally get on open circuit scuba. Theoretically, you can stay under water six times longer on the same tank of air. Amazing technology, but very expensive right now. After trying it out, it's probably not long before rebreathers are the norm and we see traditional scuba as obsolete.

Stellenbosch Night Out

2006-05-27T09:05:00.000-04:00

Friday night it was time for a well earned night on the town in Stellenbosch. From left to right: me, Du Toit, Brood, Chris, Jean, Johann. We began the night at Tollies, then off to Bohemia and finished the night at a dance club. It was a raining cold night and one of the windshield wipers on the BMW stopped working on the way. Luckily, it was the left one and not the driver's side one. Nevertheless is was very fun night. The shot that we're doing in the photo is called a '4x4'. I think it's because it has four different liquors in it.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.3cdmlk6y&x=1&y=-96fc3f

Long Beach, South Africa

2006-05-14T16:38:00.000-04:00

This is me standing in the 106 year old wreck of the Kakapo on Long Beach, South Africa. Wreck diving without going under water!

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.5x9qvecq&x=1&y=b60whs

Mesopotamia, Cape Town

2006-05-12T13:13:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, my coworkers and I headed to Mesopotamia for some R&R. The food was excellent and the belly dancer was quite entertaining.

Photos…
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.8qqjcgju&x=1&y=8q1n2c

Constantia Nek To Kirstenbosch

2006-05-07T13:30:00.000-04:00

For my first full day back in Cape Town, what else to do except HIKE! One of my coworkers also arrived this weekend. I took her to see some of the sites. We went to the V&A Waterfront, did a hike from Constantia Nek to Kirstenbosch, had lunch at the Botanical Gardens, and did some shopping at Green Point Market. We finished the day with, what else, but some Nando's.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.556x8lui&x=1&y=-g8v9nb

Frankfurt, Germany

2006-05-05T09:23:00.000-04:00

I had a safe and uneventful trip to Frankfurt last night. I spent the day in town taking a city tour and having lunch with a contact I have here. It was beautiful weather and Frankfurt is a very clean, very modern city. This marks my shortest trip ever to a country. I was officially in Germany for less than 10 hours today. I've spent a shorter time in Paris' airport, but I didn't go through immigration, so I don't count that. I leave for Cape Town in a couple hours and will be there tomorrow.

Photos...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=16v9pei2.6my2x2iy&x=1&y=aikfgq