Bill Sears

It's been a while since I posted.

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:25:04 GMT

So I thought I'd post these two pictures for those who might be interested.

I went to the Mount Vernon Block party to see Cacie perform. She did a fantastic job and even played some new stuff I hadn't heard before.

Day 43 of my trip...

Tue, 12 May 2009 01:26:01 GMT

Heading home!!!

I hit the road and drove around Boston a bit trying to get my GPS to let me take the major highways instead of taking the back roads across the city. After about 15 minutes I finally found the right road and headed off to New York City.

I hit some traffic in NYC and I even got slightly lost coming in from the north. But I made it to Broadway. Once there I rushed around to get tickets. It was 1:20 when I made it to the Little Mermaid box office but they didn't have any wheelchair accessible seats left. So I had to decide...head up to Wicked and not be able to do another show if they had no tickets or walk across the street to The Lion King and still be able to try another show if they were sold out.

I decided to try The Lion King. Luckily they had tickets and I got to go in just as they opened the theatre doors. But all of this driving and delays meant I didn't even get a chance to grab a street vendor hot dog for lunch. So I grabbed a bag of pretzels and some Reeses Pieces from the concession stand. Not a great lunch but it was food.

The Lion King was great as usual. It was my third time seeing it and it's still wonderful.

One last Travel Channel food place to visit. I stopped for dinner at Rutts Hutt in Clifton New Jersey. I got myself 2 rippers for dinner. Great greasy fried hot dogs!!!! Cheap, bad for you food, I love it!

It was an easy drive down the New Jersey Turnpike, into Delaware and finally Maryland!!!

Once home I saw my new carpet and my painted living room. Nice job Mom!!! Thanks!!!

And for the end of the trip I had a wonderful nights sleep in my own bed then I did absolutely nothing constructive or adventurous on Sunday. But Monday I did make it back to work and had a good constructive day.

Day 42 of my trip...

Tue, 12 May 2009 01:03:21 GMT

A quiet nice day.

I slept in today and relaxed a bit in the room. Once out and about I headed across town and out to the burbs to go see Star Trek in IMAX!!!

It was a cool fun movie with some plot points that I hated. But I really want to go see it again. :)

Afterward I met up with some friends at Legal Seafood. Yea it's a chain but at least it's really a Boston classic. We were there for 4 hours and closed out the place.

I had some great shrimp with some really bready crab stuffing. I guess being a Marylander spoils me with crab. If it's not 80% or more crab then it's got too much filler.

But I did get some great Boston Cream Pie. This one was the opposite of last nights, it had almost all cream with just a little chocolate and cake.

Overall another nice day. But I'm getting tired and am looking forward to heading home tomorrow.

Day 41 of my trip...

Fri, 08 May 2009 03:37:15 GMT

Sorry it took so long but here is the real entry...

I headed over to the Museum of Science today for my Ducktour and to see the museum. Traffic really wasn't too bad for Boston and I made it there in plenty of time.

I got strapped in nice and tight on the Duck and off we went.

We toured all over Boston. The driver was a hoot and told us all sorts of fun facts about Boston and the people who live there. Here are various shots from around Boston including the Cheers bar.

And then we drove into the water...

Back inside the museum I saw some shows, toured the exhibits and had a good time.

They had a pretty good frog exhibit.

A Red Tail Hawk was out for us to see up close.

After the museum I headed out to the Summer Shack to meet up with 5 great girls I've met up with at an on-line message board. We had a blast and sat around talking for almost 4 hours. Here's some of the food...

We all split the Tower of Power or as the Bostonians call it the Towah of Powah!!!!!

I had the Lobster Roll for dinner. The lobster wasn't anywhere near as good as what I had in Bar Harbor but the seasoning was a nice touch.

I decided that since I was in Boston I'd get Boston Cream Pie for dessert. This is the first and only thing I sent back to the kitchen in this entire trip. There were 3 layers of cake covered in chocolate but no cream. Well I think there might have been an eighth of an inch of cream inside but it was the driest piece of cake I've tasted in a long time. It was terrible.

Tomorrow another day in Boston but it should be an easy one. I've decided to go see Star Trek in IMAX instead of walking the Freedom Trail.

Day 40 of my trip...

Thu, 07 May 2009 01:54:13 GMT

Not much happening today...

Another travel day with no real sights seen. I did get to have the pleasure of driving in Boston rush hour traffic. Yep, these people do drive a bit rougher then most other places. But I think it's the designs of the roads that are at fault. To merge in here you have to be aggressive since there's rarely a merge lane and the traffic is so thick.

I headed out of Bar Harbor and just a few miles after I left the island I found a breakfast place open and accessible. They even had the blueberry pancakes I had wanted yesterday! Very good pancakes with lots of blueberries buried in the middle of the stack.

I made it to Boston fine and checked into my hotel. I hung around there while traffic died down just a little and then I went to the Hilltop Steakhouse for dinner. It was featured on Steak Paradise on the Travel Channel. BTW Aunt Sophie that steak place you were thinking about also was on that special, it's Peter Luger's.

http://www.travelchannel.com/Travel_Ideas/Food_and_Wine/ci.Steak_Paradise.artTravelIdeasFmt?vgnextfmt=artTravelIdeasFmt

Some of you might recognize the sign or the cows out front.

So for dinner I got the Ribeye. A very good steak, not as good as the one I got in Chicago but it was half the price and a bit bigger then the Chicago steak.

Tomorrow I'm going to do the Ducktour and the Museum of Science here in Boston. Then I'm meeting up with a half dozen on-line friends at the Summer Shack for dinner.

Day 39 of my trip...

Wed, 06 May 2009 00:25:07 GMT

I ate my Maine Lobster!!!

I woke up and headed out the door to find some blueberry pancakes for breakfast. It seems Maine is famous for blueberries and I thought I'd give them a try. After driving around a while I came to the conclusion that every place that was accessible was still closed for the season and any place open was not accessible. So I dug out my emergency trail mix and headed for Acadia National Park.

On the way in I stopped and talked to a couple of park rangers about where to get lobster tonight. After a while it ended up being that they knew of places that were open but they didn't know of any that didn't have steps leading inside. But we still had a nice talk and I headed into the park.

The park is really beautiful. Great rocky beaches and a nice drive through forests. It was empty since the tourist season hadn't started so I had most of the park to myself.

While driving up Cadillac Mountain I stopped at an overlook to take some pictures. Sitting there was this seagull minding his/her own business. I took lots of shots and got about 3 feet from him/her and he/she didn't budge.

I don't think he/she was sitting on a nest but later when I drove down the mountain the Seagull was still there in the same spot.

Here's a shot of Bar Harbor from the top of Cadillac Mountain. Cadillac Mountain supposedly receives the first rays of the sun in the U.S.A. I didnt wake up early enough to prove that...besides it was cloudy all day.

I headed back to the hotel room and got there just as it started raining. It rained on and off all day while I kept warm inside and read. It was still coming down when I went out for dinner but rain or no rain I was going to get my lobster! I spoke to the hotel desk clerk and she recommend a place to me, then she called up to see if they were accessible. They were but I needed to drive around to the back of the building and go in through the kitchen. Hey it's not perfect but it works!

I ended up starting with Maine Mussels. Pretty good but not as good as Bertha's. I also got a good local beer called Moosebreath Beer.

Then I had a 1.7 poind lobster for $25.00. A much better price then at home and it was fresh from the tank. Very good! I loved it.

BTW while I was eating the lobster one of the park rangers from this morning walked in and saw me. She was very happy to see I was able to make it into Geddy's and that I did get to eat my lobster.

To top off the meal I added some carbs to go with my protein and fat. A nice warm slice of Blueberry pie. I was thinking of you Cacie as I ate this! The pie was great. Most blueberry pies seem to have huge amounts of sugar in them, this one tasted like it had very little sugar and was letting the blueberry flavor come through instead.

I finished up dinner just after the 7:00 showtime for Romeo and Juliet so no show for me tonight. Instead I'm relaxing in my hotel room being warm and dry.

I'm headed to Boston tomorrow.

Day 38 of my trip...

Tue, 05 May 2009 00:40:58 GMT

Back in the U.S.A.

I grabbed a small breakfast at the hotel's free breakfast buffet and hit the road. Now originally per Google Maps I was going to be traveling down route 10 to 55, then to 141 and into the tip of Vermont and over into New Hampshire as I drove to Bar Harbour Maine. But as you know my GPS likes to get creative. So I ended up taking about 150 miles of back roads through eastern Quebec and straight into Maine, passing through Sherbrooke and Sugarloaf. Calculating the routes...it's 10 miles shorter to take all of the back roads. :)

Anyway it was a pretty drive. I got to see farms and cute towns in Quebec.

I crossed over at this quiet little border point. The only people I saw were me and the border guard.

But once I passed over the border into Maine things changed from a nice quiet countryside into gorgeous scenery.

Sugarloaf Mountain.

A set of rapids that was right in the middle of a tiny town.

I even got to see a helicopter doing some logging work.

Once I hit Bar Harbor I was starved. One waffle at 9:00 doesn't last until 4:30. So I checked in and walked the town a bit. I was looking for lobster but the closest I got was a Lobster Roll from The Thirsty Whale. It's a lot of lobster stuffed into a grilled/buttered roll. it was great but I could have easily eaten 2 of them.

I wandered around the town. Hmmm...tomorrow night Romeo and Juliet is being performed in town. I'm not a Shakespeare nut but I do love watching live performances so maybe I'll go. Here's the waterfront and some of the main street area.

I decided to get a scoop of ice cream to finish the day. I almost got the lobster flavored but instead picked Black Forest. My buddy and I ate our ice cream outside and enjoyed the nice weather.

Tomorrow I'll go see Acadia National Park and hopefully find lots of good and cheap lobster. I'd be happy if I can find good and expensive lobster. Maybe I'll even go see Romeo and Juliet if I get everything done in time to make the 7:00 show.

Day 37 of my trip...

Mon, 04 May 2009 02:01:19 GMT

It's times like these that I can appreciate the Catholic Church...

My main goal today was to get one of those Montreal Bagels I kept hearing about. It was good but it wasn't a New York Bagel. I went to this little shop called Fairmount Bagels, inside it was tiny and obviously just a place to buy bagels to take home. But the line lead out the door and there were guys in back of the counter hand rolling out bagels. The bagels are good and the crust was great. They roll the entire bagel in the topping so it covers all of the surface, a plus for Montreal. But in the end the bagel is almost all crust and no real bagel inside. I like my bagels to have more dough in them.

I had a free afternoon and I decided instead of the Science Center I'd head over to the Basilica Notre-Dame de Montreal. It was beautiful inside and out. Everything was ornate and wonderful. There was artistry everywhere you turned, even in the smallest details.

Click on the picture for the larger version.

Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the Basilica Notre-Dame de Montreal...

Afterward I headed back to my hotel for an afternoon break. Then I met up with an on-line friend and we toured Montreal by car. It was great seeing the local sights, Mount-Royal Parc, the Olympic Stadium and Village and the various neighborhoods.

We ate dinner at a local favorite, Schwartz's Delicatessen. This place is a little hole in the wall that's famous for it's Montreal Smoked Meat. You stand outside in a line and they escort you in when a space at a table opens up. As you can see the place is packed with everyone sharing tables with strangers.

I of course got the Montreal Smoked Meat. It's a little like corned beef but more smokey and less spicy. It was delicious! One thing that I've always heard is that when people eat in silence it's a good sign that the food is good. As crowded as this place was it was darn quiet.

Afterward we drove around town a bit more and stopped at the Orange Julep. It's a cool drive-in that serves an orange drink similar to an Orange Julius but better. I had one and it was great but instead of showing you a cup with orange liquid in it I thought I'd show you the drive-in.

Tomorrow I leave Canada and head to Bar Harbor Maine. Back to the good old USA.

BTW if you don't hear from me for a couple of days don't worry. I'm not sure what if any internet access I'll have in Bar Harbor.

Day 36 of my trip...

Sun, 03 May 2009 03:30:44 GMT

It's Saturday night in Montreal so I'm looking for some poutine!

No it's not as dirty as it sounds.

I headed out of Ottawa for the semi-short drive to Montreal. Just a couple of hours later and I was at my new hotel.

I've been trying my best to take pictures of all of the State/Province welcoming signs. Some have been big, some small, some I couldn't find at all even though I knew I had just crossed the line. But Quebec's is the best I've seen so far.

As I was checking into my hotel the valet asked me if I was going to see Cirque du Soleil while I was in town. Hmmm...that's right Cirque is from Montreal. So I looked into it and was able to get a nice wheelchair accessible seat for tonight's show.

I headed off to Old Montreal to explore. I thought Ottawa was bad for accessibility but Old Montreal beats that. It's just the combination of very old buildings with cobblestone streets and a hilly area. But I did get to see a lot of cool old buildings.

And of course for the beer lover I got a picture of the Molson building. ;)

Originally I had planned on driving to a great Poutine place... For those of you wondering Poutine is a Quebec dish that is French Fries, Gravy and Cheese Curds. The cheese is sort of like a nice fresh mozzarella cheese. ... But since I had a ticket to Cirque I wanted to stay in the Old Montreal area. Eventually I found a place called Montreal Poutine and they had tables outside for access. Overall it was darn good! I got mine with Montreal Smoked Meat on top.

I wandered a bit more at the waterfront and then headed over to the show. It was Ovo. Ovo is based around an egg and insects. But really the story is just an excuse to see amazing acts of acrobatics.

The show was wonderful! Lots of great acts that were both awesome and beautiful. I swear those performers must dedicate their whole lives to reaching that level of skill.

I'm not entirely sure what's up for tomorrow but it does involve finding a Montreal bagel.

Day 35 of my trip...

Sat, 02 May 2009 01:07:17 GMT

I'm starting to miss the west...

Driving places in the west may be long but it's not boring. Canada in the east looks pretty much like most of the east coast of the USA. Really nothing special to me. Just your normal trees and towns. It's making these drives pretty boring compared to the scenery in the western USA.

Anyway I woke up and headed to the Flying Saucer Diner for breakfast. I had heard of this place and decided to add it to my list of places to eat.

I had one of those big diner breakfasts. Pretty good but Canadians have funny sausage and don't cook bacon enough. ;)

I drove up to Ottawa. Yep it was a boring drive...see above. Once there I checked into my hotel and wandered around the Byward Market and Parliament Hill area. Of course by the name of Parliament Hill you can guess it's hilly there. I eventually was stopped by a huge set of stairs and I went back to the Byward Market where it's much leveler.

I found this bakery where they almost all spoke French. President Obama had eaten a cookie there on his trip to Ottawa so they are of course selling Obama Cookies. I bought one for snacking on later.

As I explored the Market area I began to notice the lack of ADA(Americans with Disabilities Act) accommodations. Even New Orleans was much more accessible then Ottawa. I'd say a good 80% of the shops and restaurants were up some sort of step. Even when they added on a deck that was 4 inches up and on the sidewalk it didn't have a ramp on it.

So when I saw that this place had added a ramp even though the law here in Canada doesn't require it I decided to eat there. I couldn't eat in the main dining room downstairs but at least I did get to eat.

I had a fantastic Sesame Crusted Salmon with a Lemon Sauce. It was crispy on the outside and tender inside. The sauce was fantastic!

It was getting dark and cold out so I headed back to the hotel. As I walked through the market area I saw a Beaver Tail stand!!!!! Now of course it wasn't accessible, they had added a little 3" deck in front of the stand so you had to step up to order. But it was a Beaver Tail so I asked the lady in front of me to order one for me.

An actual Beaver Tail is much better then the Peasant Bread at the Renaissance Festival and better the the Beaver Tails they used to sell in EPCOT. It was tender and moist, slightly crispy on the outside. But boy was it sweet! I loved it! I guess that cookie is going to have to wait until tomorrow.

Tomorrow I head up to Montreal and see how they treat an English speaker. I've heard it all should be fine.

Day 34 of my trip...

Fri, 01 May 2009 01:30:00 GMT

Niagara Falls! Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch...

Niagara Falls was great! The falls are amazing from all sorts of views and the people here seem wonderful.

I woke up and headed over to Clifton Hill for my first taste of Tim Hortons. For those of you wondering what Tim Hortons is it is a great coffee and donuts place. They serve some other foods too but basically it's the Canadian version of Duncan Donuts. The coffee is amazing, probably the best I've had on this trip and the donuts are up there on my list. I got the Maple Cream and a Boston Cream, both were great.

I rode the Ferris Wheel on Clifton Hill and got some nice views of the Falls.

I worked my way over to the IMAX and watched Niagara: Legend and Daredevils and I got to see a lot of the original barrels and such that people have gone over the falls and the rapids in. Afterward I took the plunge myself and headed down Murray Street to the bottom of the hill and the falls. It's a long steep hill but I made it down safely.

I wandered around watching the falls. I was amazed at the amount of water flowing over the falls. Yosemite Falls is much higher but the water flow is nothing compared to Niagara. The roar of the falls and the spray is amazing.

I rode the Maid of the Mist. For those of you who have never done it I highly recommend it. It was the one of the major highlights of my entire vacation. There have been many amazing sights but seeing the falls so close has to be one of the top sights of this trip.

We got really close to the Canadian side of the Falls and just sat there for almost 10 minutes. The water and the thunder from the falls was amazing. Almost all of the people who were up top came down to the more sheltered lower section. I headed up to the bow and got soaked but it was well worth it to be out in the natural fury of the falls.

Afterward I almost bought another ticket just to go do it all again.

I took a few more pics from street level...

In this one you can barely see one of the Maid of the Mist boats sitting in the spray from the falls.

After seeing the gardens and the falls it was now time to head back up the hill. Going down was easy compared to getting back up. Luckily I did have a nice family help me out with about half of the climb up Clifton Hill.

When I was halfway up the hill it started drizzling and by the time I had made it back to my hotel it was raining steadily. So I decided to just relax tonight and eat at The Keg restaurant at my hotel.

I had a wonderful Sirloin Steak and Dungeness Crab combo for dinner. The steak was flavorful even if it was a little tougher then the Filet Mignon I have been eating. The crab surprised me, it was actually sweet compared to most of the Dungeness Crab I had previously. I'm glad I got it.

After climbing up and down hills, ramps and over distances on just 2 donuts and a cup of coffee I was really hungry. So I had the Brownie Sundae dessert. It was fantastic even if it was too much for me to finish.

Tomorrow I head up to Ottawa. I really have no idea what I'm going to see there...I guess I better do a bit of research tonight.

Day 33 of my trip...

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:40:07 GMT

Another long and boring travel day.

I left Wonder Lake IL around 8:30 and finally arrived in Niagara Falls around 10:00. A very long drive! Losing an hour due to the time zone change, 2 hour long stops for meals, a couple of gas and rest stops and a half hour nap all make for a very long day with not much in the way of pictures to show.

I stopped for lunch at a local Tapas place somewhere in Michigan. They weren't doing Tapas at lunch but they did have a nice Italian Beef sandwich. Now I know what Italian Beef sandwiches taste like, they taste like Steamship Beef from either Pappy's or maybe Woody's back in the old days. A very good sandwich! I haven't had something like that since college.

After a long drive I stopped in London Ontario for some dinner. I picked a place called Fibbers Pub based on my GPS unit, Fibbers Pub in London sounded great. It looks like it was changed to the Black Diamond Bar & Grill and it's really just a little local dive bar but I ate there anyway.

I looked over the menu and choose a Rueban Sandwich. Hmmm, I have a choice of pastrami or Montreal Smoked Meat. I'm in Canada so Montreal Smoked Meat it is!!! Then I see you can upgrade to Sweet Fries for a Loonie, well that's not even real money so I might as well upgrade. So 2 odd things with dinner. I find out that Montreal Smoked Meat is just another way of saying Canadian Bacon. I'm trying to figure out what the Sweet Fries might be, maybe they put maple syrup on them or add some cinnamon and sugar instead of salt. This is totally different country they may do all sorts of odd things to french fries. But...Sweet Fries are actually just Sweet Potato Fries. Overall a good meal but not as odd as I was hoping for.

Day 32 of my trip...

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:08:25 GMT

Off to see the dinosaur bones.

We drove down to Chicago...I didn't mention before that my Aunt & Uncle actually live about 1 hour 45 minutes from Chicago. But we got there and got to see a fair amount of the Field Museum. It's a really good museum with great exhibits. It is probably a bit smaller then the Natural History Museum but still a good place to see.

Sue and I had a good time. We got to have a little head to head conversation.

And then she snuck up on me with a little physical rebuttal.

There are a couple of elephants in the large open area.

We visited a Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship based on the artifacts recovered from the Whydah. But no pictures were allowed so here's a link to a web site about it.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/real-pirates/

Here are a few pictures from the exhibits where photography was allowed.

Many of them are similar to exhibits I've seen at the Smithsonian. But there were others that were done better here.

We met up with my cousin Joe for one last dinner here. It was some pretty good pizza.

Tomorrow I take the long drive to Niagara Falls. 587 miles and I lose an hour due to the time zone change. I may or may not be posting tomorrow, instead I may get to my hotel and just sleep.

Day 31 of my trip...

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:34:01 GMT

It sure was nice of them to name a tower after me...

I've always wanted to go to the Sears Tower in Chicago. I know it's not named after my family but it's always been the one cool thing about sharing the Sears name with the store.

We went up to the Skydeck and saw some fantastic views of the city and lake.

Tomorrow we plan on visiting the Field Museum as seen here.

After the trip up the tower we stopped for a traditional Chicago Hot Dog. It was a darn good dog even if it does have a salad on it.

We spent the afternoon at Navy Pier. A fair amount was closed down because it was a weekday in April and it was a windy day. But the stained glass exhibit there was beautiful! Forget the stalls selling souvenirs or the food court, go see the stained glass if you're at the pier!

I had told Aunt Sophie and Uncle Joe that I wanted to eat a really good Chicago steak while I was in town. So they treated me to Rosebuds, a nice place in the Gold Coast area of town. I got the Chicago Cut bone-in ribeye. A darn good tasty steak. Plenty of flavor and still tender. They included a bone with the marrow it it with the steak, I did my best Andrew Zimmern/Anthony Bourdain and ate the marrow. it was good but not as good as the steak.

Tomorrow is some more Chicago.

Day 30 of my trip...

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:37:17 GMT

Seeing family today...

I headed out of St. Louis and up to Wonder Lake, north of Chicago. On the way, just for kicks, I traveled a bit along Route 66. I got to eat at a small diner attached to a sleazy hotel. Great food with lots of locals hanging around. I got some bacon, eggs and hash browns with some fantastic coffee.

Once in Wonder Lake I met up with my Aunt Sophie and Uncle Joe. We hung around the house catching up on things and then headed out to dinner. At dinner I got to see my cousin Joe who I probably haven't seen in almost 25 years. It was great to see him and we had a good time catching up with each other.

Here's the pic! Yep, we all got together tonight and hung around the house after dinner.

I'll be heading into Chicago for some touristy fun tomorrow.

Day 29 of my trip...

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:34:03 GMT

First off I've decided to extend my vacation by 1 day. Instead of coming back on Friday night I'll be coming back on Saturday night after stopping to see a show in New York.

A shorter drive with a rest at the end...

I slept in a bit and hit the road at 10:30 local time. Of course a few days ago that would have been 8:30 local time. All of those nice time changes I had on the drive west are starting to catch up with me.

I drove to Kansas City KS to meet up with an on-line friend and her family. They're all Disney nuts like I am and between the wonderful BBQ, the talking about traveling and the Disney World discussions we spent about 2 hours over lunch.

I got a burnt end sandwich and it was fantastic! Easily the best BBQ I've had this trip. If you're ever in Kansas try Oklahoma Joe's.

Anthony Bourdain has featured Oklahoma Joe's on his A Cooks Tour. Any place good enough for Tony is good enough for me!

http://www.oklahomajoesbbq.com/

I reached St Louis at around 5:30 and checked into my hotel. Here's the view from my room:

Obviously I'm pretty close to the Arch. So I went over to the park to check it out. It's big, impressive and pretty cool.

I wandered around a bit then headed back to my hotel for a club sandwich for dinner. I've been craving simpler things recently. I guess you can have too much of a good thing.

Right now I'm just hanging out and relaxing tonight. Tomorrow I'll be headed off to Chicago to visit my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin.

Day 28 of my trip...

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 04:06:35 GMT

I thought Kansas was supposed to be in Black and White?

Anyway the colorized version is pretty boring.

I spy with my little eye something that begins with the letter F.

Is it a farm?

Yes!!! I spy with my little eye something that begins with the letter F.

Is it a FARM?!?

Yes it is! I spy with my little eye something that begins with the letter F.

It's a FARM isn't it!!!!!

Wow, you're good at this game! I spy with my little eye something that begins with the letter F.

It's a FARM!!!! And the next one is a FARM, and the next one is a FARM. They're all FARMS!!!!!!

And that is exactly how I felt traveling through eastern Colorado and Kansas. Farm after farm after farm after farm.... for over 500 miles.

However I did find out that Kansas isn't 100% flat. The eastern quarter or so is actually rolling hills.

I got to Topeka safely even if I was bored and met up with some on-line friends. Hi to Cheri and Steve, you guys were great and the most interesting part of my day! :) It was wonderful to talk about Disney, traveling and family. Thanks for dinner and the wonderful pie!

Tomorrow I'm heading to Kansas City for lunch and then to St. Louis.

Day 27 of my trip...

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 04:10:08 GMT

I guess this thin air stuff is true...

I was dragging all day long today. I was pretty much fine when driving or sitting still but walking around, especially up hill seemed a bit harder and I was tired most of the day. Plus my right ear keeps clearing then getting stuffy again. Oh well I bet as i drive through Kansas I'll be missing these mountains.

I made it over to Sonic for lunch on my way out to Pikes Peak. I got a burger, tater tots and a chocolate malted. The burger was pretty good, the tots were just tots and the shake was good.

So Pikes Peak or Bust.

I considered stopping at Bust for a margarita...you have to admit it's a good eye catcher for a restaurant.

Pikes Peak was mostly open. I got to travel up 15 miles of road but the last 4 miles were closed due to snow. Still it was a pretty impressive sight. I'm pretty sure I was up at at around the 12,000-12,500 feet mark.

While up here I got a preview of my travel tomorrow. It looks pretty flat to the east.

After Pikes Peak I headed over to the Garden of the Gods. It was really cool and it's free. The rock formations are beautiful.

I was getting tired but I really wanted to see the Air Force Academy. Since it's mostly a drive and I'm not expecting to do any major walking around I decided to go see it. I visited the visitors center and the main campus area.

It's nice but it's no Naval Academy. It's hard to compare something built in the 50s with something that has been around for as long as the Naval Academy.

I stopped by the air fields and saw some gliders getting ready for take off.

And a small powered plane taking off.

I grabbed dinner at an Italian restaurant I passed by. I've been craving chicken parmesan and this was just right.

After dinner I headed back to my hotel room where I was contacted by an internet friend who lives nearby. She and her Husband met up with me for dessert at Sonic. They were both great people and I'm so glad they made time to meet up with me.

Tomorrow I'm heading down out of the mountains and across Kansas to Topeka. So don't expect any great scenic photos for a while.

Day 26 of my trip...

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:23:34 GMT

Boy was that a long drive...

I decided I wanted to see the end of Route 70 here in Utah so I headed down to Cove Fort. Doing this meant adding about 2 hours to a 9 hour drive so I ended up with an 11 hour drive today. But now I've seen the end of Route 70 and when I see the sign near my house that says Cove Fort 2200 miles I know that I've been there.

Route 70 was beautiful! I've heard that this is longer then taking Route 80 but it's much more scenic. Here are some shots in Utah.

These 2 were taken from a scenic overlook in Utah. I had the place entirely to myself for about 10 minutes, just me and 2 crows. I can't understand how people can just keep driving by views like this without stopping. In the second picture you can see Route 70 going down the center.

Eventually I made it into Colorado and up into the mountains. It's a huge difference.

I crossed the Continental Divide heading east this time.

I saw this off in the distance, about 35 miles out from Manitou Springs. I suspect it's Pikes Peak and I'll be headed up it tomorrow.

By the time I got to Manitou Springs my ears were really bothering me. All of the up and down mountains all day long was taking it's toll. Even now after being here for 3 hours I can still hear some ringing in my ears.

I was starved when I pulled into town so I headed out for dinner. I had some chips during the day and a waffle for breakfast at 7:00 but that wasn't doing much for me at 8:00 at night. I stopped in at Pizzeria Rustica for a nice brick oven pizza. It was really good especially the half with the salami on it.

Tomorrow will be Pikes Peak, Garden of thee Gods, maybe the Air Force Academy and I'll look around to see what else I might do.

Day 25 of my trip...

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 05:19:41 GMT

This doesn't look too bad...

I decided to grab a big breakfast and no lunch since I've heard how bad this drive will be. 520 miles across empty desert. So I headed to the all you can eat buffet. $8.95 for breakfast, now this is how Las Vegas used to treat guests.

Then I hit the road and headed east. I kept expecting to see just miles and miles of desert. I guess I did but it wasn't boring to me. The road wasn't just a straight line and it passed through some beautiful countryside. As long as I was away from the towns it looked great.

I loved looking at the snow capped mountains in the distance.

Eventually I hit Utah and the Bonneville Salt Flats. Now this is what I was expecting the whole trip to be like. I must have traveled 25 miles perfectly straight, perfectly flat, with nothing to see except the flats on both sides. At one point I couldn't see any cars in front or back of me so I opened her up to see how it would go. I hit 120 but my little 4 cylinder engine didn't have much above that. I guess I'm not going to set the world landspeed record on the Bonneville track.

I passed by the Great Salt Lake. It's pretty big and just disappeared off over the horizon.

I had picked out a dozen CDs to play on the trip today and shuffled them up randomly. As luck would have it about 10 miles outside of Salt Lake City I needed to swap CDs. The random CD that came up was Melissa Etheridge. I'm happy to admit I drove through downtown Salt Lake City with the windows down and the CD player playing Melissa as I drove up to see Temple Square. OK, I admit I was a little passive aggressive there. :)

Personally I'm more impressed by the Emerald City. The Emerald City is what many people call the LDS temple in the Washington area because of how much it looks like the Emerald City.

For dinner I went to another Diners, Drive-ins and Dives place. Pat's, In Your Face, BBQ. I got to listen to a woman playing acoustic covers, she even played some Patty Griffin for me.

And of course I got some BBQ. I had the pulled pork, ribs and brisket combo. Way too much food but it was great.

Tomorrow I drive the longest leg of my journey. 751 miles to Manitou Springs with a stop in Cove Fort. Hopefully I can get there before dark.

Day 24 of my trip...

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:50:37 GMT

Up over the mountains...

I headed out of San Fransisco and up to Sacramento. Where I have a wonderful event planned... I got my oil changed. That's right I've been on the road for 5,000 miles now and I had to get an oil change. More miles in 3 weeks then I normally put on in 6 months.

I drove further inland at that point and met up with Lindy and Bob for lunch. They bought me a nice lunch at a local Mexican place. Thanks again guys. It was a pretty good pork burrito and the homemade chips they had were great.

Afterwards we drove over to see their house. It's a nice place way up in the mountains off of a road that leads up into the Sierras and eventually to Lake Tahoe.

The further into the mountains I got the more it smelled like someone had sprayed a giant pine scented air freshener. There were pine trees everywhere! It smelled great and I drove along with the snow outside and my windows down. Here's a couple of lakes in the Sierras. One frozen and one melted.

I worked my way through the beauty of the Sierras and into the beauty of Lake Tahoe. I have no idea who builds all of these houses but I'd love to live in one. Lake Tahoe isn't a National Park like Yosemite so it's been developed and they've put amazingly rustic looking luxury houses along the bank of the lake. It's tough to get a good view of the lake without going into someone's driveway. I guess this is how the other half lives and what's worse is these are almost all just weekend/vacation homes. Eventually I found a public beach to get some pictures.

I climbed up the hills out of Tahoe and over into Reno. Some of those passes in the mountains are still snow covered except for the road. There are signs up all over the place about not stopping because of potential avalanches.

Once in Reno I checked into the Silver Legacy and met up with an on-line friend for dinner. It was great getting to meet her. We went to Kokopelli for some wonderful sushi, sorry about the pic but I forgot to take one when the plates were full.

After dinner we went our separate ways and I headed for the casino. I played for a few hours and ended up down $150. I still had plenty of money left in my gambling fund but it was getting late and I have that long Reno to Salt Lake City drive in the morning...

Day 23 of my trip...

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:53:42 GMT

I got a few things done but I never did find Chinatown...

This morning while showering I noticed something odd. The top of my head hurt. I was thinking that it must be some sort of razor burn since I had swapped in a new blade yesterday. But that had never happened before. Then it hit me. I actually got sunburned yesterday! I traveled through the south, into Texas across the desert southwest, into Las Vegas and sunny Los Angeles It wasn't until San Francisco that I got burned! LOL It was my own fault, in all of those other places I was careful to put sunscreen on the top of my head and wear a hat. The weather was so nice yesterday I forgot about the hat and I had also forgotten to put sunscreen on. Today was different I wore my hat and put my sunscreen on before leaving the hotel.

So I headed over the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather was wonderful, starting out at around 70 and eventually heading up to 78(maybe 80). The bridge crossing was easy but the traffic heading up to Muir Woods seemed to be a bit heavy. Luckily some of it split off into various parks on the way up...BTW I do mean UP! I drove up steep winding roads while dodging bicycles. It was a cool drive but the turns and bikes did make it a bit challenging.

I got to Muir Woods and it was great seeing the Redwoods. I missed out on the Sequoias in Yosemite because the road to them hadn't opened for the season yet so these were my first big trees.

Let's just say I saw a lot of pretty trees. From the littlest guy here who has his own sunbeam to help him grow.

All the way up to the really big ones that disappear into the sky.

I had a nice long walk along the paved path. Mostly smooth sailing with some bumps and hills here and there. After Muir Woods I headed back towards San Francisco.

On a whim I stopped in Saulsalito for lunch. It was a nice seaside town with great views of San Francisco.

I walked around the waterfront area and saw some shops and such. I grabbed an overpriced Antipasto sandwich for lunch. It was $17.50 for the sandwich and a soda. But at least it was a good sandwich!

I drove on over to the Golden Gate Bridge to check it out. After parking I saw that I was on the bike path side of the bridge. Luckily they had provided a nice set of stairs to go down to cross over to the pedestrian side of the bridge. Oh what the heck, I'm on wheels anyway. So I went a bit down the bike side of the bridge, staying to the side and being very careful of the bikes going past. Now I can say I've walked on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Afterward I drove up the hill to get that great view of the bridge from overhead. It was gorgeous from up there and no fog at all today.

I then crossed over the bridge and headed for Golden Gate Park. It really wasn't what I expected. It's not a park at the Golden Gate Bridge, it's a park at the Golden Gate. The Golden Gate is the opening of the bay to the sea. I didn't see as much as I should have because I kept heading away from it thinking the park was at the bridge...Next time I need to do some more research before I travel.

Speaking of research I keyed the Chinatown Gateway into my GPS unit and headed across town to see it. Again I had a hard time finding it. I even had a map and didn't locate it. I know I was pretty close though because most of the signs where in Chinese. As a bonus though I did drive through Japantown.

I was seeing that Chinatown was in the hilly area of San Francisco so I knew that even when I found the actual street I wasn't going to be able to do much. Besides at this point I was worn out from my travels. So I decided to head back to the hotel. Luckily I got an even better parking space when I returned to the hotel!

When I checked into the hotel I noticed there was an Indian restaurant across the street. With this being my last night here I headed over to try it out. Hmm, there's an Irish Pub right next to the Indian restaurant. As I enter I hesitate...wait a minute it's an Indian restaurant/Irish Pub combination!?!?!?!?! Now that's a weird combo. It seemed to be one huge area that had been sectioned off into an Indian Restaurant, with Indian decor. An Irish Pub with Irish decor and a bar. And an area with pool tables, air hockey, foos ball and video games. So while sitting at my table over dinner I could look up and to the side and see Indian paintings and tapestries, look straight ahead and to the other side and see people playing pool etc... and turn around and see the Irish Pub.

I ordered the Tandoori meat sampler. Lamb, chicken and shrimp. I liked it! I usually don't like the taste of lamb but the marinade and grilling made it taste really good.

Tomorrow I'm heading up to Reno via Lake Tahoe and stopping to meet Bob and Lindy for lunch.

Day 22 of my trip...

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 03:29:42 GMT

Hanging around the hotel area...

When I checked into this hotel I was lucky to find a parking space in the garage. The hotel parking probably holds 40 cars or so over 2 levels. All of the handicapped parking has been full since I got here and when I checked in only 2 spaces were open. Luckily one of them suited my needs. So right now I'm afraid to move my car because I expect to come back and not find a space open. It's free parking here instead of the $40.00 a night most hotels in this area charge. But I guess in this instance you get what you pay for.

So instead of moving my car I stayed in the area and walked around. I went down to the wharf area and got breakfast/lunch at Pompei's Grotto. It was Sand Dab fillets and it came with a bowl of chowder. San Fransico chower is pretty good, not as good as good New England Clam Chowder but still good. The Sand Dabs were fantastic! Lemon/garlic sauce and sauteed just right.

I headed over to Hyde Street Pier and saw the various ships there. I got to go onto the ferry and the sailing ship. Overall a cool place to visit.

While I was there I saw the fog rolling in over the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. I bet that's going to mess up my cruise today.

I worked my way down the piers stopping at anything that caught my fancy. One place was a museum of old arcade games. They had some cool games I haven't played since I was a kid in Ocean City. They also had Laughing Sal...a really creepy laughing animatronic.

I decided to go out on my Blue and Gold Cruise. We headed out past the Pier 39 seals and out to the bay. Eventually we were in the fog. It was pretty cool to watch the sail boats coming in and out of the fog.

The water started getting pretty rough. Waves were started to hit the windows on my level.

Eventually we got to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Yep that's it folks the best view I had of it.

We sailed around in the fog for a bit while the pre-recorded track told us various facts about the bridge and then we headed back towards Alcatraz and away from the fog. As we cleared the fog I got to see a quick glimpse of 2 dolphins surfacing about 50 feet to the side of us. Once at Alcatraz I could see well but the pictures had problems with all of the water on the windows. Still it was a cool sight to see.

We headed back to port and I wandered over the piers some more. I stopped and got a crab and shrimp cocktail from a window stand at Fisherman's Wharf.

Then I started looking for that Ghirardelli Hot Fudge Sundae I wanted. I passed by Ben and Jerry's, Coldstone and a couple of Dryers but no Ghirardelli. Then I realized the only place was probably that sign up the hill from the wharf. So I headed that way dreading climbing the hill but wanting a sundae. Just before the hill I saw Norman's Ice Cream, locally made Mitchell's ice cream and a little non chain shop. That'll do!

At this point I was really getting tired of the crowd down here. I had been on the pier for almost 6 hours and it was really getting packed with people. I guess great weather on a Saturday will bring everyone out. So I headed back to my hotel and rested up a bit.

I walked around my hotel neighborhood seeing various restaurants and sights. Here's my view looking up at Lombard Street from the bottom.

I stopped in at a little cafe that had $2.00 drafts and a cool looking sandwich menu. I got the SanFranSalmon. Lox, cream cheese, cucumber, tomato, sprouts and red onion on sourdough bread. A nice tasty sandwich.

I stopped at a bakery I passed by because they had the largest Macaroon I had ever seen. This thing is slightly larger the a softball. I took it back to my room and ate half for dessert, it'll be breakfast tomorrow too.

Tomorrow I'm going to risk moving my car. I hope to see Muir Woods, Golden Gate Park and maybe Chinatown.

Day 21 of my trip...

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:35:52 GMT

The trip is officially half full. I'm 21 days into a 42 day trip.

I woke up in Yosemite so you'll have to bear with me as I post a few more pics of Yosemite.

The Yosemite Falls had a nice bit of ice buildup around it in the morning. Very pretty.

I drove over to Mirror Lake on my way out of the park. It's much smaller then I expected and at first I thought I just hadn't gone far enough down the path to see it. However after talking to others returning from the path it looks like the lake has gotten smaller over the recent years. The park is trying to let nature take it's course here, the lake was partially man made by dredging and a dam. One person said the park rangers think it will almost all be a meadow someday.

As I drove out of the Sierras I stopped at a local burger joint called The Happy Burger. So of course I ordered a Happy Burger. It was a burger with thousand island dressing but it was good.

My GPS unit routed me down Route 580 through Oakland and across the bay Bridge to get me to my hotel. I got to drive right past Lindy and Bob's old house and I even saw the Grand Lake Theater. The bridge was cool and was probably the easiest way to get to the Wharf area from the way I was coming.

I checked into my hotel which is only about 3 long blocks from Fisherman's Wharf...unfortunately it's 3 long blocks straight up!

Actually I'm kidding. The hotel is about 3 short blocks from Fisherman's Wharf and almost all level with just some slight slopes.

So I headed down to "Fisherman's Wharf". Which is just one of the many piers there. I walked all along the piers. I even had my first In N Out Burger. A double double with everything. Pretty good for a fast food burger.

I watched this guy do some card tricks,rings and the cup and balls. He was fun and pretty good. Plus I got to support my local magician. ;)

I headed down to Pier 39 where I saw Alcatraz, the Sea Lions and a departing cruise ship.

Then I went to the Aquarium of the Bay. A nice aquarium, much bigger then the Santa Monica Aquarium but still not as big as Baltimore's. I enjoyed it especially the tube you walk in underwater with various fish including sharks.

More Jellyfish...actually they may officially be something else.

A starfish having lunch. Sorry but I don't do the whole Seastar thing. I don't need to have them renamed just so I don't think they're a fish.

A view of a ray passing by in the underwater tube.

I got to pet this cute guy along with a ray, a skate and a starfish.

I ended my day with another crepe. This one was banana and Nutella. I don't see many crepes being sold in Maryland so I'm really enjoying them on this trip.

Tomorrow I'm going to see the Hyde Street Pier National Park and take a boat ride out under the Golden Gate Bridge. Hopefully I'll also make it over to Ghirardelli Square for a nice Hot Fudge Sundae...yea it's technically a chain but Ghirardelli chocolate in San Francisco gets a pass on that.

Day 20 of my trip...

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:14:14 GMT

A wonderful day in Yosemite...

I woke up in Fresno, got ready for the day and grabbed some free hotel breakfast on my way out the door. It was a beautiful drive to Yosemite. Things just kept getting prettier and prettier the closer I got.

Once in Yosemite I stopped at a covered bridge and saw the stream below. A nice warm up for what's to come.

I was traveling in Yosemite for a bit but I was having a hard time actually seeing the valleys. There were so many tall trees all over that I couldn't get a good view. And then I saw a vista and had to stop to take a picture. Look it's me, El Capitan and Half Dome. Darn I bet it's rough to beat that picture...

I travel on a bit and go through a tunnel. Right on the other side is a sight to behold. El Capitan, Half Dome, Clouds Rest, Sentinel Rock, Cathedral Rocks and Bridalveil Falls! All in one nice easily viewed spot.

I probably spent a half hour there seeing it all and taking pictures. It was an awe inspiring sight. Here's a zoomed in view of Bridalveil Falls.

I then traveled a bit more and got an even closer view of Bridalveil Falls.

Eventually I stopped at a picnic area and got my first views of Yosemite Falls...

I stayed there a while watching the falls cascade down. It was amazing watching the swirling water as it fell. Here's a shot of the water making a Chinese Dragon face, at least it looks that way to me. It's on the left side of the water in the picture, about 2/3rs up from the bottom.

I went to the visitors center, the indian village, the museum, etc... Then I headed over to the Awahnee hotel. The hotel is really nice but I do prefer the more rustic look of the Wilderness Lodge. Here's a shot of Half Dome from the hotel.

I then headed over to the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls to check in. The room is great and has a view on my balcony of Yosemite Falls.

I walked over to the falls from the hotel. It really is beautiful.

While wandering the trail at the falls I got a nice shot of the frozen river with the falls in the background. The ice is formed from the spray from the falls and carried downstream.

I have no idea what this rock face is called but I saw it while walking the falls paths. It looks too good to not post it.

I mentioned the room is great here in Yosemite Lodge. Well one of the best things is the bed! It's actually the right height to transfer in and out of and it's hard as a rock. All of the beds on this trip have been 4 to 8 inches above my wheelchair seat. So every day I get back to my room tired from the trip and have to haul myself into bed. This bed is so easy to get in I almost feel like I'm at home. Plus it's a nice firm mattress instead of all of the soft ones I've had. The only problem is it's a little small...

Tomorrow I hope to see Mirror Lake then I'm off to San Francisco.