Archive for the 'Vacations' Category

• 11.18.08 Engaged posted in Vacations

  If you haven’t heard, Emily and I got engaged on November 7th while on vacation at Herrington Manor.

  Our weekend was amazing; relaxing in an old log cabin with a wood burning stove, hiking in the autumn leaves, and walking through the mud of a drained lake. Herrington Manor and Swallow Falls have always had a special place in my heart but even more so now.

  I’m super excited to begin planning a life with her. Though, I didn’t expect to be planning the wedding so quickly! After searching about 20 venues and realizing no one had any openings for next fall we realized the importance of making plans and setting a date now. No luck finding anything yet. But I have hopes we’ll find something soon.

  Herrington Manor engagement

• 09.05.08 Folly Beach vacation posted in Vacations

  I left for Folly Beach, SC last Friday morning for an extended Labor Day weekend. I met Emily and her two girlfriends plus their husbands, the girls whom had already been there for three days without the guys. The group of six has been together before but only for a wedding, and being that two of the group were the ones getting married we didn’t get to hang out very much.

  We had a blast. I’m pretty sure the combination of alcohol + good food + company was just about perfect. The beach was amazing: sunny, warm, and windy.

  When you do a vacation like that, you have to do it right. Pancakes and sausage for breakfast. Skip the lunch. Big dinners: filet mignon kabobs, homemade pizzas, homemade biscuits, etc. And even a fancy dinner in downtown Charlestown. We know how to eat and we know how to eat right, baby!

  Best thing of all: I didn’t bring along my computer. I had everything completely wrapped up here at work. And nothing catastrophic happened! For realz.

  [Update: I uploaded the pictures to PicasaWeb. I'd have deleted some of these but I figure people who were at the vacation would like to see copies, even if they are bad.]

• 01.03.08 A new year and a wonderful vacation posted in Goals, Vacations

  I was a little spoiled this year by being privileged to not only have Christmas with my family but to have it with Emily’s as well. “Christmas” to me is both a holiday for family and leeway into a new year, meaning I tend to think of Christmas-time as that time between December 23rd and January 2nd (or about).

  After an ordeal getting to Shreveport on the 26th, I actually ended up in Shreveport on the 27th, choosing to spend my night in Baltimore instead of the Houston airport. We spent time with Emily’s parents, grandparents, and friends before leaving for Nashville to spend New Years Eve with her sister and fiancé.

  

  Unfortunately, we had to come home which meant traveling on New Years Day — driving the normally 11 hour but instead 13 hour snow, ice, and accident filled drive back to Baltimore. Arriving at about 4:30am, we made it safe but many others weren’t as fortunate.

  I really enjoyed the fact that I made a goals list the start of last year. I’m not sure I’ve ever done that before. It was a wonderful reference point into my mindset and thinking at the start of last year. Now I can look back and see where I focused my time and energy and how it differed from what I thought it would be. My goals from last year:

  1. Purchase house
  2. Renovate and move into house *
  3. Come up with a new idea for a web application and execute it for Fusion Bay
  4. Launch Gift List It a little before Thanksgiving 2007
  5. Successfully climb a 5.11 rated climb
  6. Begin 5.12 climbing
  7. Successfully climb a V7 boulder problem
  8. Do some bouldering outdoors (which I have yet to ever do)
  9. Go backpacking at least twice **
  10. Try snowboarding

  * The renovation process was much more extensive than originally planned. I’m nearing the end but this has actually become a 2008 goal
  ** While I only backpacked once, I had some other great vacations!

  Now that I’m back and things are resuming their normal pace. Like many others, I’m expecting a fresh start on things. One that I’m looking most forward to is a new MacBook Pro which I’m set to receive any day now. I’ll finally be able to run iMovie and create some cool videos. My old computer was too slow to run iMovie so it wouldn’t even install! Stay on the lookout for my year 2008 goals list.

• 10.04.07 Time off in Shreveport posted in Vacations

  Last Thursday night Em and I packed our bags to set off for Shreveport, Louisiana. I’ve come to look forward to the time with her family and the different things I do while I’m there.

  My first day was spent setting up and playing on a slackline, where I finally got walking backwards down and can go from start to finish on a line. In addition to that, I ended up working on and mastering a new way of mounting that starts with a hang from the line. I tried mounting by jumping both feet directly on the line but think I need a spotter and some more practice as I was thrown onto my head or side each time.

  After slacklining, Emily suggested we go to the Revel, an outdoor festival held in Shreveport each year. I was unimpressed with the beer selection until we eventually found a little stand that sold Abida amber beer. The food was really great and I wish I was a little hungrier as there were all sorts of southern foods to try, including: red beans and rice, jambalaya, deep fried jambalaya, gumbo, shrimp dishes, gyros, and all kinds of other stuff. And yeah, I know gyros aren’t southern! Emily and I settled on a few dishes and shared.

  Second day was spent at the lake house. Em’s father and I woke up before others and played a morning game of disc golf. Then, after gathering sticks around the property and chopping up and dragging 2 fallen trees into a bonfire pile, we went water-skiing. This marked my third time water-skiing. I’m really comfortable on two ski’s. Not so much on one. I tried the kick off a ski to slalom method and fell a few times hard. Then I tried to slalom straight out of the water and fell a few times. I’m not sure what I need to get the feeling of slalom skiing but it sure is annoying not being able to figure it out. I hope next time works out better. Then it will be off to barefoot skiing.

  Third and fourth days were low-key and relaxing. I have some videos of the water skiing which I’ll post on youtube and this entry soon. That sums up my vacation!

• 07.27.07 Weekend in Florida posted in Vacations

  I took a vacation to Fort Lauderdale 2 weeks ago to visit some old friends and introduce Emily to the places I knew when I lived down there. We visited Seldin and Stu, went snorkeling in the Keys, ate ceviche, had some Stoli Doli’s at Capital Grill, shopped on Lincoln Road, and spent time on the beach. It was really nice being back there. I really miss having a quick drive to the beach, although I’d much rather settle for a quick drive to the mountains instead. I’m still waiting on development of the snorkeling pictures but you can enjoy a set from Emily’s digital camera while we wait.

  

• 06.01.07 Shreveport part three posted in Vacations

  The last couple days of my Shreveport vacation were spent at the lake house with everyone. We went out on the boat a few times and went water skiing. This would mark my second time ever water skiing and this time I felt very comfortable on two skis so I began trying to get on one. That is actually called slalom water skiing. My attempts to get up out of the water ended up with some pretty spectacular crashes, so I opted to go with the method of getting up on two and then kicking one off.

  The following set of images is a pretty good example of that process and the end result:

  

  Regardless of the fact that I fell, I had an amazing time trying it. EEE’s father suggested I try barefoot skiing but I think I’ll continue working on the slalom skiing first.

  After skiing, I built a huge bonfire for everyone’s enjoyment. I wish we had gotten some pictures of how much wood I cleared from the yard. Makes me realize how badly I need to buy a new camera since my accidental cleanup mistake of throwing the camera in the dumpster and not realizing it.

  As with typical outdoor outings, I ended up with poison ivy on my feet and I hurt my thumb pretty bad when I slipped on the boat and bent it backwards. No climbing for me for a couple weeks until I’ve healed. Oh well. That just means more time at the house working on renovations.

• 05.26.07 Shreveport part two posted in Vacations

  Tying knots in the webbing was just something to do to pass the time. I looked up a website on different types of hitches and such and just began playing with them. No reason to it at all.

  I ended up getting my beignets yesterday but lucky for me I’m not a beignets virgin. I’ve had true beignets once before (on my last trip) and my mother often cooked what we called “fried dough” on weekends which was quite similar to a beignets. Actually, Mom, you’d appreciate the fact that I think you’re fried dough was much better.

  Emily and I cooked this killer 14 spice indian salmon recipe last night, this time on the grill. Previously it had only been baked. Honestly, I didn’t notice much of a difference. Had the grill been charcoal, I think that might have been another story. Supposedly charcoal allows the meat to get juicy or something and keeps the smell in.

  I’m sure today will be busy. The EEE family is having a pretty large crawfish boil, upwards of 40 people. I’m looking forward to some crawfish but I think breakfast would be best first. Looking forward to omelets made by EEE’s sister. Now if only she’ll wake up. It probably would help if I left the confinements of my room…

• 05.25.07 Sunshine, rain, and a slackline in Louisiana posted in Vacations

  Wednesday night I got into Shreveport with EEE, so yesterday was my first full day relaxing in LA. It was hot (about 85f and 90% humidity) and sunny during the afternoon, so after doing some work for work I dug up a couple stumps in the yard and setup a slackline. The slackline gave me a hard time — I think because it was a pretty lengthy one. I plan on setting one up again today and will use trees closer together.

  The weather is a little finicky. I left the slackline up last night until I heard some louder sounds of tree branches rustling and decided maybe I should take it down. Not 10 minutes later it started pouring down rain. I spent the rest of the evening tying lots of different knots with my webbing and visiting with EEE’s family.

  I’m letting EEE plan our days, suggesting only the few things I want. Today that means getting beignets and cafe au lait but I’ll have to wait until later to get that wish as we have some errands to run this morning.

• 03.27.07 Boston Tea Party the second time around posted in Dancing, Vacations

  This year was my second annual trip to The Boston Tea Party (BTP), a weekend of swing dancing workshops and competitions in Danvers, MA. It was awesome. I didn’t know a single teacher last year, however I was incredibly impressed with some, especially Dave & Kim and Skye & Sarah. This year I was a bit better versed on who these people were and I was really excited to be learning from people I absolutely admire and wish I could dance like.

  Beyond the workshops where we learned kick-ass moves (and other stuff like technique) is the whole competition bit. Last year I competed in the novice Jack and Jill Lindy Hop competition but didn’t make it into the finals. Not the case this year. I not only got into the finals but I got first place with my partner, Joanna! (I love google, only because I didn’t know her last name until I looked it up on BTP’s website this morning and then googled her and found her blog.)

  For those of you who don’t know how a Jack and Jill works, it’s called that because you go out and are paired with a random partner. Jack and Jill’s have a lot to do with teamwork, which really ends up being a luck of the draw kind of thing. There are people you dance with sometimes that fight the whole way and there are others that seem to just know what you want. I was lucky enough to have one of those that seemed to know what I want, which in turn only made me enjoy the dance more, which served to make both of us “turn down the suck,” as Dorry later told me.

  Getting the award was funny, only because I thought I was too late to the award ceremony to see who won. Actually, that part wasn’t funny, I was kind of pissed because I wanted to have a moment to have that “maybe I’ll place” excitement in my head. Anyway, once they named our competition (about 20 seconds after I walked in the door from lunch with the Baltimore crew) I heard them call third, then second place… in my heart I didn’t expect first, I simply hoped maybe I’d place, but then I heard my name which was so incredibly cool!

  I’m not sure what got me more siked about the whole weekend. There were the moves we learned, the late night dancing, the competition, and the award. It all just lumps together to be this awesome experience as a whole, and one I hope to gain again next year.

  I only wish I had more time for exchanges like the BTP! I’ll probably end up being at Jam Cellar’s “Big Big Event” and Swing Fling since they are both close to Baltimore, but I don’t see myself going to anything other than that until BTP next year. I have to make some room to go climbing, backpacking, and biking!

• 02.12.07 Camping in the cold posted in Outdoors, Vacations

  Last weekend I did a guys camping trip over at Green Ridge State forest again. Quite cold, and quite fun.

  Camping in the cold is a pretty interesting experience. I’m glad to do it and would do it again, however there are a lot of things you have to consider. For example, how do you keep your water from freezing? What do you do if you run out of firewood? How to keep your toes warm once you get a little perspiration? How do you dry out your shoes and socks? And how many layers and sets of clothing do you need?

  The temperature varied between 15 and 25F night and day. I used a combination of a 10 degree down sleeping bag and inside of that a 20 degree down sleeping bag, along with two roll-up air pads from REI. I also got to use my one-person tent for the first time and boy was it small once you have a lot of sleeping bag area and padding! I think next time I’ll lug along my two-person tent for a similar endeavor.

  I’ll be a bit more prepared next time, but there were some great things learned this time. For one, I know that longer treks aren’t so good in as many layers as I had, because they really impeded on my ability to move properly. They did keep me warm though.

  Also, I learned a lot about how a dog is an awesome companion. The guys had some dogs with them and taking the dogs for a really long hike with me was incredibly fun and almost serves as reason enough to have a dog. Last thing I need right now is something like that taking up my time, but if anyone ever wants to lend me a dog to go camping with I’ll gladly take your dog temporarily. He just better listen and be big enough to scare away the bears.

• 11.09.06 Camping again posted in Outdoors, Vacations

  It wasn’t known that the weather would be so nice (it’s 68 outside right now) when we began making plans to go camping this weekend, but with the peak of some awesome weather I’m really excited to be going to Green Ridge State Forest this weekend. Joining me will be Emily, of course, but also Adam and some other friends who I’ve never camped with, which should be a lot of fun. Hopefully we won’t get too lost — the campsites look huge! I’ll have my climbing shoes, hammock, food, and intend on having a great time unplugged from the rest of this incredibly hectic life I’ve had recently.

• 09.14.06 On again posted in Vacations

  I’ve been back, but I have not written. I’ve been busy with things, the daily life things like trying to put my luggage away, do laundry, or even wash the dishes. It’s hard to do when you have no time, so the things pile up until its overflowing and you have no time to do things like write about awesome weekends in cool places like Shreveport, Louisiana.

  But the things did happen, and they were good things and fun things. I learned to water ski. I got to ride around on a fast boat. I got to be part of keeping a huge bonfire from spreading. I got to swing on a huge tree swing. Lots of cool stuff. I’m sure I have some stories I should write about, but for now I’m going to let the following picture speak for itself.

  

• 08.31.06 Off again posted in Vacations

  Here I go again, this time to Louisiana to meet and greet the rest of EEE’s family of which I have yet to meet and spend some time water skiing (which I’ve never done). I’m excited and look forward to some sunny weather, versus the colder cloudy weather we’ve had in Baltimore the past few days. Play nice and enjoy yourselves while I’m gone.

• 08.14.06 Grand Cayman posted in Vacations

  I’ve been really bad about writing, mostly because I’ve been so busy. My previous-to-the-latest endeavour was time was well spent in Grand Cayman with a group of friends from the 1st to the 5th of this month. It was a great way to get away, relax, and take a step back from things that have been so busy for so long. I came up with a set of personal goals that I can hopefully meet, and on top of that I read two books. I can’t leave without a cool picture of myself from GC, so enjoy!

  

• 06.29.06 Why do bloggers always hide their comments? posted in Vacations

  You might have noticed, I moved away from the very simple white design I had to something with a darker background. The other thing that I’ve done after seeing it done in a few other places is that I placed a lot of the extras like archives and searching at the bottom. I don’t think people really use that stuff all that often and more or less just come here to read my latest entries. With that in mind, just a little over half of the screen is dedicated to the entry while the other half is dedicated to users comments. I honestly have never seen anyone else with a weblog do this.

  People have this habit of hiding comments. I don’t really get it. I can see hiding them at a certain point, and making them second to my thoughts, but comments are such an interactive part of a blog. If I didn’t have comments, this would simply be a private, much more life-oriented account of my life that would be useless on the web. So while I may not exactly have "invented" this idea that my users comments are really important to me, I’d like to at least acknowledge the fact that I’m dedicating quite a bit of space on each page to them and I have yet to see anything like this anywhere else. Maybe it looks visually cluttered. I don’t think so, but one could argue there’s just too much text. Personally though, I like it!

• 05.05.06 Backpacking Shenandoah posted in Vacations

  My first experience backpacking Shenandoah, and backpacking in general, was quite successful. Emily and I spent four days out in the wilderness and saw few people in the area, which made for a quiet and relaxing experience. We planned a four day trip to give ourselves ample time to learn the basics on a three loop hike that looks a little like a clover leaf and is about 25 miles long.

  

  We began by leaving late Friday afternoon, late like usual, and arrived at Browns Gap in the southern part of Shenandoah National Park. The hike started us on an ascent to Austin Mountain where we very quickly setup camp for the night after about 1.5 miles. I was surprised at how easy it was to get settled at camp out in the middle of nowhere. I was anxious and uneasy about the logistics, with thoughts such as, “What if we can’t find a place to sleep?” running through my mind. This proved unnecessary, as there are really plenty of places to camp when you’re in the backcountry. One important thing we learned after our first night was the importance of flat ground. Even the slightest slope caused us to slide around the tent like a wet slip-n-slide.

  The second day was our largest day of hiking. We hiked almost 13 miles with constant elevation changes over Austin Mountain and Furnace Mountain. Furnace, as its name suggests, was quite hot and buggy. The largest elevation change was a descent of just over 1400-ft in 2 miles and an ascent of 1200-ft in 2.25 miles, but we also began the descent into Jones Run/Doyles River that evening. We setup camp midway between Jones Run and Doyles River on a relatively flat piece of land we found just as we caught our first glimpse of water at Jones Run.

  The third day was our most lax day. We spent a lot of time in the morning cleaning ourselves up, relaxing, and being lazy. We packed up and left around 11-am and spent most of the day admiring the 63-ft Lower Doyles River Falls and the 28-ft Upper Doyles River Falls. The hike back up from the falls was a killer, almost 1500 ft, over a period of 5.5 miles which was brutal after our long hike the day before. I learned a lot about minimizing weight with water on this hike up, opting to dump a good bit of the water we pumped the night before. We found skyline drive in early evening and began the hike down to Big Run River.

  Our third night was really interesting. We found the perfect site about 400-ft from the water. We saw some great wildlife during dinner, including deer and a black bear. The black bear freaked us out a bit… even though we were prepared. I strung up the foot in a tree using the proper method and we went to bed.

  At least tried to go to bed! The deer were out in numbers, walking down to the creek and around the tent. Then, the unexpected happened. A bear was growling beside our tent! Wooo, boy, was that FREAKY! Emily asked me, “What is that?” To which I responded, “I don’t know” even though in my head I was sure it was a bear. He sniffed around, grunted, coughed, grunted some more, trudged around, and left us alone… for about 30 minutes. Then another one was back, breathing loudly next to the side of the tent. Luckily, they left, finding no food in our bags or our fragile human bodies.

  The next morning we began our ascent out from Big Run River which hit the Appalachian Trail and took us back to the car. We ate lunch along a very nice overlook on Skyline Drive and then drove home with very minor traffic delays.

  

  I loved it and I can’t wait to do it again. View more images »

• 04.04.06 Boston Tea Party posted in Dancing, Vacations

  Emily and I drove to Boston two weekends ago for the Boston Tea Party, a huge dance convention. It was a long drive, but we had a really cool room and a few friends, including Colleen and Sommer were there. We competed in the Jack and Jill novice competition, but didn’t make it to the finals. We took a total of 12 workshops (I think) and each was informative and beneficial for our dancing. This weekend is DCLX, which means even more dancing. My hand has been hurting but you can be sure I’ll make an appearance.

  

• 02.15.06 Snow, snow posted in Vacations

  Adam & Lindsey, Audrey & Eddie, Jen, Eileen, and Emily & I decided to rent a house and ski down at Massanutten Ski Resort in Virginia for an extended weekend. Just our luck! This winter’s first real snowstorm decided to hit the northeast, dumping at least 8 inches on the ski slopes while we were skiing on Saturday. This being my second time skiing, it made continuing to learn much easier, although seeing was rather hard due to the blinding snow. Rather than dealing with a frustrating slope that was completely ice, there were just a few patches here and there along with a lot of nice powder.

  Everyone but Emily and I declined on a second day of skiing due to being exhausted, but we made it though 2 full days of skiing from afternoon until a few hours after sunset. Night skiing is really awesome — very quiet and peaceful — albeit a bit cold.
  
  In my futile attempt to keep up with Emily, I went all out on the second day because the resort opened up a path over to the bottom half of a black diamond which was totally awesome and a little unnerving trying to ski. I eventually got the hang of moguls and stopped flying off the slope into the woods (and narrowly averted death by a huge boulder).

  I don’t think I’ll be going to Massanutten again anytime soon. While we were extremely lucky, normal conditions are not all that great. Next time we’ll be heading up north to PA or NY where real snow accumulates instead of that fake, man-made stuff.

• 11.04.05 Camping posted in Vacations

  This morning has been crazy. I was up so late and so early this morning packing. Emily and I are about to head off camping in Shenandoah National Park down in VA. I’ll take some pictures and hopefully have some cool stories to tell, if I ever find my way back home…
  

• 08.18.05 A vacation and a little white water rafting posted in Vacations

  I went to Herrington Manor, a place I’ve been vacationing since I was a kid last weekend/early this week. In addition to biking in the mountains and fishing in the lake, I went white water rafting with my family in Ohiopyle on the Lower Yough. The rapids weren’t quite as dangerous as I expected but the trip was still quite thrilling. We did the touristy thing and had pictures taken:

  White water rafting

• 03.30.04 back in MD.. posted in Alaskan Journey

  Well, the journey has ended.. and I can safely say it was a success. It is hard to believe sitting here at home that the past 2 weeks really happend. Unforunately thought, reality is starting to sink back in. We arrived early this morning, and shortly there after I had to make my way to school for my first class (After driving all night, than driving to school I was less than happy to be there). I can not describe what it feels like to go from our trip to a classroom, but it certianly wasn’t good Now time can be dedicated to uploading the pictures and journaling all the stories we have to tell. I can truely say it was an unforgetable trip that is a once in a life time expirence…

  I know everyone is dying to see the pictures… We are working on it!

  I also wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who helped out with this project/trip, especially our families. I know we could not have done it without you!

• 03.30.04 Almost home (for me)… posted in Alaskan Journey

  Well, I’m almost home. Miami will be coming later this evening but for now, I’m at my parents in Maryland. Chris and I drove through the night from our stay at the Holiday Inn in South Dakota and made it here at exactly 9am this morning. We hit rush hour on 695, hard rain in Ohio, and heavy fog in Maryland. I can’t believe it’s over! It’s so nice to be out of the car but I’ll sure miss our adventures. Stay tuned for the next week or so as we organize pictures and stories of our journey. Thanks for keeping up to date with us.

• 03.28.04 off we go… with a few small stops along the way posted in Alaskan Journey

  We are currently at the Holiday Inn Express in Oacoma, SD 57365. After a rewarding long drive we made it all the way from Edmonton, AB to SD without stopping. The drive was long, hard, and exhausting… but we are running out of time to get back. According to our best calculations we are looking at a solid 22-24 hours of driving remaining.

  Today did have some high points though. We stopped at the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn. For those of you who are a bit rusty on your history, this is the site of Custard’s Last Stand against the Indian Chief Sitting Bull. Unfortunately, to even enter the parking lot you are faced with a $10 fee before you can even evaulate if its worth it. Luckly (in my humble opinion) it was a worth while stop. The primary focus of the park was this 5 mile drive-through tour of the battle site. It was a self guided tour in which we stayed in the van and followed along with the posters of each important marker along the way. It was a powerful presentation between the realism of actually standing there and the military style graves.

  Our next stop along the way took us to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. We made our way up Route 16 to the carved out mountain side, to be greeted yet again by a pay-to-park type of deal. This time the fee was $8.00, but we decided not to pay as we could see very well from the road and took a few pictures there. The most astonishing part of the area is how OVER-CAPITALIZED it is. There are more shops and places to eat than Ocean City. I could have never fathomed that a National Park could spawn such a town. The town was nearly deserted because most of the “activities” do not reopen until May 1st. Which wasnt a bad thing, after all I came to see Mount Rushmore not play mini-golf .

  I just got out of the shower here and Jason is already asleep. At the very least I got the basics of the day here and should probably head of to bed myself. Busy day of driving ahead!! Stay tuned…

• 03.27.04 snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, and rain… woes! posted in Alaskan Journey

  Last night we ended up falling about 100-110 kms short of Edmonton due to the weather conditions. Jason was driving and at random it started snowing like crazy. The snow kept coming down hard and the temperature was around 20. The road conditions kept getting worse. After about 2 hours of driving in the stuff Jay had only covered about 45 kilometers. We switched drivers and I drove another 100 or so until we reached Whitecourt, AB where we stayed at the Ramada Limited. Unfortunately they did not have any rooms with 2 beds, only 1 bed and a sleeper sofa. I slept on the sofa bed, it had that typical attacking spring feeling, but sleep found me soon enough! We got up this morning and went to Red Lobster again for lunch… What a great lunch, our waitress was a bit bitchy (I think because Jay was on the phone when she first came over) but the food was still rather tasty! I got the shrimp platter and JJ got a lobster/steak meal. *YUM!* We are heading South-bound on route 2 to Calgary, AB then to the US (entering through Montana) I can honestly say I know nothing about Montana (other than they named a minivan after it, or maybe the other way around? ) , so now would be a great time to learn!

  [This next part was dictated to me while Jay drives] SUBJ: DOG!

  We have been driving the past few days. ALOT. I dont know about Chris, but I’m “done”! I think I have developed a cold of sorts and of course I have lost all my medicine (You know how I am about my meds).. So things are good now though, because the wintery mix has stopped and visibility is good. We have this cinnibun from Toad river, YT and we are about to ROCK IT! Seldon were passing some cow farms, but the lighting is not that great for pics… so you will just have to deal.

• 03.26.04 Back in service! (For good hopefully!!) posted in Alaskan Journey

  Well, it has been an interesting few days…. Where to begin?

  We have not had mobile internet for some time, but now that we are back in BC it has returned… Some updates are definately in order!! The past couple days has been a real adventure. After staying in Edmonton we did not stop again until we reached Ft. Nelson in BC. We stayed at some generic motel called the Ft. Nelson Motor Inn. The next day we drove all the way until we reached Whitehorse, YT (Yukon). Departing Whitehorse, we pushed onward to the Alaska border. This is where things got interesting… We pulled off on a side road called ‘Craig River Trail’ and to make a long story short, ended up getting ourselves stuck (The full story will be posted when we return!) after a 6 hour digging session with the help of a local Alaskan named Mark, the van was free to roam the country again! The removing of the van entailed digging and being pulled by Mark’s 1989 Dodge pickup with chains (33+ inch tires, a real beast). Not to frown upon the van though, the only reason it was stuck was due to the fact that the snow was higher than its ground clearance (We took pictures of the whole thing, so you can see all the action!) This was something that neither us nor Mark ever dreamed was in our future.

  Finally back on the road, completely drained both mentally and physically from the incident, we checked into Kelly’s Alaska Country Inn (Delta Junction, Alaska. 38 Miles up the Al-Can from the Craig River Trail adventure). This was BY FAR the nicest room we had stayed in thus far, we slept very well. The town of Delta Junction was very friendly, the locals were eager to chat with us and offer their advice/comments on the trip. Before we checked into the room we filled up with gas and met a local named Andrew. He was a cool guy and chatted with us a bit about the hunting/game situation in the area. I had no idea there was a issue in the community about rules regarding hunting of certain game etc. It also gave me a chance to hear/understand the towns opinion about it. In particular the owner of the inn and her sister were extremely kind and provided us with alot of good information on the conditions that were to come. Her son owned the Texaco next door and we met him as well. We stopped into that Texaco in the morning before we left to have a coffee. When we pulled up the parking lot was fairly full and there were alot of people inside. When we entered the Texaco, we were greeted by all and to our suprise knew most of the people there already from the night before. This really gave me the feeling like we were part of the their community, atleast in a small way. It was a nice feeling and raised our spirits a bit before we set off for Fairbanks.

  Reaching Fairbanks, we stopped at the gas station refueled and filled the reserve tank we braught. Strapping the reserve tank to the roof, we were north bound for the Dalton. The Dalton highway is an extremely difficult road to drive on, full of big rigs, narrow bridges, and ice. While on the Dalton we passed through the Artic circle, this was truely an amazing expirence and gave us a real sense of accomplishment. We ended up deciding that Cold Foot, Alaska would be the final destination. This is around 200 miles south of Prudhoe Bay, but without a previously obtained permit we could not go to Prudhoe. We expireneced temperatures around -31F degrees *burr* !!! All I can say is, DAMN IT WAS COLD

  We are on the return journey now, and have decided to take a slightly different route home which will bring us through Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Iowa. We are expecting some great scenery on the altered route!

  The van has become so dirty on the outside you can hardly see through the backwindow! Thats OK though because with all the mud, salt, and dirty snow comes a sense of accomplishment. Not to mention it looks pretty hardcore! From this point forward we should have little if ANY interruption in mobile internet service, so stay tuned!

• 03.21.04 Dawson Creek and British Colombia posted in Alaskan Journey

  Dawson Creek is the start of the Alaskan Highway and we just started it about 45 minutes ago. The drive starts us through British Colombia and the beginning of the Rockies. It’s a shame it’s late here because I’ve seen some nice cliffs and stuff to the side of our van already.

  I’m not sure how long Chris is going to want to continue driving but our destination, White Horse, may end up eluding us this evening. In some ways that might be a good thing because that will give us the day tomorrow to see the rockies — something I really am looking forward to.

  This is my first time actually on the mobile Internet, till now I’ve been stuck writing in my personal journal because I’ve been unlucky to get stuck with no service while I’m not driving. We just passed some really great overlook. Stupid sun. Come back!

• 03.21.04 South?? hmmm posted in Alaskan Journey

  We were driving towards Grande Praire and the road literally stops in front of us, changing into a very small dirt/mud road. We look at each other, completely baffeled, and keep going for a good 1-2km. I think this was partly just the desire and yearning for dirt/mud roads , but there is no way to be sure. hehe… Reason eventually set in and we wondered where we were going and decided it was best to reference the map and turn around. This also provided a bit more driving through the mud, so spirits were high! Driving back into GR (Grande Praire)the road was now labled 43-South, which we *definately* didnt want to go south! Turns out that is the way you are suppose to go until you reach the ’staples’ and make a Right onto “97″.. Highly sophisticated directions we ere provided at the local Petro-Canada, but it got us there… So were happy with that!

  * NEW PICS IN THE GALLERY *

• 03.21.04 a few thoughts… posted in Alaskan Journey

  The tundra has changed, instead of flat open fields (like farmland), we are now looking at tall evergreens along with mountains to the West & South. There is less snow than yesterday, likely due to the slightly warmer climate. Although everything other than the road has snow on it.

  It is warmer today. 40 Degrees, instead of the single digits, which makes a tremendous difference.

  I am hoping that the mountain terrain continues and that our drive will be increasingly more interesting. The scenery is truely breath-taking and makes for a very enjoyable drive. I do hope though, that the mountains do not slow us down nor hurt our time.

• 03.21.04 updated location, power, and the joy of mobile internet posted in Alaskan Journey

  We are currently about 150miles out of Edmonton, Alberta heading North-Northwest on Canada-43. Our target goal for today is to reach Whitehorse , in the Yukon Territory. The approximately mileage between the two cities (According to our on-board GPS) is 987miles. We are driving at around 120-125 km/h and should make decent time.

  We spliced some extra cabling we baught and properly installed the new 700Watt power inverter. Everything seems to be working well and the laptop is charging. At the current time we are lucky enough to have strong cell/mobile internet signal and should be able to post a few pictures. We are most likely going to be back out of service when we left the great province of Alberta.

  Last night was more of a laid-back evening, we had a delicious feast at the Edmonton Red Lobster and relaxed. After dinner we checked-in to the Super-8 Motel…

  So much for signal, it is fading in the mountains right now…. so this post is ending a bit sudden!

• 03.20.04 Lost In Canada posted in Alaskan Journey

  [Transcribed by Adam-D via mobile phone for JasonPLancaster]

  Unfortunately the battery in our laptop has died. We can not make any more updates from the road until we recharge.

  Last night we drove through North Dakota and through the Canadian border and continued straigt up to Winnipeg!

  There was a rather severe storm that hit us just as we went through the Canadian border with winds gusting upwards of 50 mph and snow that had visibility at 10 feet. The temperature was approximately 4 degrees and considering it was 2 AM and we had been driving all day, it was rough.

  We took a couple-hour break waiting for sunrise and have been driving since then towards Edmonton, Alberta. Once we arrive we plan to get a hotel, a good dinner and a good night’s sleep.

  Photos, updates and more are coming!

• 03.19.04 Power inverter woes posted in Alaskan Journey

  Our power inverter is evidently not strong enough to handle the load of all the power demands that we have. So, we stopped at a Target in MN and purchased a 700Watt… After 30miles we stopped to hook it up and OF COURSE it was the type that must be hardwired to the battery. *OK* …. but they do not even put enough cord to hook it up. So we are on limited power but, no problem we can get creative!

  Our progress thus far is less than we expected, we have made our way out of Chicago, thru Wisconsin, MN, and now entering North Dakota. We will begin to drive north bound after reaching Fargo, toward Canada.

  To make up for lost time we will be powering through the night and go as far as possible.

  Stay tuned!

• 03.19.04 Early morning phone calls…. posted in Alaskan Journey

  Dont you just love it when your half a sleep and you hear a phone ringing from locations unknown. (7:35AM, CST) First you must wake, then orient yourself to your foreign surroundings realizing that your lovely cell phone is screaming for you to get out of bed. Yet still, I can not find it as I do not recall where I put it the night before. Naturally, when located the call was missed. This was from an anonymous caller, likely telemarketing. After settling back into bed for a few hours more rest, just as sleep had found us once again. Yet another phone call! We truely love phone calls at 7AM! (*Sarcasim* )

  Always optimistic we decided to make the best of it catching up on some old times and discussing today’s action plan. Busy day today, it was probably good that the phone was attacking so early. Time to shower and depart, watch for more updates on the road…. and hopefully some new pictures depending on mobile internet connection speeds.

• 03.19.04 Officially in Chicago!! posted in Alaskan Journey

  We found each other with no problem today at Chicago Midway! Tonight we are staying at the best western near the airport, WAY over priced. Nearly $100… *crazy*, but we wont let that get our spirits down

  After a ‘gourmet’ meal from the local taco bell, we are planning out tomorrows route and schedule… then off to bed. Tomorrow is a busy day, at the very least our target is to reach Winnipeg, Manitoba: Canada. Stay tuned!

• 03.18.04 Leaving… posted in Alaskan Journey

  Off to the airport I go. Goodbye all!

• 03.18.04 Have you seen our van? posted in Alaskan Journey

  If you saw our van and the sticker advertising this website, please let us know where and when you saw us by filling out the form below. If you are looking at our van right now while browsing our website, come say hi to us. We won’t bite you!

  Thank you,
  Jason & Chris

• 03.17.04 Last minute panic! posted in Alaskan Journey

  Ever have that feeling you forgot something? Yeah, me too. Unfortunately, I cant even imagine what it is yet! Still in a desparate search for a can opener… No luck thus far, but perhaps the grocery will have one.

  Today we got our first post of a “sighting” of the van, very exciting! We haven’t even put the ‘tracking’ interface up yet.. Departure time from Baltimore, MD is 6:25pm EST on 3/17/04. Here we go….

• 03.17.04 Departure posted in Alaskan Journey

  Today is the day of departure! A lot to do with little time to do it. Putting the finishing touches on the van, and *hopefully* the rear fog lights. If not, we will have to attempt to install them in Chicago! Slept in till 9:30 today, but I will need the energy!!

  New pics of the van with decals are posted now. I did a decent job of keeping the lines straight!

• 03.16.04 Packing list posted in Alaskan Journey

  Chris asked me for a packing list of things that he should have in the van when we meet in Chicago. Here is what I can think of so far that he should have:

  my snowpants
  my airwalk jacket
  my red winter jacket
  first aid kit
  flashlight
  tire chains
  ice scraper
  cb radio
  maps of alaska, canada, and basic route information
  spare tire
  additional tire
  2 super-warm sleeping bags
  blankets/pillows
  ac power converter
  food and snacks
  digital camera
  digital camera battery charger
  digital camera usb uplink cable
  laptop and accessories
  headphones to listen to music privately
  cell phone charger
  cell phone
  book in case we have to die a slow and painful death
  water
  cooler
  blank cdr’s
  nextel laptop adapter
  gps
  flares
  music to listen to
  fix a flat
  tire pump
  battery charger

  I am responsible for:

  snow shoes
  camping goo to build a fire
  matches
  fruit and produce
  misc snacks
  clothing
  hat
  gloves
  sweater/sweatshirt
  pocket knife
  buck knife
  laptop
  digital camera
  ipod
  phone cable for laptop modem to dial up

• 03.15.04 3 days to go… posted in Alaskan Journey

  Today I went shopping for some snow boots to take with me. Finding a nice pair of hiking boots/snow boots in Florida seems rather hard. I’ll have to go again tomorrow and try again. Sounds funny, but I also need some boxers. I don’t have enough to go over a week without laundry. Guess I’ll be at the mall tomorrow evening!

• 02.25.04 The Alaskan Journey posted in Alaskan Journey, Vacations

  I was scolded for having a flashback to High School. People tell me I need to write more relevant things in their lives so they can comment. Mmmmhmmm. You guys suck!

  The Alaska trip seems to be coming along at a good pace. I’ve got my money stashed away and Chris seems to have a good visual of the trip as a whole. I know that we’re going to try and see Anchorage, Nome, the Bering Straight, and the Artic Circle. Denali National Park looks really nice. The whole Alaskan Range thing makes me all get all excited, expecially the thought of seeing Mount McKinley in person so I’m hoping we can work it into the schedule. I think we’re going to start near the southeast corner and work our way clockwise around. I’ll have to ask Chris on that one — he says he has a map of what he’d like to do.

  It’s going to be cold up there. I’m already in a panic about clothes. I don’t even own gloves or a hat or anything. I guess I’ve truly become a Floridian in that sense.

  Chris asked me if I would register a domain and host it where we can post pictures, comments, and a bunch of information about our trip. I’ll probably order that later today and link to it. Be on the lookout.

• 05.23.02 Kim & Nilu posted in Uncategorized, Vacations

  I found Kim and Nilu last night after about 20 minutes of searching. They were hiding at Kim’s house. I took a couple pictures and thought this was a nice one:

  

  I’m going to buy Legend at Best Buy today and return a broken pair of headphones I bought. Exciting ain’t it?

  I’ll have some new content to ship off later today. I just have to organize the photos I want to upload and then I’ll show them off.

  Lots of stuff has been put on hold in preparation for the big move on 6/16. I can’t wait!