I have made the trip from Philadelphia to North Carolina and other points south at least 100 times. 95-85-Rt 1 ad nauseam. So, when I had the chance to make the trip by myself a few days ago, I took the route I’ve always wanted to take. 95-895-81-Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.

It’s been about 12 years since my last trip to Shenandoah, but anytime I’ve been on 81, I have secretly and sometimes no so secretly begged and pleaded with the driver to take the detour through the park.

I left my house at 4:30am, and exactly 4 hours later I passed into the park. Between the rain, the fog, and the majority of motorists trying to get to their destinations through more conventional means, I had the drive with all of its scenic overlooks mostly to myself.

Well, at least the scenic overlooks that weren’t smothered in fog. Between 2100 and 3600 ft it was hard to see at some points, making the trees look creepier and lending to an overall feeling of driving directly into the twilight zone.

But then, it was time for the hike. I have hiked the AT in Shenandoah previously, but it was so long ago that I couldn’t tell you where. For this one, I chose Hawksbill Mountain, the highest point in the park at an elevation of 4050 ft. Starting off at the Hawksbill parking area, I headed south on the AT for about a mile before picking up a connector trail to take me to the top of mountain, overall elevation gain for about 600 ft. over 2 miles.

There is something so comforting about being on the AT. I see those 2″x6″ white blazes on the tree and no matter what town, county, or state I’m in, I always feel like I’m home.

An easy 3 miler, no challenging terrain, I took about 2 hours to do the loop from the AT to the Summit and back down the steep Lower Hawksbill Trail. Once I got within 100 yards of the summit, walking along the ridge of the mountain, I stopped and watched the clouds and steam come off the Blue Ridge Mountains. I could’ve stayed up there all day.

Well, when he left 3 months ago – he was “just” my older nephew. When Sis and I embark on our 24+ bus ride to Paris Island this Tuesday, he’ll be on his way to being a Private First Class Marine – a rank he earned before he went to boot camp. He’ll be home for a Month – most importantly- he will be home for his 18th birthday, and the rest of this holiday season – even New Years – before he heads off to Camp Lejeune for more training.

He’s the one in the middle. We’re so proud of him, and have missed him so much. I am SO psyched about the trip with my sister. She’s a little stressed (anxiety issues) – fortunately she works retail, so a 5 day relief from that and all it entails will be as great a motivator as bringing her baby home

“He’d begun to wake up in the morning with something besides dread in his heart. Not exactly happiness, not eagerness for a new day, but a kind of urge to be eager. A longing to be happy.”           John Hasser

Congress St., Austin, Texas

With a little help from the Egyptian Lonely Planet we arrived outside the Soft Beach resort eager to see the much promised beachfront villas. Disappointment greeted us like an old friend as we surveyed the tightly packed garden sheds clad in the dried leaves of local palm trees.

However, it looked like our evening would be saved from the clutches of collapse in the form of a little evening entertainment. We and the other sporadically spaced guests were about to receive a master class in the art of belly dancing.

Our performer bore a striking resemblance to a slightly over-weight Mutya from the Sugarbabes – a definite plus point if your name’s Mike Robinson. Her keyboard wielding sidekick on the other hand was clearly unsatisfied with the amount of grease he was able to apply to his receding hairline and in response appeared to have smeared the remaining contents of the jar over his chest and face.

Cue a backing track, the chord function and an ungainly wobble.

With the sun firmly tucked up in bed we left the road mid way between Alex and the Sinai peninsular. Tricked by their penchant for bright lights we pulled into a small village that appeared to have been engulfed in recent floodwaters. After wading through the water we were ushered into a nearby house and presented with a silver platter of culinary delights.

As we diligently munched through the ever-increasing mountain of food the room began to fill with interested onlookers.  Within minutes the crowds of eager locals had not only filled every available window but had now spilled out on to the neighbouring street.

Their fervent interest was soon explained. It so happened we had stumbled across a village where many of the inhabitants had yet to see a westerner. I can only apologise to the generation of Egyptians who will now associate the English with an inability to gut and bone small fish.

The landscape was a royal whitewash. The bright sand, white rock formations and blazing blue sky singed an unforgettable image on my retinas.

If I scrunch my eyes tight I can still see the outlines of this magnificent landscape.

Photographed by Daniele Sartori

A group of swans on the Lake of Geneva and behind them the "Jet d’eau", Geneva (Switzerland)

– License

Overwhelmed and overstimulated, Elizabeth and Ellie walked through the doors of the Midtown maison they would call home for the next three nights.

Checked in and checked out, they entered their room; a king size single bed and a sink. The girls, no strangers to living in close quarters, put their overstuffed bags any place they would fit, and excitedly ran to the window to check out the scene. Some would say a black-brick-wall-view was avant-garde, but not Ellie and Elizabeth. Never the less, they were in New York City, arguably the world’s hotspot of cool hipster radicalness, so who cares about a window view and a big bed?

It was Ellie’s birthday, a fresh 23 year-old she now was (Ellie, however, would argue this point, she holds firmly to the belief if you have a birthday in a country other than the one you were born in, you don’t age) and Elizabeth, birthday planner extraordinaire had conjured a conniving plan, commencing with the simple instruction for Ellie to shower and adorn herself in sketchy, skanky clothing.

Unbeknownst to the birthday girl, Elizabeth had organised for a stretch limousine to pick the pair up, champagne abound. The surprise, nigh on impossible to keep as a surprise, managed to stay that way due to a combination of Elizabeth’s dedication and experience in birthday schemes and Ellie’s ever present imperviousness to the general goings-on around her.

After the pair had communally showered, dried and dressed, they waited curbside Hotel 31. Ellie had now become suspicious that there may be some underhanded activity afoot, due in large part to Elizabeth’s cheesy grin and intermittent chuckling. Like a glass of vodka, lime and soda water in a dry bar, the limousine broke through the sea of yellow cabs and stopped immediately in front of them. It was only when the limousine chauffeur directly greeted the two, did Ellie fully realise what all of Elizabeth’s candid phone calls and preemptive giggles of glee were for. The girls exuberantly clambered into the oversized vehichle and exulting in her plan, Elizabeth popped the champagne bottle and the girls settled in to be driven around the endless maze of The Big Apple.

The ladies were dropped off at well known celebrity hangout, Sushi Samba on 7th. They decided they would not spare an expense this evening, and dine like those in the position to… well… dine like this.

Sushi was ordered, cocktails were drunk, a brownie with a lone candle was devoured. Many greenbacks later, it was time to be reunited with the limousine to be taken through Times Square, Wall St, Battery Park and by the Brooklyn Bridge.

Elizabeth, who had been to NYC on two previous occasions, was enjoying seeing the city in a different light, and Ellie, after years of Seinfeld dedication, was watching a dream come true.

The night was coming to a close and so was Ellie’s 23rd anniversary of life. New York City was waiting, and after some well needed rest in an actual bed, the girls would be ready to conquer the island of Manhattan. Keep hanging for the next update of Adventures and Aardvarks (you will just have to wait and see if this is true or not) in the city that never sleeps.

4 weeks probably isn’t long enough, is it ?

Google maps says that Melbourne to Cooktown is…

“Driving directions to Cooktown QLD, Australia 2,552 mi – about 2 days 6 hours”

That’s around the coast, which is how I want to do it.  So how does that break down ??? Simplistically, 2552 miles over 28 days is 91 miles/day.  Realistically, there will be places where I’ll want to spend a couple of days exploring the area.

I’m beginning to think that the Melbourne to Sydney stretch needs to be by air.  Ok, say it is, and I do that hop on day 3… 25 days to do 1824 miles is 73 miles/day.  That all sounds MUCH more do-able.

I’m beginning to wonder how to plan this.  Yes, I’ll arrive on day 1, and will have to leave on day 28, and there’ll be places to visit and spend time in that I won’t want to miss.  But I certainly do not want an itinerary for myself that means I have to be in place x by time y to enjoy activity z.  That’s stress I don’t need

Yes before I start I know that Thanksgiving is spelled incorrectly. If you really want to know why you’ll have to ask Bailey for the origin of the word because it is still a mystery to me. As for the busted bottle of nyquil, that will lead us in to the journey from Nashville to Chicago. We left our hotel in Nashville around 10:30 this morning and headed north on Tennessee 155 until we got to I-65 north. Kentucky was only a few miles north of Tennessee and provided some pretty nice scenery. A little ways into Kentucky I realized that I needed to take some more sudafed thanks to my wonderful cold. After getting my bag I realized that the top on my nyquil had come loose and left a wonderful sticky mess to clean up. We got off the interstate to try and clean up and stopped in a service station that was closed for Thanksgiving. While stopped we realized that Kentucky has either a meth problem or just likes to promote meth awareness, either way apparently you will either lose your family or career and there are no other options. (They are some pretty scarry advertisements.) We also found a sign to a civil war battle field about 3 miles east so we decided it might be a nice detour. Unfortunately when we got to the site the only option was to take about a mile hike around the area in the 40 degree windy weather so we opted out and headed back to the Interstate. We continued on to Indiana and started the journey through the farm land that makes up Indiana. For lunch we made some PB&J sandwiches and kept on driving toward Indianapolis where we made one slight deviation.

Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Indianapolis Colts) is one of the largest sports facilities I have every seen. I am shocked that it only seats around 70,000 people. Maybe it’s just the fact that there are not too many extravagant buildings in downtown Indianapolis, but I really don’t think I have ever seen something that looked too big to belong where it was more than this stadium (Maybe this is what it felt like to see the Hindenberg for the first time). We got back on the road and continued are journey northward through Indiana. The next stop was a very pleasant one, and I can honestly say that I am thankful that Cracker Barrel was open today and that they served me a very delicious Thanksgiving dinner for only 8.99 which included desert.

It wasn’t quite as good as a home cooked meal but it was a great substitute. The Cracker Barrel we ate at was in Merrillville, IN which put us about 50 miles away from our hotel. Driving in Chicago (I guess I should say around) was a little bit confusing, and I am very glad my GPS was navigating me. We made it to our hotel near the air port around 8. The hotel is very modern which is shocking at first but the rooms are very nice and comfortable. I’ve put some pictures up on flickr and videos on youtube to show off the place. Everything has been pleasant with the exception of the $40 for parking in the hotel deck and a $50 dollar per night deposit (which I will get back before I leave), but I’ve finally put that past me and I’m going to try to enjoy my time here. Here’s a video tour of our hotel room if interested.

Tomorrow we’re going to take the train into the city and wonder around for the day, so if anyone has suggestions call me and let me know. Hopefully I’ll take more pictures tomorrow and have those to show off.

Here in San Jose there are lots of palm trees. Lots and lots of them. So many that I couldn’t choose which picture to choose for this morning…here’s another:

Today was a day of cooking, eating and playing with early Christmas presents. And then the sun set again.

There weren’t any fantastic colors. But I’m okay with that.

I turned around and shot the moon instead.

Tomorrow is a day to visit the big trees. Sounds exciting.

In order to drive across the desert to the remarkable oasis town of Siwa we would – at the request of the government – have to travel in convoy with a departing tour group. Surprisingly our convoy was led by a familiar face, proving once again just how small the world is.

I’m sure many of you have marvelled at the years of speculation and numerous unconfirmed sightings of Freddie Mercury, but like myself have probably dismissed them out of hand. However, I can confidently confirm that the great man did in fact manage to escape his demons and is now living in exile in the Egyptian desert.

With Pendulum blaring out of the speakers our grey hairs grew in direct correlation with the increased number of tank slappers as we tore through the desert at 120kmph in the apparently reliable wake of Freddie. The irony of being lead through the desert by the dead didn’t go unnoticed – lets just hope Siwa is to die for!

Our initial choice of eatery in the lawless state that was Bawiti was aptly named ‘Popular Restaurant’. Confident of the chef’s ability and almost certain that the restaurant’s name was well earned we rested our weary legs and perused the menu. Upon recoiling at the initial price of 30 per head we left with our offer of 10 ringing in the owner’s ears. This offer clearly narked him as we spent the majority of our time in the town being heckled.

Last year in Europe, they had the Eurail which is honestly a pleasure to get around in. But Australia, one of my favorite places – the car is the best way. Not just for the scenic beauty but in all the years I lived there, nobody ever spoke about taking the train. Not even those who came from Murvillamba, a little rural town.

But I don’t want to fly everywhere there. Australia is the last place I want to be trapped in a plane when there is that ocean and the wilderness. The more I think about this trip, it seems like I’ve too little time. It wasn’t like this when I went to Italy. It seemed enough. But i want to explore the entire continent here… from the Uluru rock in Alice Springs to Tasmanian forests to the rural countryside in Queensland that I fell in love with. The little horse farms, the huge ranches, the boredom people talk about in Perth… the vibrancy of Melbourne and the gold mines in Victoria. The Blue Mountains and Wollemi that accepted me so well and the little roads hidden in the Bush, with their convenience stores which have the best loaded burgers ever in the world.

I have the same desire to explore India but I’ve grown tired of the crowds and the looks. Perhaps reality will be different in Australia but I still want to walk the bush, drive the great ocean road and more. I had forgotten how much I had fallen in love with the country till I drew up pictures of random houses in Australia, the brownish grasses and towns that seem so small and familiar.

But there is one small hitch in all this – finding a companion to drive. It needs to be someone i’m comfortable with, someone who can drive a little, laugh a little and rough it out. I do not want to hire the biggest and the most expensive car and crash in hotels. It will camping, backpacker motels and a sturdy car. But as I grow older, lesser people want to risk that. We want the convenience of room service and AC. What is the joy in driving down the Great Ocean Road with your windows you and the car roof on?

This trip was to visit friends. But I knew there would be days of freedom when they would be slogging away in an office so I wondered what else could I do

I stood transfixed, unable to look away as the calf’s bulbous, distended eye looked into the depths of my soul. Its shapeless form seemed to defy gravity as its stitched-closed mouth silently mewed for help.

If ever there was an object that heralded an impending apocalypse, it would be this.

It scared me in ways that I never thought possible.

Granted, I had already been rattled by the dead flies in the mineral cabinet, the mutilated carcasses of birds, walls of formaldehyde spiders, live scorpions, centipedes and tarantulas, a gay hedgehog, South American toads being fed live crickets and a large albino python.

What started as a slightly spooky drive through a misty farming valley, complete with shaman huts and mongrel dogs tied to stakes, finished up with a grown woman running from a cabinet of stuffed rats and bats. Which she hadn’t even seen.

Spider Museum.

Ah, holidays. No working means no driving to work. No driving to work means no cars on the road! What an incredibly lovely walk I had this morning! Not exactly through lanes of gardens and fruit trees, but hey, at least the copious cars lining the street were still and silent. I could hear the squirrels in the trees, my feet scuffing the pavement, the distant roar of… oh, some ginormous machinery. Well, you can’t win ‘em all.

Speaking of cars, Tuesday we suddenly realized that Hubby was getting 3 days off from school, which means a 5 day weekend. We quick ditched the Thanksgiving at home and hatched the idea for a road trip! since we’ve seen nothing but ‘Nawlins since we got here. I spent much of day 1 at the garden, finishing up the damned weeding, but today we’ll either be heading to some swamp, or some beach. Maybe some both.

I’ll be sad to give up a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner. Like any other foodie, T-day is almost my favorite holiday (after Halloween– I do adore a costume opp). It’s not just all about food, it is (or once was) a celebration of harvest, of local, of seasonal plenty. And furthermore about coming together as a community to share what we have. It might have some fucked up origin, I’m not sure. But the story could be true. There might have been a batch of pilgrims humble enough to learn from and share with the natives. And if there was, that’s certainly cause for historical celebration!

Since I had already ordered a free range turkey from Whole Foods, we’ll just be having our Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday. Until then we’ll be eating bread and cheese on some cold, windy beach. Or, more likely I have to remind myself, shlepping it up at some greasy spoon by the golf course. What is it about golf that makes it deserving of a foothold in every beautiful place?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday November 26, 2009 By Kevin Morrow

So I hit the freeway early Wednesday Morning headed to Las Vegas. A mini road trip for the thanksgiving holiday. The night before I left I came into the possession of two packages of those tuna and cracker kits. I ate one that same night. I usually eat two of them. Something told me to keep the one for the road trip.

To me it really isn’t a road trip, driving to texas is more of road trip to me, but anyway I was on the road and it was a “trip.” I was in the car with family and we had only a few cd’s. Micheal Jackson’s bad album,Toni Braxton, some type of workout mix, and some others. I really only remember the bad album because that’s what was in the cd player the most.

To me I arrived in Vegas in record time, there was no traffic since we left so early, and we floated all the way there. I exited the freeway on tropicana and ended up waiting forever at the light. I see this homeless gentleman who looks really down and out. People just keep passing him as if he isn’t there. He has a sign in his hand but I couldn’t read what it said.

Without even thinking I look down and see the tuna and cracker package in between myself and the passenger seat. I roll down the window and ask him if he wants something to eat. He looks confused like he doesn’t understand but he walks over to the car and I hand him the package. It’s all I could give him at the moment, but I felt like it was more than he had in a while.

It’s hard for me to imagine that with all the food in Las Vegas at the buffets and such, that this man for whatever reason was not able to eat. It bugged me to think of this, but then I remembered that I did what I could with what I had. I always hear people say “to see a change in the world be the change.” So maybe today I started off in the right direction.

It appears to me that I will be used more in the future as an avenue to help those who need it. I accept that openly.

After that I headed to UNLV where I pretty much fell in love with the Thomas and Mack Center. I can see myself playing in that gym in the near future. For whatever the reason may be. School or whatever, I know the NBA plays there in the summer time. So it’s up to me to believe in myself no matter what the circumstances may appear to be.

I never personally went on a recruiting trip to a college, so as I was at UNLV I decided to take my own tour. They have some really nice facilities. In fact I would most likely spend most of my time in their fitness area. The gyms on the upper level were calling my name.

It was a good day, I met some cool people and returned back home in time to play practice a little basketball at the gym. I just wanted to share that story, not much else to say.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!!

Detroit’s long list of things to do and its organized freeway system make it one of the best destinations for a holiday vacation. Grab your keys and head out to have one great summer road trip to this beautiful Michigan city!

Joining tours is still the best way to start a trip to get acquainted with a new place. It is also a great opportunity for you to take a break from driving as soon as you get to Detroit. The Detroit People Mover is a good start for you to discover the city’s downtown area. The ride takes you to thirteen stops, including some of the most popular attractions located downtown. Make the most of this short driving hiatus by stopping at the Greektown, the Renaissance Center and the Joe Louis Arena, which are all accessible via the Detroit People Mover.

Music enthusiasts have a specific Detroit attraction in their itinerary for this summer road trip: the Motown Historical Museum. Motown Records is largest independent music label in the world that has produced big stars such as Stevie Wonder, the Jackson Five, Rare Earth and many more. Go back in history as you browse through the galleries of musical legends and visit the world-famous Studio A where numerous hits were recorded.

For those who are traveling with kids, there are lots of great attractions and activities in Detroit that you can check out. Drive yourselves just a few minutes from Detroit to Royal Oak and head to the Detroit Zoo, which offers kids (and adults) the chance to be face to face with both backyard and wild animals. The zoo’s highlights are the Penguin Aquarium and the Polar Bear Exhibit. Next, drive to East Grand River Avenue to have a little down time with the kids and enjoy an incredible and creative puppet show at the Detroit Puppet Theater (also known as PuppetART). For the months of July and August, the theater features the classic Sleeping Beauty “on stage”. The Detroit Puppet Theater also hosts puppet-making workshops to Detroit residents and visitors, and has exhibits of the most unique puppets they have created. The New Detroit Science Center is always a hit to the curious minds. It has an interesting way of introducing and/or educating science to children. The center’s interactive exhibits, the theater and the planetarium will definitely make them ask questions with answers they will be eager to learn. Summer is Major League Baseball season, and there is a trip to the Commerica Park should definitely be included in your list of things to do in Detroit for this road trip. Join the Detroit crowd as they cheer on the Tigers. If there is no game scheduled during your visit, let the kids enjoy themselves with a carousel or a ferris wheel ride, or by running around the bases.

The Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival happens every summer on Labor Day weekend. Celebrate it this year with thousands of other jazz fanatics at the Hart Plaza on August 29th until September 1st. Hundreds of artists perform during this four day-music filled event, which is certainly one of the best ways to conclude your Detroit summer road trip.

see more dog and puppy pictures

It’s been an eye opening day.  I got a pretty early start but it still seems like the drive took forever.  Initially we had planned on taking I-75 north to Chattanooga, then go up to Nashville, but thanks to Thanksgiving traffic Bailey and I decided to go an alternate route.  We took 20 west toward Birmingham and then took highway 431 north from Oxford to Huntsville.  After Huntsville it was a straight shot to Nashville on I-65.  On the way I discovered that Alabama has some of the most beautiful scenery in the north eastern part of the state.  One very important lesson I learned is that technology is not a great substitute for a map and about 1 hour into the trip I decided to stop and purchase a road atlas.  Thanks to a beautiful cold, I didn’t think camping would be the best option for sleeping given the cold weather and thanks to hotels.com we found a nice hotel room for a reasonable price.

Once we were finally in Nashville, we headed to broad street to get some dinner at the Big River Brewery.  The food was good and the atmosphere was pretty nice too.  The only two downsides to the trip so far in Nashville were the ridiculous price for parking, and not knowing that Miley Cyrus had a concert tonight that held up traffic for a decent amount of time.  Tomorrow is going to be a long drive on empty highways thanks to the holiday.  Hopefully we will make it in decent time and won’t have any hold ups.  On to Chicago.

My car reached a milestone yesterday on the way home from work:  200,000 miles.  I admit I’m responsible only for the last 110,000 miles since I bought the car used with many thousands of miles already on it.  However, it has allowed me to visit Baja, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico and their exquisite topographic and ecological intricacies.  Visiting these places allowed me to meet whales, dolphins, sea turtles, rattlesnakes, lizard, birds, rivers, seas, oceans, wildflowers, baby hummingbirds, bull snakes mating, bats catching bugs in the evening, beavers gnawing on willows, the monsoon rains in the Sonoran desert, Gila monsters, tarantulas, corals snakes, inland osprey, bald eagles, desert bighorn sheep and some really cool people:

copyright: gjoder 2009

I know more than once I’ve expressed my shock over the fact that 2009 is almost over. It seems crazy that today I am sitting here planning out my finances and vacations for 2010. I did up my 2010 budget yesterday and re-enrolled in my flex-benefits through work. I managed to re-arrange things so that I have slightly more income this year, and definitely less bills (thanks to spending most of last year paying off debt, yay me!)… but this year I want to get ahead a little, contribute a little more to my RRSP’s, so I think it will be another year of smaller vacations. That’s okay though- because most of my life I never took ANY vacations. My parents never sent me anywhere (except summer camp 3 years in a row- which I did LOVE), but still- that hardly counts as vacation.

It wasn’t actually until a few years ago when I started dating my ex that I started to travel- and only because his family lived on Vancouver Island (West Coast of BC). That was good though, because BC is a beautiful province and I’ve gotten to explore it a little more since then. Oh, and I forgot that I went to Oregon to visit family in May of 2005. Last year I took a few “mini-vacations” and they were great. I took my Dad and Brother to Vancouver Island in June to visit my friend M, and to celebrate my Dad’s 50th birthday. We stopped and spent a day in Osoyoos on the way and that was great. At the end of July I went house-boating in the Shushwap with friends, which was a total riot. I also spent some time camping with my family back home.

This year… I’m thinking a weekend ski getaway to Kimberley in January through my social club at work (if I can find someone who wants to go with me), Vancouver and Seattle in early May to visit CH and do some shopping, and Vancouver Island in August to visit M, hitting up CH in Vancouver along the way… then maybe I’ll take a cheap trip somewhere warm like Mexico, near the end of the year- to reward myself for all the money I’ll be stashing away in the prior months. I’ve always wanted to road trip through California though so maybe I should add that to the Seattle trip and do it a little later in the summer, and forgo Mexico.

Hooo huummm… so much to debate. The real problem is finding someone who wants to go with me, and matching up our schedules. No one really wants to do California with me… I have spent my entire life “playing it safe” and for this trip, I literally want to jump in the car and just drive. I have an SUV so I can easily flip my back seats down and fit in an air mattress- the ex and I used to do that sometimes if we didn’t want to do the whole trip to the island in one day, it was actually pretty comfy. Fits two people just perfectly! I want to be spontaneous for once. I want to just follow my heart’s desire!

Here’s a picture of my corner of the world, in case you are unfamiliar with the area.