Category Archives: Travel

5,080 ft elevation

3,090 miles

1,100+ pictures

9 cameras

8 people

3 laptops

2 Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycles

1 unforgettable vacation

I’ll be blogging the things I haven’t already as soon as I get dug out from the huge pile of other demands on my time. What a great trip!

Today [ed: it was really Monday] was a long, but wonderful, day. I made an email
run into town early in the morning, then we all saddled up for a trip out to
Devil’s Tower, Wyoming. It’s about 120 road miles from here to there; the route
goes through Deadwood, Lead (rhymes with "seed", not with "bed"), and Pactola
Lake.

Deadwood was our first stop; we hit one of the local casinos for a bathroom, then went down Wall Street to the spot where Wild Bill Hickock was killed in 1876– coincidentally, on August 2nd, the same day we were there. There was a terrific character actor cowboy who regaled the boys with tales of his gunslinging; we also saw something you’d only see in Sturgis: a hybrid VW Bug/motorcycle painted to look like a giant American flag.

After Deadwood, we got back on the road. Lots and lots and lots of motorcycles,
of all shapes and sizes. Matt quickly discovered that some were tricycles, so we
entertained him for the whole trip by playing spot-the-trike. We hit a short leg
of I-90 through the town of Spearfish and into Wyoming; I was able to sneak in a
couple of email sessions when we stopped for gas thanks to the local Verizon
coverage.

Devils’ Tower was amazing. Until you get up close, you don’t really realize how big it really is, or how big the groove-like rock formations on the sides are. I found a guide company that offers climbing trips; they promise that with two days of training you can safely climb to the top. That’s now officially on my list of Things To Do Before I Get Too Old. The scenery en route was astonishing too. We ate lunch at a roadside restaurant just outside the Devils’ Tower park gate. Brief review: avoid.		Some random, beautiful hill on the road to Devils’ Tower
The boys with Ranger Dave	The boys were fascinated by the Indian legends surrounding Bear Lodge (as it’s known by the Lakota). One legend has it that a boy was chasing some girls, got turned into a bear, and raked the sides of the mountain in his anger at not being able to catch them. That particular story is Matthew’s favorite. David learned a couple of other legends at the visitors’ center, but I can’t remember what they were.	Two views of Devils’ Tower
Our next stop was Spearfish Canyon, which I’d never heard of before this trip. I’m sure ready to sing its praises now, though. Towering rock formations, two beautiful waterfalls (well, one, anyway; we didn’t see Roughlock Falls), and a long, curvy road through the canyon and its surrounding areas. Dad and Tim (who rode the entire 270+ miles on his bike) were grinning from ear to ear at the scenery. Bridal Veil Falls was pretty, but there was very little water.

On the way back, we stopped at Pactola Lake. As we were getting out, a B-1 from Ellsworth AFB flew overhead– that was neat because we don’t see many of those back East. Apart from having an amusing name, the lake is beautifully scenic; as you go north, you come around a curve and see this broad vista of rock formations with a beautiful lake at the bottom. The lake is named for the former ghost town of Pactola, which was flooded when the reservoir was created. Arlene was in photo heaven; she got some great pictures.

Before we left, Mom and Arlene had stocked the crock pot with red beans and
sausage; when we got back, we had a feast of red beans, rice, and pineapple. The
boys played in the center of the cabin area until it got dark (after which a
good-sized rain/thunderstorm rolled in) and we all went to bed.

Today was our first real day at the campground (more properly, the
Rafter Bar J Ranch). We have three of their “comfort cabins”: roughly 20′ x 20′ one-room cabins with a small bathroom, sink, microwave, and dorm-size refrigerator. There’s one double bed and a pair of bunks, plus a small dinette table. Everything is clean and in good repair, and there’s a great open courtyard where the boys can run around and holler– quite a relief after 1200+ miles trapped in the car.

Mom had either mad-car disease or altitude sickness; she wasn’t feeling well, so she missed the morning festivities. The rest of us got sort of a late start because we were all tired, but once everyone got moving we headed out to two nearby attractions: Old McDonald’s Petting Zoo was first. It was, well, full of animals. Thomas was enchanted with the chicks in the incubator room, since you got to pick them up; Matt’s favorite was probably feeding the goats (see below), although he didn’t like it when they got too personal. David liked everything; he’s been a real treat to have with us on the trip because pretty much everything suits him just fine.

Our second stop was Reptile Gardens, which was outstanding. We stayed to watch the alligator show, then spent some time on Death Row– the Gardens’ large collection of venomous snakes. By the time we got done with that, it was getting late and everyone was hungry. We headed back to the cabins to pick up Mom, then went into Hill City for lunch at the Mount Rushmore Brewing Company, a nice little restaurant that serves a mean buffalo burger. After a swim, Tim and the boys built a campfire, and we roasted hot dogs and made s’mores. No one stayed up very late.

The world-famous (well, not really) Goat Bridge	Mmmm, food pellets…
The pool area with some cool mountain clouds	Who needs a microwave?
Call the fire department!	Not Mr Ed, but close enough…

We left about 4pm Friday afternoon and headed west on the Ohio Turnpike. There’s not much to see between Toledo and Chicago; we hit Chicago about twilight and had a merry chase through the approximately 250 toll booths on I-80, I-94, and I-294. Eventually, we made it to Beloit, Wisconsin, our stop for the night. Dad and Tim took an alternate route thanks to Dad’s bike-mounted GPS, so they arrived about an hour behind– the boys and I were sound asleep by then.
Saturday morning, we had a quick hotel breakfast and hit the road again. Wisconsin turned out to be much prettier than I’d expected. The drive up towards LaCrosse has some pretty nice rock outcroppings and some lovely views over the hills; we stopped in LaCrosse for lunch and saw a really cool statue of two Indians playing LaCrosse. For lunch, we ate at Perkins’, right next to the Black River. Not long after, we crossed the Mississippi, where the scenery really got pretty (and, incidentally, we entered Minnesota). Once we left the river country, things flattened out and got a lot less attractive, unless you like corn.
Along our route, we made two stops: the Spam Museum (which deserves its own blog entry, later today) and the statue of the Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth, MN. That was pretty cool– a 60′ tall statue of the big green guy. Plus, there was a Dairy Queen next door, which is always a bonus.
Another two hours on the road and we hit Worthington, Minnesota, our Saturday night stop. Pizza Hut provided dinner, and we swam and went to bed– now it’s breakfast time and we’re getting ready to hit the road again today. So far, we’ve come about 800 miles!

Mom and Arlene are planning the menus and packing. The boys are asking “Can we buy a pop gun?” and saying things like “I’m so ‘cited about seeing Mount Rushmore” at random intervals. I’m looking for wireless access and squaring away my radio gear, and Dad and Tim are getting their bikes ready. It’s almost time!

Now it’s safe to spill the beans: while I’m at TechEd, Arlene and the boys are flying down for a surprise visit to Disney World. I wasn’t planning on attending TechEd, so we left our trip planning until the last minute, and the boys have no clue! Right now, they’re about to board a flight to Atlanta, then to Tampa, then via Avis to pick me up at the convention center. We shot a cool spy video, with our bishop acting in the role of briefing officer– the kids watched it in the van on the way to the airport. I can’t wait to see them!

This is pretty neat: biologists at the Argonne National Laboratory have developed a diet (or, more precisely, a mix of foods) that helps prevent jet lag when traveling over long distances, either west-east or east-west. Now they’ve licensed it to antijetlagdiet.com, which will prepare a customized meal plan based on your departure and arrival cities and times. The diet involves timed intake of carbs and protein, avoidance of caffeine and alcohol, and alternating fast and feast days. I think I’ll give it a try next time I have to travel a long distance– it just might work.

Wow, those folks at Delta have gone crazy. They’re offering a promotion that grants Silver Medallion status in their frequent-flyer program for one round trip. The catch: you have to fly out of one of 14 specified cities. (Note to Julie and Paul: Burlington is one of them!) I signed Arlene and the boys up for it with no problem. There’s a similar offer for Gold Medallion status, but it seems to be limited to people that Delta invited. Now, off to hunt for cheap flights…

I had to go back to Chicago (or, more precisely, to Downers’ Grove) last week for the next stop on our collaboration and communications roadshow. This event was the first one we’ve held in a hotel instead of a Microsoft office, so I was a little leery– the Microsoft office facilities tend to be quite nice, and they’re usually already set up for our presentations. This event was booked at the Marriott Suites in Downers Grove, which turned out to be a wonderful hotel. I was predisposed to like it as soon as my cab turned the corner: just up the street, there’s a Fuddrucker’s and a Brazilian churrascaria, and directly across from the hotel there’s a Fry’s Electronics. Nancy and the rest of the hotel staff were extremely competent and helpful, and John and I got everything set up quickly. The rooms were spacious and comfortable, which is always a nice bonus. We had a team dinner at Sal e Carvão, the churrascaria, and it was excellent. Our event the next day went well, and I got to take an early flight home so I got home just before the kids went to bed (instead of at zero-midnight-thirty). All in all, a good trip.

OK, so I’m a tourist. Here’s what I did yesterday:

• Arrived at Penn Station and walked to my hotel, which is on 6th Avenue. Streets and Trips says the most direct route is 1.6 mi, but I took the scenic route– past B&H Photo (totally by accident), then back up 34th St to 6th and up 6th. Great walk.
• Checked in to the hotel and whipped through my inboxes. That took an hour or so.
• Caught a cab to the SoHo Apple Store, where I was sorely tempted by a wide variety of goodies. The place was packed! However, a dual-G4 (or even an iMac G5) is too big to carry back on the plane, so none for me.
• Had a slice of pepperoni pizza from a little hole-in-the-wall pizzeria on Prince St and ate it while walking through SoHo. Theboys are each getting a cheap NY tourist T-shirt (some of which were not exactly age appropriate).
• Took a cab to the World Trade Center site. Very moving, powerful yet sad. I spent a while there just looking, then moved around to take some pictures that I’ll post after I get home.
• Took the subway back to the station at 57th and 7th, then walked to the hotel, where I found a mention of Harley-Davidson of New York. Off I went! They don’t seem to actually sell or fix motorcycles; instead, they sell overpriced crap ($60 for a long-sleeved T-shirt) to tourists. I escaped with a $20 T-shirt; it was on sale.
• On the way to the Harley dealer, I found Kate’s Paperie, where I got Arlene a little something. Then it was back to the hotel.

After all that touring, I was too tired to do anything else, so I had a room service burger, ate for a while, and hit the bed early. This morning, I got up at 6, went down to the hotel gym, and am now headed for a delicious hotel breakfast. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Today I’m in Boston; I’m about to leave my hotel and head down to Boston’s South Station so I can take Amtrak’s Acela service down to New York’s Penn Station. I haven’t ridden on a passenger train in a long while, so I’m looking forward to the experience.
Update: I’m now almost to New Haven, Connecticut. This beats flying by a wide margin– a comfortable seat, with two 120V outlets, breakfast and lunch, and great scenery (intermingled, of course, with ugly train-track-side industrial buildings and graffiti). So far, the stretch between Boston and New London has been my favorite; New London-to-New Haven isn’t quite as pretty.
Update: I love me some Acela. Overall the train trip was a delightful break from my regular air travel routine, and I recommend it heartily. For long trips, the speed of air travel can’t be beat, but this trip has made me strongly consider using Amtrak for shorter trips like Toledo-Chicago.

Speaking of things you hope you’ll never need to know! The Budget Traveler’s Guide to Sleeping in Airports is a comprehensive guide to the best, and worst, places to sleep when your travel plans, or budget, requires you to catch 40 winks without resorting to a hotel. Particularly useful: the Huntsville, New Orleans, Alexandria, and Detroit airport sections. Bonus: this set of sleeping tips. (The most important tip: stay out of airports and you won’t need any of this!)

Terrific posting from a guy on FlyerTalk who took a new job in June (“you won’t have to travel very much”) and ended up banking 93,000 miles by year’s end. His 25 lessons learned is a classic, particularly #5 (be nice to people), #13 (use a checklist to avoid forgetting stuff), and #25 (you’re special, just like everyone else).

You’ve heard of the Texas Rangers– now there are the Houston Airport Rangers, volunteers who patrol the 11,000 acres of Bush International on horseback.

Airport Rangers are mounted security patrol made up of volunteers, including off-duty law enforcement officers that ride their horses along the perimeter of the 11,000 acre Bush Intercontinental Airport. In return for keeping an eye out for suspicious activity in the area, equestrians have a pristine location, including wooded trails to ride and the airport has extra eyes and ears in areas that most security patrols can not easily access.

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