Articles Archive for July 2009

Camping woes

Apparently, 8 days of being on the road are fast catching up with me. I awoke today with at first, the sounds of a few rain drops, followed by a several minutes of drizzle and then a continuous flurry of rain. I had not brushed my teeth nor taken my shower, and definitely, I was not even aware of the silent chip growing over my shoulder. The night before, as we sat back on our campchairs, enjoying the warm night breeze and staring up at the starlit sky while slapping …

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Mount Rushmore

Today, we visited Mt. Rushmore along w/ several hundreds other visitors. What we thought was going to be a 30min visit turned out to be much more. We decided to take the guided Presidential Trail led by Ranger Jackie. She was a great story teller and not surprisingly, also a history teacher. She gave a very well-rehearsed and politically-correct story of how Mt. Rushmore came to be, the key players, the sculptor, and of course, our four presidents. She also offered a wonderful and needed undertone of the altered existence …

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Badlands Baby!

Thanks to free wi-fi yet again, I am able to search a bit about the Badlands. According to trip advisor, the top 2 attractions were the Badlands wall and the scenic drive. And so, those were our goals. Other nearby attractions was the wild west towns of Deadwood, Sturgis, Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park where you can appreciate more wildlife including a herd of 1400 buffalo. Not to mention the Black Hills Forest. In the morning, we awake, pick up breakfast and more importantly, coffee at …

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Best day so far — Buffalos in the wild

Yesterday was an amazing day. Badlands was impressive enough, but just when Angela and I concluded that we liked Zion better, we saw buffalos roaming in the wild. That changed everything. We have some distance to travel today so no time to blog. Here are some highlights from yesterday. …

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Monowi, Nebraska — Population: 1

We are leaving Omaha, Nebraska today and heading into South Dakota. We are making a little detour to visit this town with a population of 1 — Monowi, Nebraska. I read about this place in Bill Geist’s (the CBS anchor) book, and wanted to meet the town mayor Elsie Eiler. May be eat at her restaurant. This is the description of the town from Wikipedia: During the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 2; only one married couple, Rudy and Elsie Eiler, lived there. Mr. Eiler died in 2004, …

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Road trip technology

Internet I am sure road tripping has come a long way since the days of Route 66. Case in point, Angela is driving right now and I am typing away on a laptop. Two days ago we drove into a residential neighborhood in Indianapolis to bum wireless internet connection off of somebody, because we had just gotten into town and didn’t know where to find a Starbucks (which always has wireless internet). What you do is you pull off to the side of a residential street and scan the wireless networks …

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I’m meeting my friend for dinner in Omaha, Nebraska!

I was on the phone with my now former co-worker Dave just now. He asked me where I was. I said I was driving through Iowa, and was on my way to have dinner with a friend in Omaha, Nebraska. Then it hit me again – I am driving to Omaha to have dinner with a friend! The freedom that comes with this trip is intense. We truly feel blessed. …

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Vroom, Vroom – Sunday, July 26th

Today was the day we were supposed to visit Henry’s friend, Flavia in Omaha, Nebraska (approximately 615 miles away). Being true to ourselves and knowing how slow we’ve been progressing, we again brainstormed with reality and rescheduled with Flavia for Monday. It was a good decision, the haste and rush was getting on both our nerves. Since we were taking our time and we happened to be in Indianapolis for the NASCAR Allstate 400 at The Brickyard, we had to drive by their motorway and take a peek. Thankfully, a …

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Our favorite bus stop in Marietta, Ohio – Saturday, July 25th

After our morning coffee, we set out via the (according to Rand McNally’s atlas) “dot, dot, dot” scenic route 50 from Grafton towards Ohio. Along the way, we stumbled into the charming historic town of Marietta, Ohio. It was such a pretty town, we had to stop. Truthfully, we happen to pass by the cutest bus stop ever and, like tourists with no shame, we began taking out our respective cameras and shooting multiple photos of this one empty city bus stop. Curiously though, as we looked left and right …

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Camping in West Virginia – Friday, July 24th

Bright and early the next day, we went to meet up with Moura in her charming home. She and her four dogs (2 are visiting and 2 are hers) were such gracious hosts. We enjoyed a cozy breakfast and then a tour of her college grounds where she lectures. It was 2p when we set out westward towards West Virginia. We had decided to go camping that night. I was nervous because I have not camped since high school. I have grown too accustomed to too many amenities. But, as …

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Vroom, Vroom – Sunday, July 26th

Today was the day we were supposed to visit Henry’s friend, Flavia in Omaha, Nebraska (approximately 615 miles away). Being true to ourselves and knowing how slow we’ve been progressing, we again brainstormed with reality and rescheduled with Flavia for Monday. It was a good decision; the haste and rush was getting on both our nerves. Since we were taking our time and we happened to be in Indianapolis for the NASCAR Allstate 400 at The Brickyard...

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Road trip technology

Internet. I am sure road tripping has come a long way since the days of Route 66. Case in point, Angela is driving right now and I am typing away on a laptop. Two days ago we drove into a residential neighborhood in Indianapolis to bum wireless internet connection off of somebody. What you do is you pull off to the side of a residential street and scan the wireless networks in the vicinity...

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Our favorite bus stop in Marietta, Ohio – Saturday, July 25th

After our morning coffee, we set out via the (according to Rand McNally’s atlas) “dot, dot, dot” scenic route 50 from Grafton towards Ohio. Along the way, we stumbled into the charming historic town of Marietta, Ohio. It was such a pretty town, we had to stop. Truthfully, we happen to pass by the cutest bus stop ever and, like tourists with no shame, we began taking out our respective cameras...

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