east and back
We got back from out jaunt to Maine. It was a much needed break for both of us.
The Cliff Notes… Drove out to Chamberlain, Maine (also near New Harbor and Pemaquid). Spent most time there. Spent a day in Rockland. Spend half day in Freeport – I didn’t buy a thing. Got to spend time with Mom, Wayne, Carrie, Rick, Noah, Charlotte, and Baxter (the new nephew). Stopped off in Cleveland on the way home to see a Gehry building and hit the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame.
I’ll be posting pimctures soon on Flickr. So far, the only good ones are family and the Gehry building. I’ll definately be posting about the Rock ‘n Roll HOF. We talked about it a lot on our way home. Anyway, work time…
Top Five Road Trips Gone By
As I’ve said before, I’ve been very lucky in the amount I’ve traveled up to now. My favorite manner of travel is road trip. I’m so out of practice anymore. That or I’m getting old. Driving long distances gives me the time to think and reflect and marvel at the vast array of landscapes. A lot of road trips are quite boring for the most part, but the payoff is in getting where you’re going or happening on those great moments with friends/family or natural beauty.
5. Summer of 1997
This was a long trip out west and back that I took with two others. We hit a lot of places… Mitchell Corn Palace, Devil’s Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Dinosaur National Monument, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forrest, Winslow Meteor Crater, and Sand Dunes National Monument. And don’t forget all those weird places in-between… The whole experience ended for me with my personal record 32-hour in-a-row driving shift (yes Ian, I remember that you have me beat). The trip was just over two weeks long, and we also took our bikes along for the ride as well.
4. 2004 Maine
It was the first road trip taken with my wife. It started of pretty rough with some trailer problems in Toledo (we ended up dumping the trailer there) and continuing onward. This first day was on my birthday as well. But Vic and I spent a nice week at the cabin before taking the long way home hitting Fallingwater and Latrobe on our way home.
3. The massive road trip circa 1984
Sure, I was only 8, but this was a trip to remember. I was mom, dad, Carrie and I taking many weeks on a very large road tip in a big van. I don’t remember all of the details and where we went, but I do remember fragments. Camping grounds. The Leadville, CO incident (let’s just say there were interactions with cops). The Four Corners. Carrie sitting on the Yucca cactus. Listening to Thomas Dolby’s The Golden Age of Wireless enough to make my dad go crazy. Hiking to Indian ruins that I can pronounce, but no idea how to spell. Freeze dried food cooked on hikes. Carrie and I completely fixated with Steve Miller Band’s Abracadabra. My first time to Bryce Canyon. It’s one of those perfect childhood memories of fragments that leaves you searching your head for more… and it all brings a smile.
2. 1999 Crested Butte and Breckenridge
Left Indianapolis with Neil, J and kyle in my Defender 110. Dropped J off in Peoria and picked Kevin up. Drove straight through, but managed a little balyhoo in Kansas City… We also happened to find the only WallMart in America without a single atlas in the store. Met Ian in Crested Butte, and then the off roading began. No one else had ever done it to this level, so I had to start them off light up around Irwin Lodge before working up to Pearl Pass. Our time in CB was filled making fun of Blair Witch, playing guitars behind our head (or trying to), getting Slogared, and shooting lots of priceless video. Ian and Kev left to head back East while Kyle, Neil, and I went on to the Solihull Society National Rally in Breckenridge before heading back. Somewhere I have the trail names we took… They weren’t that hard – but not that easy. It was nice that our hotel just happened to be right behind the Breckenridge Brewery. All things considered, it was quite the experience, and I have the photos and video to prove it. There has been banter about a return visit in ‘10 for Colorado veterans, so we’ll see how that shapes up.
1. Marriage / Honeymoon (2006)
No brainer that it’s #1… I left Indy, and drove to Rockland, Maine to do all those wonderful preparations. Vic flew in later that week before all the guests began to arrive. The wedding was completely awesome. We judge every other wedding by it. After a day’s rest in Rockland, we took a short honeymoon. We first drove down to Newport, RI for two nights where we stayed in a B&B that used to be the city jail. It was more novel than it was a place that I’ll actually want to stay again. Saw the mansions and the town. Got killer ham and cheese croissant’s on the way out of town as we headed to New York City for a few days. In NYC, we did a lot of walking, and saw a lot of sights. In the end it was easily the best road trip I’ve ever taken.
Honorable Mention: 1996 Indy-San Fran aka Dinan Delivery, 2000 Indy-Maine-Indy-Yellowstone-Seatte-SanFran-Indy, 2001 Colorado, 2002 Colorado / Rally, NYC-Maine 1998.
A little Ominous in IR
This is the main attraction in Asheville for tourists. It’s also “the largest private residence” in America. It’s still owned and ran by the descendants of the Vanderbilt’s.
It’s quite a sight to see, and I recommend it if you’re in the area and have the time. It’s more than a little boggling to the mind to think about the kind of money that went into building it back then… and how much such a thing would cost now.
This image was taken in infrared, which treats things different based on its ability to reflect and absorb infrared light as opposed to visible light. The results can be in color, but I like the B&W result more. Blah, blah, blah… I’m a camera geek.
As seen on TV
This was on the way to Asheville on our road trip a few weeks ago. The first thing that I had to unpack the D200 to get an image of. The things inside will get posts all their own at some point.Just for some context, this outlet was attached to a filling station. The bathrooms in-between were such that my wife shudders when she thinks about them. Maybe not Trainspotting bad toilets, but nasty nonetheless.
A good week
The end of a week off is ending. It had been 9-10 months since I last had more than a few consecutive days off. It was nice not to have to use the alarm clock.
But alas, the time off is dwindling. I meant to do more on the ‘puter while off (you’ll be getting a few things soon En)… I did things like read actual books, take a day road trip, and things related to my impending move. I didn’t go see any movies (not much out), but I did take advantage of the DVR quite a bit.
Anyway, It’ll give me a number of posts here over the next week or so.
On the way home
We left New Orleans this morning after a night of not as much sleep as we’d like. Some party of early 20’s kids rented out an entire side of the same floor we were on and decided to make lots of noise all through the day and night. But anyway, we decided to hit a plantation on the way out of town, and that was pretty cool. But something happened there that really bummed me out. My three year old Nikon camera may be done. There’s a problem with the internal software that is causing problems writing the images to the card while also locking up the entire camera. It erased (or didn’t record) a number of images that I took earlier, and it really pisses me off because not only is my camera probably dead, but it was the perfect infrared conditions in a really unique setting.
The two images on this posting are a few of the surviving images. The bottom one is an infrared image, and the top one is a standard one… All of the images from the trip that I have posted online are in a set within my Flickr account. My wife also has a set on her Flickr account for your viewing pleasure…
I am writing this from Memphis, and we’ll be waking up to hit Graceland in the morning. Then it’s back home for a few last days of rest before going back to the grind. I’m more worried about what I’m going to do about the camera…
The Big Easy
So the end of out first full day in New Orleans is approaching. It’s been interesting to say the least… First there’s the coincidence that we decided to come when Notre Dame just happened to be playing LSU in the Sugar Bowl. So it’s busier than a normal January week, but it’s no Mardi Gras or Jazzfest. The game is on right now, and the last thing I’m going to say about this is that LSU fans are for the most part a little on the juvenile and annoying side. But I digress.
The most shocking part of the trip down was seeing the lingering destruction that is readily apparent while driving in on Interstate 10. Remember that it’s been about a year and a half, and there are still many neighborhoods completely decimated and many more that show any level of destruction that is still apparent. Many people have thanked us for coming down for a vacation. 
I’ve heard people complaining about some post-Katrina politics, and there is even notable New Orleans artists taking swipes at FEMA. Just weird in that respect. We only saw what was visible from the Interstate, and I can’t imagine the areas I can’t see. The images and footage do little justice to seeing the magnitude of the destruction. I am completely in awe.
But otherwise it is the same New Orleans that I remember (I’ve only been once 11 years ago). There are so many wonderful restaurants. Beautiful architecture that you can’t see anywhere else in America. The debauchery of Bourbon Street. Just many different experiences available to any type of person / traveler. I really hope that things start coming back here. It’s one of the top treasures in the country in my opinion.
Tomorrow is our last full day before heading back with a stop in Graceland. It’s supposed to rain, which may give Burbon St. a needed wash, but it may limit the number of photos.
Pre-Easy: The Beginning
I’ve been itching to take one for a while, and while I won’t satisfy my desire for Pearl Pass, I will be making my second trip to the Big Easy.
We leave on Jan. 1, and we’ll stop in Birmingham or Montgomery for the evening before getting into New Orleans on the 2nd and be back in Indy sometime around the 6th or so (stopping at Graceland on the way back).
So I’ll try and blog / post images to Flickr given I have access, but it may just be a flurry or post dated blogs a la Maine last May…
Post-Nuptual (pt. 1)
We’re having some downtime on the short honeymoon, and while she is finishing reading the very long Gone with the Wind, I’m reading my newest issue of Atomic Ranch, playing spider solitaire, and writing this.
To back track, the ceremony and reception were absolutely fantastic. Some pictures will follow as they were taken as RAW files and will take time to process correctly. We relaxed the day after, and we drove to Newport, Rhode Island earlier today.
Vic has never been here, and it’s been around 20 years since I’d been here. After checking in, we drove down and walked a street that is lines with shops and restaurants. We ate at a pizza place a few blocks outside of the tourist stuff and was sketchy to say the least. But to our surprise it was great pizza. We’re seeking out seafood tomorrow before we venture into the land of exorbitant prices for everything (NYC).
Taking a turn in topic, we drove around the really famous neighborhoods of Newport earlier, and were struck by both the awesome nature of the architecture and the stratospheric nature of the wealth required to live and maintain such a residence now, let alone in the past. We’re talking hitting a large Powerball twice and still not coming close. Maybe the price of a Paul McCartney divorce these days… Just mind boggling…
On that note, I’m pretty tired today and hope to get to bed early since I can’t seem to sleep past 7 on average since I left Indy. I hope all is well with everyone.
