A trip to University of Iowa for a Big Ten conference was a long road trip for me in 2003. Since there were four of us, driving a university van was cheaper than flying everyone to Iowa City, but it did take about eight hours.
We stayed on campus at the university hotel. Contrary to my expectations, Iowa was not flat. Along the Iowa river, the university campus was hilly and green (of course there have been major floods of the river, including one a couple years ago that severely impacted the university). Other than that, it was a typical college campus.
The best thing about visiting Iowa was that I got a chance to see a friend. T had been a graduate student in political science at Michigan State and a co-worker of mine when I worked in a bookstore in East Lansing. All these years later, he'd completed not only the Ph.D in political science but a J.D. as well, and now was a professor at U Iowa. He'd asked me to bring him some Spartan gear but told me when I got there that he wished he'd asked me to bring him some Vernors as well. (Vernors is made and sold in Michigan but apparently not in Iowa.)
I met T for dinner at a Chinese restaurant near campus and then T showed me his office. We had a great conversation. That was probably the best part of the trip.
On the way back, somehow I ended up being the driver through the Chicago-Gary stretch of Interstate 80 - not recommended. I've driven that stretch several times and I always hate it. It isn't only that the traffic is heavy, always - though it is. The worst thing is that there are so many semi tractor-trailers that I always feel claustrophobic. It's very stressful.
But all in all, a good trip. Road trips with work colleagues are always fun.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Tempe, Phoenix, Sedona
I had the opportunity to visit Arizona when I was asked to consult with Arizona State University on their computer systems. Even though it was business, I did get a chance to play tourist a bit as well. I flew into Tempe, which is right next to Phoenix, and spent a few days on the Arizona State U campus. It was interesting to be somewhere that it never snows - people park on the perimeter of campus and move about by golf cart.
Although I had expected sun, I managed to catch a rare pair of wet days - I would have called them showers but the folks there were amazed with the amount of rain they got. Because the ground is sun-baked, it even caused some local flooding. Yet in Michigan it would have been nothing to speak of.
As I recall, I arrived late Saturday and on Sunday, my host took us on a road trip to Sedona, a tourist town further north. It was quaint, a series of little shops that reminded me of those on Mackinac Island here in Michigan. They were filled with arts and crafts objects, souvenirs, snacks, ice cream, tapestries - etc. A lot of stuff that I didn't need and didn't want, but it was fun to shop around.
I liked the desert but it was too different for me. Not pretty but exotic, interesting to see but not somewhere I would want to live.
Although I had expected sun, I managed to catch a rare pair of wet days - I would have called them showers but the folks there were amazed with the amount of rain they got. Because the ground is sun-baked, it even caused some local flooding. Yet in Michigan it would have been nothing to speak of.
As I recall, I arrived late Saturday and on Sunday, my host took us on a road trip to Sedona, a tourist town further north. It was quaint, a series of little shops that reminded me of those on Mackinac Island here in Michigan. They were filled with arts and crafts objects, souvenirs, snacks, ice cream, tapestries - etc. A lot of stuff that I didn't need and didn't want, but it was fun to shop around.
I liked the desert but it was too different for me. Not pretty but exotic, interesting to see but not somewhere I would want to live.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
New York
I've been to NY several times - once to Niagra Falls via Buffalo, which I'll talk about in a later post, and my first time on a band tour when I was in college - also will describe later. But probably the best trip I had where I was able to be a tourist was in 2005, when I went for a conference and stayed a couple of extra days so I was able to see some of the sights in New York City.
The sister of a close friend of mine lives in Manhattan, so my friend M and I overlapped some of the trip so we were able to spend some time together with her sister MT. I was there over the 4th of July so we viewed the fireworks over the East River as a part of the trip. But the first couple of days, I was there alone. I had dinner with some professional colleagues the first night, then during the free time I had the next day, I visited Julliard to see where one of my characters went to school. I wanted to see it, and the area around it where he would live.
On the 4th, besides the evening fireworks, M and MT and I walked through Rockefeller Center, where the Today show films. We visited the NBC store nearby, then saw St. Patrick's Cathedral. That was very interesting - large and beautiful. We also saw the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, and the United Nations.
Next day, I was at the conference but in the evening, there was a perk for some of us - a trip to a Broadway show. We saw "The Producers" - that was fun. Although I had no idea that Broadway theatres are so small. Compared to Midwestern venues, it was tiny.
The conference wrapped up the next morning, so in the afternoon after lunch, the three of us went to Coney Island in Brooklyn. It took almost an hour on the subway. We wandered the boardwalk, had dinner, then went to a minor league baseball game - the Brooklyn Cyclones. I bought two T-shirts there that are still among my favorites.
The following day, MT had to work, so M & I visited the Museum of Modern Art. The three of us had dinner at a cozy neighborhood Italian restaurant near MT's apartment called Nochellos. The food was good and M & MT had a lot of wine.
My final day in New York, the three of us braved a cold and rainy day to take the ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. We didn't disembark on Liberty but spent quite a bit of time on Ellis Island. I knew my grandparents or great grandparents had immigrated in through Ellis Island but wasn't sure exactly when. I found a couple of men named Meyer, which I knew had been our family surname before we came to America. I wish I had known more about my ancestry before I went.
Great trip, all in all.
The sister of a close friend of mine lives in Manhattan, so my friend M and I overlapped some of the trip so we were able to spend some time together with her sister MT. I was there over the 4th of July so we viewed the fireworks over the East River as a part of the trip. But the first couple of days, I was there alone. I had dinner with some professional colleagues the first night, then during the free time I had the next day, I visited Julliard to see where one of my characters went to school. I wanted to see it, and the area around it where he would live.
On the 4th, besides the evening fireworks, M and MT and I walked through Rockefeller Center, where the Today show films. We visited the NBC store nearby, then saw St. Patrick's Cathedral. That was very interesting - large and beautiful. We also saw the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, and the United Nations.
Next day, I was at the conference but in the evening, there was a perk for some of us - a trip to a Broadway show. We saw "The Producers" - that was fun. Although I had no idea that Broadway theatres are so small. Compared to Midwestern venues, it was tiny.
The conference wrapped up the next morning, so in the afternoon after lunch, the three of us went to Coney Island in Brooklyn. It took almost an hour on the subway. We wandered the boardwalk, had dinner, then went to a minor league baseball game - the Brooklyn Cyclones. I bought two T-shirts there that are still among my favorites.
The following day, MT had to work, so M & I visited the Museum of Modern Art. The three of us had dinner at a cozy neighborhood Italian restaurant near MT's apartment called Nochellos. The food was good and M & MT had a lot of wine.
My final day in New York, the three of us braved a cold and rainy day to take the ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. We didn't disembark on Liberty but spent quite a bit of time on Ellis Island. I knew my grandparents or great grandparents had immigrated in through Ellis Island but wasn't sure exactly when. I found a couple of men named Meyer, which I knew had been our family surname before we came to America. I wish I had known more about my ancestry before I went.
Great trip, all in all.
Denver, Breckinridge
Colorado is one of my favorite states. I like mountains. I have been lucky enough to visit Denver several times and once had a conference in the ski resort town of Breckinridge, albeit in the summer season. It was still wonderful.
My memories of Breckinridge are of taking a ski lift up to the top of the mountain - great view. I stayed in a privately-owned condo at the resort. This was the first time that I had known that this is a common practice in resorts and I was a bit stunned by the decor of the condo I got, including the massage chair, the huge bedroom, and the fully stocked kitchen. It had two full baths - which seemed excessive for one person. And two balconies.
My other memory of Breckinridge was finding an extraordinary sushi restaurant and having the sushi chef, surprise to find a somewhat knowledgable Caucasian at his sushi bar, try me out with a seaweed salad that I absolutely loved. Unfortunately, I never found it served anywhere else.
Several conferences in Denver have made me reasonably familiar with the downtown area - Larimer Square. One visit involved a dinner and wine with some colleagues, an after-dinner visit to a Russian tea room for samplings of flavored vodka, and then a beer in the hotel bar on the way to turning in. I don't think I have had that much alcohol in one session since, but it was memorable.
I also found a downtown mall where I discovered a beverage that I believe was called a Polar Bear - coffee, chocolate and milk on ice, with whipped cream and garnish of finely-ground chocolate-covered coffee beans. It was quite good.
Every time I visited Denver, I would buy and bring back a different kachina doll. I tried always to buy a new one by the same artist so they matched in size and style. 
The photo I'm attaching here isn't one of mine but is a typical sample of a Navajo kachina. Mine are tourist versions - not unique or valuable, but they are fun to have. After I had collected about six of them, I decided I really had enough. I am not a serious collector of stuff, and by that time a trip to Colorado wasn't all that exciting.
The photo I'm attaching here isn't one of mine but is a typical sample of a Navajo kachina. Mine are tourist versions - not unique or valuable, but they are fun to have. After I had collected about six of them, I decided I really had enough. I am not a serious collector of stuff, and by that time a trip to Colorado wasn't all that exciting. The final thing I will mention about Denver, though, is that I really like their airport. I have been in a lot of them but the open feeling of the main terminal in Denver is unique and I really enjoy it every time I am there.
Reno
My only visit to Nevada was a conference trip to Reno. I didn't like it, and I saw practically nothing of the city. The conference was held at a casino, and I barely left the grounds when there. Additionally, I had a diabetic episode due to the time difference and totally embarassed myself in the process. It wasn't a good trip, all in all.
With that said, I did gamble a little - slots mostly. And it wasn't a bad trip otherwise.
With that said, I did gamble a little - slots mostly. And it wasn't a bad trip otherwise.
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