A new destination this week

This week I have a different place to visit. I am about 4.5 hours south of the house. My morning started off early waking up around 5AM (not because I had to but because the animals felt it was time to get up).

My boss lives about an hour north of me in Wilmington, NC. He picked me up at the house around 8:30 AM and we got to drive south through all the Costal South Carolina cities (Myrtle Beach, Georgetown, Charleston & Beaufort). We then crossed into Georgia to our destination Savannah, GA.

Savannah is a really interesting historical city. I have been here several times touring and it’s just a charming Southern City. If you are looking for a small city with the true Southern feel this is the city for you. The riverfront is loaded with shopping and dining options. The banks are very steep so you better be in shape or find the public elevator to take you back to the street level.

I got me meet a co-worker I’ve worked with for over a year and never met face to face. She was the last person on my team that I had not met face to face. It’s so nice to know what your co-workers look like.

We left the motel on Abercorn Street and drove down to Bay Street though the nice squares in downtown. We had dinner at a very nice restaurant on the river and back home at a decent hour. So I’m able to let everyone know I’m still alive out here.

I have a lot of blogs to catch up on. I’ve not only taken a break from writing but from reading too. Amazing what a busy schedule does…

It was a good weekend at home. We are working on replacing my wood sidewalk and the steps at the house. We spent time with my neighbors that were down from Erie (mainly eating meals and just shooting the breeze). We had a very nice meal at an Italian Restaurant named Pomodero’s.

A different route this week – Charlotte

For years (about 8) I flew USAirways as my primary airlin. Since the hub airport for them in this area is Charlotte I connected there weekly for years. I changed airlines when they were having so many issues with the merger between USAir and America West. After a while I just got tired of the issues and switched over to Delta. I started to switch back about 2 years back then as soon as I did they started charging extra for everything from cokes to pillows. I was waiting on them to charge for seatbelts and trips to the bathroom. So I again just decided to stick with Delta.

This week the prices of the airline tickets forced me to take USAirways through Charlotte on my way to Houston. They have stopped charging for drinks but they have not reinstated other things like the 500 mile minimum credit for a flight. They still charge for checked bags so more people try to overstuff the overheads. They have about one of the best on-time ratings of the major carriers. It’s still not enough to make me come back to the airline though. It takes a long time to build a status on an airline and I just don’t feel the need to go through that again.

I did enjoy flying through Charlotte because I haven’t done that in a long time. It’s one of the favorite places I have ever lived. It made me a little home sick just seeing the skyline when we were landing. I worked for about 4 years in Uptown and watched them tear down a building and start building a new skyscraper.

Charlotte calls it “Uptown” instead of “Downtown” because it sounds more positive to be called UP. The uptown area looked like it was 2 weeks old when I moved there and to this day it looks like a brand new city.

Of all the places I’ve lived I would say Charlotte is the top of the list to this day. I had a job I loved, a city I was proud to call home. It’s funny as much as I enjoyed it there that I have not been back in over 7 years other than to fly through the airport. I guess I need to schedule a vacation to go there sometime. Maybe I need to go to the Southern Living Home Show or something fun like that.

South Dakota Vacation - Day 3

Today we went to the Crazy Horse Monument in the morning. My uncle told me that they lived in a house about 200 yards off the road at the entrace to the monument and told me to look for an old house on the right. If he is right this is the house my grandmother raised her five boys at. She was widowed when she was pregnant with her last child (the one who told me where the house was located at).
We left Custer heading west to Newcastle Wyoming. We went north from there to Lead South Dakota where the gold mines were.

This was one of the sights we saw driving our short stretch in Wyoming. This was just a mountain in someones field, no special markings. I thought it was pretty with the white on the top and the red dirt with the green trees at the foot of the hill.

When we got to Lead we had lunch at a Pub on Main Street. In Lead the streets are almost straight up and down. And I had to parallel park to boot. It took me a few seconds to remember which way to turn the wheels when you are parking facing down hill. I turned them to the right toward the curb. I guess I was right because when I was sitting with mom on the deck eating lunch I scoped out all the other cars and they followed my lead.

The clock below was right next to the pub we ate at.

The buildings below are part of the old gold mine "Homestake" in Lead. The gold mine was active for 125 years closing in 2002.

The open pit gold mine in the picture below is one of the mines in the area. This hole was huge. I had an uncle that worked in these mines in the 70's.

I'm not sure what this contraption was for but it was up on the side of the hill above the open pit mine.
This is one of the trains used in the mine to pull the rock out of the mine.
We finally made it to Deadwood which is now the area for gambling. I thought this hotel was a good picture. We made it home in time for a nice nap.

We wanted to go see the lighting ceremony at Mount Rushmore. You can see we made it. I have never really taken pictures after dark so this is one of the first of my attempts.

One of the rangers gave a 30 minute talk about the monument and what each of these men did for our country. It was very informative and it was quite amazing how much she taught me that I should have already known.

At the end they brought down the service men and women. They took volunteers from that group to take the flag down and fold it. Then each of them stated what branch of the armed forces they were in and their name. It was a very nice end to the day.

South Dakota Vacation - Day 2

There are just some days you can't summarize everything. Today is one of those days for me. It was so full from the beginning to the end. I am going to summarize the best I can what we did; where we went and what we saw today.

To start off we took the road out of Custer heading to Mount Rushmore. On the way you could see the Crazy Horse Monument from the road. We have not been down to the monument yet but we plan to do that on our trip. Here is the picture I got with my nice zoom lens. It's almost as good as being at the park.
One of the big things I wanted to do was to go see Mount Rushmore. And as you can see we could not have picked a better day to go. Mom read that the best time to take photos is in the morning. The lighting was perfect. In the gift shop they had a man who had actually worked on the monument for 3 years. He was 18-21 during his 3 years working on the monument. He is 88 years old and was in good health. It was really neat to get to talk to him. The monument was being built from 1928-1941.

On the road down from the monument there is a place you can take a profile picture of George Washington. I didn't remember that as a child when I was here but I'm so glad I stopped to take the picture. After we left Mount Rushmore we went to a town named "Hill City" to have lunch. Mom had a Buffalo Burger and I had a BBQ Pork sandwich. I was a bit buffalo'ed out since the night before I had a Buffalo Sirloin and for lunch I had a Buffalo Burger. Least to say they serve a lot of buffalo here.

After lunch we were heading to Custer State Park and the Needles highway. This was the second thing I really wanted to see up here. So I guess today was my day to pick and choose. As you enter the park there is a lake "Lake Sylvan" and it's so beautiful.

The reason it's called the needles highway is the rocks and this one in particular is called the Needles Eye. We continued to drive through the needles highway and I have so many pictures you are not seeing but here is one we had someone take of me and mom.This area is called the Cathedral. Not sure why but it was a sight to see as we drove around the twisting roads.

I wanted to see the Bison in the wild. I was corrected that they are not called Buffalo but they are North American Bison. So from here on out I'll refer to them as Bison. This one was out in the wild just walking around. We couldn't help it we saw the prarie dogs and we had to stop and feed them some of the peanuts from yesterday. The ones in the park here were not as tame as the ones yesterday but he figured out we were pretty cool and took the peanut and made his feast on it.

I'm not really sure what these animals were they looked like a different type of deer than what we have in the south. They were all over the place.

We finally ran into a South Dakota Traffic Jam with a bunch of donkeys. One car made the mistake of rolling down the windows and feeding one. Nex thing they knew they had donkeys with heads all the way in the car from both sides eating. I'm glad I was not in that car, I'm not big on donkey slobber in my car.

At last we found what I remember my dad showing me all those year ago. The field with all the Bison in it. There were over 500 in the herd in the picture below. The guard said there are 1200 more but they were not sure where they were in the park today. There were Bison Chips all over the place. You had to watch your step

Once we left the State park we had about a 10 mile drive on a dirt road before we got out on the blacktop heading to my uncles house. I took pictures of all the hay yesterday and we saw a bunch of haystacks in the fields today. I have not seen that in years and thought I'd share it with everyone.

We finally made it to my Aunt and Uncles house in Buffalo Gap. The town is very small and all the roads are dirt. I saw my uncle last when my grandmother passed way in 1995. I had not seen my aunt since the winter of 1987 (22 years back). Least to say it was really good to visit with them again. My aunt's mom lives with them and remembers seeing me when I was a little kid back in the early 70's when we visited them in Elgin, IL.

My uncle shared pictures with me he had of my dad when he was a baby and little boy. He had a sheet of photo paper with my Grandma and Grandpa and the military pictures of all the boys. My grandfather had two sons from a prior marriage both of which served in WWII. Then my dad was the first for my grandma and he served in WWII and Korea. Then her other four sons served in Korea.

My uncle told us a lot of the family history. Some I knew and a lot I didn't know about. He told me my Grandfather had been gassed in World War 1. He was originally from Freemont, Nebraska and the reason they ended up in Custer was because they had a hospital there and the altitude. They sent the military boys who had been gassed to these areas. He also told me about one of my relatives that lead Brigham Young to Utah.

Our history seems to be between South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma and back to South Dakota. I really thought I was the first of the Dowty's to be the Okie... But he told me I wasn't. Darn, can't I be the first at something?

We left my uncles house with a wooden shoe that my Great Uncle Gillis wore when he came over from Holland. He was married to my Grandmother's Sister and they never had any children. He maintained the Custer Cemetary for years.

I also left with some pictures I will cherish from my dad's childhood.

So that is my day in a nutshell. I know today's blog was long but it was such a full day I couldn't shorten it much more.

Greetings from the other South State - South Dakota

Well this is it... Live from the other South State! South Dakota. At last a trip for pleasure instead of work. Today we left Rapid City and toured the Badlands National Park area about 50 miles East of Rapid City, SD. The fields on the drive were loaded with hay and rolling hills. Here is a picture of the fields with hay as far as you could see.
South Dakota is famous for Wall Drug. When my dad was in the military he saw signs in Japan of how many miles it was to Wall Drug in South Dakota. They had road signs all the way from Rapid City and I found this offer of Free Ice Water just too funny not to take a picture of.

Of course when we got to Wall Drug sure enough there was the Free Ice Water. I guess if you advertise you have to make the effort to deliver right?

Wall is a small town on I-90 just north of the Badlands and just East of Rapid City. The town is really small and pretty much all there is to do is eat and shop at the drug store. Mom was brave enough to ride the Jackalope. Note there is not a picture of me doing this. I know what get's posted on the internet.

Anyone who knows me knows the terror I have when it comes to snakes. So you know I was not too thrilled to see this sign. Of course it was far too hot for the snakes to be out, we didn't see a one. I guess this is one way to keep people on the path (NOT).

I got off the path and saw this beautiful picture. I wanted to know what he was looking at so I had to get closer.

When I did I realized what this fella must have been thinking... How the heck am I gonna get down there? And why are they hanging on the side of the cliff like that? Is there room for three?

Once we got through the bulk of the Badlands which I consider "South Dakota's Grand Canyon" we started seeing the prarie dogs. They were so cute and I bought some unsalted peanuts to feed them. This one even posed for me. As you can tell he's had a few peanuts in his days, look at that pot belly.

Just before checking into our room we ran across the cemetary that is one of the reasons we came. My dad's family is from Custer SD and we wanted to see my grandparents graves. My real grandfather passed away when my dad was about 8 years old. We found his gravesite quicker than we thought considering I have not been here in 14 years and mom in about 17 years.

Not sure what the plans for tomorrow hold. Sometime this week we will see Mt. Rushmore; Crazy Horse and then who knows what from there. Keep an eye out and I'll try to post more pictures if I have time.

Things that happen while I'm gone

I wrote some time back about the house in transition. Stefan is remodeling and I'll take off on a trip and come home and see all his hard work. A few weeks back I left and he was planning on putting up some new lamps on each side of the front door. This project was going to include adding some cedar shakes around the area as an accent. Least to say that project went a bit farther than planned.

Here is a picture of the house I took a while back (6-9 months back) and this is what it looked like for the most part when I left week before last. I came home to the bottom two pictures this week.

This is the new look.

Japan Trip

I'm too lazy to write about anything this morning so I thought I'd share a few pictures from my trip to Japan a few years back. Both of these pictures were taken at Miyajima just out of Hiroshima.

The Road Home

Last week I was in Portland and the airfare was too expensive to take the most direct route home. So to save about $600 on the airfare I took the route that had me stop in Minneapolis and Atlanta on the way home. For a few hours time to save that much seems worth it.

The day started out with the typical Delta Delays. We were an hour late leaving Portland due to runway construction and weather in Minneapolis. Four hours late leaving Minneapolis for Atlanta and one hour late leaving Atlanta to head home. Total delays in one day were 6 hours.

I gave up the thoughts of ever landing on-time a long time back. I make my reservations and plans to always be one hour late. It’s really a shame but I’m more accurate than the airlines and I don’t stress about when I’m getting there.

I did however have a fun experience that was a first for me. I actually had a coupon to use wireless internet on the plane. So I hooked up on the 2 hour flight from MSP to ATL and it was a lot faster than I expected. The good thing I figured out is that you can hit the wireless and go to Delta’s website for free. So I was able to see the status of my next flights, find out where we were landing and even could have re-booked a backup flight if necessary. I’d have never thought of internet on the airplanes when I started my travel career. I just hope they never allow phones.

Today I’m back on my way to Houston. My flight was on-time. I am meeting a co-worker in Houston and I arrive about an hour before him. This will be the day we will be ahead of schedule.

Portland Tour

Well everyone I actually got out and about this week on my trip to Portland. The picture below was taken today in the Rose Gardens.

I thought these flowers were so beautiful. I want a huge mound of these at home. I love the bight yellow. This was taken outside the Rose Gardens.
This picture was taken in the Japanese Gardens there in Portland. This is one of my favorite places in Portland (along with about 20 other favorite places).
Here is Multnomah Falls. I find this place amazing and I can't go there enough.

Beaches Report

Well this is my report from your favorite Restaurant in downtown Vancouver. I ate at Beaches tonight.

It’s really hot here in the Portland area today (about 96 degrees). Even so I sat outside on the patio overlooking the Columbia River. I really enjoy watching the boats and everyone playing on the river. It was so hot the poor birds were panting. I can’t say I knew they did that before today. They all had their little mouths open and some you could even see the deep breaths.

I should have taken my camera. I never have it when I want it the most. They have a pay phone up on posts out in the river with a sign to call in your order. Of course the phone is way too high and there is not enough room to pull a boat in. But it was one of those cute things I’ve never noticed before.

I had the Beaches House Salad which is wonderful. Then I had the Blackened Pork Chop with mixed grilled vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes.

I really like the waitresses at Beaches. They ask your name when you are there and from that point on they call you by name. I know they have to write this down somewhere to keep up with all the names each night. It’s just a really nice touch to the customer service. Then at the end of the meal they bring you a notepad with things people have written about the service they gave.

Beck this was a great suggestion you gave me all those months back.

A Day of Changes

Well it’s been a while since I’ve updated everyone on what’s going on in my life. So I’ll start off with where I’m at! I’m in Vancouver, WA again. This is one of my favorite areas of the USA. I really love the Portland/Vancouver area.

Monday was the day of changes. I flew from Myrtle Beach to Atlanta and we were pulling up to our gate D22 to park when they changed our gate on us to C36. I had it all planned out because I was supposed to depart from E33 and I could walk it from the D concourse. I got off the plane and confirmed my gate of E33 and then when I got to the train I thought you might need to look at this again. Good thing because they moved the gate to T6. So that’s on the opposite end of the airport so off I went to the new gate.

I got there and I looked at the plane and I knew it was much larger than the 757 I had picked my seats on. So I asked the agent and sure enough they had changed our aircraft to the larger plane. I asked to be moved to a window like I had booked and the system had already done it. This was a fantastic change because I had been upgraded to First Class and this is the type aircraft they send back and forth across the Atlantic. The seats lay back farther than my recliner at home. I would say about 80 degrees. To get to the seat back pocket in front of me I had to unbuckle and get up. I was loving life.

Monday I got up at 3AM Eastern time to start my journey. I got to Portland at 11AM Pacific. I headed to Multnomah Falls first thing (it’s one of my favorite things to see up here). I then went to my motel checked in and took a nap. About 3:30 PM I got up and headed north to meet a few friends for dinner half way to Seattle. We had a nice dinner then I came back to my room last night and got to bed about 20 hours after my day started.

Now I’m on a scavenger hunt for a Dove candy bar that my client gave me today after lunch. I put it somewhere and can’t find it. I looked all through my laptop bag and it’s not there. So I figure it’s in my jacket pocket down in the car in the garage. So I’m going to need to head down there and see if its there. I sure hope not because it’s plenty hot here and I’d hate to think it’s in my nice suit coat melting. Then again.. I do really want this chocolate bar. Darn that sweet tooth..


Beck – I’ll have dinner for you at Beaches tomorrow night..

What a lazy blogger

I know it’s been a week and I’m still uninspired to write. Last week was a good week mom came to Lufkin where I was working to spend the week with me. We really had a good time and I’m glad I have been assigned a place close enough she can come see me.

I caught a nice summer cold on the way home so the weekend was spent sniffling and sneezing. And today I am on my way back to Houston. Next week I get to head back to Oregon and I’m really excited to get that long flight again. It gives me time to write and do things I never seem to do on the shorter flights.

I had sworn off vacations this year to focus on the remodel at the house. Well this is a testament to my will power… I booked tickets to South Dakota and then later this year I’m heading off to Isla Mujeres. So much for not taking a vacation! Good thing I get all the frequent flyer miles and the costs are minimal. When I was able to secure my tickets to South Dakota for the lowest miles and $10 I thought I just have to do it.

So I will get to see the area my dad grew up in. I have not been there since 1995 when I went to my grandmother’s funeral. My dad was raised in the Black Hills in a town named Custer.

www.visitcuster.com

He always told me when he went into the military that he found out there were places you could live and not have the bitter cold. He never went back there to live, only to visit after that.

Well it wasn’t much to write about today and just the mixed up ramblings. At least you all know I’m still alive though.