Colorado

October, 2008
I had to go to a conference in Colorado last year and Teresa was able to go with me so we flew into Denver a couple of days early and spent the weekend driving all through the mountains. We had a blast. Teresa is great about just going for drives to take pictures so we took three long drives starting right after we landed on Friday.

The first thing we did was drive back out to the airport to see the Prairie Dogs we had spotted on the drive into town. After that we headed up into the mountains. It was October, so the Aspen trees were in full color. Wow! Yellow everywhere. I had been wanting to get picture of an Aspen tree stand for some time. They're typically so straight and tall and you will often find them in neat rows. They make a very cool picture. We headed south and drove the 22-mile paved and gravel road that climbs from Georgetown over scenic 11,669-foot Guanella Pass to Grant around the back of Mt Evans, Sawtooth and Mt Bierstadt.

Day 2 we got up early, grabbed some Starbucks and headed back up into the mountains. We headed north this time up towards the Rocky Mountain State Park near Boulder after a quick stop at the Buffalo Bill Cody grave site and small museum. I asked for discount since I'm a Cody, but they told me the $3 was already pretty cheap. I was just kidding anyway. The museum was actually pretty interesting and we learned a couple of things. There was some amazing scenery along this route and also lots of cars at all the pullouts.

Day 3 was the drive up Mt Evans to Summit Lake. You can actually drive almost to the top of the 14,264 ft mountain, but the last part of the road was closed so we had to stop at the parking lot by the lake. This was still 12,000 ft up which is way above the tree line. We saw a mountain goat, but not very close unfortunately. I would definitely recommend everyone spend a few days in Denver and use it as a jumping off point for some really beautiful drives through the Rocky Mountains.

New York City

April, 2008
I am going to jump back a year to April, 2008 when I had the opportunity to travel to New York for a customer meeting and a few days of sales calls. I needed to be there on a Monday so I flew in on Friday evening and had all weekend to look around. I had been to New York a couple of times before, but never had any free time in the city. I got up early both days and walked and walked and walked all over the city. I still missed a few important things (quite a few actually), but I managed to get out to the Statue of Liberty, to the top of the Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Central Park, and had dinner at Birdland, a Jazz club started 1949 where many of the great jazz players have performed over the years. New York is definitely a good walking town and I was staying at a hotel a block from Times Square which was right in the middle of the action.

It was a great weekend... the only problem was Teresa couldn't go so we'll have to get back there together soon.

Hungry Bee

Taken in our backyard last weekend. Bees are pretty hard to capture. I applaud anyone who gets a decent picture of one. This one was intent on getting everything it could from the Sage flower. In fact, when it came out it's face was covered in pollen. I am fascinated by closeup photography lately and have been trying to get close to all sorts of bugs and plants.

Mt St Helens

May 24, 2009
A couple of days after getting home from the Asia trip we took a ride down to Mt St Helens. As we left that morning it was fairly overcast, but with a promise of blue skies later in the day. I was hoping to get the clouds in the sky over the mountain, but the sky cleared sooner than I had hoped. It turned into an absolutely a beautiful day. Mt St Helens is pretty amazing even without the dramatic clouds, just not as dramatic as I was hoping for. Next time...

We also saw this truck on the way home from the mountain and I had to stop. I walked up to the house and nobody was home. I thought about just going out into the field without permission, but we were a little ways off the beaten path. Then I heard laughter and saw that it looked like the owners might be sitting over at the neighbor's house. They were and said it was OK to take a few pictures.

Hong Kong

The view of Hong Kong across Victoria Harbor

May 21, 2009
For the last part of the trip I spent a couple of days in Hong Kong. I arrived mid-afternoon on a Wednesday and since I had been there recently I had a better plan of attack for the day. The last time I was there (back in February) I wanted to take the standard nighttime picture of the city across Victoria Harbor with all the neon lights on the buildings. It rained that night, so I knew that I was going to attempt it again and I knew where to go to get the right shot. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my tripod with me on this trip, but I managed to get a couple of good shots anyway. However, since I was there in the afternoon I wandered around and saw a little of the city. It's an interesting place with way too many people crammed into a very small area, but there's lots to see. I was able to plan out the evening's route during the day and went back later and got a few interesting cityscape pictures.

I don't know when the next trip is or where, but one of the things I am determined to do in the future is take a little more time to see some things less touristy and do a little research to see the touristy things that are lore interesting.

Penang, Malaysia

Sunrise in Penang

May 17, 2009
The next stop on the trip was Penang. I really blew it here and have to make changes in the way I approach my time off in the future. I specifically made flight arrangements that allowed me to arrive on Sunday morning so I would have a whole day to look around. I headed downtown to see what it was like and spent 4 or 5 hours wandering around an old area called Georgetown. Penang is an island and a city and the oldest part of the city is Georgetown. There is lots to see, but you kind of have to know what you are looking for. I didn't. So, while I saw some very interesting things, I missed a lot of even better stuff like the Street of Harmony which has a Catholic and Anglican Church, a Mosque, a Buddhist Temple, a Hindu Temple and about 8 or 9 more. I walked down this street, but didn't really get the dynamics of it until I read the pamphlet back at the hotel. Dang! When I got back to the hotel later that afternoon I browsed though the tourist guide in the hotel room and saw all that I had missed. It only took me 5 minutes to realize I could have been better prepared and enjoyed the day even more than I did. Bummer... maybe I'll get to go back some day.

Singapore

The Singapore Flyer

May 17, 2009
It's difficult sometimes to write about a trip since it they are always so centered around work. I would love to be able to travel more for pleasure or have more time to look around and enjoy the places I get to visit. However, on the bright side, I do get to visit places many people don't so I guess I just have to do a better job of getting myself out into the cities and countryside when I have the chance.

The most recent trip was to Singapore, Penang (Malaysia) and Hong Kong. I managed to get out and spend some time wandering around in all three cities this time. In Singapore I was treated to breakfast in the Arab District where we (two friends from work, Ali and Wang Ping, took me sight-seeing for the day) ate Prata which is a kind of pancake like food filled with various things. We had ours filled with chicken and egg as well as one filled with fish and egg. It came with curry sauce to dip or pour on top. It was pretty tasty. From there we went to the Singapore Flyer. It's the tallest "ferris wheel" in the world (at least until Dubai gets theirs built). The ride takes 30 minutes and you get a great view of the city from the top (550 feet up).

Eating Prata with Ali and Wang Ping

Did I mention we also got some fish therapy? It's apparently illegal here in the U.S., but it was pretty harmless. Tickles like crazy when you first put you feet in the water, but in the end it was pretty relaxing.

The Great Wall of China

February 22, 2009
What an experience. I have been to some places in the world though my travels with Expeditors, but The Great Wall was by far one of the best. It is one of the 7 wonders of the world. I visited the wall with Susan DeGozzaldi, a friend and co-worker who is living in Singapore today. It looks cold doesn’t it? It was a beautiful day and with all the climbing (that’s the start of the path to the wall on the right) and hiking it was pretty warm.

There are three locations where you can access the wall and where they have kept the wall repaired for people to see. There’s a lot of the wall that has fallen into disrepair over the years. The section we visited was Mutianyu (a section located in Huairou County 70 km northeast of Beijing).

So... we were up on the wall for about 2 1/2 hours walking, resting, taking pictures and wondering about how it was made so many years ago (it was started in about 220 BC and they didn’t stop adding to it until the 1400s.

On the way down we had to walk through a gauntlet of souvenir shops so I figured I had to get a t-shirt. The lady I started bargaining with started at 285 RMB (approximately $35 USD). I got her down to 60 RMB and thought I had done pretty well. I got a nice t-shirt for $7 after all. Several shops later I was offered the same t-shirt for 1 RMB! I guess location is everything.

Where to begin...

I get the chance to travel a little with my job and Teresa and I travel a little for fun. I hope to share with friends and family the adventures I have through my work travels and those we have together with words and pictures.

I’ll post some of my photography when I get a good picture here and there. There are more pictures on my Flickr site (the link is over on the right).

Some of the early posts will be random as I work back through some of the places I/we have visited previously. Sometimes it'll just be a picture in the backyard. I hope you enjoy.