Cylons - From Toaster to Number Six

Ordered all six of the Cylon figures from the NBC Universal store online. Sale was all six for $29 and free shipping. Pretty good figures, well made and very well packed.

All six Cylon Models

Thanksgiving Vacation 2011: Best Of Photos

Lisbon, Madrid and Toledo

Thanksgiving Vacation 2011: The Long Trip Home

The Famous Bear and Tree

Our bus didn't leave until noon, but we wanted to have a few hours in Madrid before we left, so no sleeping in once again. And yes, I was still sick. Another breakfast at the hotel, perhaps our last meal for a while, as we didn't know if there would be any places to get food on the bus ride. We spent our last hours in Madrid walking around the local streets, looking for an open book store along the way. It was also the sunniest day of the trip so I got a few last photos in, including one of a bear and tree statue, a symbol we saw all over Madrid which is the official symbol of Madrid. You can Google that if you want more information. We did find a book store and bought a book, then headed back to the hotel to check out.

Now we had to take the metro to the bus station, dragging our luggage with us. We all packed light which made waking up and down the subway stairs not too tiring. Once at the stop nearest the bus station, we eventually found the station, but it wasn't all the easy to see from the street. We still had plenty of time before the bus departed, so we relaxed until they posted the gate number. Until now we had no idea what kind of bus it was and were happy to see that it was a large bus with big, roomy seats that had way more room than our last flight. Also, it wasn't full, so I had a row to myself, or maybe there was only one seat on my side of the bus, I can't remember. Now we were all dreading an eight hour bus ride, but once we got going the ride wasn't all that bad. And as a bonus, the bus had free wireless Internet access, provided I assume by some kind of Wi-Fi (or Wi-Max) along the freeway.

I spent some time on the Internet, even getting assigned seats on my flights for the next day. Otherwise I listened to music on my iPod, read my book and watched to countryside. There wasn't a lot to see, some small towns along the way, but there was at least one large castle on a hill. There were also lots of farms with cows and sheep, and I even saw one sheep with a duck riding on its back. No one believes me because I didn't get a photo, but I really did see it. The bus made one 15 minute food/bathroom break, but there was no pre-made sandwiches, so I just got some chips from a vending machine. The bus also stopped at two or three other cities to let for passengers not going all the way to Lisbon. In fact at the last stop about half the bus emptied out, and once everyone was off the bus it drove away with all our luggage! Well, the driver actually just went to fill it up with fuel so it returned in five minutes.

Warning sign on the Metro

When we crossed the border into Portugal the bus had to stop for inspection. An immigrations officer boarded the bus and checked everyone's identification. Most people had some kind of ID card, but when he got to me and saw I had a passport he asked me many questions. I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition! Then again, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. After satisfied that I was entering the country legally he gave my brother and his wife the 3rd degree (whatever that means). By now people are looking at us, probably just annoyed that we were holding up the bus. It must have been a slow day, because there were also two or three officers outside the bus checking the luggage compartment and I even saw a dog, probably checking for drugs. We eventually got on our way. We were six hours into the ride and it was starting to get dark. After more driving we saw the lights of Lisbon, and took a very long bridge over the bay before pulling into the bus station.

Once off the bus, we tried looking for a place to eat there, but nothing looked good. So we got a cab to our hotel, a quick 10 minute drive. When we checked in, the receptionist was really nice, and gave us both free Internet access and said we would have a food bag, or basket, when we checked out. She also told us where there was a restaurant within walking distance. After a quick break in our rooms we walked the deserted streets in this industrial section of the city to the restaurant, which was small but had a simple menu and of course cold beer. We all ordered fish, and my brother's came as a whole fish on a plate, head, eyes and all. I guess this was our Thanksgiving meal, but it sure didn't feel like Thanksgiving and I kept forgetting it was. We all thought the food was good, and after paying we walked back to the hotel, our last one of the trip, and decided we should leave by 5 AM for the airport. Since the airport was shut down this day due to the general strike, we didn't know what to expect the next morning. It was either going to be a zoo with long lines and perhaps even missing planes, or there would be no issues at all.

View from our bus in Madrid. It got better.

We lucked-out. No lines and our plane was there. Since we were flying business class we got access to the Blue Lounge, which offered free food and drinks. When we checked in we were told the lounge was far from our departing gate, but we didn't know how far. We were one of the last ones on the plane as we had to go through passport control and the plane boarded way earlier that we expected. The flight left on time and after two hours we were back at London Heathrow. Our connecting flight left from terminal 5, so we had to take a shuttle to get there, but we also had five hours before our flight left. So we went to the British Airways lounge and helped ourselves to the free food and lots of coffee. When they finally posted the gate number, this time we made our way to the gate as fast as we could and we made it there about 20 minutes before the started boarding.

This was my first time flying business class in a 777, and thanks to my brother I had a nice isolated seat, one that I could get in and out of without having to walk in front of anyone, and no one had to walk in front of me. The only downside was I was facing backwards! Also, the business section was only about half full, so there was no one in the seat next to me. Once we took off, they started serving dinner, which included appetizers and a desert along with more beer. I only watched one movie on the flight, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. I enjoyed part two much more that part one. After the movie ended, and after they dimmed to cabin lights, I attempted to get some sleep. The seat reclined fully flat, but I couldn't recline it all the way because my feet hit the bulkhead. Still, way more comfortable than flying in coach. When I went to bed we were about four hours into our 11 hour flight. I did fall asleep, but must have woken up about 20 times. I didn't think I got much sleep, but when they turned the lights on to serve another meal, there were two hours left, so five hours went by pretty quickly. The  plane took the Polar route, flying north of Iceland and then down through Canada. We were above Salt Lake City when I woke up.

After our light lunch, the time went quickly and soon we were preparing to land. It was nice landing in San Diego and not having to jump on another plane. This was our first time arriving in San Diego on an international flight, so I didn't know what to expect for passport on control and customs, but we got through quickly. It took awhile for our luggage to arrive, but once it did we left the airport to catch the shuttle to the parking. By the time I got home 24 hours had passed since I woke up. It was about 8 PM, and as usual, I can't just go to bed no matter how tired I am. I emptied my luggage, took a shower and read my e-mail. Then I had the sudden urge to sleep and sleep I did. A solid 11 hours!  We flew home on a Friday, so I had two days to recover before going back to work, but overall I experienced very little jet-lag. So another fun-filled Thanksgiving vacation was over, sadly with out our sister, who was in the middle of her three week work trip. Where are we going next year? Maybe the Maldives, a small island country somewhere off the coast of India. Now that's going to be a long trip.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2011: Toledo and Madrid, Spain

Yes, you know what's coming next. My alarm went off at 6:45 AM so I could be ready to be at breakfast for our 15 minute alloted eating time and then off to the train station. What I didn't like is my throat felt very sore and I felt like I might have a cold. Not good. I'd hoped it was just from the cold, dry air from the conditioner. The elevator actually had a floor labeled "Breakfast", which was floor one. I got there five minutes early and had to wait with another man, not knowing that some people were already eating. They found a different entrance that wasn't blocked by a red, velvet rope. Once inside, I quickly grabbed some food and made a fresh cappuccino using the coffee machine. The food was much better than the breakfast at the Holiday Inn in Lisbon. After about five minutes my traveling companions showed up and our 15 minute food break lasted longer than expected (no, I'm not blaming you guys, just stating facts). When we left for the train, we thought we had plenty of time to catch our train. The Metros were all on time and we arrived at the train station about five minutes before our train to Toledo was to depart. We thought we didn't need to rush, and were lucky there were no delays getting there. Once we found our seats we settled in for the 30 minute ride to Toledo.

The train was a high speed express train, with no stops, only a few slow-down points. It was sunny when we left but the skis got darker as we headed south. I enjoyed looking out at the countryside, even if there wasn't much to see other than green hills. When we arrived at the train station in Toledo, we got a taxi to take us up the hill to the main sites, as suggested by Rick Steves, who's book we were using as a travel guide. We were apparently early as most of the sites didn't open until 10 AM and it was only 9:30. So we wandered around the steep and narrow streets looking for our first stop, the Cathedral of Toledo, listed as the largest Cathedral in Spain. Due to the narrow, curvy, streets and high buildings, it was difficult to see much beyond a few buildings, but we managed to find the Cathedral. Since we had time to spare, we wandered around the streets some more, finding a cute cat that was waiting for birds to eat the bread crumbs left by the owner, I assume. This cat was not afraid of people or cars and was happy to be petted.

Then as we walked some more, a nice man speaking Spanish told us of a shop that was open and encouraged us to visit it. Luckily my sister-in-law spook enough Spanish to understand him. Of course he worked there and that was his job - to get people to the shop. When we entered he took us to the factory where they make the products they sell, showing us how they use very thin strips of gold to decorate the trinkets, such as ear rings and necklaces. So then we spent a few minutes in the shop, not planning to buy anything as the prices were probably very high since they were not labeled on the merchandise. So we made our escape, only to run into the man, and one of his co-workers later. They were desperate for business, I guess. Back at the Cathedral the crowds had increased, including tour groups. At ten the ticket office opened and we bought our entrance tickets plus access to the tower, whatever that was.

Once inside the Cathedral we were not disappointed. It was heavily decorated with very expensive, ornate woodwork, paintings and sculptors. Once again, no photography was allowed, except everyone seemed to be taking pictures. Yes, I took a picture just before we left, but was discrete about it. Our trip up to the tower was scheduled for 10:30, so we wandered to the meeting point. We had to be led by a man who unlocked various doors as we made our way up some stairs, eventually leading to the tower, where the stairs were very steep and the passageways was narrow and twisting. Along the way there were spots to take pictures of the city. The highest we could go was up to the bell tower, where there were great views of the city, but the windows were blocked by metal guards. Everyone in this group took many pictures and after about 15 minutes we were led back down.

We spent some more time exploring the Cathedral, looking into each open room, one of which had a collection of very expensive and heavy looking robes. Another room had national treasures, including a very complex and shiny gold Processional Monstrance. I still don't know what that is, but it contains 5,600 pieces joined by 12,500 screws. This is where I took my forbidden picture. Well, we had enough of this site so we headed back out to find our next destination, but once we got there we decided it wasn't worth it to go in. So we explored a few shops, where I almost bought one of my souvenir magnets, or even a small painted cow or cat statue, but I didn't. By now the sun was finally starting to shine and we also thought it best to get some food. We found a nice place to eat outside, one with a wide variety of menu items. This was the first time I've seen a place that charges slightly more for the food if you eat outside, but sitting outside is great for people watching, so outside we sat. I ordered pizza, which was good but not great. We had our one and only group photo taken here by the waitress. After paying our bill, we looked at the clock and felt it was time to head back to the train station. We only allowed ourselves less then four hours here in Toledo, as we wanted to get back to Madrid before dark. It would have been nice to have another hour there, as there was some train ride that took you on a tour around and outside the city.

The train to Madrid arrived on time, and we quickly zipped back to Madrid. From the train station, the next museum we wanted to visit, the one that was closed the day before, was a short walk away. This museum, the Paseo Del Arte Prado, I believe,  had more modern artwork by artists such as Pablo Picasso. Specifically, we, or at least my sister-in-law, wanted to see his painting Guernica, a famous painting depicting WWII bombing of a city in Spain by the Germans. There was also a series of pictures taken during the painting, showing the progression of the artwork. I found that very interesting as well. We didn't want to spend too much time in this museum as there were other sites to see before dark. We next headed to the Royal Palace of Madrid. At first we thought it was closed because there were signs saying closed due to special event. But there was also a line forming at the entrance, so we got in line and tried to figure out what the line was for. Turns out the Palace was opening at 3:30, and also this day it was free to locals. We seemed to be the only non-locals in line, but there was no way they would deny our entrance.


Even better. We got in for free! The man asked us where we were from and my brother replied "America". Then he asked again and our response was "Europe". The man finally said "You are from England" and he smiled and let us in. I guess he liked us, because we did see other people paying for their tickets. Security was tight at the Palace. We had to have all our stuff put through a scanner just like an airport. We were lucky to get in so quick, however, we got stuck behind several large, slow moving tour groups. You have to follow a path that takes you through many overly decorated and large rooms. Once again, no photos allowed, and they were serious. Armed guards were watching you at times. Each room had a purpose and was uniquely decorated with furniture, paintings and carpet. There was a giant room who's purpose was a dressing room. Another room was for dining, with a table that could seat over 100 people. The next room had the silverware, made of real silver, and other serving ware. Once we got by the tour groups the rooms were less crowded.

We then explored a few more rooms in the Palace, one of which had violins made by Antonio Stradivari. Another room had very old and working clocks. This was a special exhibit at the Palace. The last room we saw contained lots of armor and armory. Since we had seen a similar exhibit in Vienna last year, we didn't spend too much time here. So we left the Palace and looked for a place to get some coffee. My throat was feeling much worse and some hot coffee sounded good. We stopped in at a chain restaurant called Pans. The drink did make me feel better, but I could tell my cold was getting worse. We left there and headed to another plaza, only to find a Christmas market being constructed. It looked as if it would be ready to open the next day, the day we left. So no Gluhwein for me this year, then again, that drink was in Vienna and Germany. We continued to wander the streets, eventually making our way back towards our hotel. Along the way we ended up at Sol plaza again, and now the Christmas tree was lit up. I snapped a few photos with the sunset in the background. Also, there were a lot more people out today than there were the day before, probably because it wasn't raining. This also meant that we needed to be slightly more concerned about pick-pockets.

Back at the hotel we took another pre-dinner break before heading back out. To our surprise, there was some big event going on near the theater, with news vans and lots of people. Interested, we crossed the street where there was a large screen. They were interviewer stars from Puss In Boots, but we couldn't tell if they were actually there or not. We saw them on the screen with the background looking like the walls that everyone was looking at, but we never actually saw any of the actors, even when we got closer. We later found out that they were there, including Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek. After this excitement we wandered the streets  looking for a place to eat, eventually deciding on a buffet. Once again we were early, but that just meant more food for use. The food was pretty good, but most of it shoudld have been warmer. We knew if our sister was there she would be avoiding this food as food poisoning  is always a risk if it isn't hot enough, but I'm happy to say we didn't get sick. The best food was the lasagna, which was also the hottest entree. Of course, the deserts were good, but also limited in choices. We left with full stomaches, and after more walking, we went back to the hotel to get ready for checking out the next day. I hopped I would wake up feeling better, because we had our eight hour bus ride and I didn't want to be coughing and what not all day long.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2011: Madrid, Spain Day 1

I has happy that I slept pretty well this night. Usually it is the second night on an overseas trip where I wake up 20 times or at 1 AM and can't get back to sleep. We have yet another flight to catch and need to figure out what to do about the upcoming strike. We skip breakfast at the hotel and grab a taxi to the airport. This ride was very quick and cost only 10 Euros. My taxi driver from the airport must have taken the longest route possible. Now I know why the group of men in line before me didn't get into her cab but took the next one instead. Once at the airport we quickly checked-in. Our flight was on Iberia airlines, and after checking in we found the sales desk to ask about the strike. Now for some reason, no one in Portugal seemed to know anything about this strike. They all said "What are you talking about?". After looking at the computer, the agent finally admitted that our flight and all flights on the 24th were canceled. She said there was a flight on the 23rd that left Madrid at 3:30, but we didn't want to do that, because we'd have less than a day in Madrid and then would need to spend a day in Portugal during the strike when the transportation was all shut down. More thinking, mostly by my brother who was very concerned about our situation. We had time for breakfast at the airport, and I selected pancakes at McDonald's. Bad choice as they were very small and I was hungry a few hours later.

Our plane departed on time, and luckily it was a short flight because our seats had no leg room. My brother and I's legs were jammed against the seat back. When we landed in Madrid and got our bags, we checked again for an alternative way back. After a long wait we did book a return flight the next day, but really didn't want to use it. We also looked into renting a car one way, but that was going to cost at least 700 Euros! No way. Another cab ride to the hotel, which was about a 30 minute drive from the airport. We didn't get ripped-off, which was nice. Once in the hotel and check-in to our rooms, we asked the man at the front desk about ways to get to Lisbon, such as train or bus. He looked on the Internet and found a train, but it left too late or early. Then he found a bus that left on the 24th at noon and arrived in Lisbon at 7 PM. We ended up getting seats on this bus so now we had a way back and could enjoy our time in Madrid.

We started walking towards our first destination, one of the three main museums. Just like in Lisbon, most of the people walking had places to go and work to do, but as we approached the first museum the number of tourists increased. I believe we went to the Paseo Del Arte Museum first, where we bought tickets for all three museums. This museum was very large with lots of rooms, and no cameras allowed. The paintings were the usual ones, mostly religious, depicting Jesus as a baby or on the cross. We'd felt like we had seem them all before in other museums in other European cities. It would have taken all day to see all the artwork, so we didn't spend too much time in each room. When we started to run low on energy, we found our way to the cafeteria and had a light lunch. The food was surprisingly good and I was glad to get some water. All that walking made me dehydrated, and I'm used to drinking lots of water as many of you know. After lunch we made our way back to the coat check to get our coats, and then left for the next museum.

Turns out this one was closed on Tuesdays. So what next. Across the street we saw a big building that my brother said looked like a train station. And since we needed train tickets for our trip to Toledo the next day we walked over there. To our amazement, the station had a giant indoor tropical garden, compete with palm trees, ponds and lots of turtles. They kept it very humid with misters spraying water. After snapping some photos, we found where to buy our tickets, and ended up buying them right then. We also figured out where to catch the train, and also where the Metro station was in the train station, as we needed to take the Metro there from our hotel in the morning.

It was starting to get dark, and had rained while we were in the museum. After walking around some more we took the Metro back to our hotel for a pre-dinner break. For dinner I had already decided that we were going to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe since it was within walking distance of our hotel. This Hard Rock looked just like all the others and had the same food on the menu. I ordered a beer, of course, and a 10 ounce cheeseburger with onion rings. Yum! Our waitress was very nice, and the music and videos provided even more entertainment. Afterwards, we walked back to our hotel and then explored the pedestrian shopping zones near by. It was only 9:30, but the prostitutes were out in force. They were not trying to hide. There must have been 10 or more women in skimpy outfits standing in the middle of the walkway looking for business. It was funny that just around the corner there was a police station. I guess this activity is tolerated but not necessarily legal. I did not bring one of them back to the hotel just in case you wondered. It would have been like a scene from Pretty Woman.

We ended up in Sol Plaza, where there was a large metal Christmas Tree that was not lit up yet. In fact all the street were lined with Christmas lights that were not turned on. In past trips to Europe they seem to turn the lights on the day we leave. We took a different path back to the hotel, avoiding the ladies of the evening, and headed back to our rooms. Our train left at 8:10 in the morning, and we would have just enough time to get our free breakfast, which didn't start until 7:30. So after getting on the Internet, which was free in this hotel, the Best Western Hotel Atlantico, I went to bed sometime before midnight. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2011: Lisbon, Portugal.

So my alarm goes off at 7:15 AM and I "jump" out of bed. I slept pretty well, considering the eight hour time difference. I was down in the lobby of the hotel by eight, where I sat and waited until by brother and his wife came down. I waited until 8:20 and then walked to the front desk and asked if they had checked in last night. The answer was "no". Great. They got stuck in London and I had no idea when they'd show up. So I was forced to pay the 20 Euro for one day's access to the Internet, as that was the only way I could contact them. Our phones don't work outside the US.

Back up in my room, I booted my laptop and logged into Facebook, and sure enough there were messages for me saying that their flight was canceled and they would be arriving in the morning around 11 AM. This was good news, but now I had three hours to kill until they showed up. So after eating breakfast at the hotel, which wasn't very good, especially for 10 Euros, I asked the people at the front desk where I could walk to for some photo opportunities. They gave me a map of the city and showed me two places near by, one was a museum, which was closed, and the other was a park that had good views on a clear day. It was not clear and had rained during the night.

I was now on my own, walking down the streets of a foreign city, trying not to look like a tourist, which was pretty hard since I was the only tourist. Everyone else on the streets was walking somewhere with a purpose - not looking at maps of taking photos. The area around the museum wasn't very interesting. A pond with ducks, some statues and a homeless man. Then I walked to a park, called the Eduardo VII Park. This place did have a great view towards the harbor, and even though it was cloudy, I was still able to get some good photos of the city. Plus, there were a few other tourists there, but not many. I did some more walking, and around 10:30 I decided I'd better head back to the hotel.

It took me exactly 30 minutes to get to the hotel, and I walked in right a 11 AM and there they were, my brother and his wife checking in at the front desk! They made it. After a short turnaround, we headed out, as there wasn't much time left to see the whole city. Our main destination was St. George's Castle, the biggest landmark in the city, sitting high on a hill near the harbor. Our first adventure was finding the metro station and buying tickets. Finding the station was easy - just a few blocks away. But I took longer to figure out where and how to buy a day-pass for the metro. The kiosks didn't have instructions in English. When we thought we got the passes, we tried to use them at the metro entrance and were rejected. Turns out we bought train passes. So we tried again and this time we got the correct tickets and proceeded to the metro. It took two metro lines and less than 10 minutes to get to the castle stop.

We spent some time wandering around this historic district of Lisbon. Down by the harbor we saw a cruise ship, so we knew there would be small crowd at the castle. We opted to walk up the steep streets leading to the castle, and even though it was cold, I got quite warm. Once we bought our tickets, we entered the castle and found a spot that had a great view of the city. I took many photos and even a short movie. Then when the Sun came out, I took more photos, this time with better light. Eventually we entered the main castle. There really isn't much to see in the castle, but what was fun was climbing all the stairs and exploring the various lookout posts, which provided ever better views of the city. One thing we noticed is that there weren't many safety rails in some places. You could walk across a walkway with no railing and if you fall it was a good 100 feet below. There were also many cats walking around, one of which was sleeping surrounded by bird feathers. He must have had a very filling lunch.

Eventually we realized that we needed lunch too. There was a small cafe where I bought a sandwich and water. We ate outside, where brightly colored, and very brave peacocks were looking for a free handout. This was a new experience for me. After lunch we continued to explore the castle, making our way to an archaeological site where they were excavating ancient ruins. Not much to see, really, so we walked around some more until we got tired of the castle and headed back down the hill. We took a different path down to explore the city, not getting lost, but not really knowing where we would end up.

We soon found ourselves near a church that looked ruined, one we saw from the castle. So our next goal was to get in this church. There was no direct route, so we walked up the street, up some steps and back down the next block before we found the entrance. It was only 3 Euros so we paid and went in. The courtyard was open, with arches above, and various statues along the walls. There was also a museum inside, which had some artifacts from the area, and a model of what the church used to look like. I believe the name of this church is The Carmo Church (or  perhaps Convent).

After leaving the church, we wandered the increasingly crowded streets some more. It also began to rain some, but not too hard. We now were thinking about dinner, and knew there was a Hard Rock Cafe somewhere in Lisbon, but we had no idea where. I asked one man at a magazine booth and he just gave me a blank stare. None of the restaurants looked inviting, plus, we were in the tourist part of the city, and it was also early, way too early for the locals to eat. We decided to head back to the hotel, take a short break and find a place to eat there or nearby. It was getting dark, and we didn't want to get stuck in one of the "bad" parts of the town where there were "troublesome youths".

After a short break at the hotel, we looked for a place to eat there, and there wasn't. So we asked the nice woman at the front desk where eat, and she gave us directions to a Portuguese restaurant. Well, her directions were hard to follow, as are the streets and hard to read street names. It doesn't help that all three of us can't read without glasses, especially in the dark. We finally found our way and entered the restaurant. It was close to 8 PM and we were still the first ones there. We sat at our table and the waiter immediately brought us  appetizers and bread. Well, in Europe they tend to do this and only charge you if you eat the food. So we left it alone.

Before eating, I needed a beer. So I asked about beer and my only choice as big or small. Okay, I'll take a big. I still don't know what the name of the beer was, and it wasn't much better than your typical fuzzy yellow American beer. However, he also brought us a free shot of Port wine, which is the wine Portugal is famous for. The wine was very sweet and had a different taste than most wines. On another day I would have bought a glass, but today it was just beer. We each ordered something different, I forget what I got, chicken I think, which came with vegetables and some kind of potato chips. The food was good, but nothing special. After a full day of walking, any food would have tasted good. After we finished, the waiter gave us a dessert menu and pointed to the specialties. I opted for the fruit and ice cream dessert and wasn't disappointed. It was huge, with lots of fruit and soft ice cream. However, after the ice cream melted, it became a big plate of brown goo. I had my fill and we were ready to leave when another waiter brought us a different Port wine to try - this one was a red wine. I didn't like it as much as the first. We got our bill and made sure we weren't overcharged, which we weren't.

The walk back to the hotel took half the time as we took the direct route, not the roundabout one to get there. Well, this was the end of our Lisbon trip. We had a flight to Madrid the next day, so we went to bed to get as much rest as possible. The one major concern we had was that the general strike that they had been talking about in Portugal was going to happen. The strike was on Thursday, the day we were traveling back from Madrid to Lisbon, and all airports were going to be shut down. We knew we had to find a way back to catch our flights home, but we'd worry about that the next day.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2011: Travel to Europe Day

The title of this year's annual Thanksgiving vacation is "Planes, Trains, Buses, Taxis, and Metros". I think we spent more time traveling than we did "vacationing". However, some of the travel time was unexpected and out of our control. I'll get to that later. The main destination this year was Madrid, Spain, with a side trip to Lisbon, Portugal. Our plan was to spend one day in Lisbon and almost three days in Madrid. We made our travel plans and reservations earlier in the year. Me, my brother and his wife booked a round trip to Lisbon, and then a separate round trip from Lisbon to Madrid. This was actually easier than making a "triangle" trip from London to Lisbon to Madrid to London. Since my sister had been to Lisbon before, her side trip was to Belfast, Northern Ireland, meeting up with us in Madrid. Unfortunately, her work had other plans for her. A few weeks before the trip, she announced that she couldn't make the vacation because she had to travel elsewhere for work. That was a big disappointment for all of us, especially my sister. But sometimes you have to make these sacrifices, after all, we are all lucky we have a job right now.

For the first time, I had to travel alone to Europe. I booked my flights through American Airlines, and my brother and his wife used British Airways. I was scheduled to arrive is Lisbon about four hours before them. I was a little nervous about flying alone to a new country, but what I really didn't look forward to was not having anyone to talk to or watch my stuff while taking bathroom breaks. What made the trip better was that I was flying business class on all legs of the flight. This game me access to the Admirals Club in each airport - San Diego, Chicago and London.

So on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, my alarm went off and it was time to start my vacation. My flight didn't leave too early, so I didn't have to wake up too early. I got to the airport and checked in with time to spare. So I went to the Admirals Club and took advantage of their free wireless Internet access to read my e-mail and check in using Foursquare. My flight was on time and I boarded the plane for Chicago. Since this was a smaller plane, I was actually in first class. The bigger seats with more leg room were nice. The flight was uneventful and  we arrived in Chicago on time. I had about a three hour layover, so I once again went to the club to relax and enjoy free Wi-Fi and snacks. As time got close, I headed to the gate to board the 767 to London Heathrow.

The seats in business class on a 767 have almost enough leg room for someone like me. If I put the seat in the "sleep" position I can almost stretch my legs, but not quite. Anyways, as soon as I was seated I was offered wine, water or champagne. I opted for champagne. About this time the man sitting next to me showed up. He had apparently been drinking lots of wine. I'm not going to say he was annoying or a jerk, because he was actually nice to me, but I was glad when he fell asleep two hours into the flight. I think he was German, based on his accent, and he admitted to me that he was going to drink wine until he slept. He basically yelled at a man for answering his cell phone while boarding, saying "I guess your cell phone call is more important than your son." Yes, the man with the phone did stop to answer it and in the process hit the guy next to me with his bag and held up other passengers, but...  Then, after we took off, he kept taking to me and as I tried to read the USA Today, he was reading over my shoulder and kept commenting on the headlines, saying things like "there's the car - that BMW. Great car.". So after dinner when he fell asleep, for the entire flight, I was glad.

They really feed you well on trans-Atlantic fights in business class. I had plenty of food and beer. For movies, I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I, which I had yet to see. It is hard to watch a movie on an airplane with some many distractions, so I can't say I really enjoyed the movie, but at least after watching it I was able to watch Part 2 - on the return flight. Once the lights on the plane were turned off, I did my best to sleep, knowing that in a few hours the lights would come back on and they would serve breakfast. I may have gotten about three hours of sleep, but that's the best you can hope for on a flight like this.

We arrived in London on time, however, we had a 30 minute delay landing due to fog. So we circled around until given clearance to land. Since I had a three hour layover, I wasn't worried about missing my connection. Once on the ground, I exited the plane and followed the signs to my connecting flight, which was on British Airways. Most of their flights leave from terminal 5, but the flight to Lisbon was from terminal 3, the one we landed at, making for a short walk. I still had to go through security again, and once though, I headed to the Admirals Club, where I took out my new netbook/laptop (this is the first time I've traveled with a computer) and let everyone on Facebook know I made it to London.

After a two hours, I left the lounge and headed to the main waiting area. At this airport, you don't know what gate your plane departs from until about an hour before. You have to look at the board to see what gate to head to, and depending on the gate, it may take 5 to 15 minutes to get there. As my departure time got closer I began to worry the flight was delayed, as many others were. Then the departure time kept getting later and later. Eventually I realized that my brother and his wife would be arriving soon. So I walked around until I saw them. They were surprised I was still there, as my flight should have already left. Turns out that the fog the delayed our landing was delaying all takeoffs. So after we sat for over an hour, they finally posted my gate. I was leaving three hours late. We arranged to meet in the lobby of the hotel at eight in the morning on Monday (somehow Saturday turned into Sunday by now). I headed quickly to the gate - just to wait another 30 minutes before boarding a bus that took us to the plane.

Once on the plane, the pilot announced that we would not leave for 50 more minutes! So we sat and waited. Now the flight was four hours late. Finally, around 8PM, we got clearance to leave and took off to Lisbon. The flight was bout 2 1/2 hours. This plane was an Airbus, and the business class section had more room that coach, plus I had a whole row to myself. We got a light dinner, and the flight was rather relaxing as I watched out the window at the city lights below.

We arrived in Lisbon on time. I was one of the first  people off the plane, and although I had no connections to make, I was walking my usual fast pace. The walk down the hallways to customs took about 10 minutes. I got my passport stamped with a Portugal stamp, and headed to the baggage claim. My one small bag was there, so I grabbed it, found an ATM, got some Euros, and then found a cab. There was a warning about cabs in Lisbon. They said get a pre-paid one form the airport, but I couldn't find where to do this, so I just went out to the cab line and caught the first one. Well, this was a mistake. Apparently she wasn't an honest cab driver, and I was charged 36 Euros for trip to the hotel, which should have been only 10 Euros. So what can I do? I  paid her and learned my lesson - check for a meter in the cab!

I had a minor problem checking into the hotel, since the room was in my sister's name and not mine, but eventually I worked this out and headed to my room for some much needed sleep. It was a Holiday Inn and the room was very nice. After a quick shower I crawled into bed and hoped for some sleep, as my alarm was set for 7:30 AM local time, which was who-knows-when Pacific Standard Time. My other worry was did my brother and his wife make their flight? I hoped so, but would know until the morning. So off to sleep I went - with the help of a extra strength nighttime Tylenol.

Blog Action Day - Healthy Foods

Today is Blog Action Day 2011, and the topic is food. I suppose we should write about how lucky we are to have three meals a day while people all over the world are starving, but instead I'm writing a short post about my eating habits and how they can be improved. First off I have to say that I love eating and I'm always hungry. I'm also lucky enough to have a high metabolism, at least I'm told I do, so I don't gain wait. I also exercise regularly and try to eat healthy. However, I'm also very lazy when it comes to preparing my meals. I don't like to spend a lot of time.  Therefor, I tend to eat pre-made, frozen meals with lots of unknown ingredients, sandwiches with processed lunch meat, and overall lots of carbohydrates. I try to eat more fruits and vegetables, but once again I'm lazy and only eat easy-to-eat fruit like bananas, which I'm getting tired of, and no matter how hard I try, I just don't like broccoli and other nutritious vegetables unless they are covered in cheese or some other kind of sauce. Plus I read more about people dying from eating contaminated fruits than meats or grains. I  plan to live a long time, and I don't want a fruit or vegetable to be the cause of my death. So, in conclusion of this rambling post, I will try to eat less processed foods, breads and  carbohydrates and more basic foods like fish, chicken and maybe even some leafy, green vegetables.

San Gorgonio Summit Hike

I'm happy to say that I have stood on the peak of San Gorgonio Mountain. I've wanted to summit this mountain for over 15 years. It was about 15 years ago that I got into more serious hiking, and somehow I never had the opportunity to hike San Gorgonio until last year, when my friends and I attempted a summit via the Vivian Creek trail - and didn't quite make it. Even though we were totally exhausted after the hike last year, I knew I wanted to try to summit again. I'm not going to let a mountain get the better of me. So earlier this year I started planning another hike up San Gorgonio. I wanted the same crew, more or less, as last year to hike with me. So over the past few months we started practice hikes in the local San Diego mountains, mostly  Iron Mountain, Mt. Woodson and one trip up Cuyamaca Peak. Well, as time passed my hiking partners started dropping out, for various reasons beyond their control. So it came down to just Lee and I.

My day hiking permit was for July 1st. Because I wanted to get an early start and not have to wake up too early, I got a hotel room in Redlands, the closest city with decent hotels, for the night before. So after work Lee and I drove up, checked into the hotel, had dinner and then it was bed time. The alarm went off nice and early at 5:30 AM. My original plan was to start hiking by 7 AM, but somewhere along the way I was convinced by one of my friends who ended up not going (sorry, Dan), that a 6 AM start was better. No matter how hard you try, everything takes longer in the morning than you expect. By the time we ate and left the hotel, we didn't get to the trail head until almost 8 AM.

When we pulled into the parking lot at Forest Falls, we were immediately attacked by swarms of bugs including blood-sucking mosquitoes. I didn't bother bringing any bug spray, because it never seems to work. So once we got all our hiking gear on, we set off. Even though it was later than I had hoped for, we still were starting about two hours earlier than the year before, when we drove up from San Diego the morning of the hike. The beginning of the hike was easier, because it wasn't detoured through the river bed like last year. We got to take the regular dirt trail, making the trip to the beginning of the Vivian Creek trail much easier and quicker. However, unlike last year, no big horn sheep sightings. In fact, we saw very little wildlife on the whole trip. Other than some chipmunks and birds, the sighting of a quail and her offspring was the only wildlife viewing highlight of the hike.

Since we had just done most of this hike the year before, we concentrated on getting to the summit, and not spending much time stopping to take pictures. We did make sure to stop every 60 to 90 minutes to eat some food and rest. The very beginning of the trail, as some of you may know, is VERY steep. However, this year I was mentally prepared. We actually made it up this section stopping only once, and that was to talk to a man that had already lost track of this wife and friend. He said his friend was behind him and his wife was ahead of him. We told him if we saw either of them we'd let them know that he was waiting for him.

Even though we were in no hurry, we made pretty good time. We arrived at the junction for Halfway Camp much faster than last year, and I still don't know why it's called "halfway". Halfway to what? Soon we caught up to the man's wife. I must admit she was more prepared than us, hiking gear-wise. She had a head-net to keep the bugs out and long pants and jacket. After talking to her, she thought that her friend was in front of her, not behind, and I'm not sure she knew where her husband was, but we told her that he was behind, waiting for the friend, who was described as "short". So once again, we told her that if we saw the friend we'd let her know that she was ahead of her hiking partners.

Continuing on the hike, we were passed by two very fast hikers who were very nice. We talked briefly, and as hiking goes, we later passed them as they rested and then later they passed us. As we approached High Creek, at about noon, we stopped for a break and since this was the last source of water, we used my water filter to refill our water for the final trek to the summit. Also, we ran into the "friend". She too was wearing head netting. And, like her hiking partners, was confused as to their location. She thought that they were both ahead of her, and we told her that they were behind her. She told us that they, plus two others, had permits to hike the John Muir trial in September, a three week trip. That sounded great, but they better work on their hiking-together skills. Lee was very nice and offered to filter water for her, and she accepted. Once we left the creek we wished her good luck, and that was the last we saw of her or her friends.

So this was the section of the trail that last year someone we met on the trail told us that it was 15 minutes up these switchbacks and then 45 minutes to the summit. Last year it took one hour to reach the "saddle" at the top of the switchbacks, and this year it took the same amount of time. The saddle is the spot last year where Lee and our friend Jim stopped, and the rest of us kept going. We took a break here, had some food (a very sweet and moist brownie for me), re-tied our boot laces, and then set out for the summit. It was about 1 PM, and my goal to reach the summit by 2 PM seemed optimistic.

Before long, the trail got really steep, and soon, like last year, we were stopping every few minutes to catch our breath. I had forgotten how difficult this section was. Eventually we reached the plateau that last year had the most snow. This year, even though there was record snowfall in these mountains, there was actually much less snow. In fact, we didn't have to hike through any snow at all. Also, the creeks seemed to be running lower. It was hot, so the snow must have melted quicker than last year, even though we were hiking about two weeks later than last year.

It seemed to take forever to get to the point where I stopped last year, but once there, the trail was all new to me. It wasn't long before we encountered the people who had passed us earlier as they descended from the summit. They let us know that we were very close. What's funny about the summit, is that you can't see it until you are almost there. You see peaks that look like a summit, but they are not. As we slowly continued on, I was really feeling the altitude. We were above 10,000 feet, and I had a slight headache and felt dizzy, despite drinking lots of water and taking aspirin. I also knew that we would reach the summit, thus giving me some summit-fever energy.

Soon we reached a trail junction. From here it was only .6 miles to the summit. We also met another hiker who had lost her friend. She was looking for a "fair-skinned" woman with a head bandanna. We told her we had seen no other women on the trail. So she shouted her friend's name (Crystal), after after the echo, she heard her friend respond. So she took off to the summit, leaving us slow, old men behind.

However, it wasn't long before we came to a crest, and for the first time the summit was in sight. We saw three people on the summit, which is basically a big pile of rocks. Within a few minutes were at the summit of San Gorgonio! Time to celebrate and take photos to prove that we were there. We arrived about 3:15, so that's about 7 hours of hiking, covering 8 miles. Just over 1 MPH average. That seems slow, but we did stop about 10 to 12 times along the way.

After eating more food, including a second brownie, I took many pictures of the view from the summit.  It was a very clear and sunny day, but unfortunately there was quite a bit of smog and haze in the valleys below, limiting the view. I was glad that you could see Big Bear Lake, as well as a few other lakes, and of course, Mt. San Jacinto. I also took my usual 360 degree, narrated movie from the summit, making sure to not sound too tired. After about 20 minutes we were ready to head back down. Our goal was to get back to the car before dark, even though be both had head lamps.As expected, hiking down was much faster. We hiked almost non-stop back to High Creek. I did run out of water along the way, but I never got dehydrated. Overall, I think I drank 8 liters of water, so it's good that there was a water source, because there is no way I could have packed enough water for the hike.

At the creek, we filtered water, and I also put on a fresh pair of dry socks, applying new blister pads on two of my toes. After the stop we made good progress down the mountain, but now my knees were starting to hurt me, despite having the hiking poles. I knew the steep section at the end would be painful, but I'd deal with that later. I didn't want the rest of the trip to be un-fun, so I made a point to stop along the way and take some "funny" photos, which didn't turn out all that funny. I had Lee take a photo of me "stuck" trying to cross a fallen tree, but the photo didn't capture my facial expression very good, making it look like I was doing something "obscene" with the log. Oh well. Speaking of fallen trees, there seemed to be less this year, implying that some had been cleared since last year. There was only one tree that was semi-difficult to get around. On the way up I went under it, but on the way back I went over it which was much easier.

I was keeping on eye on the time and sun, trying to determine if we were ahead of last year of behind. It felt like there was less light than last year when we finally reached the San Gorgonio Wilderness sign, but we still didn't feel the need to get our lights out. From here the trail gets steep, and my knees were killing me. Literally! I hiked down slower than I did going up, but eventually when I reached the river bed, I got a standing ovation from Lee. Better than in 2007 when I got back down from summiting Mt. Whitney and I was told to "get in the car now!".

Even though the sun had set, there was enough light to see the trail. We crossed Mill Creek, I believe it is called, and then got to the dirt trail/road back to the car. Since we were tired, the trial seemed much longer than it did 12 hours earlier. Just like last year, we got back to the car with just enough daylight to see without using our head lamps, as there are not lights in the parking lot. After a quick change of shoes (man, it felt good to get those boots off) we got in the car and headed back into town for dinner. The night before after leaving Red Robin, I saw what looked like a sign for Five Guys Burgers and Fries. So that was our goal. As we got closer to the freeway, I thought I made a wrong turn, but by dumb luck, we ended up driving directly to the restaurant.

Neither of us had eaten here before, so this was new adventure. We both got the bacon cheese burger, and we shared the fries on the advice of the cashier who said they fries will server two people. I must have been hungry because I devoured the burger and fries in a mater of minutes. As it was approaching 10 PM, we left and headed home. The drive went by pretty quick, but we didn't get to my house until 11:30, and Lee still and to dive even further to get to his home. Just like any other long trip, I can't just get home and go to bed. I had to shower to remove the layers of dirt, sweat and sunscreen. Then I unpacked, checked my e-mail, and as promised, by me, I drank a cold beer in celebration of my accomplishment. I finally went to bed at 1 AM on Sunday, making it a 20 hour day.

I slept very well, and when I woke up I was a little sore, but my knees, muscles and joints felt much better. My biggest concert was all the bug bites on my lets and arms. Now, four days later, most of the bug bites have healed, and so have my muscles. In fact, I plan on going on a bike ride tomorrow after work. Having just bought a new bike, I plan on doing more biking than hiking the rest of this Summer.

Will I hike San Gorgonio again? Well, as of now, I'm not planning on it, but who knows how I'll feel next year. If I do hike it again, I'm going to be a follower, not a leader. I'm more than happy to let someone else plan and organize the hike.

Cuyamaca Peak Hike

I've wanted to hike Cuyamaca Peak, which is located in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and the Cleveland National Forest, for many years. My friends and I are training for a hike up San Gorgonio on July 1st, and I thought Cuyamaca Peak would be a great training hike as well as an enjoyable day hike. Out of the five people who are planning to hike Gorgonio, only my friend Dan and I made this hike.

Looking at various maps and web sites, I saw that the easiest route up the mountain was the Lookout Fire Road from Paso Picacho campground. The round tip is about six miles (every site lists different distances, from 2.5 to 3.5 miles one way) but I wanted to extend the hike a little longer. So I found a route from LocalHikes which sounded interesting.

We arrived at the Paso Picahco campground around 9 AM and began hike by 9:15. We purchased a map of the park when we paid our $8 day use permit. Looking at this map, and comparing it to the one I had printed the day before, I noticed that the trail names from one map weren't on the other. So we decided just to start hiking on what seemed like the correct trail. The goal was to take Azalea Glen Trail to the Conejos Trail, which then connected to the Lookout Fire Road. The beginning of the hike was on a narrow trail with very tall vegetation on both sides. This made for a nice, cool hike, but when we caught up to a large group of slow hikers (mostly children), it took a little maneuvering to pass them.

Still not knowing the exact route to take, each time we came to a trail junction I'd take out the map to see where we were. Many of the trails we saw weren't on the map, so when in doubt we just kept on the same trail. I was pretty sure that the rail would intersect with Azalea Springs Fire Road. Along the way we talked to another group and they also weren't sure if they were on the right trail. They were just doing the "loop", but the hike was taking longer than they thought and their kids were getting tired. We both looked at the map, and using my cool new Casio Pathfinder watch, which has an altimeter, I saw we were at about 5100 feet elevation, so following the contour lines on the map I estimated our location, determined we were on the correct path, and continued to hike on.

At the beginning of the trail there was evidence that the trail had been recently closed, and we saw many trees that had fallen down across the trial had been recently cut, plus we could hear chain saws in the distance. The entire Cuyamaca park was almost completely devastated by the Cedar fire in 2003. You could see that almost all the tall trees were burnt, and all the new growth was smaller trees and bushes.

After hiking for about an hour, we made it to the fire road. From here, the trail was marked with signs and white chalk indicating which direction to go. The trail was closed to the north, but we knew we wanted to keep going southwest. Then we came across another trail junction. Looking at my map, it looked as if we should have kept going straight, but that trail looked closed, so we followed the white chalk arrows again, which led to a very muddy tail. Wearing good hiking boots prevented my feet from getting wet, but there was girl with the other group wearing sandals, and she wasn't very happy to be hiking through the mud.

Eventually we made it to the Lookout Fire Road. However, we never saw the Conejos trail I wanted to take. Unfortunately, the fire road was just that, a paved road. Not much fun for hiking, as the pavement is harder than dirt, and not very scenic. As we continued to hike, I saw a peak nearby, and wondered if that was Cuyamaca Peak. So I took out my cell phone and launched an application called BackCountry Navigator. I had installed the application the day before and downloaded a topographical map of the area onto my phone. The program allows you to use your phone's GPS to track your route using the maps offline (without a cell signal). Since I had never used this app before, I wasn't sure how to determine direction, so I didn't know where that peak was in relation to our position. I was a little concerned we were on the wrong path, especially since we couldn't see any other peak. I quickly gave up, turned off the phone, put the map away and proceeded up the road. (I located that peak on-line when I got home and found it was Stonewall Peak, which is actually on the east side of highway 79.)

When we finally saw other people hiking down the road, we figured we were going the right way. Then we could see the peak, or at least some towers and antennas. The road was quite steep, as it was designed for vehicles and not people. As we got higher the views got better, but I knew the best views would be from the top, where you could see 360 degrees and 100 miles on a clear day, and today was very clear, as least in the mountains. It was in the mid 70s, with a slight breeze. Perfect hiking weather.

The peak that at first looked really far away quickly got closer, and before we knew it, we were at the top! Well, actually I went ahead of Dan and reached what I thought was the peak, but after about five minutes of waiting for Dan, I realized that the trail just before the peak must have been the correct trail to take, and sure enough it was. So Dan reached the summit before me, not that we were in any kind of race.

There were only a few other people on the summit, including a couple that passed us along the way, and we overheard the woman saying something like "She's going through a divorce, so she probably has a gun.". Hmm - let's avoid them. Except they were the only ones at the top available to take a group photo of Dan and I, and there were both very nice.

From the summit, the views were amazing. Looking west, you couldn't quite see the Pacific Ocean because it was covered in June Gloom. Off to the North you could see many mountains, some covered with snow. Using a web site when I got home, it showed that San Jacinto and San Gorgonio were visible. Kind of cool that we could see the mountain we were going to be hiking the three weeks from so far away. Off to the east the mountains of the Anza-Borrego desert were visible, and finally looking south towards Mexico, there was lots of haze in the air, limiting the view making it the least picturesque direction.

After taking my fill of photos, and the standard 30 second, narrated movie, we headed down. When I hike, I'm usually oblivious to my surroundings. I tend to concentrate on the hike, taking time to look up and notice the scenery in the distance and not noticing what's just along the trial. My friend Dan tends to notice everything, such as flowers, plant, bugs and rattle snakes. Yes, if he hadn't said anything I might have stepped on the rattle snake laying in the middle of the road. It was about 10 feet away and just laying there, not coiled up. But as we stepped closer, he began to slither away, shaking his rattle to warn us, but quickly disappearing in to the brush. The snake was the biggest wildlife we saw. No dear, mountain lions (which is good) and not even a rabbit.

Once the snake was gone we continued hiking down. Up to this point I hadn't experience much pain in my muscles, knees or feet. But I could feel one toe starting to burn, like I was getting a blister. So we stopped so I could put on a blister pad. It made a big difference and my foot felt better, but just a few minutes later we came around a corner and there was the camp ground. I had to laugh at myself. If I had waited just two minutes I would not have needed to stop to put on the pad. The hike down was much quicker and neither of us knew how close to the camp we were.Also, we were hiking so fast we never even saw the trail we took to get to the fire road. Oh yeah, on the way up I finally did see the Conejos trail, but who knows what path we should have taken to get there. I read online that the trail was actually a "hodge-podge" of trails, which kind of makes since.

Back at the car, I looked at my watch and it was 2 PM. So we hiked for about 5 hours. I still not sure how far, but I estimated it was less than 8 miles. Still, a very good training hike. I must say, it felt good to take off my boots and put on comfortable shoes.

My plan for the day was to eat lunch on the way home and then once home, take an afternoon nap. However, since the hike took longer than expected, lunch at 3:00 became "lunner", and the nap became bed time. It was a good day, and when I woke up this morning, I still felt good and better yet my knees don't hurt and my leg muscles aren't too sore or tight. Maybe it will catch up to me tomorrow at work. Work - yuck!

Mission Hills Bike Ride

On a beautiful Saturday morning in San Diego, I put my bike on my car's bike rack and drove to my friend's house to go for a casual bike ride with him and his girlfriend. Our plan was to ride to and explore the Mission Hills neighborhood of San Diego. I've never really spent much time in this area, but once we survived the non-bike-friendly streets of Hillcrest, mostly Washington Street, we arrived in a very nice, quaint neighborhood, with very nice houses that had plenty of curb appeal.

The styles and colors of the houses were very diverse. Some looked like small cottages, some were huge mansions, and some looked like a house you would see in Germany or some other European country. And the colors were blue, pink, yellow, green and every shade in between. Not only were the houses unique, but so were the streets. We explored many "Not a Through Street" streets and found ourselves biking down steep hills just to have to ride back up again. In these areas were houses built on steep canyons, some with views of San Diego and the Pacific Ocean.

After about an hour we decided to ride down Juan Street, the steep road that takes you in to Old Town. We got a little turned around (not lost), and I actually had to use my Android phone and Google Maps to find our way to the street. So we road down Juan Street, which is steep and narrow, but not as steep as I thought it would be. Once at the bottom we found that the roads into Old Town were closed to cars. But we could ride our bikes, and to our surprise, we found a Cinco de Mayo street fair celebration taking place. We had no idea, so this was a bonus. We just wanted some tacos.

We locked up our bikes and walked around, quickly finding a taco stand where we each bought one very delicious, and hot, taco. So after a taco you need a beer. We found that too, and drank a beer or two while watching all sorts of interesting people walk by. Then we headed back out to explore the festival. Along the way we watched a wrestling demonstration, which was very popular, based on the crowd, a lowrider car show, with lots of brightly painted, custom cars, and then some kind of equestrian event with women in bright, colorful dresses riding horses, side-saddle of course.

Knowing we had to ride back, we walked back to our bikes and headed home. I opted to ride my bike, not walk it, up Juan Street without stopping, which I did, but the two tacos and two beers sitting in my stomach made the ride more challenging. We took the most direct route back to our starting point, completing a very fun and physical bike ride.

Spring Training 2011

I've been going to watch Spring Training baseball in the Phoenix area with my friends almost every year since '93, 1993 that is (inside joke). This year we had eight people along for the trip, six of us on the same flight from San Diego. We actually got to the airport earlier than normal, just to find the security line for Southwest about an hour long! By the time we got through security we only had time for one beer!

We arrived in Phoenix about on time, after a short flight where everyone got a free drink for St. Patrick's Day. Before checking into the hotel, we made a stop at the Tilted Kilt for some beer and food. This location was having a huge party out back, which cost $5 to enter, but for some reason, even at 10PM, the DJ was packing up his equipment. However, we got seated inside quickly and all had a nice meal.

We then checked into the hotel and got ready for our four-day adventure.

We had tickets for every day except the first day. We wanted to see (and did see) the Dodgers at San Fransisco in Scottsdale, and these tickets sell out very quick. So we had to buy them the old fashion way - from someone outside the stadium. Luckily the person who organizes the trip, Steve,  is very good at buying good seats at a decent price, and he didn't let us down. Regular scalpers, and there are always tons of them, were asking $100 for lawn seats. We bought our tickets from a man who had extra tickets at face value, so for $30 a ticket the seats were pretty good.

The stadium was sold out, and they announced that there was a new attendance record, which still doesn't make since to me how you can keep having sell-outs AND break attendance records. Do they keep adding more seats?

After the game, which I really watch very little of, as usual,  we jetted back to the hotel. Back when we were young, we'd go straight to the happy hour for our free drinks from 5:30 to 7:30. Now days most of us need a quick nap in between. A quick shower to wash off the sunscreen helps too.

On Saturday our game was in Peoria to see the Cubs at the Padres. Almost every year our trip coincides with the first weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament. With about 48 games played over the four days, there is always some good college basketball games to watch before and after the baseball game. But this year we had the Aztecs in the tournament, and they played Saturday at 3:40. So when we got to the park Saturday morning, we went to go watch the beginning of the UCLA game at McDuffy's across the street, just to find that it was gone, just like the one in Tempe. But luckily there was a sports bar next door that had beer, food and lots of TVs showing all the games. So we had some food, beer and even played checkers! I'm embarrassed to say that it had been so long since I had played checkers that I forgot how. But somehow I won the first game and lost the second.

As the baseball game start time approached, most of us left to go see the Padres play. We stayed through the end of the game and then returned to the bar to see the Aztecs win! Yes, the Aztecs finally won a NCAA game. Since this bar was near the Padres ballpark, there were lots of San Diego fans cheering for SDSU.

Saturday is our traditional night to get "dressed-up" and eat at a nice steakhouse. In years past, we went to a place called Fresher's. This year we tried a different place, the Stockyard. It was located in the middle of nowhere, near the airport, but was very crowded so apparently well known by the locals. Their food was good, I got the 12 oz Filet Mignon, medium well, and it was satisfying, but I guess I'm just not a big fan of steak, because I don't think the steak tastes better the more you pay for it. The highlight of the meal for me was the dessert, a root beer float with Jack Daniels. It was surprisingly good.

For Sunday we had planned a very full day. It started with waking up at 6 AM so we could get in a hike. In previous years, we had hiked Camelback mountain, alternating our hike up the east and west sides. This year we explored a new mountain, South Mountain, described at the largest urban park in the US, or something like that. I own an apology to the guys in the next room, because they wanted to hike also and due to poor planning they got left behind.

The nice part about this mountain was that is was easier to get to and there was plenty of parking. Also, the park was very large, I'd say 20 miles long and 5 miles wide. There were tons of trails, so you could spend your whole day hiking, or just hike for an hour or two. We took a trail that followed a ridge, which took us up some really steep trails. Unlike hikes in the past, it was not not. In fact, it was quite cold and in places the wind was blowing our hats off. I think we hiked for about 90 minutes before heading back to the hotel.

Our third game was at a new ballpark in Scottsdale to see the Rockies play the Angels. This park was actually on an Indian reservation, which made in convenient to go to a casino before the game. We had about an hour to lose money. I just played some video poker and slots, but wished I'd played the new roulette table. They now have automated roulette where the wheel spins automatically and you place your bets on a computer screen, taking the human and group-play element out of the game.

The new stadium is nice, like most of the new ballparks, but they need to work on better access and parking. We did get a good parking spot, and our seats were also good, as can be seen by the photo above. I believe this game was tied after 9 innings, so we left and went back to the hotel.

After the shower/nap/happy hour, we headed out to dinner, this time we went to a place we had not been to before, Four Peaks Brewing Company. They brewed their own beer, and I, of course drank the darkest Stout. For dinner I think I had a bacon cheeseburger.

After our meal, we made it too our second destination for the night - bowling! A quick shout-out to Rick, who was our designated driver for the trip. Just a few weeks before I ate at a place near home that had a bowling alley, and mentioned that it had been over 15 years since I had bowled, and I said I didn't need to ever bowl again. But even though I only scored 99 on my first game, I had tons of fun. In fact, we all had fun bowling.

After bowling, most of us went to another bar, where we stayed until 2AM, well past our bedtimes. But hey, we were on vacation, and this was our last night.

Waking up before 9AM on Monday was hard, but getting my free breakfast was important. Nothing better than a cook to order omelet. It's always nice when the cook remembers you and says see you next year. Pam has been working there for a long time, but she gave us a warning - wear a hat because the rain expected on Monday would be radioactive. OK, good advice.

It is always sad when we have to pack up and check out of the hotel. It means the fun is over. We had planned it well to have our last game in Tempe, to see the Angels play someone, at the ballpark closet to the hotel and airport. We arrived in plenty of time to hang out at the van and finish the ice cold beers, at least for those of us who could still drink after our bender of a weekend. The forecast was for cold and rain, and rainy and cold it was. The game wasn't canceled, so we went into the stadium, but since it was raining the whole time, I never even got to sit in our seast. We ended up leaving before the third inning, and drove back into town to have some food at Dave and Buster's.

After eating, and playing some games, we returned the van and checked-in at the airport. The line for security was very short, however, three of us got in the wrong line for scanning. Apparently they were training someone new, and our line moved VERY slowly. We still had plenty of time, ever more so since our flight was delayed 50 minutes. When we finally boarded the plane, after some time of sitting the pilot announce that we were waiting to be de-iced! Yes, in Phoenix. They explained that the plane had been on a long flight, and that caused the fuel to get cold, and since it was humid outside, the wing was icy. So another 20 minute of sitting. Then there was an incident that most people didn't notice, a passenger a few rows in front of us did something to cause the flight attendant to get in her face. So even after taxing away from the gate, we stopped and sat some more. Then they announce that we needed to return to a different gate to take care of a situation. Meanwhile, some man starting yelling something about voting to have that person kicked off the flight, and then another man yelled at him to stop yelling because nobody cared what he thought. When we finally reached the gate, a woman showed up (not an armed security) to escort the passenger off the plane, who was also a woman. This woman then began to yell at the flight attendant saying "why are you doing this to me? I didn't do anything wrong!". It wasn't until we finally landed in San Diego, two hours late, that we found out what happened. The woman who was kicked off kept complaining that she had a headache from the smell of exhaust fumes and had demanded that she be given oxygen. Like that was going to happen.

So we got our luggage, took the shuttle to the parking and I was home by 10:30 PM. Did I have a good time? Yes. Too good of a time. I worked for one day before getting sick and missing two days of work. Now, six days later, I'm still recovering from my cold, and yes, I can't wait until next year.