Adventures in Life

Day ???

hooppd — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:00:57 +0000

Have now totally lost track of time. I think it’s Tuesday, which means we’ve been in Connecticut for a couple of days now. Went to the school yesterday and had a look around. Not bad but Bridgeport is everything I heard it was and more. The folks at the school however are cool. And, given the college is on Long Island Sound, and across the street from a park, it should be rather scenic when the leaves change.

Today Deb and I drove around a good deal of Connecticut looking for relatively permanent digs. Found nothing yet but had a great tour. This is a very scenic place and will only get better with the changing of the leaves. It’s a bit humid, which I’m not so keen on. But the weather guy on TV is already talking about fall weather moving in.

Off to start my new job tomorrow. Have class at 8 am. Looking forward to starting. I’ll probably post some pictures tomorrow evening.

Day Five

hooppd — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:52:48 +0000

No pictures from our travels today. We drove through Missouri, Illinois and all the way across Indiana. Stopped for the night in a podunk town on the Indiana / Ohio border. All of those states are the same; trees, grass and lots of road. We actually have a couple of pictures but haven’t gotten around to posting them.

Day Four

hooppd — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 02:38:14 +0000

Kicked back and relaxed all day. Alison, the picture is for you.

Ring any bells?

Day Three

hooppd — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 02:30:19 +0000

Didn’t even try the Continental breakfast. Cold coffee and Tang just don’t do that much for me. Instead flew through the drive-in at McD’s and hit the road. Nothing really to see all day but the flatness of it all. The corn and maize was nearly ready to harvest and the wheat had already been cut. Enough of the farm report. Each town we passed through was represented by a gas station, a fast food restaurant, and a sign stating the “business district” is a mile off the road.

Made it all the way to Kansas City by 4:00 pm. Had a nice dinner at Laura’s. Then went to see my Mom, sister and brother. Enjoyed a couple more gulley washers and retired early.

Kansas is flat but very scenic in a weird sort of way...

These seem to dominate a good deal of the exits... a time gone by.

Day Two

hooppd — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 02:12:34 +0000

Up at the crack of dawn and had a good Continental breakfast at the hotel. I have to admit, I’m not really sure what the egg creations were but the toast was very toasty. And hot coffee. Doesn’t come any better than that.

Hit the road and drove through some more incredible countryside. Stopped at every site seeing stop. Probably the most noteworthy was a place called Castle something. It was a gorgeous site overlooking a Grand Canyon type vista. Not only was the site very picturesque, but we watched as the local Indians pulled up in their brand new pickup trucks and unloaded their jewelry samples. They were getting ready for their day selling stuff to the tourists. Not a bad place to go to work. Certainly beats the inside of a cubicle.

Driving through eastern Utah and western Colorado was about as enjoyable as any place I’ve seen. Makes you realize the size of this country and just how much is untouched. We followed the Colorado River for a good deal of the day. Lots of kayakers and rafts on the river. The road runs beside the river through canyon after canyon. Very scenic. On a slightly sour note, many of the pine trees have turned brown and died. In fact, in some areas it seemed there were more dead trees than live ones. They apparently have acquired a pine tree pest (nematode technically) and are in serious trouble.

After we crossed the Continental Divide we stopped the car to change drivers. Getting out of the car was a weather shocker. We were probably at 10,000 feet and it was cold and windy. Quite a difference from what we had seen up to this point. It rained on us a few times as we descended into Denver.

Getting through Denver was pretty easy considering it was rush hour. The country certainly flattens out on the east side of Denver. We drove for a few hours after passing through Denver. Could see storm clouds to the south and east, along with some pretty awesome lightning flashes. I think we were just behind the storm because the cashier at the motel said we missed a serious storm by only a few hours.

Once you get east of Denver, the terrain changes dramatically.

Time to call it a day...

Day One

hooppd — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:58:34 +0000

The day started okay. Up at 5 then had to pack the car. Finally got on the road about 8:15. A bit late but okay. Drove to Vegas first, all familiar territory. From there we went to St. George, Utah and into Zion National Park. Wow! So close to LA and yet so far.

But, the highlight of the day for me was a stop at a gift shop just beneath the Big Rock Candy Mountain. I remember my aunt singing a song about the Big Rock Candy Mountain. That dates back roughly 55 years. I never knew there really was such a place. Couldn’t remember the words she sang but it turned out there was a Burl Ives song in which he sang about the place. And, they had sheet music with the words on. A small victory but very sweet. And, the mountain looks like a big rock candy.

Zion National Park, Utah

Road Trip

hooppd — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:50:48 +0000

Road trip. Haven’t done that since I was actually in college. Corner to corner. Should be interesting. Stay tuned…

Bridgeport

hooppd — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 07:57:49 +0000

We’re getting set to head out on a 10 month adventure that involves packing up, heading east, teaching at a new university and exploring the northeast United States with my wife. It might be a temporary move, but the adventure is what life is all about. We’ll be posting pictures and stories from our adventures and are looking forward to sharing our experiences with you. So, like it or not, stay tuned…

[Picture via here]