The Journey

More Pictures from the Grand Canyon and Mojave Desert

2008-02-08T00:32:00.000-07:00

From the trip to the Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon

The Mojave Desert

I'm not sure if you can read this or not, but it's the cost of gas in Arizona...$2.69!!

Do you think it's falling down?

I actually pulled over about 30 feet past this sign and ran back to take this picture with 16 wheelers flying by me...

Day 10 - It's Not The Destination

2008-02-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

So today ends my journey, and I have to say it's a bittersweet feeling. On one hand, I'm incredibly excited to be in San Diego and see what life brings for me out here, but on the other, this has been such an amazing experience that I don't necessarily want it to end. I've seen things that most people only dream of and have loved every minute of it. Over the past week and a half, I've been to so many new places and seen some of the most beautiful scenery this country has to offer. I've met some great new people and gotten to spend some time with some old friends in their new hometowns, and had such a great time. If you ever get a chance to drive across these great United States of America, you have to do it.

But one last piece of advice: don't start your day with the Grand Canyon. Either make it the whole day or the last thing you do for the day because it will seriously ruin everything else that you do that day.

They say that the Grand Canyon is one of those things that you have to see in your lifetime because it's one of the few things in life that doesn't dissapoint. They're right.

The Grand Canyon is seriously one of the most incredible things that I have ever seen (and I know it's juvenile, but I really wanted to pee over the edge). Without a doubt a highlight of my trip. Be sure to check out the pictures, too, because they're incredible.

But just because, as you've probably figured out, I can't do anything without something happening, I have one last road trip story to tell.

I was driving through the park, and I ended up getting lost (and I'm not even sure how!). I followed the map trying to find all of the views that I could see of the Canyon on the South Rim, and all of a sudden I found myself by some train tracks and a bunch of campsites and cabins! I was only there for about half an hour or 45 minutes, and I wanted to see a couple more views, but then I got lost, and by the time I found my way back, I was afraid to go back in because I didn't want to get lost again.

But my time at the Canyon was incredible. I don't think I've ever seen anything so incredibly beautiful in my life. It really doesn't disappoint.

After the Grand Canyon, I started the last leg of my journey to San Diego. This, too was a beautiful drive, but I'm going to let my pictures do a majority of the talking for this part of the drive because I'm not entirely sure what to say anymore.

All my life, I've tried to live by the mantra "It's not the destination, it's the journey," and this has been no different. Although my destination is amazing, the journey has been even more incredible. I'll be posting more blogs here and there (I'm going to try for once a week), but I probably won't have any more regular entries like I have been, although I've really loved talking to all of you through my blog, and hearing all of your comments along the way.

Thank you so much for your support along the way, and I'll be talking to you very soon.

Love to all,

-Ian

More Pictures - Santa Fe to Grand Canyon

2008-02-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

Civil War Monument by the Palace of the Governors

Some great architecture around the Palace of the Governors and Railway Station

Santa Fe Southern Railway

OOOH! Train rides!

Scenery from the drive between Santa Fe and the Grand Canyon

Day 9 - Do You Swear You Won't Forget Me?

2008-02-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

New Mexico is amazing. I can't believe I didn't know how awesome it was out there.

First of all, Santa Fe. If you recall, last night I stayed in because it was cold and snowy and I knew that I wasn't going to be able to see anything, and I didn't know where the nightlife was, so I made sure that I went around today. It was awesome. I'll be posting pictures tonight, too, but the Native American culture down there is so incredibly prevelant all over the place, as is the Mexican influence.

I didn't do too much there. To start off, I went to a place called the Palace of the Governors, which seemed to be a town square of sorts. It was really cool, there are a lot of art galleries, little shops and a couple restaurants. It was a really cool place to walk around and check out.

Next, I drove over to the Railway to walk around for a few minutes, which was also really cool (I really like railroads (gee, I wonder why)). There wasn't too much over at the Railway yet. Apparently they're at the start of a project to revitalize it with shops and stuff. But I got some really great pictures of the architecture and trains and things.

Santa Fe really is an incredible place. It's somewhere I'd really like to go back to and spend some more time (preferably when it's not snowing! haha), and I highly recommend going out there if you ever get the chance.

I hit the road at about 12:30 or so to head for the Grand Canyon. Now, I knew that I wasn't going to get to see the Canyon tonight because the sun was already going to be set, so I took my time, and I'm really glad I did because New Mexico, like I said before, is an incredibly beautiful state. There's not a lot there once you get out of Santa Fe and Albuquerque, but the scenery is unbelievably beautiful. I took a ton of pictures on the trip through New Mexico, so be sure to look through them. You won't be dissappointed.

Then I got into Arizona. Remember Kansas (after Kansas City)? Yeah, there was about as much in Arizona as there was in Kansas. This part of the drive was rediculously boring because there wasn't even anything to look at until I passed the Indian Reservations. Finally, I got through it and there were some great mountains to watch as I drove through. There was a meteor crater, too, that I wanted to go see, but when I turned off the exit, the sign said it was closed! So I kept going.

Now I'm sitting here in my hotel room, getting ready to go to bed. I'm going to post the pictures from today, too, so be sure to check those out!

Tomorrow, I'm going to check out the Grand Canyon and then head to San Diego! So I'll talk to you all tomorrow!

Love to all,

-Ian

Pictures From the Trip to Santa Fe

2008-02-04T22:58:00.000-07:00

Laverne's getting old...she just hit a huge benchmark: all 1s

These are a lot of the landscape pictures from the trip, I'm not going to caption these. Some are shots from through my windshield and others I pulled over to take.

Day 8 - Santa Fe, Are You There?

2008-02-04T22:13:00.000-07:00

Well today was a great day. I started this morning out waking up at Sheonaid's to an empty house because everyone was at work (I know, people actually still do that...), so I took my time getting my stuff together because I was going to go and check out Sheonaid's school.

When I got my stuff all packed up, I hopped into my car and headed over to Grant Elementary to go and see "Ms. V" in action (I can't tell you how wierd it was to hear her called that haha). It was really cool to get to meet her class and check out her teaching style. She's I really good! It's funny how much comes flooding back to you when you see a class like that. It's wierd how much of yourself you see in those kids.

After sitting in on a little math review, I hugged Sheonaid goodbye and hopped in my car to head to Santa Fe.

Now, the main reason I decided to head south instead of going west was so I didn't have to deal with the Rockies in the winter time, and I'm glad that I did, because, listening to the radio weather forecasts, apparently I missed a lot of snow. The problem is that I guess I didn't realize just how deep in the mountains I already was because it was a tough drive down here, I'll tell you. There were a lot of climbs that Laverne had a tough time dealing with. I started feeling kind of bad for her and slowed way down. How slow was I going? Well, the posted speed limit is 75; there were times that I was going 45. Thankfully the road was pretty empty, because there would've been a lot of really angry drivers on the road.

I have to say, though, it really is a beautiful drive between Colorado Springs and Santa Fe. I have some pictures that I stopped along the way to take that I'm going to post, and you should really check them out (I know I've posted a lot of pictures today, but I've been away from my computer since Friday morning).

So finally, I reached Santa Fe, and I got all my stuff into my hotel room, took care of some basic housekeeping stuff and got ready to go to dinner. And when I walked outside it had snowed! I'm in New Mexico, I thought it was supposed to be warm down here! I had no idea that it snowed in the desert. I mean, it's not like it's a lot of snow, but they don't seem to salt or sand the roads, so they stay slippery which is kind of annoying.

Anyway, I've heard from a couple different people, that I have to try New Mexican food because it's so good, so I tried it, and it really was great. I went to this place called Maria's New Mexican Kitchen, which is really big, but looks really small, and it has great food. I had the whole meal: salad, fajitas, dos equis and flan for dessert. Now, I don't know if you've ever had flan before, but it's really good, but it has a pretty strange consistency. But, when in Rome, you know, so I ate it, and now I can say that I've had a New Mexican meal.

I wanted to go and check out this place that I've heard so much about tonight, but, unfortunately, it's snowing and pretty cold out there (in case you haven't figured it out, I really don't like the cold), so tonight, I'm staying in, catching up on my blogs and tomorrow morning, I think I'm gonna try and get up early and at least drive around downtown before I head out so I can check it out.

But, for now, I'm going to go and play some guitar and watch some tv and get some good sleep so I can make the drive to the Grand Canyon tomorrow. I've got some more pictures up here, too, so check out the whole page today!

Love to all,

-Ian

Pictures from Colorado Springs

2008-02-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

This is a vew of my car on Saturday morning after that crazy snow storm that I drove through...

One of the best views between Colorado Springs and Keystone

Another shot from the overlook

Yeah, that's right...I was in South Park...and nobody named Kenny died...

This was supposed to be a shot of the mountains because they looked really cool behind the clouds, but apparently my camera phone couldn't cut through it well enough, but it's still a cool shot of some skiers...

The base of Keystone

Sheonaid says that she doesn't like this picture, but I like it...it's very "I'll humor you for one picture, but if you try to take another one, I'll break my ski pole off in your...[well you get the picture]"

This is Sheonaid checking out the view...I think I'm gonna call this one "The Love Skier"

River Run Village at Keystone

This is Boots, Lynn's dog...apparently I was making too much noise during the Super Bowl and scared her...apparently I'm loud (who knew?)

This is Moxy, Amy's dog, he's freakin crazy! I think he has Short Angry Man Syndrome...he kept trying to prove his dominance even though I'm like 215 libs bigger than him...

This is a cloudy view from Sheonaid's porch

And this is a clear one...could you imagine living there and seeing that when you walk out your door every morning?

Pictures From the Trip to Colorado Springs

2008-02-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

So remember how cool Kansas City was? Yeah...this is the rest of Kansas...

I actually turned around to get this picture...this is a Kansas winery...WITH A GAS STATION

LeCompton...the French ghetto...

Hey, there are windmills in Kansas!

A lot of windmills...

And bails of hay...

I do have to say, though, they do have some great views in Kansas...

And some great sunsets...

Another view of the sunset

And when I finally go to Colorado Springs, Sheonaid and I got to hang out at one of her bars and celebrate the fact that I was still alive!

Day 7 - Are You Ready For Some Football?

2008-02-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a game!! This'll be a pretty short one because nothing too crazy happened today, but I wanted to make sure to say that last night's game was freakin awesome. Well, actually, I take that back; the fourth quarter was amazing, but the rest of the game was a little boring.

But we had a lot of fun yesterday, and I'm glad that I got to hang out with some really cool people for the Super Bowl. And, I have to say, it was a lot of fun making fun of Amy and Krista when the Patriots lost :-)

I'm in Santa Fe right now, and I'm about to go get some food, but later tonight, I'll be posting some more pictures and talking a little bit about what's up in Santa Fe!

Love to all,

-Ian

Day 6 - Get Your Groom On

2008-02-03T09:28:00.001-07:00

Well, I went skiing yesterday, and, I have to say, I think Grandaddy would be proud (he's the one who taught me how to ski). It was a little rough going at first, it took me a little while to start getting my ski legs back, but I finally did, and I loved it! I really forgot how much I used to enjoy skiing, and to be able to go in a place like Keystone (which is where we went, by the way) was amazing! The views were incredible; standing on the mountain (while getting my breath back), it was so cool looking out and seeing the Rockies in the background. Don't worry, there'll be plenty of pictures from the mountain (I was definitely that guy), and from the little village at base, which was also really cool.

We started out in a gondola that took us up to the top of the run, and I was freaking out. I don't know if you remember Nicholas Cage's character in The Rock as they were heading to Alcatraz, but that's what I felt like. Nervous, anxious, excited; it was pretty wild. (And, by the way, if you haven't seen The Rock, you should definitely check it out.)

So when we finally got to the top, we went over to the beginner hill, and got our skis on and started down. I was petrified. I'll tell you, it was wild. But finally, after a very slow start, I started to get the hang of it again, and was doing pretty well.

So when we got to the bottom of the other side of the mountain (which was where that run took us), we went back up, and we decided that we'd do this next run, and get some food. Unfortunately, to get to the food, we had to go down a blue run, which was the next skill level up. And, I'll tell you, there were no kiddie ski school "go slow" rules to keep these people from going whizzing by me at like 400 miles per hour, so I was all over the place, and since this was a really steep hill, I was going even slower than I was on the one before. But, finally, I got down to the bottom and met up with Sheonaid, who must've been waiting for like 10 minutes (and I only fell once!).

After lunch, we decided that it was getting too cold, so we'd do one more run and then head back (hoping not to get hit by the snow that we thought was coming). So Sheonaid says to me "we're going to be going down some blues, but it'll get us down fast!" (you know what else gets you down fast? FALLING!) So we headed down the mountain, and I was a little scared because of how steep and unleveled these runs were compared to the nice, easy green run that I did the first time; so again, I went slow. Thankfully this time there weren't as many crazy 5 year olds and snowboarders flying by me making me think I was going to die. I actually said to Sheonaid at one point "I think the Surgeon General issued a recent warning that says tumbling down huge mountains is bad for your health!"

But, finally, I made it down, and despite her best efforts, Sheonaid failed to kill me on the mountain ;-).

But that's not even the highlight of the day. Now don't get me wrong, skiing was a blast, and I'm really anxious to do it again and start getting a handle on those blue runs, but I'd have to say that the best part of the day is this next story.

We were on our way back to Colorado Springs, and it was a fairly smooth drive (I was actually asleep for a good part of it, but what I saw was fairly smooth). But about an hour outside of Colorado Springs, I look up and all of a sudden see police lights in the mirror. So Sheonaid pulled over, and started looking for her license (which was apparently at the bottom of her 10 gallon purse), and asked me to find her registration in her glove compartment, which was, of course, no where to be found. Meanwhile, she gave the officer a three year old insurance card, and I was still pouring through her glove compartment looking for her registration. So the officer told her that she was pulled over because she had one headlight out and was speeding, but she wasn't going to give her a ticket.

So we pulled away, and Sheonaid starts driving literally about one mile over the posted speed limit. Now Sheonaid's not a bad driver, mind you, which makes the fact that she was swerving around in her lane while changing a cd even more ironic, because about 10 minutes later, another cop pulled up behind us and pulled us over!

This cop told her the same thing, that she had a headlight out, but told her that she was swerving and was asking her if she'd had anything to drink that night (she hadn't). So she started looking for her license again which was, once again, at the bottom of her 10 gallon purse (I had found her registration (two of them actually) and had put it in a place where they could be easily found). So, incredibly flustered at this point, she found her license and handed it over. This cop did the same thing, checked her license, told her he wasn't going to give her a ticket and let us go.

So finally, Sheonaid decided to put her license in her wallet so she'd be sure to know where it was this time, and asked me to press play on the cd player and was driving the exact speed limit, when, less than five minutes later, another cop pulled us over!

At this point, I was laughing my head off because this was all just so incredible. So the cop walked up to the window, and told her why she was being pulled over (it was just for the headlight this time), and, laughing, Sheonaid told him that she knew and that another cop had just pulled her over and showed him his card. So he just let us go, and we started our ride back into Colorado Springs.

Thankfully, there apparently weren't any cops waiting to grab somebody any more, so it was a smooth ride back, and the rest of the night was pretty smooth. We went to dinner and then had a couple drinks and a couple games of pool and called it a night.

Today is the Superbowl Party, so it should be a good time! And tomorrow, I'll be heading to Santa Fe, so I'll be talking to you all soon! Go Giants!

Love to all,

-Ian

Day 5 - They Plow at 6,000 Feet, Don't They?

2008-02-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

I'm lucky to be alive. There was a good hour or so last night that I seriously thought I wasn't going to be coming back, but more on that later.

First of all, I have to say that I went to that club, Blayney's, in Kansas City on Thursday night, and, aside from being dead, it was awesome. The band that was playing (I never actually found out their name) was freakin incredible. True Kansas City blues, man. I loved it. Seriously, if you ever get a chance to get to Kansas City, I highly recommend you go out there and check out Westport or Downtown. It's sick!

So yesterday, I started my trip to Colorado Springs. I was all excited because I thought for sure that this time there wouldn't be any more car troubles. And I was right! Laverne ran beautifully the whole way through Kansas, and through some particularly rough times in Colorado (don't worry, I'll tell that story in a minute (Mom, you may want to make sure you're sitting)).

Kansas...well, I'm not sure what to say about Kansas. It sucks. I realized yesterday that pretty much all there is in Kansas is Kansas City. And I drove through Topeka and Wichita (I think), and there's still nothing there. I will say this, though, the sunset was amazing. In fact, when I get to putting up my next round of pictures (which may not be until Monday), you'll see a little bit of it. It really was a very scenic drive, except it got old after the first couple hours, and I still had like four hours to go! I did, however, stop for some water and Good N' Plentys while I was getting gas and met a lovely woman named Fern. Yep, Fern...I didn't think that that was an actual name, but there she was, standing two feet in front of me.

And that's about all I have for Kansas.

So I finally got into Colorado, and I was stoked. I was looking forward to finally seeing something along the way, and not just the rolling plains, but God had other plans for me. I had to stop and get gas, and when I did, I noticed that those Good N' Plentys that tasted so good along the way, had spiked my blood sugar (I'm not used to eating stuff like that anymore) and at this point, it had plummeted and I was near convulsions as a result (yeah, that's fun). Thankfully there was a diner right across the street, so I stopped in to get some food, and everything turned out fine.

Then the snow started.

Now when I say snow, I don't mean "oh look at the pretty snowflakes." No, I'm talking about cover the roads with six inches in the course of half an hour snow. Snow that's blowing so badly that visibility is cut to 10 feet at the most...and it was nighttime, just to make it a little more treacherous. So, since I can't see, and there are no lights anywhere around me to light the surrounding area (I'm in the mountains, remember, there are drop offs all over the place that I can't see), I decided that it'd probably be better if I slowed down so I didn't roll off the damn road. So I spent a good two hours driving a maximum of 30 miles per hour with snow blowing all over the place, roads covered so badly that I couldn't come close to seeing the lines, and people driving like tools all around me (you'd think that they were used to this or something). I don't mind telling you that I haven't been that scared while driving in years, if ever. It actually got to the point where I was getting ready to call someone and give them my pertinent information just in case I didn't make it through.

But finally the roads did clear up (I'm pretty sure that I just drove straight through the storm), and Laverne and I got to Colorado Springs safe and sound, where my friend Sheonaid, who I'm staying with, and I went out and grabbed a couple well earned beers :-).

Anyway, today we're going to try and go skiing (yeah, me...Deloisa, I told you that I'd go!), so it should be a great day! I'll let you know how it goes!

Love to all

-Ian

More Pictures!

2008-01-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures from the past few days. The bottom ones are from Reshae's camera, she put a bunch of them up :-)

Look, they have big buildings in Kansas City, too!

The street sign for 18th and Vine (Jazz District)

I don't know why, but I've always really loved these old-style clocks in train stations...

Awwwww...this is me showing my appreciation for Reshae going to a jazz club with me haha

Reshae and me at Andy's Lounge in Chicago

Reshae and her friend Rachel at Dublin in Chicago where we ate dinner...this is like the 42nd picture that was taken of the two of them...the first 41 didn't come out too well, and then I said "Hey Reshae, why don't you let me take the picture instead of trying to do it yourself?" And look how great it turned out!

These are a couple of the guys from the band Collage that we saw at Andy's Lounge...they were really good...we had a little chat with the guitar player during their break...I think Reshae had a little crush even though she says he was too short haha...

I have no idea what to say about this picture...

Day 4 - Well I'm Goin to Kansas City, Kansas City, Here I Come!

2008-01-31T20:37:00.000-07:00

You've gotta love a city that's so big that it covers two states. For the past two days, I've been trying to figure out where I'm going with the GPS on my cell phone, and completely forgetting that the next address that I go to might be in Kansas City, Missouri, and not Kansas City, Kansas. Talk about confusing...

Today was a great day. It's so much fun exploring these new cities that I've never been to. I had no idea that Kansas City was actually a pretty cool place. When my old manager suggested that I check it out along my way, I was like eh, what the hell, I've already been to Missouri, so it'd be nice to check Kansas off my map, too (I haven't actually talked about this yet, but my friend Kerry and I were saying how cool it'd be to go to each one of the 50 states at least once...I'd say there's more to come, but that's about all of it...). But this place is actually pretty cool!

I woke up pretty late this morning, like 11:30, and after yesterday, I freakin deserved it! But after I woke up, I went through some morning stuff, you know, checking emails, doing some core workouts, having some of my now defrosted food (it froze during that lovely 2 degree evening in Chicago...I don't know if you've ever tried eating a frozen apple, but it turns into more of a slushy type of thing at that point...not incredibly pleasant), and checking out the "fitness center" here at the Best Western (which I didn't bother trying to use, it was so beat). Then I sat down with the hotel guest directory and figured out what I wanted to do. I decided that I was going to drive around and explore a little bit. The directory gave me some good information, so I figured I'd check it out.

My first stop was Union Station. It seems like almost every town has a beautiful train station that's not used nearly as often as it should be. Now, like most places, Union Station has been turned into more of a mall with an Amtrak station inside it so I decided to walk around a little bit. Now, there wasn't too much in there, and I didn't feel like going to Science City (the science museum that has taken the place of a large portion of the station), so I didn't spend too much time in there. But before I left, and I have to say, this speaks wonders for the educational system here in Kansas City, I stopped at the Visitor's Center to find out where the Jazz District (18th and Vine, more on that in a minute) was. This is pretty much verbatim (I can't say if it's exact, but it's pretty close) the conversation between the volunteer and me:

Ian: "So where's this 18th and Vine that I've heard about?"
Volunteer: "You mean the Jazz District?"
Ian: "Yeah...like is it an actual intersection that I should be looking for?"
Volunteer: "What do you mean?"
Ian: "Is 18th and Vine an actual intersection?"
Volunteer: "I'm not sure what you mean..."
Ian: "You know, where the two roads meet...like where 18th meets Vine..."
Volunteer (with a rediculously confused look on her face): " oh...so wait...what is it you're asking me?"
Ian (sighing with frustration): "Where is it?"

HOW IS SOMEBODY GOING TO LOOK AT ME AND ASK ME WHAT AN INTERSECTION IS????

Ok, so now that that's done with, I finally left Union Station and headed to the jazz district armed with the map that she gave me, and it was actually pretty cool, although pretty run down. There's not too much there anymore, unfortunately, but from what I understand, it was booming with almost constant live music years ago (I swear, sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era). But while I was there, I did go to one of the two good places that were still around, the American Jazz Museum, which was really cool. By now, you've probably figured out that I'm a big fan of jazz, so this was a real treat for me. It was a pretty small museum, but they had some really cool stuff there. They had a saxaphone that was played bvy Charlie Parker at one of his most legendary shows in Montreal, they had one of Duke Ellington's suites, one of Ella Fitzgerald's dresses and glasses and one of Louis Armstrong's trumpets. It was a great experience. They also had a great Charlie Parker quote on the wall that I wrote down:

"Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." - Charlie Parker

After I left the museum, I headed up a little bit to the cultural district so I could check out what that was like. I wasn't able to see too much of that, unfortunately, because I wanted to get back and get ready to go to dinner.

Now, remember that guy that came into Lou Malnati's who gave me some tips on some places to go around Chicago? Well he also told me about this place in Kansas City that was supposed to be the best bar-b-q around. It was this place called Gates Bar-B-Q, and I went there for dinner, and it was freakin awesome. It was a pretty interesting place, too. It was set up kind of like Wendy's used to be in the 80's, except with good food. If you ever find yourself in Kansas City, you should definitely check it out. The one that I went to was on Main St, and technically it was in Missouri, and it was great, but there are like five or six of them, and I imagine all of them are more than likely the same. So remember, Gates Bar-B-Q! Check it out!

Tonight I'm heading out to hear some Kansas City Blues on Westport, which is an historic nightlife district. I'll be heading out to this place called Blayney's which has music Tuesday through Saturday, so I'm gonna head over there to see what's happenin. And tomorrow, I head to Colorado Springs, so I'll let you know how things go tonight and tomorrow! Hopefully there won't be anymore crazy car troubles...

I've got some pictures that I'll be putting up in a second post today, too, so take a look!

Also, it's been great to read your comments as I go along, too. Thanks to all of you who have been wishing me well! Keep writing me back! :-)

Love to all,

-Ian

Pictures!

2008-01-31T00:22:00.000-07:00

I tried to put these in order as close to chronological order as possible...more to come!

The Jeep the last time it'll probably ever be in Rochester...

Me and Laverne before we left :-)

I don't know if you can read this, but it says that Pennsylvania welcomed me...and it did...it really did...you can't tell, but there's a little guy beneath the sign giving out hugs haha...

I tried to come up with a joke for this because I found it really funny...unfortunately, no one else I showed the picture to did...but I put it up anyway...

This is Reshae after she gave in to the camera haha...

Would you like me to tell you your future with your sub?

A Foggy Day in Chicago Town

A specially trained, super-secret group of agents fighting their arch-nemesis: The Cruelty Society (they're still not so good at the super-secret part...)

I judge you when you use poor grammar...especially when it's two feet tall and costs as much as this ad space must have...

So apparently Reshae didn't want her picture taken...

But I don't give up that easily...I almost had the whole forehead!

But then she went right back under the pillow...

But here's a good shot of her dog, Brason

I told her this morning that I wanted just one good shot of her alone to put on my blog, but she was like no way, you're just not cool enough...so I put them all up...I showed her ;-)

Day 3 - Davenport? Isn't That a Couch or Something?

2008-01-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

Well today was an interesting day...

Remember how I was saying that nothing really goes off completely without a hitch in any of my plans? Well today was no exception.

I walked to my car this morning and it was a lovely eight degrees and sunny (God, I can't wait for San Diego...). But I packed up my car, hitched my bike to the back, said goodbye to Reshae and hit the road...

So about an hour and a half into the drive, my car starts to stutter...yep...more car problems...

So I did what anybody who knows nothing about cars would do and pulled into a gas station, filled up and checked the oil. And that's when my guessing game ran out haha. So I called my dad and we hashed out a plan, and armed with my cell phone gps, I found a Valvoline Instant Oil Change and asked them to do their thing, and they did, so now my car is running much more efficiently. But it's still stuttering.

When I noticed that the "Check Engine" light was on, so I went over to Autozone and had them check it out, and they told me that it was a problem with the spark plugs, and sent me to the shop that belongs to their old manager with some new spark plugs.

Now, one of my sayings to live by is "It's not the desitnation, it's the journey." Now, I believe this more than ever because today was really one of those days where I came across some really good people who went out of their way to help me out, and if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have made it to Kansas City at all today.

The shop that the guys over at Autozone sent me to is called Kizer Auto Service and it's in Davenport, Iowa, and it's owned by a couple named Wroy and Monica (at least I think I remember that as her name, she didn't have it sewn onto her shirt like Wroy did haha). Now, Wroy really helped me out by squeezing me in and replacing the spark plugs, and it was only a half an hour, but still, I'm sure there were tons of other things that he could've been doing. I had a great time sitting there talking to Monica.

I remember driving out of their parking lot thinking to myself that this is the point behind the road trip. Even though it's only been a few days on the road, I've seen enough people in all these different places to realize that it's amazing that there are still people around who will go out of their way for others, and are genuinely good people.

So if you find yourself in Davenport, Iowa and find yourself in need of some car service, give them a shout (563-324-8888). My car (whom I named Laverne today...I've had the damn thing for five years, I still haven't named her) has seriously never run better.

Anyway, I finally got here to Kanas City, and, outside of getting a little lost, the trip went great! Tomorrow, I'm gonna go and check out the city and see what kind of trouble I can get myself into, and I'm I hear there's some great Kansas City blues somewhere around here, so I'm gonna look around for that, too.

But, at the moment, I'm exhausted, so I'm heading to bed, so I'll be in touch tomorrow!

Love to all,

-Ian

Day 2 - My Kind of Town

2008-01-30T22:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, first a little housekeeping...the women in Chicago are amazing...they're everywhere! And georgeous, too! Tall ones, short ones (spill the wine...dig that girl! spill the wine...dig that girl! haha).

But seriously...I'm sorry I didn't get the post out yesterday, it was a pretty busy day, and there weren't too many times I could hijack Reshae's computer :-) But now I have mine, and I'm sitting here at the Best Western Inn and Conference Center in Kansas City with wireless access, so I'm gonna catch up. Tonight, I'm going to post three blogs, one about yesterday in Chicago, another about my trip here today and the last one with all the pictures from the past few days that I haven't been able to post..

So back to Chicago.

Yesterday was freakin crazy! I woke up yesterday and it was about 45 or so, so I thought it'd be a great time to bundle up and go for a run. I got about two and a half miles in (and was finally in a place where I could use my Under Armour and Duotherm base layer stuff) and I found out that going for a run in a new city is a great way to learn it! It was awesome. I loved exploring Reshae's neighborhood...there's a lot of cool stuff there!

So when I got back from my run, I changed out and looked up the restaurant that I was going to go to for my authentic Chicago deep dish pizza. I found this place called Lou Malnati's about a mile and a half away (and apparently, from what I heard, it's the best deep dish pizza in Chicago). So I walked down there, and had my pizza, and hung out with the bartender and some other dude who popped in to grab some grub. Awesome dudes who gave me some great ideas of places to go and check out...

So I decided that it'd be a good idea; but first, I had to get back to Reshae's to meet up with her after work and change and stuff. Now you know that feeling you get when you're packing for a trip or moving or whatever and you can't stop thinking that you forgot something? Well yesterday, I figured out what it was: a freakin umbrella. And I'll say, forgetting your umbrella in a place nicknamed the Windy City (and yes, I know it's not named that because of the actual wind, but it seriously should be) when it starts raining is not cool. I can't tell you how pleasant it is to be lightly kissed by 35 mile per hour raindrops...

So anyway, a little later, Reshae and I went to dinner at this place called Dublin, and one of her friends came in and had a drink with us. Then we decided to go to this place called Andy's Lounge. Now at this point it was probably around 9:30 or 9:45, and that 45 degree, great day for a run morning that I woke up to...GONE. By the time we left Dublin it was about 2 degrees with a -25 degree windchill and snowing in a way that would rival some of the worse Rochester winter days we had this year (does anybody remember Thanksgiving night? Yeah, that was tons of fun...). So needless to say we took a cab to this place.

So it was jazz night at Andy's lounge last night, and it was a great time (and Reshae, I don't care what you say, you were diggin it by the end of the night haha). It was pretty dead there, but it was still pretty cool...it was a classic old school style jazz club, that if they hadn't banned smoking in the bars and clubs, it'd feel like you were back in the days when jazz ruled (the good old days, and I can still call them that, even though I wasn't technically alive yet).

Chicago really is my kind of town. And if it weren't for that weather, I'd live there in a heartbeat; I know I haven't even scratched the surface yet. But, like I told Reshae this morning, next time I'm gonna visit in the summertime and on a weekend :-).

So remember, tonight you're getting three blogs, so keep reading!

Love to all,

-Ian

Inspiration

2008-01-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'"

-Jeremiah 29:11

Day 1- Trip to Chicago

2008-01-28T23:47:00.000-07:00

Well, it's the end of my first day, and I'm finally here in Chicago. You know, it's pretty cool; I've never been here before, and I have to say, that I didn't expect it to be as big as it is. I'm not totally sure why, but I kind of expected it to be more of a Rochester-sized city. But it's freakin huge! I'm staying with my friend Reshae, and I'm stoked to check out the city tomorrow while she's at work, and then do a little bouncing around a little bit afterwards, too (I'm gonna try and get her to check out some good old Chicago blues).

Now, anyone that knows me at all knows that nothing is done with me without some sort of complication busting up my good time. Now I rarely ever let these complications affect me, I just deal with them and move on, but this morning, I thought my goose was cooked...

I started out on my trip this morning armed with about $500 cash on hand and a credit card around 11 or so after saying goodbye to my family, and everything was starting out great. I filled up my tank and off I was. I drove down 490 W and got to the Thruway, grabbed my ticket and started on the 10 hour drive to Chicago. After about 20 minutes or so, all of a sudden I noticed the temperature gauge on the control panel skyrocket into the red...my freakin car was overheating...again (some of you may remember me having this problem back in March or so (Alyssa)). So I pulled over and let it cool down a little bit, I called my dad, and he said that I should try to get over to the Batavia exit and get to an auto parts store. So I tried that, but I had to stop and start so damn much that it took me about 45 minutes to drive the nine miles to Autozone! I had to drive a couple miles, and then stop, then drive a couple miles, then stop...it was rediculous. Then there was the State Trooper who kept pulling up behind me because apparently the Thruway Authority called him after I tried to get a hold of AAA...yeah...I could keep going, but you get the point...this morning turned into a huge production.

Now, needless to say (hopefully), I made it to the Autozone, bought some coolant, filled my radiator and everything was running smoothly, so I hit the road again.

The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly, but I'll tell you what, I've never driven with a bicycle rack on the back of my car, and it's crazy! When the sun started moving through the sky, my mind started playing tricks on me and it would look like all different things...a cowboy hat...a face...I don't even remember what else...but it was a crazy trip.

But, I finally got here, and I have an awesome parking spot like half a block from Reshae's apartment, so I think I'm just gonna leave my car there until I head out and walk around all day tomorrow.

I think I'm gonna try some authentic Chicago deep dish pizza...

Oh, and I have some pictures, too, but I may not be able to upload them until tomorrow or Wednesday, so stay posted.

Talk to ya soon!

-Ian

The Goodbyes

2008-01-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

They say that commencement is not only the beginning of one part of life, but also the end of another; and while I wasn't able to find any dictionary definitions to support this, I still like to believe it's true. Well, over the past week, I've been dealing with the conclusion of this part of my life and anticipating the next.

If you didn't know, I'm moving to San Diego. I'm starting my journey tomorrow morning (I guess technically it'd be later today, given that it's 1:30 in the morning), and will be arriving in San Diego (Lord willing) on Wednesday, February 6th.

It's funny how mixed my emotions have been about this move. I don't think I've ever handled so many different feelings bouncing around my head at once before. I'm incredibly excited about the adventure, finding my soul again, and seeing how well I can scrounge to make a new beginning (I haven't had to figure this out since I kicked my roommate out of my town house and he took all the furniture and stuff). But I can't tell you, how petrified I am to have to start over and leave the life that I've built here. I've made a lot of sacrifices over the past 10 months or so since I decided I was going to go to SCUBA school in Florida, and when that fell through, I was heartbroken. Now this opportunity is presenting itself and I know that if I pass it up, I'll never forgive myself, and all of the sacrifices that I made will have been for nothing. So, I'm leaving...finally. And I know that for some people, this move has not come fast enough; there are plenty of people who are very much looking forward to having me out of their way. But what I've been realizing, and what I've been focusing on is just how great it feels to find out how much of an impact I've made on people in Rochester. There's no greater feeling than to know that you'll be missed, especially when it comes from people you never would have expected.

As most of you know, I've been having a lot of goodbye parties and saying goodbye to a lot of friends, and it has been a blast (an intoxicating blast, but a blast none-the-less). My party at Jeremiah's on Tuesday, at Prepps on Wednesday, Temple Bar on Thursday, back to Jeremiah's on Friday and all over the damn place on Saturday. And, of course, I can't forget my girls at the Cookie Nook, the Public Market Saturday morning with Lory (she bought me tons of food :-)), my first Korean lunch with Cindy Wu on Saturday afternoon, and all the other goodbyes that I've said to people over the past week.

For all of you reading this, you've meant so much to me, and I can't tell you how grateful I am that I've gotten to be a part of your lives and you a part of mine. I'll never be able to forget any of you, and I hope to see you all again very soon.

Love to all,

Ian