Epic Journey Log Entry #9
Austin/San Marcos
After 5 nonstop days of travel and adventure, I was looking forward to relaxing in Texas. I had been once before, to stay with my friend Amanda and her family in the Valley, and enjoyed it a lot. I had decided to schedule Austin into my itinerary since one of my best friends, Naomi, had moved there a little over a year ago. With her living so far away I only see her during winter break, spring break, and once in the summer, so I was very happy to hang out with her for 3 days!
Essentially, being in San Marcos con Naomi was like being home – I felt very relaxed and at ease throughout my time there. Since she had class Thursday night and all day Friday, I just hung out and got a lot of work done on my laptop. On Thursday I did go to class with her but left in the last half since they were going to watch a movie and I needed to get some e-mailing done. It was my first Student Affairs grad class to sit in on (in Chicago I sat in on a Public Administration class at DePaul University) and it went as I kind of expected a Student Affairs grad course to be.
(Side note: For those who are unfamiliar with this graduate program, Student Affairs aka High Education Administration aka College Student Personal is a program that educates and trains future higher education administrators who special in Student Affairs/Student Life at Universities. These professionals serve as Residence Hall Directors, Career Counselors, Dean of Students, etc. It’s a career that I am highly interested in but, unfortunately, not at this point sure if I want to pursue it as a career).
From there we got dinner at this Mexican place that had this delectable spinach and cheese enchilada (spinach is my veggie of choice as of late) and then we headed back and hung out.
In the morning I got *quite* the rude wake-up call.
Bleary eyed I turned my head, looked at my right shoulder and SCREAMED.
There, just hanging out was the BIGGEST CRICKET I HAVE EVER SEEN!
I brushed him off with a burst of energy (scratching myself in my over-extended must-destroy-at-all-costs efforts) and tried to leap out of bed…but since it was an air mattress I just slid off in an ungraceful heap, gaining painfully throbbing chalie horse at the same time.
So yes. Do not underestimate the much talked about motto that ‘everything is bigger than Texas’. Because it is. Also, I learned the value of another motto- ‘do not mess with Texas’…because they will send mutant crickets after you.
Naomi and I later in the evening did a very Naomi-style outing – to the Victoria’s Secret Outlet store ;) That was fun and then we had pretty tasty thai (I say pretty only because my previous thai was in the Seattle) and then hung out later that night with some friends of hers.
Later the next day we didn’t do a whole bunch besides hang out and eat at the famous Whataburger, which is a much-beloved Texas fast-food chain that I had during my previous trip to Texas. I’m going to be honest….even though Texans may hate me….but after eating it this time, while it was *very* tasty* it wasn’t much different from any other fast-food chain in Ohio. The fries are like McDs, except much less salty (which is good!) , the burger was similar to Wendy’s, while the strawberry shake tasted just like Burger King’s. So perhaps it is the best of all 3 worlds? ;)
Here's my meal:
http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z357/Nix_BGSU/SDC10611.jpg
Interesting observation about Texas: Texans *love* Texas. Here are some examples based on observations and discussions with Texans during my trip (and I have tons of good friends from TX):
- A couple guys said they don’t like country – unless it is from Texas. Then it’s okay.
- The Texas flag *almost* flies higher than the American flag at some stores. The USA flag is higher, but just barely.
Well…alright, those are not many examples but I can’t quite remember any more…but I know more exist!
Overall, I loved my Texas time con Naomi and Austin is still on my list of ‘Places I Would Like Living In’ :)
Monday, September 20, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Epic Journey Log Entry #8 -----Long Beach/Orange County
Epic Journey Log Entry #8
Long Beach/Orange County
From Alex’s we drove by ‘Dexter’s house’, which was the exterior filming site of the main character in the TV show Dexter, which is a Showtime show.
Then we proceeded to an event that almost surpasses Alex’s Bar in coolness.
We headed to Orange County where we had a 15-person meal at Liz’s (the Couchsurfing Ambassador of Orange County) apartment. Almost everyone did couchsurfing and there were locals plus 2 girls from the UK, 1 guy from Turkey, 1 guy from Spain, and 2 girls from Germany. The guy from Madrid, Spain was Eduardo and he made us *real* Spanish food.
It’s been 4 years since I lived in Spain and for 4 years I have been craving tortilla Espanola (because it is real hard to find Spanish food in the states, besides paella).
As luck would have it, he made a delicious tortilla Espanola, plus the tuna meal that I remember my host mom (Ana Cabo) making, a delicious roasted chicken, and rice.
YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM!
I sat next to Eduardo and it was cool to listen to his experiences in the states and just to talk to another Spaniard again.
Although I had the best time talking to the girls from the UK – one (Fiona) was from Manchester and I forget where the other girl was from. They’ve been in the states for a year because they came here for internships in NYC and have been living in New Jersey. We just had a great discussion, which one of the German girls joined us for as well. We discussed bits & pieces of the following:
***How Europe is becoming slightly more conservative, due to the current British and German leadership who are from the conservative parties.
***How Europeans were so happy that Obama got elected because they have friends (the UK girls) serving in Afghanistan and it really is up to the American leadership how that war is handle and it was frustrating to not be able to have a say in that election. This gave me some insight and understanding into part of why foreigners really did show a lot of interest in the 2008 election. I mean, how awful would it be if you had loved ones in a war and you really didn’t have a say in how it was handled because you didn’t have a vote? Sure, they can vote for their PMs (Members of Parliament) but due to the ‘special relationship’ the UK is going to always back the US.
***The UK girls don’t think that Obama is really interested in having strong relations with the UK but they seemed fine with that – in fact, they really think that Obama is going to positively change the world.
***The German girl thought that people were too hard on Obama and expect too much of him, since he is only one man. I talked about how he is just one man but in my opinion the Democrats in Congress did not have the cojones to seize their moment and really implement change, and now they are definitely not in a position for sweeping reform as they originally were.
***We talked about scientology because Germany has it banned because it’s a cult, and me and the one UK girl talked about the excellent South Park episode that explained it and we tried explaining the concept to Fiona, the other UK girl. We also briefly discussed Mormonism and then the inherent reality that *all* religions are mythology – it just depends on the personal beliefs of a person. That came about because the story behind Mormonism (also featured on South Park!) is pretty ridiculous…but the same can be interpreted about every other religion. It was good food for thought.
***I asked the UK girls what they preferred being called- ‘English’ or ‘British’ because I hear both descriptions get used. The one said English (although technically Jamaican-English since her dad is from there) but Fiona said British because her dad is Irish and that combines both nationalities.
The night lasted until about 1am until finally we headed back. I only listed brief conversation topics above, but the night was most excellent and full of good conversation!!
In the morning Suzie made me a DELICIOUS tomato omelet (I mean, how nice is that?!) and it was also the first omelet I ever had (which is silly, I know, but now I love them!). By the time she drove me to the airport I realized that it was a little bittersweet to be leaving because Suzie and Chris were such excellent hosts and I got along with them both really well. Luckily, Suzie gave me an open invitation to stay anytime again!
Long Beach/Orange County
From Alex’s we drove by ‘Dexter’s house’, which was the exterior filming site of the main character in the TV show Dexter, which is a Showtime show.
Then we proceeded to an event that almost surpasses Alex’s Bar in coolness.
We headed to Orange County where we had a 15-person meal at Liz’s (the Couchsurfing Ambassador of Orange County) apartment. Almost everyone did couchsurfing and there were locals plus 2 girls from the UK, 1 guy from Turkey, 1 guy from Spain, and 2 girls from Germany. The guy from Madrid, Spain was Eduardo and he made us *real* Spanish food.
It’s been 4 years since I lived in Spain and for 4 years I have been craving tortilla Espanola (because it is real hard to find Spanish food in the states, besides paella).
As luck would have it, he made a delicious tortilla Espanola, plus the tuna meal that I remember my host mom (Ana Cabo) making, a delicious roasted chicken, and rice.
YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM!
I sat next to Eduardo and it was cool to listen to his experiences in the states and just to talk to another Spaniard again.
Although I had the best time talking to the girls from the UK – one (Fiona) was from Manchester and I forget where the other girl was from. They’ve been in the states for a year because they came here for internships in NYC and have been living in New Jersey. We just had a great discussion, which one of the German girls joined us for as well. We discussed bits & pieces of the following:
***How Europe is becoming slightly more conservative, due to the current British and German leadership who are from the conservative parties.
***How Europeans were so happy that Obama got elected because they have friends (the UK girls) serving in Afghanistan and it really is up to the American leadership how that war is handle and it was frustrating to not be able to have a say in that election. This gave me some insight and understanding into part of why foreigners really did show a lot of interest in the 2008 election. I mean, how awful would it be if you had loved ones in a war and you really didn’t have a say in how it was handled because you didn’t have a vote? Sure, they can vote for their PMs (Members of Parliament) but due to the ‘special relationship’ the UK is going to always back the US.
***The UK girls don’t think that Obama is really interested in having strong relations with the UK but they seemed fine with that – in fact, they really think that Obama is going to positively change the world.
***The German girl thought that people were too hard on Obama and expect too much of him, since he is only one man. I talked about how he is just one man but in my opinion the Democrats in Congress did not have the cojones to seize their moment and really implement change, and now they are definitely not in a position for sweeping reform as they originally were.
***We talked about scientology because Germany has it banned because it’s a cult, and me and the one UK girl talked about the excellent South Park episode that explained it and we tried explaining the concept to Fiona, the other UK girl. We also briefly discussed Mormonism and then the inherent reality that *all* religions are mythology – it just depends on the personal beliefs of a person. That came about because the story behind Mormonism (also featured on South Park!) is pretty ridiculous…but the same can be interpreted about every other religion. It was good food for thought.
***I asked the UK girls what they preferred being called- ‘English’ or ‘British’ because I hear both descriptions get used. The one said English (although technically Jamaican-English since her dad is from there) but Fiona said British because her dad is Irish and that combines both nationalities.
The night lasted until about 1am until finally we headed back. I only listed brief conversation topics above, but the night was most excellent and full of good conversation!!
In the morning Suzie made me a DELICIOUS tomato omelet (I mean, how nice is that?!) and it was also the first omelet I ever had (which is silly, I know, but now I love them!). By the time she drove me to the airport I realized that it was a little bittersweet to be leaving because Suzie and Chris were such excellent hosts and I got along with them both really well. Luckily, Suzie gave me an open invitation to stay anytime again!
Epic Journey Log Entry #8--- Long Beach/Alex’s Bar
Epic Journey Log Entry #8
Long Beach/Alex’s Bar
From there we picked up a friend of Suzie’s (Michelle) who we happened to drive by at the same time. Michelle has an internet radio show and it was obvious that she was well-suited for that job – she was bubbly, talkative, and kinda crazy (in a good way).
Then the 3 of us headed to Alex’s Bar aka Fangtasia.
*swoon*
We spent 2 hours there talking to Matt, this bartender who’s originally from Michigan, and the manager of the bar, who is also the mother of the owner.
So.Much.Fun.
We were the only ones there, since we got there at 5pm, and it was like we owned the joint. They let me go behind the bar and take pictures, Matt turned on the stage lights so I got to take pictures up there (aka the location of Eric’s Sherriff throne in the show), and I took pictures of *everything* in the place.
During those 2 hours I learned a lot about Long Beach, Hollywood, and True Blood. Instead of a narrative format, I’ll just list everything:
***True Blood shot both the interior and exterior of Seasons 1 and 2 @ Alex’s Bar, plus the exterior scenes in Season 3.
***TB recreated the interior on a set for Season 3, which is actually sucky for Alex’s Bar because the bar gets *nothing* for them designing their set like that. If you think about it, if you use a person’s face for an ad or something, they get money for you using their likeness – not the case for locations (and the bar even told them where they got all their art, all the way down to the paint shade/numbers!
***The manager yelled at Lafayette once because he was in the back room flicking the light switches (bored??) while they were trying to work on tax stuff…Apparently he looked very sheepish at that.
***This is nasty…So the stars all have their own trailers but for some reason Anna Paquin decided to use the office bathroom…which is always dirty and the previous occupant left a horrible smell…she came out looking disgusted and gave one of the bartenders an incredulous look, and he was like “It wasn’t me, I swear!” haha
***The woman who plays Nan Flanagan is even more emaciated in real life than on TV – she really does look like a corpse, which is probably how she got a vampire role! The manager also mentioned to someone that the actress was from a soap opera, and the woman heard and gave her a dirty look; supposedly not wanting to be associated with that soap opera anymore.
***Matt the bartender said that Aleksander Skarsgard aka Eric the vampire is a bad actor – or at least in one of the scenes that he was watching the guy kept flubbing his line and apparently Matt heckled him.
***That same actor who plays Eric is also the nicest cast member. Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer aka Sookie and Bill kinda kept to themselves.
***Alex’s Bar got chosen because there is this internet database where houses/businesses can post pictures and descriptions so TV/movie people can scroll through and find locations.
***Now that Alex’s has such a well-known interior, Alex the owner wants to change the interior and create more of a classic 50s look – because no other shows/movies will want to shoot in a bar that looks like another show.
***The Tenacious D movie also got filmed there and the manager said that group was a lot warmer than the TB group and they were super friendly.
***Green Day did a secret show (aka no one knows until the day of) here 2 years ago. Matt said that Tre Cool was very cool and when the bartenders threw empty beer cardboard boxes into the back, Tre stacked them up and then would just jump onto them! Haha.
***Matt knows somebody who knows the woman who plays Flo, the Progressive spokeswoman, and apparently she’s crazy rich from all of those commercials!
***Long Beach has a large gay population and apparently Alex now wishes he had started a gay bar instead, because all the officials back off of the gay bars/events because they don’t ever want anyone to say they are discriminating against them,
***Long Beach has a biking community, unlike LA where people don’t do a lot of walking or anything, because parking is so scarce.
***Long Beach is apparently really welcoming of anyone regarding sexual orientation, race, etc, and overall is pretty chill.
Long Beach/Alex’s Bar
From there we picked up a friend of Suzie’s (Michelle) who we happened to drive by at the same time. Michelle has an internet radio show and it was obvious that she was well-suited for that job – she was bubbly, talkative, and kinda crazy (in a good way).
Then the 3 of us headed to Alex’s Bar aka Fangtasia.
*swoon*
We spent 2 hours there talking to Matt, this bartender who’s originally from Michigan, and the manager of the bar, who is also the mother of the owner.
So.Much.Fun.
We were the only ones there, since we got there at 5pm, and it was like we owned the joint. They let me go behind the bar and take pictures, Matt turned on the stage lights so I got to take pictures up there (aka the location of Eric’s Sherriff throne in the show), and I took pictures of *everything* in the place.
During those 2 hours I learned a lot about Long Beach, Hollywood, and True Blood. Instead of a narrative format, I’ll just list everything:
***True Blood shot both the interior and exterior of Seasons 1 and 2 @ Alex’s Bar, plus the exterior scenes in Season 3.
***TB recreated the interior on a set for Season 3, which is actually sucky for Alex’s Bar because the bar gets *nothing* for them designing their set like that. If you think about it, if you use a person’s face for an ad or something, they get money for you using their likeness – not the case for locations (and the bar even told them where they got all their art, all the way down to the paint shade/numbers!
***The manager yelled at Lafayette once because he was in the back room flicking the light switches (bored??) while they were trying to work on tax stuff…Apparently he looked very sheepish at that.
***This is nasty…So the stars all have their own trailers but for some reason Anna Paquin decided to use the office bathroom…which is always dirty and the previous occupant left a horrible smell…she came out looking disgusted and gave one of the bartenders an incredulous look, and he was like “It wasn’t me, I swear!” haha
***The woman who plays Nan Flanagan is even more emaciated in real life than on TV – she really does look like a corpse, which is probably how she got a vampire role! The manager also mentioned to someone that the actress was from a soap opera, and the woman heard and gave her a dirty look; supposedly not wanting to be associated with that soap opera anymore.
***Matt the bartender said that Aleksander Skarsgard aka Eric the vampire is a bad actor – or at least in one of the scenes that he was watching the guy kept flubbing his line and apparently Matt heckled him.
***That same actor who plays Eric is also the nicest cast member. Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer aka Sookie and Bill kinda kept to themselves.
***Alex’s Bar got chosen because there is this internet database where houses/businesses can post pictures and descriptions so TV/movie people can scroll through and find locations.
***Now that Alex’s has such a well-known interior, Alex the owner wants to change the interior and create more of a classic 50s look – because no other shows/movies will want to shoot in a bar that looks like another show.
***The Tenacious D movie also got filmed there and the manager said that group was a lot warmer than the TB group and they were super friendly.
***Green Day did a secret show (aka no one knows until the day of) here 2 years ago. Matt said that Tre Cool was very cool and when the bartenders threw empty beer cardboard boxes into the back, Tre stacked them up and then would just jump onto them! Haha.
***Matt knows somebody who knows the woman who plays Flo, the Progressive spokeswoman, and apparently she’s crazy rich from all of those commercials!
***Long Beach has a large gay population and apparently Alex now wishes he had started a gay bar instead, because all the officials back off of the gay bars/events because they don’t ever want anyone to say they are discriminating against them,
***Long Beach has a biking community, unlike LA where people don’t do a lot of walking or anything, because parking is so scarce.
***Long Beach is apparently really welcoming of anyone regarding sexual orientation, race, etc, and overall is pretty chill.
Epic Journey Log Entry #7---Long Beach/Arrival
Epic Journey Log Entry #7
Long Beach/Arrival
jetBlue has 3 hubs – Boston, NYC, and Long Beach – and to get *anywhere* you must fly through one of those. Since I wanted to fly into Austin for the weekend to stay with my friend Naomi and had to fly out of Long Beach anyways, I decided to do a 1-night stay there.
And I am so glad I did.
When I flew in I wasn’t really sure what to expect or what exactly I was going to do. When I landed at 1:00pm I was at first taken aback by how tiny the airport was. You think the Toledo airport is small? HA! Fly into Long Beach! I was crazy surprised that it was the major West Coast hub for jetBlue – only 4 gates and when you board/leave the plane you get off outside and have to walk outside!
Chris, this girl who’s originally from Strongsville (near Cleveland) picked me up – which I was incredibly thankful for because Cali has weak public transportation since *everyone* and their momma drives. She had to run some errands real quick but we did stop at a taqueria where I got asada and lengua tacos – gotta love *real* Mexican food in California! The asada was great, but the lengua (cow tongue) was ‘eh’ – it wasn’t really seasoned so didn’t have much of a taste.
Then something unexpected happened.
Chris pulled into a parking lot that was cracked and light-weight shady looking with a dilapidated building that stood ominously before us, and said, “Do you know where we are?”
I looked around and suddenly felt apprehensive because the area *really* didn’t seem very legit. Since I had just met Chris for the first time that day my second thought (preceded by ‘huh?’) was ‘Oh god, I wonder if this is the part where she turns into an ax murderer like everyone warned me about and I’m going to die in Long Beach!’
Of course, I didn’t say that out loud.
Instead, I said, “Um, no…should I?” while I kept my eyes on her hands, just – ya know – seeing if she reaches for a giant butcher knife/ax/ninja star.
She gestured towards the red covering that hung over a door. “We’re at Fangtasia!”
OH.MY.GOD.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Let’s backtrack, Gentle Readers. I knew that Chris and her roommate Suzie lived a couple miles from the bar where they filmed the Fangasia bar scenes but for the life of me just did not recognize it/expect that she would take me there. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Fangtasia, it is the ‘vampire bar’ in the TV show ‘True Blood’ that just aired its 3rd season on HBO. It’s one of my favorite shows and is adapted from one of my favorite book series.
Needless to say, I was fairly ecstatic.
The bar, which is named ‘Alex’s Bar’ was closed so we couldn’t go inside, but Chris got me to recreate a death scene by one of my favorite characters, Eric, who fell right in that parking lot. I laid in the same-ish spot and got my picture taken :)
After that highlight we headed back to their apartment which was an adorable place set right by the beach. Chris and Suzie are a bit older, early to mid-thirties, so they had a very nicely decorated apartment that even had a balcony. Chris had to go to bed (she’s a nurse with a 7pm-7am shift) so I met Suzie, who is an incredibly awesome person.
Suzie took me out and we embarked on an excellent Long Beach/Orange County adventure. First up, we headed to the beach so I could see the Pacific Ocean for the first time! It was nice, but sadly Long Beach does not have very nice beaches unless you go farther South. Due to the refineries and the fact that Long Beach’s port is the 5th busiest in America, the water isn’t that clean and Chris said it has an oily feeling to it. Plus, it was kind of cold!! The area was very breezy and sadly not the kind of weather that would make me want to lay out.
However, I did see something neat. Apparently a recent trend that is big in Long Beach is ‘kite surfing’. Basically, you surf while wearing a harness that is attached to a giant kite. Sounds silly/crazy/weird but it was cool to watch and it definitely made for a brightly colored beach with all the kites flying!
Long Beach/Arrival
jetBlue has 3 hubs – Boston, NYC, and Long Beach – and to get *anywhere* you must fly through one of those. Since I wanted to fly into Austin for the weekend to stay with my friend Naomi and had to fly out of Long Beach anyways, I decided to do a 1-night stay there.
And I am so glad I did.
When I flew in I wasn’t really sure what to expect or what exactly I was going to do. When I landed at 1:00pm I was at first taken aback by how tiny the airport was. You think the Toledo airport is small? HA! Fly into Long Beach! I was crazy surprised that it was the major West Coast hub for jetBlue – only 4 gates and when you board/leave the plane you get off outside and have to walk outside!
Chris, this girl who’s originally from Strongsville (near Cleveland) picked me up – which I was incredibly thankful for because Cali has weak public transportation since *everyone* and their momma drives. She had to run some errands real quick but we did stop at a taqueria where I got asada and lengua tacos – gotta love *real* Mexican food in California! The asada was great, but the lengua (cow tongue) was ‘eh’ – it wasn’t really seasoned so didn’t have much of a taste.
Then something unexpected happened.
Chris pulled into a parking lot that was cracked and light-weight shady looking with a dilapidated building that stood ominously before us, and said, “Do you know where we are?”
I looked around and suddenly felt apprehensive because the area *really* didn’t seem very legit. Since I had just met Chris for the first time that day my second thought (preceded by ‘huh?’) was ‘Oh god, I wonder if this is the part where she turns into an ax murderer like everyone warned me about and I’m going to die in Long Beach!’
Of course, I didn’t say that out loud.
Instead, I said, “Um, no…should I?” while I kept my eyes on her hands, just – ya know – seeing if she reaches for a giant butcher knife/ax/ninja star.
She gestured towards the red covering that hung over a door. “We’re at Fangtasia!”
OH.MY.GOD.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Let’s backtrack, Gentle Readers. I knew that Chris and her roommate Suzie lived a couple miles from the bar where they filmed the Fangasia bar scenes but for the life of me just did not recognize it/expect that she would take me there. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Fangtasia, it is the ‘vampire bar’ in the TV show ‘True Blood’ that just aired its 3rd season on HBO. It’s one of my favorite shows and is adapted from one of my favorite book series.
Needless to say, I was fairly ecstatic.
The bar, which is named ‘Alex’s Bar’ was closed so we couldn’t go inside, but Chris got me to recreate a death scene by one of my favorite characters, Eric, who fell right in that parking lot. I laid in the same-ish spot and got my picture taken :)
After that highlight we headed back to their apartment which was an adorable place set right by the beach. Chris and Suzie are a bit older, early to mid-thirties, so they had a very nicely decorated apartment that even had a balcony. Chris had to go to bed (she’s a nurse with a 7pm-7am shift) so I met Suzie, who is an incredibly awesome person.
Suzie took me out and we embarked on an excellent Long Beach/Orange County adventure. First up, we headed to the beach so I could see the Pacific Ocean for the first time! It was nice, but sadly Long Beach does not have very nice beaches unless you go farther South. Due to the refineries and the fact that Long Beach’s port is the 5th busiest in America, the water isn’t that clean and Chris said it has an oily feeling to it. Plus, it was kind of cold!! The area was very breezy and sadly not the kind of weather that would make me want to lay out.
However, I did see something neat. Apparently a recent trend that is big in Long Beach is ‘kite surfing’. Basically, you surf while wearing a harness that is attached to a giant kite. Sounds silly/crazy/weird but it was cool to watch and it definitely made for a brightly colored beach with all the kites flying!
Epic Journey Log Entry #6 ----Seattle/Downtown travels
Epic Journey Log Entry #6
Seattle/Downtown travels
Ugh, I’m tired….Basically this is what I saw in Seattle:
-International District: Uwajiyama (sp?) which is a HUGE Asian supermarket and I got some smoked salmon sushi
-Pike Place Market: Oh my gosh! This was AWESOME! I recorded a video of the fish-throwing guys, bought some natural-no preservatives apple chips and dried mango slices, tried King Salmon at the fish-thrower guy’s spot, saw the infamous gum wall, saw the First Starbucks (but it was crazy busy so I didn’t order anything), hung out at the park next to the market and ate my fruit, meandered through countless bohemian.international/afghani/asian shops, and tried various foods in the market.
-Rode the monorail to the Seattle Center (home to the Space Needle and back). Really not as cool as you think, but I wanted to check that ‘touristy’ thing off my list.
-Ate some gelato by Pike Place and ate at a Thai restaurant where I had curry and pad thai – it was my first time eating pad thai and I LOVED IT!
-Saw a store dedicated to maps and globes – I fell in love with it and sooo wish we had something like that in Toledo!
-Went up in the tallest building, ran into the Starbucks on the 40th floor right before they closed, and took aerial photos of the city.
- And that was mostly it…….The buses were confusing, I had to waste 2 hours to ride to pick up my laptop and ride back downtown, and just ran out of time. Mind you, I had fabulous time but I definitely needed anther day! Part of what makes it hard is being a girl traveling solo – I would head back each night at 7pm so I could get home right at dark; I just don’t like traveling at night in unknown areas.
-Overall it was a GORGEOUS CITY and I got to see Mt. Rainier when I would take the bus downtown (plus I saw it when I left) and the plethora of Evergreen trees created a lovely green landscape, plus I got lucky with the weather – sunshine both days!
Seattle/Downtown travels
Ugh, I’m tired….Basically this is what I saw in Seattle:
-International District: Uwajiyama (sp?) which is a HUGE Asian supermarket and I got some smoked salmon sushi
-Pike Place Market: Oh my gosh! This was AWESOME! I recorded a video of the fish-throwing guys, bought some natural-no preservatives apple chips and dried mango slices, tried King Salmon at the fish-thrower guy’s spot, saw the infamous gum wall, saw the First Starbucks (but it was crazy busy so I didn’t order anything), hung out at the park next to the market and ate my fruit, meandered through countless bohemian.international/afghani/asian shops, and tried various foods in the market.
-Rode the monorail to the Seattle Center (home to the Space Needle and back). Really not as cool as you think, but I wanted to check that ‘touristy’ thing off my list.
-Ate some gelato by Pike Place and ate at a Thai restaurant where I had curry and pad thai – it was my first time eating pad thai and I LOVED IT!
-Saw a store dedicated to maps and globes – I fell in love with it and sooo wish we had something like that in Toledo!
-Went up in the tallest building, ran into the Starbucks on the 40th floor right before they closed, and took aerial photos of the city.
- And that was mostly it…….The buses were confusing, I had to waste 2 hours to ride to pick up my laptop and ride back downtown, and just ran out of time. Mind you, I had fabulous time but I definitely needed anther day! Part of what makes it hard is being a girl traveling solo – I would head back each night at 7pm so I could get home right at dark; I just don’t like traveling at night in unknown areas.
-Overall it was a GORGEOUS CITY and I got to see Mt. Rainier when I would take the bus downtown (plus I saw it when I left) and the plethora of Evergreen trees created a lovely green landscape, plus I got lucky with the weather – sunshine both days!
Epic Journey Log Entry #5 ---Seattle/Arrival
Epic Journey Log Entry #5
Seattle/Arrival
On Monday I arrived in Seattle – pleasantly surprised by the lack of rain and the sun that greeted me!
Upon entering the Sea-Tac airport, I took their light-rail system (LINK) to Pioneer Square and then boarded bus #358…which for some reason my sometimes-dyslexic mind kept thinking was #385 – which really confused people when I asked for directions!
Thanks to Julio, I had an idea of things to do in Seattle (since he lived there for a year until last year). He did tell me that people weren’t exactly the friendliest there, but I seemed to get fairly lucky with people (although living there might be different).
Right away at the bus stop I struck up a conversation with a guy who had just moved there 3 months ago from Chicago. It was pretty cool to talk to another Midwesterner and right before he got off the bus he gave me one of his bus tickets so I didn’t have to pay the $2 fare!
Once I arrived at my stop in Shoreline I went to the computer repair shop that was right next door because (I was very sad about this) my computer got infected with an extremely bad case of spyware the night before! I was extremely frustrated by it and had no choice but to pay for it to get fixed because I needed my laptop for work. However, on the plus side, I’ll be able to write off the expense since I’m an independent contractor at my work.
In Shoreline, which is north of Seattle and an hour-long bus ride from downtown, I arrived at Dayna’s house (she was my couchsurfing host) and she was also hosting a girl named Jessica from Monterrey, Mexico! Dayna was on her way out to a concert so I talked to Jessica a little bit. Since she knew I lived in Spain briefly, she asked if I spoke Spanish and I was pretty embarrassed by how bad my Spanish is now.
I can read and write it okay, but my ear for it has *never* been good and now since I never practice I don’t speak very well either. Note to self: I *must* practice mi espanol mucho mas!!!
So I departed and left for the International District (formerly just called Chinatown but the influx of other Asian nationalities required a more general name). Of course, I didn’t get to see much because it was getting dark, I was alone, and the ID plus Pioneer Square (right next to the ID and where my bus stop was) seemed like it was kind of shady.
Seattle, unfortunately, has a pretty big (it seemed to me) homeless population and while generally homeless dudes are harmless, I didn’t want to take any chances.
When I got back to the suburbs, Shoreline, I stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant near my host’s house and had some awesome Kung Poa Chicken and fell in love with the way that Vietnamese restaurants make their spring rolls – they are wrapped in something clear (seaweed? I forget) and aren’t fried like in Chinese restaurants.
By the time I arrived there was yet another girl who had arrived that would be staying with us (Danielle from Rhode Island via Texas via many other states). She was *real* cool and definitely had an aura of positivity shining above her. She was stopping by in Seattle on her way to the farthest tip of Washington to work on an organic farm that was going to help prepare her for her upcoming Peace Corps assignment in February in sub-Saharan Africa.
Then Steve, one of Dayna’s housemates showed up with his friend Kim and they took us out to a local place to hang out and get out of the house while we waited for Dayna to come back for her concert. So the 5 of us (Danielle, Jessica, me, Steve, Kim) had a great time talking and getting to know each other – it was a very good way to end the night.
Seattle/Arrival
On Monday I arrived in Seattle – pleasantly surprised by the lack of rain and the sun that greeted me!
Upon entering the Sea-Tac airport, I took their light-rail system (LINK) to Pioneer Square and then boarded bus #358…which for some reason my sometimes-dyslexic mind kept thinking was #385 – which really confused people when I asked for directions!
Thanks to Julio, I had an idea of things to do in Seattle (since he lived there for a year until last year). He did tell me that people weren’t exactly the friendliest there, but I seemed to get fairly lucky with people (although living there might be different).
Right away at the bus stop I struck up a conversation with a guy who had just moved there 3 months ago from Chicago. It was pretty cool to talk to another Midwesterner and right before he got off the bus he gave me one of his bus tickets so I didn’t have to pay the $2 fare!
Once I arrived at my stop in Shoreline I went to the computer repair shop that was right next door because (I was very sad about this) my computer got infected with an extremely bad case of spyware the night before! I was extremely frustrated by it and had no choice but to pay for it to get fixed because I needed my laptop for work. However, on the plus side, I’ll be able to write off the expense since I’m an independent contractor at my work.
In Shoreline, which is north of Seattle and an hour-long bus ride from downtown, I arrived at Dayna’s house (she was my couchsurfing host) and she was also hosting a girl named Jessica from Monterrey, Mexico! Dayna was on her way out to a concert so I talked to Jessica a little bit. Since she knew I lived in Spain briefly, she asked if I spoke Spanish and I was pretty embarrassed by how bad my Spanish is now.
I can read and write it okay, but my ear for it has *never* been good and now since I never practice I don’t speak very well either. Note to self: I *must* practice mi espanol mucho mas!!!
So I departed and left for the International District (formerly just called Chinatown but the influx of other Asian nationalities required a more general name). Of course, I didn’t get to see much because it was getting dark, I was alone, and the ID plus Pioneer Square (right next to the ID and where my bus stop was) seemed like it was kind of shady.
Seattle, unfortunately, has a pretty big (it seemed to me) homeless population and while generally homeless dudes are harmless, I didn’t want to take any chances.
When I got back to the suburbs, Shoreline, I stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant near my host’s house and had some awesome Kung Poa Chicken and fell in love with the way that Vietnamese restaurants make their spring rolls – they are wrapped in something clear (seaweed? I forget) and aren’t fried like in Chinese restaurants.
By the time I arrived there was yet another girl who had arrived that would be staying with us (Danielle from Rhode Island via Texas via many other states). She was *real* cool and definitely had an aura of positivity shining above her. She was stopping by in Seattle on her way to the farthest tip of Washington to work on an organic farm that was going to help prepare her for her upcoming Peace Corps assignment in February in sub-Saharan Africa.
Then Steve, one of Dayna’s housemates showed up with his friend Kim and they took us out to a local place to hang out and get out of the house while we waited for Dayna to come back for her concert. So the 5 of us (Danielle, Jessica, me, Steve, Kim) had a great time talking and getting to know each other – it was a very good way to end the night.
Epic Journey Log Entry #4 -----Miami, South Miami Beach, West Palm Beach, West Palm
Epic Journey Log Entry #4
Miami, South Miami Beach, West Palm Beach, West Palm
After the Hollywood Boardwalk experience (which was also my first beach boardwalk experience and the first time I ate a Turkish doner kabob since my Spain days!), Julio and I set out for Miami the next day.
People who know me, know that I love other cultures with a passion – I really must have had past lives in every single country because even I don’t quite understand where my love of submerging myself in other cultures come from.
In particular, partly thanks to my BGSU ‘familia’ and years in the Latino Student Union, I love Latina cultura more than any other. It’s not any one thing, really, but more so a combination of my love for la musica, dance, language, and people.
Henceforth, our first stop – after a yummy ham & eggs breakfast that Julio made (I never put ham in my eggs before and now I love it!) – was CALLE OCHO which is the main drag of Little Havana in Miami. Ay de mi, it was great.
First we went to a fruit stand that made smoothies from FRESH FRUIT. En serio, I will never enjoy a standardized smoothie with just lame-o fruit juice EVER again. I had a mango smoothie and, ay!, you could taste the real fruit. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Plus, it was only $3 for a large amount! Try finding that at a mall food court!
There was an great mini-park that had an ancient tree with roots that were raised out of the great and encircled a large area in a convoluted way that created great resting places. It was here that we drank our smoothies and observed the surroundings…which included chickens and baby chicks walkin’ around like they owned the place.
And no, I’m not kidding.
But you know what was weirder than the chickens running around? We found a small ANIMAL SKULL and various BONES in the dirt surrounding the tree.
…yeah…I have *no* explanation for that! Very creepy!
It really felt like another world there but soon we began continuing our adventures. We drove to South Beach where I saw the Atlantic Ocean under bright sunshine for the first time! Gorgeous, simply gorgeous. We took some pictures on the beach and walked barefoot for a while. Amazingly, since tourist season was over, the beach wasn’t crowded at all,
Then we walked around for a bit and hydrated ourselves at a Burger King. Now, mind you, we got some delicious caffeinated beverages, but I was surprised to see that this particular Burger King, 2 blocks from the beach, served beer! It was fairly amusing :)
Then something not so good happened…my purse strap broke! I had bought the purse at Wal-Mart specifically for this trip because it had a zipper and was long enough to wear over my shoulder (aka it prevents purse-snatching and pick-pocketing better than most). I mean, YES, Wal-Mart is the devil and you can’t trust anything from there but I never expected it to break on my 2nd day of wearing it!! And it’s not like I snatched a sea turtle from the beach and stuffed it in there! Grr, it was very frustrating.
From there we went to West Palm Beach’s outdoor mall to meet with one of my friend’s that I hadn’t seen in over a year – Stephanie. We met through a community organizing training and she is seriously only of the sweetest and funnest people I know so I was thrilled to see her again. We ate lunch at the B.B. King restaurant where I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich (one of my recent favorite things!) and Steph and I caught up. Also, it was cool that I had lunch with both Julio and Stephanie because they had never met (both fairly recently moved to the area) so they got to make friends! I was pretty happy with that – I love it when my friends befriend each other!
Wanting to see some more of South Florida, Stephanie drove us through West Palm Beach to Palm Beach. Yes, there is a distinction. PB is where the uppity millionaires live – and unfortunately has a dark past. Steph is a community organizer in the area and was told (plus, she later verified this) that the almost-patron-saint of Florida (name escapes me) enacted cruel policies to form the neighborhoods of the area. In the 1800s PB was an African-American neighborhood but he saw it as the perfect location for high-scale real estate. Once he realized that no one was moving, he invited all the folks in the area to a party at his estate.
Sounds pretty nice, huh?
…Nope.
While everyone was gone the neighborhood was razed to the ground thanks to arsonists.
I’m not sure of the further details, but I plan on googling them at some point.
Besides its dark history, PB was beautiful location and the three of us had a photo shoot (inspired by a rather unattractive and vapid Floridian male who was posing on the beach). After that we went back to WPB and stopped by a Cuban place that Stephanie enjoys to have another mango smoothie (really, I’m kind of obsessed now!) and I got a rellena de papa, which is fried dough with seasoned meat inside. It’s a fritura and popular in Cuban/Puerto Rican culture – and something that I am also obsessed with! It always pains my heart that NW Ohio has a decent-sized Mexican population but not enough folks from the Caribbean to run a store to sell me delicious frituras!
After our tasty treats, we went out separate ways and Julio took me back to his casa. Since he had to leave for Orlando that night for work, he was kind enough to leave me his key so I could take a taxi 3-miles to the Tri-Rail and then the Tri-Rail would take me to the airport..
Honestly, once we were all done I could not believe that I had experienced so much of south Florida in such a short span of time – 24 hours! Julio was the BEST host a person could ever have – incredibly thoughtful and giving, he really made my time there absolutely wonderful. I’m incredibly thankful that he hosted me
Miami, South Miami Beach, West Palm Beach, West Palm
After the Hollywood Boardwalk experience (which was also my first beach boardwalk experience and the first time I ate a Turkish doner kabob since my Spain days!), Julio and I set out for Miami the next day.
People who know me, know that I love other cultures with a passion – I really must have had past lives in every single country because even I don’t quite understand where my love of submerging myself in other cultures come from.
In particular, partly thanks to my BGSU ‘familia’ and years in the Latino Student Union, I love Latina cultura more than any other. It’s not any one thing, really, but more so a combination of my love for la musica, dance, language, and people.
Henceforth, our first stop – after a yummy ham & eggs breakfast that Julio made (I never put ham in my eggs before and now I love it!) – was CALLE OCHO which is the main drag of Little Havana in Miami. Ay de mi, it was great.
First we went to a fruit stand that made smoothies from FRESH FRUIT. En serio, I will never enjoy a standardized smoothie with just lame-o fruit juice EVER again. I had a mango smoothie and, ay!, you could taste the real fruit. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Plus, it was only $3 for a large amount! Try finding that at a mall food court!
There was an great mini-park that had an ancient tree with roots that were raised out of the great and encircled a large area in a convoluted way that created great resting places. It was here that we drank our smoothies and observed the surroundings…which included chickens and baby chicks walkin’ around like they owned the place.
And no, I’m not kidding.
But you know what was weirder than the chickens running around? We found a small ANIMAL SKULL and various BONES in the dirt surrounding the tree.
…yeah…I have *no* explanation for that! Very creepy!
It really felt like another world there but soon we began continuing our adventures. We drove to South Beach where I saw the Atlantic Ocean under bright sunshine for the first time! Gorgeous, simply gorgeous. We took some pictures on the beach and walked barefoot for a while. Amazingly, since tourist season was over, the beach wasn’t crowded at all,
Then we walked around for a bit and hydrated ourselves at a Burger King. Now, mind you, we got some delicious caffeinated beverages, but I was surprised to see that this particular Burger King, 2 blocks from the beach, served beer! It was fairly amusing :)
Then something not so good happened…my purse strap broke! I had bought the purse at Wal-Mart specifically for this trip because it had a zipper and was long enough to wear over my shoulder (aka it prevents purse-snatching and pick-pocketing better than most). I mean, YES, Wal-Mart is the devil and you can’t trust anything from there but I never expected it to break on my 2nd day of wearing it!! And it’s not like I snatched a sea turtle from the beach and stuffed it in there! Grr, it was very frustrating.
From there we went to West Palm Beach’s outdoor mall to meet with one of my friend’s that I hadn’t seen in over a year – Stephanie. We met through a community organizing training and she is seriously only of the sweetest and funnest people I know so I was thrilled to see her again. We ate lunch at the B.B. King restaurant where I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich (one of my recent favorite things!) and Steph and I caught up. Also, it was cool that I had lunch with both Julio and Stephanie because they had never met (both fairly recently moved to the area) so they got to make friends! I was pretty happy with that – I love it when my friends befriend each other!
Wanting to see some more of South Florida, Stephanie drove us through West Palm Beach to Palm Beach. Yes, there is a distinction. PB is where the uppity millionaires live – and unfortunately has a dark past. Steph is a community organizer in the area and was told (plus, she later verified this) that the almost-patron-saint of Florida (name escapes me) enacted cruel policies to form the neighborhoods of the area. In the 1800s PB was an African-American neighborhood but he saw it as the perfect location for high-scale real estate. Once he realized that no one was moving, he invited all the folks in the area to a party at his estate.
Sounds pretty nice, huh?
…Nope.
While everyone was gone the neighborhood was razed to the ground thanks to arsonists.
I’m not sure of the further details, but I plan on googling them at some point.
Besides its dark history, PB was beautiful location and the three of us had a photo shoot (inspired by a rather unattractive and vapid Floridian male who was posing on the beach). After that we went back to WPB and stopped by a Cuban place that Stephanie enjoys to have another mango smoothie (really, I’m kind of obsessed now!) and I got a rellena de papa, which is fried dough with seasoned meat inside. It’s a fritura and popular in Cuban/Puerto Rican culture – and something that I am also obsessed with! It always pains my heart that NW Ohio has a decent-sized Mexican population but not enough folks from the Caribbean to run a store to sell me delicious frituras!
After our tasty treats, we went out separate ways and Julio took me back to his casa. Since he had to leave for Orlando that night for work, he was kind enough to leave me his key so I could take a taxi 3-miles to the Tri-Rail and then the Tri-Rail would take me to the airport..
Honestly, once we were all done I could not believe that I had experienced so much of south Florida in such a short span of time – 24 hours! Julio was the BEST host a person could ever have – incredibly thoughtful and giving, he really made my time there absolutely wonderful. I’m incredibly thankful that he hosted me
Epic Journey Log Entry #3 ---Fort Lauderdale/Boynton Beach/Hollywood Beach
Epic Journey Log Entry #3
Fort Lauderdale/Boynton Beach/Hollywood Beach
As I mentioned earlier I’ve been to Florida once – when I flew down to mascot a football game at Florida International University (ps: I hate that school because their students are the meanest and kept trying to fight me!). Sadly, all I saw was the hotel pool and hot tub (mm, yay!), the Everglades (got to hold a baby alligator and take a swamp boat ride and saw tons ‘o’ gators!), and a freakin’ OLIVE GARDEN (cuz tell me why the cheerleaders wanted to eat there and not at, gee I dunno, a CUBAN restaurant or someplace that wasn’t a chain???!!!
But I digress.
So Saturday night I landed at 7:30PM in Fort Lauderdale where my most gracious and awesome friend Julio picked me up. I’ve known Julio since he used to hang out on my floor during my sophomore year and he is definitely one of my favorite people. For example, I was thinking we’d head back to his apartment at Boynton Beach once he picked me up but no! Turns out we were starting my adventure asap!
Immediately we headed to Hollywood Beach where I saw the ATLANTIC OCEAN for the FIRST TIME! Okay, it was dark, but I still walked barefoot along the beach!
Simply put, it was an amazing experience. The lapping of the waves created a relaxing atmosphere that set my exhausted body at ease. Each step of the rough sand was like a foot massage and the waves that rolled over my ankles brought a welcomed coolness to my body – ‘cause trust when I say that this Ohio girl was definitely not used to the heat and humidity of Florida!
And as I gazed curiously at the black sea that had a smattering of light shining over it from the waxing moon, I was struck with a thought. While my future was partially lit with rough outlined plans for my 3-week trip, the dark waters mirrored the unseen but deep moments that I would soon be experiencing. Ultimately, I couldn’t possibly prepare for everything that I would be encountering; I could only prepare myself to find the spontaneity and boldness to plunge into whatever came my way.
Fort Lauderdale/Boynton Beach/Hollywood Beach
As I mentioned earlier I’ve been to Florida once – when I flew down to mascot a football game at Florida International University (ps: I hate that school because their students are the meanest and kept trying to fight me!). Sadly, all I saw was the hotel pool and hot tub (mm, yay!), the Everglades (got to hold a baby alligator and take a swamp boat ride and saw tons ‘o’ gators!), and a freakin’ OLIVE GARDEN (cuz tell me why the cheerleaders wanted to eat there and not at, gee I dunno, a CUBAN restaurant or someplace that wasn’t a chain???!!!
But I digress.
So Saturday night I landed at 7:30PM in Fort Lauderdale where my most gracious and awesome friend Julio picked me up. I’ve known Julio since he used to hang out on my floor during my sophomore year and he is definitely one of my favorite people. For example, I was thinking we’d head back to his apartment at Boynton Beach once he picked me up but no! Turns out we were starting my adventure asap!
Immediately we headed to Hollywood Beach where I saw the ATLANTIC OCEAN for the FIRST TIME! Okay, it was dark, but I still walked barefoot along the beach!
Simply put, it was an amazing experience. The lapping of the waves created a relaxing atmosphere that set my exhausted body at ease. Each step of the rough sand was like a foot massage and the waves that rolled over my ankles brought a welcomed coolness to my body – ‘cause trust when I say that this Ohio girl was definitely not used to the heat and humidity of Florida!
And as I gazed curiously at the black sea that had a smattering of light shining over it from the waxing moon, I was struck with a thought. While my future was partially lit with rough outlined plans for my 3-week trip, the dark waters mirrored the unseen but deep moments that I would soon be experiencing. Ultimately, I couldn’t possibly prepare for everything that I would be encountering; I could only prepare myself to find the spontaneity and boldness to plunge into whatever came my way.
Epic Journey Log Entry #2 ---The Plane
Epic Journey Log Entry #2
The Plane
I’ve flown several times in my life, all beginning with a trip from Detroit to Chicago to Madrid, Spain in 2006 via America Airlines & Iberia. After that I’ve flown to Miami via a private plane (I was a college mascot and traveled to a game with the football team) in fall 2006, to Austin, TX via Southwest Airlines in 2007, to Portland, Oregon in 2008, and to Washington, DC in 2009.
But I had never flown jetBlue before.
Mind you, I already had some warm feelings for them – cuz a girl’s got to love anyone who’s gonna let her fly for a flat fee for a month – but jetBlue definitely surpassed my expectations. From when I got on in Chicago, had a tiny layover at JFK in NYC, and until I finally landed in Ft. Lauderdale, I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the flight was. Each seat was pretty comfy and had it’s own TV with LIVE Direct TV and XM Satellite Radio. Whoooooa! Not to mention you got as many free snacks as you wanted and a nice selection of drinks to choose from.
So very quickly I learned that buying airport food was silly because I could just eat on the plane! Yay for saving money!
The Plane
I’ve flown several times in my life, all beginning with a trip from Detroit to Chicago to Madrid, Spain in 2006 via America Airlines & Iberia. After that I’ve flown to Miami via a private plane (I was a college mascot and traveled to a game with the football team) in fall 2006, to Austin, TX via Southwest Airlines in 2007, to Portland, Oregon in 2008, and to Washington, DC in 2009.
But I had never flown jetBlue before.
Mind you, I already had some warm feelings for them – cuz a girl’s got to love anyone who’s gonna let her fly for a flat fee for a month – but jetBlue definitely surpassed my expectations. From when I got on in Chicago, had a tiny layover at JFK in NYC, and until I finally landed in Ft. Lauderdale, I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the flight was. Each seat was pretty comfy and had it’s own TV with LIVE Direct TV and XM Satellite Radio. Whoooooa! Not to mention you got as many free snacks as you wanted and a nice selection of drinks to choose from.
So very quickly I learned that buying airport food was silly because I could just eat on the plane! Yay for saving money!
Epic Journey Log Entry #1--- MegaBus
Epic Journey Log Entry #1
MegaBus
It was 2:15am and my dad had graciously picked me up at my Toledo casa to drive me to the MegaBus stop at Southwyck Mall; which, incidentally enough, is no longer a mall but rather a vacant lot that resembles many places in America, currently. While waiting I felt a great amount of apprehension about the epic-ness of my upcoming journey – while I love traveling I get easily nervous about all the little details (What if the bus is late? What if the bus breaks down and I miss my flight? Did I pack everything I need? Etc).
But the bus arrived on time and I was able to get settled into a stretch of 2 seats where I fell asleep pretty quickly, thanks to an awesome eye cover that I am now so happy that I picked up.
Before I knew it the bus stopped and I awoke with blurry eyes and an incessant urge to go back to bed. Dimly, I remembered my friend Raquel mentioning that the MegaBus made one stop on the way to Chicago, to a place in Indiana. Since I sleep fairly lightly, I assumed we were in Indiana….although the buildings seemed rather tall but I was viewing the dark city with sleep-deprived eyes and no one seemed to be moving so I snuggled back into the seat. I felt movement around me but simply assumed that everyone was heading for a much-needed bathroom break.
Of course, I’m a bloody idiot.
Finally after a few minutes I raised my head and saw the bus driver standing at the front of the bus looking at me. “You heading to Chicago?” “Um, yeah.” “Well, you’re here. Better get your suitcase outside.”
Shoooooot
I’ve been to Chi-town on four other occasions and I know you don’t just let your luggage sit outside unattended so best believe I ran out that door like it was 5am on Black Friday.
After I got outside I checked my watch and saw that we were a good 30 minutes early – it was only 5:45AM Central time – and the Chi was pitch black and I was downtown with no idea where I was heading.
Eeeep.
I’ve traveled by myself and last time I was in Chi I was there for a week, but even though I was familiar with the city the fact that it was night time and there are wicked weird-ass people strollin’ through the streets, was enough to make me light-weight nervous.
After asking a nice construction lady for directions to the blue line (goes to O’Hare) I started heading down the street. Pretty soon I was crossing over the Chicago River (which was sweeeeet) and then I was on the look-out for a coffee shop. I mean, Chi is a big city and you’d think the downtown would have tons of coffee shops, yeah?
Wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, there were tons farther down (I later realized) but nada where I was…and I was definitely feeling creeped out. FINALLY on Wacker Dr I saw a Panera and went there. Of course, with my luck it didn’t open until 6:30AM on a Sat so I had to stand outside, luckily protected from the rain…
…YEAH, did I mention it was raining? Cuz yeah, it definitely was. Of course, I was trying to think positively and took the liberty of assuming that Chi was so glad to see me that she was crying tears of joy. ;)
Thankfully, soon I was indoors and warm, and before I knew it I was walking to the Blue Line on Clinton and off to O’Hare!
And so began my Epic Journey across America via the jetBlue ‘All You Can Jet Pass’!
MegaBus
It was 2:15am and my dad had graciously picked me up at my Toledo casa to drive me to the MegaBus stop at Southwyck Mall; which, incidentally enough, is no longer a mall but rather a vacant lot that resembles many places in America, currently. While waiting I felt a great amount of apprehension about the epic-ness of my upcoming journey – while I love traveling I get easily nervous about all the little details (What if the bus is late? What if the bus breaks down and I miss my flight? Did I pack everything I need? Etc).
But the bus arrived on time and I was able to get settled into a stretch of 2 seats where I fell asleep pretty quickly, thanks to an awesome eye cover that I am now so happy that I picked up.
Before I knew it the bus stopped and I awoke with blurry eyes and an incessant urge to go back to bed. Dimly, I remembered my friend Raquel mentioning that the MegaBus made one stop on the way to Chicago, to a place in Indiana. Since I sleep fairly lightly, I assumed we were in Indiana….although the buildings seemed rather tall but I was viewing the dark city with sleep-deprived eyes and no one seemed to be moving so I snuggled back into the seat. I felt movement around me but simply assumed that everyone was heading for a much-needed bathroom break.
Of course, I’m a bloody idiot.
Finally after a few minutes I raised my head and saw the bus driver standing at the front of the bus looking at me. “You heading to Chicago?” “Um, yeah.” “Well, you’re here. Better get your suitcase outside.”
Shoooooot
I’ve been to Chi-town on four other occasions and I know you don’t just let your luggage sit outside unattended so best believe I ran out that door like it was 5am on Black Friday.
After I got outside I checked my watch and saw that we were a good 30 minutes early – it was only 5:45AM Central time – and the Chi was pitch black and I was downtown with no idea where I was heading.
Eeeep.
I’ve traveled by myself and last time I was in Chi I was there for a week, but even though I was familiar with the city the fact that it was night time and there are wicked weird-ass people strollin’ through the streets, was enough to make me light-weight nervous.
After asking a nice construction lady for directions to the blue line (goes to O’Hare) I started heading down the street. Pretty soon I was crossing over the Chicago River (which was sweeeeet) and then I was on the look-out for a coffee shop. I mean, Chi is a big city and you’d think the downtown would have tons of coffee shops, yeah?
Wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, there were tons farther down (I later realized) but nada where I was…and I was definitely feeling creeped out. FINALLY on Wacker Dr I saw a Panera and went there. Of course, with my luck it didn’t open until 6:30AM on a Sat so I had to stand outside, luckily protected from the rain…
…YEAH, did I mention it was raining? Cuz yeah, it definitely was. Of course, I was trying to think positively and took the liberty of assuming that Chi was so glad to see me that she was crying tears of joy. ;)
Thankfully, soon I was indoors and warm, and before I knew it I was walking to the Blue Line on Clinton and off to O’Hare!
And so began my Epic Journey across America via the jetBlue ‘All You Can Jet Pass’!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Boston Things to See & Do
So I've been pouring over travel books and putting together lists of things to do in each of my cities. To give other travelers ideas and to keep my own stuff organized, I'll be posting all my collected info in this blog.
Random Facts:
• Logan Int’l Airport is 1 hr long bus ride from city, $2 gets you downtown via MBTA subway, MOST SCENCI route is the City Water Taxi which takes you from airport to Central & Long wharves for $10
• Hotel Tax—12.45%
• Restaurant & purchases meals tax—5%
• NO TAX on clothing unless purchase is over $175!!!!!!
• Cheapest places to stay – Boston Int’l Youth Hostel, Days Inn (suburbs)
• Food to try: New England Clam Chowder, Blueberry pancakes, lobster, swordfish, scrod, haddock, ice cream (“Bostonians eat more ice cream, per person, year round, than anyone else in America”)
TRANSPORTATION:
• MBTA Subway & Trolley Buses (aka ‘The Boston “T”)
o Mon-Sat 5am-12:45am, Sun 6am-12:45am
o Weekday service is every 15 min, weekends = less frequent; there are 5 lines
o Admission into subway stations is via turnstiles into which you insert a paper “Charlie” ticket ($2) or a plastic “Charlie” card ($1.70). Day or week-long Link passes ($9/$15) for unlimited travel can be purchased at Downtown Crossing, South Station, Back Bay, Gov’t Center, North Station, and Airport “T” stops.
• FYI: Buses cover more ground than subways but are often crowded and schedules can be hard to obtain.
o Two useful routes for sight-seeing are:> Charlestown-Haymarket (from Haymarket, near Quincy Market, to Bunker Hill) & Harvard-Dudley (from Harvard Sq via Mass Ave, through Back Bay and the South End, to Dudley Sq in Roxbury)
• GREAT WALKING CITY!
PLACES TO GO:
• Fenway Park
• The Gypsy Bar – has Latin night; Roxy in Theatre District has a vast dance floor
• IRISH BARS:
o The Phoenix Landing Bar and Restaurant (512 Mass. Ave, Cambridge/617-576-62600, a mock Irish pub in Central square w/ Celtic and rock performances on weekend nights
o The Buren (247 Elm St, Somerville/617-776-6896) features some of the finest musicians
o smal Druid (1357 Cambridge St, Cambridge/ 497-0965) where, as the evening wears on, crowds of young professionals give way to recent Irish immigrants
• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum –Matisse, Titian’s “Rape of Europa”, notable colelction of old masters ww.gardner museum.org
• Museum of Fine Arts—largest art museum in New England www.mfa.org
o Egyptian & Nubian collections unparalleled outside of African and derive from primarily Harvard-led excavations. Features: Egyptian mummies
o Impressionists – “Dance at Bougival” by Renoir, “Waterlilies” by Claude Monet, plus van Gogh, Manet, and Degas!!!
• Cambridge, aka Harvard
o Fogg Art & Busch-Reisinger Museums – BERNINI clay model of an angel, “Skating” by Manet
Closed until 2013 for renovations but some pieces at Sackler Museum
• Black Bay & South End
o Black Bay= one of most exclusive neighborhoods;
o South End= more bohemian, home to many artists, and Boston’s gay community
3rd largest Irish-American community in America
o Trinity Church – architectural masterpeice and one of most important churches in US (a Henry Hobson Richardson’s Romanesque Revival masterpeice) www.trinitychurchboston.org
o Boston Public Library
o
• Chinatown & Theatre District
o 3rd largest (after SanFran & NYC) Chinatown (pop=8,000)
o “Caution should be excercised but moving increasingly upscale”
o Brattle Book shop – 250,00 rare books and magazines
• North End & Waterfront
o Boston’s 1st neighborhood, heavily Italian now
o Paul Revere House & Mall
o St. Stephen’s Church
o Boston Tea Part ships & Museum
o New England Aquarium
o Old N Church- Paul Revere link & Boston’s oldest church www.oldorth.com
o Hanover Street – most Italian st
o Whale Watching ships!
• Old Boston & Fin District
o King’s Chapel & Burying Ground – est. 1688, many important US history figures buried here. www.kings-chapel.org
o South Meeting House (speeches here led to Tea Party!) – reenactments of debates! www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org
o Old Corner Bookstore – est 1718. People who’ve been here – Harrie Beecher Stowe, Margaret Fuller, Thoreau, Longfellow, Hawthorner, Emerson
o Irish Famine Memorial
o Post Office Square
o Verizon BuildingQuincy Market – Shepherd’s Pie! 10-10M-S, Sun 12-6
o Old State House 9-5pm daily
Site of the Boston Massacre, near Old State House
Dec of Ind read from the balcony here!
• Beacon Hill & West End
o Nichols House Museum
o Beacon Street – urban mansions
o Boston Common & Public Garden
GW statue
o Park Street Church – Sun 8:30,11,4,6
o MA State House – 10am – 3:30pm M-Fri, rez rec’d
• Concord (outside Boston)
o Sleepy Hollow Cemtary –graves of Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, & Ralph Waldo Emerson
EVENTS:
• (2nd Weekend of Sept) Feasts of Saints Comsa & Damiano – East Cambridge – Italian festival w/ parade
• Boston Blues Festival
• Beantown Jazz Festival (with salsa!)
***CITATION*** Eyewitness Travel – Boston ($20.00) and Wikipedia provided this information
BOSTON:
Random Facts:
• Logan Int’l Airport is 1 hr long bus ride from city, $2 gets you downtown via MBTA subway, MOST SCENCI route is the City Water Taxi which takes you from airport to Central & Long wharves for $10
• Hotel Tax—12.45%
• Restaurant & purchases meals tax—5%
• NO TAX on clothing unless purchase is over $175!!!!!!
• Cheapest places to stay – Boston Int’l Youth Hostel, Days Inn (suburbs)
• Food to try: New England Clam Chowder, Blueberry pancakes, lobster, swordfish, scrod, haddock, ice cream (“Bostonians eat more ice cream, per person, year round, than anyone else in America”)
TRANSPORTATION:
• MBTA Subway & Trolley Buses (aka ‘The Boston “T”)
o Mon-Sat 5am-12:45am, Sun 6am-12:45am
o Weekday service is every 15 min, weekends = less frequent; there are 5 lines
o Admission into subway stations is via turnstiles into which you insert a paper “Charlie” ticket ($2) or a plastic “Charlie” card ($1.70). Day or week-long Link passes ($9/$15) for unlimited travel can be purchased at Downtown Crossing, South Station, Back Bay, Gov’t Center, North Station, and Airport “T” stops.
• FYI: Buses cover more ground than subways but are often crowded and schedules can be hard to obtain.
o Two useful routes for sight-seeing are:> Charlestown-Haymarket (from Haymarket, near Quincy Market, to Bunker Hill) & Harvard-Dudley (from Harvard Sq via Mass Ave, through Back Bay and the South End, to Dudley Sq in Roxbury)
• GREAT WALKING CITY!
PLACES TO GO:
• Fenway Park
• The Gypsy Bar – has Latin night; Roxy in Theatre District has a vast dance floor
• IRISH BARS:
o The Phoenix Landing Bar and Restaurant (512 Mass. Ave, Cambridge/617-576-62600, a mock Irish pub in Central square w/ Celtic and rock performances on weekend nights
o The Buren (247 Elm St, Somerville/617-776-6896) features some of the finest musicians
o smal Druid (1357 Cambridge St, Cambridge/ 497-0965) where, as the evening wears on, crowds of young professionals give way to recent Irish immigrants
• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum –Matisse, Titian’s “Rape of Europa”, notable colelction of old masters ww.gardner museum.org
• Museum of Fine Arts—largest art museum in New England www.mfa.org
o Egyptian & Nubian collections unparalleled outside of African and derive from primarily Harvard-led excavations. Features: Egyptian mummies
o Impressionists – “Dance at Bougival” by Renoir, “Waterlilies” by Claude Monet, plus van Gogh, Manet, and Degas!!!
• Cambridge, aka Harvard
o Fogg Art & Busch-Reisinger Museums – BERNINI clay model of an angel, “Skating” by Manet
Closed until 2013 for renovations but some pieces at Sackler Museum
• Black Bay & South End
o Black Bay= one of most exclusive neighborhoods;
o South End= more bohemian, home to many artists, and Boston’s gay community
3rd largest Irish-American community in America
o Trinity Church – architectural masterpeice and one of most important churches in US (a Henry Hobson Richardson’s Romanesque Revival masterpeice) www.trinitychurchboston.org
o Boston Public Library
o
• Chinatown & Theatre District
o 3rd largest (after SanFran & NYC) Chinatown (pop=8,000)
o “Caution should be excercised but moving increasingly upscale”
o Brattle Book shop – 250,00 rare books and magazines
• North End & Waterfront
o Boston’s 1st neighborhood, heavily Italian now
o Paul Revere House & Mall
o St. Stephen’s Church
o Boston Tea Part ships & Museum
o New England Aquarium
o Old N Church- Paul Revere link & Boston’s oldest church www.oldorth.com
o Hanover Street – most Italian st
o Whale Watching ships!
• Old Boston & Fin District
o King’s Chapel & Burying Ground – est. 1688, many important US history figures buried here. www.kings-chapel.org
o South Meeting House (speeches here led to Tea Party!) – reenactments of debates! www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org
o Old Corner Bookstore – est 1718. People who’ve been here – Harrie Beecher Stowe, Margaret Fuller, Thoreau, Longfellow, Hawthorner, Emerson
o Irish Famine Memorial
o Post Office Square
o Verizon BuildingQuincy Market – Shepherd’s Pie! 10-10M-S, Sun 12-6
o Old State House 9-5pm daily
Site of the Boston Massacre, near Old State House
Dec of Ind read from the balcony here!
• Beacon Hill & West End
o Nichols House Museum
o Beacon Street – urban mansions
o Boston Common & Public Garden
GW statue
o Park Street Church – Sun 8:30,11,4,6
o MA State House – 10am – 3:30pm M-Fri, rez rec’d
• Concord (outside Boston)
o Sleepy Hollow Cemtary –graves of Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, & Ralph Waldo Emerson
EVENTS:
• (2nd Weekend of Sept) Feasts of Saints Comsa & Damiano – East Cambridge – Italian festival w/ parade
• Boston Blues Festival
• Beantown Jazz Festival (with salsa!)
***CITATION*** Eyewitness Travel – Boston ($20.00) and Wikipedia provided this information
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
My Gypsy Intinerary!!
So my plans are just about set :)
Here's what I'm thinking:
9/11 – Arrive Ft. Lauderdale at 7:42PM
9/13 – Arrive Seattle at 1:46PM
9/15—Arrive in Long Beach (LA)
9/16 – Arrive in Austin
9/18 – Arrive in Portland
9/21 – Arrive in Sacramento
9/24 – Arrive in Boston (*Red-Eye Flight!)
9/27 – Arrive in San Juan, Puerto Rico
9/30 – Arrive in San Francisco
10/2 – Arrive in Las Vegas
10/4 – Arrive in New York City
10/6 – Arrive in Chicago
By the time I'm done my 'new' travel map will look like this:
visited 17 states (34%)
Create your own visited map of The United States
Here's what I'm thinking:
9/11 – Arrive Ft. Lauderdale at 7:42PM
9/13 – Arrive Seattle at 1:46PM
9/15—Arrive in Long Beach (LA)
9/16 – Arrive in Austin
9/18 – Arrive in Portland
9/21 – Arrive in Sacramento
9/24 – Arrive in Boston (*Red-Eye Flight!)
9/27 – Arrive in San Juan, Puerto Rico
9/30 – Arrive in San Francisco
10/2 – Arrive in Las Vegas
10/4 – Arrive in New York City
10/6 – Arrive in Chicago
By the time I'm done my 'new' travel map will look like this:
visited 17 states (34%)
Create your own visited map of The United States
Sunday, August 22, 2010
PUERTO RICO HERE I COME!
Amazing information distributed on this blog about the AYCJ taxes: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2010/08/all-you-can-jet-international-taxes-report/
JFK-AUA $81.70
JFK-BQN $32.20
JFK-BDA $87.50
JFK-BOG $93.70
JFK-CUN $89.89
JFK-KIN $97.54
JFK-MBJ $92.82
JFK-NAS $91.20
JFK-POP $126.80
JFK-PSE $32.20
JFK-SJO $71.55
JFK-SJU $32.20
JFK-STI $126.80
JFK-SDQ $126.80
JFK-SXM $81.55
He did all the hard work of figuring out the taxes – THANK YOU – but now I gotta figure out the initials lol.
Okay, for whatever reason La Republica Dominicana is CRAZY expensive with $126 taxes – so forget that.
Bogota is much better than I thought… but $93 hay much dinero!
Costa Rica is $71…and I know they still got that exit tax. Actually, I heard most countries have that. I’m still confused if that’s included in this price or not…
HOWEVER, Puerto Rico is only $32 = If I don’t go I’m gonna slap myself.
JFK-SJU $32.20
JFK-BQN $32.20
JFK-PSE $32.20
SJU= San Juan
BQN= Borinquen Airport, Aguadilla
PSE= Mercedita Airport, Ponce
So now the question is… WHERE DO I GO IN PUERTO RICO????
JFK-AUA $81.70
JFK-BQN $32.20
JFK-BDA $87.50
JFK-BOG $93.70
JFK-CUN $89.89
JFK-KIN $97.54
JFK-MBJ $92.82
JFK-NAS $91.20
JFK-POP $126.80
JFK-PSE $32.20
JFK-SJO $71.55
JFK-SJU $32.20
JFK-STI $126.80
JFK-SDQ $126.80
JFK-SXM $81.55
He did all the hard work of figuring out the taxes – THANK YOU – but now I gotta figure out the initials lol.
Okay, for whatever reason La Republica Dominicana is CRAZY expensive with $126 taxes – so forget that.
Bogota is much better than I thought… but $93 hay much dinero!
Costa Rica is $71…and I know they still got that exit tax. Actually, I heard most countries have that. I’m still confused if that’s included in this price or not…
HOWEVER, Puerto Rico is only $32 = If I don’t go I’m gonna slap myself.
JFK-SJU $32.20
JFK-BQN $32.20
JFK-PSE $32.20
SJU= San Juan
BQN= Borinquen Airport, Aguadilla
PSE= Mercedita Airport, Ponce
So now the question is… WHERE DO I GO IN PUERTO RICO????
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Bogota, Colombia Volunteer Opp @ Girls' Orphanage
I'm not sure if I'll be doing Bogota anymore (due to the high taxes I'm thinking Costa Rica or an island might be better) but I had e-mailed a woman at Children's Outreach Ministry that runs a orhpanage for 12 girls
Here is what she e-mailed me back regarding service opps. I'll still stay in contact with her but if someone is interested let me know and I'll put you in touch with her.
dateFri, Aug 20, 2010 at 6:12 PM
subjectRe: Looking for a Volunteer Opportunity in Bogota
mailed-bygmail.com
signed-bygmail.com
hide details 6:12 PM (16 hours ago)
Hi Niki- I'm sure you could visit! Thanks for contacting us. The girls in the orphanage (called the Beehive) are very welcoming to visitors. The only questions is: do you speak Spanish? If not, you could still visit, but it would be more difficult to communicate and help out. Volunteers are always welcome to come play, help with household duties, and help the girls with schoolwork in the morning (they attend school in the afternoon).
What dates will you be in Bogotá? Let me know so I can check with the people who run the organization. My husband and I currently live in the United States, though we are still involved and just visited about a month ago. So we wouldn't be able to introduce you, but it's pretty easy to get comfortable fast with the girls.
I will look into what larger projects might be needed right now. The church next door (with which the orphanage is connected) is just finishing up some construction. However in the orphanage itself, there are usually a number of little work projects that need to get done. Mainly our greatest need is people who can spend time with the girls, help with homework, read to them, bring them to the park, etc. The two women who live and work there are amazing, but having 12 children is no easy task!
Please let me know what your plans are and I can connect you with people in Bogotá. Thanks so much for inquiring!
Catherine Grady
Here is what she e-mailed me back regarding service opps. I'll still stay in contact with her but if someone is interested let me know and I'll put you in touch with her.
dateFri, Aug 20, 2010 at 6:12 PM
subjectRe: Looking for a Volunteer Opportunity in Bogota
mailed-bygmail.com
signed-bygmail.com
hide details 6:12 PM (16 hours ago)
Hi Niki- I'm sure you could visit! Thanks for contacting us. The girls in the orphanage (called the Beehive) are very welcoming to visitors. The only questions is: do you speak Spanish? If not, you could still visit, but it would be more difficult to communicate and help out. Volunteers are always welcome to come play, help with household duties, and help the girls with schoolwork in the morning (they attend school in the afternoon).
What dates will you be in Bogotá? Let me know so I can check with the people who run the organization. My husband and I currently live in the United States, though we are still involved and just visited about a month ago. So we wouldn't be able to introduce you, but it's pretty easy to get comfortable fast with the girls.
I will look into what larger projects might be needed right now. The church next door (with which the orphanage is connected) is just finishing up some construction. However in the orphanage itself, there are usually a number of little work projects that need to get done. Mainly our greatest need is people who can spend time with the girls, help with homework, read to them, bring them to the park, etc. The two women who live and work there are amazing, but having 12 children is no easy task!
Please let me know what your plans are and I can connect you with people in Bogotá. Thanks so much for inquiring!
Catherine Grady
United Way Volunteer Opportunities #2
Volunteer Opportunities through the United Way:
NEW YORK CITY
NYC governmental volunteer site
Valley of the Sun UW (PHOENIX)
United Way of Metropolitan CHICAGO
Heart of Florida UW (ORLANDO)
Mile High UW (DENVER)
United Way of Salt Lake (SALT LAKE CITY)
United Way of the Bay Area (SAN FRANCISCO)
Week of Caring
Sept 13-18
(*Niki's Note* Even though it says Corporate Volunteers we still may be able to do a group thing)
Every year, United Way’s Week of Caring connects hundreds of corporate volunteers to community organizations across the Bay Area.
Now in its 20th year, United Way’s Week of Caring connects hundreds of caring corporate volunteers to community organizations across the Bay Area. Many of these nonprofits wouldn’t be able to complete these essential projects without volunteer support.
It’s a fun, free and easy way for teams of employees to work together and create lasting change in their own communities.
In conjunction with our local nonprofit partners and the Volunteer Centers of the Bay Area, United Way creates fun and engaging opportunities for volunteers such as:
•Packing and prepping food at community food banks
•Helping connect 2-1-1 callers to vital community services
•Rebuilding parks, playgrounds and schools
•Arts and crafts with seniors
•Fostering a love of reading in young children
•Hands on projects and more
Week Caring is a simple and fun way for employees to get involved in their community and help us making the Bay Area a great place for us all.
NEW YORK CITY
NYC governmental volunteer site
Valley of the Sun UW (PHOENIX)
United Way of Metropolitan CHICAGO
Heart of Florida UW (ORLANDO)
Mile High UW (DENVER)
United Way of Salt Lake (SALT LAKE CITY)
United Way of the Bay Area (SAN FRANCISCO)
Week of Caring
Sept 13-18
(*Niki's Note* Even though it says Corporate Volunteers we still may be able to do a group thing)
Every year, United Way’s Week of Caring connects hundreds of corporate volunteers to community organizations across the Bay Area.
Now in its 20th year, United Way’s Week of Caring connects hundreds of caring corporate volunteers to community organizations across the Bay Area. Many of these nonprofits wouldn’t be able to complete these essential projects without volunteer support.
It’s a fun, free and easy way for teams of employees to work together and create lasting change in their own communities.
In conjunction with our local nonprofit partners and the Volunteer Centers of the Bay Area, United Way creates fun and engaging opportunities for volunteers such as:
•Packing and prepping food at community food banks
•Helping connect 2-1-1 callers to vital community services
•Rebuilding parks, playgrounds and schools
•Arts and crafts with seniors
•Fostering a love of reading in young children
•Hands on projects and more
Week Caring is a simple and fun way for employees to get involved in their community and help us making the Bay Area a great place for us all.
United Way Service Opportunities for #AYCJ
I'll be using my blog to keep track of service opportunities, concerts, festivals, and overall events that I am particularly interested in.
When I stayed in New Orlens, Mobile, AL, and the South Bronx I participated in volunteer programs and I would love to continue that tradition when I travel. So here's what I'm thinking:
Throughout the US:
UNITED WAY:
The United Way almost always has a Volunteer Center or at least a Coordinator. Volunteer opportunities from nonprofits across the city are listed on a website called Volunteer Solutions. The best way to find opportunities for the city of your choice is to google 'City + Volunteer Opportunities'.
The United Way in late August and early September usually do 'Days of Caring' which is one day where hundreds of people work with different nonprofits together. Those may or may not be available during #AYCJ.
UW of Greater LA
UW of King County (SEATTLE)
United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley (BOSTON)
United Way of the Columbia-Willamette (PORTLAND,OR)
(note: this does not have a 'search' function that I can see so I'll have to look into it. A City like Portland *always* has fun volunteer things going on)
NEW ORLEANS
(search engine is on right hand side)
****** I'll post more when I have a chance, but hopefully this helps!*****
When I stayed in New Orlens, Mobile, AL, and the South Bronx I participated in volunteer programs and I would love to continue that tradition when I travel. So here's what I'm thinking:
Throughout the US:
UNITED WAY:
The United Way almost always has a Volunteer Center or at least a Coordinator. Volunteer opportunities from nonprofits across the city are listed on a website called Volunteer Solutions. The best way to find opportunities for the city of your choice is to google 'City + Volunteer Opportunities'.
The United Way in late August and early September usually do 'Days of Caring' which is one day where hundreds of people work with different nonprofits together. Those may or may not be available during #AYCJ.
UW of Greater LA
UW of King County (SEATTLE)
United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley (BOSTON)
United Way of the Columbia-Willamette (PORTLAND,OR)
(note: this does not have a 'search' function that I can see so I'll have to look into it. A City like Portland *always* has fun volunteer things going on)
NEW ORLEANS
(search engine is on right hand side)
****** I'll post more when I have a chance, but hopefully this helps!*****
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Where I've Been... And Where I'm Gonna Go!
visited 14 states (28%)
Create your own visited map of The United States
These are the states I have actually visited or lived in (not including DC) and I cannot wait until AYCJ to expand that list!
Hopefully I'll also end up in these states:
1. Washington (Seattle)
2. California (LA, San Fran, Sacramento)
3. Utah (Salt Lake City)
4. Mass (Boston)
5. Arizona (Phoenix)
6. Colorado (Denver)
And depending on how things go, I might go to these other Jet Blue states:
1. Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) - although it's pretty close to where I am in Ohio...
2. North Carolina (Charlotte or Raleigh)
3. Vermont (Burlington)
4. Hartford (Connecticut)
5. New Jersey (Newark)
6. Maine (Portland)
7. Virginia (Richmond)
Then my map could look like this!!
visited 27 states (54%)
Create your own visited map of The United States
And after this, I need to focus on international travel cuz my international map be lookin' weak!!
visited 4 states (1.77%)
Create your own visited map of The World
So I might hit up an international location if the extra int'l taxes aren't toooo crazy. Possibilities include:
1. Colombia (Bogota)
2. Puerto Rico (Aguadilla,Ponce, San Juan
3. Barbados
4. Bermuda
5. Mexico (Cancun - though I did go to a Mex border city once, lol, but that's not the same!)
6. Jamaica (Kingston or Montego Bay)
7. The Bahammas (Nassua)
8. Dominican Republic (Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Santo Domingo, or Santiaga)
9. Costa Rica (San Jose)
10. St. Lucia
11. St. Maartan
And then my map would look like this!! (okay, not a big diff cuz those islands are so tiny!)
visited 14 states (6.22%)
Create your own visited map of The World
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
My Friends Think I'm Crazy...
There aren't a lot of people willing to buy a Jet Blue AYCJ (All You Can Jet) $500 pass and travel the country for a month, but apparently I am that crazy :)
I work from home so I'll be bringing my laptop with me and I plan on travelling for at least two weeks, but hopefully three weeks or even the entire month - I'm still not sure yet.
However, I am CRAZY excited to do this! I've done quite a bit of travelling in my life but I've been yearning to do more. So far in my life I've:
**Lived outside of Madrid, Spain for 2 months (Summer 2006)
**Did Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts in Mobile, Al (Winter 2005) and New Orleans, LA (Winter 2006)
**Traveled to Miami, FL as a college mascot for my school's game against FIU (Sept 2006)
**Traveled to Vaderbelt University in TN for Mascot Camp and stopped in Nashville, TN (August 2006)
**Visited Austin, TX & San Antonio, TX briefly on my way to the Valley for a week (July 2007)
**Visited Portland, OR for the League of Women Voters National Convention (June 2008)
**8 hour layover in Las Vegas, NV on my way home from Portland (June 2008)
**Spent Spring Break on a service trip in the South Bronx and visited Harlem and Manhatten (Mar 2009)
**Visited DC for Inauguration in Jan 2004 and job-hunted there in Nov 2009
**Plus I've been to Chicago 4 times - 3 to attend the USHLI National Conference and once to visit friends and a potential grad school
Some places I want to re-visit:
PORTLAND --Most Beautiful city, ever.
Austin -- to see my dear Naomi and causeI never saw much of it before
New Orleans -- because I only spent 1/2 a day walking around when I visited since we mostly did house tear-outs and Habitat work
Las Vegas -- cause a 8-hour layover is NOT enough time to explore!
If it works with my schedule, I'd also like to re-vist DC to see my friend Patrick
New Places on the Jet Blue airline locations that I MUST Visit:
LA
Seattle
One int'l location -- PR or Colombia or Costa Rica
Boston
If I can go to those four places, I'll be happy.
Regardless of wher I end up, it is going to be one heck of an adventure!
I work from home so I'll be bringing my laptop with me and I plan on travelling for at least two weeks, but hopefully three weeks or even the entire month - I'm still not sure yet.
However, I am CRAZY excited to do this! I've done quite a bit of travelling in my life but I've been yearning to do more. So far in my life I've:
**Lived outside of Madrid, Spain for 2 months (Summer 2006)
**Did Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts in Mobile, Al (Winter 2005) and New Orleans, LA (Winter 2006)
**Traveled to Miami, FL as a college mascot for my school's game against FIU (Sept 2006)
**Traveled to Vaderbelt University in TN for Mascot Camp and stopped in Nashville, TN (August 2006)
**Visited Austin, TX & San Antonio, TX briefly on my way to the Valley for a week (July 2007)
**Visited Portland, OR for the League of Women Voters National Convention (June 2008)
**8 hour layover in Las Vegas, NV on my way home from Portland (June 2008)
**Spent Spring Break on a service trip in the South Bronx and visited Harlem and Manhatten (Mar 2009)
**Visited DC for Inauguration in Jan 2004 and job-hunted there in Nov 2009
**Plus I've been to Chicago 4 times - 3 to attend the USHLI National Conference and once to visit friends and a potential grad school
Some places I want to re-visit:
PORTLAND --Most Beautiful city, ever.
Austin -- to see my dear Naomi and causeI never saw much of it before
New Orleans -- because I only spent 1/2 a day walking around when I visited since we mostly did house tear-outs and Habitat work
Las Vegas -- cause a 8-hour layover is NOT enough time to explore!
If it works with my schedule, I'd also like to re-vist DC to see my friend Patrick
New Places on the Jet Blue airline locations that I MUST Visit:
LA
Seattle
One int'l location -- PR or Colombia or Costa Rica
Boston
If I can go to those four places, I'll be happy.
Regardless of wher I end up, it is going to be one heck of an adventure!
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