As the Facebook people know, tomorrow I am off to Copenhagen, Stockholm, and several other places in their countries.  I am 90% packed. My electronics are charging.  I've only minor things left to do like purchase a couple more ebooks to load up on my reader (I'm not sure my ebook stores will sell if my IP is not American) and get some emergency ( Read more... )

My brother called me last Monday and asked if I wanted to go to the Sounders vs. Earthquakes U.S. Open Cup match that was happening Tuesday. He kicked in some of his miles to make the trip happen. Dan lives about 8 blocks from Kezar stadium where the contest was to be performed. Flew down Tuesday morning on Southwest, which was an experience so ( Read more... )

First stop this morning was Starbucks. I needed coffee. There I looked up where I needed to go to get to Fort Sumter. The ferry from Patriot’s Point next to my hotel is closed for a bit, so I had to cross the Ravenel Bridge to downtown Charleston. I mention that because it’s a beautiful suspension bridge.


( Read more... )

19 January 2012

On leaving Titusville, I decided to get off the interstate and drive closer to the coast. So I headed over to US-1 and drove north. For a while that seemed like a good choice, although a bit boring. The towns along US-1 in that section aren’t particularly interesting. But on approaching Daytona Beach, the traffic increased, and ( Read more... )

18 January 2012

Wednesday morning I woke up, hugged Lenei goodbye as she went off to work, caught up on my internets, then packed up and headed out the door.

First destination? Royal Palm Cemetery in West Palm Beach, where a relative was supposedly buried according to the Veteran’s Administration National Gravesite Locator. However, according to ( Read more... )

15 January 2012

Disembarkation from the cruise was pretty damn easy. Wait with Mary Rose for our section (#10) to be called on the boat, then head off. Insert Sail & Sign card one last time to let the computers know I wasn’t on the boat any more. Wait by the carousel to pick up my bags. Wait in line at customs. Wait on the curb for the shuttle ( Read more... )

4 January 2012

The morning of the fourth I woke up in Amarillo, Texas. You know that part of Texas that sticks up and lies between New Mexico and Oklahoma? It’s flat and boring. It’s part of Texas because New Mexico and Oklahoma didn’t want it. Also, Texas does not believe in rest areas. Instead, they have picnic areas. The difference is that ( Read more... )

I haven’t had a lot of time to write the blog entries I promised myself I would. Although I had a fair amount of free time on the cruise, I haven’t had free time otherwise. Until now. Upcoming (including this one) are a few catch up posts.

One administrative item to note first. I am maintaining a Grand Road Trip travel map on Google Maps. It has ( Read more... )

I might as well announce it to make it easier to explain why I won’t be attending your event in January.

After mom died in 2008, I wanted to relax and travel before getting back into the swing of life. But almost immediately afterward Gramps had a heart attack and so I put off any extensive travel so I could drive Gram & Gramps when they needed ( Read more... )

Tonight my cousin Dave (who is showing me around DC), suggested we go to Zaytinya. It’s an “in” place right now, owned by José Andrés who is a famous chef according to Dave. They server eastern Mediterranean food tapas style, and Dave claimed the people watching would be good. Little did we know.

We walked up, and there were two security guys ( Read more... )