ROCHESTER NY -- Normally, upstate New York in October wouldn't have been my first choice for a quick getaway. However, since my aunt tempted us by footing the bill for our tickets -- the result of a continuing tiff with my cousin (don't ask) -- I figured why not ( Read more... )

SPOKANE (7/9) -- The first part of today wasn't much to speak of. It was a long haul over the new Oregon Trail (I-84) out from Boise. By lunch, we had reached Walla Walla -- or as the locals call it -- W2.

I let Chad pick our lunch site via WallaWalla.org, and he came up with the Sweet Basil Pizzeria. Ultimately, he was impressed with the build- ( Read more... )

BOISE (7/8) -- For the second straight day, we started off in a town named "Falls". And though Great Falls had the great expanse of the Missouri at our feet, Idaho Falls had the immediacy of the Snake running beneath the Broadway St bridge ( Read more... )

IDAHO FALLS (7/7) -- Waking up this morning, we were both disappointed to learn that our hotel didn't provide a substantial breakfast. I made do with hot tea, but Chad waited for the McDonald's in Helena, where we would be routed off the interstate toward Bozeman ( Read more... )

GREAT FALLS (7/6) -- As promised, a slow day today ( Read more... )

HELENA (7/5) -- First off, what's with the title ( Read more... )

SPOKANE -- The Longest Day may refer to D-Day, but any day Chad and I travel out west, it is a longest day ( Read more... )

This trip was not our official baseball trip (that's later in the summer, in which we'll visit Idaho, Montana, and Washington), so Chad was involved in a lot of the planning and arranging ( Read more... )

ST LOUIS -- Just another morning in the upper Mississippi Valley started off in downtown Burlington. Forget SF's Lombard Street; Burlington has Snake AlleyFor the rest of the morning, we wandered south through Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri -- the communities of Fort Madison, Keokuk, Quincy, and Hannibal, among others -- as we made our way to St ( Read more... )

BURLINGTON, IA -- After waking up to the news on Sen Byrd's death, it was a somber breakfast in the hotel lobby. The state will move on; so did we ( Read more... )