Fun and Games Dept

The Louisville Zoo.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I kicked off our day in Louisville by going to the Louisville Zoo. I found it to be appropriately named since it’s in Louisville and there were a lot of animals there.

As far as zoos go, we found it to be quite nice. There weren’t a lot of people there at all, but the animals seemed happy and the various exhibits were interesting. I have a whole bunch of pictures of the animals that I’m going to post on the .Mac site when we get back home in a couple of weeks. It was good place to visit.

After the zoo, we drove up Bardstown Rd. through the “artsy” area of the city and stumbled upon the Karma Cafe. A wonderfully earthy type cafe, we had some lentil soup and grilled veggie sandwiches. It would have been perfect had it not been for the couple sitting near us with not one, but two very, very unhappy toddlers that were screaming their heads off. We did our best to ignore the ruckus, but we were unable to have a conversation because the screaming was too loud. The parents were content in letting their kids scream for a while until they noticed that every person in the restaurant was starting at them with disapproval. Then a woman, another customer, came up and offered to hold and walk the toddlers around to calm them down. I think that was the last straw, they asked for their food to go, paid the check and promptly left. I think there was applause after they left the building.

While we were having lunch it began raining like mad and continued throughout most of the afternoon. We had originally planned to walk around the area but since the weather wasn’t cooperating, we decided to check out the local mall and see what they offered. We ended up at the “Mall St. Matthews”, whih would have been considered top notch had it not been missing an Apple store. After doing a little research, there’s no Apple store in the entire state of Kentucky.

That’s just wrong.

Now we’re relaxing for just a bit before meeting up with Earl’s work associate for dinner and perhaps a trip to the casino on the Indiana side of the river. Tomorrow Earl has to attend a couple of meetings; I’ll be exploring the downtown area on foot. Tomorrow night, after Earl’s work commitments, we hit the road and head to St. Louis for an overnight stay.

Louisville, Ky.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I have settled in Louisville, Kentucky for the next couple of days. Earl has a trade show to attend on Sunday and Monday afternoons, so this was a good way to kick off our Jeep tour. Vacation is always more fun on an expense account.

After arriving around 3:00, we decided to walk around the downtown area and came across “Fourth Street Live”, a closed off section of Fourth Street with several clubs and shops, with the area partially covered from the elements. That was very convenient since there were passing showers.

We stopped for a couple of drinks at The Pub. We always enjoy hanging out at locally owned establishments (I certainly hope this one was locally owned!). And eavesdropping on surrounding conversations is an innocent way to enjoy the night in a strange city. Earl says he has a hard time eavesdropping because of the accent.

Afterwards we went to the waterfront where we had supper at “Joe’s Crab Shack”. There were quite a few boats on the river. I then discovered that the Canadian side of the river is actually Indiana. The things you find out in middle America!

I think we’re going to go out tonight and see what the nightlife is like. I’m staying awake while we’re out of town for a change. I think Earl finds the trend pleasant.

Earl and I hit the road this around 9:00 this morning. The drive south of Cleveland was your typical mid-Ohio drive along an interstate, with rolling hills and farmland as far as the eye could see. One interesting this I did see was just south of Columbus. It was a billboard that said “Hell Is Real.” Apparently the other half of the billboard, the part that said “You Are Here”, had fallen off in a recent storm or something.

Anyways, we were about 20 miles north of Cincinnati when our guts told us we needed to think about lunch. In an effort to eat at local establishments, we decided to check out a local chain of restaurants called Skyline Chili.

Skyline Chili is very casual in that you seat yourself and you pay at the front cash register as you’re leaving. The serving staff was very friendly and the atmosphere is very diner-ish.

What we found interesting was the chili itself. Apparently Cincinnati is famous for chili, at least according to the information on the back of the mneu. Having not had chili in a while, I was excited to try some of this famous chili.

Earl and I both ordered the “three-way” chili, which is chili served over spaghetti with cheese on top. To keep it healthy, we each ordered a salad as well.

When the chili was served, it looked a little different than any chili I’ve ever had. For some reason I was reminded of a scene from “To Tell The Truth” that they’ve played over and over again on “The Most Outrageous Moments on Television”.

It’s the scene where they trick Kitty Carlisle into eating dog food and she spits it back into the spoon she’s using.

Apparently chili in these parts is devoid of kidney beans and tomato sauce. While fairly tasty, it didn’t really taste like chili to me. It tasted more like a beef sauce, like something you’d find over egg noodles or something.

While the experience was pleasant over all, now I have a hankering for “real” chili. On the other hand, maybe I don’t know what “real” chili is. Maybe we’ll find something that fits the bill in Oklahoma or something.

Earl and I have settled in for the first night of “The Great Jeep Tour 2006”. We have installed ourselves in a Fairfield Inn in Willoughby, Ohio.

We hit the road this afternoon aroiund 4:30 p.m., hitting I-90 westbound. Our first destination is Louisville, Kentucky, which we’ll be visiting Saturday to Monday night. Earl has a trade show go to for work, which gave us a great headstart on our journey out west.

My supervisor at work reminded me that I had a little bit of extra comp time I hadn’t used, so I was able to leave a couple of hours early. It was the cap to a good week at work and reminded me why I appreciate the people I work for.

Since we were anxious to get out of New York State as quickly as possible, we settled on a quick supper at TGIF in Cheektowaga outside of Buffalo. Nothing kicks off vacation eating like a New York Strip with Jack Daniel’s sauce. I’m going to have to remember to keep healthy eating in the back of my mind so I can continue to fit into the clothes I packed for the trip!

Tomorrow, it’s Louisville.

Not to harp on a negative, but there is one negative aspect of going on vacation. It’s not the getting up early or the schedules or the packing or anything like that. No, it’s something a little closer to my heart.

I really don’t like relocating Tom for the time we are gone.

Our poor kitty cat. He absolutely hates riding in the car. He hates it. Anything that can come out of a cat generally will, he complains about the ride the entire time and he has a look in his eye that can only mildly be described as “pissed”. He glares at me through the holes of his cat carrier mile after mile, almost as if he’s begun some sort of vengeful plot to be carried out when we get home from fun in the sun.

What are parents to do? Since he obviously hates traveling, I don’t think he’d be comfortable for the 8,000 mile journey we are about to embark on. He’d be parallel parked in his “kennel cab” between a cooler and my laptop bag. I mean, while the PowerBook is quite beautiful (at least to me), is it really appropriate to be staring at that through metal bars as we drive through the desert? No, he’s much happier at his gramp’s with his two cousins that have no idea what to do when there’s a male cat in the house.

I have to admit that tonight it’s a little unusual in the house not to hear the patter of paws, the tickling of the ivories from his runs up the piano or the crashing of some random knick knack in a far corner of the house. He’s probably spending the evening looking surly and getting to know the two broads we’ve saddled him up with for the next two weeks.

I’m sure he’ll complain about the whole ordeal on his ride home when we get back.

As I busy myself getting the Jeep and my luggage ready for our trip tomorrow, I’m letting my mind wander a little bit. Being a proud geek, I’m thinking about geeky things and have decided to resurrect the camera in my cell phone for this trip. This means the moblog will be in full swing while we’re traveling.

So not only will I be snapping photos with my Sony digital camera and posting the pictures on Flickr, I’ll also be grabbing pictures with my cell phone and doing some videotaping along the way as well.

I love the thought of a multimedia vacation.

Today, Earl and I had planned on cleaning out the Jeep and getting ready for our trip out west next week, but our house decided to let us know that it wanted a little bit of attention.

Shortly after lunch, Earl was catching up on e-mail and I was working on web development stuff. We were just getting ready to head to the gym when we heard water. A lot of water. Spraying all over the place. Somewhere downstairs.

The washing machine had stopped running about 10 minutes prior to the new sound but the dishwasher was still chugging along doing it’s thing.

We both ran downstairs and found the hot water supply hose to the kitchen sink had broken. Hot water was spraying all over the kitchen. The tide was coming in, quick. I ran downstairs and turned off all the water in the house, since I couldn’t grab the hot water shut off valve under the sink without getting burned.

Earl thanked me by trying to flush a toilet.

We did what any sensible home owner would do. Instead of taking a half hour to replace the broken hose and getting on with our day, we went shopping at Home Depot.

Long story short, the new stainless steel faucet on the kitchen sink is beautiful, the new garbage disposer will help in a fabulous way with the clean-up after meals and the new Jenn-Air dishwasher arrives on Wednesday.

Quite frankly I was happy to throw out that old kitchen faucet the previous owners had put in when they built the house; it was quite stylish but the water came out in a trickle and it was entirely too pretty for my tastes.

I’m happy to say that we’ve both learned a lot in the past decade as we were able to work together as a well oiled team and we got the job done in about five hours. There was no swearing, no glaring and no launching of tools at the other member of the party. It was done calmly and rationally.

When the house speaks, we listen.

Earl and I met up with my sister last night for dinner and just a fun night out on the town. Our destination was my beloved Syracuse.

We went to The Bull and Bear Pub for dinner. It was our first time there. The food was great, the beer was great and the conversation was even better.

We then went for a walk and looked at that apartment building that Earl and I had discovered in January to see how the renovations were progressing. It’s not open yet, but it looks like there’s been progress, including a quaint little market at street level that looks like it belongs in a big city. I guess it fits reasonably well in Syracuse.

After our little walk we went back over to Hanover Square and tried out a martini bar called World Lounge and Martini Bar. I have to admit that was my first time in a ‘martini bar’. I went fu-fu and opted for a “chocolate martini”. Creamy.

I ended up having three.

I don’t know how Darrin, Darrin, Samantha, Endora and Larry and Louise Tate did it night after night and sometimes for lunch. I now have more respect for them.

I’m not a huge drinker. I like a beer or two during the week, but my martini experience has been limited to a sake martini at P F Changs about a year ago and one other “regular” martini at a chain restaurant that tasted more like it was unleaded. When I drink beer, I wake up after one, buzz after two and slur after three. When it comes to alcohol I’m a lightweight. I know my limits and I respect them and they respect me.

These three chocolate martinis were clever. They tasted like dessert, went down like chocolate milk and then snuck up from behind, hitting me with a buzz like no other. I was hit so hard by these drinks that I let Earl drive the Acura! Now that’s just plain fscked up. (just kidding).

So I downed the three martinis, Jenn had two of the same and Earl was drinking key-lime martinis. They both stayed relatively grounded while I crawled under the coffee table back at Jenn’s for a nap. Earl ended up driving home and I slept the entire ride and for about a half hours afterward because he couldn’t get me out of the car. That could be heresay though because I don’t remember anything after getting in the car and explaining to him how much I love the car and the fact that I love him and the two are about neck and neck so he better be careful.

I woke up 8 1/2 hours later. I feel very rested and without a hangover. I hope that doesn’t sneak up on me like the buzz did.

With on-call week behind me, the next adventure that is on the horizon is the “JPnEarl Great Jeep Tour 2006”. In less than two weeks, Earl and I will be on the road in our Jeep Wrangler, driving across the country and back within two weeks. Major stops along the way include Louisville, Ky., Phoenix, Az. and Deadwood, S.D.

I. Can’t. Wait.

I’ve been dreaming about this trip all my life. I’ve been salivating about it for the past six months. I think the idea of this upcoming trip allowed me the luxury of making it through another Upstate New York winter.

I have to be careful and try not to overdo with the plans; there’s a couple of spots we wanted to see that I think we’re going to hold off on and until another time. We’ll still hit most of the states that we originally planned on hitting, but I think it’s important that we kick back and take it at a reasonable pace, so I’ve cut back on a couple of the sidetrips.

I’m trying to be really good with my healthy ways for the next two weeks so I have room to fudge with my weight a little bit. Wait. Did I just say fudge? Fudge? Chocolate Fudge? Peanut Butter Fudge? Oh my gosh, I could eat my weight in fudge right now and go into sugar-induced bliss.

I’m sorry, where was I, oh yes, talking about how much I was looking forward to sticking to the healthy plan while we’re on vacation.

This week we’re figuring out the layout of the Jeep; Earl’s regulations for carry-ons rival those of the airlines and the flight attendant has been replaced by a portable cooler. At least the passenger seat can recline all the way back.

The countdown is on. I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Trail Bridge.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

A few years ago Earl and I began a tradition for our Easter celebration. Every Easter we have our first picnic of the season, regardless of the weather. In Upstate New York the weather could vary wildly; there could be three feet of snow on the ground or it could be 80 degrees. One never knows.

Normally we go to a state park for our picnic, but this year I was on call, so that meant staying within 20 minutes of the house. Luckily, we live a stone’s throw from the famous Erie Canal, which has a recreational trail that runs the length of it. This trail will eventually go from Albany to Buffalo. From what I understand, it’s about 3/4 of the way complete. The portion near our house is relatively new.

So we took a nice walk along the trail, clocking in at around four miles. There were a few people out on the trail as well, mostly fishermen and a couple of families getting some fresh air.

After our little walk, we settled down to the small park at one of the canal locks. It’s a beautiful park, maintained entirely by volunteers. It’s very well kept. While there, we had our traditional ham and mustard sandwiches and assorted picnic salads. For dessert, Earl had cut up some fresh strawberries.

I guess I realized you don’t have to travel a long way from home to have a good time. Sometimes there’s good things right in your own backyard.