Where’s Jaymac?

Well, my trip is almost over.. I’m writing this from the lounge at Seattle-Tacoma Intl Airport.  In a couple of hours I will fly to DC, where I’ll stay another night with Blah before flying back home tomorrow..

This week has been lots of fun with Fathertyme and Superdwarf.  On Thursday we left Nampa and started the long drive to Portland.  We stopped along tlhe way to see a really cool waterfall, several hundred feet high.  When we arrived in Portland we went out for dinner to a Mongolian grill.  It was a completely different experience for me - you pick up a bowl and move along a table of ingredients, selecting what you want for your meal.  At the end you pour a variety of sauces on it, before giving it to the chef, who cooks it in front of you.  It was absolutely delicious - I’m definitely going to try and find something similar locally at home.

Friday was another day of travel - and we made a couple of detours on our way up to Seattle - firstly, we stopped at a town called Seaside, in Oregon, so I could paddle in the Pacific… So now I really have been the whole way across the country.. from tide-pooling with je and her son in Massachusetts, and swimming in the sea in South Carolina, right the way across the States to the Pacific ocean in Oregon   Afterwards we went to see Mount St. Helens, the volcano that erupted in 1980..  it was a very impressive site - there are still trees lying in the direction of the flow of ash and pumice from the eruption.

On Saturday we ventured into Seattle, after catching a few hours sleep the night before, and visited Easy Street Records (where Fathertyme blagged me a Pearl Jam promotional poster), and went up to the top of the Space Needle.  We grabbed a quick snack and then visited the EMP (Experience Music Project) which was very cool as well.  In the evening we went to a really nice Mexican restaurant, and I collapsed into bed as soon as we got back - fatigue has certainly caught up with me.  Yesterday we went to a baseball game - the Seattle Mariners vs the Oakland Athletics.  I had a really good time, and managed to pick up what was going on after a couple of innings.  Unfortunately Seattle lost, but that didn’t take away from the good time that we all had.

When we got back Fathertyme’s brother and sister-in-law came over for a barbeque along with their daughter and one of her friends.  We had some really good steaks, and chicken with salad.  Yummy!  This morning, Superdwarf dropped me off at the airport, and I’ll shortly board the plane for the last leg of my journey in the States.

It’s been lots of fun!

On Monday we set off to Rah and krbs’ place in Loveland.  We all set off to Estes Park, equipped with two-way radios, and took a tram to the top of the mountain.  Another spectacular view.  Rah and I left the group and climbed to the very top, where we were greeted with a phone mast, and lots of trees.  We decided to take the “fun way” down and got lost, ending up further down the mountain than where we started from.  After taking the tram back down to the ground, we went go-karting, something I hadn’t done in years… it was a blast.

Bam showed up when we got back, loaded with fried rice, which we ate with some burgers that Rah had grilled.  After we’d eaten he took off, and we (well, I at least) headed to bed early, as we planned to set off for Yellowstone by 6am the following day.

A day of driving later and we arrived, shortly after 5pm.  It was pissing it down with rain, so we weren’t able to cook the steaks we’d bought; instead we found a restaurant on the lake and had some pizza.  By the time we’d finished eating the rain had subsided, allowing us to set up our tents and sleeping bags at the camp site, before setting off to see Old Faithful.  By the time it erupted, most of the light had gone so we didn’t have the best view in the world.  We retired for the evening, planning to return the next morning.

After some steak and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and packing up the camp site, we went back to see Old Faithful during the day time.  It was much more impressive in daylight, and we got some decent photos, which by now are in the usual place.  We took the car and drove towards the west entrance to the park, stopping at numerous places along the way to take some photos.  We were lucky to see the Great Fountain Geyser erupt, something which only happens every 13 hours or so.  We got there 30 minutes before it was due, so decided to wait around - it was well worth the wait: even more spectacular than Old Faithful.  We also saw the Prismatic pool, which gave off steam in various colours - blues, reds, greens… very cool.  Also on the route, we saw boiling mud pools, and more hot springs.

We only spent a day there, so only got a glimpse of what there is to see in the park - I’ll definitely be back some day.  We left the park at 2.30pm, stopping just outside to grab some lunch, before driving to Nampa, Idaho.  sLaPpY greeted us when we arrived after 10pm, and shortly after Skookum arrived.  We sat up talking until after 3am before calling it a day.

Today, we drive to Portland, and that will be most of the driving on my trip complete, with just a “short” 3 hour drive to Seattle on Saturday.

Big update…

Chicago was great fun with FatherBean - on Tuesday we went downtown and saw a different Bean.. this one was big and metal.  We also found the Apple store and I almost spent my ticket home on a Mac Mini.. Bean pulled me out of there before I did anything silly.  Afterwards we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, which was really cool…

In the evening, we met Murphy The Cat and Olive at Giordano’s and had some amazing pizza… I couldn’t finish it all that night, but polished it off the next day for breakfast   On Wednesday I went to Murphy’s house, and we went out to a diner for dinner.  The next day he had to work, so I hit the zoo - it was incredibly hot, so I did all of the indoor stuff - monkeys, gorillas, dolphins etc, and took the “Safari Metro” around the zoo to see everything else.  Went to bed at 11.30pm on Thursday night, and woke up at 2.10am on Friday morning, hit the road at 3am and met Aff in Pella, Iowa for breakfast at 8am.  After breakfast we went out west to see the Patriot Rock on Highway 25 - it is pretty big.

Arrived in Topeka at about 6pm in the evening, and went out to a barbeque place for dinner..  I had the Beast Feast - which comprised of half a chicken, and a rack of ribs, with fries..  I don’t think I’ve ever eaten more in my life!  I got the bus at 7.40am on Saturday morning (well, it was 90 minutes late) and arrived into Denver at 6pm.  seca picked me up, and we arrived back at his house to be greeted by Bam and eep - Bam cooked up some Sloppy Joes, which were pretty good, and we had a few beers.  quijbe showed up too with his girlfriend, and we waited up until nearly 12am for Superdwarf and Fathertyme to arrive - and ended up crashing well after 2am.

This morning (Sunday) we got up, and Bam cooked us breakfast, and then the 6 of us (Fathertyme, Superdwarf, seca, Bam, eep and myself) set off for the mountains.  We stopped off at the Red Rocks amphitheatre on the way for some photos, and then went to the top of Mount Evans (which at 14572 feet is easily the highest point above sea level that I’ve been at on land).  Arrived back, and AnalogKid arrived with his daughter within a few minutes, and now we’re waiting on Rah and krbs to show up

Plenty of new photos have been uploaded…

Had a brilliant weekend in Montreal with Valerie; now I’m bummed that I’ll not see her for 5 months   We relaxed the first night - went for a nice walk, and then to the shop to buy some things for dinner..  I also had some Alexander Keith’s - very nice beer!  We went for a walk again later and found a nice little ice cream shop, where we had some nice ice cream (oddly enough).  On Saturday we went to visit the main shopping street in the city - where there was a parade for the “Juste pour rire” festival - I think.  Oh, and it rained all day   The first time it has properly rained since I’ve been over here.. Typical.  We found a nice little cafe and had some lunch, and a beer, and then walked around some more.  In the evening we headed over to the old part of the city, which was very nice, and we had a lovely romantic dinner in an Indian Restaurant - Ghandi’s.  On Sunday we got up late, and didn’t have time for much other than eating brunch, before I had to set off for the bus station to take me to the airport.  Goodbyes always suck…

Got in safely to Chicago last night, was met by FatherBean, who gave me a big hug   I was wrecked and crashed as soon as I got in, and slept in late this morning.  We went to Ann Sather’s for breakfast which was delicious - I say breakfast, but it was after 12 by the time we got there…  Then we went downtown, and I saw the building where FatherBean works, and we went to the observation deck on the 94th floor of the John Hancock tower.. the view was incredible.  Tonight I’m going for some Mexican food, and tomorrow Murphy The Cat and (probably) Olive will meet us downtown for pizza at Giordano’s, which will be great fun.

That’s all for now - pics from the weekend in Montreal and also pics from today in Chicago are up

Just arrived in Montréal after a rather eventful day..  started out fine - Q, horselady, the boys and I went to St. Catharine’s to pick up a rental car from Budget.  Of course, Q wasn’t able to pick up the rental car as his Mastercard was not “valid” - I mean, it’s either a Mastercard or it isn’t… what’s the problem?  After an hour of frustration, we ended up at the bus station, where I managed to grab the 1pm bus to Montréal.. which got me here at 10.15.. Yé!

Upon arriving in Montréal, I gave dstg’s address to the taxi driver, who had to consult his atlas to even get me within 5 miles of the place.  An hour into my journey in the cab, I called dstg, who directed me round a few corners and right to his front door.  We’d been driving up and down within about 100 metres of his house for at least half an hour.  Anyway, I made it… 7 hours later than we’d originally planned, but what can you do?

Had lots of fun with Q - enjoyed shooting his kid at paintball on Tuesday, and Niagara Falls by day was every bit as impressive as it was by night..  Needless to say, I’ll be back for some more paintball action in the near future - hopefully I’ll even get to shoot Q this time

Had a blast meeting everyone in Michigan - O2, Rover, Elk, Fido, jodygirl, mally et al.. Drank a lot on Sunday night, and paid the price yesterday morning.  Fido took me across the border into Windsor, ON - where I caught the Greyhound bus to Hamilton - another 5 hours clocked up on the bus.  Q’s girlfriend picked me up in Hamilton, and delivered me safely to Port Colborne.

Had a beer, and then we took off to Niagara Falls, which looked really cool at night.  I also had my first casino experience - the thing was huge.  Today, I’m destined to get badly bruised from paintballing, and tomorrow we’ll probably go and see the Falls during the day.

Photos from Fido’s house, and from last night at Niagara Falls are both up

I’ve finally managed to caption the pics from the tour so far - well, those ones that need a caption.  I had a super time at nattie’s house during the week; we went to the beach on Thursday, and it was actually WARM!!  I couldn’t believe it, so I threw off my shirt and jumped in.  Pictures at the usual place.  I arrived safely to Dayton, Ohio on Friday, where I was greeted by Toast.  We had dinner yesterday and played some pool, and then today grilled some hot dogs and then went out for dinner to a really nice restaurant in Celina.  I had an amazing steak - again, you know where to find the photos

Had another car related catastrophe, when Quetzalcoatl (my lift to Canada) blew up his water pump or something, so I thought I was going to be stuck in Ohio.  After a change of plans, it now seems I will get to Toledo tomorrow to meet up with O2 and Rover, who’ll drive me to Fido, where we’ll also see mally.  That will be really cool - I’ll meet a few more dogs that I wasn’t sure of meeting with..   Then, I think I’ll get a bus to Niagara Falls from Fido’s in Michigan on Monday, hopefully arriving mid afternoon.

That’s the plan anyway - we’ll see how it turns out.  One day at a time…

I’ve had a really great time over the past couple of days at nattie’s.. I slept until 3pm yesterday, and then we went to nattie’s husband’s family’s place for dinner - so I met all of her in-laws, and had some great food.  They were all really nice people, so it was lots of fun.

Today, I got up early (for me anyway) and nattie’s mother-in-law and some of her other family picked me up, and took me with them to Fort Sumter, an island just off Charleston where the first shots of the civil war were fired, so that was very cool, and a bit of a history lesson for me.  We took a boat ride out to the island, and in the afternoon had a tour on a horse drawn carriage of the old part of the city.. after having lunch at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.  This evening (after dinner and a little recuperation time) we went to a football (sorry.. SOCCER) game between Charleston and Portland.  For the second half, we hit the bar in the stadium and had lots of fun.  Now, I’m about to keel over, so I’ll end this post by saying that the pics from today are up, so enjoy

After an 11 hour train journey, I’ve made it to nattie’s house in South Carolina.  The train was originally scheduled to arrive at 5am, but it was nearer 7 by the time I got in.  But anyway, I made it…  Time to grab a few hours sleep now, as soon as I finish this post.

Yesterday in DC with Blahpony was fun.. we went to the Monument, with the intention of going to the top, but all of the tickets were already gone for the second day in a row, so there was nothing doing there.  We strolled back through the Mall and paid a visit to the Air and Space Museum which was very cool, and then parted ways at the station in the evening.

All of the photos from DC are now up.. enjoy

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Just got back from a day spent in Washington DC with Blah - saw all of the necessary stuff… The White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WW2 Memorial etc… did a LOT of walking, so now that I’m back in Blah’s house I feel that I’ve really earned the beer I have in my hand Tomorrow, I think we’ll head back in, and see some museums and stuff - didn’t have the time or the energy for that today - hopefully we’ll also make it up to the top of the Washington Monument as well, as the tickets were all gone by the time we made it there.

Got back in time to see Italy lift the world cup - bah, humbug.. At least it wasn’t France I suppose