2018: The Year In Travel

As I arrive home from California, I thought it would be nice to look back at the many trips I took last year.  Things got started in March, when I headed out to Las Vegas for the IBM Think conference.  Along the way, I took in a show, Absinthe, at Caesar’s Palace, a Barenaked Ladies concert at Mandalay Bay, and a show by The Chainsmokers at MGM Grand, where I was staying.

Following the conference, I took a detour to Phoenix for a long weekend, where I took in some Cactus League action at Camelback Ranch and Peoria Sports Complex, seeing the White Sox, Cubs, and Mariners (twice!).  I also enjoyed a trip to the slot canyons and Horseshoe Bend in Page, followed by a quick trip to the Grand Canyon.

About a month later, I took a short weekend trip to New York.  Danny, Michael, and I flew to New York on a Friday night, where we met up with Angelina and had dinner with the family she was nannying for.  Saturday was a glorious spring day, spent sight seeing at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, Central Park, the Guggenheim museum, and the Empire State Building.  Sunday was spent at the Lyric Theatre, watching both parts of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, before heading home early Monday morning.

My next trip came at the end of July, as Val and I headed down to Roanoke, Virginia, to celebrate Jeff’s 50th birthday.  After a day of “work”, the highlight of the trip was Saturday’s hike up Catawba Mountain to McAfee Knob.  Sunday was spent recovering, before heading home.

I spent most of September in Europe, starting with a week in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  Aside from work, there was a trip to Castle Ward in to look at Game of Thrones filming locations, a hockey game featuring the Belfast Giants, a trip to the Ulster American Folk Park and a nip across the border to the wonderful town of Muff in Ireland, and a Black Cab tour of locations in Belfast related to the Troubles. Continue reading →

FB4: Week 39

A hugely successful week, thanks to a couple of trips out of town.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, finishing just a step shy of 2650 steps.  Monday picked back up, coming in at nearly 8000 steps.  Tuesday I headed off to Boston, where dinner with Angelina and a Garbage concert put me just over 19,300 steps.  Wednesday was even better, thanks to a tour of Fenway Park prior to game 2 of the World Series and a trip to Harvard which put me over 23,300 steps.  Thursday was back to work, where I managed to just eke past 7000 steps.  Friday was more of the same, with only 17 steps less than the day before.  Saturday we traveled down to St. Louis for a band competition, where walking around town on my birthday left me at over 9700 steps.

Total steps: 77,172

Daily average: 11,024.6

Time To Go Dancing

It’s that time of year again, as the nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next few weeks. I’m in three different pools again this year, one at work, one at my mom’s work, and one run by a friend.  For the first time since 2012, the Purdue Boilermakers return to the tournament, though they will not have an easy go of it.

2015midwestrd1The Midwest bracket has the overall #1 seed, the undefeated Kentucky, who I envision will make it to the Final Four.  Purdue, should they make it past their first round opponent, will run into Kentucky in the second round, so it is extremely unlikely they make it past this weekend.

2015westrd1After winning the Big Ten Tournament, Wisconsin earned the #1 seed in the West bracket.  The only big upset I am picking here is Ohio State over VCU.

Continue reading →

It’s Tournament Time

It’s that time of the year again, as the nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next couple of weeks.  I’m in three different pools again this year, one at work, one at my mom’s work, and one run by a friend.  Once again, Purdue is sitting out the tournament, but I can take some solace that IU is as well.

2014SouthNot much in the way of upsets here in the South region, as I have overall #1 seed Florida making it to the Final Four.

2014EastI see Michigan State making it out of the East region. Continue reading →

It’s Dancing Time

It’s that time of year again, as the nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next couple of weeks. I’m in three different pools again this year, one at work, one at my mom’s work, and one run by a friend. No Purdue in the tournament this year, so my picks were made mostly with my head and not my heart, though it pained me to have IU going as far as I did.
2013_Midwest_Rd1
I have Louisville coming out of the Midwest region.

2013_West_Rd1
New Mexico is my pick to come out of the West region. Continue reading →

Time To Dance

Well, it’s that time of year again. I’m in three different pools this year, one at work, one at my mom’s work, and my friend Tom’s pool. This first bracket is entered in all three.
This second bracket is only entered in the work pool. Continue reading →