meinen Reisen MY TRAVELS mijn reizen mes voyages meus cursos mis viajes minhas viagens mo taisteal mine rejser mina resor i miei viaggi

Dad went out West for the last 10 days or so. I met him Friday night in Las Vegas. I flew Delta which had live DISH TV, so I could watch the Olympics. I had a layover in Atlanta. While boarding there, Phelps swam his last individual event and got silver, so I missed it, but it is ok. Delta was great. I think there were at least 7 to 9 people in a row (2-3-2). We were given blankets and pillows.

I arrived in Las Vegas around 10 p.m. Dad and I ate at the Pantry in the Mirage, our hotel. It was neat to see the Olympics on in the Pacific time zone being that I had already watched them in the Eastern time zone flying over.

On Saturday, Dad and I drove over to Zion National Park. It was packed when we arrived. During the summer, the main road is only open to park buses, so we had to wait probably 40 minutes to get on the bus. We went to the Narrows which is the last stop of the line. We walked about a mile to where the water portion of the hike starts. I walked a little into the Narrows. It was fun walking the water. I probably did about 5 rock crossings.

Afterwards, Dad and I ate in Zion Lodge. We had salmon cakes and a buffalo burger. Both were really good. We didn’t leave Zion until late. Dad and I decided to drive through Valley of Fire State Park. On the way down there, we went through an area that had wifi. I wanted to see Michael Phelps’ last swim, so we waited for that. While waiting, Dad found a place that had the best snow cone I have ever had and the largest for $3. It was like eating cotton candy. The flavors were great like passion fruit and guava. We made it to the state park too late. The sun was mostly down, so we just drove through in the dark, but the snow cone and watching the swimming relays were worth it.

The next day, Dad and I ate a buffet at our hotel. We drove out to Mt. Charleston and Red Rock Canyon. Red Rock Canyon has a new visitor center which was really cool. It looked like a scene out of cars. We also went to the outlet mall. Later, we went to eat a early supper at House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. Andrea had a coupon from 2010 that we were able to use. Afterwards, we walked through the Venetian.

I left for the airport around 7:30 p.m. and made it through security by 8:03 p.m. for a 9:15 p.m. flight. I only had one boarding pass which rarely happens. Turned out my two flights were on the same plane. So, I was going to Orlando via Phoenix. I was going to stay on the plane as the layover was 1.5 hours long, but they made us get off due to the new ground crew not being on time. Phoenix’s airport is dated, but I was able to get a pillow and a hot tea. I don’t think I slept much on the way back, but the flight was fast. American didn’t give us blankets, tvs, or a pillow. Nothing. I made it back to Orlando around 6:55 a.m. and made it back to work by 8:45 a.m. Today, Tuesday, I had to be in Leesburg at 8 a.m. for a presentations, so I had to wake up at 6 a.m. I just went back to the airport to pick up a special guest (more on that in another post). Now, I am looking forward to sleeping in my bed until 8 a.m. tomorrow!!!! But this past weekend was definitely worth the time and travel.

(Dad has his camera’s time to Feb 2015, so some of the pictures are out of order.)

About two weeks ago, I flew to Iowa. Dad and I picked up Andrea and drove out to the Black Hills. We visited the Corn Palace, fed the prairie dogs, and drove through the Badlands on the way to Mount Rushmore. In Wall, we ate lunch. I had a great buffalo burger and we shared probably the best chocolate malt ever. Then, we drove to Rapid City, bought some food for the campsite, and headed to Custer State Park. We setup the new along with hanging out hammock.

The next day, Dad found some buffalo near the State Game Campground, so we drove to see them. We also saw some antelope. Custer State Park has made some major improvements including a new Legion Lake Lodge and a new Visitor’s Center. We ate at a secluded picnic area. We drove into Custer and dropped a birthday present/welcome gift off at Murphy’s hotel. Tom and Cindy Murphy arrived in the Black Hills on Sunday afternoon. We then went to Mount Rushmore. I really began to like buffalo meat especially in chili. The Murphy’s text us that they had arrived, so we had a campfire and hot dogs at the campground.

The next day, we walked in the Grace Coolidge area. Dad walked back to get the car and drove around to pick Andrea and me up at Center Lake. I think we crossed 7 bridges in 3 miles. It was fun. We met the Murphy’s at the State Game Lodge to eat lunch. Then, we drove through the Black Hills. Andrea and I went down the pipe area on the Sunday Gulch Trail. Before it has been really hard, but this time it was easy, but still really fun. We drove through the Needles, saw the Eye, and drove the Iron Mountain Road. We went on the Wildlife Loop Road where we saw buffalo and the burros.

I woke up to one buffalo near our campground. I went back to the campsite and swung in the hammock. A squirrel decided to eat Andrea’s, so we had to move it. We met the Murphy’s in Custer for pizza and pie and then, we went up to Mount Rushmore and saw the lighting ceremony.

The next day, we went out to Deadwood and Lead, drove through Spearfish Canyon, and went out to Devil’s Tower. We drove through Sturgis on the way back.

I am getting a little confused about the days, but it is ok. The pictures below are slightly messed up too, because I used three different cameras. It takes some time to re-order them and it doesn’t matter too much.

In Custer, there is a restaurant that was deemed the “best burger joint” in America. We ate there for lunch. The first bit was really good — probably the best I have had in the United States. I had a buffalo burger again. Afterwards, we went to the search for more animals. We saw some antelope and went to where they drive the buffalo to during the round-up. We met the Murphy’s at a chuckwagon dinner/ show. They had a little gunfight before the dinner. After the chuckwagon, we went across the road to see a Native American show. It was pretty neat. The regalia was really beautiful.

On Friday, we met Murphy’s at Mount Rushmore to eat breakfast. We walked around the Presidential Trail and went into the museum. We went down to Keystone and rode the ski lift up at the Alpine Adventure place. It was a pretty neat place. It is cool at the top as you could see Mount Rushmore, walk through gardens, or eat in their cafe. We took the slide down the hill. It was fun, but I was too scared. Next time, I would go faster. It was same type slide as at Mutianyu at the Great Wall. We went to the Prairie Winery for lunch.

For the last night at the State Game Campground, Murphys came over and we cooked a Chipotle-type meal as we sat around the fire.

We left Saturday morning stopping at Wall for one last buffalo burger and chocolate malt. We stopped at the now-finished Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. It is a well-done, small museum. We ate cake as they celebrated the 25th anniversary of the START Treaty. We made it Des Moines later in the night. I went back to Florida the next day.

Below are around 200 pictures from Dad and Andrea’s visit last week.

Highlights include:

• A few trips to Sweet Tomatoes
• A night safari, the new Jungle Book show at Animal Kingdom, and lunch at Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Breakfast Olivia’s Cafe and Kona Cafe
• An amazing 3-course meal in the Italian Pavilion
• Riding Soarin’ Around the World and the new Frozen Ride in Norway
• Visiting the Shanghai Disneyland Exhibit in China
• Shopping at Disney Springs and seeing the new Coke World
• Dole Whips at Magic Kingdom for Fourth of July fireworks on the 3rd
• Pizza in the Italian Pavilion on the Fourth of July

Throughout the previous week, I met Dad at a few places for dinner. We went to Wolfgang Puck and a few other places, but I had a great dinner at ESPN Club at the Boardwalk. It was called, “Vegetarian Unplugged.” It had 4 different sections included mac and cheese, a pirogi, and two other things. We watched Michael Phelps swim throughout the week on TV.

Amy and her husband, Bryan, landed in Orlando on Friday morning. They went to Universal. I met them at The Cowfish Sushi and Burger Bar. It was great to see them again. We have a lot of memories from being college roommates at the University of Iowa.

I met them again at Disney Springs last night (Saturday). We walked around and ate at Raglan Road. They are heading to Marco Island and Key West this week. I might see them again before they fly back next weekend.

Dad arrived last night. We couldn’t get a Disney room, so we stayed on 192 West at a Ramada. It was a few miles away from Animal Kingdom. It was quite nice.

We went to Epcot and went on Soarin’ Around the World. The new ride is amazing. You soar over Greenland, France, Switzerland, Tanzania, China, Australia, etc. The new drops and smells are fun, but after a few times, I will miss the California ride. There are more auditoriums now though, so wait times are around 20 to 30 minutes which is quite an improvement. We also at ate at Seasons.

We walked around the world showcase. We tried to see the Canadian movie, but we just missed it. We ate a Kakigori (snow cone) in Japan and watched IllumiNations.

This morning, went to Disney Springs as Dad hasn’t seen the new portion. Then, we took the boat to Riverside. At Riverside, we took the bus back to Disney Springs and they dropped us off at the new portion. They keep opening new little areas. There is a stand for poutine. Andrea comes in next week, so we will try some next weekend.

Happy Father’s Day to the best dad I have ever had. I wish I could be at the Art Fair tomorrow, but he is coming to Orlando next weekend.

I just finished this book. It took some time as there are 50 pages and almost 400 pictures in the book.

I hope you like it.

Click here to view this photo book.

I don’t think I did much on Friday night. I think I went to Chipotle and watched the basketball finals while I worked on a Shutterfly book. I woke up to the news of the musician (once on the Voice) being killed by what seems to be a deranged fan. The concert venue is less than 2 miles from my house.

Yesterday, I went to Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Epcot was fun. I went to the Canadian movie. It was really cool to see so many places that we just visited. I probably saw 10 to 15 different places in the movie that I hadn’t recognized before. The best picture is the square we sat with our cafe au laits – it is the one with the costumed people on stilts. I even saw the Montreal Olympic site and Peggy’s Cove – I didn’t get pictures of those two. In the U.K., they were celebrating the Queen’s Birthday. I didn’t see too much different except some children’s game, a sign, and some flags, but it was nice to see them celebrating an event.

I wanted to see the new things at Animal Kingdom. Well, as an Annual Passholder, evidently you can only make 7 FastPasses in 30 days. I have FastPasses scheduled with Dad in two weeks, so I can’t make FastPasses until he arrives and we use some. I spoke to a guy at Guest Relations and I used the term “socialism” and he said that he agreed, but it was normal to him as he lives in France. Ha. Maybe more Annual Passholders go to the parks continuously than I think. I didn’t stay at Animal Kingdom to see any of the new things. However, I did eat at Sweet Tomatoes; I had a pretty good Mediterranean pizza at pizzafari at Animal Kingdom, and I found out that we need to schedule our FastPass for later at night when Dad arrives. I was told that the late night safari is pretty cool. The sunset says 8:23 p.m., but it is more like 9:00 p.m. or later. I also asked the Frenchman if I could take a picture of a Happy Birthday button for Molly. After I talked to him about the FastPasses, I told him I would be keeping the button. It is a new version.

I woke this morning to an alert on my phone. I don’t know if I have heard of the nightclub before. It is less than 6 miles from my house. I watched the news this morning and I watched church online. It was surreal to see elected officials speak on TV as I have a remote connection to many of them. I gasped, along with most of the TV crews, when Mayor Dyer said the number has risen from 20 to 50. All the local news stations have been covering the shooting. Most of my friends have been marked safe online, but I have two Disney friends that I am concerned about — really concerned about one**. I am going to bed. I think the news is getting to me.

**The one friend I was concerned about was marked safe by a friend. I don’t know about the other, but I think she just doesn’t use Facebook much.

On Friday, we drove around the coast of Nova Scotia. We saw a lighthouse or two. We stopped at Joggins which is s site where fossils have been exposed by tidal erosion.

We were along the Bay of Fundy. It was neat to see the tide out to sea and the fishing boats on the ground.

On Saturday, we drove down to Maine. On Friday night, at Joggins, an indicator light came on alerting us that one tire was becoming flat. Fortunately, we were not too far from a gas station. Dad spotted a screw in the tire. They told us to go to a Canadian Tire. We did, but the mechanic area was closed. The tire wasn’t going down too fast. We made it to Moncton for the night and Dad woke up and took the car to another Canadian Tire. It was an easy fix.

We went to Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick. These rocks are rock formations caused by tidal erosion. Due to the extreme tidal range of the Bay of Fundy, the base of the formations are covered in water twice a day (Wikipedia).

We were stopped leaving Canada. Hunting and fishing season just started and they were checking for too many bears or fish in the car I guess.

We drove down to Bar Habor, Maine. We stopped at a neat seafood market and bought a crab roll and seafood chowder.

We checked-in to our hotel in Bar Harbor and then, went to Acadia National Park a few miles away. It is a beautiful National Park. We drove up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, at 1,530 feet (466 meters), is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and the first place to view a sunrise in the United States from October 7 through March 6 (http://www.acadiamagic.com/CadillacMountain.html). We also drove around the coast stopping at Thunder Hole. “Thunder Hole is the place in Acadia National Park to experience the thunder of the sea against the rocky shores of Maine! On calm days you may wonder what the fuss is all about. But wait until the waves kick up a few notches. Thunder Hole is a small inlet, naturally carved out of the rocks, where the waves roll into. At the end of this inlet, down low, is a small cavern where, when the rush of the wave arrives, air and water is forced out like a clap of distant thunder. Water may spout as high as 40 feet with a thunderous roar!” (http://www.acadiamagic.com/ThunderHole.html)

Then, we went down to Bar Habor. Dad had crab cakes for dinner. Andrea and I had fish tacos.

(Currently, I am sitting in the Montreal Airport. Dad and Andrea have left for Minneapolis. My flight to Orlando was two hours later. I am about ready to board, so I will update the last portion of the trip later tonight.)