Las Vegas

We just got back from another great trip to Vegas. This time the group consisted of Aly (who lives out there), Ericka, Nate, Monica, and I. We stayed at the Mirage which was a small step up from my last trip out there.

One of the trip's highlights was the new Cirque du Soleil show, "Love". This was another great show - a bit different than the other Cirque shows I've seen. Lots of acrobatics, but definitely not as much as O and Mystere - equally strange but in a much more familiar way (if that makes any sense). We all really enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Monnie has written up some in depth coverage of our trip, so I'll cut mine a bit short here.

I will say though that my initial search for a link to the Cirque show was just to enter "Love" into Google. #1 on the hit list was "The Love Calculator" which I had to check out.

Looks like Monnie and I are not exactly a sure thing. The site says (based strictly on your names) that we have a 44% chance of love. The description following says that we have a chance but that it will probably take "a lot of work". It also cautions that no matter how much work we put in - it can't guarantee anything.

Of course, it didn't surprise me to find that Kevin (Burg) and Monnie would have a 91% chance. He's quite the ladies man, I bet I could put kevin and about anyone in there and it would be 90%

Vermont

My trip is nearing the end. I'm here at Paul & Marni's in Burlington, VT until I catch the bus back to Boston tomorrow morning.

Our day started today with Marni and I grabbing some breakfast (Eggs Benedict of course) while Paul slept (if you want me to visit you - apparently you need to be a doctor working night shift).

After that, Marni was off to work and I got a chance to drive around Burlington a bit.

Paul woke up a bit later and we were off to Waterbury for some disc golf - and then to see Stowe. The disc golf course was very cool, although the results (a tie and a loss) could have been better.

On the way home we stopped for a RIDICULOUSLY good beer. If you're ever in this neck of the woods, definitely check out The Alchemist - specifically the "Heady Topper", a double IPA was one of the best I've had.

Back to Boston

After a Great trip to Maine, I've returned back to Boston. The bus trip back went very well - my friend Dion picked me up right at the airport (just a few minutes from the hotel) and everything went very smoothly.

The hotel the conference is at (the Westin in Boston) is very nice and I'm all settled. I'll be covering the conference this week for ajaxian.com - basically that means writing a few blog posts and flying/staying on their dime... not a bad deal at all!

Not too much exciting to report - pretty nerdy of course... you'll probably only get a post tomorrow if I do something other than watch presentations!

Hiking Around Maine

Yes, I've decided to stray from the "Big Trip - Day X" naming scheme. (you're welcome)

Today, I woke up with some terrible lower back pain. Not a good thing for the day you're scheduled to go hike up a mountain. After a check of the weather forecast (it looked terrible) Mike and I decided to go for it!

We drove up to Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. The drive was very nice - many lakes, big hills, a few legit mountains mixed in, and of course - as seems to be the law in Maine: MANY Dunkin Donuts. I had thought that there was a ridiculously high quantity of the chain in Portland itself, but apparently they are even in the small towns:



When we reached Mt Washington we found that the road to the top was closed. The guy told us it was due to several feet of snow on parts of the road, -10F temps, and wind gusts over 120mph. We did have a Chevy Lumina, but I guess they still wouldn't let us through.

We ended up having a very nice trip - a couple of very nice (and thankfully short) hikes and some great pictures.





When we got back to Portland we got some _great_ chowder down at Gilberts Chowder House. I then got the chance to hang out with Claire while the rents went out for the evening. We had a very nice evening - read some books, watched some Dora, and drew some pictures.

The Big Trip - Day 2

Another great day today, although this time the weather didn't cooperate quite as well. I don't think the sun managed to get through at all today but we still managed to have a great time.

I'll be putting all kinds of pictures from this trip here btw.

After sleeping in (which was great!) I awoke to find a baby in the house. Rufus, a friend (of Mike and Sheila)'s kid, was over for a bit. He was a good guy - no pic to pass along, but a big head of blonde hair. His favorite (and only) word is "daddy" and he employs it the same was smurfs use the word "smurf". Do you like blocks? Daddy. How about we go outside? Daddy. -- You get the picture. Anyway, while the one word vocabulary is cute to any adult (except perhaps his mother), Claire was not as big a fan. She definitely grasps that the baby can't really communicate but was still getting frustrated when, on the way to breakfast, all Rufus wanted to talk about was his Dad. "I'm not your daddy!" she would yell with a very frustrated look on her face.

"Breakfast" (in quotes since it occured at 130PM) was great - Becky's (careful that has audio) was great! I got to help Claire with her french toast - partly grape jellied - part strawberry - partly orange marmalade, part syrup, and of course: part everything. Good times!

We did a bit of shopping (I love shopping) and later a lobster dinner! Mike and I went to pick the beasts up - they were very very easy to prepare (which was a fun experience in itself) and they were uber-tasty! Here, you see me with a manical look on my face - looking forward to the finished product.



Unfortunately, one got loose after I had cut the rubber bands on it's pinchers and it got Mike on the nose:



Looks like a windy and chilly day tomorrow so we'll see whether we get to go with our "hike a mountain" plan or not - something tells me we'll find something good to do!

The Big Trip - Day 1

Day 1 of my big trip is complete.

The whole trip will take from Thursday 10/19 through to Friday 10/27 and will take me from Madison to Boston to Portland (ME) to Boston to Burlington (VT) to Boston to Madison.

Things got started off when my wonderful mother work up early (445AM!) to give me a ride to the airport - thanks Mom! This marked the first time that I was allowed to bud in line due to being a tad late in an airport line. I really wasn't that late though, I bet that if I hadn't budded I would have still been 15 minutes early, but when they offered... I definitely accepted!

The flight from Madison to Detroit ended up being late as we had to circle a while due to cloudiness - you may think that the aviation has evolved to the point where landing during overcast weather is possible... apparently you would be wrong. Anyway, this meant that I got off our plane at 8:58 and my next flight left at 8:48. Lucky for me half the airport was in the same shoes so they held the plane!

The bus from Logan (Boston airport) to Portland Maine was absolutely as pain free as Mike and Sheila had told me. A two hour drive filled with sudoko (my parents addicted me to it last weekend) went very quickly and cost just $20 - not bad!

The day was still young though - after hanging out with Sheila and Claire a bit Mike got home - or actually "woke up" would be the better wording since he was in his room up to that point. We then headed out to check out Portland Head lighthouse - VERY pretty... just like the postcards. As Mike says "by far the most famous thing in Maine".



I happened to be in town on basketball night so we got to go play a bit with some of Mike's buddies. 4-4 full court and a final 3-3 half made for a really fun time, but I definitely haven't been around the basketball enough lately. Lots of mistakes and missed gimmes.

The night ended with Mike and I playing some foosball - I had him on the ropes but he eventually took down the evening series 5-4. We've decided to keep a running lifetime series total from here on out.

Oh, and actually that didn't end my night. I still had a bit of life in me so I decided to start watching the Lost Season 1 DVDs that my lovely wife recently gifted me. Several of our good friends have been telling us a great show for long enough that we've finally given in. Very good to figure out some of these beginning details that I've been missing. Seems like it's going to be a great show.

StL

Another baseball trip in the books. This time Geer and I were joined by Jen (a historic first female appearance for our trips) and Hobber to check out St Louis new park. Hobber just moved down to StLouis a month or so ago for work so we had a great excuse to head down for a couple games - a night on the town - and a visit to check out his new pad.

We really liked St Louis new version of Busch stadium - giving it much higher reviews than the stadiums we saw on our earlier trip this year. They did a great job of keeping some of the theme of the old stadium while really updating it. I am a big fan of several decks stacked (vs. a couple very deep decks). The look is nice and (I think) it makes for some better seats with fewer people missing out on every fly ball because they're staring up at the seats above them.



The fans in St Louis were very into the games. Of course, that could be because they needed to win to clinch a playoff berth (which they did in both games we saw). A few observations on St Louis fans that I think are truly unique to this stadium:

1. We saw no other Brewers fans. I think at the Friday night game we literally saw one other Brewers fan. Saturday we saw a few more but still: way under what you would expect to see just about anywhere else.

2. An incredibly high percentage of St Louis fans were wearing Cardinals gear - or at least red. In other words: there weren't a lot of people that just decided to head to the game in the clothes that they had worn to work that day.

3. For a crowd that is SO into baseball (and they are)... they really chose strange times to do the wave. Basically, they sat there and intently watched each pitch intently. Then, when a really big moment came: they ignored the game and started the wave. It was truly strange. I'm pretty anti-wave, but totally understand that most people find baseball really boring and the wave helpsm so... go for it. but it just doesn't make sense to only do it when the game is at it's highest point.

Cincinnati and DC

This is a pretty late report but better late than never, right?

In the most recent installment of baseball trips, (Tom) Geer and I took a 3 day jaunt to see the new stadium in Cincinnati + the new team in Washington DC (formerly the Montreal Expos).

The trip got off to a rocky start when a pretty nice day in Cincy turned gloomy. A pretty good downpour delayed the game for a couple hours but eventually they did get it started.



Maybe it would have been better as a rainout though as the Brewers blew yet another late lead and went down to the Reds.

The stadium was less than impressive. Tom and I had seen Cincy's old stadium years ago and it was an old hunk of cement. The new stadium is... a new hunk of cement. Not a terrible place to see a game by any means - and the ticket prices were awesome - but for a brand new stadium... it was lacking.

We were then off for a drive through the night to pick up an afternoon game in the nations capital. We arrived in time to take a 2 hour walking tour of the National Malls highlights before heading over to RFK stadium to see the Nationals take on the Cubs. This one had a better result than the night before as the Nationals took the Cubs down.



This stadium was also lacking but it has an excuse... it's a football field. Construction will start soon on a baseball stadium that should put this one to shame.

and there are a few more photos out here - including their version of the brat race (featuring former presidents)...

Anyway, another great trip. Next up: St Louis for the final series of the year against the Crew!

Family Reunion

There are a few posts already up and I'll be staying tuned for more, but I'm sure all will come to the same conclusion: what a great trip.

Seeing all the family (115+) was wonderful. About every 5 years someone puts in the incredible amount of preparation and work to get the group together for the meetup. This time we were hosted by Lake Okanagan Resort. Several pools, tennis courts, a beach, condos/villas, restaurants, low key golf course, and great company made the place perfect for the event. Kelowna was gorgeous and who knew that the lake was some 90 miles long!

While waiting for our luggage in Seattle I bumped into a guy that I play ultimate frisbee with... crazy! Monnie and I then went down to check out Pike's Market where we bumped (unplanned) into a friend who now lives in Seattle (crazier still!). I enjoyed Pike's Market but man... I didn't think I was going to get Monnie out of there!

Tim and Fran had already made their exit to Kelowna but were kind enough to let us stay at their place. The view from their 2nd floor is gorgeous.

The entire trip was incredibly scenic but nowhere moreso than the trip to Kelowna from Seattle. We took a very scenic path taking us on a pass through the North Cascades. It added quite a bit of the time to the trip but was well worth it. I would definitely take that drive again.

Kelowna and the resort were gorgeous as well. Tons of fun and family. Lots to do (not the least of which was relax). The resort had tons for all ages and with the group we have, there's never any pressure: just have fun.

Vegas Baby!

Just got back from a long weekend in Vegas where much fun was had by the 9 of us. We stayed at the glamourous Gold Spike hotel.

An excerpt from this review: "On the plus side, the smoke won't choke a horse like it used to. It'll just give the horse a hacking cough. Trust us, we bring horses in here all the time."

And it did live up to it's reputation. Getting checked in was a hassle of mammoth proportions: taking 45 minutes to get checked into a hotel with only one other guy in line has to be some sort of record. After that though, it was fine. You get what you pay for and when you pay $30/night for a a room with 2 beds... you aren't staying at the Bellagio.

We ended up spending most of our downtown time at The Plaza. It's a nice enough place and the table games suited us well. Burg attempted the "Big Daddy Burger Contest" but predictably fell short when he claimed he "thought it was only going to be 8 pounds".

I played at a few other places downtown including Binions. With the history that this place has, I really wanted to play some poker there - I'm glad I did, but I don't think that I really need to go back. The dealers were way under par and the room wasn't all that great - except for the history...

Most of our play on the strip was at Caesars. We watched 2 days of the NCAA tournament there, as well as playing some in their poker room. Our other NCAA games were watched at Mandalay Bay.

There was some more poker played in the very nice room of The Mirage. Not only was their room nice but they had action on Monday when it was hard to find elsewhere. One of the highlights of the trip was playing here on Sunday night with Tom Geer, a couple from the Napa Valley (who fit every stereotype there) and a completely intoxicated, muscle shirt wearing, "computer dude" from California who had stories on everything from his mormon ex-girlfriend to the lack of ice fishing in California.

All in all a great trip. Lots of fun and we'll be back again next year!

Back to Wisconsin

It's been great here in Miami. In the 80s everyday - didn't rain a whole lot and the conference was great!

If you're interested in the nerdy details, I have some and there are many more here.

I'm ready to be coming back to WI though... sounds like there's plenty of new snow waiting for me. Monnie and I are going to have to get back out to Tyrol!

Welcome to Miami

It may be drizzly, but hey: it's 75 and the room has an ocean view. I'll take it!



Although I didn't hear about it until I got to the hotel and turned on the TV, this happened sometime after my flight landed - and before I had left the airport. Crazy.

Relaxing Weekend

We returned today from the last summer trip (first fall trip?) to St.Germain of 2005. As always it was a very relaxing weekend, this time shared with Mike and Steph Fox, Kevin Burg, Monica and I.

The only work of the weekend involved getting the dock and pontoon out of the water. It was probably for the better that we had the work to do as it got us in the water for one last time (surprisingly warm actually). and while Kevin and Mike returned the pontoon trailer, I got to take a lap in the kayak.

When we moved the pontoon there were several bullheads and crawfish (crayfish) scared up that had been setting up camp under there. We had a little fun with them before finishing up the work. Here's one of each up close and personal.



The only casualties were Mike getting stung by a bullhead and Kevin being attacked by a leaping crawfish. I didn't know they could jump as high as this one is in the picture.




Matt (Fritsch) paid us a visit on his way back through from spending the weekend in MN. He got to have his first in-person look at the condo, along with his dogs Goose and Sera. For some reason I feel like I got to see these dogs about 5 times in a 3 month span... but that was a year and a half ago and I hadn't seen them since. Goose is literally 4 times bigger than he was when I saw him as a puppy. He's absolutely massive now.

Back to work?!?

Well, we got back from Lake Tahoe yesterday and it was great! The travel all went well (although it was early AM in both directions) and the Tahoe area is every bit as beautiful and fun as advertised.

First things first, I've uploaded pictures of the wedding to Flickr. These are courtesy of Mike and Steph Fox (thanks guys). I've broken the wedding ones out into a few different sets: Rehearsal, Pre-Wedding, The Ceremony, Post-Ceremony.

As for the honeymoon photos, I have uploaded them as well and you can find them here. I apologize for having one giant set with 169 pictures in it. I did try to make it a little easier and break them out by day or something but it was really being a pain so sorry, this is what you get! I am a big fan of Flickr but it's missing a couple tools for organizing that could really make life easier (a future blog post?)! You should check out the pictures though. There are some very good ones. It's a great place!

We didn't end up on the hot air balloon ride, as we had hoped, due to weather. That's a pretty unbelievable statement since it was 80 and sunny everyday we were there. I guess they are pretty sensitive about wind though so we ended up missing out. We got a lot of site seeing in though (as you can tell by the quantity of pictures), had some great meals, and really enjoyed being out there. We're definitely going to have to get back out there in the winter to do some skiing now that we've seen it in the summer!