CHICAGO, IL -- Well I'm back to this frigid winter wonderland. It's actually pretty nice today - the sun is out, so it is not so depressing, though the wind chill right now is -1. Anyway the good news is that I got another 6 mile hike in yesterday morning before leaving to Sky Harbor, our flight was on-time (a rarity when flying in or out of O'Hare in winter months), and I'm actually on-pace to finish everything I need to get done. Also, only 24 hours to the 2009 NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field! I have 3rd-base side seats, 7th row in the Upper Deck (so I'll have a good angle of the entire rink, will be semi-protected from snow and wind). Should be an amazing experience! We're planning on arriving 3 hours early to take plenty of pictures in the neighborhood around the ballpark, and buy all the merchandise (jerseys, hats, sweatshirts - you know the drill).

Then, after the Hawks rock the Wings, it's off to the races. I need to get home, change out of my 14 layers and into travel mode, finish packing, and head straight to O'Hare. From there I'm flying to Newark, and basically pulling an all-nighter. My flight gets in at 12:30AM on the 2nd, and our road trip up to Montreal begins at 6:00AM on the 2nd. Hence it seems increasingly likely that we'll simply head to Rutgers and fill up from the grease trucks, then maybe a 2-hour nap if lucky before breaking out the GPS and hitting the road north. I don't think I'm driving, so hopefully I can pass out for a bit on the 7-hour drive (though I tend not to be able to when I'm in a new place, trying to soak it all in).

So that's my next 48 hours... I'll keep you posted!

Why would I not want to work and live here for awhile?

SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- Lets recap my past week here in Arizona. Yes, getting in was a total pain, but it was 100% due to the fact that we were departing from O'Hare in a snowstorm. So yeah, 5 hour delays suck, but we were in bed after eating and unpacking by 1AM - not terrible. Then for two days it rained. Nope, not kidding, it actually rained here in Arizona. And for anyone who has ever experienced rain here, you know that when it rains in Arizona, it poors in Arizona. Regardless it was Christmas Eve and then Christmas, so it is not like much was open anyway. Normally it's perfect for hiking, which we obviously did not do, but I got a run in and we went to the movies (saw Yes Man - better than expected, 7/10).

Since then we have done one major hike every day in picture-perfect weather. 60s in the valley, 50s in the mountains and higher-elevations, not a single cloud. Did Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale two days ago, a combination of trails through the McDowell Mountain Soronan Preserve including Sunrise Peak yesterday, and Spur Cross Trail in Carefree today. All of them are longer than 4 miles; today was 6.5 miles. Pinnacle and Sunrise are shorter but have over 1,000 feet in net elevation gains, whereas today was longer but only maybe 400 feet up or down. Tomorrow the weather should be great and we'll either hike Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, a classic vertical challenge that we've done some 15-20 times; or we'll hike in the Fountain Hills area on a longer but flatter route. Either way the weather should be great and it'll be a beautiful day. Then Tuesday morning I'll do a 5 mile run before the airport and back to Chicago.

Besides the hiking we've done some other things as well. Spent some time at the community pool and also in our yard-spa. Made it out to Glendale last night for a Phoenix Coyotes game at the Jobing.com Arena, which is already 5 years old but seems to be brand new. Beautiful arena but the game was terrible - the Coyotes were rocked 4-0 by the inferior LA Kings. The area outside the Arena was very cool though - everything is oversized and it reminded me of Vegas to a large degree.

We've also been steadily adding things to the house. New blinds, dishes, pillows - basic things really. I've been marking all of the new restaurants we've been trying to the GPS as well as all of the new trails and towns.

I might update again from here tomorrow or Tuesday morning; otherwise back to Chicago and then home for a few days. Winter Classic is New Years Day, and then after the game I'm off to the airport to New Jersey, and the morning of the 2nd driving up to Montreal. I'll try to keep you posted!

The picture, by the way, is one of eight attempted balance crossings over Cave Creek on the Spur Cross Trail. Great action-shot, and the best part is that I managed to not fall in!

Leaving Madison

MADISON, WI -- Well, I am done with classes! No more lectures, discussions, or seminars ever again. All I have is two finals and then I am done, done, done. Crazy but time has flown by, 3 1/2 years and all. My two finals are Monday and Wednesday, and then I'm taking my first car-load of stuff down to Chicago.

The good news is that someone finally signed the lease, so I'm off the hook Jan 1-May 31. I still need to find someone who wants the apartment June 1-August 14, so if you know anybody who wants to live in Madison this summer do be in touch. Though hopefully the people moving in next week will simply want to stay around and take the rest of the lease. But 5 months are covered and I feel a lot better about that.

Not a whole lot going on right now. I'm cleaning up, sorting out a lot of trash, and taking some pictures before I start to pack a bag. I still need to do some studying, but I spent 4 hours in the library doing that yesterday and it's hard to focus that much on something still 2 more days out. I still need to go to the bookstore and sell back the books I don't want to keep, but I'll probably wait until after my final on Monday at least to do that, so I can take those books back too. The Bears already won Thursday night, so they aren't on tomorrow, and neither is Storm Chasers (my new favorite show on Discovery Channel). Like I said, things are kind of boring for the first time ever.

I am applying for grad schools, so that has kept me busy. But I'm actually done with all of the online information sections and essays - now I have to keep up on sending in my official transcripts as well as making sure my professors get their recommendation letters in on time. The good news is that one of them submitted everything to all 5 schools this morning, so I'm 1/2 or 1/3 for all 5 schools now. Just need to work on the other two...

The schools I'm applying to are: Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, Oxford, and London School of Economics. My goal frankly is to get accepted to any one of them. If I have any choice, I'll consider it extremely lucky. All of the programs are similar - public policy/public administration/international policy, some combination of the above. I also applied to Teach For America, 2 jobs at the UN, a handful at the State Department, the Foreign Officers Exam, the UN-Enrty Exam, the GRE twice, and some other jobs as well. So far out of the 40ish total applications I've sent out, I was turned down once by a high-level State Dept job, and have 3 in-person second-round interviews for 3 similar environmental advocacy jobs.

Anyway that's all for now. The travel plans are the same as before. Rio is looking like a go for March 11-22. For sure the 14-22, but I'm going to tack on a few days early to do some personal travel with family.

Will keep you posted! Any advice on Montreal would be great, the trip is coming up in only a few weeks! The picture is from Nitzana, Israel in August.

Great Bear pictures, updates

MADISON, WI -- As promised, here are some more pictures. These are from my late-July trip to Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. The lake trout was the biggest I caught at a nice 22-pounds, making it the heaviest fish I have ever brought in the boat. The midnight sun was actually at 1AM, a phenomenon that is made all the more impossible to believe given that we are now less than two weeks from the darkest day of the year (December 21)... the beauty in these pictures is currently one of the most inhospitable places on earth. Finally, there is a picture of a moose that I shot from the boat one afternoon.

Travel updates: none, except that it is becoming more likely that I will indeed be making that trip in March to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We secured a grant that is cutting the trip price by $200, and it looks like I'll have miles to pay for the otherwise very-expensive flight. The overall trip will still be expensive but by fundraising I hope to cover it. Last spring I went on an alternate break to Nicaragua, which I was able to offset by fundraising, and that trip was more expensive than the post-grant, post-miles cost of Brazil.

Will keep you posted! Next flight: December 23!

I'm Baaaaaaaaack!

MADISON, WI -- First off, my apologies for not following through with my travels last summer. I have many great memories that I know will stay with me, and in time I'll tell them through this blog. After Boston, indeed I did make journeys to the Arctic Ocean (I jumped in!), San Francisco, and Israel.

Since then, I've been here in Madison wrapping up my final semester at the University of Wisconsin, and I'm happy to say that I'm graduating two weeks from tomorrow!

As for what I'm doing after graduating, well, the short-term answer is, you guessed it, I'm taking a few more global adventures! I currently already have plane tickets booked for three, so here they are:

December 23-30: Scottsdale, Arizona
December 30-January 1: Chicago, Illinois (including the 2009 WINTER CLASSIC at Wrigley Field, which I am lucky enough to have tickets for)
January 1-7: Marlboro, New Jersey and road trip to Montreal, Quebec
January 7-14: Chicago, Illinois
January 14-22: Washington, District of Columbia for the 56th Inauguration of President Barack Obama!!!!!
January 22-future: TBD

That said, I know on February 24 I'll be in New York, San Francisco, or New Orleans, and it is looking like I'll be in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil somewhere around March 15-22.

My advance New Years' resolution for 2009 is to actually keep this blog updated. If anybody is actually reading this, I'd be interested to hear your comments or suggestions, especially regarding things to do/see in the cities listed above. Thank you!

Boston!

BOSTON, MA -- So unfortunately these blog posts are generally shorter than I'd like. In fact, my apologies for it taking nearly 3 weeks to post again since the Shuttle Launch. Since then, I spent a few days up in Daytona Beach, then a little over a week at home, and I've been here in Boston for a little over a week now. Since I'm working, and my free time is relatively limited, it's hard to put much of anything together. I am including another picture that I really like from the Celtics parade yesterday.

As far as attractions I've seen, so far I've made it to the JFK Presidential Library, the 5 Wits Museum, Fenway Park (tour), numerous hotels all over the Boston area, a forest preserve, and all over Cambridge (specifically Harvard Square, exactly 2 blocks from my room in Hastings Hall on Mass. Ave.). Today will be quite a busy but I'm sure a great day. We're having our Boston city tours. Sadly, since I'm the logistical coordinator, I will not be able to go on one of these tours. However, I'll be driving around making sure everyone is in the right place at the right time, and as such, I'll get to see a few of the highlights including Paul Revere's House and the Prudential Observatory (in the Prudential Building, the 2nd-tallest in Boston). Tonight we're eating dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe downtown, and it'll be fun to tell my Vegas stories regarding that.

Here's my new goal: So my roommate in Wisconsin from New Jersey is about a 5 hour drive away. He called me yesterday, and apparently he has Yankees-Mets tickets for the last game between the two teams at Shea Stadium (since they're tearing it down). The game is next Saturday night, and my new goal is to get so far ahead on all of my work that nobody will even notice me if I disappear for a day. I'll let you know how it works out.

Celtics are Champions

BOSTON, MA -- So today I was working at a hotel about 2 blocks from the celebration parade for the Boston Celtics winning the 2007-2008 NBA Championship. Pretty awesome pictures!

Speechless

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL -- I honestly don't even know what to say. The launch was incredible and I'll write more about it later. For now, here are some of my pictures.

Trip 2: Florida!

ORLANDO, FL -- Above is a pretty good shot I got of downtown Orlando on approach into MCO a few hours ago, at about 8,000 feet. Tomorrow is the STS-124 launch at 5:02PM ET. I'll be sure to upload a picture or two tomorrow night - it's going to be incredible.

As a side note, I would highly recommend staying at a Renaissance Hotel. They're owned by Marriott, so you know there is a minimum quality standard, but beyond that this hotel I'm in is just perfect for the price. It's also a green hotel, so all the lights are florescent, and there are some other energy saving methods employed as well. Everything is clean and there is a good amount of space - in short, I give it 4 stars.

That's all for now! Tune in to CNN or otherwise tomorrow!

Florida trip set!

CHICAGO, IL -- And just in time. I'll be in Orlando tomorrow, Friday May 30th. Saturday NASA is predicting an 80% chance of favorable weather for STS-124 launch. In real time, the countdown clock is at: 2 days, 0 hours, 33 minutes, 15 seconds. The actual countdown clock is set to -20 hours, 30 minutes, 15 seconds and counting. The reason for the differences is explained at this site: http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/launch/countdown101.html.

Sunday morning I'll be in Orlando, and then I'm driving up to Daytona Beach where I'll be until Tuesday June 3rd when I fly back to Chicago.

Will be updating with pictures and more from Florida!

Another picture...

CHICAGO, IL -- Okay, so I feel compelled to share another picture. This one is of the Phoenix during the parachute stage of landing. Remember, this is not Earth, where humans are living in orbit (in the International Space Station or on the Space Shuttle or a Russian craft or otherwise), never mind the hundreds (if not thousands) of satellites in orbit, and the millions of cameras we're able to point to the sky from any corner of our planet. No... this is Mars, 420 million miles away (that's 15 minutes at the speed of light) from any human. Mars has a grand total of two satellites in orbit, and two rovers on the ground (before Phoenix). And yet, with one satellite relaying Phoenix's signal back to mission control, the controllers managed to tilt the other satellite to a 63 degree angle and capture this image. Indeed, this is the first image of any craft landing anywhere other than on Earth, and it is spectacular to say the least.

One last other space-related update: STS-124 nonstop from Cape Canaveral to the ISS is still scheduled for an on-time lift-off at 5:02:03 PM ET on Saturday May 31st, coming up soon!

Welcome back to Mars!

CHICAGO, IL -- Two days ago NASA successfully landed the Phoenix on the surface of Mars in the northern arctic circle. With a historic failure rate of over 50%, congratulations to NASA and the University of Arizona, who beat the odds and used a combination of a heat shield (friction), parachutes, and thrusters to slow the craft from a whopping 12,500 mph to zero in only 7 minutes. What makes it all the more impressive is that the entire entry, descent, and landing happened without the control of any human, since the signals coming from Mars takes 15 minutes to get back to Earth. Since landing, both solar panels successfully unfolded giving Phoenix 100% power, and one of the on-board cameras began shooting pictures of the landscape (including the one above). Later today or tomorrow NASA expects Phoenix to begin using its crane to dig for ice (which is believed to be just under the surface). Check out more at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/

Summer Planning v3.0

Chicago, IL -- Here is my new and updated schedule, from start to end of this summer.

May 14th: Last Final finished
May 16-19th: Las Vegas, NV
May 19-27th: Chicago, IL and Madison, WI
May 27-June 3rd: Road trip to Cape Canaveral, FL*
June 3-11th: Chicago, IL and Madison, WI
June 11-July 17th: Boston, MA*
July 17-18th: Chicago, IL
July 18-19th: Winnipeg, Manitoba
July 19-26th: Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories
July 26-27th: Winnipeg, Manitoba
July 27-August 2nd: Chicago, IL and Madison, WI
August 2-15th: San Francisco, CA*
August 15-16th: Chicago, IL
August 16-29th: Nitzana, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and wherever else I venture off to in Israel
August 29-September 1st: Chicago, IL and Madison, WI
September 2nd: Class begins in Madison, WI

* - Flight not yet booked and/or not yet planned

Israel Confirmed!

MADISON, WI -- About an hour ago I got my final approval and confirmation email for my Israel trip. I'm in San Francisco until August 15th and need to be in Tel Aviv by the 17th, so now it's time to figure out how I can manage to make the airfare work with my schedule. In any case, I'm in Israel August 17th until the 21st working, and I'm going to extend my trip until at least the 24th, and maybe a few days after that as well. Let me know if you'll be in Israel at the same time so that I know and if enough people are around, I'll be sure to extend my stay a few days more. This is going to be one hell of a summer...

TRIP 1: $UCCE$$!

CHICAGO, IL -- It's been a couple of days now since I got back from Las Vegas, and what a trip! Saturday we ate breakfast at the Paris Casino & Resort, then took a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The tower is an exact 1/2 scale replica of the real tower in Paris... it's still pretty high up, and it offers impressive views up and down the strip in all directions, including the one above looking south towards Planet Hollywood, the MGM Grand, Tropicana, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, New York-New York, and Monte Carlo. After that we walked to the Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, the Venetian, and the Mirage. We had lunch at the Carnegie Deli at the Mirage, which was insane. They have a policy of not serving any less than 1 pound of meat on a sandwich, and that's only a minimum. We couldn't even see the bread, it was more like an enormous plate of meat. After that we hit the casino floor - I made some quality money playing video poker, blackjack, and especially on roulette. They have these new roulette machines (like video poker) where you play for yourself (not at a table). Utilizing that I was able to take advantage of the math much better, turning about $100 into about $230 for a pretty good evening. That night we saw LOVE, the Beatles-themed Cirque du Soleil production that's attracted quite a lot of attention (http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/love/intro/intro.htm). The show was fantastic; it was one of the best I have ever seen combining elements of music with sight. The theater was built specifically for this show, with two mini-speakers in each headrest and several sets of projected video and images on screens, walls, and the stage. If you're ever in Vegas, LOVE is a must-see.

Sunday we spent the day at the south end of the Strip, venturing from the Tropicana to the MGM Grand, to New York-New York, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, the Hard Rock, and Hooters. I won all of the bets I made at the Sports Book: one on the Pittsburgh Penguins to win their NHL Eastern Conference Finals game against Philadelphia, which they did 6-0, and two on the Cubs to win their day-game against Pittsburgh, which they also won. I also made some small bets on the Badgers to win the BCS Championship (they're at 30-1 odds) and on the Iowa Hawkeyes to do the same (they're at 100-1). I pitched in with some other people in a much larger bet on the Cubs to win the World Series (9-2). If any of those three teams win, I'll have to take another trip to Vegas to claim the winnings! After the Sports Book, we headed to the Manhattan Express Roller coaster at New York-New York (http://www.nynyhotelcasino.com/entertainment/entertainment_therollercoaster.aspx). One of the best roller coasters in the world, it is one that I vividly remember not wanting to go on during my only other trip to Vegas (some 7+ years ago), and given my love for thrill rides that developed between then and now, it was the only roller coaster I've ever regretted not going on. Well, that's no longer true - I couldn't convince anybody else to do it, but I bought the picture of myself for proof! After that exhilarating experience, we headed to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which was surprisingly small. As such, it was very manageable, which is a nice change from the other mega-casinos on the Strip. In addition to the artifacts that line the interior, I totally kicked ass at the blackjack table. In 45 minutes, I turned $40 into $235. Not too shabby! In the entire time I maybe lost 4-5 hands total - I got very lucky but also played all the right moves, and it's more fun when there is that element of skill involved. Of course, later that evening at the Hooters Casino (yes, there is a Hooters Casino in Vegas: http://www.hchvegas.com/flash.cfm) I blew about $100 of those winnings getting incredibly unlucky playing blackjack, but I still came out significantly ahead on the day. Our dealer, Eddie, was a great guy - despite completely kicking our asses, he made us feel good doing so, teaching us such rules as the "Michael Jackson rule" (never hit on over 11) and the "Mother-in-law rule" (when you have 12-14 and the dealer a 6 showing... you want to hit her but you can't). We ended the day by winning a poker set playing slots. Totally random, but it's actually a very nice poker set.

And then Monday we left. Overall, the trip was phenomenal and I can't wait to go back. Best of all, perhaps, were the free drinks. We discovered that you can sit and play the 25 cent video poker games for a good hour with only a dollar or two in the machine (since if you know how to play your odds are practically even), and the girls bring you drink after drink of whatever you want for FREE! On the weekend, on top of the nearly $400 I made in winnings, I probably consumed near $200 in Corona completely for free! What a deal!?! In sum, if you're 21, go to Vegas - it's a sure hit.

Since I got home I've been working hard on planning the rest of my summer. I signed my contracts and am waiting on the exact flights for my Boston and San Francisco trips June 11-July 17 and August 2-15. I also started some more specific planning for my upcoming road trip to see STS-124. NASA did confirm launch for May 31st, but to save money (and time) we're going to shorten the trip and drive more each day. Instead of leaving this Sunday or Monday, instead I'll be leaving either Tuesday or Wednesday (for the same launch day on Saturday). I'll be driving out to Tulsa, OK, then down to New Orleans, LA, and finally east to Cape Canaveral, FL. Today I got my luggage tags and specific packing list for our fishing trip to Great Bear Lake, which is exciting. Finally, I made more progress on submitting my contracts and applications for my late-summer trip to Israel. The trip, from August 15-24th, is now about 85% odds going to happen (up from 60-70% a couple of posts ago), and I should know for sure within the next couple of days.

So that's the summary! Tomorrow I'm up to Madison to continue wrapping things up there. I'll give an update when I have one, but for now I'm back and forth between Chicago and Madison. Trip one, Las Vegas, was a success!

Taking Vegas for Millions...

LAS VEGAS, NV -- Well, that's the goal anyway! But hey I've been here for about a day now and I'm only down $8... not too shabby. And more importantly I'm having a great time. Flying in this city seems so fake. Literally situated in the middle of NOWHERE, it's amazing to think that about 100 years ago somebody decided that this was the spot in the middle of the desert to build, and to see it now, "what a dream." Las Vegas is the largest US city founded in the 20th century, and it's pretty clear when you see it. Currently there are some 30 buildings under construction over 400 feet tall. Each of these casinos and resorts are literally "mega" facilities; it's really hard to comprehend without seeing it for yourself, and it's something I'd recommend to everyone to check out at least once. I'm staying at the Tropicana, and at our intersection on the Strip is also the MGM Grand, New York-New York, and Excalibur; this intersection has more hotel rooms than any other in the entire world.

Last night for dinner we ate at the Top of the World, literally a revolving restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere, the tallest structure west of Chicago in the entire world at 1,149 feet tall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratosphere_Las_Vegas). The photo is the view we had a couple of times at dinner. And pictures hardly do it justice.

That's all for now - back to making my money...

I'm a Senior!

(picture: Malibu, CA from 2006)

CHICAGO, IL -- Okay, so I've been a senior by credits for well over a year now, but as of a few hours ago, I'm officially a senior no matter how you slice it. What's more, only one more semester till I graduate - crazy! Where did college go?

Well, here's to summer! School's out and I sure plan on making the most of what's going to be a whole lot of traveling, and time well spent with friends and family. Here's the new summer schedule as of now (and it's still pretty much subject to change at any moment until tickets are actually booked)...

Summer v3.0:

May 14th - School's out for SUMMER!

May 16th-19th - Las Vegas, NV

May 19th-26th - Chicago, IL and Madison, WI

May 26th-June 4th - Louisville, KY; Nashville, TN; Atlanta, GA; Cape Canaveral, FL

June 4th-11th - Chicago, IL and Madison, WI

June 11th-July 17th - Harvard, Cambridge, MA

July 18th - Winnipeg, Manitoba

July 19th-26th - Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories

July 26th - Winnipeg, Manitoba

July 27th-August 2nd - Chicago, IL and Madison, WI

August 2nd-15th - Stanford, Palo Alto, CA

August 15th-24th - Israel

August 24th-September - Chicago, IL and Madison, WI

So there you have it! A few dates have changed, such as my flying out to Boston a day earlier. Most obvious is that I've added a trip to ISRAEL! The trip is for Birthright Israel alumni from North America to work at a week-long summer camp for children from Sderot, the town in southern Israel only 1 mile from the Gaza Strip that is constantly under Kassam rocket attack.

There's really only about 2-3 weeks all summer I'll be home, and the biggest chunk of that is after this weekend in Vegas. Also, besides the Israel trip, which is not booked and still I would put it only at about a 60-70% chance of happening (not bad odds, but not anything I'm willing to say is set either), the dates of that road trip are still up in the air for a few reasons. As of right now, STS-124, the space shuttle launch I'm going to see, is still scheduled for 5:01:50PM ET on May 31st, but it is still by no means set. I'm checking it pretty much every day to see if they change it, and the longer time goes by, the better the odds that they don't delay it (except for weather). So, as I've said before, in the next week leading up to when I would have to leave, hotels and whatnot will be booked and the dates will become a little more concrete.

Also, a total side note, but I've made the decision that I'm going to space. I know, sounds impossible, right? Wrong! Virgin Galactic, the team that sponsored SpaceShipOne (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Ship_One), which won the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004 for becoming the first private group to send a human into space twice within 10 days and safely return, is currently accepting bookings for flights on SpaceShipTwo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipTwo). Currently, it costs $200,000 to book your flight, but as more are booked (they have something like 200 flights already booked, pretty impressive), the price will drop to $175,000, then $150,000, etc. until it settles at $20,000. Don't get me wrong, 20 grand is a LOT of money, but on the other hand, this is SPACE! How amazing would that be? I'm going to start saving my pennies right now and maybe by summer 2015 I can go...

That's all for now - my next post should be from the bright lights of Vegas this weekend!

One More Week!

The title says it all, and how exciting! The last month has really flown by, and a day already post-Cinco de Mayo, I have only one more week until my last final and the official start of summer! In my last post I had thought that my summer would begin on May 14th, but as that last final has been changed into a take-home final, my summer will instead begin a full 24 hours earlier on May 13th, one week from today.

Otherwise, Summer Plans v2.0 looks pretty similar to v1.0... the Vegas trip has been booked since before my last update, and remains the same.

My next trip, to see the Space Shuttle Launch, remains scheduled the same, which is really good news. In fact, the Shuttle rolled out from the Vehicle Assembly Building (the 4th-largest building in the world by volume) to Launch Pad 39A, where it is still scheduled to launch on May 31st at 5:01:50PM ET. Today the astronauts arrived at the Kennedy Space Center to begin a full 3-day rehearsal for the launch later this month. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

My dates for the Boston trip also remain the same and if they change, will only change by 1 or 2 days from the June 12th beginning of the trip. My ticket is not booked yet but should be within the next couple of weeks. July 17th will definitely be the day I return to Chicago, because...

...the next trip to Winnipeg and Great Bear Lake has already been booked, and the first flight (of the several that it takes to actually get to Great Bear Lake Lodge) leaves Chicago on the morning of July 18th. Needless to say, I'll need to get home in order to quickly switch out my clothes and things from one suitcase to the next, as some things I'll be taking with me on both trips, and others, such as the fishing gear, will be on the Canada trip only. The morning of the 27th of July we return back to Chicago, and from that morning until August 2nd will be my longest stay at home for the summer. And by at home, I mean between Chicago and Madison, as I'll need to clean out almost everything from my place there, given that our lease ends in the middle of August and we are not staying where we currently are.

The August 2-15th trip to Stanford in the Bay Area has not yet been booked, but should be booked at the same time as the Harvard/Boston trip within the next few weeks, and the dates should stay the same on that one too.

And there's a whole summer for you! I'll end up splitting the rest of my summer time between Madison and Chicago, moving things from our place now to our new one in Madison, and spending time with family and friends in Chicago too. Though, who knows, maybe I'll end up taking another trip anyway!

Summer Planning v1.0

CHICAGO, IL -- It appears as if I have finalized my travel plans for this summer. Of course, "finalized" may not be the right word; it's all a matter of specifics. But in any case, things are looking like as follows:

May 14th - Start of summer in Madison, Wisconsin

May 16th-19th - Las Vegas, Nevada

May 19th-25th - Chicago, Illinois

May 25th-June 4th - Road trip to Cape Canaveral, Florida

June 4th-12th - Chicago, Illinois/Madison, Wisconsin

June 12th-July 17th - Boston, Massachusetts

July 18th - Winnipeg, Manitoba

July 19th-26th - Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories

July 27th - Winnipeg, Manitoba

July 28th-August 2nd - Chicago, Illinois/Madison, Wisconsin

August 2nd-15th - San Francisco, California

August 15th-September 7th - Chicago, Illinois/Madison, Wisconsin

September 8th - Class begins, Madison, Wisconsin

Whew... it feels good just to get that all out there in a nice, organized fashion. Vegas update - will be staying at the Tropicana Hotel on the Strip, which is an upgrade from the last post. The road trip to Florida is to watch STS-124, the space shuttle which is scheduled to launch May 31st at 5:01PM ET. So the dates are flexible pending the launch schedule as the days get closer and it becomes easier to get a good guess on when the launch actually will be (as they are frequently delayed). I'm very excited about spending a large chunk of my summer, about five weeks, in Boston, as I've never been to anywhere in New England. Boston itself is a very historic city that I've done much reading and studying on, and it will be great to really spend some time there and see the modern incarnation. I'm also trying to get tickets for a game at Fenway, but they are PRICEY! Like, $200 for a half-decent seat for ANY of the games while I'm there (which, there are like 14 games since I'll be there for such a long time). Even though Boston will be for work, part of work will be touring some of the sites, so I'll get to see some of the city, and I should have a couple of days off where I can venture off on my own. Maybe I'll head down to Providence, or take a ferry to Cape Cod... I'm all ears if anybody has any suggestions.

Winnipeg and Great Bear Lake are part of the same trip, a family fishing trip that has been a, for the most part annual thing. Summers of 2004 and 2005 I went with the family to Great Slave Lake, which is also in the Northwest Territories, except it's farther south and therefore not as cold, and not as remote (though, at 65 degrees north, just about everything is remote; it's all relative). 2006 the trip shrank to just 3 people going, and I by the point of knowing about it had already committed to working, so it simply didn't work out. And then last summer, 2007, we took a family trip to Israel, which was an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade all the fish in the world for. That brings us to this summer, and we'll be off to the Canadian tundra, into the arctic circle, the land of bears and moose, with no roads, cities, airports, phones, Internet, television... frankly, there isn't much of anything but nature. The lake is the fourth-largest in North America (about the same size as Lake Michigan), and yet only 400 people fish it each year (it's that far north - look it up on a map). Needless to say I'm hoping for a trophy fish (20 lbs. lake trout, or larger).

San Francisco, like Boston, is for work, except I've been to San Francisco before. We're actually staying at Stanford in Palo Alto, but will do plenty of day-trips into downtown, visiting Alcatraz, Chinatown, the Golden Gate Bridge, some of the parks, Coit Tower, and most of the other famous landmarks. It's one of my favorite cities that I've been to and I'm very excited to go back (I'm also a fan of 66 degree days with sun, every single day, always, no matter what).

And that concludes my summer travel, at least for now. I might end up adding a trip within those, or more likely, it'll be a road trip out of Chicago/Madison - maybe to Michigan, or St. Louis, the U.P. - time will tell. For now I'm happy with my summer plan, and I'm sticking to it.

First summer trip confirmed

MADISON, WI -- This summer, first trip: Las Vegas! I got my plane ticket and hotel yesterday. I'll be there Friday May 16th-Monday May 19th, and am staying at the Las Vegas Hilton, which is only a block off the Strip and right on the monorail line. Besides plenty of time in the casino, I'm looking forward to checking out the observatories - one of them is an exact 1/2 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Resort. It'll be interesting to compare it to the actual thing, which I remember quite well (I was there in Paris in October 2004). The other observatory is at the Stratosphere, the tallest building west of Chicago, where I've obviously spent plenty of time. Hopefully we'll also get tickets to a couple of shows; apparently LOVE, the Beatles-themed show, is great and I'd love to check it out. The sportsbook at the Hilton casino is the largest in Vegas, and with playoff hockey on the line, and plenty of baseball, I'm sure I'll make a bet or two just for kicks.

Well, I'm very excited to have my first summer trip booked and set. Vegas will be a great place to celebrate 21 (which, by the way, one week from today) as well as finishing spring semester classes (May 14th). If anybody has any suggestions on things to do or see, please leave a comment so I can check it out. Thank you! Next post should be from Chicago, unless another trip is booked in the next few days.

Welcome!

MADISON, WI -- Not much of a surprise that I begin my blog from here in Madison. I guess I should explain the purpose of this blog as a way to get it rolling. For the past six summers I have managed to spend no more than two consecutive weeks at home (IL) or here in Madison (school). As such, my friends in both places, as well as family, are frequently frustrated that we don't spend enough time together, and this blog is an attempt on my part at least to share where I am and what I'm doing, and maybe I'll even throw in a photo or two once in awhile. Also, I always try to keep a journal on my trips and this blog will be a way for me to keep a consistent (though shortened) version in one place.

With that said, thank you for visiting and please be sure to leave comments and suggestions. This summer I am still not sure exactly where I'll be heading, but things should straighten themselves out in the next few weeks. First up in mid-May should be Las Vegas, Nevada. Catch you there!