Ben

Visited Carlsbad and White Sands in the same day. The kids loved every minute of it. The “Alkali Flat Trail” is simply amazing. The sand was suprizingly cool and we were able to stroll along barefoot the entire time.

After squeezing on to the air train I made it to the Delta terminal and waited in line for an elevator to take us down. What no option for stairs? The terminal was crowded and unorganized. Then I got to sit on a plane for 3 hours before takeoff. Not the best first impression.

I fly a lot for work. I buy a stack of books, read them, then take the back and trade them in for another stack of books. Makes flying more tolerable for sure. If you can’t find something to read here, well, you have bigger problems.

We had Dim Sum at a little restuarant just north and east of the fire station. I don’t remember the name. The guy I was travelling with speaks Chinese and was able to order all our food with me not having a clue what he said. He got me to try Chicken Feet. It wasn’t bad but I don’t think I’d try it again cause they were not good either. The rest of the items we had were great.

I got a really cool feeling seeing the bell. If it just seems like a bell to you, you aren’t getting it. There is so much more to it than that. So many take our rich history for granted. It’s not a place you go again and again but I think it’s definately something everyone that gets the chance, should stop and see it once in their life.

Maybe it was just the terminal I was in for Northwest Airlines, but it seemed like such an ugly dingy airport for a large city such as Philly. Needs a makeover. Plus it took 30-45 minutes for the Thifty car rental driver to pick us up. I was pretty pissed cause we ended up not getting to our hotel til almost 1 am because of him.

Downtown changes my life daily as it’s where I work. No work no pay. I really do like working downtown though. Just wish there was more safe affordable family housing closer to downtown, so that I could live closer.

Listened to the Rainer Maria song Portland while stuck in traffic. The guitarist was one of my best freinds back in grade school.

The free WiFi is great at PDX, in fact I’m using it right now! Most large airports this size charge for access. I second the earlier comments on the coffee. Coffee People is one of the stops I have to make when I’m in PDX. Even better when your jet lagged at 6am.

Flew into Pasco, WA last summer for work. After a morning of work in College Place, WA I drove to Pendleton, OR. From there headed west on I-84 all the way to Portland. Spend the night in Portland and worked the next day. That afternoon I followed the river all the way to Astoria.

Didn’t get a lot of time to stop and see the sights. However, the trek was quite worth it. I knew Eastern OR was dry from previous trips to Pasco and LaGrande. But it was much drier than I expected along the way. Of course it started to green up by the time I reached the Cascades and the Gorge Scenic Area.