Woodchuck Wisdom

Yep, 97 miles year to date on my mountian bike. My goal this year is 750 miles and ride in four states.

Day in sunny Southern California. To bad all I do is work.

Now what?

Another Friday night and i leave for Texas in two days. The travel season is here once again.

I just checked into my hotel room and the bathroom alone is larger than most hotel rooms. It has a full size bathtub/shower. A two person jacuzzi and more floor space than any bathroom should have. My only question is, where is the basketball hoop?

Sitting in Seattle airport waiting to board my flight. I arrived at the airport for my flight only to discover that I had booked my flight for the incorrect day. First time I have pulled such a move in 10 years of travel. Alaska did a super job getting me rebooked onto a flight allowing me to get home. Somedays travel sucks even more than normal. On a bright note, I did get to have dinner at Araya's Thai restaurant again on this trip.

New iPad mini...wahoooooooooooo

This year's travel has come to an end. I expect that since I now have help at work that my travel schedule will increase for 2013. I have trips planned in January already. One trip to Washington and another to Texas. I then expect a trip to Alabama in February as well.

As we approach another season of winter and the threats of snow are already flying around, I sit and think of  how different the Mid West is to the Pacific Northwest in the terms of snow and drivers.  Mid West is luck in the fact that 200 feet constitutes a hill and there is always the salt factor. But drivers expect snow and know how to drive in for the most part. Most people plan ahead and drive accordingly to what they face. And rarely do you find much ice under the snow. Now the folks in the PNW don't call anything less than 2000 feet a hill. Anything less is just a slight climb.They don't use salt, but instead use gravel to help the windshield company's profit structure. There is almost always ice under the snow and the PNW drives are....well stupid when it comes to snow. Just the thought of snow can cause some drivers waves of terror. So here I sit wondering what this season will bring and all I know is I want my black steed back. She ran wonderful...

Cute little place off the main road in a strip mall. Don't let the mall fool you, it's not your typical mall food stop. And there is lots of parking. Super friendly staff that greeted me as I walked in the door. Decor was OK and the sound bounced off the hard walls. I had a grilled chicken sandwich with avocado, tomato, mozzarella, and grilled onions on gluten free bread. This came with a bowl of Dandelion soup. The sandwich was very very good, while the soup was good. To be fair, the soup was most likely better than I thought due to it just not my taste in soups. Large menu with seasonal offerings. This place would fit in just fine in the Pacific Northwest. I will bring the family here when we go to the Rock n Roll hall of fame. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Thai Vegan restaurant Araya's Place What a wonderful little Vegetarian Thai restaurant in Seattle,WA. Located on 45th near the University of Washington campus. Araya's serves Vegan and Gluten Free options of most of the menu choices. Service is good and the people watching out the front window is great. Traditional Thai setting with plenty of seating. Gluten Free deserts are available as well. I had the Asparagus in Pa nag Curry Sauce with mix vegetables. This may be the best meal that I have had ever, and diffidently in the last few years of travel. Portions are very good for the price, you will not leave hungry.

I love the idea that you have to be intelligent to realize how stupid you are that really stupid people don't realize how stupid they are. THAT is a total Monty Python. Some times you just need to sit back and enjoy all that is around you and not judge the Scotsman on a horse. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Black Bean and Quinoa with a Tahini dressing on the side. Great little place with very good service. Nice place to people watch. Bottomless self serve drinks. A definite must place to eat when you are in Fort Worth Texas. Mostly Vegan with a good assortment of Gluten Free.

window blackout blind comfy king size bed I have now gone mobile. I stayed at the La Quinta Inn in Dallas over by Dallas Love Field the other night. What a nice hotel and only $62.00 for the night. Wonderful bed and a nice big desk. The room also had a HD flat screen TV. The shade was kind of cool and very different from the normal curtains one finds in a hotel room. The place was very clean and I will stay here again.

Sitting here trying to figure out just who is in charge and why do they think it's funny to start dropping snow when they know I have to drive to the Twin Cities on Monday. The last time I was there I had to deal with snow and the old Nissan does not like snow. It seems that Nissan has a design flaw that allows snow to be sucked up the air intake and causes the car not to run. Crom has a very sick sense of humor.

Had a really nice time last night meeting an old friend for dinner. Now this was the first time we have ever met in person, but we have been talking online for 3 years now. And I must admit that my luck in meeting people online has been perfect so far. Everyone of them has been super adorable people. I met a little Bee and her spouse for dinner and then went and had coffee. Thank you Bee for a great time. You are charming and witty with just the right amount of smart ass to pull it all together. No pictures to protect the....well us.

Merry Christmas to all. We did the annual Clam Chowder for Christmas Eve, I must say that it was better than ever and we even did French bread to go with it. I received a really cool gift from my DW this year, 50 cars that changed the world. It is not from a design point of view, if you mean design being how the car looks, but more of from design being function and form.

Did some more traveling this last few weeks. I have been to Springfield, MO twice and roamed around Saint Louis along the way. Had a nice lunch at the Chipotle Grill in Saint Louis on Delmar street when a fire broke out next door at a vintage clothing shop. Made for a fun time trying to get my car out of the parking lot with all of the police and fire trucks on scene. The new job is going very well and it seems that this move and all has been a good thing. The down side of the move is that I still need to sell my house in the NW and that is proving to be some what of an issue. My last hotel room had a large jetted tub in the main room right next to the bed. Sometimes an upgrade is just strange and not needed. I could have had one heck of a party in this tub.

Another Happy Thanksgiving day has come and gone. It was the first in our new home here in Indiana. Not the same table setting as last year, we had to cut back due to having two homes that need to be paid for. I will be happy when the other home in Vancouver sells. Anyway, the meal was good as the turkey was done just right. The dish we called stuffing was the best and the cranberry's were very good as well. We were alone as a family and that seemed to make things go smoother than years past. Time for leftovers.....