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Monday, December 15, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Beginning of the End
I've posted some of the pictures from L.A. We found Houdini's star, but it was blank when we went back an hour later to take a picture. We drove from Hollywood to Albuquerque yesterday. The drive was largely uneventful. We did see a trucker wearing a bright green shirt and matching shoes. He was like the Sergio Garcia of trucking. Driving through Arizona last night, we saw a strange light in the sky. It moved across the windshield at a very high speed and disappeared. It might have been a shooting star, but it looked freaky.
New Mexico at night looks a lot like North Carolina when it's dark. Driving into Albuquerque was cool, because it lies in a slight valley. I've never dropped into a city that large at night (other than from a plane). The lights seemed to go on forever.
Today we continue east.
Later,
Matt
Somebody who doesn't deserve a star
New Mexico at night looks a lot like North Carolina when it's dark. Driving into Albuquerque was cool, because it lies in a slight valley. I've never dropped into a city that large at night (other than from a plane). The lights seemed to go on forever.
Today we continue east.
Later,
Matt
Somebody who doesn't deserve a star
Monday, June 2, 2008
It's Jimmy Kimmel Live!
First, a follow up to the $10,000 pot limit holdem event at the World Series. Andy Bloch came in second, and that earned him a cold $488,048. The final table was impressive, but it had to be in that field.
Today we went to Pink's famous hot dog stand for lunch. We were both really excited, because it's been featured on tv shows and is considered one of the premiere hot dog stands in the country. The Oxygen network is doing some promotion for "Tori and Dean," so the owner of Pink's gave 100 guests free hot dogs. That was a relief considering we waited in line for a half hour, but it would be a short-lived relief. We both agreed that it was the worst hot dog we've ever eaten. If you're ever in Hollywood, you can go ahead and mark that one off the list. At least it was free.
Jimmy Kimmel was a better experience. It was a little disjointed, because they were filming for four different shows. He is going to be doing a half hour show before each game of the NBA Finals. The first one will be airing at 8pm in the east on Thursday. Magic Johnson was on, and he will air on the 8th. Liv Tyler was the other guest, and her segment will be before game four on the 12th. Jimmy also had the spelling bee champion and challenged him to a duel. That will go to air on the 5th. Coldplay was the musical guest, and that will air on Wednesday night at the regular time of 12:06 am. We had to go outside for the Coldplay mini-concert. I only recently found out that I'm the only person who thinks Coldplay is the worst band on the planet. Just to be clear, I always knew I didn't like them. It's the part about everybody else liking them that was the realization. Other than that, the show was great (and we hit the exits so it's all good).
I have a few pictures of stars and various other pictures from Hollywood. I haven't loaded them yet, but I'll probably put them up tomorrow night.
A few notes now on things not trip-related. The French Open is shaping up nicely. I'm picking Almagro to take out Nadal. Then, I'm going with a Federer-Djokovic final. On the women's side, I liked Safina before the tournament started. It would be a huge step forward for her, but she's playing well enough to really make on impression on the 'ova's and 'vic's. I think in the end that Ivanovic will be too much, and she's my pick to take the title. If it does come down to Fed and The Prick, I'll have to wait to see how much the previous matches have taken out of them.
In a final note, I found out that Butch Taylor has left Dave Matthews Band. He was the keyboardist, and though never an official member, he was largely considered the sixth member of the band. He filled the void left by Peter Griesar who left the band just before they soared to popularity. While I do not care much for the keys, it will be strange to see stage right with no Butch for the first time in 10 years. The good news is that Timmy Reynolds is touring with them all summer. "All good things must come to an end sometime."
Later,
Matt
Today we went to Pink's famous hot dog stand for lunch. We were both really excited, because it's been featured on tv shows and is considered one of the premiere hot dog stands in the country. The Oxygen network is doing some promotion for "Tori and Dean," so the owner of Pink's gave 100 guests free hot dogs. That was a relief considering we waited in line for a half hour, but it would be a short-lived relief. We both agreed that it was the worst hot dog we've ever eaten. If you're ever in Hollywood, you can go ahead and mark that one off the list. At least it was free.
Jimmy Kimmel was a better experience. It was a little disjointed, because they were filming for four different shows. He is going to be doing a half hour show before each game of the NBA Finals. The first one will be airing at 8pm in the east on Thursday. Magic Johnson was on, and he will air on the 8th. Liv Tyler was the other guest, and her segment will be before game four on the 12th. Jimmy also had the spelling bee champion and challenged him to a duel. That will go to air on the 5th. Coldplay was the musical guest, and that will air on Wednesday night at the regular time of 12:06 am. We had to go outside for the Coldplay mini-concert. I only recently found out that I'm the only person who thinks Coldplay is the worst band on the planet. Just to be clear, I always knew I didn't like them. It's the part about everybody else liking them that was the realization. Other than that, the show was great (and we hit the exits so it's all good).
I have a few pictures of stars and various other pictures from Hollywood. I haven't loaded them yet, but I'll probably put them up tomorrow night.
A few notes now on things not trip-related. The French Open is shaping up nicely. I'm picking Almagro to take out Nadal. Then, I'm going with a Federer-Djokovic final. On the women's side, I liked Safina before the tournament started. It would be a huge step forward for her, but she's playing well enough to really make on impression on the 'ova's and 'vic's. I think in the end that Ivanovic will be too much, and she's my pick to take the title. If it does come down to Fed and The Prick, I'll have to wait to see how much the previous matches have taken out of them.
In a final note, I found out that Butch Taylor has left Dave Matthews Band. He was the keyboardist, and though never an official member, he was largely considered the sixth member of the band. He filled the void left by Peter Griesar who left the band just before they soared to popularity. While I do not care much for the keys, it will be strange to see stage right with no Butch for the first time in 10 years. The good news is that Timmy Reynolds is touring with them all summer. "All good things must come to an end sometime."
Later,
Matt
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Vegas, Part II
Our stay in Vegas ended up lasting a solid week. Overall things went pretty well. I've talked about the poker a fair amount, so I will spare you the details of our play for the second half of the week. We had a setback on Saturday, but we still finished up $1050 combined in all the casinos we walked into between Indiana and Vegas. That's pretty solid stuff considering our bankroll and the stakes we're playing. Yesterday, however, was like being hit in the head with a shovel repeatedly. We played at the Rio in between watching the $10,000 pot limit holdem event. The people we played with were terrible, but it was one of those days where nothing went right.
Anyway...The World Series is an incredible experience. I've never seen that many people playing poker at one time. Sunday was the second day of the pot limit tournament, and it was also day one of the first $1500 no limit event. There were about 2,000 players. Over the two days we saw: Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Chris Ferguson, Mike Sexton, Andy Bloch, Chad Brown, Humberto Brenes, Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Vanessa Russo, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, Andy Black, Michael Mizrachi, Eli Elezra, David Benyamine, Jennifer Harmon, and many others. Jacob was dealt to at one table by a dealer who worked at the first World Series almost 40 years ago. I was playing at another table at the time, and somebody at Jacob's table had too much to drink and got upset. I ran over to help Jacob get his chips off the table. He had too many to carry in his hands and there were no racks around. We didn't want any part of a fight, but it seemed to resolve itself without a further altercation. My favorite moment at the Rio was when Jake made $230 playing pot limit omaha. He had almost a full rack of red chips ($5 chips) and he came out and found me on a bench in the hallway. Some random spectator walked by while we were sitting there and stared for about 30 seconds at Jake's chips. He obviously didn't know they were $5s. I guess he thought Jake had just made about $100,000.
As for the spectating, the best part was watching Andy Bloch, Mike Sexton, and Dewey Tomko at the same table. You would be hard-pressed to find a more impressive final table and it was the first day of the event. For those of you who don't know, Andy Bloch was part of the MIT blackjack school. He probably can't even make it to a blackjack table in Vegas without being asked to leave. Incidentally, he also received an engineering degree from MIT and a law degree from Harvard. He's one of those rare people who know they're the smartest person in the room and pull it off without being smug. Jake was surprised how aggressively he played at the table with Sexton and Tomko. Bloch was low on chips after the first break, but he made a nice rally and was relatively deep by the second break.
Okay, no more poker talk. We also saw KA while we were in Vegas. It is a cirque de soleil show that we have always wanted to see. The show was entertaining, but I probably wouldn't do it again. If you're in Vegas and want to see a show, I would recommend it over about anything else. Most of the shows are second-rate, because the casinos know most people just want to see a show. Vegas is an enigma in that way. It has a reputation for being awesome, so they can put out junk and people will pay a fortune. In summary, don't go see Vegas shows. If you do, go to KA or another high quality cirque de soleil production.
We drove from Vegas to L.A. on Sunday morning (and into the afternoon). We headed to Hollywood Boulevard to check out the Jimmy Kimmel building. The walk of fame lines the streets on both sides of the boulevard, and I've never even heard of most of the people who have stars. In fact, I kept expecting to see my own name in the sidewalk, because I'm pretty sure my career is just as impressive as most of the people who have stars. It is somehow ironic to see the stars whose owners are worth millions surrounded by countless homeless and/or street performers without a penny to their name (or no more than the dollar just thrown into the guitar case). All the "super heroes" line up along the road, and I guess they are trying to get people to pay them to take pictures. I just found it really annoying when Captain Jack Sparrow wouldn't get out of my way. One positive is that the trip from Vegas to California seems to have reintroduced the laid back southern feel I' m used to. People tend to hold the door for you here, which is something that was lacking in the second half of the trip. Still no sweet tea, but the search goes on. Tomorrow we see Jimmy Kimmel, and Tuesday we find the road that leads home (that would be I-40).
Later,
Matt
Anyway...The World Series is an incredible experience. I've never seen that many people playing poker at one time. Sunday was the second day of the pot limit tournament, and it was also day one of the first $1500 no limit event. There were about 2,000 players. Over the two days we saw: Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Chris Ferguson, Mike Sexton, Andy Bloch, Chad Brown, Humberto Brenes, Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Vanessa Russo, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, Andy Black, Michael Mizrachi, Eli Elezra, David Benyamine, Jennifer Harmon, and many others. Jacob was dealt to at one table by a dealer who worked at the first World Series almost 40 years ago. I was playing at another table at the time, and somebody at Jacob's table had too much to drink and got upset. I ran over to help Jacob get his chips off the table. He had too many to carry in his hands and there were no racks around. We didn't want any part of a fight, but it seemed to resolve itself without a further altercation. My favorite moment at the Rio was when Jake made $230 playing pot limit omaha. He had almost a full rack of red chips ($5 chips) and he came out and found me on a bench in the hallway. Some random spectator walked by while we were sitting there and stared for about 30 seconds at Jake's chips. He obviously didn't know they were $5s. I guess he thought Jake had just made about $100,000.
As for the spectating, the best part was watching Andy Bloch, Mike Sexton, and Dewey Tomko at the same table. You would be hard-pressed to find a more impressive final table and it was the first day of the event. For those of you who don't know, Andy Bloch was part of the MIT blackjack school. He probably can't even make it to a blackjack table in Vegas without being asked to leave. Incidentally, he also received an engineering degree from MIT and a law degree from Harvard. He's one of those rare people who know they're the smartest person in the room and pull it off without being smug. Jake was surprised how aggressively he played at the table with Sexton and Tomko. Bloch was low on chips after the first break, but he made a nice rally and was relatively deep by the second break.
Okay, no more poker talk. We also saw KA while we were in Vegas. It is a cirque de soleil show that we have always wanted to see. The show was entertaining, but I probably wouldn't do it again. If you're in Vegas and want to see a show, I would recommend it over about anything else. Most of the shows are second-rate, because the casinos know most people just want to see a show. Vegas is an enigma in that way. It has a reputation for being awesome, so they can put out junk and people will pay a fortune. In summary, don't go see Vegas shows. If you do, go to KA or another high quality cirque de soleil production.
We drove from Vegas to L.A. on Sunday morning (and into the afternoon). We headed to Hollywood Boulevard to check out the Jimmy Kimmel building. The walk of fame lines the streets on both sides of the boulevard, and I've never even heard of most of the people who have stars. In fact, I kept expecting to see my own name in the sidewalk, because I'm pretty sure my career is just as impressive as most of the people who have stars. It is somehow ironic to see the stars whose owners are worth millions surrounded by countless homeless and/or street performers without a penny to their name (or no more than the dollar just thrown into the guitar case). All the "super heroes" line up along the road, and I guess they are trying to get people to pay them to take pictures. I just found it really annoying when Captain Jack Sparrow wouldn't get out of my way. One positive is that the trip from Vegas to California seems to have reintroduced the laid back southern feel I' m used to. People tend to hold the door for you here, which is something that was lacking in the second half of the trip. Still no sweet tea, but the search goes on. Tomorrow we see Jimmy Kimmel, and Tuesday we find the road that leads home (that would be I-40).
Later,
Matt
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Vegas, Part I
We finally broke down and decided to pay for the internet for a day. I'm still against it on principle alone.
Jacob and I came in to Vegas Monday morning. We planned to stop at McDonald's for an early lunch, but we crossed into Pacific time. Our 11:00 turned into 10:00, so they were still serving breakfast. This whole time change thing is quite burdensome. At any rate, it was to set a tone for the day. We heard about a promotion to get free buffets if you sign up for a player's card at the Wynn (if you earn 25 points). They give you $10 in free slot play, so Jake and I could have each gotten the points for the buffet with $4 left over from the free play by playing video roulette. I'll save you the math in this particular instance, but suffice it to say that they would have been paying us each $4 to eat their buffet. However, they changed their promotion for Memorial Day. We did get $10 free slot play, which we used to make $25 net profit playing video poker. That came only after Jacob had lost $268 playing $1/$2 at the Venetian. After dinner we returned to MGM, and Jacob played some more $1/$2. While he was making back $236 of what he lost earlier, I was trying to get back in the room. It turns out the battery in the card-swiper on our room door was dead, but I only figured that out after going down to have the keys changed twice. Then I had to wait for security to come up, who the front desk person told me could "override" the dead battery with his master key. It doesn't take a genius to know that's not right, so then I had to wait for the locksmith to come up. Great day...
Tuesday morning I went to the front desk to complain about the door, and they gave us free buffets for MGM's buffet. We got the free meals after all. Jake wanted to play a tournament, so we called around to find a good structure. Treasure Island has a 2pm tournament with 3500 starting chips, blinds at 25-50 (going up every 20 minutes). They also had sweet tea, which Jake only told me once the tournament was over. The buy-in was $65, and we both played. Jake lost, and I made it to the final four. We were all close in chips and the blinds were really high, so we agreed to divide up the prize pool evenly and not play it out. It's called a "chop" in poker lingo. My take was $360, and I left $20 for the dealers. Once you take away the $130 combined buy-in from the $340 net payout, we had a net profit of $210. Jake proceeded to lose another $250 at $1/$2 at MGM later that night.
We decided to play another tournament on Wednesday. Jake wanted to play at Caesar's, so that's what we did. The buy-in was $70, so we were in for $140. I lost, but Jake won the tournament for a payout of $950. He left $30 for the dealers, which gave us a net profit of $780 for the tournament. One old guy asked the dealer to check Jake's ID, but the dealer told him that had already been done. We had our celebratory meal at Denny's, and Jake was ticked that we forgot the coupon for $5 off a purchase of at least $15. After dinner, we went to Planet Hollywood to take advantage of their promotion for player's card signup. We each got $10 free slot play that we had to play through once before we could cash out. I made $10.75 net profit, and Jake made $10 net profit playing video poker. They also gave us a coupon for a casino match of one bet at a table game up to $25. That means we could bet $25 on red at roulette, and a winning bet would pay $50 instead of $25. The odds of hitting a red are 47.37%, and the odds of not are 52.63%. The math is as follows: [(47.37% * $50)-(52.67% * $25)] = $10.5175. What that all means is that with the bonus bet our average net profit will be $10.5175 every time we make that bet. We each put it on red and both won. That gave us a net profit of $100, which exceeded our expected value by about 400%.
Our total poker take from Indiana, Iowa, and Vegas is $999 up to this point. When you factor in the promotions we've taken advantage of, it takes us up to about $1200 net profit. I may post some pictures tonight or tomorrow morning, but I really don't have anything that impressive (at least not in comparison to what's already been posted). My favorite casino is Caesar's, but the statues there have a fair number of naked women. Since I'm not sure who's seeing this, I don't think it's appropriate to post those. I'm out.
Later,
Matt
Jacob and I came in to Vegas Monday morning. We planned to stop at McDonald's for an early lunch, but we crossed into Pacific time. Our 11:00 turned into 10:00, so they were still serving breakfast. This whole time change thing is quite burdensome. At any rate, it was to set a tone for the day. We heard about a promotion to get free buffets if you sign up for a player's card at the Wynn (if you earn 25 points). They give you $10 in free slot play, so Jake and I could have each gotten the points for the buffet with $4 left over from the free play by playing video roulette. I'll save you the math in this particular instance, but suffice it to say that they would have been paying us each $4 to eat their buffet. However, they changed their promotion for Memorial Day. We did get $10 free slot play, which we used to make $25 net profit playing video poker. That came only after Jacob had lost $268 playing $1/$2 at the Venetian. After dinner we returned to MGM, and Jacob played some more $1/$2. While he was making back $236 of what he lost earlier, I was trying to get back in the room. It turns out the battery in the card-swiper on our room door was dead, but I only figured that out after going down to have the keys changed twice. Then I had to wait for security to come up, who the front desk person told me could "override" the dead battery with his master key. It doesn't take a genius to know that's not right, so then I had to wait for the locksmith to come up. Great day...
Tuesday morning I went to the front desk to complain about the door, and they gave us free buffets for MGM's buffet. We got the free meals after all. Jake wanted to play a tournament, so we called around to find a good structure. Treasure Island has a 2pm tournament with 3500 starting chips, blinds at 25-50 (going up every 20 minutes). They also had sweet tea, which Jake only told me once the tournament was over. The buy-in was $65, and we both played. Jake lost, and I made it to the final four. We were all close in chips and the blinds were really high, so we agreed to divide up the prize pool evenly and not play it out. It's called a "chop" in poker lingo. My take was $360, and I left $20 for the dealers. Once you take away the $130 combined buy-in from the $340 net payout, we had a net profit of $210. Jake proceeded to lose another $250 at $1/$2 at MGM later that night.
We decided to play another tournament on Wednesday. Jake wanted to play at Caesar's, so that's what we did. The buy-in was $70, so we were in for $140. I lost, but Jake won the tournament for a payout of $950. He left $30 for the dealers, which gave us a net profit of $780 for the tournament. One old guy asked the dealer to check Jake's ID, but the dealer told him that had already been done. We had our celebratory meal at Denny's, and Jake was ticked that we forgot the coupon for $5 off a purchase of at least $15. After dinner, we went to Planet Hollywood to take advantage of their promotion for player's card signup. We each got $10 free slot play that we had to play through once before we could cash out. I made $10.75 net profit, and Jake made $10 net profit playing video poker. They also gave us a coupon for a casino match of one bet at a table game up to $25. That means we could bet $25 on red at roulette, and a winning bet would pay $50 instead of $25. The odds of hitting a red are 47.37%, and the odds of not are 52.63%. The math is as follows: [(47.37% * $50)-(52.67% * $25)] = $10.5175. What that all means is that with the bonus bet our average net profit will be $10.5175 every time we make that bet. We each put it on red and both won. That gave us a net profit of $100, which exceeded our expected value by about 400%.
Our total poker take from Indiana, Iowa, and Vegas is $999 up to this point. When you factor in the promotions we've taken advantage of, it takes us up to about $1200 net profit. I may post some pictures tonight or tomorrow morning, but I really don't have anything that impressive (at least not in comparison to what's already been posted). My favorite casino is Caesar's, but the statues there have a fair number of naked women. Since I'm not sure who's seeing this, I don't think it's appropriate to post those. I'm out.
Later,
Matt
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Day 12
We were psyched for the Grand Canyon today. Everybody tells you that it's the greatest thing they've ever seen. I'm sticking with Yellowstone as my favorite natural wonder, but the canyon is impressive.
We drove south from St. George, Utah down through Hurricane on our way to the North Rim. I decided to go there instead of the South Rim, because it was closer and is generally less crowded. In fact, we found the crowds extremely manageable for a holiday weekend.
One thing I found noteworthy is how you drive very close to the canyon without realizing how close it is to you. It sneaks up on you more than the other parks. Just a few miles from the North Rim you are driving through meadows, then BAM!
We found another cool ground squirrel today, and I snapped a picture of what I think is a California Condor. They have been seen frequently around the canyon recently. The tour towards the west has been fun, but we are both looking forward to Vegas tomorrow.
Onto my French Open opening day comments: The Djoker fell 2/3 of the way short of making my day. Maybe that match will wear on him a little bit as he enters week 2. In his always classy manner, he mentioned that he didn't play very well. I'm glad Murray snuck through. If he would add a few thousand more people to his entourage, maybe he could win in straights. It was a good win for James, but he won't last very long. Serena handled Ashley Harkleroad handily, but fret not all of you Pebbles fans. I understand that she will be in the August edition of Playboy. It's too bad she had to have a cyst removed several weeks ago. She was on quite a roll, and I hope she can get back in form by the time the U.S. Open rolls around. Guga is finally packing it in. He got a really tough draw with Mathieu. I got to watch a replay of the 2000 French final a few weeks ago. I'll certainly miss his shotmaking ability and the way he could think his way around a clay court. If I want to watch Fed tomorrow, I'll have to get up at 4:00 a.m. I think I'll pass.
We're headed to Vegas. Maybe it will be hot and dry, because I'm tired of seeing snow everywhere I go. Internet will be tricky there. All the casinos think they can charge you a daily rate for using it. I'll have to find a coffee shop to call home.
Later,
Matt
We drove south from St. George, Utah down through Hurricane on our way to the North Rim. I decided to go there instead of the South Rim, because it was closer and is generally less crowded. In fact, we found the crowds extremely manageable for a holiday weekend.
One thing I found noteworthy is how you drive very close to the canyon without realizing how close it is to you. It sneaks up on you more than the other parks. Just a few miles from the North Rim you are driving through meadows, then BAM!
We found another cool ground squirrel today, and I snapped a picture of what I think is a California Condor. They have been seen frequently around the canyon recently. The tour towards the west has been fun, but we are both looking forward to Vegas tomorrow.
Onto my French Open opening day comments: The Djoker fell 2/3 of the way short of making my day. Maybe that match will wear on him a little bit as he enters week 2. In his always classy manner, he mentioned that he didn't play very well. I'm glad Murray snuck through. If he would add a few thousand more people to his entourage, maybe he could win in straights. It was a good win for James, but he won't last very long. Serena handled Ashley Harkleroad handily, but fret not all of you Pebbles fans. I understand that she will be in the August edition of Playboy. It's too bad she had to have a cyst removed several weeks ago. She was on quite a roll, and I hope she can get back in form by the time the U.S. Open rolls around. Guga is finally packing it in. He got a really tough draw with Mathieu. I got to watch a replay of the 2000 French final a few weeks ago. I'll certainly miss his shotmaking ability and the way he could think his way around a clay court. If I want to watch Fed tomorrow, I'll have to get up at 4:00 a.m. I think I'll pass.
We're headed to Vegas. Maybe it will be hot and dry, because I'm tired of seeing snow everywhere I go. Internet will be tricky there. All the casinos think they can charge you a daily rate for using it. I'll have to find a coffee shop to call home.
Later,
Matt
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Day 11
We decided to skip Canyonlands and take on Bryce Canyon and Zion today. All these parks in Utah look similar, and that leaves us plenty of time for the Grand Canyon tomorrow. The day began by taking the trip west from Green River just past Richfield on I-70. Then we went south toward Bryce Canyon.
The canyon itself is pretty average, but some of the rock formations along the outer edges are definitely worth the trip. The natural bridge is far superior to the one I've seen in Virginia, and this one doesn't even have a town named after it. The other noteworthy part of the Bryce trip was a photogenic ground squirrel, who apparently has learned that he gets free food for posing. There was some left over food on the rail, so we stole some pictures without paying.
Zion is west of Bryce Canyon, and the trip takes about an hour and a half. Zion is quite different from the other parks in Utah. Many of the rock features are a lighter color, and the road cutting through the park requires more looking up and less out onto the horizon than the other parks. No one picture captures the experience very well. It is more about taking it all in as you ride through. Park officials also seemed less concerned with patrons venturing off the trails than in Yellowstone or Arches.
The drive from Moab around to St. George was as amazing as I was told it would be. It is hard to enjoy when you're trying to drive 75 mph. Maybe next time I can ride in the passenger seat. Though I think for me driving is the lesser of two evils.
Tonight we tried out a regional wing joint which is very cleverly named "Winger's." The sauce tasted like they took teriyaki sauce and put honey in it. Somebody needs to tell these people about the whole mild, medium, and hot methodology. I'm never going to find any wings that I like better than Sammy's in Raleigh, so I don't know why I even bother.
Tomorrow it's on to the Grand Canyon. I hope the previous destinations haven't desensitized me to the point where I don't fully appreciate it.
Later,
Matt
Natural Bridge
Natural Bridge Part II
The canyon itself is pretty average, but some of the rock formations along the outer edges are definitely worth the trip. The natural bridge is far superior to the one I've seen in Virginia, and this one doesn't even have a town named after it. The other noteworthy part of the Bryce trip was a photogenic ground squirrel, who apparently has learned that he gets free food for posing. There was some left over food on the rail, so we stole some pictures without paying.
Zion is west of Bryce Canyon, and the trip takes about an hour and a half. Zion is quite different from the other parks in Utah. Many of the rock features are a lighter color, and the road cutting through the park requires more looking up and less out onto the horizon than the other parks. No one picture captures the experience very well. It is more about taking it all in as you ride through. Park officials also seemed less concerned with patrons venturing off the trails than in Yellowstone or Arches.
The drive from Moab around to St. George was as amazing as I was told it would be. It is hard to enjoy when you're trying to drive 75 mph. Maybe next time I can ride in the passenger seat. Though I think for me driving is the lesser of two evils.
Tonight we tried out a regional wing joint which is very cleverly named "Winger's." The sauce tasted like they took teriyaki sauce and put honey in it. Somebody needs to tell these people about the whole mild, medium, and hot methodology. I'm never going to find any wings that I like better than Sammy's in Raleigh, so I don't know why I even bother.
Tomorrow it's on to the Grand Canyon. I hope the previous destinations haven't desensitized me to the point where I don't fully appreciate it.
Later,
Matt
Natural Bridge
Natural Bridge Part II
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