Mar 26, 2013 - Pennsylvania

Wednesday, March 26: downtown Pittsburgh Thursday, March 27: University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning talk from Greek Ambassador Friday, March 28: Capitol Building in Harrisburg Saturday, March 29 Rittenshouse Square Federal donuts Barnes Museum Capagiro Gelato

Sep 15, 2012 - Home at last

Saturday -- There was another heavy dew last night but since we would not be using the camping gear again tonight we didn't make any extra effort to pack it neatly into the car. After breakfast we drove I-74 southeast through Illinois and into Indiana. Luckily we did not reach Indianapolis until after rush hour. We were still feeling like the backwoods kids driving in city traffic for the first time. It's funny how quickly one can forget how to drive aggressively. In Indianapolis we exited I-74 onto I-70 east and drove through Ohio to...

Sep 7, 2012 - Pittsburgh--the Pirates go down hard and ugly

September 7, 2012-Our plan today is to visit the Twin Valley Cemetery where Susan’s grandparents are buried, then head into Pittsburgh to look around and go to a Pirates game. We gave a couple of people scares on our way. The night before we had had to stop and pay a toll on the tollway to Greensburg. When we were lining up to go there again to go to the cemetery, I saw a Pennsylvania Toll Commission building on the other side of the road and swung abruptly into the turn lane to see if they sold toll passes. Turns out that I pulled my...

Aug 29, 2012 - Black & Gold And The Big Mac

From Fox Den Acres Campground – New Stanton, PA Feeding our love of sports we took a two hour tour of PNC Park home to the Pittsburgh Pirates major league baseball team. Our initial plans were to tour this park and Heinz Field home of the Pittsburgh Steelers that sits next door. However each facility had the exact same tour times, on the same day this week…..10 a.m. and 12 noon. Since each said to plan two hours for their tour and Wednesday the only day for tours this week made it impossible to finish the 10 a.m. at one venue and be at the...

Aug 28, 2012 - Rude Explanations On Top Of Bad Marketing

From Fox Den Acres Campground – New Stanton, PA We set out this morning to circle the globe in 90 minutes but only made it to Israel! Our quick globe trot was to have placed us within the classic architecture of nations far and wide…….29 nations to be exact. We would have explored the world a room at a time. But once again we were foiled by bad marketing information. Even the sign at the entrance to the Information Center indicated tours should have been available today. We had come to the campus of the University of Pittsburgh to tour the...

Jul 10, 2012 - Back Home

Up again at 3:00 a.m. Only this time, the sun is shining. We're going to miss all this daylight. The plane leaving Fairbanks was about 30 minutes late taking off. Since we only have 42 minutes in Minneapolis to catch our connecting flight, we are a bit nervous. But the pilot put the pedal to the metal and got us there only 5 minutes late. After a hearty sprint through the Minneapolis airport from one end to the other, we managed to catch our flight. And get this - so did our luggage!!! Our bags were transported no fewer than 10 times during...

Jun 25, 2012 - Are we ready for Alaska?

Are we ready for 3 months of nomadic life, picking up a tent every day or so and moving to yet another unfamiliar location? Both of us have travelled to many places and sometimes for a month at a time, either together or separately. On past driving trips we stayed at hostels or B&Bs. 3 months will be the longest tenting trip of our lives. To prepare for the journey we purchased: - a Thule cartop box, recommended as the best model for a Subaru Outback - a copy of the Alaska Highway Milepost 2012. It is a big book but seems to have all the...

Jun 1, 2012 - Off to Wedding number 2 in Buffalo, New York

Its always easier to come home from Ireland because you gain back 5 hours in the day. The only problem is by 7 pm you feel like it is 12am. Good for falling asleep, bad if you have to drive 2 hr and 40 min in a terrible rainstorm tornado watch. As was the theme of the trip.. just keep pushing on. And we did. We checked into the Peak and Peek resort by 8pm and sleeping by 10 pm. By now I am really starting to feel like a rockstar. The best news of the night was that we finally got our adjoining rooms!!! hooray!

May 12, 2012 - Pittsburgh - My Birthplace

Monday May 7 we left the DC area for Pittsburgh after a weekend of recovery from the trauma related to my eye issues (See “A Funny Thing Happened … NOT!). The primary purpose of including Pittsburgh in our itinerary is to do some family history primarily on my father’s side. Also we’ll take some trips down memory lane of my years as a young boy until 1947; my time as a student at Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon); and the period in the mid-sixties when I worked as a Project Engineer for Westinghouse Atomic Power. We were originally...

Jan 2, 2012 - Packing and getting ready

Well today didn't go exactly as planned. For starters, I stayed up way too late last night reading. So thanks to Liz I have been unable to stop reading The Hunger Games. Well I am now on the second book, despite saying to myself that I would wait for the trip. Well oh well, i am now on chapter 5. Tonight there will be no reading, just bed. So after being tired, I joined my parents and sister for breakfast. Mom decided to make French toast casserole and it was quite yummy (thanks mom). So watched the PSU game with dad, and all I will say is...

Dec 11, 2011 - Still in Pittsburgh...for now.

Hey everyone! :) Only 22 days until I take off for Ireland! ahh!!! I told a lot of people I would keep a blog while I'm gone to stay in touch and share stories/pics of my shenanigans so I'm starting this one now! My goal is to make an entry every week while I'm gone so hopefully I can keep you all updated (and PS that means I expect you to update me on your wonderful lives too!). I'll be back to post again when I'm in Ireland but till then I love you all and hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas and New Years! <3

Oct 11, 2011 - Pittsburgh, Pa.

We're almost home. Decided to take another detour and go to the Fiesta Outlet store and we were so close to Ikea, that we decided to stop at the one in Pittsburgh. Too late to start for home, so we're in Pittsburgh for the nite and will start out for home in the AM. More tomorrow. Love, Tina & Jim