A Trip By the Numbers

Last week my wife and I took a trip to Virginia to visit friends and family.

1. Traveled through four states
2. Traveled through 14 construction zones
3. Traveled a total 645 miles in three days
4. Traveled a total of 12 hours in three days
5. Spent $52.00 on gas
6. Watched five movies
7. Saw zero police cars!

I always enjoy visiting people down near Washington, D.C. and it seems that more and more people are moving down there that are close to us. We’ll be visiting a lot more frequently in the future but I probably won’t be keeping track of things like above. It’s a lot easier to just get in the car and go.

Holiday Detox

My wife and I were among the 40 million Americans that travel more than 50 miles to visit family during the past couple days.  Luckily, our families are within about an hour drive, making them close but just far enough away.  We left Erie on Thursday morning and arrived back in Erie Friday evening. 

The Thanksgiving menu:
Appetizers consisted of a pepperoni/cheese platter, hot sausage dip (that is still giving me heartburn) with crackers and Fritos, shrimp with cocktail sauce and enough beer and wine for a platoon.  For the actual dinner we each had a part of a 22-pound turkey (roasted for seven hours and baked for one), inside and outside-the-turkey stuffing, two different kinds of potatoes, crescent rolls, cranberries, green bean casserole (my fave), acorn squash and two different kinds of pies with Cool Whip of course.  

After our trip and eating like a king and queen, my wife and I are in need of a massive food detoxification.  We’ve been eating nothing but gravy-covered, potatoed, salty turkey and it’s regular accomplices.  I know that’s what this of time year is all about but I’m ready to eat nothing but salads and water for the next week to get myself back on track. 

All in all, I can’t wait to do it next year as we visit the nearby relatives again!

Fred Flintstone Is A Genius

Good Lord it’s almost been a month since I posted last!  What the hell have I been doing you ask?  Well I can tell you what I’ve NOT been doing: driving!

My bicycle and I became reacquainted last weekend.  See awesome photo below:

My pedal-powered hotrod

Mind you I’ve had my bike for a good 10 years and never used it to really ride anywhere of importance.  I used to ride around my hometown when I was younger but I never really used it for a primary means of transportation.

Someone told me once that you see a lot more of the world when you take your time from Point A to Point B.  That was SURELY the case with my first day back on the bike.  I would’ve missed the following two things had I drove:

Only in Erie

One word: Awesome

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ride your bike, your butt and your waistline will be proud of you. (Because they’ll both start shrinking)

Fourth of July in Warren, PA: A Religious Experience

I went to my wife’s hometown of Warren, PA over the weekend to partake in some of the fourth of July festivities that happen there every year.  These few days of summer prove to be those of legend in this community, providing two days of parading, fireworks and most importantly, planning ahead.

The first big event is the Warren Fourth of July Parade.  It’s probably the most interesting three hours you’ll spend sitting on a street’s curb.  I’ve never seen so many fire trucks in one place – Warren and it’s surrounding community is REALLY prepared for disaster.  The peoplewatching is better than the parade itself.  This one event shakes out all the “interesting” people from their homes who wouldn’t otherwise be seen in public on a sunny day. 

Interesting people included:
1. Ferret lady – she wouldn’t be seen on the 4th without her pet ferret on her shoulder.
2. Firecracker boy – he felt it necessary to light firecrackers at every parader passing by.
3. Red wagon dog-selling guy – he was selling his prized black lab puppy from his red wagon.  When asked if we’d buy his only best friend he replied, “Nah, I got twenty of ‘em at home!”
4. Attention-seeker dude – he loved to walk up and down the street numerous times, shirt half-off, sometimes carrying a pizza box, sometimes not.
5. Old man candy thief – he enjoyed walking between the parade participants and the lines of kids at the curb, picking off candy as it was thrown from vehicles.

As you can read above, the people attending the parade REALLY WERE more fun than watching the parade.  Here are some photos from that lovely day:

Butler Vagabonds

Tall Parade Guy

One word: Awesome

Interesting parade float

Turd Hearse

Impressive…

Tiny bicycle clown

Best float of the day

Probably the best and most odd part of the parade is that Warren citizens will plan ahead and place their lawn chair in their favorite spot at least A WEEK early.  My father in-law had his spot picked out the Sunday prior to the big day.  Talk about being prepared, he’d shared the same spot with his group of friends for the past twenty-odd years.  What great stories they must have shared in that time.

The second big event of the two day affair is the fireworks the next day.  They take place at Betts Park, just off Route 6.  Typicaly there is a fun fair that takes place all day with carnival rides, food and games but that didn’t happen this year due to low turnout I think. 

As with the parade, much preparation goes into watching the fireworks.  By 11:00am, vehicles are parked all along Route 6 (a four-lane highway in these parts) including the cloverleaf exit and entry ramps.  Why park your car there so early?  So you can leave easily when the show is over of course.

I’d definitely return to Warren next year.  I’d sit on the same bench with my father in-law.  I’d eat the same parade food (peanuts) and I’d drink the same parade beverage (Miller Lite).  What a great time in little ol’ Warren.  I definitely look forward to going back to experience what could only be described as religious. 

Fill your tank for $1.44! (In Caracas)

Go to Europe.  Today I saw the price of 87 unleaded was $3.31 at the Country Fair around the corner.  Imagine paying double for that, because that’s what people in Europe have to pay. 

I know this article is from a while ago but it still paints a pretty decent picture for you.  Perhaps you’d like to move to Venezuela where gasoline is a mere $0.12!  I could fill my tank for $1.44!!  But do you really want to live in Caracas?

I last filled my gas tank for $35.00, my wife recently spent $39.00.  We just learned to cut back a little in other areas – you’ve heard this story before.  We cut out a couple unnecessary things like going out to dinner or renting movies at Blockbuster (Have you used a Redbox?  Fantastic!)

On the opposite side of the economic coin, Europe pays through the nose for fuel because of the massive amounts of taxes levied on fuel.  Many Europeans drive around town via motorbike, compact cars or public transportation. 

Here in Erie, public transit is seldom looked upon as a respectable means of travel.  There’s an odd stigma about riding the EMTA bus in Erie versus riding the Metro in D.C., or the T in Boston.  During the day, I can easily catch the EMTA Bayliner Trolley and hitch a ride to the Bayfront or Marketplace Grill. 

I won’t be relinquishing the use of my car though, that’s for sure.  I love driving too much.  Maybe it’s time for a 75mpg motorcycle??

Blackberry Pearl Photos

Last week I took a trip to New York for some product training.  I remembered to pack my digital camera but I ended up taking photos with my Blackberry instead.  I had some good success using my LG Chocolate to take photos when I was in Washington, D.C. in the fall, so I wanted to see which camera was better. 

This was my first shot taken in Times Square and I’d say it came out pretty decent.  I didn’t have my Chocolate to compare, though.  A really great feature of using my Blackberry is how it ties into Facebook.  I’d take photos all day long and then immediately upload them to Facebook with an application I downloaded.  So for those people who are constantly logged onto Facebook and following what their friends are doing, it works out perfectly. 

 The image is a bit fuzzy but I can’t really complain.  One negative thing that I always find with camera phones is the difficulty in keeping the thing steady when capturing an image.

With my Chocolate, it’s a little more difficult to share images than by Blackberry.  Verizon makes you message the photo directly to vzpix.com where you can download and create slideshows and what not, but the Blackberry can pretty much do whatever.  I think I’ll be taking my Blackberry with me on trips from now on – it sure saves me from carrying around another item and it’s ease of sharing is ideal.

Here are some more images:

 

 

Pretty decent right?