Kansas City

Hi Everyone. I'm in the Kansas City airport right now waiting to board my flight home to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. I'll be home from tonight through Monday and then will be flying to Portland for the next week for an all-team meeting. Should be good times through then.

On our way to KC, we stopped in Columbia, MO, which is where the University of Missouri main campus is located. It was a recommendation by our innkeeper in St. Louis and Google boy. We had a nice lunch in a quaint tea house and then went hiking in Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, which had some caves we were able to explore. Cute little town and nice hiking.



So, Kansas City was good. I really had no idea what to expect in almost the exact middle of the country. My favorite area is Westport, which is the "entertainment" district. Basically just a lot of bars and cute shops and restaurants. There's also an art school near by and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, so there are lots of different types of people there as well. Westport is just north of Country Club Plaza, which was built as a shopping district almost 100 years ago using Moorish-type architecture. Nowadays, there are lots of shops you'd see in Beechwood Place, so I was turned off by it at first, thinking it was recently built to look like an older establishment, but now I have much more respect knowing it was built that way a while ago. Also, I'm excited to go back there at night after I get back to KC after our 11-day break because they decorate the whole plaza with over 80 miles of lights. They light them up on Thanksgiving night.

We were able to go to a few museums - the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Toy and Miniature Museum of Kansas City. The actual art museum (Nelson-Atkins) was enjoyable. They have a huge sculpture park with huge birdie statues (as in badminton). We really only strolled through one wing because it was pretty big and getting late. There was also a huge reflecting pond outside, which I really liked. The contemporary museum was very manageable in size, which made it very enjoyable. There was an exhibit on display of Michael Vasquez's work. You should really check out his work if you have time. We saw a sign for the Toy and Miniature museum one day and figured we had to go there. It was actually pretty cool. We really dig the miniatures (which are exact replicas of real-life things - different than a toy) and the doll houses they had on display. Oh, and we went to the National Heritage Museum to learn about the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails. I was really just hoping to find copies of the Oregon Trail computer game, but had no such luck.





We've also experienced the two things Kansas City is most known for (at least from what I've picked up on) - BBQ and Jazz. We ate at 2 BBQ restaurants and Gates BBQ is my favorite. You can buy the BBQ sauce at any grocery store. We also now know the difference between a short end and long end of ribs. We went to the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz district and checked out the Jazz Museum there, saw some live Jazz, and ate at the Peachtree, which is an upscale soul food restaurant - delicious is all I have to say!



Emily celebrated her 24th birthday here. We went to breakfast at Waffle House (something she's wanted to do for quite some time) and went out to a nice dinner (thanks to her momma) at Figlio Italian Restaurant on the Plaza. We then saw some live reggae. We also went to Lawrence, KS (recommended by Pam and Katie O.) to see Old Crow Medicine Show. Another good show and a very cute little college town.



Alright, well I think that sums up most of what we did here in KC. I hope to see a lot of people while I'm home for Thanksgiving. But if I don't - hope you have a wonderful holiday! Oh, and I'll have to keep you posted on where I'm going next. Right now I don't know, but should find out when I go to Portland. And below you will find a pic I like to call "Another day on the job".

Leaving St. Louis

Hi all - hope this all finds you doing well. First, I want to say Congratulations to Sheila and Matt on the new addition to their family, Jameson. He was born October 3o. Can't wait to meet him!

The weather is cooling down here as I'm sure it is there as well. We're in Kansas City now, which has proven to be super nice so far. We still haven't settled in to a permanent home (we hope to do that today) but we really like the areas we've been to so far, which have included Country Club Plaza, Westport, and Mission Hills. We're hoping to live in Westport, which is a historical part of town that has turned into the city's main entertainment district.

Until now, we'd been enjoying our last 2 weeks in St. Louis. So far, St. Louis has been my favorite city - Emily's too. We just loved that we were able to get around the majority of the time on our bicycles. We also took a long ride on the Mississippi Riverfront Trail, which was interesting. On one side of the trail is the river and on the other side is heavy industry like car compounds. Lots of weird smells there, but a very nice trail. Our innkeeper, Karen, is huge in the bicycle world in St. Louis, so it was nice to have her around as well. We were able to have her and her husband over for dinner one night - we made tofu and brown rice stuffed peppers and they were delicious. They are just great people and if anyone is ever planning a trip to St. Louis, let me know because their carriage house is great. Oh, and we carved some pretty sweet pumpkins for Halloween.







Halloween weekend was nice. As I'm sure most of you know, I dressed up as a ladybug and Emily was a honey bee (in honor of Sudden Bee Death Syndrome - if you don't know what it is, find out because it's important to be informed!). So, we were 2 bugs in a bug. We volunteered at a Halloween party for autistic children Friday night, which was a lot of fun. I watched over the bouncy house and Emily walked around and filled up candy and mingled with the kids. It was great that we were able to do that. We then went downtown to the Scottrade Center for a show - SYTYCD. We really can't believe we went to that, but it was a lot of fun and the people are really talented! Afterwards, we went down to Laclede's Landing for some dancing ourselves. The next day, we celebrated Halloween in the Central West End (where we live). They have a huge block party and everyone is in costume. It was pretty fun and there were a lot of interesting costumes, but they served Miller Beer, so we weren't too happy about that being in a Budweiser town.





That Sunday, the Browns were in town playing the Rams. I met some Clevelanders the night before and they offered me a ticket for $15, so I took it. I then found out some other friends were in town for the game, so I got to meet up with them as well. We won (after a scary first quarter) and left the Rams at 0-8. Quite a few beers later, I took the Metrolink back home where I met up with Emily and Jacqui and Maureen from Team 2! They were on their way from Boston to Las Vegas and stopped in St. Louis for two nights. We went out to dinner on The Hill one night and met up with some of Maureen's friends the next night. It was great to see them again and nice to know we'll be able to see them again soon in Portland for the All-Team meeting.

On one of our last days in St. Louis, we hit up the City Museum. It is one of the coolest places I have ever been. The founder and designer wanted to make a museum in which people were able to interact with the various elements he used to create an architectural marvel. I really can't even explain it. There are just tons of things to climb on and slides to slide on and caves to explore. It is crazy. There's also a huge outdoor section. We learned that the museum was only opened to adults for the first year and then welcomed kids after that. They celebrated their 10-year anniversary this year. Every Friday and Saturday, they're open until 1am, so it also caters to the late-night bar crowd. It was really hard to capture the size of some of the elements in the museum, but I tried. That night, we went out in Soulard to an Irish bar, McGurk's. I still have to say, if there's anywhere in St. Louis to go meet drunk people (some very obnoxious), it's Soulard.



Our last day in St. Louis was sad. We had to pack and we also went and to check out the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. It is located in our neighborhood and contains the largest collection of mosaics in the world. The cathedral is huge and just so beautiful. I don't have much to compare it to (because I have to admit, I haven't been in many churches), but I can't imagine many places that are as grand. We then stopped for one more bubble tea before heading home. We went to Delmar Loop that night to the Pageant to see Old Crow Medicine Show, a new favorite band of mine. The Pageant is a great venue with lots of places to go. There is an open floor, lower level tiers with tables and bar stools, open space in the back by the long bar, an upstairs balcony with seats and then another open space by the bar there. The show was great too and we're hoping to see them again in Lawrence, Kansas for Emily's birthday weekend!

Alright, sorry these are so long, but by the time I get around to writing, I'm 2 weeks deep with lots of information. Hope you don't mind. I'll let you know how Kansas City pans out soon. Then, I'll be home for a few days for Thanksgiving. Until then, stay warm!

St. Louis

Hello all. We've been in St. Louis for a few weeks now and have done a lot of things but we've also stayed home a lot and watched movies and such because it's getting cold here! I also was able to exchange my bike in for an adult bike, so that's been nice. So, we went to a little place called Soulard, just south of St. Louis to go to the farmer's market and then we went back to get some drinks and listen to some blues later. I really like Soulard - good, friendly, drunk people pretty much any time of the day. The area was founded by some guy named Soulard, but it also means drunkard in French, so it's a pretty fitting name. If I were to ever come back to St. Louis to actually settle, I'd probably live in Soulard.

We've also been to the arch a couple times. The first time we went, we just walked around because the "journey to the top" was sold out for the day. We also walked over to Laclede's Landing, which is a few blocks of bars and restaurants just north of the arch on the Mississippi River. That's where we spotted the Google Driver - basically the reason we no longer sell our data to Google. They have a whole fleet of vehicles out in the US (and probably other places) doing what we do. The data is different from ours. It was good to see him and see how his life varied from ours as you don't often meet people out doing what we do unless they drive trucks.



The second time we went to the arch, we actually got to go up to the top, but that still took forever because we picked the day that started out some huge marching band competition so there were kids everywhere. Emily's mom was in town visiting so we went on a Riverboat cruise while we waited for our turn to go to the top. The riverboat cruise was informative and would have been better without the high school kids being loud and throwing things off the boat. I think they ended up just being ice cubes, so I didn't yell at them (I had a whole speech prepared and everything). Anyways, we then went to the top of the arch in these crazy round elevator type things that only held 5 people. They reminded me of the little submarine from The Life Aquatic. The top of the arch is small and crowded but the views are pretty good.





We rode our bikes to the zoo one day. We both agreed we'd be able to handle the St. Louis zoo because they compare it to the San Diego zoo as far as habitats go (size, care, etc.). It's also one of the only (and largest) free zoos in the US, so we thought we'd give it a try. It was pretty nice and not crowded and most of the animals did have nice living quarters. But my question is, where do the animals (like elephants) go when it's cold outside? Elephants do not live in snow in the wild. This may have an obvious answer, I'm just not sure of what it is. I did not take any pictures at the zoo. I'll leave that up to your imagination.

We had a rain day sometime last week and decided to go on the Anheuser-Busch brewery tour. We got to see the Clydesdale's and where they store the beer and where the beechwood aging process takes place and where the mashing takes place and where the bottling takes place and where the free tasting takes place. You get two eleven-ounce tastings and it doesn't seem like a lot, but I guess it just has more of an effect when it's noon and your drinking fast to keep up with the old timers (the only other people on the brewery tour on a Wednesday morning). So, we had to keep up with our buzz and tried to find some places around here where we live to get some drinks, but that proved to be more difficult than we thought. All in all we ended up at what turned out to be an alternative bar and it was a fun day.



While Emily's mom was here, we also checked out the Missouri Botanical Gardens, which are huge and beautiful. There's a climatron there (like Biodome) that mocks a tropical rainforest. There are tons of different gardens and a must see for anyone coming through St. Louis. That night, we went to a casino on a riverboat and Emily and her mom taught me how to play blackjack and I got blackjack on my first hand.







We've ridden our bicycles a lot this week. When I actually settle down, I can't wait to purchase myself a sweet bike. It's just such an easy and cheap way to get around. We rode to Delmar Loop and went to this place called Bubble Tea where they serve boba (or tapioca balls) in their drinks, which can consist of milk drinks or juice drinks and probably more. I'd never had this before so the whole concept was new to me, but Emily once had a boba addiction, so she was very happy to find a Bubble Tea. So you drink the boba, which I got in my chocolate milk, through these really wide straws. Quite interesting, but good.

Alright, that's all I got for now. It's raining here today, so we're going to work on some GIS and Spanish and finish making our Halloween costumes. We're volunteering today for Catch a Falling Star who is putting on a Halloween party. Then we have big plans for the night. I'll tell you more next time I post. Til then, have a very spooky Halloween! Ciao.

I Love Kentucky, Part 2 and St. Louis

So, the next morning we woke up early to get some free continental breakfast at our hotel and head to the Gladie Visitor Center to get some recommendations of more difficult trails. It was a really nice visitor center with lots of information about the area and the nicest lady worked there who had been hiking the trails for over 20 years. She gave us some recommendations and we were on our way. The first stop was Nada Tunnel. No hiking was involved here, but we were able to drive through the tunnel, which is 900 feet long and only fits one car at a time. If the car coming in the opposite direction didn't have their lights on, you were pretty much screwed because you'd have to back up to let them continue through.



We then looped around to trailhead 205, Gray's Arch Trail. This lead you down to Rough Trail, which is the longest continuous trail in Red River Gorge (8 miles one-way). We probably did about 2 miles of Rough Trail, which was down in a valley and then lead you back up to a different ridge. That's where the junction of Rush Ridge Trail was and we took that back 2 miles to our bug. I really like the Ridge trails because that's where all the scenery is.



After this, we headed up to Auxier Ridge Trail, which was gorgeous because you could see many different arches and notable rocks. We took that down in the valley to Auxier Branch Trail and then to Double Arch Trail. The loop was 5 miles. After that, we were hungry so we headed to Kathy's Diner for some grub and strawberry shortcake - delicious!



We then had to say goodbye to the Red River Gorge and headed to Louisville, Ky. I don't know why I've always wanted to go to Louisville, but I have, so we did. We got a hotel about 3 miles from downtown. We first hit up The Highlands, which is a 3 mile stretch of bars and restaurants. We went to a few bars there and then grabbed a cab and headed to 4th Street Live. 4th Street Live is kind of hard to explain. It's loud and there are lots of bars there (mainly more corporate type bars). You need to be 21 to get into the blocked off area, and then you can buy drinks in the street and go to lots of different bars. Some have covers, some don't. We went to a place called Sulley's, which had a DJ and all of that. So we did some major dancing and luckily, didn't have to pay for many drinks. Anyways, after that, it was off to St. Louis.

So, far St. Louis is pretty cool. There are lots of different areas we want to hit up. So far, we've been out in Delmar Loop - there's a walk of fame there like Hollywood's, with different stars laid on the sidewalk. There's a star for Miles Davis and Chuck Berry and other St. Louisians. We also got lunch on Cherokee St., which is where lots of art galleries and Mexican-type restaurants are located. We've been to the St. Louis Union Station. It used to be the train station, but it's been turned into a mall complex with restaurants, shops and hotels - no trains go through here anymore. The original architecture has remained for the most part, so it's a gorgeous building to see. We also had a spectacular hamburger there and left with some Hickory Seasoning, which I'm excited to have to cook with.



We've also purchased some used bicycles from a store called Bicycle Works. They are an organization that allows kids to come in and learn how to fix up bikes and then in turn, earn a bicycle and helmet. They sell bikes as well to keep the store running. We purchased a bicycle for $20 each and are going to return them before leaving. I may go back and trade my bike in next week because it's a little small (as in I think it's a boys bike). Yesterday, we rode them all around Forest Park, which is a huge park just west of where we live with multi-use trails. It also houses the Art Museum, Science Center, History Museum, the Muny (largest operating outdoor theater is the US - they claim), and the Jewel Box, which is a conservatory. They bikes are nice to have around because then we don't have to drive after we're done working.





Lastly, we've started "school". We trade on and off two days a week between taking GIS classes online and learning Spanish. We've come to a slight halt with the GIS classes because we're waiting on some additional software from our company. But the Spanish classes are going to be helpful for life and for our trip we're taking in the spring to South America.

Today, I think we're hitting up the Farmer's Market in Soulard, which is another cute neighborhood and home to the 2nd largest Mardi Gras festival in the US. We are excited to go out there as well at some point. Alright, well I think that's all for now. Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm!

I Love Kentucky!

Hello again. We arrived in St. Louis Sunday afternoon and are staying in just the most charming little cottage house in the Central West End. So far, I love St. Louis, but this blog is about Kentucky. I'll post more about St. Louis in a few days. We haven't had much of a chance to do anything here yet, but will soon.

So, we left Cincinnati Friday afternoon and drove southeast to the Red River Gorge, which is in the Daniel Boone National Forest, which is huge! I went to the Gorge during college once, but that was definitely a different kind of trip! Anyways, we got into the forest area on Mountain Highway through Kentucky. The drive itself was gorgeous. We proceeded to our hotel, which was in Campton - about 10 minutes away from the Gorge entrance. It's really a bummer because we don't have equipment to camp. I know we'd be able to fit a tent and sleeping bags, but we don't have room for coolers, cookware, etc. - especially when we're en route to a new city because our bug is pretty packed! (On a side note, I'm eating the most delicious waffles in St. Louis as I type this. The cottage is considered a Bed and Breakfast, so the kitchen is stocked with all sorts of organic breakfast options!) But, if you ever decide to go to the Red River Gorge, definitely camp inside the park. You're encouraged to only camp in the Backcountry, so finding a sweet camping site is all in your hands.

Alright, back on track... So, we checked in to our hotel and got ready to explore the Gorge on our own. The first trail we did was only a 1/4 mile long, called Whistling Arch. This was cool because there was a huge valley of rocks and also a large boulder. Someone had tied a rope to a tree at the top of the boulder so you could pull your way up. We got to the top for some amazing pictures and also discovered a campsite that would be ideal (someone else discovered it first and were already camping there!).



We then proceeded to Sky Bridge Loop, which wasn't a loop at the time because they were repairing a portion of the trail. Regardless, you were able to walk to Sky Bridge, which is a natural bridge. By the way, the Red River Gorge contains over 100 arches or natural bridges - the most East of the Mississippi. Sky Bridge is one of the largest arches in the park, although it has been graffitied for decades as people feel the need to carve their name into the top of the arch.





The last trail we did that day was Rock Bridge Arch. This was about a 2 mile loop that brought you down into a valley where there was a small waterfall. The arch on this trail contains the only true natural bridge as it crosses over a river. The rest just cross over land. This was a nice hike and we met a professor who recommended we go to the visitor center the next day to find out about more good trails to hike.



After the last hike, it was getting dark and we were pretty hungry. We stopped on our way out of the park at The Crazy Climber's Cafe for some delicious food, Blue Chimay, and games of Connect Four. This was also a hostel and we were bummed we didn't find it before the hotel because we would have loved to stay there. We were told by an employee there to check out Miguel's Pizza, which was about 7 miles west of where we were. He said all of the climbers go there for the night to camp, talk about where they climbed that day and eat pizza. We thought what the hell, we're not climbers, but we'll check it out. So we get there and it's pitch dark, luckily I had my headlamp and fit in with the rest of the climbers! We went in to get a beer and discovered we were in a dry county so settled for Ale-8 (a Kentucky beverage) instead. We then went out back to check it out. It looked like it would be great if you were a climber or friends with climbers. I just wanted to yell that my friend had just climbed Mt. Everest, but held back. So, if any of you climbers ever go down to the Red River Gorge, definitely check out Miguel's Pizza off exit 33 on the Blue Mountain Parkway - you'll find out lots of good tips about the region.

Alright, well I need to get ready for a day of work and I still have a day of hiking to discuss. So, I guess I'll try and post part 2 soon, along with some pics, because I have tons. Enjoy the cool fall weather!

Cinci Pics

Weird mirror thing at International Park

Self Portrait at Krohn Conservatory Desert Room















Cincinnati skyline from Union Terminal















View of Covington, Ky from Ohio side















Plant with droplets of water at Krohn Conservatory

More on Cincinnati below...

Goodbye, Cinci

We sent in our last data shipment yesterday and are waiting on approval to move on to St. Louis. We got ourselves a little cottage in the Central West End, which is about 4 miles west of the Arch. There's a deck and a backyard, so we're looking forward to that. St. Louis also has what has been called a State-of-the-Art public transportation system, so that should be nice. It's called the MetroLink and looks similar to the Metro in DC. Hopefully we'll have better luck with that than we've had with the Cincinnati bus system.

Anyways, Cincinnati has treated me well. I've spent a lot of time with old friends from school and have gotten to re-experience and introduce to Emily, a lot of Cincinnati staples, like Skyline Chili (delicious!). We also were able to hit up Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, where some good 'ole German beer day drinking occurred. We ate bratwurst and listened to German music and saw lots of lederhosen, which are those short shorts the men wear. We have made our way across the river to Newport (where there is a great view of the Cincinnati skyline) and Covington, Ky to see more bluegrass music. I'm not really sure what we're going to do in St. Louis because I'm pretty sure there's not going to be places playing bluegrass every night of the week there!
We've also visited some other artsy places like the Contemporary Arts Center, which was much larger than I expected. There were 3 featured artists there, including one that designed a large linear piece that was installed on the outer walls of a parking garage, plus two floors of permanent collections. The Fiber Arts Gallery was also worth checking out. There were installations there by the same artist that owns that farm in Blue Ash. Lastly, we went to what is called Final Friday, which occurs in Over-the-Rhine on Main St. on the last Friday of every month. There are tons of galleries there and they stay open late for viewings and cheese and wine offerings. I've liked all of the art I've been seeing so much that I've even started my own little art project. I'm trying to recreate all of the places we've lived in so far using colored pencils. We'll see how that turns out!

What else... we've become big fans of the Findlay Market and have tried to do as much of our grocery shopping there as possible. We were also taken to a Burlesque show in an old church that has been turned into a venue of sorts. There were lots of different acts and a magician-type masochist who had people throw darts at him and staple money to his chest. Very interesting to say the least. Moving on, the Midpoint Music Fest took place downtown last weekend - it is the largest Independent Music Fest in the Midwest. We got wristbands for $10 and were able to go from venue to venue checking out all of the different acts.

Of course, we've done our share visiting different parks and gardens. We've been down to International Park and Bicentennial Park, which are both on the Ohio Riverfront. Bicentennial Park has two of the best playgrounds I've ever seen and a geological timeline that runs parallel to the river. International Park is broken down by continent using artist-influence from that region and also tries to connect the regions using Cincinnati's various Sister Cities (more information on Sister Cities can be found at our favorite website, www.wikipedia.com). Today, we visited Krohn Conservatory which had different rooms, including the Tropical Room, Desert Room, Orchid Room, and Bonsai collection. Well that's my tourism heavy life I'm living right now - in between driving around these cities, getting to know them better than there own residents.

We should be leaving on Friday. We're going to leave early (granted we get the ok from the company) and head down to Red River Gorge. I've been there once before during college, but it's beautiful and Emily keeps hearing about it and I'd love to go back. There are natural bridges and cliffs and it should be beautiful this time of year. We're going to do some hiking Friday and Saturday and then head on over to Louisville for Saturday night. For some reason, I've always wanted to check out Louisville. Then it's on to St. Louis. See pics above of Cinci. Hope everyone is doing grand.