Justin's Blog

 Archive for the ‘Road Trip 2006’ Category

By now, just about all of you in the northern half of the country should have received an email from Kara inviting you to join in on our great Summer Tour.

Basically it goes something like this: We will be in Oregon in May with a minivan with lots of computers in the back.  Our plan is to drive back to Connecticut while visiting as many customers as we can along the way.  When visiting we will be able to set up a “classroom” of 20 or so laptops in your office to do some real hands on training.  It’s a great way to get a lot of staff trained in a short time, so if you are thinking of implementing Therap or rolling out some new modules, this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss out on.

We have a vague idea of when we will be in certain places, but we still have some flexibility, so get in touch with Kara and work something out.  While we are with you, we would be awfully happy if you would invite a few of your friends over for a demonstration of just how cool Therap is.  A session like this normally lasts about an hour or two, and people love to come if you offer food!

As always we’re very happy to discuss with you what your agency’s particular training needs are.

:: Justin ::

Thank you to Therap for making this amazing summer possible. Thank you to everyone who has read or commented. The fact that my writing is proving useful in some way, even to cause others mild amusement, is amazing for me! So thank you

EVERYBODY.

And now, some tricks and tips for the terrific traveler!

Driving a long way? Travel pillows are a must! Rental cars can have uncomfortable headrests. Travel pillows fix that instantly. They also turn a hard window or rough seatbelt into a comfortable place for a tired head to rest. Travel pillows are also small enough for easy storage, in cars, bags, or suitcases.

Headphones are amazing. In a cramped car, the smallest of noises can get annoying super quickly. Whether you’re bringing music, games, or computers, don’t forget to pack the headphones!

Family chain restaurants are usually perfect for lunch on the go. They’re formal enough for a comfy seat while you eat and good, cooked food, but are also informal enough for wrinkled traveling clothes and messy hair.

You’ve got your camera, CD player, computer, DVD player, that’s all great, but make sure that everything has batteries or is fully charged! Plug in all your electronics overnight so they will be ready to entertain on the next day’s drive, and always check your camera for memory space and battery life before going somewhere exciting.

Looking for a car ride movie to take up lots of time? The Lord of the Rings trilogy is not only three long – and excellent – movies. Each movie also has hours of incredibly amusing extras! Other great trilogies include Back to the Future and Indiana Jones.

Collect something! Find an item available in most places, then pick up one from each location you visit! For me, the item was thimbles, but yours could be rocks, snow globes, postcards, maps, key chains, or photos of license plates. If you collect something like rocks or leaves, make sure you label each one. Otherwise, you won’t know where it’s from. Your collection will help you remember each place you visited in a special way.

Follow signs. If they say keep to the path, keep to the path. If they say not to touch something, don’t touch it. Believe it or not, they’re there for a reason. If a sign seems particularly ridiculous, make sure you follow it strictly. It’s probably only there because someone did something foolish and got themselves hurt.

Keep a journal. You don’t have to write what you did every second of every day. Even if it’s just a word or two about something neat you saw, or a poem about something that seems completely irrelevant at the time, rereading it later will remind you where you were and what you were doing at the exact moment you wrote it. Your own words preserved are a great souvenir in themselves.

Send postcards! They may just seem like a minor annoyance to you, but the person who receives it will be very happy to know that you took the time to think of them in the midst of your adventures.

And finally, have fun. This is a vacation. Enjoy it! If that means emptying all the hotel room’s mini shampoo bottles into the Jacuzzi to make bubbles, or buying extra bags of food to feed the animals on the farm, just do it! Take the time to enjoy yourself. You’ll remember it happily when you’re stuck behind a desk – be it school or office – later on in the year.

Thank you very much for accompanying my family and me on our summer vacation. To those of you on Dad’s blog, I say farewell for now, and to those of you on my blog, fear not! My blogging days are not over yet…

-Iona-

NOTE: Iona’s posts appear courtesy of Broccoli

Saturday morning we woke up very early to get ready to drive to the airport. Dad went down to get the car, and Mom called the front desk for someone to help with the bags. A man came up with a luggage cart. After he piled all the bags on it, we rode down in an elevator with him to the front lobby. He said that his shift was called the ‘graveyard shift’ because there were so few people awake at that hour.

When we got to the airport, Dad helped us unload the bags from the car, then he drove off to return it to the Hertz rental place. Meanwhile, Mom, Calum, and I tried to load most of the bags onto a small luggage cart. I ended up pulling one and carrying another, Calum pulled two, and Mom pushed the cart.

The line to check bags was huge. It went all the way down the sidewalk, then went into the road and zigzagged back and forth between barriers. Luckily, though, we got through it with relative ease, met up with Dad, and were through check-in and security in about another half hour.

Mom wanted something to read, so we all headed over to the bookstore. I spotted the teen fiction section, and decided to see if anything new looked good. But, gasp! What was that, sitting all innocently on the bottom right-hand corner of the shelf? No, it couldn’t be! But…it was!!! New Moon, the long-awaited sequel to my all time favorite book in the world, Twilight, was here! In front of me! It wasn’t supposed to be out until late September at the VERY earliest!

My shriek of excitement scared many, I do believe. Dad said I couldn’t read it until we got onto the plane…how sad. I mean, my hands were actually shaking, I was so incredibly hyper. I hadn’t even opened the front cover yet!!

Oh, Stephenie Meer, what a gift you have given the world…

We got Subway for brunch – tuna with chocolate milk for me – then boarded the plane. With Southwest, you can sit wherever you want on the plane, and since we had A tickets, were in the first group getting on. I chose seats behind the wing of the plane, so we could be next to the window – window seats near the cabin were all ready full – but still be able to see the view.

I don’t really remember much of the beginning of the flight. They came around with snack boxes and soda as usual, but most of the time I was deeply into New Moon. I had been so scared that it wouldn’t be as good as the first one, or that it would be the same basic story line with a few minor alterations. I couldn’t picture how Ms. Meyer could make a plot that could make me as happy as the first…

…but she did! It was amazing…sad and thrilling and scary and horrifying and absolutely wonderful all at the same time…I won’t go into detail for people who haven’t read it yet and want to, but –sigh- I loved it.

The limo ride home was surreal. I couldn’t really believe that we were back, or that we had gone away at all. It was a split mindset that was confusing and exhausting. I fell asleep as soon as we got home. Home! Can you believe it?

-Iona-

NOTE: Iona’s posts appear courtesy of Broccoli

Friday, Dad was off to work again, and Mom, Calum and I headed off to a different part of the hotel. This was the Midway. A circular walkway lined with arcade games and booths bordered an arena where mini circus acts were performed twice an hour.

Mom gave Calum and me some money. We played some more air hockey – he actually bet me this time! – then he went off to play various arcade games. I, on the other hand, spent a while watching the DDR machine.

After that, I played a very amusing and slightly addicting game for a while. The only place I’ve seen it before is Chuck. E. Cheese’s, a sort of little kid’s arcade down in Waterbury. The game is a round machine with a clear done on top. In the dome is a ring of lights. At three different points a pair of colored lights arch over the ring. Outside of the dome, in front of each arch, is a button. When you put a quarter in the machine, a light travels quickly around the ring, stopping when you hit the button. The idea is to hit it when the light lands right between the two colored arches. This wins you the jackpot, which starts at one hundred after someone wins the last one, then adds one point for every game played and lost on the machine. I was very happy, because I won twice, and one time the jackpot was over 200! It meant lots of tickets to redeem at the counter.

I ended up spending most of the tickets on this incredibly soft toy penguin for Calum. We named it Poker, which seemed suitable for a Las Vegas penguin. I also got body glitter with enough colors for every day of the week, a toy water gun with a candy filled tank, and a pink plastic toilet filled with sour pink candy powder that came with two lollipop plungers. Honestly, who comes up with this stuff???

Twice an hour, circus acts were performed in the arena inside the Midway. They were pretty cool, something to watch if you were in line, bored, or out of money. I saw a contortionist, trapeze team, and juggler. I loved their costumes! When the only goal is to look amazing, colorful, and slightly over-the-top, their outfits couldn’t be anything left! Most of them were stretchy black or white fabric with colorful sequins in twirling designs. Under the huge lights, they simply sparkled!

-Iona-

NOTE: Iona’s posts appear courtesy of Broccoli

Wednesday night we were woken up by a dog barking in the room next to us. We called the front desk, but they couldn’t do anything about it since no one was in the room. We ended up moving from our ninth floor room to one on the second floor.

I really didn’t mind because:

1. It makes a good story.
2. I would much rather be on the 2^nd floor.
3. The room was bigger.

And the funniest thing about the entire ordeal? Dogs weren’t eve allowed in the hotel!

Thursday, Dad went off to work. Mom, Calum, and I spent most of the day in the Adventuredome, a large domed room that was really a cross between an amusement park and an arcade.

I played some air hockey against Calum, then as he went off to try his hand at the various arcade games, I people-watched.

As usual when in such environments, I took up my post by the arcade’s DDR machines. It was pretty fun, with a few four year olds stamping on the arrows, and one little boy of about eight who actually break danced on the mat. However, the most interesting was a boy, probably a few years older than me, who was amazing, even better than Rachel. That is really something. He did something I had never seen before, which was hold onto the bar on the back of the mat while he played. I guess he used it to keep his balance, but it was definitely very interesting.

-Iona-

NOTE: Iona’s posts appear courtesy of Broccoli

Wednesday we drove from Kanab, Utah to Las Vegas, Nevada. It wasn’t a bad drive at all, maybe four hours or so. On the way there, we stopped at Hoover Dam. Calum begged to do the tour, so we did. It was pretty cool. We went down in a huge elevator to see all the bits of the generators and things inside. It was pretty interesting, but all the ‘dam’ jokes a rather old rather quickly. That, of course, is the exact reason I had to put one in the title…

I can tall you this much; I am not mechanically savvy, so a lot of the facts being thrown around went right over my head. Calum picked up on a lot more, especially since he finds that sort of thing absolutely fascinating. Since Dad said Calum would post something, we’re all good!

The hotel we would be staying at was called Circus Circus. The theme – I would hope – is pretty obvious. It had some long lines for checking in, but the rollaway bed there was the comfiest of the entire trip.

-Iona-

NOTE: Iona’s posts appear courtesy of Broccoli

ANOTHER NOTE: Yes I know the road trip is over, but I think we all still want the rest of Iona’s stories, even if they are a bit late – Justin

It’s strange to be sitting here at home finally rather than in a hotel room. Everything seems to have survived here apart from a musty basement and a yard that has been infested with crabgrass which I spent the day happily attacking.

Having spent the last seven weeks on the road with my family, here are a few of the things I would and wouldn’t recommend or do again:

GPS – Definitely a good thing

Not worth hitting a deer, but a great tool! In the car we picked up after trashing the first one on a Montana Deer we had the Hertz NeverLost GPS by Magellan. It was great! Once in a while it would send us to a restaurant or mall that didn’t exist any more or on an exit that was closed, most of the time it got us door to door with no problems and found us somewhere to eat when we needed it. It’s such a pain finding a printer when you’re on the road and finding the right piece of paper to read as your driving, this is most definitely the way to do it, especially when you are changing routes as you go.

7 weeks with your family – another good thing…and we all survived!

With the way schedules and activities are these days just spending time together as a family is a thing to be treasured! Major kudos needs to go to Michele, Iona, and Calum for putting up with me and my schedule and adapting to it as we went. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Hotels and Holiday homes

Being able to stay in a holiday home while we were in Oregon was great and gave much more space and independance for the kids. We also had the benefit of being able to cook for ourselves there. Eventually you long for home cooking, even mine! It’s hard to say that one particular brand of hotel was the best as it all varied by location. We also stayed in a couple of nice local hotels, they are just harder to research and change at the last minute.
National Parks – very impressive

We bought an annual pass at Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California and ended up using it eight times: Lassen, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Lake Powell, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. Each was very well run with good access to what you wanted to see and yet kept rustic and simple enough to help you feel that the countryside was still being maintained. They were all remarkably clean and litter free with wonderful, helpful staff. Based on this experience, I am looking forward to visiting more. A perfect example of government at its best.

Driving v Flying

For this kind of vacation driving wins hands down. Many of the things that we will remember most are things we came across while driving. You also don’t really get a sense of the size of the country or what a particular state really looks like just by flying over it. There are certainly places it would have been nice to have bicycles too in order to have an even more intimate look at the landscape – Oregon, Missoula, and Bryce Canyon were all very bicycle friendly with paths and routes mapped out.

How did anyone ever drive with kids without a DVD player?

We (and especially Iona and Calum) watched A LOT of movies as we drove (particularly on those drives of more that 4 or 5 hours). The ones that seemed to work best were the series that had lots of extras. We got through Lord of the Rings, X-Men, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and Back to the Future as well as a bunch of one off movies.

Church hopping

Visitng he variety of churches that we did as we travelled was great. We not only got to sample the local community and culture, we also picked up nice tips about what to do in the area and saw a bunch of things that well be able to suggest (or not!) when we ge back to St. Pauls in Southington, Connecticut.

Blogging

My father is an avid journal keeper. It’s the first thing that children and grandchildren have to do when arriving, is catch up from last time they were there (maybe I should suggest that he use T-Logs!). My blog, and more especially Iona’s will be wonderful keepsakes of this trip and we grow old! I’ve also come across some people who do coffee table type books based on your flickr photos so I am going to give that a try (I’ll let you know how it comes out).

Working for Therap

There aren’t too many job that will allow and enable you to take a 7 week trip with your family where you get to meet so many wonderful people. I am extremely grateful to all the customers I met on the way who made em feel so welcome and included. Even more so I am grateful to Therap for giving my family and me this opportunity.

Thanks!

:: Justin ::

After 7 weeks, about 9000 miles driving, 15 states, 9 National Parks, and countless wonderful experiences, we’re finally sitting at the gate in Las Vegas waiting to get on the plane back to Hartford.

Even this morning was a little bit of an adventure.  When we got to the airport (thankfully nice and early) there a queue about a mile long outside the Southwest door.  Despite some mumping and moaning form some fellow travellers, the queue moved quickly and we were in in plenty time.

I’ve had a nice finally couple of days with folks here in Vegas and up in Reno, but I am (along with Michele, Iona, and Calum) most definitely ready to go home!

See you there!!

:: Justin ::

Tuesday we drove to a place called Bryce Canyon. I was a bit unsure about this, because after seeing the Grand Canyon, nothing could compare.

As it turned out, nothing had to. Bryce Canyon was beautiful in a different way than the Grand Canyon. A lot of it was the color. Bryce Canyon was a startling red and cream that almost glowed in the sunlight poking around the storm clouds. It was filled with tall, natural rock pillars called hoodoos. Also, we walked down into Bryce Canyon, which was fun. There were tunnels through the rock, amazing scenery, chipmunks everywhere that ran away the second before dad snapped their picture, and a lump of rock on a hoodoo at the end of the trail that looked like Queen Victoria.

Walking back up was not fun, however. The path was steep, the weather was hot, and it was over a mile. Not to mention, it wasn’t a loop – Dad…Calum… – so we were seeing all the same things again. All in all, though, it was a lot of fun, and very beautiful.

When we got back to Kanab, we decided to go souvenir shopping. In every single one of the places we went, Dad bought something Kokopelli, and I saw the same exact hat. It was black, with a wide brim and two dents in the top. There was a black band around it that had a small silver buckle with an engraved design. I loved it, mostly because it looked a lot like Indiana Jones’s hat. I didn’t get it, because it was a lot for a hat I would probably only wear on Halloween, but I will forever have fond memories of begging Dad for it…

-Iona-

NOTE: Iona’s posts appear courtesy of Broccoli

Monday was what I consider the most amazing day of this entire trip. The day began with a drive out to the Grand Canyon. It was bizarre. As we headed towards it, a forest seemed to grow up out of the desert, until we were surrounded by tall, fire-scarred ponderosa pine trees. The air was heavy with expectation, but also with doubt. Was there really an amazing canyon hidden in this tangle of trees? Would it live up to expectation?

It did, and more. It’s kind of hard to describe the size and feeling of the Grand Canyon. It’s a lot like the traditional meaning of the word ‘awesome’, before it became another word like cool or neat. The awe was a big part of it. Las Vegas was pretty and Oregon was fun, but seeing nature at its greatest was something that you can’t imagine unless you’ve been there. It was almost spiritual, in a really extreme way. We drove 13 hours out of our way to get there…and it was completely and totally worth it.

We went to the North Rim, with is supposedly less touristy. I adored it; it was peaceful and not crowded and really allowed you the feeling of being alone on the end of the Earth.

If you’re debating whether or not to make the trip just for “some rocks”, here’s my advice. Do it. You won’t be sorry!

Later that afternoon, we followed signs on the highway to something called the “Coral Pink Sand Dunes”. I’m not sure what I expected, maybe some pinkish sand dotted with little bushes or something, but what I got was amazing.

The dunes were beautiful, to begin with. They were very pure pinkish sands, with no rocks or plants, and the wind had pulled them into amazing shapes. They were what you usually think of when you hear the word ‘desert’ which made them feel even more exotic. No one else was around, so everything was quiet and still. The sun was low in the sky, and everything just seemed to be waiting.

On top of that, these dunes were incredibly fun. You were allowed to climb all over them, since the winds would just smooth them out overnight anyways. I was the first one to the top of the big dune, and we all stayed up there for ages. The sand was so pure; it fell like water in ripples. This meant you could bury your legs, and it would look at normal as it you hadn’t moved the sand at all. I should know. I tried!

Underneath the warm upper layer of sand was a cooler, thicker sand. You could almost mold it, and it made the most excellent sandballs that held together in the air but splattered wonderfully when they hit someone.

Calum and I had the not so brilliant idea of rolling down the dune. I actually did, and it was hysterical. I should have taken a breath first, because I end up with sand everywhere, including my mouth and nose and ears! I enjoyed it immensely, especially turning a glittery orange.

We discovered the best way to slide down was head first on your back, pushing with your legs. Yes, this required getting extremely sandy, but if you were willing to take that risk, it was great fun!

The walk back to the car was a long one through a lot of sand. I was lagging behind Dad, and Calum was even farther behind me, so Dad started writing messages in the sand to encourage us to pick it up. I, of course, had to reply to each of these, which made Calum want to reply…it was amazing we even got home at all! However, it was a lot of fun, and something I will never forget!

-Iona-

NOTE: Iona’s posts appear courtesy of Broccoli