Archive through October 25, 2002
TV ClubHouse: Archives: Road Trips (ARCHIVE):
Archive through October 25, 2002
Sage | Thursday, October 17, 2002 - 09:50 pm     Whit, I think a little get-together would be cool. I am unable to go out of town until we get our car fixed. My Dad lives up there, and I have cousins and aunts there too, and would go for a weekend to spend time with them. I just can't go to Spokane without seeing my Dad too. |
Urgrace | Friday, October 18, 2002 - 04:38 pm     Whit, several of us have met Lance in person and can vouch for his kindness and generosity. He's also a teddy-bear to hug. The only thing I ever saw him nibble on was some fine chocolates with his fine wine! Now if you were meeting Merlin, I'd have to caution you there. He loves nibbles and bites, especially when he's fishing! |
Urgrace | Friday, October 18, 2002 - 04:43 pm     Oh Juju, the restaurant was Piedres Negras downtown a couple blocks from Market Square. The parking lot was so packed it was lucky to find a spot. I know what you mean about several of the Mexican restaurants being good. It's hard to decide which one to go to sometimes! Good to see you home, TNT! Yes we all want to hear a few of your experiences when you get all unpacked, rested and settled back in. |
Tntitanfan | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 07:21 am     Since I don't want to bore everybody senseless, I will post just a few days at a time about "the trip." That way one flick of the "scroll down" button should take the disinterested to another topic! 9/9/02 - Monday We got what may have been our earliest start of the whole trip, leaving a few minutes before eight. Our original destination had been Texarkana, but we pooped out after 450 miles and spent the night in Hope, AK. Yes, birthplace of Bill Clinton - 9/10/02 - Tuesday Driving, driving, driving was pretty much what this day was all about. We bypassed the Dallas/Fort Worth area to the south. Another 400 miles today - a pretty big deal to folks who normally travel 250 to 300 miles a day! 9/11/02 - Wednesday Such sad memories as this day brought! As we drove, we saw thousands of headlights on in memory of the tragedy. The last hundred or so miles into Carlsbad were some of the most desolate country we have ever seen. Since the nature program at the cavern didn't begin until 6:45, we stopped for dinner first at the Golden Corral. Once at the cavern we were seated in a large amphitheater where a ranger gave an introductory program. Once the bats began to come out, it was unbelievable. They come out at the rate of about 5000 a minute so that they look like a huge cloud of chiffon - dense at the cavern's month and then fainter and fainter as they fly away into the distance. |
Urgrace | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 04:44 pm     Hanging on every word here, TNT! More please. |
Fruitbat | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 04:48 pm     I am into hearing this too as we are now in a stage where we are traveling by car or truck and trailer. I have alway flown so road trips are unique and quite fun. I am like gathering places and tips. |
Whit4you | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 05:34 pm     OK since Lance is now traveling I get to talk first hehe... He's awesome, totally awesome... and he put up with me!! He's a doll... all I expected and more... I - like myself - was a brat and wouldnt tell him how to find my house.... and when he was ON the right track... I side tracked him... and he still found my place I gave him not one but TWO hugs from Wargod... He liked em I hear 'horror stories' from people who meet people from online. I've met over 120 of my online friends live but it's been a few years since I actively did so- Kearie and Lance were my first two steps back into that realm and both times I walked away happy. I can't get the smile off my face now from my lunch with Lance.... Just hope my smoking didn't bother him to much that'a toughie fer us smokers - specially nervous ones which I tend to be when meting someone for the first time. |
Wargod | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 05:41 pm     Whit, I'm so glad you had a good time! I've been checking all day to see if there was an update yet. I knew though that you'd have a great time. I haven't had a bad experience meeting anyone for here. I've walked away from each of those encounters feeling lucky to have met my online friends. And thank you for passing along my hugs! |
Whit4you | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 07:56 pm     War - I gave him TWO hugs from you ..hehe and he said when I gave em "Thanks Sandy" (I'm hoping your name is Sandy??? LOL" 2nd (from you) hug was longer and closer then the first .. he liked em both though I think |
Urgrace | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 08:12 pm     Knew you'd like those teddy bear hugs! |
Wargod | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 08:37 pm     LOL...yes Whit, I am Sandy. Thank you for giving both hugs. |
Lancecrossfire | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 08:40 pm     Hello everyone--I'm back from visiting Whitney. I have to echo what Whit said--I had a great time spending the afternoon with her. She has a great sense of humor, has a lot of passion for life and is enjoyable to talk to. She showed me around a few places that she enjoys, then we had lunch and just chatted for the the rest of the afternoon. Yep, the hugs were nice--both from War and from Whit. I think she had a lot of fun seeing if I figure out where we were going and her detour wasn't all that bad. She could have really punished me and gotten me all turned around--lol. She showed me two pictures of her grandson--she is VERY proud of him, and her face lights up when she just mentions him. As for the smoking, she was great about making sure it didn't go toward me--very thoughtful in that respect--thank you very much for making thaht so easy on me. Whit, thank you so much for the kind words about me. And thank you for taking the chance of meeting me. It was a great afternoon!! |
Knightpatti | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 09:00 pm     That was really a nice meeting for both of you, Lance and WHit!! |
Knightpatti | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 09:01 pm     Tnt waiting for more details! |
Lancecrossfire | Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 09:08 pm     Titan fan--great start to your trip! It sounds like you had some decent experiences in jsut the first few days. I look forward hearing about the rest--and thanks for sharing them with us! |
Tntitanfan | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 04:41 am     Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines and let us resume: 9/12/02 Thursday Off to the caverns we went, hardly knowing what to expect! The general admission ticket covers two self-guided tours - the Natural Entrance tour and the Great Room tour. We also had reservations for the ranger-guided King's Palace tour. We took the Natural Entrance tour down to where we were to meet the guide for the second tour. As we were a bit early, I was able to work in about half of the Great Room tour as well. We had a "wand" which gave highlights as we made our way down into the depths of the earth on the Natural Entrance tour, and that added a lot to the experience. We had a wonderful guide for the King's Palce tour which took in the four most beautiful "rooms" in the cave. I was overwhelmed at the beauty of the formations - draperies forty feet high and wonderful stalagtites, stalagmites, and mighty columns. Absolutely beyond description! Mammoth Cave is much larger but doesn't have nearly the number or variety of formations. 9/13/02 Friday A long day of driving but the scenery improved a great deal as we picked up mountains to admire in both the near and far distance. 9/14/02 Saturday Hooray! We reached CA at last! Our motel was located about three blocks from the bay in the Little Italy district. It was just the coolest place as sleek new lofts sat side by side with tiny frame cottages and venerable adobe apartment houses. The motel offered free shuttle service to lots of places in town, so the car stayed parked until we left town. There was a great view of the bay from the balcony at the end of our floor of the motel - our first CA sunset was lovely! |
Juju2bigdog | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 04:41 pm     Where in CA, Tnt? |
Lancecrossfire | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 04:48 pm     TnT, this leg of the trip sounds nice and relaxing. And yet you covered a lot of miles in that short time! Thanks for the installment--looking forward to the next one. |
Webkitty | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 04:55 pm     Oh, I am loving reading about your trip, TnT, more please!  |
Tntitanfan | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 07:28 pm     Whoops, sorry, Juju! This was in San Diego - our first real CA destination! |
Egbok | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 07:54 pm     Ack! I need to catch up on this board! Tnt, I look forward to reading all about your trip!! And look at that...Lance and Whit had lunch together...how nice!! I've been having way too much fun lately. In between working, I've been to Las Vegas with 9 additional family members and we had a wonderful time filled with lots of laughing and some time for the slots! I met Penn & Teller after seeing their awesome show at the Rio and even took a picture with them! Ummm, during the trip <cough, cough>...almost had to use the duct tape on a family member - LOL! Now I'm getting ready to fly out to see my son at college in New York - he would have to choose a college 3,000 miles away!! I'm very lucky to have my sister joining me in this adventure and we both look forward to visiting my son at Cornell. Is this Southern California girl going to survive the brisk weather in NY? It remains to be seen - LOL!! When I return from NY, I'll be back as a "regular" on the board once again. I've missed all of you!! Take care and I'll post/read/lurk/chat with you soon!! ~Egbok |
Tntitanfan | Wednesday, October 23, 2002 - 03:53 pm     Have a wonderful time on your upcoming trip! I wonder if there is still fabulous fall color going on in NY? All that glowing foliage might help keep you feeling warm - |
Tntitanfan | Wednesday, October 23, 2002 - 03:55 pm     Egbok again - I apologise for not calling you when I was in your part of CA, but I didn't have your phone number. The only one I had from that area was Moonie's! |
Schoolmarm | Wednesday, October 23, 2002 - 04:03 pm     Eggie! Make sure you go to the Finger Lakes and all the wineries in that area when you are visiting Cornell. The leaves in our area are very beautiful right now. I'm less than 4 hours south, if you want a sidetrip! |
Tntitanfan | Friday, October 25, 2002 - 08:22 am     Seat belts fastened? 9/15/02 Sunday in San Diego My morning walk was a special treat as I could enjoy the aromas from three Italian bakeries in the neighborhood as I strolled along. We took the motel shuttle over to Old Town to take our trolley tour of the city. This was a narrated tour with a number of stops, and we could get off and back on as often as we wished. We got off at the harbor where there were a number of "tall ships" in port for a special celebration. From there we took the trolley to Seaport Village, a charming water-side outdoor mall where we did a little Christmas shopping. Once back on the trolley we rode past several more stops including the Zoo and the rest of Balboa Park. Back at Old Town we checked out the Bazaar del Mundo and some of the other shops and then called for the shuttle to pick us up. We tried the Italian restaurant recommended by the motel for dinner, and was it ever wonderful!! Barbara's lasagna was almost a foot square, and I had about three dozen two-inch ravioli! We took at least half back to the motel for the next night's dinner. 9/16/02 Monday in San Diego Today was ZOO day! Since our AAA card gave us a 20% discount we splurged onthe deluxe package which included a 45-minute narrated bus tour, two sky-rides, and unlimited express bus rides. We had a wonderful day - probably the gorillas were my favorites although there were some precious pandas as well. This is such a marvelous zoo, and I felt right at home as I am a big fan of "Total Zoo" which is filmed there! It was a good thing that supper was waiting for us at the motel as we were two pooped gals by the time we got home! 9/17/02 Tuesday, ending in LA As soon as we were beyond the traffic, we made our way onto Highway 1 along the coast. It was like driving through a postcard! We got to Manhattan Beach a little too early to meet Chris (nephew) so we had time for a little badly needed grocery shopping. We had lunch with Chris, and then he took us over to the beach and out on the pier where he explained the finer points of surfing to us. He has been a surfing freak since his early teens. We also took a walk along The Strand which is the beachfront high-rent district. After FOUR expressways we arrived in Hollywood and found a motel for the night. Barbara did great driving, but the traffic was horrendous!! It was strange to ask how FAR something was and get driving time instead of miles! |
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