Gross by way of Phoenix

I haven't traveled much lately. This week's scheduled travel was hampered -- at least in part -- by the snow storm in PA. I'm not complaining. My last trip was to Phoenix on 1/24-1/25. Nothing too picture-worthy happened in Phoenix. But, on my way back from Phoenix (first class, score!) I ran into a situation that makes me appreciate the Iphone camera. Below is proof that people are gross and inconsiderate. Enjoy!

Blast from the past: Du Bois, PA

Recently, I went to Du Bois, PA. Du Bois is about 2.5 hours away from Pittsburgh. That's 2.5 hours of driving that consists mainly of small, two-lane highways. To top that off, I always get lost when I'm driving in or around Pittsburgh (even with Nancy Neverlost). So, add about 15 minutes of extra driving. Du Bois really wasn't very noteworthy. There was a lot of snow, but the roads were well kept. The upshot of this trip was the time that I got to kill in Ikea near the Pittsburgh airport. Unfortunately, I failed to take any pictures that capture the awesomeness of Ikea.

View from my hotel room
Scenery on the way to Du bois

Snow pile in parking lot of hotel

St. Johnsbury, VT

Last week I went to St. Johnsbury, VT. It was beautiful - it looked like a Christmas card with cedar trees and mountains covered with snow.

Snow along the road on the way back to Burlington, VT from St. Johnsbury. It's amazing that there can be that much snow, but the roads stay so clean.
Another shot along the way from St. Johnsbury. You can see the mountains covered in snow in the background. Until this trip, I didn't know that Vermont was the green mountain state.
This is a rest area on the way to Burlington. That's snow covering picnic tables.
Although there moose crossing signs all over the place (unfortunately I didn't get a picture of any of the signs), this moose was the only one I saw during my trip. All of the moose signs got me to thinking about the goose/geese versus moose/moose. A single goose is a goose, but plural it's geese. A single moose is a moose, but the plural version of moose is moose. Confusing!

This trip also included a couple of firsts. It was the first time that I've been to Vermont or New Hampshire. It was also the first time that I've been stranded by an airline and received food/hotel vouchers. We took off from Burlington, VT and were in the air for 15 minutes when they announced that we had to turn around and land because the oil pressure censor in the right engine was not working and they had to shut the engine off. When we landed there was a line of fire trucks and ambulances. And, the flight attendant congratulated us on not freaking out. I enjoyed my night at the hampton inn and a large supper at Delta's expense.

Happy Holidays!

I don't have any real travel for the next two weeks, but I wanted to write and wish everyone a happy holiday season!

Miami, Florida

This week was an interesting travel week. I went from Detroit, MI (19 degrees) to Miami, FL (82 degrees). Apparently, this was near record heat for the area. I had the Will Smith song -- welcome to Miami -- stuck in my head during my stay in Miami.

Luckily for me, NWA has a direct flight. And, even better, I was upgraded to first class for the 3 hour flight.

My first class breakfast included breakfast. As I had already eaten breakfast at my hotel, this was second breakfast. It's hard to beat a day that includes two breakfasts.

As soon as I got to town, I headed to south beach. South beach lived up to my ultimate tourist expectations. Pretty beaches, interesting art deco buildings, and versace's house. I also drove by -- unfortunately unable to take pics -- by the kardashians' boutique (dash).








Versace's house. The house was surrounded by European tourists. Apparently, when he bought the building it was a hotel and he converted it to a house. After he was murdered there, it was eventually converted back to a hotel and restaurant. It did not appear to be in business when I was there.



Even though it was 82 degrees, it's still the holiday season.

Paris, Texas

From Bangor, ME I traveled to Paris, TX. Paris is about two hours north of Dallas. According to my vast internet research, this Paris claims to be the second largest Paris outside of France. And, it is home to a 65 foot tall replica of the Eiffel Tower wearing a cowboy hat.


I definitely could not leave town without a visit. Weirdly enough, this roadside attraction was off of a small two-lane road out in a field. I have to admit that I was a bit underwhelmed.

The most exciting part of this portion of my trip (besides the wicked outlet mall outside of Dallas) was the opportunity to go to Sprinkles in Dallas. I have a soft spot in my heart for overpriced cupcakes. This time my poison of choice was a peppermint chocolate flavored cupcake. All I can say is yum.

Bangor, Maine

This week I went to Bangor, Maine. Regardless of what the locals said, it was pretty cold while I was there. But, it was beautiful and a lot of fun. It was also somewhat educational as I learned that people in Maine say wicked. For example, it was wicked cold in Bangor.

My trip began on the right foot when I picked up my rental. My love affair with Hertz continued when I discovered that I had been assigned an Infiniti. The best part of this car was the seat warmers. Definitely a perk in 30 degree icy weather!

The first thing that everyone told me when I told that I was going to Bangor was that Stephen King has a house there. I scoured the internet and found his street address. Once I arrived at his address, I immediately felt like a dork and circled the block. When I stopped to get out of the car, I discovered that a group of tourists were pulling up to take pictures. For some reason it felt a lot better to not be the only dork taking pictures. His house -- a brick color victorian -- was in a neighborhood full of well-kept victorian style homes with large yards. It was surrounded by an interesting fence that included bats and gargoyls.

If it hasn't become painfully obvious from my previous posts, I'm a sucker for touristy road side attractions. After some time spent on Wikipedia, I discovered that Bangor has a Paul Bunyan statue. Naturally, I had to make a stop.

After Bangor, I made a long trek to Paris, Tx. Please stay tuned...