The Ta-Ravel Blog

Lake Louisa, Clermont (FL)

2012-01-25T08:56:00.000-08:00

This is the beautiful Lake Louisa in Clermont, Florida. There's a state park entrance so look for that - there's a fee but I think it's lovely and worth a visit if you are there.

If You Love Pines

2012-01-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

...like I love pines, then you would love the drive along IH-10 from Texas to Florida. Especially the stretch from Louisiana through the Florida panhandle - such lovely trees line the highway. I love it and so does Mark. It is so different from driving in Texas, where one can see the horizon. Different kind of beauty I have learned to appreciate.

B&B Bathroom in a Room

2011-09-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of a good buddy and our travels for work and this came to mind - looks okay, doesn't it? EXCEPT that there was no wall separately the bath from the rest of the room. It was weird. And then I thought, well, that's okay I guess. No wall is okay. A little weird to use the bathroom with no walls - felt like I was outside for some reason. But then the next morning I turned the water on and the shower head was YUCKY! I didn't know I'd have such an aversion to a dirty shower head but I did. This was at the Hampton Lake B&B in FL. It was too odd for me. The next trip to that site, I stayed in Gainesville and drove the 20-30 minutes to the plant. :-)

Springhill Suites - Rosenberg, Tx

2011-08-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

Have you tried a Springhill Suites Hotel lately? We just did a couple of weekends ago in Rosenberg, Texas. We really liked it! The decor was really refreshing, and not because it was a new building. I loved the blues and the splash of orange. And the room was really nice. I like the furnishings - all comfortable and modern. I felt like I was in an IKEA catalog. Really. Free internet service that was stable and fast. That's hard to find nowadays, sadly, even with our home service of Time Warner. Booo.

Honey & the TSA

2011-08-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

This is a repost from our bee blog but since it fits the topic, I know you won't mind since it means I actually posted here! :-)

Have you ever found yourself wondering if honey travels well? I do a bit of travel for my training job with the steel making company and I like to take a bit of home with me whenever I can in order to reduce homesickness. I typically take one squeeze bottle with me and every single time I have honey in the suitcase (since you can’t carry it on unfortunately), my suitcase gets inspected and they leave me a personal note to let me know. Isn’t that awesome? This time, I made them work for it. I packed two glass jars for a friend to save her some shipping cost and added in six 1-pound squeeze bottles (coworkers wanted to sample them). I individually seal each jar in a Ziploc bag so any leaks could be contained. I would love to know what those TSA people think when they open my suitcase. I also count this as good and free advertising since it puts our name in front of at least one new person. Maybe more if they tell a coworker, “Yea, look at this crazy lady carrying eight pounds of honey around…” You never know.

Harrrisonburg, Virginia

2011-01-11T06:19:00.000-08:00

Well, the first picture is not yet Harrisonburg. It was my view for a while as I waited and waited in Denver on the tarmac. But thankfully Denver was not as bad as Atlanta so at least I didn't have to spend the night at the airport. Yay Denver! They had a ton of de-icing trucks out there - very impressive. Traveling out of San Antonio and flying east (or west also, most of the time) is typically an all day or most of the day event because we have to connect somewhere along the way. This time, I chose Denver because I didn't want to go north to Chicago since the blizzard was blowing that way soon. Denver did a great job getting us landed, loaded and off the ground again without it taking hours. Still, I was an hour later getting to Dulles than planned but oh well.

Once I got to Dulles, I got in the car and drove about two hours to Virginia and since it was dark and I had a splitting headache, I can't tell you much except for thank goodness for GPS units. For the most part, they get me where I need to go. The Marriott Residence Inn in Harrisonburg is fabulous! Worth the drive and made me glad I chose it over the Hampton even though I have more reward points with HHonors. LOVED the kitchenette and ate in most of the week, which made it feel less like I was away from home (sort of). There's a Kroger nearby so I was set for dining in and I brought our Gretchen Bee Ranch candles - felt very cozy. The staff of Residence Inn was also awesome so I highly recommend this hotel. I go back next week so guess where I'll be staying. :-) And check out this service below - I didn't use it but I thought it was very cool that it was available. Neat!

Beekeepers in the Hill Country

2010-11-28T19:28:00.000-08:00

Recently we went to a conference in Kerrville and stayed at the conference hotel because it has convention center facilities. The environment and scenery were very nice and the bathroom looked fairly recently renovated...but sadly the rest of the hotel did not. As long as the bathrooms are clean, we're good. Still, we think they could draw in huge crowds in the hill country setting if they updated the rest of their hotel.

Traveling IH35 to Pearsall, Tx

2010-10-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some interesting things I saw as we traveled from Seguin to Pearsall, Texas, in order to pick up some bee supplies from a 4th-generation beekeeper there (Youngblood Honey) - it's so lovely there! Here's a shot of the land behind the Youngblood property.

We took IH10 from Seguin to SA, then caught the 410 loop to miss some commuting traffic. Then we caught IH35 from there and headed south.

We couldn't decide if this was a Volkswagen or not. Saw this in Pearsall.

And during our long wait on the highway due to a major, fatal accident :-(, we saw these two things -

Hyatt Lost Pines (Bastrop, Tx)

2010-08-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

This is a fabulous resort and I highly recommend it. The scenery is lovely, the hotel is AWESOME and the service is excellent. I can't post all the pictures I want to share but I really enjoyed our few days there!

And near by is the Bastrop State Park so you have to drive through there - it's beautiful and made me feel as if I was back on the east coast. The tall pines and needles on the ground cushioned all the noise. The road went on and on and on for something like 13 miles I believe. We went at dusk and totally enjoyed the quiet. We didn't get out since it was so hot and humid but there was a lot to do there it appears (fishing, hiking, camping, etc.).

And if you get hungry and would like to sample some local fare, be sure to check out Gracie's, which is a block off of Main Street. Their little historic downtown are was super pedestrian friendly and while it wasn't a huge area, it was a nice way to spend an hour walking through shops before dinner. Gracie's has awesome home-cooked food and a great, friendly staff. On Friday nights, you may even catch some live music. We did and loved it. We even got to see a saw being played in person. Very beautiful sound. :-)

Sky Watch from Chicora (PA)

2010-07-08T05:49:00.000-07:00

Meant to get this posted sooner but trying to get home yesterday took forever literally and I was exhausted. So a little late but I wanted to share with you a sky over Chicora, Pennsylvania, where I spent my week for work. It is so lovely there. This is Leicher Farm, where I stopped to visit because I saw the beehives! :-) Great people - super friendly everywhere I went.

Check out the other Sky Watchers this week!

Marriott (Pittsburgh, PA)

2010-07-06T18:54:00.000-07:00

If you're in Pittsburgh and you need to stay close to the airport, then the Marriott is a GREAT place to stay. I loved it! And it's got a bar/restaurant on site as well as great amenities. I love Bath & Body Works stuff so I was a happy camper. The airport is only 15 minutes away and you can fuel up on premises there. Nice!

As seen from the sky...

2010-06-11T22:26:00.000-07:00

Flying over Florida - love to see the ocean like this! :-)

Hope, AR

2010-04-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

I once traveled to Hope, Arkansas for work in order to deliver some training at one of our locations there. It was interesting. The people are very nice - here are some things I took with me as observations:

1. Former President Bill Clinton was born in Hope! I like him - he's not perfect but he is one smart man. None of us are perfect but I sure wish he could have left office without that certain cloud over his presidency.

2. Everywhere I went, the business had a VERY LARGE watermelon on display and for sale I believe (there was a price on each). I have never seen watermelons as large as these. Very impressive but it made me wonder how the taste was.

3. There was this field, a big one, full of little trailers. I have no idea why they were there, nor did anyone I asked. It was very curious. This was during the Katrina Hurricane time period so I wondered if they'd be used for those poor folks. And if not, then why not.

4. I landed in Little Rock I and drove to Hope. Nice little airport so it was super easy to manuever. AND I got to test out my first keyless car rental. It was weird but sort of cool. The only thing I didn't like was that you had to be careful not to put it near your cell phone or else it MAY cause your key to malfunction. Nice. I was worried the entire time that I'd forget and put both those items next to each other at some point, which is what I'd normally do with my car keys and phone.

Lily's Cookies (San Antonio, Tx)

2010-03-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

I was in SA for an appointment and took a drive down McCollough for kicks on the way to Highway 281 and I was rewarded for my decision! I saw this adorable bakery and had to go around the block to get a closer look. I'm so glad I did!

This adorable bakery is gorgeous - just the sort of place I picture I would love to work if only I was a great baker. Which I'm not. So good thing people like these folks are around for us. It's lovely inside and the young lady helping me was really nice. I also picked up a couple of cookies and my friends said they tasted great. I'm on a diet or else I would have totally done the taste test myself. Check them out on the web as well - Lily's Cookies.

Fallon, Nevada

2010-03-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

Today I wanted to post something about the trips I took out to Fallon a while ago because my coworkers out there have been on my mind. We have a plant out there (I work in the steel industry) but soon our company is going to sell of parts of our company, including the location out in Fallon. That makes me so sad because I just loved the people I met there. They welcomed me and another coworker and we felt right at home.

We loved the scenery as we made our way from Reno to Fallon. That's about an hour to two hours, depending on the number of times you stop to take pictures of the awesome landcape. I thought it looked really neat out there in the dessert! Roads just go on forever with no end in sight. And you see all this brown and then all of a sudden, a lovely oasis of green with a rippling river running through the middle. I loved it. I never expected to enjoy it so much but that part of Nevada was a jewel. And so are the people there.

Moultrie, Georgia - Dalton's Chicken

2010-02-11T19:51:00.000-08:00

If you are ever in the Moultrie (GA) area, then you need to stop by Dalton's Chicken and try their yummy food. We stopped there overnight last month when we went to pick up beekeeping equipment and supplies from Rossman Apiaries. The Hampton Inn was very nice, as was the staff there - super friendly. The lady suggested this restaurant if we like chicken. We like chicken. And we liked this restaurant.

It was a very delicious fried chicken and we even got fried chicken livers. I can't remember the last time I had that! Not something you find on many menus. It's nice to be in the south, right. :-)

They also have this neat system for delivering the food. You order and pay for your food and then you're given one of these little "shirts." Once you find the table you want, you slide the shirt into that device you see and I guess that tells the wait staff which table has a certain order. Neat. I've never seen that sort of system before that visit. Great food, friendly people and learn something new - what more could we want?

Sky Watch over the Atchalafaya

2010-02-05T21:21:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we drove from Texas to Mississippi in order to pick up some bee equipment for our operation. Along interstate 10, you have to go over the Atchalafaya Bridge and it runs about 20 miles I believe. It's a really cool part of the drive and we always enjoy it. Never want to break down along there though...that'd be tough to have to deal with that on a long bridge like that. This is in Louisiana, after Lake Charles and before you get to Baton Rouge. Water everywhere. We always say it would be extremely interesting to take a boat around the swamp and explore. Maybe one day...

Check out other Sky Watch shots to enjoy other great skies!

Fuel and a taco to go, please.

2010-01-24T09:59:00.000-08:00

While traveling through Lake Jackson (Texas) once, we stopped to fuel up before heading home. I saw this and went to check it out since I had not seen anything like it before anywhere I've traveled. I was so amazed and tickled! You use this machine to place orders for tacos and they are prepared as you fuel up your vehicle. Then, after you are done, you pick up the food inside. Pretty cool. I haven't seen these anywhere else I've traveled. Have you?

Sky Watch from the Roadtrip

2010-01-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. We took a roadtrip to Georgia this past week in order to pick up some bee supplies that we need for the upcoming season. To get there, we travel along Interstate 10 going east, a trek we have made many times to visit family here and there. I shot this out the window while in Mobile, Alabama, on our way back to Texas. It was so pretty - at times, it was foggy and misty enough so that you couldn't tell where the sky ended and the water began and the cars appeared to be driving through it all mysteriously. I liked the way it looked.

I'll post some more interesting things from out adventure this week, including where you can find good tires when desperate, where you can still find fried chicken livers and the nice hotels we stayed at along the way. :-)

If you like sky shots, be sure to check out the Sky Watch site for this week's great shots.

Corpus Christi, Texas

2009-12-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

City Diner & Oyster Bar is a great place to eat if you are traveling in the Corpus Christi area. Last month, Mark and I ventured down that way since Mark presented a talk on genealogy research at the public library there. They are celebrating their 100th birthday this year and have scheduled special programs throughout the year. I was proud of Mark for being a part of that. He used to work at that library so it's nice to visit with old friends.

Anyway, the building art caught my eyes and just cracks me up. Even now when I look at it. I have NEVER seen anyone depict an oyster with hands. It's hilarious! The food was fantastic. We went for breakfast and really enjoyed it. The waitress was super, too. I highly recommend it for breakfast at least. Don't know what they are like at other times.

Bolton, Mississippi

2009-11-28T15:29:00.000-08:00

Does it get any prettier than this? Wow, I really loved our visit to Bolton! We went there to pick up ten beehives that we purchased from renowned bee-man, J.N. Russell, and we'll head back there next week to get our the other ten. Neither Mark nor I had been to that part of Mississippi before so we were looking forward to seeing what it was like. We weren't disappointed with the scenery. It's so lovely! The rolling hills, the tall trees...loved it! You can check out our bee blog for more shots and information about our beekeeping trip.

Here's another shot I really liked. Love the variety of trees there because it reminds me of home - North Carolina.

South TX Wind Farm

2009-11-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

Wind power is a hot topic and you see more and more information and publicity about it lately. I saw my first wind farm out in California last year and I knew we had some here in Texas but I had not been to any until now. It is so cool!

This farm is between Odem and Portland, Texas. We were driving to Corpus Christi along Interstate 37 and Mark pointed the farm out to me. We took an exit and drove and drove...and drove some more, winding around cool country roads and fields. And finally we found it and it was worth the detour. These mills tower in the fields and you don't realize how big each mill is until you are right under one. :-)

I (Heart) Pho (Irving, Tx)

2009-10-12T20:13:00.000-07:00

Another week in Irving. I know I haven't posted in a while but that's because I've only been coming to corporate office lately. But then I thought, hey, I could always do another showcase of the yummy food I have while I'm here.

Tonight I went back for a third visit and had soup again. It was yummy! For about $6.50, you get a big bowl of soup (even though I got small, it was huge) and a water. I couldn't even finish all of my soup! I highly recommend it if you are up here -- great selection of food and the fresh spring rolls are delicious, atmosphere pretty nice.

Accidents in Dallas

2009-07-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

Here's some information I did not know about car accidents occuring in the Love Field Airport area of Dallas/Irving....if your situation does not warrant an ambulance or a wrecker, no police officer will be dispatched. Sorry for you!

So you simply exchange all the important information with the other party, that's if they haven't already driven off I suppose, and then you pray that the information they gave you is truthful and also that they don't later change their story. Nice. Welcome to Big D.

A young lady of nineteen t-boned us. We were about six miles from the airport car rental place. It was a hard hit though thankfully no one was seriously injured and both vehicles were driveable. I called 911 to report the accident. Then I called the rental place and we decided to go ahead and return there for another vehicle as our tire had a weird little bump on it. There, we filled out a one page report/form. You also have to complete a police report within ten days of the accident. Hmm...pick up the form at a police substation...wherever you may find one...good luck. How annoying. You're in an accident in a rental in a city you are not a residence of and now you have to go find a police substation. Nice. I suggested to Hertz that they and other car rental places should have some of those accident forms handy. Makes sense, no?

Ocracoke Lighthouse

2009-06-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I got busy with work and forgot to continue my series. :) Sorry about that. We had something big happen at work and it just consumed me.

Anyway, here's a shot of Ocracoke as we are approaching on the ferry from Cedar Island. I love the lighthouse on the island. It's shorter than the others on the Outer Banks but I find it beautiful. I love the white. Or maybe I just love it because it's on my favorite island.

I wish I was there now...enjoying a wonderful seafood dinner of some sort. Crabcakes, tilefish, anything!

Outer Banks Series - Ferrying Across

2009-05-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

If you have never been to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, you are really missing something. That is, if you enjoy unspoiled beaches and you are not seeking a wild nightlife. I love that about Ocracoke in particular and I am so happy that it hasn't lost its village charm since I was last there, about 14 years ago!

Ocracoke Island is only 16 miles long but the village where homes, shops and restaurants are clustered, is only maybe 4 or 5 miles in radius. And you really have to want to get there. It is not an easy flight in to the area. And that's one of the reasons I think it's remained a somewhat hidden jewel. My favorite beach vacation of all time. I missed it so and loved going back.

We flew into Raleigh since I was working there that week already and drove from there to Cedar Island to catch a 2.25 hour ferry across the Pamlico Sound. That drive was about 4.5 hours, 5 if you count the 30 minute lunch break. What a lovely ride...to see the tall, tall gorgeous trees. I loved it! More on the Island next time.

Sky Watch Over Irving (Tx)

2009-05-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

I took this as we were starting to approach Dallas Love Field Airport in Irving, Texas. I really liked the cloudy, dark sky. Plus I noticed the wing was really, really clean. Almost new looking. And it made me feel good. :)

Cadillac Ranch - Irving, TX

2009-04-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

Since my trips lately have only been to Irving, there's not much new stuff to share. :) Besides, I am mostly working except at dinner time! I love food! I went with friends to Cadillac Ranch again because it's convenient and pretty good. After a rough day, I decided that I should try something new, just because it's always good to do that I think. Sure, I was leaning towards the oven-baked fried chicken (again) but I forced myself to try the quail. Boy, was it great! And so cute too. Look at those little legs! I am now a fan. Poor little, delicious quails. My sides included asparagus and grits. Yes, grits! It was delicous too!

Sky Watch in Navasota

2009-04-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Recently we traveled to Navasota, Texas and I found it to be gorgeous country out there! I really enjoyed our visit. I am not sure what I expected but I don't think it was rolling hills filled with lovely wildflowers....so what a pleasant surprise. Everything was really green too since they get enough rain. This is a huge field of Bluebonnets that we saw along the highway in Navasota. I loved roaming around that field!

We were only there a few hours but we did drive through town...not much going on though there were some interesting looking old buildings along the main street. I guess that would be the historic area. I'm not sure what else you do in Navasota but if I do go back, it would be to take pictures of the picturesque countryside and cool-looking longhorns.

I'm sneaking in a second shot of another field we found! :)

Check out other wonderful sky shots this week at the Sky Watch!

Hyatt Place Las Colinas (Irving, Texas)

2009-04-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

This past week, I went back up to Irving and rather than stay at the Hyatt Summerfield, I thought I'd try the Hyatt Place....love it! It was much newer, having been renovated when the Hyatt bought it. I believe it use to be AmeriSuites or something like that. The company rate we got was about $89 per night, which beat the $111 we paid at the Summerfield.

My favorite thing about this hotel...the sectional sofa! :) It was a great place to relax at the end of the day. Much nicer than sitting at the desk or on the bed and it goes a long way in making me feel as if I'm at home, or at least at a friend's house. No full kitchen but there was a bar with a little refrigerator. Worked fine for me. I think I have found a new home away from home when I go to Irving.

Oh, and the HD TV doesn't hurt either. It swivels so you can watch from the sofa or bed. The only thing I didn't like too much was the small closet door. Made getting the big suitcase in there challenging so I skipped that.

Driving-to-Irving Survival Guide

2009-03-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

Lately we have been driving between San Antonio and Irving (Texas) when we need to go to Corporate. This saves the company money and we're all about that so there are no complaints from us. Plus it's a great trip when you are with someone you enjoy -- constant talk and jamming music makes the four hour drive fly by really. Once we're up there, we also opt for the two-bedroom suite ($125 per night) versus getting our own room ($111). If you like to have a little company (like we do), the suite is a great bargain. The rooms are great at the Hyatt Summerfield Suites.

Here are some of the things we enjoy on our drive:

Great company
Lots of talking (about work but also about life)
Lots of laughing (lots)
At least one stop at a Starbucks
Where to eat once we're there discussions
Snacks (Funions, Cheetos, an occasional banana and apple for me, pistachios)
Texting and calling our family and friends to update them on our adventures

Packing

2009-01-26T20:04:00.000-08:00

(What you don't see in the picture are two small stacks of the clothes I brought with me to Dallas.)

Some people find packing for a trip the worst part of the experience. It can be, true. Especially if you waited until the last possible moment to do it. Once upon a time, I was the type of person who started packing about a week before the trip. And if it was a trip I was REALLY looking forward to, then I may open up a suitcase to start throwing in items about two weeks prior to take-off. Less pressure. You think of something you want to take; you walk by and toss it in the open suitcase; you don't worry about having to remember it...because it's in there already.

Alas, somewhere in the last six years or so, I became a person that packs at the last minute. Maybe a day or two before the trip. And now?? I pack the night before mostly!! LOL, funny how you change.

One thing that doesn't change is the sense of accomplishment I feel when I take the things in the above picture and get them neatly into my luggage so that I see something like the photo below. It feels good. You feel like you fooled the luggage. You know...as if the suitcase, yeah right, you're not getting ALL of that in ME!! And then you do and it's a good feeling. I love packing. I do not like unpacking. That's totally different.

Irving, Texas

2009-01-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

Last week I finally took a trip for work up to Irving...it's been a while! We stayed at the Hyatt Homewood Suites Los Colinas since it was near the office. That place was really nice and offers singles, two- and three-bedroom suites. Very nice if you really get along with someone, want a roommate and don't mind sharing a living room. You still get your own room and bath so it's nice to have company to chill out with and unwind. I shared a suite with a coworker in FL last year and we had a great time. Made being away from home for work seem like a little mini-vacation.

We also ate at Cadillac Ranch which I understand is franchised. I loved it! The atmosphere was very nice; lots of professionals for dinner (many from our company I noticed). The food was great. I had the oven-baked fried chicken with potatoes and corn. Very nice so I highly recommend it. This restaurant is in a little mall across the street from the hotel. It was all very convenient for us.

Travel Break

2008-11-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Looks like we are going to be on a bit of a travel break these days as we ride out this shaky economic phase we are in. The company is cutting back on all unnecessary travel so that means more home time for our little training team. Woo hoo! Well, I say woo hoo but I do sort of miss the travel at times. I think it's just taken me about a month to finally get back into the routine of enjoying home and the work homebase...I'm just so used to speeding around getting ready to go somewhere or recovering and catching up from being on the road. It's a funny feeling to have the plug pulled on all that travel all of a sudden.

I may not post much for a while but if we take any trips or have any adventures even close to homebase, I'll let you know. :)

The Summit Diner (NJ)

2008-10-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

This is a great place to grab a bite if you are in Summit. I really enjoyed breakfast there. Two of us ate a filling breakfast with juice and coffee for under $20. Not bad in an affluent town. Below is a shot of inside.

This diner is located across from the train station so you could grab a quick bite and then hop the train for a 30 minute ride into New York City. Too bad we didn't have time to go into the city but we had a really nice time driving and walking around Summit. It's a really lovely community.

The Grand Summit Hotel (Summit, NJ)

2008-09-30T17:17:00.001-07:00

The Grand Summit was on the pricey side in my opinion but since I had never been to Jersey, I didn't know that I wanted to try and drive from a far distance to get to the work site we were visiting this week. This hotel was only five minutes from our site AND it was nestled among beautiful neighborhoods and a thriving main street, Springfield Avenue.

The hotel is very nice and you can find plenty of information on the hotel website. It has plenty of modern amenities and tons of character. It's very close to local shops and restaurants as well as a huge mall that's very upscale. I loved it in Summit. I will post more photos this week of it.

Delta Media Options

2008-09-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

Did you know that on some of the bigger Delta planes offer television, HBO shows, music channels and over 25 CDs in a variety of genres? Well, I found this out during the Atlanta to Newark (NJ) leg of our trip because we stayed in the air for about 6 hours since no flights could land in Newark (reason still unknown to us). Airlines are SO terrible about informing passengers. Have you noticed that? They never tell you anything. And if they do, it's really vague. Ugh. Frustrating.

So, we watched CNN, HGTV, Food Network, the Spurs/Lakers WNBA Western Conference Finals (go Starz!). And the music was great. I listened to my favorite Diana Krall songs and that made the hours onboard bearable. That and talking to Ronnie. It makes such a big difference when you are sit next to someone with whom you get along so that the talks make the flights just zip by in a flash.

Claremont, CA - Doubletree Hotel Revisted

2008-09-20T18:54:00.001-07:00

Here's the view from Building 4 at the Doubletree. We went back there since it was nice the first time we were there. With all the traveling I have done this past year, I am finally gold level with the Hilton Honors programs. If you haven't picked a customer loyalty program, this is a really decent one to start with if you like Hampton, Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, etc. I have had enough points to get an airline ticket in addition to getting to gold level (next would be diamond level).

My upgrade got me a BIG room with a king bed, two cookies, two waters, seven vouchers for free breakfast buffet at their Orchard restaurant. The buffet was only okay and so we decided that it was very nice to have the vouchers or else we'd pass on the $15 buffet and go to McD instead. :o)

Believe it or not, I never remembered to take a picture of it. LOL. What's wrong with me?!

Travel Fatigue

2008-09-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

Taken with the A737 Samsung phone by Sonia.

Here we are in our 4th week and obviously sort of tired from the travel and some late nights but it's been a great trip. I was told that typically, if you fly late in the day, there are fewer people on the flights and you can have your pick of seats for stretching out. Well, here's our Project Manager enjoying the empty plane. But when I finally decided to take the 8pm Southwest flight from SA to Phoenix, it was pretty much full. Even the stretch from Phoenix to Ontario, CA was full. Let's hope my flight home tomorrow night is as empty as the one above.

Update: On my return flight, Ontario (CA) to Phoenix was almost full but the Phoenix to SA flight was nice and empty. Plenty of space for stretching out.

Sacramento Fields

2008-09-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I was under the impression that Sacramento would be a much larger city. Instead, we were greated by great, big fields that went on and on forever. I loved the different colors and patterns; I could almost feel the texture from the air.

Sacramento Airport

2008-09-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting piece of art for all those bags that never get picked up at the airport. I love old luggage because they look so unique.

I was just telling Mark that one of the greatest things about traveling so much this past year is that I feel like I can pretty much get around any airport and city now. I don't know that I would have said that eight months ago but I can now. I have started a log of all the trips I take in order to see how many hotels, airports and cars I use in one year. Plus the cost. Should be interesting.

Hilton Grand Vacation, Las Vegas, NV

2008-09-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

There are three Hiltons in Vegas and the one we stayed at did not have a casino, which was a plus for me. I'm not a gambler and I don't care for all the hustle and bustle (and smoke) of a hotel casino. Plus this Hilton was only $89 per night; not bad for a wonderful hotel in Vegas. They have very nice amenities that typical good hotels have plus a spa.

The staff at the hotel was very nice. My first room appeared not completely cleaned...receipts and a couple of beverages about the room from the last occupant. After I called down, they moved me to a lovely, lovely suite across the hall at no extra charge. I loved it! It was bigger than a couple of my old apartments from when I lived in San Antonio. I felt quite spoiled. And the view wasn't bad either.

Doubletree Hotel, Claremont, CA

2008-08-31T16:45:00.001-07:00

Back to the Doubletree. They offer room service which is something that I love to see. There's just something very fun about room service to me and once in a while, I let myself enjoy it. I couldn't resist the French Toast though it was not as scrumptious as I would have liked. Just so you know. The coffee was very good though not enough. The young man who delivered it told me a secret (according to him). You can request a small pot of coffee and the cost doesn't increase much or you can go to the restaurant and get FREE coffee. And it's Starbucks coffee. Good to know for when I go back next month. I just need to bring a coffee mug. Coffee out of paper doesn't taste as good to me and out of styrofoam is even worse. Of course, if I'm desperate, I won't complain!

You'll see a lot of things in Austin

2008-08-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

This is from our "travels" to and through Austin, Texas, some time ago. I just think it's worth sharing; I had not seen it in a while on my Flickr. LOL. If you haven't been to Austin lately, it's full of interesting characters. I haven't seen a pet rider before when I snapped this shot. I think he should have a helmet for his pet.

Doubletree Hotel, Claremont, CA

2008-08-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you get a warm chocolate chip cookie upon check-in at the Doubletree!?!?! And it was good, too. If you recall a year or two ago, on one of my blogs, I wrote that Midwest Airlines served fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies upon take-off. Well...Doubletree's cookie is even better than that. I'm just saying...these efforts are redefining "warm welcome" for me when I travel. I feel quite pampered. Speaking of pampered, there is also a day spa at this hotel. Haven't been in there but it's nice to know it's there should my day be so trying that I need some attention. They're open until 8pm. Nice.

Did you notice Wolfgang Puck is in hotel rooms now? Gourmet. And you get two bottles of water. That's nice, because I don't drink from the faucet in hotels. Most places, it smells slightly funny.

And below, I love it when they give us Neutrogena. It's the kind of soap that doesn't leave a residue. It's always a funny feeling when you stay somewhere with hard water and low quality soap...no matter how long you rinse, that feeling never leaves.

Hoover Dam

2008-08-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

Another shot from the air. I love seeing things from the plane; it's the only time you can really get a real sense of how much space we have. I didn't get to see the dam on any past trips but it's still neat to see it from the air. The water is so beautiful. I saw it again today when I flew over Vegas and actually saw the winding river from the dam...gorgeous, the way it winds through the mountains. Maybe one day I'll make it down there.

Reno, NV

2008-08-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

This very unusual building is the museum of art in Reno. I didn't have time to visit but wish I did. I love art museums.

Pho in Reno, NV

2008-08-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

I had Vietnamese chicken noodle soup tonight and tried it at Pho Restaurant in Reno. I liked this photo a lot more than the soup itself. ;) The chicken was not as tender as I was hoping so I left most of it. The broth was pretty decent. There's another Pho house near the strip somewhere on 2nd Street and Virginia but it's hard to find parking there so I'll try them if I come back to Nevada again.

Passive Security System

2008-08-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

Do you think "passive security system" refers to the door locks?

Interesting road signage

2008-07-31T17:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a sign I have not seen before on the road. This was taken during our roaming between Reno and Fallon, Nevada. We headed to Pyramid Lake and loved it. It is so open and different out there in the desert. We didn't see any bulls, or even cows. But we did see some horses. And a great big lake.

Now here's a sign from the Reno area that I found simply hysterical! Someone with a sense of humor MUST have known that a bus stop right in front of the Beware of Bears sign would be hilarious. I wonder if anyone ever uses it. Those houses up there looked pretty expensive. Maybe the housekeepers use the bus. I'm really curious. No one used it when we passed by twice.

Reno is about one hour from Fallon and we stayed there our last evening in Nevada since we were flying out of there back to Texas. We got up and drove 50 miles south to catch a glimpse of the northern tip of Lake Tahoe. It was fabulous. People were outside -- hiking, biking, walking, climbing. We loved it up there. We drove up and down and round and round and had a blast. Our stopping point was King's Beach. What a neat area. It sort of reminded me of an older area of Austin. But with really, really tall pines surrounding every building. I loved the fresh air there. We even touched into California! I had forgotten we'd do that until we saw the welcome sign.

Coming from Texas, home of all sorts of wonderful tacos...I just didn't know what to make of this sign:

Can someone explain this to me?

2008-07-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

I might just be missing something but how is a dressed up cow mannequin suppose to entice me to buy things here? If anything, I find it a bit creepy. But that's must my opinion. This is a shop at the Dallas airport.

Is the window mine? Or hers?

2008-07-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

When you have a window such as this, to whom does it belong? It's up far enough to just possibly be hers but I don't want to be rude and just do what I will with it. So I didn't touch it; nor did she for most of the trip. Then she finally closed it and we both slept a bit.

I miss sitting in the exit rows. And after all that practicing with Sonia for evacuating fellow passengers and for operating the exits. Sigh, we should run a drill. I told Jess if we keep doing site visits together, I will have to ask her to start practicing evacuation drills with me. :)

No news is good news.

2008-07-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

It's not that we have forgotten to post. It's just that I am going on two full weeks at home! Woo hoo! Check back next week for something as Jessica and I head to Nevada and Iowa. There's bound to be a funny story there somewhere.

Magnolia, Arkansas

2008-06-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

I don't have any funny stories to share from this 3-day trip to Magnolia since I didn't get to explore as much as planned due to a migraine. BUT, I can tell you I was pleasantly surprised by my trip.

Once you pass Dallas and get on IH-30 East, it really gets pretty! I wasn't expecting that at all! Rolling hills, lots of land, pretty homes/ranches, beehives tucked here and there and a pretty drive all around.

And what I did see of Magnolia was very clean and quaint. Their town square had tons of cute and cool shops. And this movie theatre looked awesome and actually showed flicks! Current ones! And as I snapped shots, several people strolled by to catch one. I really wish our Palace Theatre in Seguin would do the same. Everyone at the mill was really nice and I was impressed by the way things looked. Next time I go, I will have to take more pics.

Cruising through Mississippi

2008-06-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

Here's what I am thinking right now about Mississippi:

1. m-i-crooked letter, crooked letter-i-crooked letter, crooked letter-i-hump back, hump back-i.
Who learned this when they were young? Does anyone out there other than me remember this? Or was it just a North Carolina thing??

2. Big-*&# grasshoppers reside there.
Here's what I mean, see below photo. I'm not sure you can sense his size here but he was like the size of my thumb. It's ok to snap a shot of him but I would not want him on me. And when I was pointing my digicam at him...he kept slinking around that plant leaf! As if he didn't realize he's so wide I could still see him. He was creepy the longer I gazed at him. Look at that face. Looks like an alien droid staring at me. And that body? Looks like armor to me. Like from Predator, whichever movie you liked best. There were lots of these guys around.

3. Traveling thru this state requires planning, careful planning.
We were driving back from FL and though we had our picnic basket, we craved fried chicken (when do I not crave this?) so we decided to stop at a KFC at exit 69 on IH-10 (note: do not EVER stop here again). Thus began one of our funniest dinner escapades. We got the food and it was not a great dining place so we took it to go. We figured a rest area would be good, so we stopped at the first one and it looked pretty nice. Good tables, clean, not crowded. We set out some things and see this cute little guy below. Oh, I sure did think he was adorable. UNTIL he kept coming over to our table. Sniffing out what we had. Mark tried to scare him off but he kept coming back. And then we noticed he looked kind of funny. See how his legs are? I don't recall other raccoons here in TX or even back in NC had long skinny legs like that. So we eye him closely and notice he's walk/running sort of crooked. Isn't that rabbied animals do? Act disoriented a little? By now, we just wanted to eat and this critter was aggressively pursuing us. So we laugh and take our food to the next table, after I yelled and chased him up a tree. That lasted about 20 seconds b/c he then hopped on the table we just left and then came over again to us so we chased him farther away, laughing the whole time b/c it was so ridiculous that we couldn't eat our dinner. So we got in the car and left the crazed raccoon, eyed the next rest area and kept driving and finally got into Louisianna but saw not one open rest area so we finally found a beautiful spot in a bank parking lot and sat in the comfortable, safe, air-conditioned luxury of our car and finally ate dinner. Somehow, the chicken managed to still taste ok after all that.

I guess there are some lessons here when you have to go through Mississippi:

Plan meals carefully if you have to eat on the road and do not stop for chicken at exit 69. :)
Perhaps stick with original meal plans.
Do not let cute animals distract you while they make plans to take food from you.
There are no great places to stop along IH-10 in MS. If there are, someone let us know since we'll likely drive that route again.

And then you lift the laptop like so....

2008-06-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

But we wish we were! I wonder if the company will buy a location in Africa one day. You never know. I read CMC is now over 14,000 employees strong and we're in 11 countries. Pretty cool. I love working here.

Sometimes it's like dejavu, I tell you. How many times did you see us ER girls at SAPL pulling and pushing the mobile labs all over town? And here we are at CMC, setting things up to do the same.

The Skies of Rosenberg

2008-06-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new blog and the first post! Sonia and I were in the office this past week, chatting about travels since we were both preparing to leave again and we exchanged funny stories and laughed so hard that I thought we should document all our fun, crazy adventures so we don't forget some of these things. Sonia promised she'd help me with this blog and since we're beginning to do more trips solo, I'm sure she'll have her fair share of stories to tell. Like today in SC. I hope to see THAT story here soon.

As you can see, it was quite cloudy in Rosenberg (TX). The wind was very brisk and actually moved me a bit a number of times. It's unusual all this gusting wind but at least it breaks up the hot, humid air. I always feel like jumping into a nice, refreshing pool lately. Too bad we don't have one!

This is one of the perks of travel -- visits to the Starbucks. We don't have one in Seguin and the only "coffee shop" in town typically closes early so you can't go and just hang out with a cup of joe in town. Unless you do it in your own home I guess. Sonia, we should probably sign up for their perks program!!! (Speaking of perks programs, that'd make a great post. I now have like 8 different programs in which I'm registered in order to get rewards. It's crazy.)