RDU, DEN: Bail Bonds, French Food, Mamma Mia!, ATM

Landing late at night in Raleigh, NC on Wednesday, I got in the rental car and made my way 20 minutes to downtown Raleigh. Arriving after 11pm, I did notice quite a bit of activity with younger people on various street corners near the hotel.
In the morning, I walked up the pedestrian mall in search of coffee and to view the Capitol (Civil War vintage). I noticed a significant number of city and county buildings, and other facilities that go along with that type of thing. Later, Kimberly pointed out there were three Bail Bond Offices on one corner.


Ah-Ha! Juvenile Justice Center on the opposite corner of the Sheraton Hotel? Courthouse Deli??? Magistrate offices? The courthouse on the mall a block away? http://www.ncdjjdp.org/

The Capitol in Raleigh - Civil War style. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMA7B Confederate Monument - This monument is in remembrance of North Carolina's Confederate dead (nearly one quarter of all Confederate deaths were from North Carolina). The three statues on the monument represent Confederate infantry, cavalry, and artillery soldiers. The inscription, "First at Bethel - Last at Appomatox," represents the forwardness and tenacity of North Carolina's soldiers during the Civil War.

Sweetened Tea, anyone?

Roger, Kimberly and I dined on the patio at a fine French restaurant Thursday evening in a renovating neighborhood just outside of downtown. Enoteca Vin is highly recommended and a must do in Raleigh. Nice job on the research, Kimberly! http://www.enotecavin.com/press.html

Back in Denver, Mamma Mia! was very entertaining. I did see the movie Saturday evening. It made me laugh, want to dance and cry. Please do NOT leave before the final final ending, you simply cannot miss the last couple scenes. (I am laughing thinking about it). I hate to ruin the movie for anyone, but I can see why they movie critics hated this and the fans (real people like me) loved it!

On another completely different note, have you ever been shorted at the ATM? I have picture proof I was shorted $10 - amazing. I'll be lucky to see that $10 after the bank sends the forms snailmail (I know, Carey would never accept that solution but I didn't have the extra hour to argue with the customer service assistant and get her supervisor's supervisor's supervisor on the line!) and the bank "investigates" - customer service said "it might be up to 45 days" for resolution :)

I said "send me the form" :)

MIL, ORD - 3 Superheroes

Today included a first ever stop for me in Racine, WI. That would be downtown Racine. It was a clear, humid midwestern day with a great view of Lake Michigan and the harbor located in the heart of downtown Racine.

The big event in town is the Big Fish Bash. http://www.bigfishbash.com/ The big fishing week brings contestants from miles around. They even camp on the concrete barrier wall between the large rocks and water - yes, on the concrete. Ouch!

The fastest growing segment of sport fishing is the sit on top kayak class, as Steve and I discovered from one young gentleman who was a wealth of knowledge on the topic. This might be something to consider for next summer's travel plans?

Notice anything odd here? While driving back, yes in two vehicles due to logistics, I was following Superhero Steve Nicoll in his sporty little convertible. After our 2.5 hour drive from Racine to almost the south side of Chicago (Tinley Park), Steve decided to drop the top on the convertible at a stoplight. The only issue was the top didn't drop and Steve kept driving. I am not sure he knew he wasn't topless right away til he looked in the rearview mirror. At the next stop light, the malfunction in outerwear was corrected! This did make my day, hence the pictures while I was following him :)

During dinner at P. F. Chang's on this hot evening in Chicago, Steve suggested a movie to keep us out of the Fairfield most of the rest of the evening. We agreed on the Superhero movie of the year, and saw Hellboy II: The Golden Army - it was great! 2 thumbs up from this blogger. The movie rated 89 tomatoes and well worth the entertainment factor.

Just getting back from the movie, the movie critic I consulted from West Hollywood indicated Hulk was a better choice (Hulk, Journey to Center of Earth or Hellboy II). I know this weekend will bring me to a choice of MammaMia! or Batman, what will it be?

Aspen

I thought I would share my weekend adventure in Aspen. On the way to Aspen, there is a required stop at the Woody Creek Tavern in Woody Creek, Colorado for a cocktail. It's the home to many locals and celebrities. I'm sure I saw someone, it's that kind of place. The ghost of Hunter S. Thompson lives on, as do others of fame and fortune in the area. I heard I just missed Goldie and Kurt and Don Johnson...

In Aspen, we had sushi at Kenichi. The main reason for the visit was to attend several of the music events of the Aspen Music Festival and School. Aspen Music Festival. Aspen Music Festival and School website. The Benedict Music Tent is phenomenal, designed by the same designer who did the "big top" at Denver International Airport.

Other highlights of the weekend including riding my cruiser bike around town (driving cars is highly discouraged in Aspen), riding the Gondola to the top of the mountain to listen to the orchestra practice and play a little Frisbee golf (that takes a little more practice), view the ski runs without snow, create my own bloody mary from over 100 ingredients at the "build your own bloody bar" at Bently's next to the Wheeler Opera House http://www.wheeleroperahouse.com/wheeler/

If you want more pictures, email me, I'll send a link to kodakgallery.com. Maybe if I update to flickr I would be able to link to this site?

ICT, ORD - Saltmines, NanaVan & Storms

Ken and I drove from Wichita, KS airport (air capital of the world) to Hutchinson, KS for a work event Tuesday. Ken (living in the Rocky Mountains and grew up near the CA ocean) commented "boy it sure is flat out here". That really did make me laugh as I was thinking, "Yup, just like Iowa was this past weekend". He reminded me of a drive to a bank we did together in nowheresville Nebraska some years ago. Ken encountered driving on his first ever rural gravel roads and first vision of a Harvestore. http://www.harvestore.com/newharvestore.htm

The highlight of this trip was to discover the Salt Mines and Underground Museum. The site is even on the tiny Avis map! This is a big deal in the area! Yes, breathing the air just feels like a heart attack waiting to happen. This is big industry in the community. http://www.undergroundmuseum.org/index.php. I wondered if any bloggers wanted to target a trip for 12/31/2008 for the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater event celebration?

Sandy and Rod joined us for a lengthy meeting in Hutchinson. Sandy with the NanaVan (just having arrived from her European cruise vacation) and Rod, the smart one, driving to his plane in Kansas City Tuesday evening. Notice the sky in the background of Rod's picture...

Ken and I traveled back to Wichita where eventually I arrived early morning in Chicago, and Ken, however, did not make it home to Denver and spent the night - all due to weather (see picture as we drove).

On our drive out of town, after dining at the Subway for a lunch/dinner stop, we saw the Wild Horse training facility, part of the Hutchinson Correctional Facility. "Saving Horses and Changing Men" is the slogan. http://www.dc.state.ks.us/facilities/hcf/wild-horses Inmates train wild horses, interesting concept!

After a Monday and Tuesday as exciting as this, there isn't really much to tell about Wednesday in Chicago and Tinley Park or Hickory Hills where Steve N. and I were, both of us encountering the usual air travel issues.

DSM, DEN: July 4 - Sweet Corn & Fireworks

I spent the first part of July 4th weekend in Rockford, Iowa at my parents, working in the garden, surveying the flood damage, dodging mosquitoes and viewing the amazing cleanup effort from recent flooding underway in the communities.
Though national news headlines indicated "no sweet corn on the 4th in Iowa", advertised as a tragedy, we did eat sweet corn in Iowa tradition! (Garden pictures updated in blogpage below.)

On July 4th, fireworks in Charles City, Iowa (14 miles away from Rockford) didn't go so well as 37 people were injured unfortunately in a fireworks finale that went bad. Seems mostly minor injuries, though an unfortunate event! http://www.startribune.com/nation/23504904.html?location_refer=Homepage:highlightModules:1 I watched these fireworks, but from about 1/2 mile away from a "hill" so didn't realize what happened til the next morning.

Flying from Des Moines, Iowa to Denver, CO on July 5 afternoon, I attended the end of a Sarabeth's BBQ, walked to Infinity Park to listen to Lannie Garrett sing Big Band tunes. http://www.lannies.com/

Lannie is an entertainer and has a great voice. If ever in Denver, stop at the Clocktower to hear her. After the concert, we walked to the Glendale, CO "4th on the 5th" Fireworks celebration. The display lasted over 30 minutes - my ears are still ringing. Glendale learned from Iowa tragedy and from other local Colorado communities about safety and fireworks. There were as many red/white and blue medical, emergency and police vehicles as there were sparklers! http://www.infinityparkatglendale.com/summerevents/summereventseries.html









Fireworks from my little camera (nothing compared to Carey's photography):

DEN - Condolences Incoming on Transformation Strategy

At last, a demo in Denver, CO and no airplane to travel this week (except later to Iowa to see my parents, hang out with the overpopulation of mosquitoes due to the recent flooding, and work in the garden). It's hard driving to a demo in Denver believe it or not :) I don't usually drive, so it was fun to see downtown Denver.

The real blog topic of the day and every caller has offered their condolences about the recent Starbucks news and store closings. Well, it might be harder to get that Starbucks on my future travels no doubt about it. Being an investor still (can you believe it - why sell now???) and consumer of the product line, I believe "My Store" in Denver will be safe as it is the number one producer in it's region, along with the number two producer in it's region within 3 blocks from store number one. Amazing. I have to say there are 3 other stores with much lower volume within a 2 mile radius and I do see some downturn there somewhere.

My personal opinion is get rid of those silly Starbucks "Kiosks" in the Targets in the big cities! Give me a break. The machinery and coffee is never cleaned or prepared correctly. The employees in those stores never act like real Starbucks employees, nor can they make a drink worth a darn! Target and Starbucks need to separate which should cause that 600 store reduction in a heartbeat.

Thanks to all for your cards, letters, messages and calls in this time of great turmoil :)

http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asp?id=877