My Road Trip

Northern California in November '08

2008-12-18T13:28:00.005-05:00

I have waited nearly a month to write this trip report, luckily I'm sick as a dog and therefore in a perfect mood to describe my experiences which weren't so great. I scored a very cheap admission to yet another SRT Track Experience which unfortunately was due to expire prior to the expected February date for the famous Laguna Seca, luckily another Northern California location was available for late November and judging by the reviews it wasn't half bad.

I planned the entire trip about two months before leaving, which gave me plenty of time to search flights, book hotels and plan my road trip in general. My first logical option was flying from Philly to Sacramento on a super cheap United flight for under $190 round trip... but I wasn't about to start thinking logically... so of course I booked my trip on JetBlue via Los Angeles with the final destination being San Francisco where I'd try out Virgin America service for the first time.

My intention of visiting Los Angeles again was to visit a few friends. My buddy Richard, one of the biggest contributors to my SVT site... who was gracious enough to give me a private tour of his business and more importantly his antique car collection. And my buddy Chris who again was very helpful in my previous travel putting me up for the night at his house in California and letting me crash with his friends in Las Vegas. That trip however was way too short, even though the flight arrived 30 minutes early. I ended up flying into Burbank Airport since I've never been there. Rented a car at Enterprise Neighborhood Location in Glendale. Took Metrolink train to get there which was very convenient and most importantly saved me a great deal of money (total car rental bill was $19, as opposed to the base rate at the airport starting at $95+tax) In between the meeting with Rick and Chris I shot some videos for my new cousin Julia in France, and before I knew it I ran out of daylight, it was depressing to see the sun go down at 5pm while I was stuck in traffic on the freeway.

I spend the night at the Radisson near LAX which I booked the night before using priceline. I intended to stay at a Rodeway Inn in Hollywood but couldn't pass up on a three star hotel deal which was much closer to where I needed to be for my first Virgin America flight. Of course my last minute shinanigans nearly cost me the flight as I was trying to find a perfect post card to mail Julia in France... I realized there was no mail boxes at LAX after 9/11 so I had to bribe a United customer service rep to personally drop it in the mail box on her own time, which she did... so I'll give United another shot one day even after my bad experience to Detroit.

The flight to San Francisco was delayed anyway because of heavy fog. I didn't mind though as the toys on VX flight entertainment system RED were outstanding and far superior to that of JetBlue, although the channel selection is lacking. We were put in a holding pattern over Monterey which gave me an excellent view of Laguna Seca region below. Upon arrival into SFO I took the BART train to downtown where I was picking up another rental at Enterprise Neighborhood Location downtown. I should mention that both vehicles I rented on this trip were pick-up trucks... yes, pick-ups! I couldn't believe how cheap they were, they were literally half the price of the econobox, and I was more than willing to pay the difference in gas money because the ride comfort was superior. I do have to complain about the San Francisco Enterprise because their vehicles were far from what was advertised, pretty dirty and smelly not to mention beat up. After three separate attempts to get a better vehicle I ended up with a Dodge Ram Big Horn monster truck, which was even bigger than the Dodge Dakota Magnum I got in LA. The truck got an incredible 5.8 miles to the gallon as I was sitting in traffic trying to get on the Bay Bridge, but once on the highway it climbed to nearly 18 miles to the gallon.

The ride to Willows, CA was supposed to be 2 hours, but I made it in less time stopping for the night just outside of Sacramento at a Best Western where I was able to use a $50 gift card I received from one of my credit cards. The following morning I drove in heavy fog to the Thunderhill Raceway Park to do my third track experience.

Upon arrival I was warmly greeted by a lot of familiar faces. This time around I actually made some new friends and had a blast beating on the Vipers in a dense fog. Towards the early afternoon the fog burned off and I had an incredible time driving the full track with all its elevation changes and banking, this track was not like any other I have driven thus far and therefore a lot of fun. The highlight of my day was not driving the SRT-10 Vipers, even though I came very close to spinning one again, but instead taking the little SRT-4 Caliber on the full track. It was fun because the car is stick and I was terrified of stalling it any moment. Luckily that didn't happen, but reviewing the video on the DVD I have already received I suck at shifting the manual gear box tremendously. The car was always in the red, overreving and shifting at the wrong points, but I am getting better.

The following two days were awful. After I returned to San Francisco, which was freaking freezing compared to Los Angeles, I found myself with nothing to do. So I decided to buy a day pass for the Cable Cars and found that it was the only thing I really enjoyed in this gloomy city. I also took the boat ride to Alcatraz but was not immencely impressed with it. After riding the cable cars some more I explored more of San Fran downtown and Chinatown, where I was the only white person among like five chinese locals, at 5pm on a Friday afternoon trying to grab something to eat, everything was closed!!! It was a ghost town and I was dissappoitned.

Luckily on my last day in San Fran, upon checking out from the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway, another decent hotel I scored on priceline and much better than the Rodeway Inn Civic Center I was preparing myself to endure, my buddy Amir picked me up and gave me a little tour of SF suburbia. We quickly left the city and went to grab some chicago style pizza at Berkley, it was the most expensive pizza I've ever had at $36 a pie (with tip). From there we went to the Golden Gate Bridge, walked to about half way point, and then he was kind enough to drop me off at Oakland Airport about 3 hours early for my return flight on JetBlue.

All in all I do not see myself doing anything like this anytime soon. Although if Chrysler does not go out of business I would like to come back to the Bay Area for antoher go at Laguna Seca, that cork screw turn is calling my name!

Philadelphia, PA Fall '08

2008-10-16T13:42:00.003-05:00

Although I've been to Philly maybe half a dozen times, if not more, this trip was outstanding.

I found a perfect opportunity to go on this short road trip after someone from my car club decided to buy some old wheels I had for sale. With Free delivery to sweeten the deal I jumped in the truck after work and headed down the turnpike to the city of brotherly love.

Yeah, that sounds real cheesy. But I was excited. Not so much for the sale which was great because I've been meaning to clear out my garage for the longest time, but because it gave me an opportunity to take the advise of several Flyer Talk members and try some of South Philly's best: cheesesteak!

While at work I had prepared a list of places I needed to hit in order to enjoy the experience... and enjoy I did. The first stop on my list was Tony Luke's. This joint just off I95 was very busy with patrons. Especially those wearing Phillies jerseys as there was a game in town and Phillies were headed for a pennent victory. The wait wasn't too long, but with so many people all around it was a good atmosphere to be in. Everyone smiling and joking around, the smell of victory was in the air... or maybe it was the onions? Not sure, but one thing always catches my eye when I'm in Philadelphia and thats their parking habits. People leave their cars in the middle of the street parked throughout town, in between the yellow lines. I haven't seen this done nowhere else in my travels. If it were up to me I'd be afraid of doing that in fears of getting the damn truck towed, but no one seemed to care.

After grabbing one of Tony Luke's famous Philly cheesesteaks with mushrooms and hot peppers, I decided to wolf it down on the way to PHL airport. I've been coming across a number of real cheap flights from that airport and wanted to check it out to see how easy it would be to use if I were to book something flying out of there. To my amazement I finished the steak in a few bites. I don't know if I was that hungry or if it was simply that good. Then after sampling all 6 of Philadelphia/Willmington's International airport terminals I still felt hungry and decided to follow my nose to the birth place of Philly Cheesesteak: Pat's (right across from Geno's who also claim to be the first)

I couldn't find the street address in my notes, so I relied on the GPS to get me there... sadly while at PHL Pat's wasn't on the list of nearby eateries. So instead I followed my nose... and boy was I good! While driving down Broad St, I punched in Pat's into the GPS again and this time it was there: "Pat's King of Steak" it said. I clicked "GO" and within minutes I was there, wow. Got a parking spot right along the restaurant outdoor tables, and went to place my order. Again, drunk Phillies fans were in abundance, and unlike Luke's I didn't have to wait at all for my cheesesteak to be ready it was made right in front of me. By comparison to Luke's it was much larger, with bigger chunks of steak, and more cheese. It was also very juicy but to be perfectly honest I liked Tony Luke's best.

Nevertheless, soon after leaving it seemed like I finished this hoggie in a few bites as well and in not time at all I was back on the turnpike heading home.

I should do this more often!

Useful links:

Tony Luke's

>Pat's King of Steaks

Geno Steaks

JFK T5 "a fligth to nowhere" on jetBlue

2008-08-29T13:16:00.007-05:00

No, this isn't some kind of a joke or sarcasm towards jetBlue and their delay/cancellation woes. I really did take jetBlue on a flight to nowhere this weekend and it was sweet!

I was among 1,000 other loyal jetBlue TrueBlue members to be invited to participate in a test of the luggage system and operations at thier brand spanking new terminal 5 at JFK airport. I first heard about this event on FlyerTalk.com and since I didn't get a personal invite right away I quickly asked one of the other members to forward me a copy of their's... but just a few days later I got my very own invite from jetBlue. I was joking that I must be at the bottom of jetBlue marketing list because it seems I always get special offers and promotions about a week after everyone else.

Upon arrival at JFK the first thing that strikes your eyes is the old TWA terminal: Eero Saarinen building that will now symbolize jetBlue even though TWA sign is still above it. The new jetBlue parking lot is very convenient and parking on the 5th floor allows you to walk right into the walkway connecting AirTrain to both T5 and T6. The walk to the main terminal is quite long, which will be pretty awful when on the rush, but it's something we'll have to learn to deal with.

The new terminal is spacious! If I could use one word to describe it it would be huge. The new TSA security area looks quick and infact after checking in for my pretend fligth it was a breeze. That was probably the most realistic part of the whole experience, while everything else was going according to the script the TSA were quick to turn around people carrying water, change in their pockets or even forgetful folks like me that left his keys in his pocket.

The most attractive part of the new terminal itself, aside from all the shops and restaurants that weren't there yet but had reps on site giving more information, was the gate area 14, 15 and 16. There are seats aligned along the huge windows overlooking the runway and quite a few jets caught the attention of the participants, everything from regional commuter jets to double decker Boeing 747's.

We were allowed to keep the carry-on bags we checked in to test the system, and after checking in for my pretend Las Vegas flight and arriving from Oakland I made my way outside to the tents set up on the departures driveway to have lunch with everyone from the participants, the media, to the Port Authority cops and of course many jetBlue big wigs including the CEO Dave Barger. They had catered food, some entertainment and a drawing for free flights anywhere jetBlue jets... unfortunately with my luck and even after a pretend flight to Las Vegas I was still unlucky and didn't win anything.

I did score a few hats and luggage tags though, before heading home.

Thanks jetBlue for a really special experience, I can't wait to fly out of there... JFK so far is my primary local airport even though both EWR and LGA are significantly closer.

www.jetblue.com

Motor City Michigan Summer '08

2008-08-28T20:28:00.004-05:00

It has been a really long time since I first heard of and decided to visit the Woodward Dream Cruise in suburban Detroit, Michigan. However with work, school and other commitments it was never possible, until now! The plan was ambitious, long and expensive but just a few days before the actual trip it all changed and to tell you the truth it was for the better.

The original plan was for me and my best friend Nick to drive to Detroit in his new Volvo S40 via Kentucky. Why? You might wonder would we make such a crazy and out of the way detour? Because the first stop on our list was the Corvette Assembly Plant and National Museum in Bowling Green, KY. Unfortunately Nick, who loves everything Corvette, had some plastic surgery and our plans went out the window.

I quickly went online and within minutes was able to book a pretty sweet deal, $230 round trip, on United to fly to Detroit. My justification for changing the method of travel was purely economical. It cost less to fly and rent a car than to drive for 9 hours each way in my gas guzzler (to my amazement I must add). I took mass transit to LaGuardia Airport and had a nightmare of an experience with United. The plane must have been the oldest in the fleet, and well after checking its registration it was made in 1989. Certainly not a JetBlue type of experience. I flew in through Chicago O'Hare and arrived in Detroit early at about 4:30pm on Friday, the day of the cruise.

For the second time this year I booked a car with Hertz. To my amazement it was significantly cheaper than all its competitors in Detroit including my favorite, Enterprise. With the weekend 50% discount the whole rental cost me $50 bux. The staff at the Hertz DTW facility was much more friendly than PBI, and even though the nice lady slipped a Hyundai Tuscon SUV into my slot, I was able to change it to a Hertz #1 Gold Ford Fusion rental with a V6, alloy wheels, spoiler and Sirius radio. The car was very nice and the overall experience was quite enjoyable.

My buddy JP volunteered his guest room for my stay in Michigan which certainly saved me a few bucks and potential bed bug bite issues cheap hotels offer. That was very helpful and I was dying to meet JP because he's been one of the most generous contributors to my SRT owner registry web site. JP gave me a pass for the 2007 SRT track experience I did at Road America in Elkheart Lake, WI a $500 value. Thanks JP! I especially enjoyed JP and Mona's company both at the Woodward Dream Cruise and hanging out. One of the most memorable experiences from the visit was a trip to the local restaurant: The Packard Grill in Shelby Township, MI. The menu in that place was outstanding, all items had automotive names, for example if you wanted to order onion rings you'd ask for "a set of wheels." The location of the grill was next door to the original Packard proving grounds which is now a historic site. JP also gave me a private tour of the Chrysler Corporate grounds in Auburn Hills.

The Woodward Dream Cruise itself was just a big car show stretching along Woodward Ave from Auburn Hills to Ferndale. With thousands of cars and a million people in attendance it was a happening place to be at but I noticed that many locals elected to go about their normal lives when this was in town. One such local, Kip Ewing - one of the big dogs at Ford in charge of development and production of the FORD GT and the designer behind Genaddi Design Group's FORD GTX1 roadster conversion, was kind enough to let me meet with him. A very cool guy that now has his own shop on a side producing some very high quality carbon fiber bits for the FORD GT and other exotics. Similarly, Rich Brooks was another cool person I had the priviledge of visiting. The GT Guy himself does some magnificent work on FORD GT including upgrading the power output of already a potent engine with twin-turbos. I love his big red barn where all the magic happens.

The flight home was uneventful. I especially enjoyed flying for the first time on regional jets, or puddle hoppers as some smug business folk joked around before getting on board. The United Express flight operated by Trans States Airlines between DTW and IAD, and Chautauqua Airlines flight from IAD to LGA were especially smooth and I'd actually prefer to fly this Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft instead of a Boeing 737 in the future. I didn't get a chance to have lunch or dinner in Detroit so I pigged out at the airport getting a sub at Quizno's in DTW and a massive burger at Five Guys at IAD.

It was an excellent trip and I wish I had an opportunity to do this more often. The last time I was in Michigan was in 2003 for the Ford Centennial Celebration after driving in a convoy of Panther Platform cars from Saint Thomas, Ontario where we did the Assembly Plant tour.

www.woodwarddreamcruise.com

www.united.com

www.hertz.com

www.packardgrill.com

www.kipewing.com

www.thegtguy.com

www.ford.com

www.chrysler.com

Sint Maarten/Saint Martin & Anguilla, '08

2008-07-12T23:11:00.005-05:00

I was joking around that the only way I'd visit Saint Martin would be to celebrate leaving my dead-end job, which surprisingly came true immediately before the trip. So at least I started it off on a positive note, and unlike Aruba some seven months earlier this trip was trully special. I decided to take my sister along for the ride as it wouldn't have cost me much more to what I'd pay alone, the only difference really being the entry tax considering the ticket was free with Jet Blue. While that experience proved to be stressful, as my sister has become real spoiled lately and everything turned into an argument even for most trivial things, the trip nonetheless was a success.

I first decided to visit SXM shortly after Jet Blue announced the addition of that route from NYC, which ironically happened right around the time I went to Aruba. Just like Aruba, Sint Maarten is part of the Netherland Antilles which means my green card situation would not prevent me from traveling there without a visa and a Ukrainian passport which I never had. So, after redeeming two free flights I ended up paying $118 bux total in taxes... that my friends is a cheap flight to paradise.

I had a long time planning this trip, so taking the advise of the many people on flyertalk.com forums I decided to rent a car for my stay. While in Aruba I could have probably gone without it, it was actually necessary in St. Martin, especially for what our plans had in store for us. The rental car of choice was a Hyundai Getz, and unlike in the US where you typically get a "similar" car to what they advertise, we got exactly what I bargained for at Thrifty/Dollar off site facility after a short shuttle van ride out of Princess Juliana airport. I requested a car with French plates so I don't look like such a tourist based on people's advise, and it also helped that the car had some dings and scratches all over, nobody looked twice at it even after we left it filled with luggage and gifts in Marigot.

Taking additional advise from the forums, and the fact that I couldn't make up my mind which side of the island to stay on: the french or the dutch; I decided to book a hotel on both sides and that worked out real well for us.

On the Dutch side, and for one night only, I decided to stay at the legendary Sonesta Maho Beach resort, which was literally steps from the airport. The reason this was particularly important for me was because I wanted to capture the rare beauty of planes landing dangerously close overhead right on the beach. We did go to the nearby Sunset Beach Bar to watch this phenomena for a while. Perhaps the highlight of the trip, especially for my sister was a Boeing 747 taking off which blew nearly a dozen onlookers into the water as they stayed directly behind the runway on the beach.

On the French side we stayed at L'Hoste Hotel in Orient Beach. I was imagining it to be like the Sunset Beach Villas I stayed at in Aruba, if you can call it that. Instead the hotel was extremely nice. Totally a pleasant surprise, everything from the size of the really big room, to the shower in it, the balcony and the on site restaurants. The morning breakfast was plentiful, a large plate with french food and fruits was excellent. Just like on the Dutch side, the hotel was a bargain at $100 a night (I negotiated it down myself after a few back and forth e-mails with management), but unlike the Sonasta the tax was significantly lower since this isn't a resort and has no such fees associated with it.

While on the Dutch side we enjoyed the busy nightlife of that part of the island. Like Aruba, the place was happening with a very similar sight: a Sopranos Piano Bar. Casino Royale on Maho Beach was kind of cool but the best part was the exotic dancers which spilled into the street at 9pm with a very entertaining show, and one dutch chick in particular caught my eye, she was gorgeous.

On the French side the things were more European. In terms of nightlife there were a few restaurants and a shopping strip, but they were very pricey and since everything was in Euros we pretty much avoided it. I was very unhappy that I couldn't find any Yogho Yogho Yogurt on the entire island which was my drink of choice in Aruba. We also visited the capital of the French side on our final day before heading to the airport: Marigot and did our souvenir shopping there. That was a beautiful city, very European and very picturesque. The best selling point for staying at Orient Beach for me was the fact that it had a topless and nude beach. Keeping with the South Beach spirit of Miami, I find topless beaches to be quite inspiring, although we didn't spend too much time on Orient Beach for me to really enjoy it, and the nude folks I saw were way too old for my taste.

On the Dutch side we also visited the capital city: Phillipsburg but not so much for the sightseeing. I decided to book a snorkeling day trip to Anguilla. While I was afraid that since the British West Indies governments wouldn't recognize US green card as a valid document without the national passport being present, I decided to do it anyway. Unfortunately it cost me 5% more to pay for everything in person than it would have if I were to do it online using a credit card, but it was worth it.

We took the Swaliga 2 power catamaran on an adventure around Anguilla and it was a blast for sure. We made three snorkeling stops in and around Anguilla, the most beutiful were at Prickly Pear Island and the Sandy Island (Gilligans Island) which were extremely cool and the turquoise waters were simply amazing. On the trip was a very beautiful young girl that made things pleasant from the getgo. The islands of Anguilla are not at all developed which was a great contrast to St. Martin, and therefore very enjoyable.

All in all, it was an amazing experience. I got to visit three different territories in one shot: The Netherland Antilles, French West Indies and British West Indies. I took a whole lot of pictures (nearly one thousand) both at Sint Maarten and Saint Martin as well as Anguilla.

I would love to go back already...

Links:

Sint Maarten: www.st-maarten.com

Saint Martin: www.saint-martin.com

Sonesta Maho Beach: www.mahobeach.com

L'Hoste Hotel: www.hostehotel.com

Swaliga 2: www.bluebubblessxm.com

Anguilla: www.anguilla-vacation.com

Sunset Beach Bar: www.sunsetbeachbar.com

Boston vs. NYC, Summer '08

2008-07-11T23:11:00.000-05:00

Not sure why I always think of this annual business trip as a big deal, but it really is. Like last year I was back in Boston for a meeting at the beatiful Seaport World Trade Center. Having done this before I was able to spend more time on planning which lead to much better quality time spend it the city.

Although Boston proper is a mere three and a half to four hour ride from Northern New Jersey, for the second year in a row I decided to take a flight up there. With gas prices so high and rising it wasn't necessarily a bad idea considering Jet Blue was such a reasonable choise. I booked a roundtrip for a mere $149 taxes included and was able to grab first-class like seats sitting in the front of the plane at seat 3A both ways. I love this about Jet Blue, you're the first one off the plane and on your way about your business.

The trip started off real well, we landed five minutes early and my chauffeur was not expecting me to come out so soon, but at least he was there. The policies of Boston Coach are a bit odd, but acceptable. The ride to the Seaport Hotel took no more than ten minutes and after leaving my luggage at the concierge desk I was on my way to the meeting.

After a long but catered event I was ready to crash for the night, and unlike the previous year I picked a very convenient and upscale hotel right next to the Seaport WTC. The Reinassance Waterfront is a newly completed highrise with some magnificent views of the Boston harbor and a modern touch. I was thoroughly impressed with the whole experience starting with checking-in to the room, the amenities in it and even the gym which I used at around midnight... it was simply amazing. I even decided to go for a walk downtown, to check out the Quincy market again and all the pubs that lead to it through the tiny streets. Its great how clean Boston is.

The flight home was again delayed. I attempted to go on stand-by but the door was literally closed in my face and I ended up waiting for my flight which was over an hour delayed once we boarded the aircraft. Luckily I had a buddy I met at the meeting to keep me company so the time went by real quick. I'm really looking forward to next year if I'm lucky enough to do it again.

I'd like to keep my posts limited to a unique experience at a time, but this addition to my Boston trip not even a week after I returned is a must. Thanks to my uncle I was able to go to my first major league baseball game and what better venue than the Bronx Bombers playing the Boston Red Sox at the legendary Yankee Stadium. This is the last year that games are played at the old stadium as the new one is nearly completed so the game was very special.

If you haven't noticed already hardly anything I do goes perfectly as planned and this game was no exception. My sister had to work that day so we left for the Bronx rather late. I was able to cruise through traffic quite easily but parking was another story. Even though we had free parking passes no parking spots were available, all official lots were closed and the unofficial private lots wanted to charge a hefty $30 for valet parking... Yeah right! I ended up dropping my sister and her friends off at the entrance to the stadium and circled around until I found a good spot to leave the Jeep on the Grand Concourse.

It was a little over an hour into the game when I walked into the stadium and found out the Yankees were playing a rather fast pased game. It was already fourth inning and they were winning. The seats we got were excellent. We were in section 19, 77, C 1 through 4... which meants we were a mere four rows up from the field just past first base. We saw all the players real close and were happy to see them win.

Not sure if I'd be making it a habit to go to any more baseball games but for my first one this was a great experience. Perhaps an obvious observation but comparing downtown Boston to downton New York City (we decided to go to Little Italy after the game for some thin crust pizza and canolies) NYC is filthy... soooo sad!

Links:

Jet Blue: www.jetblue.com

BostonCoach: www.bostoncoach.com

Boston Seaport: www.bostonseaport.com

Renaissance Boston Waterfront: Marriott Hotels

New York Yankees: yankees.mlb.com

Boston Red Sox: redsox.mlb.com

South Florida '08

2008-06-16T15:41:00.004-05:00

This is one of those trips that I would have rather avoided, but what can you do... here's what happened. I have been trying to get my lazy friend to come with me to do some traveling. But since the time he was fat (he's lost 180+lbs since) about the only activity he enjoyed doing was visiting his summer home upstate New York and doing nothing there.

Well, after showing him some pictures from my Wisconsin SRT Track Experience at Road America he was convinced it is something he'd like to do. Great! Ideally, I wanted to hit up Laguna Seca in California and their famed Cork Screw turn, but we had literally just missed it by less than a week or two. Go figure. Of course the next best thing to California, at least in my book, is Florida.

Specifically Southern Florida, and when I found out that the Homestead-Miami SRT Track Experience was in town mid May, I quickly researched the opportunity and booked us on some super sweet airfare deals flying from Newburgh, NY to West Palm Beach for a mere $69 each way taxes included plus 50 bonus True Blue miles towards a future free trip. That was a no brainer.

In addition to the SRT Track Experience I convinced my friend that the original Margaritaville in Key West is a must! Considering he's a huge country fan, and has Alan Jackson's Margaritaville as his ringtone on the phone, that sealed the deal.

In terms of car rental I didn't go with Enterprise as I usually do in Florida, Hertz was actually cheaper and I decided to give them a shot. Using my AAA discount I decided to book a Mazda 6 thinking that based on Hertz reputation and large size I might actually get it, boy was I wrong. The West Palm Hertz was horrendous, from the customer service agent in the terminal to the supervisor at the rental facility a short shuttle bus ride away. I did not get the damn Mazda, instead they put me in an old Corolla S... it wasn't too bad but it did have over 20k miles and a check engine light on so I refused to take it. The car I ended up with was a Hyndai Sonata, and while I didn't like it the poor thing got amazing gas mileage, something to the tune of 460 on a tank and it wasn't even empty when I went to Miami International to exchange it for a Mazda 6... but drove out with a Ford Explorer, that was a pig on gas mileage. We also stopped at the Key West International Hertz, but that one was terrible too in customer service, we were asked to come back later in the day as they didn't have any cars yet... What?

Regardless, the SRT track experience was outstanding. We both got to race the new Viper, the Caliber, the Jeep, and every other car on the lot. I almost spun the Viper Convertible and ran over a cone on the track at about 100mph that went flying who knows where, but other than that it was a blast. I cannot wait for the video to arrive.

Immediately after the track day we headed to El Rancho in Key West where we spend the night. My friend got real drunk and for the rest of the night only embarrased me with his behavior. Margaritaville wasn't anything nearly what he expected and on that note we simply headed for Miami Beach, South Beach the following Morning.

Upon arriving at MIA airport to switch cars at Hertz it started pouring. We made the switch, went to the beach and it rained some more. But we stupidly enough stayed in the water anyway, lol That was actually fun.

The first and third nights we spend at Choice hotels. Econo Lodge in Florida City not too far from the track that charged us an extra person fee even though I could have swore I did put in 2 people occupancy. In South Beach it was Roadway Inn that we decided to stay in because I used my points from Choice Rewards credit card I have. The parking was great right under the building but $23 bux they charged us for it wasn't cool. My buddy got hurt so we didn't get to do much sightseeing in Miami as I expected, however I did check out Espaniola for the first time, and went near the Lincoln Road mall, but again we didn't do much walking. Well, I did actually. It has become tradition for me to walk up and down the entire length of South Beach and enjoy the views and exercise.

Leaving we nearly ran out of time mailing stuff from a local post office. But I was able to avoid much traffic and even made a detour in Deerfield Beach to grab some food. I wanted alligator tails but the place: Crabby Jacks no longer sold them so we settled for some Mahi Mahi and were on our way. Made the flight with minutes to spare and I woved never to travel with my friend again!

I hope I have more fun with my sister in Saint Martin/Sint Maarten next month.....

NYC, New Jersey '08

2008-04-28T11:55:00.003-05:00

Its been a long time since I went anywhere or did anything other than working my two dead-end jobs and going to the gym every morning trying to get in shape. But things are not as grim as it often seems. Through my new job I was able to participate in a very neat event taking place under the Hudson River in the Lincoln Tunnel.

I was invited to attend the Lincoln Tunnel Challenge, a 5k (3.1 mile) event benefiting the Special Olympics of New Jersey. I had never done any such events before so in all honesty I had no idea what to expect, however I was very excited to participate in a charitable function and invited my sister and best friend to attend with me.

The plan for the event was to go to the Coach USA garage and take mass transit as was advertised on the event web site and highly recommended by the people from the company. However after getting home late the night before, being burned out and unable to get out of bed in time I overslept that opportunity.

Not to worry there was plenty of parking and after arriving in Weehawken in much less time than it would have taken if we were to take a bus, we were on our way to register in order to receive our numbered bibs and the timekeeper RFID chip. Shortly after the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had the southern hole of the tunnel blocked off and we were walking towards the start finish line. My sister had just received a ticket from EZpass for going through the wrong lane on the GW bridge so I made sure to take a picture of her on foot at the EZpass toll booth... not paying the toll again, as usual! ugh...

I had been going to the gym every morning for the past few months so I had full intentions of running the entire length of the tunnel and back, but since it was crowded and my skater shoes made my feet hurt right away, a nice stroll through it was what my sister and I actually ended up doing. We took pictures throughout our walk, especialy at the dividing line between New York and New Jersey under the Hudson. My best friend though ran, and finished the challenge in half the time that we did, which was impressive. The tunnel itself, which was apparently cleaned before the event was quite dirty, the air in there was very stuffy but nevertheless it was all right. It surely provided for many great picture ops on both sides of the river, and the presence of all the NYC Grey Line sightseeing busses added to the ops available for us. I had never been on a double-decker bus before so it surely added to the memories.

I cannot wait to do this again next year!

Aruba in January 2008

2008-02-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

Let me begin by labelling this trip a "Disaster in Paradise." Like so many shipwrecks scattered around the pristine waters of the island, this vacation sank before it even started. Why? Because I got sick dammit! I had just started a new job, was very excited to be able to sneak away for a few days to some place exotic, and then wham... the whole office gets the sniffles, and the flu and the terrible cold that I picked up very quickly. The day before my trip I had to take a sick day because the things got so bad, and the feelings for the trip didn't change much, the trip was doomed.

The whole reason for the trip was a soon to expire Jet Blue award flight. Just like the last one I used for Las Vegas, this one I had to redeem in a hurry because of the silly expiration dates assigned to them from Jet Blue. Luckily, all those Jet Blue promotions paid off dividents, as I was able to use several special offers to pay for the entire fare. First, I used the old 20 points, $50 off future trip to cover the taxes. Then another promo popped up to earn another 20 points just for redeeming an award, its like Jet Blue was targeting me personally with their marketing department. The flight down to Aruba and back was very much empty. I had row 5 all to myself, across the entire eisle, ABCDE were empty, I was in F window seat. Similarly on the return I had row 3 all to myself.

Upon arrival, I went across the street from the terminal to pick up my rental. I rented with Budget as they participated in the discount program I am part of and had the best deals on Toyota Yaris. The car I got was an older model, a 2006 with 30k kilometers on the clock. Obviously, the car wasn't very new. It was a stick shift, and I was looking forward to getting to drive it around the one happy island. Unfortunately about two miles from the airport it started to shake and rattle very badly from the engine compartment so I took it back. Once I presented my case to the Budget customer service rep, they advised me that they were all sold out and that they'd be happy to give me a refund if I didn't want to take the car... Go figure! I asked them to mark my contract with the new problems I experienced and took the damn car to my hotel. Needless to say I tried to avoid driving it as much as I could for the rest of the stay.

The hotel I chose was about a mile north of the Palm Beach high rises in Malmok. It was a one story structure right on the beach and L.G. Smith Blvd. It was quite impressive with a full kitchenette, microwave and fridge. I even got to utilize the pool and jacuzzi. But the main attraction was the beach which required a drive down to the Marriott to use their cabanas. The highlight of the trip was the guided tour of the island with ABC tours, and their Jeep Safari. This was great! I had them pick me up at the Marriott Aruba Ocean Club bright and early at 8am. We went to their headquarters near Oranjestad, signed a release, and off we went in a beautiful Land Rover Defender 110. The trip was well worth the money. We started out with the California Lighthouse at the northern tip of the island and worked our way down to Baby Beach on the southern tip. I said a little prayer for the family at the little church on the hill. Saw the collapsed Natural Bridge, got my toes wet at the Natural Pool, and bounced around the vehicle while offroading towards the Ostrich farm. Finally, I snorkled for the first time at the Baby Beach and it was fantastic.

The last day in Aruba went by very quickly, and I was stupid enough to listen to people who said I had to be at the airport 3 hours before the flight! Why? I cleared customs in 5 minutes and spend the rest of the time at the bar drinking really expensive beer. One purchase I didn't regret was some dutch yogurt at the King Hong supermarket. I actually went there again just to buy some more. I also got some Aruba Florin currency for a souvenier there. I didn't really go out much during my stay in Aruba and all the food was purchased at this supermarket on the first day. I did hit the giftshop at the Marriott and got some good stuff for the family there. But because I was sick I really feel I didn't take advantage of much on the island. One thing I do regret was making a phone call with my cell phone and using a credit card to do it. The infamous BBG communication scam got me like many other people traveling abroad and I already plan to file a chargeback for the $10/minute phone calls!

Anyway, final impressions of Aruba, its a place in love with America! Even their airport consists of two facilities the USA departures and Non-USA departuress, why not International? I don't know... The target tourist of Aruba are senior citizens and there were a ton of them, especially Russians. There were some French and German tourists at my hotel, but at the high rises, it was all old people. I would highly recommend though doing the ABC tour of the island, if not for that get away where I burned my scalp on the sun even after applying 30 proof sun block several times, I would regret taking this trip in the first place. Oh, and the country is still obsessed with the Fast and the Furioius... every other kid was racing around the many roundabouts around the country. Which naturally made me nervous and the damn Yaris would stall all the time as I'd release the clutch too quickly. It was sad!

Bon Bini...

Useful links:

Aruba: www.aruba.com

Sunset Beach Studios: www.arubabeachstudios.com

Budget Aruba: www.budgetaruba.com

ABC Tours: www.abc-aruba.com

Las Vegas, NV in November 2007

2007-11-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhh.... Vegas Baby, Vegas!!! It wasn't too long ago that I was driving down The Strip thinking to myself "I gotta do this tour on foot" and sure enough opportunity came on knocking for this year's SEMA show. I quickly requested my last vacation from work, booked an award flight with Jet Blue and reached out to my California buddies for room to crash when I'm in town.

All this flying with Jet Blue paid off thanks to some award flights I accumulated. What better way to redeem it than on a Vegas flight. I've been checking various routes and the availability is great on Florida and Carribean routes but they are generally cheap when booked in advance, with Las Vegas and other West Coast destination availability is limited and typically the flights are expensive so I really lucked out to reserve the flights that I wanted. Got a chance to do a lay over in Southern California but was not let on a Salt Lake City flight I wanted to check out by going on stand-by. I got to buy my two year old cousin a little California stuffed bear at the airport to add to her collection, so far I've gotten them at every airport I've been to this year.

I got to give a lot of props to a lot of Internet folks that made my trip possible and more importantly less expensive. First and foremost I'd like to thank my buddy Ron from New Mexico for hooking me up with the SEMA passes. Ron unfortunately couldn't make the show himself and had his buddy Albert from Southern California give me the Exhibitor Pass which was really neat. Thanks to both of them! The lodging was generously provided by Chris from California the owner of www.ADTR.net. I've crashed at Chris's before and got a chance to hang out with his buddies but this was taken to another level. We stayed at the Wyndham Resort two blocks from the strip, close to the Las Vegas Convention Center for the SEMA show and close to everything else we wanted to do on the Strip. Hanging out with these guys was off the hook, we hit up a bunch of restaurants, casinos, strip joints, you name it. It was a blast.

Four days walking around the SEMA floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center really took its toll on my feet, they were killing me. I haven't exercised like this in a long long time. I got a chance to see a lot of different stuff I haven't come across before including some people I didn't think I'd ever meet in person. Steve Saleen walked past me by the cafeteria, Hulk Hogan and his son were signing autographs at the Nissan drift car booth, and there were a lot of hot looking models signing autographs on posters. I got a bunch of them signed for the contributors to my web sites, it was a good feeling to give something back.

I was supposed to pick up a rental car for the last three days in Vegas to do some sightseeing, but after my buddy Chris who was driving us around everywhere we went for the first few days got rear-ended by break checking some drunk in a casino parking lot I decided to not take any chances and cancel my reservation. I did end up getting the car for the very last day in order to get back to the airport and hit up the Las Vegas Motor Speedway one more time.

Although I wanted to walk the length of the Strip, after SEMA I just couldn't take another step that didn't lead towards something I could rest on, my feet were done! But we still ended up going to some great casinos. The most notable were MGM Grand where Chris's buddy Freddie got us into "TABU" lounge on Halloween night. We were dressed pretty casually, I didn't even bring any shoes with me other than the sneakers I was wearing but they let us in nonetheless and Freddie bought a few shots all around to get us going. On another night me and Freddie hit up the Venetian while everyone was gambling at Treasure Island. The eye candy walking around was outstanding, especially on a warm desert night. Afterwards Freddie again got us into "Seamless" strip club without any cover charge, that was a very entertaining night, especially for our buddy Chris. The last day in Vegas we hit Luxor to check out the Inclanaitor inside the pyramid and took the tram to Mandalay Bay for lunch at Raffles Cafe, the tres quesadilla's was outstanding as I rushed out the door to get to the speedway before catching a flight. I should also thank Big D, Nick's father and owner of Double D performance shop in California. He took us out on several occasions paying for dinners at Buca di Beppo's where Chris met his monster truck idol, and also at Margaritaville where Nick pulled a nice prank by dumping a double shot into Big D's margarita, it was great watching him get real drunk, real fast. All this mooching made me feel pretty bad about myself so I had to buy a round of fresh beer at Gordon Biersch one night. I'm not a big drinker but that stuff was outstanding, smooth and tasty.

Thanks to another buddy from New Jersey, JT or "Mango" as he's known on the Chrysler boards I got a free pass for the Richard Petty Driving Experience and a chance to go full speed in a stock car, NASCAR style. Of course after we had our last lunch at Mandalay Bay I was running super late and was afraid I'd miss my flight. I got to the speedway at 3pm... the flight was at 5pm and the line to the race cars was about 20 deep. I lucked out once again sweet talking some local ladies and they let me skip about five spots closer to the front of the line. The ride along was about 5 minutes total, but we hit 165mph average on the Oval doing three laps in all. Thanks again Mango for making this happen for me. I hit 100mph in my Mazda 3 rental from Enterprise, driving back on I15 South to MacCarran Airport.

I made the flight Okay, and before you know it was on the way to Long Beach, California. There I was planning to catch another flight on stand-by to Salt Lake City before heading to JFK but that didn't happen. Even though I had originally booked that route, Jet Blue bumped me off of it because they split the two flights and were now charging extra for passengers wanting to go on that route... since this was an award flight I didn't want to waste a penny on it. I ended up having dinner at the airport and doing a little shopping before boarding another plane and heading home. I arrived early in the morning, got on the NYC Subway and switched to a Jersey bound bus at Port Authority. It was a perfect trip!

Links:

Jet Blue: www.jetblue.com
ADTR: www.adtr.net
SEMA Show: www.sema.org
Seamless Club: www.seamlessclub.com
TABU Ultra Lounge: www.mgmgrand.com/nightlife/
MGM Grand: www.mgmgrand.com
The Venetian: www.venetian.com
Mandalay Bay: www.mandalaybay.com
Luxor: www.luxor.com
Gordon Biersch: www.gordonbiersch.com
Buca di Beppo: www.bucadibeppo.com
Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville: www.margaritaville.com

Chicago & Road America, WI October 2007

2007-10-28T17:55:00.000-05:00

This trip is the highlight of my entire year! I got a chance to do the ultimate test drive a vehicle manufacturer could offer, the SRT Track Experience at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Of course being addicted to travel I didn't want to fly into Wisconsin directly, no! Well, technically I would have but unfortunately Jet Blue doesn't fly there so Chicago O'Hare was the next best thing. This gave me an opportunitey to meet some Internet people from the message board and tour downtown Chicago for an extended period of time. I also went a little crazy and drove down to Indiana, just to take a picture of my face with the welcome sign. But its not as crazy as it sounds, the state line is only about 30 miles away and I took the scenic route following Lakeshore Drive all the way around the south part of Lake Michigan.

So as I mentioned Jet Blue got me to the fastest track in America. The ticket prices as I usually like to comment on were not anything to brag about, I've seen them at $36 bux when the route was first introduced. But at $69 bux each way and $50 credit for traveling to the Florida destinations I've written about before, it cost me just over $100 bux round trip, which is pretty amazing. Go Jet Blue!

This being a Chrysler/Mopar event required an appropriate rental car, so I asked my Enteprise customer rep to put me in a Dodge Charger. The guy behind the counter though was a dork. I don't mind being denied a request for an upgrade, but don't lie to me... right? So apparently I booked a Compact, I thought it was an Intermediate, but thinking back while I was put on a spot I realized my mistake, Chicago is an expensive city and I figured I'd go with the cheapest car which was still $25+ plus a day, about double what I paid in Florida. Enterprise has invited me to join their Enterprise Plus frequent traveler program and send me a voucher for a free upgrade so I tried to use it, but the dude wouldn't budge. I asked for the next best thing then and pointed to a Dodge Avenger, but he still told me it was several classes above an Intermediate which I'm now entitled to. I argued some more and the guy finally let me have it... Phewwww!

I drove around downtown Chicago for a few hours, looking for a place to have breakfast but more importantly taking in the sights. I was impressed with Michigan Avenue, especially the area around Chicago River and the draw bridges on it. I found Sears Tower by accident, drove down to the water and saw some of the Museums on Lakeshore Drive, went to Chinatown and Korea town, and then headed south.

After driving around in Indiana and Illinois I headed up to Wisconsin taking the scenic route again on US41/Shoreline Drive. It was great! But I burned way too much fuel. I booked again with Choice Motels and found an awesome rate in Milwaukee, where thanks to a current promo I was able to pay for one night and stay another night free. How great is that? Anyway, since Milwaukee was about 60 miles from Elkhart Lake where the SRT Track Experience was held, I'm pretty sure I paid the difference in gas money. But it was well worth it!

SRT Track Experience

The SRT Track Experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It normally costs $500 to drive (race really) or $60 bux to spectate but thanks to one of the contributors to my web site, JP from Michigan, I was able to enjoy it FREE of charge. Boy did I have fun!

The day started out with registration bright and early, followed by a quick breakfast and instructor introductions. The first module of the day was Autocross in the new Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. Keep in mind I've never even ridden in one of these before so before you know it I'm being told to flog on it as hard as I want while going around a cone laid parking lot. GREAT! My first lap was miserable, I plowed right though the first turn, slowed down way too much on the straightaway, knocked over a couple of cones at 2 seconds a penalty each, and basically took it easy. The other two laps were several seconds faster and I was starting to get the hang of it. I really lucked out because this Sunday there were only 10 drivers and about twice as many instructors so it was imperative that we all will get plenty of wheel time!

And we got a ton of it. The next challenge on the autocross track was group autocross, using a poor Jeep to race around the same track switching drivers all whiel being timed and going against the instructors. We surely thought we would loose especially after the first driver forgot to put the truck in park as he got out of it, but they let us win in the end and I got a nice labeled cone as a trophy to take home from the event.

The following module was advanced vehicle control on a bigger autocross track in an SRT-10 Dodge Viper! Yes, Dodge Viper... I got to drive both the Coupe and the Convertible as fast as I could, and even went sideways a few times while meshing on the gas pedal. It was insane... I got about a dozen laps on my own and took a crazy drive with our instructor John "Hammer" who was kind enough to spin out as I was recording the whole ride-along on my camera, it was a load of fun!

After lunch we went drag racing. Again, I got so much wheel time I was starting to get tired. Some people drove only once or twice and sat out the rest of the competition, but I was able to make it into the final four. I really made it into the final two but did something embarrasing (red-lit) so I don't wanna talk about it. Than again, I lost to a good competitor and the prize for winning is a free Petty track experience which consist of a ride along in a NASCAR stock car. Thanks to another contributor to my web site Mango from New Jersey I already have a pass for this thing, and will be taking advantage of it at the SEMA show on Las Vegas Speedway. Woo Hoo!

The final module of the day was balls to the wall racing on the four mile track... not just any track, but the famous Road America that is used by professionals in every type of racing from CART to NASCAR and everything inbetween. Once again I got a chance to push some SRT's to the limit. I think I drove every single car there, some even more than once, and most importantly I got a ride-along with an instructor in a beutiful SRT-10 Dodge Viper at full speed. I was bouncing around the car like a fool but it was sooooo awesome. Another vehicle that really took me by surprise was the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 which for a 4 wheel drive SUV turned out to be quite a racer. Even the instructors were commenting on how stabled and glued to the surface it was. On my own I went significantly slower than the instructors but still managed to open it up on some corners. I went slightly sideways over some rubber strips and got separated from the lead car which prompted me to push the pedal to the floor and before long I was doing 130mph in an SRT8 Dodge Charger with some Mopar intake/exhaust modifications. The SRT6 Crossfire was even more fun as it was the first car that day I hit over 120mph. Everything else I got to about 110 on the straightaway before braking to a near stop on a 90 degree corner, luckily the Brembo brakes did their job and nobody had any troubles keeping the cars on the track.

So that was my track experience! My very first time on the track, and I had a great time. Normally I would start wrapping this up, but my trip wasn't over yet. I had one more stop on my agenda before heading back to O'Hare.

Shifting gears from my Mopar hobby to my Ford obsession I got an opportunity to visit a great shop in Wisconsin that specializes in chopping the roofs off the new Ford GT supercars! Yes, chopping them right off. Genaddi Design Group has been represented on my web site for a few months now thanks to my buddy Rich from California who own's two Genaddi conversion, Ford GTX1 supercars, and it was great to meet everyone there in person.

The owner Mark Gerisch gave me a private tour, taking me around the facility, showing me all the prototypes in development, all the current conversions, and handing me random stuff to amaze me... For example, he handed me a huge rear wheel off of a new GT with one hand. I wasn't sure whether to brace myself or look foolish if I dropped it, but it was surprisingly light. Another crazy sight was two cars upside down with people working on their floor boards... one Mustang and one Corvette convertible, both getting the prototype floor strenghtening treatment that should be developed in the near future for mass production.

Well, after all this I hit the road for the airport. I was four hours away from Chicago in Green Bay and had no time to waste. My rental Dodge Avenger was reasonably good on fuel mileage but the gas was significantly more expensive than it is in the New Jersey and that kind of killed my budget. But I have no regrets. I was making good time and decided to get some lunch in Chicago before returning the car and found a great hole in a wall burger joint a few blocks from Wrigley Field. I gotta say I'm a big fan of Chicago right now. I like Green Bay as well, especially around Genaddi's offices which is just blocks away from Lambeau Field the home of Green Bay Packers. That whole area looked really cool, and I would love to go get dinner at Brad Favre's restaurant in the future.

Links:

SRT Track Experience: www.drivesrt.com
Genaddi Design Ford GTX1: www.gtx1.com

South Florida in September & October 2007

2007-10-28T16:24:00.000-05:00

South Florida has officially became an obsession for me. This time around I went solo and really wanted to get a chance to do everything I couldn't get out of the way when traveling with friends or family. I finally got a chance to see the Everglades in person. Took an airboat tour, and tasted some frog legs and alligator tails. The weather was a hit or miss but since both trips were a one day affair, it didn't matter much.

As usual, the flight there was aboard Jet Blue. Once again I got an incredible deal bringing the grand total after taxes to just over $100 bux roundtrip, and I don't care who you are that's cheap right there. Plus, as usual Jet Blue had some specials going on offering extra frequent flyer points and future savings that ultimately contributed to my future travels, on Jet Blue's dime.

The car rental of choice again was Enterprise. This time around I wasn't as lucky as I had previously gotten, and I got exactly the class that I booked online. The cars felt awfully small and I felt shortchanged, but apparently a Mitsubishi Lancer and Nissan Sentra are Intermediate vehicles in South Florida. Whatever! Both cars were rather thirsty but at least parking them was no problem since they were so small and nimble.

As mentioned above the first stop on the agenda in September was the Everglades National Park. I booked in advance at Gator Park, arrived in time for the last Gator Show and Airboat ride of the day and had a lot of fun. Actually I got there pretty early so I was able to get a plate of gator tails and frogs legs for the first time, which were very tasty, but somewhat expensive. It cost me the same for dinner as it did for the tour and show. I got to pet a live alligator though, and was amazed how soft their bellies are to the touch. The airboat ride was uneventful, we saw a few alligators slip into the water before we got closer so the boat driver decided to do some tricks and started drifting on the water. Most people aboard were freaking out as nobody wanted that damn thing to flip over. It was a great experience nonetheless, it amazes me how just half an hour from downtown Miami there is this completely different ecological setting with no palm trees but plenty of sawgress and other vegitaiton.

The rest of the time I spend on the beach in South Beach. The weather was incredible, and I got some good tan. The second trip down in October was a bit stormy on the first day. I mainly drove around looking for a good Cuban place to get a Cuban sandwich but regreted it as soon as I ate one, it wasn't as good as the local Cuban place I frequent in Jersey. I found my way to Calie Ocho the following day for lunch and that meal in Little Havana was much better. On the stormy day though I drove some more around Las Olas Boulevard and was amazed to see water overflowing onto the street from the canals. Once I got closer to the beach, Ft. Lauderdale Boulevard or A1A was full of tractors scooping sand up and throwing it back on the beach. The surf was so high that the waves were literally crashing right by the wall that separates the beach from the boulevard. Wow!

This time I stayed in Broward county both in Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale at Choice Motels which were pretty beat and cheapo looking. Of course for that price I wasn't expecting much more. But they had free parking and I was close to movie theaters as I got a chance to go see Bourne Ultimatum and Eastern Promises during each visit.
The highlight of the trip was my visit to Steeda Autosport in Pompano. I was hoping to start adding their cars to my registry but so far they're not returning my e-mails and all that excitement I went through a few months ago wore off pretty quickly. Either way, I think this would be my last trip to South Florida this year, and I miss it already.

Links:

Jet Blue: www.jetblue.com
Enterprise: www.enterprise.com
Choice Hotels: www.choicehotels.com
Gator Park: www.gatorpark.com

Oregon to Texas in September 2007

2007-09-09T21:09:00.000-05:00

I'm still getting over the monster West Coast Road Trip I just returned from, my second one this year. This time around there was a specific mission at hand and I have to say it was executed perfectly from planning to actual driving part. However 12 hour days behind the wheel at 80mph from dawn to dusk, and 800 to 900 miles covered through three to five states at a time, it was exhausting! Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and have really experienced a nice chunk of America. Speaking of it, I've always enjoyed Roger Johnson's "Welcome to America" web site where he posted some very useful information for my trips, the pictures of the welcome signs. And this year, his newest venture 50 States in 50 Days in May '07 really inspired me to make a little extra effort and take advantage of a rare opportunity to add some bragging rights under my belt. So here it goes...

Portland, OR

Naturally, every opportunity I get lately I go with Jet Blue and this trip was no exception. It was a logical choice really. The flight was much cheaper than a nearest competitor's fare, to the tune of $300 to $400 less. In fact, after booking the flight from JFK to PDX, the fare dropped significantly and Jet Blue is one of the only airlines willing and able to refund the difference into your frequent flier account, which was much appreciated as this road trip was certainly done on a budget. One bad thing about the flight was the fact that it arrived rather late at night, with only one flight between New York City and Portland, my day was shot, we got in at midnight and after picking up my vehicle I quickly made my way to the hotel to spend the night.

My choice of lodging was obviously the cheapest rate I could find, and with my 15% alumni discount the Choice Hotels option was quite obvious. I stayed at the Rodeway Inn on the outskirts of Portland right by the airport and just a few miles south of the Washington State border. This was no accident, I knew I had to leave on my journey early and the WA welcome sign was the first stop on my agenda. I headed Eastbound on I84 and for the next few hours enjoyed the beauty of Oregon and its pine covered mountains. Mt. Hood was definitely a permanent fixture for the early part of my trip, but since the highway follows the Columbia River Gorge the view es of Oregon were blocked by rather tall mountain on the right side of the highway, Washington State across the river was much better visible and it was impressive to see the change of scenery as I got closer to Idaho and the temperatures rose quickly.

I wasn't going to tell this story because its kind of embarrassing but I might as well. As I approached Idaho and its 104F dry heat temps, there was much construction along the highway, mainly on the bridges which I assume had something to do with the recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Anyway, as I got closer to the border I noticed the detour (the Westbound lanes of I84 used for Eastbound traffic) would take me right past the Idaho welcome sign, I decided to stop between the giant cones and back up the highway on the construction site, this being Labor Day I didn't think I would get in any one's way as the construction site was unmanned. Well, I backed up as far as I could and reached a five foot drop in the pavement where soft sand awaited concrete patches of highway to be layed in place at a later time. Naturally the rest of the way to the welcome sign was on foot. I was so excited that I walked right past it not even realizing it. The next sign was about a mile away so me walking in triple digit heat brought on the sweat rather quickly. And I felt like a total fool when I got to the sign and it read "Oregon Thanks You for the Visit, Come back soon" D'oh!

I was much more careful on the rest of the trip. The next stop was on the Utah border where I could have taken a much better picture of the Idaho sign on the other side of the highway without any walking at all, but who would of thunk it, huh? As I got out of the car to take a picture with the Utah sign the smell of crap hit me like a brick. I thought to myself, damn somebody ripped a big one, but as I looked just beyond the sign I saw a whole pasture of cows, a sight I was going to see throughout the rest of my trip many a times, and the movie about global warming came to mind how it claimed that cows produce much more CO2 in methane than other industrial inventions, I certainly agreed with that assertion because of their stench on the Utah border, lol

After about an hour drive looking at the same tall mountains in front of me, going over some big ridges, and basically trying to go around the bigger peaks, I approached my destination for the night.

Salt Lake City, UT

I arrived in Salt Lake City just before sun down. My plan before I embarked on this journey was to spend the night on a town, explore the sights, and just enjoy the visit while spending the night, but the reality of the matter was slightly different. After taking a shower and grabbing a bite to eat, I was too tired to do anything and promptly crashed at another Choice Hotel I was staying at. Of all the Econo Lodges on my trip this was the nicest one by far, but of course it was the most expensive one as well, so I guess you get what you paid for.

The most impressive thing about Salt Lake City was how tall the mountains were in the background. I thought the city had some impressive high rises, but against the mountains they were puny, it seemed like the peaks soared thousands of feet above the city and since I'll be taking a possible trip with a layover in SLC towards the end of the year I got slightly worried of what would happen in bad weather either landing or taking off in a plane.

The next morning I left bright and early and after hitting some traffic on the I15 and I80 interchange I was high up in those very same mountains I described above. It was neat to say the least. The distance to Wyoming was rather short and soon enough I was in yet another ecological setting. Stupidly enough I didn't get gas just before Salt Lake which was quite cheap for the area at $2.49/gal for regular, I was thinking it would get cheaper, but as the Low Fuel Light came on I was forced to fill up at $2.99/gal wasting a few bux unnecessarily.

I purposely missed my exit in Cheyenne, WY to go the extra few miles to the Nebraska border, after a quick turnaround I was heading south on I25 towards Denver, Colorado. At the Colo border I came across a family of cowboys taking a picture with the same welcome sign, it was pretty neat to see that... they were in an old pick up truck, all wearing boots, jeans, and cowboy hats... Howdy, ya'll!

Before I left on the trip I was planning to spend some time in Denver and visit with friends, but since I booked a hotel room in Kansas and was running out of daylight I decided to bypass the city entirely and took the loop directly to I70 which after a few more boring hours took me to Kansas.

One thing that pissed me off about Kansas was the hotel rate. I could understand spending $69 bux for a cheap motel room in South Beach, Florida but in a middle of a corn field, come on?!

Oakley, KS

The hotel was about another hour from the border and it had gotten really dark by the time I got there. No highway lights along the interstate in this state, just a bunch of stars shining with the moonlight, it was simple life at its best. Google Maps of course got me very lost getting to the hotel which wasn't exactly right off the highway. Before I knew it I was on a dirt country road in a middle of a corn field. I realized the mistake and turned around when out of nowhere some redneck came flying along in an old Pontiac with high beams on, which scared the crap out of me because for a moment he was heading right into my car!

Yet another Econo Lodge and a complete night and day difference from the last one. As soon as I stepped out of the car to go check in I got hit hard again with the stench of horse crap! Not that I mind, I grew up on a farm back in Ukraine but after 13 years in America I hadn't experienced it in a while and frankly it took me by surprise. About the biggest attraction of the town was a big bronze statue of Buffalo Bill that was all light up at night. The rest, reminded me a lot about Ukraine, with the rolling hills full of wheat fields, corn fields and sunflower fields... I remember getting fresh sunflower on my grandma's farm just after it opened up in the morning and eating the soft seeds. Fried ones were my favorite but I didn't have the patience to let the flower dry...

The biggest surprise of all though was Wichita. It really skeeve'd me out seeing a sewer in the middle of I35... I could understand the water drying up in the summer heat but the stench was bad and I couldn't wait to get out of there. Shortly after I was in Oklahoma. The biggest surprise there was Oklahoma City, it was the complete opposite to Wichita. The city was nice, as seen from the Interstate, and I was really impressed with the clean new buildings and all the businesses along the way, I was under the impression Oklahoma was poor, it certainly didn't come across as that on my drive by.

The final stop for the night was a few miles north of Dallas in Lewisville, Texas. I had to make an emergency trip to Wal Mart as my driver side wiper blade totally failed at doing its job, I drove into a few rainy clouds in the previous states where it was perfectly sunny throughout but for a 1 or 2 mile patch of the highway, it got dark and rained, but the sun was still visible all around. I didn't think I would be so lucky in Texas as it was about to go dark and I didn't want to lose my ability to see the roadway. If it had started storming which was forecast ed for the night I would have had to pull over and wait it out or crash.

Dallas, TX

Luckily it didn't rain and although I was just under 250 miles from my destination I decided to spend the last night at the hotel and relax because after two days of driving for 12 hours straight each day it was taking a toll on me and I really do enjoy driving.

So I hit the local Cracker Barrel for dinner in the same complex as the Lewisville Econo Lodge which was a recently re badged MicroInn, and totally sucked. I got so many bed bug bites from that place I will avoid it like a plague from now on. However the food was good and I was really craving some grits and gravy and I got plenty of it there.

One of the biggest worries of my trip was that the car wasn't going to make it. I did everything I could to make sure it does, checking the oil along the way and just taking it easy for the whole trip as well as driving during the day to avoid road debree but the last leg of the trip almost earned me a ride on the tow truck for the rest of the journey. I started out really early on my drive to Houston because I decided to go on an earlier flight, and about an hour into the drive just south of Dallas I almost got put into a divider by a tractor trailer whose rear tire decided to blow out at 70mph. I saw a big poof of smoke, slowed down and braced myself as the car went over a huge tire thread that landed right in front of me as the truck pulled off the road. I heard a loud thump and quickly checked the dummy gauges to see if I had punctured any engine vitals, but God was good and luckily the car cleared the impact no problem.

I got to the destination early. Got dropped off at Hobby International and before you know it I was aboard a Jet Blue jet bound for New York. Since I actually had a good half an hour to kill I visited my Texas tradition as it is becoming lately since I visit this chain every time I'm in town. Pappassito's restaurant really hit the spot with a big chicken quesadilla. A few hours later I was in the NYC Subway heading to the Port Authority Terminal in midtown Manhattan. Got home and crashed from exhaustion. What a trip! 2,550 miles in 3 days (2 extra days were spend on getting to and from the destination on the planes which doesn't really count)

Can't wait to do it again, although if I should be lucky enough to attempt this I would definitely take the southern route through California. For this particular trip it would have been 200 miles longer but driving closer to the sea level is probably a little easier and more relaxing.

New York City, NY in August 2007

2007-08-12T17:55:00.000-05:00

Seems like forever since I last traveled and as ironic as this trip to Manhattan was over the course of the past few days, it was still enough for me to feel like I got away from the mundane life I've been living, or rather working my ass off...

The occasion appropriatately enough was my buddy visiting from Albaquerque, New Mexico. I've always offered folks a tour of NYC on the forums and finally someone took me up on that offer I guess, but we certainly had a blast.

First order of business was of course to get his Charger SRT8 out of the trailer and line it up with the New York City skyline for some fantastic early evening shots. One of my favorite spots along the Hudson River is actually on the Jersey side, well there are two of them separated by about a thousand foot cliff drop. So there we were at the new Port Imperial Ferry terminal when the things didn't go as planned. Luckily Arthur's Landing Restaurant was in the same parking lot so we simply brushed the problems off and had a relaxing dinner in an outdoor patio right on the water overlooking midtown Manhattan.

The following day I was up bright and early on my way, fighting rush hour traffic of course, to the Holiday Inn in Fort Lee to take my friends on the tour of the big island of Manhattan. First order of business was to hit Fifth Avenue for some upscale shopping. I took the scenic route of course following Park Avenue from its start on the Harlem River Drive all the way down through the Met Life building. It was neat to show my buddy the different neighborhoods of NY, starting in Harlem following the side of the aboveground Subway all the way until it goes down under and changing the outlook of the city from the Projects into some of the most expensive real estate in the entire boro. Right as we were about to go through the Met Life building and drive over 42nd street we saw a new NYPD Charger cross the street in front of us, for a Mopar fan my friend was impressed.

After a lengthy walk down Fifth Ave and a quick stop at Tiffany and Co, we headed down to the Empire State building via Times Square and past Radio City Music Hall. My friends ran up while I circled around in my Explorer and after a short wait we were back on the road. My friends were very impressed with the views from the observation deck high atop the Empire State building. I still have to do it one day... Its amazing how much us locals take for granted, I think I find it easier to take a trip to Los Angeles than going to New York City right under my nose.

The next order of business was very important, it was dinner time and my Italian amigo had only one place in mind Little Italy! So we headed downtown and found our way on to Mulbery Street. The cobble stone streets were a nice authentic reminder of the place we got to although the pot holes and uneven pavement took us on a rollercoaster in the freaking capital city of the world, I think Mayor Bloomberg should spend a lot more money on road construction because that was pathetic.

After a short walk in the center of Little Italy we grabbed a table at Da Nico Ristorante. The food was fantastic although as usual it took some time before the main courses found their way to the table. But it was great to see some fresh off the boat weighters working the tables with a very distinct and authentic Italian accent. Very impressive, considering since I haven't dinned in Little Italy (even though I've driven through there about a dozen times in the past few years) since I was on a high school field trip back in 1996.

As day turned into night the last stop on our tour was to hit the World Trade Center site so my friend can pay his respects. Surely no trip to the WTC would be complete without a quick detour through the Financial District and I found my way through parts of Wall Street to show them a glimpse of the Exchange building which was blocked off to traffic, and a nice view of the ass of the Bull as we went back towards Battery Park for a quick glimpse of the Statue of Liberty in the distance. We spend some time at the World Trade Center and headed back to Jersey via the Lincoln Tunnel.

Anybody from this area would surely know that taking the George Washington Bridge would be the one and only way to reach Fort Lee, but I had another trick up my sleave. Immediately after coming out of the tunnel, I showed my friend the views of the opening scenes of the Sopranos and quickly turned down onto JFK Blvd to show them my other favorite spot overlooking NYC skyline, the Hamilton park atop the cliffs in Weehawken. The views were breathtaking as cheesy as it sounds, its true. We snapped some shots, enjoyed the views and headed back to Paramus for a quick stop at a local Dodge dealer where we just had to take a peak under the hood of a Top Banana Yellow Daytona Charger for informational purposes obviously...

The following day my buddy followed my instructions to find his way to the Liberty State Park in Jersey City for a ferry to the Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. I wanted to join him so bad but since I've taken so many vacations for travel before I had to cover other coworker's days off as she traveled to Mid America, go figure! Thats another place that I wish I would go to more often as I was on the Statue of Liberty last in 1996 on another high school trip. Although I am definitely one of the few civilians who can brag to have driven a vehicle onto the Ellis Island! Yep, its true, while the island is an island, obviously... there is an old military bridge that US Park Police use to get to the island where they have the command center for this National Monument.

Anyway, I should just follow my own preaching on the company web site and become a tourist for a day and explore the magnificent city right under my nose here instead of going thousands and thousands of miles away to Miami, Chicago or Las Vegas... although stay tuned there will be seven new flight segments coming up in the next two months.

Links:

NYC Visit
Statue of Liberty
Empire State Building
Little Italy
Chinatown
World Trade Center
Port Imperial Ferry
Arthur's Landing

Miami, Houston and Boston in June 2007

2007-06-30T21:56:00.000-05:00

Judging by the last few years of adventure I declare the month of June as my personal travel month of the year. This year I've accumulated quite a few frequent flier miles both from leisure and business travel one week after another.

Miami Beach, FL

Early this month I came across an offer I couldn't refuse. Jet Blue had some amazing sales for South Florida and instead of sitting at home and doing nothing on my mid-week off days I decided to go for a mini-vacation on the best place on earth: South Beach! The offer was so good I booked a flight for my sister as well... hey for $39 bux each way on an airline that has first class seating and entertainment throughout the plane, how can you go wrong. Not only that they even offered to take $50 bux off the next trip, hell I spend more on gas and parking getting to the airport than flying for two and a half short hours to our favorite vacation destination.

The savings continued upon arrival into Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International. My rent-a-car company of choice, Enterprise made another offer I couldn't refuse... a mere $15 bux a day for an Intermediate vehicle. Better yet I got a free upgrade to a full size Ford Five Hundred in beautiful red to cruise around, which I found to be very impressive.

If that doesn't sound like a dream vacation yet, listen to this... you won't believe the rate I got on a hotel room. While searching through a variety of Internet hotel booking agents I found a place right on Ocean Drive for 50% off the rate in the middle of the off season. Which means my classy hotel room smack in the middle of the Art Deco district between the world famous Colony and Clevelander right where its at cost a mere $50 for the night, all in! We stayed at the Starlite Hotel.

The short trip didn't go without a hitch. My sister really wanted to go Jet Skiing so $160 bux later we were having a blast right on the ocean as there is a beach rental right off 9th Avenue... however as soon as we got ashore half an hour later it started raining and we left Miami Beach for more weather friendly grounds visiting the Seminole Hard Rock resort casino in Hollywood. After a nice diner there we headed out to the movie theater to kill some more time and saw "Knocked Up" on the silver screen. I don't know about other folks who claim it was funnier than the "40 Year Old Virgin" I was laughing much more at the original. The following day was 100% beach day for us. I must have spend six to seven hours soaking in the warm Atlantic Ocean that was exceptionally quiet with hardly any waves. Unfortunately for me, thats precisely the time I got sun poisoning and for the next few days I would feel like dying from the pain and water blisters popping on my shoulders. I must have shed like 8 layers of skin before returning to my normal self. Moral of the story folks: always wear sun block!!!

Before I could even start feeling comfortable to go out in the sun again I was back on a flight to Florida to deliver a vehicle for a business partner... all the way to Texas.

Houston, TX

I have never been to Texas before so I jumped on the opportunity to do a 1200 mile drive as opportunities like these don't come at work often. My plan of course was to get a picture with all of the welcome signs to all the states I passed along the way, and there were quite a few. I purposely spend the night in some cheap Motel 6 in Pensacola, FL in order to get good light for the photo opps, and they came out perfect. The drive itself was totally uneventful, and I won't bore anyone with the particulars. I really wanted to do a drive through New Orleans but for the sake of getting to the destination sooner I left a visit to the Big Easy for a future adventure. I did however try some fried crawfish on my way, stopping pit-stop style at some place called Iowa in the middle of Louisiana. It was delish!
The flight back from Houston Hobby was great, I couldn't believe it was only scheduled to take 3 hours, but of course with weather delays both in Texas and most of the way along the coast to New York, it took much longer. However again I was impressed with Jet Blue... good thing they're going through all the publicity nit picking because I was able to get an amazing deal booking a flight even a week before the departure.

The last week of the month was dedicated to a major business trip I've been planning for months. This was the first time I was in downtown Boston even though I must have been to the state of Massachusetts nearly a dozen times.

Boston, MA

First opinion of Boston was a rather great impression. I took Jet Blue again with a bargain fare that dropped in price after I originally booked it which allowed me to call them up and ask for credit towards a future flight, they're very accomodating that way and its only one part of many that I like about this company thats why I would fly them exclusively if the destinations past and future allowed.

For this trip I didn't have to rent a car, for the short ten minute ride to the Seaport World Trade Center the company send a chauffeur in a brand new Cadillac DTS from Boston Coach. Unlike in the NYC area airports the driver stayed in a Limo designated area at the departure level which made for a very short walk considering I only travel with a carry on.

The business aspect of the trip went rather smoothly for the day and a half I was there, but most impressive was the tour I gave myself of the walk along the Boston Harbor towards Quincy Market which came highly recommended from my coworkers. Once I arrived limped there in nearly 100F and humid weather in the middle of the day wearing a monkey suit, I didn't really care for what it had to offer and after a short rest headed back to a place I saw along the walk called the Barking Crab. That was my final diner destination before catching a stand-by flight home to JFK in New York. Unfortunately for me the early flight I went on got delayed for quite some time and having used up all of the battery life of my laptop, without any cables to re-charge it... (I had to conserve space and that was one thing I thought I could live without on a two day trip) I sat at a corner of the terminal in Logan watching other planes land and take off. That nearly put me to sleep.

I must say from the whole trip only the ride back comes to mind as the least favorite experience. During the ten minute ride the driver was presentable, he was again in a brand spanking new Caddy livery vehicle that was absolutely spottless, but his attitude and the choise of conversation killed the ride. I still don't get why he had to bring up the crap he brought up on that ride, I should of just asked him for some quiet time and that would have been that.

One good thing that came out of this trip, I was asked to write an article for an upcomming issue of an industry publication so I can't wait to get started!

Cool places to grab a bite:

Le Tub, Hollywood, FL
Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Houston, TX
The Barking Crab, Boston, MA

Southern Maryland in May 2007

2007-05-31T15:05:00.000-05:00

What could be better than making crazy memories on Memorial Day? Nothing, thats for sure. Especially if you're friends with the Speedycop. This time around I was glad to get an invite for an event that I could actually attend because all previous years I found myself at work putting in boring hours while everyone else was having fun with their families, well no more!

There wasn't much planning involved leading up to this trip, I didn't even get a chance to get my car washed, but I figured after 256 miles drive through several Mid-Atlantic states it would get dirty anyway. So on Monday morning May 28th I headed down the Garden State Parkway to Brandywine, Maryland. I met up with my buddy Vin in Central Jersey and we hit the New Jersey Turnpike all the way down.

The drive was event-less, knock on wood. I was the lead car and we cruised at 80mph without bothering anyone along, and without being bothered ourselves by the police. We got to Jeff's house an hour and a half before we planned to do so, but the fun started that much earlier for us than everyone else...

The first thing me and Vin experienced was just how crazy the Speedycop really is. We jumped in his newly aquired (just for the event mind you) Jeep Cherokee, and hit the trails in his back yard at full speed. I almost lost my glasses on that ride, bouncing around the rear seat. We were going so fast, into so many different directions over no particular road, hitting tree stumps, loose gravel, ditches and mudd, it was the most fun I've had in years.

Once everyone showed up for the BBQ and after a few burgers, we started our paint ball games. The first two teams of 5 went out on the huge redneck back yard, we had two Jeep Cherokee's now (one older Jeep Wagoneer was bought just that morning from Jeff's neighbor just for the event) that were modified just for this battle which included removing all rear windows so that the gunners can shoot out of the back and started playing bumper cars with full size vehicles, it was insane. I drove one of the Jeeps the first game as the other four guys manned the windows, one sat next to me shooting out of the passenger window, two guys behind me shot out of each side window and the guy in the middle covered the back. It was incredible to say the least until of course I found myself going full speed into the ditch, that wasn't fun at all because as soon as the truck stalled we started taking fire and one of the paint balls splattered all over the back of my head. Another kid, one of my own crazy gunners, tried to fire forward and hit my driver side mirror splattering the front of my mask as well. It was nuts!

Besides the offroading, four wheeling, and smashing up junked cars, there was also a huge swing for some amazing pendulum fun, test driving other people's modified cars and catching up with old time friends and some new faces from the Washington D.C., Northern Virginia and Maryland area... the Beltway Bandits, many of whom wear a badge for a living in the District of Columbia.

The following day I went home via Reagan Regional airport dropping off one of Jeff's buddies. The drive there was awesome and I was very impressed with the George Washington Parkway that follows the Potomac River on the Virginia side, it reminds me a lot of the Palisades Interstate Parkway in New York and New Jersey. I went into downtown D.C. to do a little sightseeing, but decided to head home as the traffic the day after Memorial Day was supposed to be real bad, sure enough it really was. I did get to see Marine 1 on the front lawn of the White House with the propeller on, I think GW was heading to New York City metropolitan area too, but his travel time was far shorter.

It took me nearly twice as much time to get home as it did to get down there, but it was cool nonetheless. The trip also almost paid for itself because I bought my dad some smokes at nearly half of what he spends locally so everyone was happy. I got to do this more often. The last time I think I was at Jeff's house is when I did a ride along with him in Washington D.C.

Be sure to check out video's from the event on YouTube:

- The video of me taking fire as I'm shooting.
- Vin's video of the Jeff Paint Ball Game

And check out Jeff's web site at: www.Speedycop.com