Back in August, we went to the NJ State Fair (it'll always be the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show for me) for the first time in a few years.  It was awesome.  It's been exactly the same for as long as I can remember.  But now that I'm old, I kind of like it. 


#travel

There are a lot of signs on the road that say "Speed checked by radar".  I understand this.  There's a rule, and in order to enforce the rule, police officers use radar.  But my question is, when is this fact not true?  In other words, are there roads where the speed limit isn't checked by radar?  Or is there some other sort of magical device that's used to measure speed besides a radar gun?  If speed is always checked by radar, there's really no need for the sign any more than there's a need for a sign that says, "Continue moving forward". #travel

I'll never trust a woman with a pickup truck.  SUVs are fine.  Cars, minivans, motorcycles even.  But a pickup truck?  There's just something wrong with that. #travel

As with any major trip I take, here's my review and commentary of the recent trip to Chicago: 

Chicago's public transportation system is pretty good, albeit a little confusing.  I'm not sure if it was confusing because I'm a notoriously bad map-reader, or if it's because the idea of a central loop means that sometimes you have to travel north in order to go south, and vice versa.  And there were a few curiously designed maps, including one that showed a train line whose northernmost point was at the bottom of the map.  Speaking of maps, the city should consider making one universal map with all major tourist landmarks, all bus routes, all train routes, and anything else that might seem important, rather than handing out one map for each of those things.  One thing that was a no-brainer was the $14 all-you-can-travel three-day transportation pass.  NYC has a similar thing, but I think it's only good for one day, so there's always the thought of how many times you'd need to ride the subway to make it worthwhile.  Chicago's pass was good for trains and buses, and it was easy to figure out that it would be a worthwhile weekend investment. 

One thing that was recommended to us by a friend was the CityPass, or another similar product called the Go Chicago Card, which are both simply a set of discounted tickets all rolled up into one (big) price.  They make a ton of sense if you plan on going to several of the typical tourist attractions like buildings, zoos, museums, etc.  However, they only make sense if you actually go to about 5 or 6 major attractions, which, for a three-day weekend, isn't all that practical.  How many different museums can you go to in a single day?  And why go to museums in the first place?  A museum in NYC is pretty much the same as a museum in Chicago.  Another downside was that almost all the tourist attractions closed at 5pm, which wasn't horrible, but just meant that there was a somewhat narrow window in which to squeeze an entire day's activities.  However, the one benefit that made the card worth the price was the privilege of cutting to the front of a line of about 50-75 people waiting to go to the top of the Sears Tower.  That was awesome. 

One of the coolest things we did was an architectural boat tour, not because I'm particularly fond of architecture, but because it was a cool tour of the city from the unique vantage point of a riverboat.  And since not every building was built on the same day, it was a history tour too.  It was cool hearing about the rise and fall of certain industries in the city, and it was sad to see the most recent addition of the obnoxiously phallic Trump Tower.  What a pig. 

The other cool thing we did was go to the Butterfly Haven at the Nature Museum, which was a room full of butterflies from around the world.  I don't know how to explain it.  It was just cool. 

Finally, we were pleased to find out when we reached the city that the Air and Water Show was taking place the whole weekend, which meant screaming jets were flying over our head all afternoon.  Apparently the residents aren't too pleased with this annual festival, but there were plenty of onlookers and lots of loud air vehicles. 

All in all, a good trip.  The only thing I would've done differently would be to plan a little downtime.  We must've walked 15-20 miles all weekend (despite all the public transportation), and we got home late on Sunday night.  It took a few days to feel normal again. #travel

Wendy and I celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary by spending the weekend in Chicago.  We'd both been there before, but neither of us had really toured around much, and our anniversary seemed like a good time to do so.  We flew in on Friday and left on Sunday, and aside from a little rain on Sunday ($0.99 ponchos to the rescue!) we had an excellent weekend.  Here's a brief rundown of what we did: 

Friday - Flew in.  Got a train to the hotel.  Ate dinner at Karyn's Cooked (a vegan restaurant -- more on this later).  Walked around Navy Pier. 

Saturday - Walked around a bit.  Went to the top of the John Hancock Observatory.  Took an architectural boat tour.  Saw butterflies at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.  Got scared to death by the Chicago Air and Water Show.  Walked around the Lincoln Park Zoo.  Ate dinner at the Rock Bottom Brewery.  Walked around Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. 

Sunday - Went to the Field Museum.  Walked around the Shedd Aquarium.  Checked out the Bean.  Strolled through the Art Institute of Chicago.  Went to the top of the Sears Tower.  Hopped a train to the airport.  Flew home. 

Pictures: more »

Railroad near Salton Sea, CA #travel

Every time I see one of those road signs that says "Speed Enforced By Aircraft," I picture a fighter jet chasing down a speeding car and firing some missiles.  Enforcement involves force, as the word implies.  The signs would be much more accurate if they instead said "Speed Monitored By Aircraft." #travel

This past Friday morning, I was with Wendy, sitting on the front step of a friend's house, waiting for them to come home so we could start the weekend's festivities.  Thankfully this friend was late, because as we sat there, I noticed my tire was low on air.  We drove to a nearby gas station and filled up the semi-flat tire, at which point I could actually hear the tire hissing.  We drove to the nearest deli to get some lunch -- because let's face it, nothing is worth doing on an empty stomach -- and by that point my tire was completely flat.  I've never changed a flat tire before, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to learn how.  We weren't in a rush to get somewhere, we were parked in a safe parking lot, the weather was clear, and there was a deli nearby.  Wendy had changed a few tires in her day, but I asked her to let me do it from beginning to end so I could learn.  She found my owner's manual and guided me through the relatively simple process, and 20 minutes later, we were on our way with my full-sized spare.  Mission accomplished. 

Two things of note: 

1. Why don't all cars come with a full-sized spare?  I mean what expense are we really saving by carrying around a stupid little donut?
2. Changing a flat tire is something that should be taught in driver's ed in high school, as well as jump-starting a dead battery.  These are two activities that 98% of car drivers are likely to face at some point in their lives, and it's something that can be easily taught in a hands-on, practical way.  Instead, we read it in a book.

#travel

I don't know what the problem is with the people who came up with the names/numbers for the roads in New York state.  In the north Catskills, there are Routes 23, 23A, 23B, and 23C, all of which travel in varying directions, sometimes running parallel to one another, sometimes perpendicular.  Nearby is Route 9W which, contrary to the convention used by every other road in every other town in every other state in the entire country (if not the world), employs the "W" not as a directional indicator but simply as an arbitrary letter to differentiate it from Route 9.  (Oh, and it goes north-south, which I suppose makes it easier.  I can kind of understand going on 9W South.  My brain would melt if I had to go on 9W East.)  Here's an idea:  Use a different number.  Surely there aren't 999 numbered roads in New York and they simply ran out of numbers.  If so, there are 9000 other 4-digit possibilities.  Pick one. #travel

Hey New Jersey highway engineers, who the hell designed the exit from 287N to 80E?  Hey, let's go 75 mph, slow down to zero, then speed back up to 75 while driving behind slow trucks and trying to merge with traffic traveling the speed of light.  Apparently they're gonna fix it soon.  Soon as in 2011. #travel