We're here for the bears

So... My wife and I have been to NM, MT (3 times), ME, VT, NH, AK and live near (30 miles) from where bears have reportedly been spotted... We've not seen a single ONE! We even went to the zoo near the southern mountains of NM and didn't see the bear in it's cage... Argh!  Needless to say, our contention is, 'There ARE no bears!'  Except this one in Skagway...

Wanna a bite? No? You must be stuffed... 

  It's been a while since my last post and, I'm sorry, but I hope you've enjoyed your stay in Seattle, awaiting the continuation of the trip to Alaska and back.  I know WE enjoyed it!  Here now is the rest  of the story... (Thanks Paul Harvey)

Incessant drizzle ... NOT!

  Seattle is a city who's climate borders the classification of 'temperate rain forest'. We were there in a window of time where the precipitation was nil for the duration, the sun was shining and Mt Rainier was visible from the Space Needle!     Not typical.  Our cruise ship was also visible to the NW, at the dock, anxiously awaiting our arrival.

View South from the observation deck of the Space Needle.
Mt. Rainier is still a BIG white cap in July! Way cool!

Seat backs and Tray tables

  Where were we?   Right!   En-route from PVD to SEA via EWR... (Providence to Seattle via Newark)... Newark???  That leaves a LONNNGGG flight to Seattle...  ... Did you know that NEW is the identifier for one of the airports in N'Awlins?  Profound, I know. I thought it might be for a more famous 'New', like New York, maybe.  Curious about why airports have the identifiers they do? Click here...yeah, here :)

The window seat  :)  Headed West, looking North
Late afternoon on ascent... uh, descent... hmm...
This first leg is so short, I'm certain we never really leveled off...

NYC ... Beauty in Concrete and Marble, Part 2

  West 56th St.  Home of Joe G's Italian ristorante.  Some reviews hold it's a mediocre place to dine... For us?  A great little basement eatery with comfortable seating, small menu, good food and great service.  It's become a tradition for us to eat there every time we visit the City overnight.  We get off the train at Grand Central Terminal, walk 15 minutes to our modest timeshare at the Manhattan Club(drop an email if you want more info on this), check in, drop our bags in our quaint Metro Suite and mosey west to Joe G's between 7th and 8th avenues.  If they have the artichoke appetizer as a special, GET IT!  Also order the tomato, basil and buffalo mozzarella with balsamic!
 

View North from the Top of the Rock. Though we've been here,  I borrowed the pic from 

Pam Skillings; former About.com guide.  Thank you Pam!  God bless you

 and your growing family and business!

NYC ... Beauty in Concrete and Marble, Part 1

  Now, I know many are reluctant to leave the world with which they're comfortable, travel to distant lands and observe the folks who live there... maybe even (yikes!) interact with the locals!
  It is scary to think that we might not understand signage,

 misinterpret gestures... fail to grasp the message yelled at us from a behind-schedule city bus driver...
  So, THIS guy        ------------->
He actually knows the language, but, as we can see, the words are blurry...  Understood.

What road are you walking down?

"There will always be a part, and always a very large part of every community, that have no care but for themselves, and whose care for themselves reaches little further than impatience of immediate pain, and eagerness for the nearest good."   Samuel Johnson

Montana at Christmas; and the Elk are amazing

One of the last things I remember was singing 'Play me Some Mountain Music'.

That was New Years Eve 2004.  The end of our week in Montana.  I drank a lot that night.  I'd like to say it was the last time, but it took 5 more years of binge and solitary drinking before I finally hit my bottom, got on my knees and asked God for help.  Been sober since.  Awesome God!

I left off with Christmas stockings last time...  We landed in Kalispell, MT on Christmas Eve.  'Close to midnight' is a time of day we would generally arrive at our destination for every trip we took for the next 8 years!  A tradition I hope we keep!  Here's why:

Step two... Part two

     As this post is mine...I reserve the right to digress on this post from my normal soliloquy...    

Step two to learning to travel like a pro

     Our tour of Italy would NOT have been complete without our Italian tour guide, Elisabetta and our tour bus driver, Biagio.  Biagio didn't say a word the entire two weeks.  Elisabetta spoke plenty for both of them. Each morning after breakfast, we 36 Tourists boarded the bus and waited for number 37... My lovely bride.

step one to learning how to travel like a pro

     On our honeymoon, my wife and I decided to go to Italy.  So, we stopped at the local travel brick and mortar establishment and chatted with a very knowledgeable woman about our plan.  Our plan consisted of one thing... Go to Italy!