Ben's Travel Adventures

Supporting the Economies of Comcate Clients

Spent the night in Kearney, Nebraska. Always fun to support the local economies of Comcate cities.

Upping Your Cultural Institutions Per Capita

Driving through Iowa and Nebraska I've seen many weird museum signs off the freeway. "The African-American Museum" or the "Dutch Immigrant Museum". Dozens like these -- totally random and general.

I have no idea what these museums are like but I suspect they are attempts by the state to increase the museums-per-capita ranking.

Wisconsin Cheese

Having seen many TV ads for "Real California Cheese" growing up, being in Wisconsin and seeing signs for cheese is making me a little uncomfortable.

National Constitution Center in Philly

I enjoyed visiting the most historic square mile in America in Philadelphia. National Constitutional Center really fired me up. First photo below is me with a bust of Ben Franklin.

First Thing a New Orleans Local Tells Me Upon Arriving

"Carry your wallet in your front pocket, say no to hookers, and have a great time."

Quote of the Day

"Here's what you should do in Philly: Eat a cheese-steak sandwich, experience the horrible weather, and then get the hell out of here."

- A Philly native to me.

Delays at Airport Bring People Together

Within five minutes of walking into the Dallas airport I had already gotten in a small disagreement with another person over who was first in line.

I vowed to keep my cool on my next leg.

So when my Raleigh to Philly flight was delayed, I kept calm and waited patiently. Delayed for an hour. Then another hour. Then another hour. 6 hours later, our flight took off.

While I was waiting patiently, most everyone else on my flight shouted and screamed and got transferred onto other, earlier flights.

Learned my lesson. If you want to get your way at the airport, you need to be a monster.

The only good thing to come from my long delay was -- for those of us who waited out the delays -- all racial and age divisions melted away and we all shared our travel war stories. We literally went around the room and talked about how long we'd been in the airport, how the hotel messed up a reservation, how many hours we'd driven in a rental car, etc. I, of course, couldn't stop laughing.

Common goals bring together uncommon people.

Marissa Mayer's Laugh in King of Prussia, PA

At Burger King in King of Prussia, PA (just outside Philly). College age girls sitting next to me. One of them has exactly the same laugh as Marissa Mayer. Drove me nuts.

I'm sure they're related.

Research Triangle Park

Three excellent schools (UNC, Duke, NC State), friendly folk, and plenty of high tech / business infrastructure make RTP another great little ecosystem in America.

Welcome to Raleigh, N.C.

Had dinner in the tobacco district of Raleigh. This sign loomed large:

Uniquely Texas

Streetlights are horizontal, not vertical. That is, green / yellow / red are on a horizontal axis.

They call sneakers "tennis shoes".

BBQ Texas Style

Just had the biggest full rack of ribs I've ever eaten / seen in my life. Photographic evidence (from cameraphone) below.

Gravy and Biscuits in the Breakfast Buffett in Ozona, TX

No wonder Americans are so fat.

Quick Video from the Car - Leaving Monticello, UT

I took a 20 sec video clip of driving in Utah. Gives you a nice road trip feel.

Time Zone Madness

If the entire country of China can be on one time zone, why must America have so many?

First I went from Colorado mountain time to Arizona daylight savings time (ie, Pacific Time this time of year). Then from Arizona to New Mexico zone, back to Mountain. Then New Mexico to El Paso, TX, which is still on Mountain, even though the rest of Texas is on Central.

My morning itinerary sent by people helping me with communications and logistics had Central Time on it, rationally thinking that all of Texas would be on one zone.

I'm still trying to deal with calendar entries -- I'm adopted one of the Business Rules of Thumb and put the time zone in the TITLE of my calendar entry. I can no longer rely on the times on my calendar since my time zones have changed so much.

Mexican Food Overload

The breakfast buffet this morning in El Paso included nachos.

What a difference from my international travel -- most Americans crave good Mexican food when in Europe or Asia. I certainly did. Now, in El Paso, I'm on a hunt for something green and leafy.

Unfortunately, all I find is beans, rice, and queso. So I shoved more of that stuff down my mouth for dinner tonight. And yes, I'm "feeling it".

El Paso, TX = Mexico

Why not just zone this city in Mexico? Spanish rules the town, the border is a stone's throw away (the taxi cab company is called "Border Taxi Co") and the restaurants seem mostly Mexican.

To fulfill what I feel is asked of me, I ate at a Mexican restaurant for dinner and had tasty queso.

Then I rolled an "n" to prove to my waiter I knew some Spanish.

Don't Mess With Texas

This may sound wrong, but I feel naked without a trusty firearm by my side here in Texas.

Nomenclature of Different Regions

Apparently in Tucson, Arizona they say "hun" and "sweetie" in professional environments. Women to women or women to men. I've heard it three times already (once to me).

I thought that only existed in the South.

First IMAX Experience

I watched the most-watched IMAX film ever -- "Secrets of the Grand Canyon" -- and came away very impressed. Massive screen. Outstanding photography. Good sound work. It almost felt like I was in a virtual reality machine.

I want to see more IMAX movies.

Japanese Tourists - Always Comforting

There's something oddly reassuring about seeing Japanese tourists again, now that I'm back on the travel circuit. They are so intense in their tourism and so diligent in their photography and videotaping.

Seeing the big bus of Japanese tourists at the Grand Canyon reminded me of seeing a similar bus in Geneva at the Red Cross museum.

I love them.

The Grand Canyon

  Distant Shower 
  Originally uploaded by wmchu.

It challenges and then defies any attempt to capture its greatness. I'm blown away. I didn't do the skywalk, no, but still got to soak it up from the Rim Trail.