Archive for July, 2008

Today got off to an interesting start as the alarms (note: 3 different alarms) meant to wake Nate or myself up failed to go off, or were inaudible, or something.  Needless to say, 8 minutes after a text from Molly (the text noise woke us up!?) we were downstairs in the lobby ready to catch a cab.  We ended up in 2 different cabs, with Nate taking one on his own.  I took my best guess at where to get dropped off near the finish line in Central Park since we had all of our personal belongings with us (lots of large, heavy bags and suitcases), and I actually had a pretty good guess.  The only problem is that the street we took into the park didn’t actually connect with any part of the park.  We ended up cutting all the way across the park East to West just to go back East again.  It was a painful, slightly humiliating experience (Side note: Molly is a trooper).

The finish line was fun, and definitely made me lust after some bikes.  I miss having one around and will be working on trying to get one on the tour with me.  I think the nicest bike I saw (even in spite of the numerous Zipp wheels, Cervelos, etc) had to be this one:

After the expo finished, we headed over to the Crocs flagship store a few blocks west of the park.  They have a really nice selection.  I bought myself a pair of the men’s Santa Cruz model.

After we returned to the trucks, Nate and I parted ways with Molly and we headed back to Nate’s aunt and uncle’s house for dinner.  They had a wonderfully refreshing pool that I swam in for a while, and then dinner was extremely tasty.  They gave me some good suggestions for what to check out along the Connecticut coast tomorrow, so I booked a hotel in New London, CT and headed out at 8PM expecting to get to my destination around 11PM in time to catch up a bit on sleep after a long weekend.

Here’s where things got a little interesting.  I thought getting into Manhattan through the Lincon Tunnel was bad traffic-wise (though I expected some delay on a Thursday afternoon), but the traffic on the George Washington Bridge into Northern New York City was absolutely horrendous at 9PM on a Sunday night.  I spent 3 hours sitting in standstill traffic before finally crossing the bridge.

The entire drive took about 6 hours, and I just recently got to my hotel (note the time stamp – Pacific Time) at about 2:15 AM.  Red Bull was my friend along the way, as was loud music.  Note to self: avoid the George Washington Bridge in the future.  The only problem with that idea is that the main traffic veins between New England and the rest of the U.S. run right through New York, and going around that area can add hours onto a drive (though apparently going through that area does the same thing).

Tomorrow I’ll be sleeping in a bit (I got the hotel to give me a late checkout for free) and then checking out a couple spots along the coast (Mystic, CT and Newport, MA are two likely stops) before trying to get to the suburbs of Boston tomorrow night.

Overall, a good day.  I’m just exhausted.

Well needless to say, I now have an iPhone after looking for a week in 5 different states. I suppose it’s fitting I got up at 4:15 in the morning Friday to wait in line at the flagship Apple store in Manhattan. Theirs seems to be one of the only ones around where you can actually consistently find an iPhone. After waiting for three hours, I finally got mine and I walked across the street to explore Central Park a bit and set up the phone more. We started the expo at noon and finished up at 8. It was a fairly slow day at the expo, but I got to wander around a bit during lunch to check out the food options. After the expo, we met up with Alex Kniess from Eugene who is currently working for an ad agency here as a new business intern. We had some Mexican food at a seemingly popular place (I would guess pretty much everywhere in Manhattan is popular on a Friday night) and parted ways. I’ll have to run into him again in Eugene to catch up on how the rest of the internship goes. After that, Molly and I decided to go out for a bit to meet a couple of her friends. We got to see a tiny piece of the New York bar scene, which really just seems loud and packed with people. I’m sure there are great places to get a drink, but we didn’t find them.

Today we took a cab to the expo which started at 10 and lasted until 6. The expo was busier today but still not quite what we were expecting or hoping for. For lunch,I went on a tour of food stands. I got a sausage, a pretzel, and a gyro. At about 5, Nate and I went to go get the trucks and managed to be the first people into the hotel dock space. We managed to get loaded up pretty quickly and drove over to Central Park to unload at the finish line of tomorrow’s triathlon. I saw a lot of really nice, expensive bikes at the expo, so it’s too bad the transition isn’t near the finish, because it would be enjoyable to be able to see those bikes getting ridden.

We finished our set-up and headed back to our hotel and then got a bite to eat at the same pizza place as Thursday night. Tomorrow we have to be at the finish line early, and about as soon as we’re done with the finish line event, we’ll be driving out of the city. I’ll be heading back to New Jersey to drop Nate off for a vacation week he’s taking, and Molly is headed North to see family. After I drop Nate off, my options are very open… almost too much so. I don’t know what to do with myself, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty of fun exploring this upcoming week before our event in Massachusetts next weekend. Possibilities include Providence, Rhode Island, Webster MA, and Boston (very likely at some point) or maybe somewhere inbetween for some biking or hiking.

The time in New York has gone pretty quickly, and it’s been pretty much non-stop action since we got into the city. It’s been a good way to experience what this city is all about. The only downside is that we haven’t had a lot of time for more touristy activities or shows. It’s a good thing we get to come back again during the tour, because I want to spend some more time here.

Other interesting highlights of the last two days include watching a truck back into a parked Mercedes seemingly knowing it was in the way, plenty of cab rides that are certainly hazardous to one’s health, a couple of drives through Times Square, and having an elevated heart rate as a result of thinking Molly’s hand got in the middle of a collision between a cab door and a large truck (the cab door didn’t come out of it looking very good) (Molly’s hand was fine).

Quite a city.

Today got off to a slow start with a workout, some breakfast, and reading/catching up online in the park in Princeton. I was thinking about showing off with some cool bicycle stunts, but there was a sign that forbade it.

After that, we drove north to meet up with Nate before beginning the adventure that was driving into Manhattan. We left the place he was staying at 4PM anticipating hitting some (lots) of traffic heading into the city. We timed it pretty well, because it took about that long to go 50 miles. The last 7 miles took an hour and a half, with much of that waiting in standstill traffic heading into the Lincoln tunnel.

Driving in New York City is, well, interesting. Especially when you’re driving a large truck. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The major disadvantage is that you’re big and can’t maneuver particularly well. The major advantage is that you’re big and people have to pay attention to you. Regardless, the driving style required of a New York driver is moderately aggressive and very confident. I fit the truck through some holes in traffic that really shouldn’t have been big enough to fit through. I also learned how to change lanes simply by turning the front end of the truck into the next lane to block cars behind me in that lane. It sounds rather rude, but is apparently standard practice.

After a fairly uneventful load-in to the expo, we spent a while driving trying to find a place to park the trucks before we eventually ended up at a place for $80/night per truck.

We took a taxi to the hotel and ate some pizza and now it’s time for some sleep. Tomorrow morning I’m going to get up around 4 and head to the famous glass cube Apple store to hopefully finally get myself an iPhone. I’ve been able to confirm that the store has an almost continuous supply of phones, but it sounds like there’s a 3-4 hour wait to get one regardless of the time of day. I have to be at the expo at 11, so I’m planning on getting there around 5AM to make sure I can get one with time to spare. Wish me luck.

Today got off to an early start with plans to find an iPhone near Philedelphia.  The good news is that I actually managed to find a place that had phones.  The bad news is that we got there far too late to have a chance at getting one.  The next part of the day was spent looking for a truck wash to make our truck all nice and shiny before driving into New York City, since it’ll basically be a billboard on wheels for a couple days.  This took far too long.  The first address we plugged in to the GPS didn’t exist where it was supposed to, and when we called them we found out that their truck wash wasn’t even working.  At this point we drove into new Jersey hoping to find a truck wash there, and eventually we did, but it was after nearly 4 hours of searching for one.

After getting the truck cleaned, we decided to spend the rest of the day in Princeton.  We checked out campus with its beautiful architecture and the main shopping district.  

We stumbled upon Hoagie Haven, which was an amazing find.  You can get a $6 hoagie that has to be 15-16 inches long.  It helped that I was starving.  We went to check into the hotel before walking back to the downtown area for some tasty gelato and a light dinner.  Tomorrow will likely bring an epic adventure, with potentially non-stop days in New York City now through the end of our event on Sunday.  I’m expecting it will be some long days and high intensity work but also fun at the same time.

Today we had a lazy start to the day that consisted of breakfast and finishing reports from the last event. After that, we drove a couple miles back to Jim Thorpe, PA where we rented mountain bikes and checked out a trail that headed up to an overlook on the area. It was a really fun ride with some nice trails and a bit of singletrack that renewed my confidence in my ability to ride a mountain bike.

We got to the overlook point, and it was definitely a nice view.

From there, the trail went straight down the side of the hill along the path of an old tram line. This was probably about a 30 percent grade with lots of rocks, ruts, and old railroad ties. I decided to ride down it anyway, and managed to make it down without incident. Overall, very enjoyable. After a work conference call and some tasty late afternoon lunch/early dinner, we headed south to Allentown, PA hoping that come 9PM we’d find out that the city’s Apple store would have iPhones tomorrow morning. However, this is not the case. There appear to be some phones available at the Apple store in King of Prussia just north of Philedephia, so the plan for tomorrow is to head there early, get an iPhone (I have my fingers crossed), go to a truck wash to clean up our truck prior to heading to New York, and if we have time we’ll stop by the Deleware River National Recreation Area in the afternoon and possibly do some hiking. It’s really kind of nice to have everything so close. From where we’re at now, we could easily be in 10 different states within a matter of hours.

Today Molly and I parted ways with Nate who is headed to New Jersey to see some friends. We’re going to meander for a couple days through Pennsylvania before eventually meeting up in New York. We set out early from our hotel near Toledo, Ohio and decided to cut north towards Lake Erie and check out the scenic route a bit. We went through Port Clinton and Sandusky, and despite Joey’s urgings decided not to go to the Cedar Point Amusement Park. We headed back Southeast towards Cleveland, where the plan was to check out some AT&T stores to see if I could find an iPhone. I had previously picked out 8 different stores to try, but quickly abandoned that plan when the first store that I showed up at told me there weren’t any iPhones left in Cleveland, and she was pretty sure that was the same for the entire state. I called ahead to numerous other stores along I-80 into Pennsylvania, and my luck there was no better. Oh well. The wait will only make it more gratifying when I finally do get one.

After a long, flat stretch in Ohio, we hit the Pennsylvania border and I was immediately much more into the countryside. Pennsylvania also seems much more tourist friendly, with an information center providing brochures of all shapes and sizes. They even have road signs alerting you to the fact that there are vending machines at the rest stops. The rolling hills heading into the Appalachians are really pretty, and occasionally the view reminded me a bit of driving between Delta and Fairbanks in Alaska.

We noticed the little snack shacks serving ice cream and burgers all along the drive in the morning, so it was only fitting that we ended up at one for dinner. The food was pretty decent, and the ice cream (I went for something called death by chocolate) was huge – I didn’t even finish mine, which NEVER happens.

We’ve made plans to rent mountain bikes in Jim Jim Thorpe, PA tomorrow and we’re going to go ride a trail into a gorge, which sounds like fun. I’m just going to enjoy being on a bike again. We drove the backroads through that area on the way to our hotel, and it’s an area that begs to be explored. We’re right in the midst of the Pocono Mountains, and while these aren’t quite the type of mountains I’m used to, they’re spectacular in their own way.

Today got off to an early start. We were at the race setup around 5:30 and spent the morning manning the Crocs tent right near the finish line. Over 4,000 women participated in the triathlon, and it was fun to partake in the festivities.

After packing up, we hit the road headed towards a final destination of Toledo, Ohio. Of note on the way was watching a semi pass a Corvette. We’re staying in the Toledo area tonight and will be hitting the road early tomorrow. Nate is heading on to see friends in New Jersey, and Molly and I are probably going to see where the road takes us tomorrow (though the current plan is to stumble upon an AT&T store so I can purchase an iPhone). The ultimate destination for this upcoming weekend is the Nautica Triathlon in New York City.

Today we got up and headed to the expo. The expo was pretty standard, with all the women participating in the triathlon tomorrow coming in to pick up their race packets and check out sponsor booths. We sell Crocs at our booth, but our main job at the expo besides set-up and take-down is doing the marketing aspects, including giving away free stuff, having people fill out surveys, and generally promoting Crocs as a recovery shoe. Here’s a poor quality cell phone picture to give you an idea of the layout.

After the expo finished, we had to break down the entire booth area and reload the trucks to drive around the other side of the building to set up our finish line tent, where tomorrow we’ll have a presence on race day. We provide foot ice baths, self-massage sticks, sell shoes, and continue to promote Crocs for recovery.

After finishing the set-up this afternoon, we headed over to Mars Cheese Castle, which featured a huge array of cheeses, candies, chocolate, meats, wine, beer, gift items, and Green Bay Packers paraphernalia. The also had a sandwich shop and a bakery, and I got a tasty reuben with a slice of apple pie.

We ended the night by checking out the welcome to Wisconsin sign looking for a geocache, but we were driven off by bugs before we found it.

And finally, a picture from yesterday’s slightly less than exciting adventure to the Jelly Belly factory.

Today got started with a workout while watching part of the Bourne Identity. After that we made a quick stop at the Jelly Belly Factory in Pleasant Prairie, which is really more of a distribution warehouse from what I can tell. I was somewhat excited by the free tour, but it was a bit of a letdown as all you really see is a bunch of videos showing production rather than any real production. Good news is we got a few free jelly beans out of it.

After that we headed over to setup for tomorrow’s expo. Well, Nate, Molly and I did. Stephen decided to take the scenic route back through Chicago. We finished most of our part and waited for Stephen (who was stuck an hour away in traffic) to figure out where exactly he was supposed to be. I can’t be too hard on him, however, because shortly after that I managed to lock myself out of a truck that is supposed to be lock-out proof. It’s one of the types that you have to hold the handle for while shutting the door or it unlocks itself. It swung shut but only half-shut, so my best guess is that it didn’t close fully enough to pop up the lock. I wish I’d thought of that at the time, because I never tried shoving the door all the way closed to pop the lock (I was too concerned with trying to pop the door back open since it wasn’t all the way closed). Later Molly managed to apply the steering wheel club without a steering wheel club key in her possession. Nate is the only one of us who hasn’t done anything particularly dumb today, so he’d better hurry up since he’s only got 25 minutes left.

After that I met up with the Deines family who thankfully were willing to drive several hours to come see me. They’re close family friends from back in Alaska. We went and had a tasty German dinner, and my main dish was a Cordon Bleu Schnitzel. It was great to catch up with them even briefly, and hopefully it won’t be so long until next time I get to see them. Right now I’m waiting on laundry to finish before catching some sleep before tomorrow’s expo.

Nothin’ doing at the moment.

Today began much like yesterday ended – trying to figure out how to get our large truck around a bunch of low clearance bridges. Once we got that figured out, we took the train/subway into downtown Chicago and spent the majority of the day there. We walked the magnificent mile, cut down along the canal, ate some Giordano’s deep dish pizza, and along the way saw an interesting parking garage in two of the high-rises.

After that we checked out the Navy Pier and got rained on a bit while heading back over to Millenium Park.

(Downtown Chicago view from Navy Pier)

We wandered through the park for a while before ending up at the Art Institute of Chicago. Thursday nights are free, and I was amazed how much came back to me from high school art/history lessons. I viewed original Picassos, Monets, Moreau, Mattisse, and the one painting that sent chills down my spine was Seurat’s most famous:

Oh, and the other painting of note was American Gothic (you know, the farmer with the pitchfork and daughter).

After that we were both fairly worn out and decided to head back north to the truck. We timed our arrival at the truck perfectly, as it started to storm while crossing the parking lot between the train and truck. It turned into a lot of rain and some nice lighting, and as we drove further north we got a nice lightning/rainstorm/sunset/rainbow combo. Now we’re in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin for our next event.