The Great American Hippo
Thursday, December 25, 2003
Thus concludes our Hippo. We may or may not have an encore reunion tour. If we do, we may or may not blog it.
peace and love from NYC : )
DISCLAIMER - Nothing that has been posted on this blog should be construed to represent real or actual events, persons, or places. Any similarity between this blog and real life is purely coincidental. This has been a work of fiction.
Nuchum of NYC knew that Bob Dylan was the artist responsible for our latest lyrics. Crazy Lubow emailed this thorough response: It was "Robert Zimmerman, aka 'Bob Dylan,' with the ever creative title of 'Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again'". Also from Lubow, a request: "C'mon, challenge me here!"
Friday, December 19, 2003
During our Hippo, Pope and I kept track of stuff. Here are some statistics we compiled for you.
FAKENESS - The following places are real, but they're not where you'd expect. We either passed these places or saw signs for them along our route.
Hartford, Michigan
Paris, Ontario
London, Ontario
Rome, New York
Woodstock, Ontario
Woodstock, Illinois
Hartford, South Dakota
Madison, South Dakota
Buffalo, Wyoming
Cuba, New Mexico
Las Vegas, New Mexico
Iowa, Louisiana
HOTELS - During our trip, we spent twenty nights in thirteen different hotels.
STATES - We passed through twenty-six different states. (FYI - Many people asked us how many states we passed through. Though we tried to get our loyal readers to do the calculations, we finally bit the bullet and did it ourselves.)
RESTAURANTS - Pope and I dined together at fifty-five different restaurants. Please note that this number does not include places where we ate food from our cooler.
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Before the energy of New York City erases my short term memory, I would like to acknowledge certain individuals, places and things which made the Hippo truly enjoyable and memorable.
In no particular order, I give many thanks and acknowledge:
-Debbie and Neil Gershman, for lending us the beautiful Inifinti I, which we have rechristened the "Hippo Mobile" (no relation to Mobile, Alabama). It was a true delight to drive it and Ari and I both appreciate your generosity.
-The Parentals in Irvine, for providing us with housing, food, laundry facilities and good times on our Hippo.
-Gurie, for being the ONLY person on this Hippo to prepare a three course meal that was ready for our consumption upon arrival. I still think that Salmon rocked!
-Tony Luca a/k/a Cous Cous, for reserving and generously providing Guest Room 3 for our use in his building in Toronto. It was a delightful place to stay.
-The Crazy One Blessed Be He, for showing us the most beautiful panoramic view this side of the Susquehanna.
-Amber and Hayley, for letting us stay in their house and providing great company in Salt Lake City!
-Info a/k/a Michael Lorberbaum, for helping me realize that Mobile, Alabama is not as backward as some may have us believe, for introducing us to some old houses, for helping me rediscover the value of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, letting us stay in his beautiful apartment, and providing us with - you guessed it - lots of INFO!
-Maurice Michaane, for visiting us while on the Hippo, for providing Science Fiction-related entertainment, for helping us play Kokology, for illuminating the craziness of Las Vegas, for staying in extremely frequent contact with the Hippo, and for artfully providing a list of nearby sushi restaurants when we had an insatiable craving for sushi while in Austin, Texas. That was really really appreciated:)
-Orbitz.com, for providing cheapie cheapie hotel listings throughout this big country. I am consistently amazed and wowed.
-Pui, for providing restful housing and playful canine animals while in our Nation's capital.
-The Kagans, for their valuable friendship and joyous company while in Chicago, their excellent restaurant recommendations, extremely scrumptuous animal crackers and chocolate-covered pretzels, and the best biscotti ever!
-The Liebermans, for allowing us to stay in their humble abode in Minneapolis, a truly beautiful and friendly city.
-Old Woman NPR a/k/a Diane Ream, for entertaining us in many cities throughout our journey
-Demetria Williams, for being a skillful negotiator and helping me finally get a cell phone that works! Now Mistah and I have beautiful baby twins:)
-Jan Carpenter, for activating said Cingular phone
-Mary Cooper, for helping me take care of moving arrangements from New York to Washington, DC.
-Darryl Stein, for helping us remember that liberalism is still alive in well in Southern California.
-Brendan Mockler, for recommending a delightful Kosher restaurant to us while in New Orleans, which we did not have the pleasure of trying, and also for spreading news of our Hippo far and wide throughout Penn State University.
-Jay Shee-Jaw Wang, for allowing us to practice our Hippo before it started, and for helping us learn how to play 20 questions over the phone:)
-The Lieutenant, for being a fantastic Advisory Council member and accompanying us on the last leg of the Hippo
-The Hackners, for offering us a place to stay while in Atlanta.
-Our loyal readers throughout the world, thanks for reading and keeping up with our adventure!
-Melissa Block of NPR, whose name sounds remarkably like "Melissa Blog".
-Highways with bright lights
-The Don Parkway
-The Canadian air mass, which seems to have regretfully found its way down to New York City since we left
-Healthful snacks like dried bananas, pineapples and apples, gummy worms, and Go Go Grahms!
-Dick Gephardt, who illuminated how we have many miserable failures that need to be transformed to resounding successes
And lastly, I want to thank and acknowledge:
-The Mistah Mistah a/k/a Grandma a/k/a Santa a/k/a Rudolph a/k/a Trotsky a/k/a Ari Zona a/k/a College a/k/a Ex-English a/k/a Thumb Rubbing Smacker a/k/a Ari Gershman. You provided hours of fun and entertainment, and were the best travel partner and friend ever. I had so much in your company, and it is regretful this trip has come to an end. I am thankful for the constant reminders of the need to eat a healthful breakfast, healthful snack, go to bed early, call friends frequently, and cherish what you have. Keep on rubbing and keep on smacking:)
I am sure I forgot some people who were helpful and invaluable, so please email me at guymargalith@nyc.rr.com to let me know and so I can ackowledge you:)
So I guess I have a lot to catch up on since I haven't blogged our experiences since Alabama. We left that state and drove a long way to Charlotte, North Carolina, stayed there for one night, and then went to DC.
We arrived in DC on Saturday night, saw two apartments, and arrived at our friend Pui's home in Maryland at about 8 or 9 PM. She and her roommate, Amy, have three dogs. They are Wilson, Flopsy, and Eddie. All three greeted us with quite a bit of excitement. Wilson, being the youngest, was the most demonstrative in his exuberance. Flopsy, elder statesdog of the group, was more reserved. I'm pretty sure she remembered me, though.
Unfortunately, Pui was under the weather while we visited so she had to stay home and rest. We wish her a very rapid recovery.
So Pope and I braved the fallen snow and freezing rain on Sunday to search for an apartment for him to live in when he moves to DC on January 7th. But only after a nice breakfast in Einstein Bros. Bagels near the Metro stop in Silver Spring. It's one of my favorite haunts in the DC area, and now I think it's one of the Pope's as well.
While we were there, 40 text messaged us "Can you believe they caught him?". Dumbfounded, we wondered who had been caught. Five minutes later, we heard the big news.
Then we spent the day looking at apartments and making friends with the current occupants and their realtors. Pope, with my modest assistance, chose a stunning place to live. He left a deposit late Sunday afternoon. We had a quick dinner with Pui and decided we could be in Douglaston that night and Harlem Monday morning. And that's just what happened.
Now, for the most exciting part of all. As you know, Pope and I played the license plate game across the megook. By the time we reached DC, we had every state except Rhode Island and we were very concerned. The Lieutenant, whom we picked up at Rachel Emily's house, thus making her the last person visited on the Hippo, instructed us not to return to NYC without having seen Rhode Island. I was ready to drive there, but Pope was tired and we decided to chance it. We didn't see it between Maryland and Douglaston, nor did we eyeball it between Douglaston and Harlem the next day. However, on the Triborough bridge, heading toward Queens after bringing the Pope back to Manhattan, we saw it! That means we won the game. We saw all fifty state license plates, plus a whole bunch of Canadian ones and one from Mexico. The foreign ones count for bonus points only. You think the Gap will except bonus points from the license plate game in lieu of payment?
Hi, this is Ari. As Pope mentioned, we have returned to the city.
When I arrived here and checked my email, I found pleasant electronic greetings from Seren, Lubow, and Grandma and Grandpa. I also received lovely email from Shortley and snail mail from Michelle.
In addition, the following comes from the ever loyal Darryl: "stuck inside of mobile, with the Memphis blues again" He wants to know the artist and song title. Actually, I think he already knows and wants you all to guess. So do it. Search your brain or google it or break out the World Book or phone a friend. Then email your answer to pennsmile@yahoo.com and I'll post it for all the world to eyeball.
Monday, December 15, 2003
Hello world! You're not going to believe this, but I am blogging to you from my home in Harlem, New York! That's right, the Great American Hippo has, regretfully, come to an abrupt end after 6 weeks of travel. Sadly, because the Mistah's grandfather was recently hospitalized, we had to expedite our regression to the Big City. However, we were able to complete almost everything we set out to accomplish.
The Mistah is currently in Queens, and we are no longer keeping each other company at this time. I am shedding many tears. However, there will be an encore to the Hippo which I may or may not fill you in on in this blog entry. We shall see.
Since we last wrote to you, we expedited our regression to New York City by stopping in Charlotte, North Carolina for 1 night, and then driving to Washington, DC. We arrived there on Saturday, and immediately visited two apartments near Dupont Circle.
As you may or may not know, I will be moving to Washington, DC on January 7th and as such needed to find an apartment. Using our friend Pui's apartment as home base, we visited three more apartments on Sunday. By 6pm, I already knew where I wanted to live and dropped a deposit at one of the buildings. If all goes well, my new address will soon be 1750 P Street #708!! Very exciting!
After siginging, we felt it would be best to drive straight back to New York City. After sleeping one night in the Mistah's residence, I returned to Harlem early this afternoon.
In my opinion, I have given very few opinions this blog entry. Therefore, I will declare this blog entry the "factual" end of hippo entry. The Mistah will provide further opinions, as will I, as well as interesting facts and tidbits at a later juncture.
I apologize to our loyal readers who were wondering why we have not posted in many hours. Unfortunately, there was little Internet access to be found in the northeast. Frankly, we had better luck in South Dakota! Craziness....
And with that, I will conclude this blog entry, with the promise of writing more soon. Thanks for everyone who has read up on our journey so far! We will be in touch soon:)
Thursday, December 11, 2003
Hi, this is Ari. Pope and I are relaxing in Info's large, luxurious, and surprisingly stable Mobile home in Alabama the Beautiful. If you've ever been to 'Bama, you probably know that signs here say "Alabama the Beautiful" and receptacles say "Keep Alabama the Beautiful." That's to remind you to keep Alabama the Beautiful and not throw it away, which you might be trying to do if you're approaching a receptacle.
Anyway, we successfully saw Gopi, her awesome and magnificently painted apartment, much of New Orleans, and an authentic band playing brass instruments on Tuesday night. We slept in Wednesday morning, stopped for lunch just outside New Orleans, and were in Info's apartment in time to welcome him home from work. We enjoyed a festive dinner at Smokey Bones, a great restaurant here in Mobile. The place has television sets showing four or five different programs and a little box on each table that allows diners to choose which one they'd like to hear. I was grateful that my tablemates agreed with my preference to listen to the sound of silence. Our server, Heidi, was very friendly and knew remarkably little about the food offered on the menu.
Today we enjoyed a seafood lunch at Felix's Fish Camp. Eating fresh fish and looking out onto the water reminded me a lot of Yeosu. What sadness.
In the afternoon we took a tour of an old mansion that housed two famous and politically influential families before becoming a historic site and a wedding hall. Our guide provided us with copious quantities of information regarding the former occupants, the house's contents, her recent health, and the follies of previous visitors. Though I enjoyed the experience, I'm not sure if my fellow listeners felt alike. I fear she may have offered too much info, even for Info.
I shall take this opportunity to praise our current gracious host, Michael of Minnesota, for kindly offering us the use of his apartment, internet, washing machine, dryer, navigational expertise, culinary options, and ever-friendly demeanor. We enjoyed them all.
Tomorrow we will try very hard to drive to Charlotte, North Carolina. If you want to offer us encouragement as we trek along, please call (917) 657-8122.
May your Friday be as lovely as an orchid.
peace-out!
Hello from Mobile, Alabama! I confess, I didn't blog yesterday because I was tired from all the fun in New Orleans. I apologize profusely, and will try to do better for the small time remaining to this hippo. For the record, and for my own personal safety, I will be unable to speculate as to the Mistah's mysterious absence from the hippo blog for the past day.
Mobile, Alabama has been an interesting place for several reasons. Most importantly, it is the home of the glorious, the knowledgeable, the highly competent, the man with the cleanest apartment this side of the Mason Dixon line: Michael Lorberbaum a/k/a Info, stop # 13. Info has prepared a most southerly welcome for us, including a soft air mattress, a spacious parking lot, and a schedule full of activities.
After a brief sojourn through the state of Mississippi, we entered Alabama "the beautiful", at least according to the sign at the official Alabama Welcome Center on Interstate 10. After arriving at Mobile, Info transported us to a Southern BBQ establishment. At the restaurant, Mistah ordered the "Lodge Salad". I thought about ordering the lodge salad, but felt the Lodge salad may be too large for me. Therefore, I ordered some other chicken product which I can't remember.
Later, we experienced a tour of downtown Mobile, comparable in many ways to lower Manhattan. Am I serious? Maybe.
Today, we experienced some excellent fish products at a local restaurant. Later, we played 20 questions and drove to a local Infiniti dealership to change our oil. It was a very exciting day.
Due to unforseen circumstances in the Big Apple, we are regretfully compelled to shorten the remainder of the Hippo dramatically and to expedite our return to our point of origin. As such, tomorrow we will experience an overnight stay in Charlotte, North Carolina and the following day, an arrival in Washington, DC, the current home of our recently selected President. See, this Hippo was really a plot all along to shadow George W. Bush. All our secrets are revealed.
In DC, I will be searching for an apartment in which to live during my Foreign Service Officer training program. I am fortunate to have the Mistah Mistah accompany me for this endeavor, as his aesthetic and practical instincts are unrivaled. As soon as we find an apartment, we will regress to New York City.
I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Brendan of Port Washington, New York for not trying Kosher Cajun, a kosher restaurant in New Orleans he highly recommendoed. Brendan, next time I'm there, I'll be sure to give it a shot...
This blog entry is dedicated to the Info, to whom I wish the best of luck in his applications to various MBA programs. I am confident he will experience a resounding success. Till then, this is the pape, signing off.
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Hello, America! Hello also to our international readers! As I recall, I last blogged in Austin, Texas, so I'll try to mention certain things that have happened to us in the interim.
I found Austin to be stunning! It's my favorite city visited on the Hippo thus far. Austin is cute, compact, easy to navigate, contains many young people, and has a lot of energy. I highly recommendo.
Pope and I left Austin yesterday to come to New Orleans, Louisiana. We were quite happy to enter a blue state and we'd like to publicly praise Senators Breaux and Landrieu and Governor-elect Blanco. They are all working hard on behalf of the good people of Louisiana and we are honored to be guests in their home state.
Last night we arrived at our hotel and found out that it was a lovely, French colonial style place. We are staying in the cottage and it feels more like a guest house - think Martha, not Kato - than a hotel.
Today we explored the French quarter, which in my opinion is really more like a Kennedy half, though I can see how America's early relationship with France under George Washington's leadership would inspire the mapquest people to call it a quarter. While I'm on quarters, I would like to mention that in Las Vegas I used the cashier services in our casino hotel to change a ten dollar bill for a roll of quarters. The cashier asked me if I was 21 years old, which is quite fortunate for two reasons. First, I appreciate when strangers sense in me a youthful exuberance that leads them to question whether I'm old enough to engage in certain activities. Second, I was obtaining the quarters to use for laundry machines and I wouldn't want any juveniles trying that.
This evening, Pope and I are planning to meet my friend Gopi, who is a medical student here in New Orleans. She has suggested we listen to a brass band. In my opinion, the word "band" refers to a group of people, sometimes specifically to a group of people who play music together. So in this case, with the adjective "brass" modifying the noun "band," I am tempted to conclude that we are to see a metallic group of musicians tonight. Fortunately, federal health authorities have deemed heavy metal dangerous in drinking water but not in musical performers. Thus I look forward to tonight's activity without apprehension.
Since we left California, I have on several occasions experienced culture shock. As you may know, culture shock does not necessarily involve being surprised, though that may be one component of a culture shock experience. It has to do with feeling uncomfortable or uneasy because some aspect of the culture you're experiencing is new to you. Having traveled throughout the world, I am familiar with the experience of culture shock. Nonetheless, like witnessing the election of Republican, it is unpleasant no matter how many times you've seen it, and no matter how much you can understand it intellectually.
In Las Vegas, I was very uncomfortable with our hotel arrival. The only parking option available to us was valet because the self-parking lot was under construction. Though I've seen valet parking before, it was the first time we stayed at a hotel with valet on this Hippo. It made me uneasy because I didn't know where the car would be or how it would be parked. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to get our bags out of the car fast enough and that I'd forget something and want to get it out of the car later. In addition, I didn't like the idea of giving our luggage to the bellhop because I prefer to keep my possessions in my control. So I was somewhat shaken up that evening.
I also experienced culture shock in Texas, and I think the Pope did too. Our first night in Texas, we stayed in a small town called Fort Stockton. We chose a Mexican restaurant because it sounded better to us than K-Bob's Steakhouse, the other choice recommended by our fine hotel, the Motel 6. Though I truly believe it was the best in town and the food was quite tasty, Pope and I felt out of place. Upon entering, we waited to be seated. We stood there for several minutes and then began wondering whether we should seat ourselves. It didn't seem like a self-service style place, so we waited. Eventually, the waitress seated us and gave us menus, but I'm not sure if we did what was expected or not. As we sat there, we had the distinct feeling everyone was staring at us. We vacillated between being sure that they could instantly identify us as out of place New Yorkers and being sure it was all in our heads.
Today's lunch was my most recent culture shock episode. We ate at a place recommended by our guide book for sandwiches, here called "po boys." I didn't know what exactly the meal would contain, how big it would be, and where I should wait for my food. (This time it was a self-service place, and I felt fairly confident about that.) Also, the restaurant accepted only cash, and after five weeks of paying by credit card nearly everywhere I go, I was slightly flustered by the process of paying for my meal with cash.
In each of the three cases of culture shock I've just described, everything worked out fine and no harm of any kind was done, other than the short term emotional distress I suffered. The things that brought on my culture shock may seem petty or trivial, but the tension they generated has been a real, though limited, part of my experience these past few weeks. As such, I wanted to share it with you, my dear readers. It is my hope that you can relate to my experiences and that knowing about them might help to alleviate any culture shock you encounter. In can happen in your own country, as I've discovered. And eventually, you look back on it and laugh. I'm working on that.
Hello from N'awlins! Thiz the pope, writing from the ever posh Royal Sonesta Hotel in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana! After multiple attempts to log onto our wireless service, we have achieved succesfulness in this hotel. We had to wade through throngs of party-goers with enticing liquids in their hands to reach this oasis of the rich and famous, but for you, dear blog readers, we are willing to endure difficult and treacherous terrain.
A few days have passed since we last blogged and many things have transpired. We enjoyed an exciting night out in Austin, Texas on the famed 4th Street in downtown. The next day in Austin, we enjoyed the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum in the heart of the University of Texas, and were very much moved by the displayes therein. That night, we watched HBO's production of Angels in America, which I highly recommendo to all our blog readers.
We had originally planned to travel to Houston Texas and to stay there yesterday and today. However, we realized that we are running a little short on time, and that the great and holy Shelly Belly, seller of Novos, the illustrious coach, was not going to be present in Houston as we had anticipated. As such, we deleted Houston from our itinerary and proceeded to New Orleans, LA instead. We didn't feel too bad. Afterall, any city that names it's airport after George H.W. Bush can't be that great, right?
So yesterday we arrived in New Orleans and enjoyed some famous gumbo and jambalaya at a local hangout. We strolled down Bourbon street and enjoyed a few beverages. Today, we strolled throughout the quarter, and passed a restful afternoon shopping and sipping cafe au lait at a famous French cafe in the Quarter. Tonight, we will be meeting Ari's fulbright friend Gopi for som brass band. We are all excited!
Tomorrow, we visit Info in Mobile, Alabama! We will stay there for two days, after which we will proceed to Birmingham and either Nashville or Atlanta.
I realize this post has been highly factual. I will leave it to the Mistah Mistah to provide opinion-related information, as well as some cultural observations of worth. Until then, y'all be good now! -P
Saturday, December 06, 2003
Hello America, from the Great and Holy Ramada Limited hotel in Austin, Texas. This hotel, while fantastic, unfortunately does not offer wireless internet, nor the services of the illustrious Andy. However, it does provide free local calls, allowing us to avail ourselves of the great and holy NetZero dial-up connection.
We have recently returned from a fantastic dinner at the World Beat Cafe in the thyroid of Austin, Texas, not far from the University of Texas campus. I consumed Dorrowat while Ari said "Dorro...what?". The Mistah availed himself of the peanut yam fu fu. Don't ask, and I won't tell.
Today's drive from Fort Stockton was relatively easy. We passed through a variety of interesting towns, like Ozona, Sonora, Junction, Fredericksburg, and Johnson City. I would like to call everyone's attention to the fact that Johnson City is the hometown of the famous Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States of America. We, fortuitously, were unable to pass through Midland, Texas, the hometown of the 43rd President of the United States of America. Our sadness was indeed palpable.
We sadly regret news of severe weather in the Big City and Boston. We hope you will all be able to dig out of the snow quickly and safely. We looked very hard, and after careful consideration were able to state that there is indeed no snow in Austin, Texas. We are trying not to gloat. I am pleased to hear that Mayor Bloomberg declared New York City open for business.
I would like to take the opportunity to proclaim that anytime one writes the word "Mexican", one should make sure that word has a capitalized "M". The Mistah has sharply berated me on multiple occasions for writing "mexican food", and not "Mexican food", as it should be. It is very useful to have a professional proofreader on a hippo.
I would like to welcome the Capers of San Diego, California to the loyal readership of the blog. We pray you maintain liberal bathroom access policies in your humble abode.
That is all for today, we are off to enjoy the famed Austin nightlife, and hope to write more tomorrow. Enjoy the snow, wherever you are! -P
Thirty-one years ago, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham arrived in Austin, Texas to work on the presidential campaign of George McGovern. This very afternoon, Pope and I arrived in Austin, Texas to praise them for it. In between, Austin grew from "a sleepy town . . . in the Texas hill country into a Sunbelt boom town," according to New York's illustrious junior senator.
Our first stop in Austin was the capital building, where we lamented the absence of George W. Bush. Had he remained there, his ability to wreck the world would have been more limited. We found agreement from the owners of the car parked in front of ours, which featured both HRC and "Not My President" stickers.
Good luck to the Lieutenant, Seren, and anyone else in the midst of end of semester work.
peace and love from Austin, Texas : )
Hello fellow Americans! We write to you from the former home of our current selected President, George W. Bush. That's right, we are only 5 blocks from the Texas State Capital in Austin, Texas! Unfortunately, we do not have much time to blog today, as we are late for dinner and we are hungry, but I wanted to post a quick entry to let you know what's up.
Yesterday, we drove through Roswell, New Mexico and stayed last night in Fort Stockton, Texas. We arrived in Austin about two hours ago, and will stay here until Monday morning.
I will try to blog later. Until then, farewell!
-P
Thursday, December 04, 2003
Because we have used up all our available space on both our first and second yahoo photos web sites, we have created a THIRD new photo website. We now have THREE photo sites. Site 1 is dedicated to week 1, and site 2 is dedicated to weeks 2-4 of our journey, and site 3 will be dedicated to all remaining weeks. The links are as follows:
http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah - WEEK 1 PHOTOS
http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah2 - WEEKS 2-4 PHOTOS
http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah3 - WEEK 5+ PHOTOS
We hope you enjoy!
Regards,
The Committee
Good evening everyone. Today was a very restful and introspective day spent in peaceful Santa Fe, New Mexico. I blog to you once again from the fireside at the Park Inn Hotel & Suites, in the company of the ever helpful Andy. The Mistah is currently upstairs doing the laundry, which should be done within the hour.
Today we arose in time to experience the "deluxe" continental breakfast, which was indeed continental as well as deluxe. The Park Inn Hotel & Suites (we must be staying in the hotel part, apparently) provides a waffle iron with pre-prepared batter, which made breakfast here a nice change of pace from cereal bars and yogurt. The fact that I'm eating breakfast at all is a miracle.
After breakfast, we proceeded to the center of town and found convenient and free parking near some famous art galleries. We walked around the city for awhile, ate some authentic mexican food for lunch, and happened upon the Convergence Cafe! After experiencing a convergence, we discovered that the Santa Fe Film Festival is currently taking place in this very city (as opposed to other cities). We quickly found the box office and purchased tickets to the afternoon showing of A Great Wonder and Return to Kandahar, both movies dealing with the plight and experiences of refugees in the Sudan and Afghanistan, respectively. We walked out both movies kind of depressed and sadenned with America and with the state of world affairs. After eating some tex-mex for dinner, we returned to the hotel to sulk.
Tomorrow, we proceed to Fort Stockton, Texas for a one night stay, and plan on being in Austin, Texas, the former home of recently selected President, George W. Bush, on Saturday and Sunday.
We don't know if there is internet in Texas, but we hope we can write more soon. Till then, you are all in our thoughts. -P
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
This morning we experienced restfulness in Flagstaff, Arizona and stopped by Albertson's supermarket before departing for Santa Fe, New Mexico. In case you were wondering, Santa Fe is not related to Santa Claus. He gets that question all the time, though, so don't feel bad.
On our way east, we drove through the Petrified Forest. It features rainbow style stone trees. I like rainbow style. It also has striped mountains. I like stripes. The Petrified Forest is part of the National Parks system. I like parks. If you like parks, please vote for Democrats because they work hard to protect our natural treasures from the Republicans, who enjoy deforestation and drilling for oil in wildlife preserves.
Good evening dear readers. For those who are following us extremely closely, I would like to point out that we have exited the glorious Pacific Time Zone and entered the bumpy Mountain Time Zone. I believe that this website, with fond memories of the days of the internet boom, still uses Pacific Time. Thus, if you want to know the actual time of today's post, you should add one hour to the time indicated.
Our blog has received praise today from the Lieutenant of Massachusetts. She has also expressed appreciation for the post cards we sent her. If you have not received post cards from this Hippo and would like to, please email pennsmile@yahoo.com with your snail mail address and I will write to you. I reserve the right to send postcards via USPS, in addition to the more conventional owl post.
I neglected to mention certain things when I wrote about San Diego. Although I will praise that city for its warmness, I must say that fast food restaurants in SD are extremely and strangely strict.
We entered a McDonald's to use the rest room, as we have done countless times during our journey, and found that it was accessible only by key. The key was available only to people who purchased food. So we went across the street to a Burger King. There, would-be rest room users needed a token, also given only to people who ingest nasty fried stuff, to enter. Our third try was the Taco Bell down the block. There, we were able to enter the rest room with little difficulty. However, we found two signs that reminded us that San Diego's fast food restaurants really are quite strict. One said, "Seating is limited to thirty minutes" and the other said, "You are limited to two milks and three sugars with your coffee."
The moral of the story is, bad things happen when you recall a hard working Democractic governor and replace him with an iron pumping Republican.
Hello dear readers, from Santa Fe, New Mexico! Today's blog entry is dedicated to the fantastic, amazing, highly talented, kind, friendly, charitable and industrious Andy, a loyal employee of Park Inn Hotel & Suites, where we currently find ourselves residing for the next two nights. Andy was kind enough to fax my Washington, DC room reservation for absolutely $0.00, due to the kindness of his heart. This was much less than Kinko's price of $5 and Harrah's Casino's price of $25. Therefore, Andy has a special place in my heart tonight.
So, too, does the Park Inn Hotel & Suites! We are paying very little for our room, and are receiving many amenities in the process. The hotel comes with free wireless internet in the lobby, of which I am currently availing myself, as well as free local calls and a computer for internet use in the lobby for those who did not bring a laptop. Honestly, who wouldn't bring a laptop across America?! The thought is revolting. The Park Inn also provides a "deluxe" continental breakfast, which I am excited to sample, as well as advanced room-heating technology. Theoretically, they also offer a free shuttle bus to the center of Santa Fe. I am looking forward to seeing how this works out, and will keep you all informed.
After my last entry's praise of Kinkos, I received an urgent notice from Brendan Mockler of Penn State University (not a random hippochondriac). Brendan wanted me to alert all of you to the fact that he believes that "KINKO’S IS THE DEVIL! STAY AWAY FROM KINKO’S IMMEDIATELY!". Brendan was once apparently cursed at quite extensively at Kinko's. In light of his sharp censure and condemnation of Kinko's, I am compelled to revise my previous praise of all Kinko's to praise of the Kinko's off of Flamingo Blvd. in Las Vegas, NV, which provides free Internet access. We may or may not praise other Kinko's that provide free internet access and refrain from cursing at us along the way. Until then, I urge you to enter Kinko's outside of Las Vegas at your own risk.
And now for some factual information. Yesterday, we drove over the Hoover Dam. We believe the Hoover Dam is closely related to the Don Parkway. At the Hoover Dam, we enjoyed the dam bathroom, the dam view, and the dam parking lot, which was dam free. The drive away from the dam was don great, but not like the Don Parkway. Mistah may or many not have observed that the Hoover Dam was built by the same builders of Hoover vacuum clearners.
Later, we eyeballed the Grand Canyon, which only illicited a "woa" from the Mistuh. As you may or may not know, the Mistuh is seldom impressed by natural phenomena, such as world-famous vistas, modern works of engineering, or tall buildings. Instead, his highest praise is reserved for those of you who send him nice emails, call him at 917-657-8122 or email him at pennsmile@yahoo.com. He also will praise those of you who enjoy healthful snacks, go to bed early, and enjoy showering at night.
Today, however, I noted that the Mistuh was more impressed with the Petrified Forest National Park than with any other natural phenomenon we have observed thus far, as he emitted an "uh...pope!" when we came upon a particularly breathtaking vista that we will post shortly. Even the uh pope, however, is dwarfed by the "heeeey!" the Mistah reserves for those who email him frequently. So keep it up all of you!
Today, in addition to seeing the Petrified Forest, we sang songs about frogs, had dinner at a random mexican restaurant in Albuquerque (which is really hard to spell, I believe) and praised Demetria Williams and Jan Carpenter of Cingular Wireless, as well as Mary Cooper from the Department of State. May they all live long and healthy lives. We also shopped at a non-striking Albertsons, and lunched by some old stone logs of some determinate national interest. We called the Shelley Belly of New York City, the maternal parental in Irvine, the Info of Mobile, Alabama, the Jon of Nashville, Tennessee, the Jay of Cambridge on a hot date in Boston, the Maurice of New York City, the Commish Margaret of New York City, and the Appetizer Plate and the Nuchum of Douglaston, New York. We may have called more people, but my phone ran out of batteries and I can't check.
Tomorrow, we plan on enjoying the beautiful scenery and old town happiness of Santa Fe. We also plan on basking in the goodness of Governor Bill Richardson's inspired and enlightened leadership of the good State of New Mexico.
I also vote "YES" on the survey presented to me at a rest stop outside of Santa Fe. The restroom was indeed acceptable.
That is all for now! We will be sure to blog to you tomorrow, hopefully in the company of Andy of Sante Fe. Till then, have a great day!
Hello, people! How goes it with all of you fine folks?
Today I received a response to Crazy Lubow's musical question from the reliably loyal Darryl of Irvine, who is desperately in need of a nickname. If you can think of a good - or even better, a bad - nickname for Darryl, please email it to me at pennsmile@yahoo.com or phone it in to (917) 657-8122.
Anyway, here's what the D-man had to say: "'I lit up from Reno; I was trailed by twenty hounds. Didn’t get to sleep that night til the morning came around.' - Friend of the Devil. Great driving music." He said it's from the Grateful Dead. Wudduya say, Lubow? Is that right?
Monday, December 01, 2003
Hello, America, Canada, England, and Israel. If you're reading from someplace else, email pennsmile@yahoo.com and let me know so I can include you too.
Tonight I have to mention some people who have responded electronically to various parts of this blog.
Darryl of Irvine offers the following: "It is little wonder you did not see Tito Puente. According to allmusic.com, 'Just months after accepting his fifth Grammy award, he died on June 1, 2000.'"
Crazy Lubow had the following to say: "You bloggers missed a golden opportunity to post some classic lyrics. Had I known you were going to be in Reno, Nevada, I would have insisted that you write "I lit up from Reno, I was trailed by twenty hounds..." As soon as you can identify the band and the song, I will praise you for it." If you want to take Crazy up on his challenge, you can email him at adamlubow@yahoo.com or email me at pennsmile@yahoo.com and I'll post the response.
Also, I thought I'd mention that Lubow is crazy excited to be seeing a Phish concert in Albany. If you have exciting news you'd like to share, email it to me at pennsmile@yahoo.com and I'll post it on this here blog.
My holy father in NYC sends this: "In regards to His Excellency having not seeing Brandon Walsh, Whoopi Goldberg and Tito Puente, Brandon almost died, Whoopi has a new TV show which, from the one time I saw it, will soon be dead, and alas Tito Puente, I believe, has in fact passed on."
And this confirmation arrived from the Appetizer Plate concerning Black Friday shopping: "As you predicted, Rach and I left the house at 8:00 a.m. for our annual outing. When you were emailing us, we were in the first of two GAP stores."
Finally, Jay of MA appreciated our reference to neocolonial imperialistic exploitation and our haircuts. He did not appreciate our failure to determine the true identity of the secret Asian man. If you appreciate or don't appreciate certain things, email pennsmile@yahoo.com and let us know. We'd appreciate it.
The Committee received Thanksgiving wishes from Shelley of NYC and Seren of NYU and would like to warmly acknowledge both.
Today, Pope and I both received international calls from Defender, who currently resides in London. We would like to praise the Defender for doing a good job keeping in regular contact with us from the old side of the pond.
Now we have to sleep because the Grand Canyon is waiting for our daylight arrival tomorrow.
peace and Vegas love : )
Good evening dear bloggers, from the Sin City! I write to you tonight from the great and holy Kinko's, right off of the Las Vegas strip. While strolling through the shopping center, we came upon the shocking discovery that Kinkos offers free internet access for customers with laptops! This sure beats gambling, believe you me:)
Yesterday, we arrived in Las Vegas after a tearful farewell from the parentals in the Vine. With loyal blog reader and Advisory Council member Maurice in tow, we explored Vegas from our homebase at Harrah's, right off of the strip. Maurice was quite a talented gambler! He turned $20 into $140 at a blackjack table, and more than paid for his fair share of lodging. We were happy he did so - as bystanders - for when availed ourselves of the free alcoholic beverages available at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino while Maurice was earning his big $$.
Today, we bade farewell to Maurice at the airport, and continued our exploration of various hotel lobbies, casinos, and the Hughes Corporate Center, which we drove through quite extensively on numerous occasions today.
Today I learned that whenever the Mistuh is feeling kind of down or tired, one need simply stop, take a deep breath, and insert carbohydrates. After that, he's as good as new for any blogging activity you could propose.
A shoutout loyal blog readers The Crazy One Blessed Be He and Jay Wang for recent emails letting us know of their status. Crazy, we love our haircuts, so too bad! Jay, we hope you observed National Buy Nothing Day.
Our observance of said holiday was, fortunately, a resounding success by the way.
Hmmm...what else. Honestly, we weren't planning on blogging tonight because we felt tired and the hotel with wireless internet access was too far away, but you guys were in luck we happened upon this Kinkos! In support of Kinkos, you all should patronize your local stores with the same name, except on National Buy Nothing Day, of course.
Tomorrow, we proceed to Arizona and the Grand Canyon, and will spend the night in Falgstaff, Arizona, where we will return to Mountain Standard Time. Aren't you excited? After Flagstaff, we spend a relaxing two nights in Santa Fe, New Mexico, per the recommendation of Jill Stein, Tom Lieberman, and probably live Stock Liz, although I'm not sure if I named everyone who recommended Santa Fe.
Let me also take this opportunity to sharply condemn all Las Vegas hotels on the strip for charging exhorbitant prices for faxes and phone calls. It costs $6 to fax just one page in most hotels on the strip, and to make a LOCAL call in our hotel costs $2.50, just for a connection charge, and $.60 for every additional minute. This also applies to 1-800 numbers. Ari may also express his dismay, but these prices would even make the Defender of the Wharton and Capitalistic Faith cringe.
And now, for a few pages out of the Mistuh's book - some observations about Las Vegas and the past few days:
-Maurice really enjoys Wells Fargo Bank and Jack in the Box. I was happy to provide transportation near some of these landmarks of the West.
-The MGM Grand has a very nice woman working as a waitress near the blackjack table, who gave Mistuh and I beverages even though we weren't gambling. I forget her name, most regrettably.
-In case of sluggishness or fatigue, insert carbohydrates immediately.
-Sometimes, rollaway beds are more comfortable than standard cheeseball hotel beds.
-Kinkos rocks!
-Elderly people who spend all day in front of 25 cent slot machines are kind of scary.
That is all from Vegas! Take care, dear hippochondriacs!
Sunday, November 30, 2003
Hi, this is Hari. We have recently received email from Jay of Massachusetts, a state that deserves extensive praise, and thank him for it. We have received phone calls from Defender, who is presently in London. Amex merits harsh criticism for not reading this blog and not sending me postcards from abroad. Please complain to him bitterly by emailing EthanL@wharton.upenn.edu. We have not received text messages from Ronald because he has joined us on our Hippo and is therefore delivering frequent verbal communications. We have commissioned a study to determine how the frequency of his verbal communications compares to that of his former text messaging. It is our hypothesis that the latter will outnumber the former by approximately four to one.
So yesterday, if it was not entirely clear from the preceding paragraph - and I'm willing to bet Florida's electoral votes it was not - we picked up our friend Maurice from the Santa Ana airport and drove south to San Diego. There we sought out a famous Mexican restaurant that was recommended by our trusty guide book. It was located in an area called Old Town and provided a very satisfying lunch experience.
We had a near miss with our friend Laurie and resolved to stick to our previous plan and meet her the next day in LA. Then we drove through certain industrial parts of San Diego in search of a large hispanic population, saw certain things, and headed back to Irvine. In my opinion, we spent a lot of time in the car. In my opinion, that is unfortunate.
We returned to Irvine in time to experience a meal that honored the holy Sabbath. The Margalith family prepared a very lovely dinner and we enjoyed it.
Today, Saturday, we drove into LA to see our friend Laurie. Together we eyeballed Hollywood and Beverly Hills. There were many requests for me to make handprints in the sidewalk but I refused because I had forgotten my hand sanitizer in the car.
Before saying goodbye to Laurie, we had the opportunity to see her family. Having met them before in Waltham, MA, I was happy to see them again. Deb will see the Lieutenant before I do. Isn't she lucky?
Tomorrow, Sunday, we are heading to Las Vegas. Tonya Harding.
Now, I will talk politics. Actually, I'm always talking politics, only now I'm going to do so in an open and honest manner.
Maurice is an enthusiastic supporter of Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president. Dean has created a strong, vibrant, youthful, motivated, idealistic, and inspired movement with his campaign. My friend Kerri of Alameda has also expressed support for the good doctor. I like Dean very much, but something about his personality makes me slightly distrustful. For the moment, I prefer Gephardt, who I believe has a good heart and a lesbian daughter. Laurie disagrees with my assertion that he can be trusted to do what's right and thinks Dean is a better choice.
Now, I will offer opinions about politics. Actually, I'm always offering opinions about politics, only now I'm going to do so in an open and honest manner.
- Any of the Democratic candidates would be so far superior to Junior that failing to support one would be a sin.
- Dean, like Bush, is frequently misunderestimated.
- The best website on the internet is takebackthehouse.com
I have one final opinion to offer this evening: The chocolate mousse cake that Osnat and Gurie prepared yesterday is the best dessert this side of the Mississippi.
peace and love and forgive me for forcing my opinions upon you : )
Saturday, November 29, 2003
Good evening, fellow Buy Nothingers, thiz pope, writing to you from our last night in the Vine in Souther California. Tomorrow, we depart the Golden Republican-ruled state for redder and dryer, as well as more sinful pastures in Las Vegas, Nevada. For this portion of the hippo, we are honored to have with us as our temporary guest Maurice Michaane of New York City, New York. Maurice decided to accept our open invitation to all of our loyal readers, advisory council members, and family members to join us on any portion of the Great American Hippo they so desire. Maurice joined us on Friday night, and will depart the Hippo on Monday morning from Las Vegas.
The past two days have been quite eventful. As the only member of the Committee to have seen California, I was proud to show other member(s) of the Committee the remainder of the Southland. Yesterday, we took a driving tour of San Diego, and felt that it was not as great as we had imagined. However, we did enjoy a fantabulous Mexican lunch at Casa de Bandini, an award winning Mexican restaurant.
Last night, we had the pleasure of traveling back in time at the movie Timeline. We wish we could have traveled back in time before we arrived at the theater, because all of Irvine, CA decided to converge at the mall near my house to go to the movies at the exact same time we wanted to see the movie. By the time we made it to the theater, we experienced a great deal of fatigue. Wew!
Today, we traveled north to Los Angeles to see our good friend Laurie, who is a Rabbinical School student at Hebrew Union College. With Laurie, we took a tour of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. We unfortunately did not see Brandon Walsh, Whoopi Goldberg, or Tito Puente. We pretended, however, to see Britney Spears. We tried desperately to prevent Maurice from breaking out in song, but we were miserable failures.
And now, dear readers, I must pack. It is my sincere hope that the Mistuh was more witty in his daily entry than I was, for I feel this was a very factual entry. Too bad. Maybe next time. Till then, dear readers, happy trails!
Friday, November 28, 2003
Buenos dias! I hope that all of our loyal readers, and maybe even the traitorous ones, had a mild and pleasant Thanksgiving. Are there any readers who refused to celebrate Thanksgiving this year? If so, email pennsmile@yahoo.com and let me know your reasons, or lack thereof. Any responses to this question are likely to be reported online.
I would like to mention that Darryl of Irvine believes I am Santa Claus and has requested certain gift items this year. Santa doesn't deliver to Jews so Darryl shouldn't hold his breath.
Also, the Head Hippos have recently heard from Charlie of NYC and Tony of Toronto via electronic communication. Thanks to those who have kept in contact and keep it up!
Neil of NYC, aka Dad, has submitted a response on the nature of the hippo's body. It is the only official emailed response I received on this matter, or so I think. If you emailed me and I blatantly ignored your message, please let me know and I'll correct the record. In any event, my father had a variety of opinions on how our map might represent an animal other than a hippo. Because I think his email ought to be published, I don't want to reveal its contents publicly at this time. Don't be surprised if you see the material on amazon.com pretty soon, though.
As the Pope mentioned, today is Buy Nothing Day, or, as the traditionalists like to call it, Black Friday. It is now 9:30 AM in California, which leads me to believe it's 12:30 PM in NYC, which leads me to believe that my mother and sister have already sided with the capitalists and have been taking advantage of today's best bargains for the past six hours. Dear readers, hold strong. Do not let the forces of consumer culture sweep you under their influence. Mom and Rach, please check the sale rack at the Gap and deliver a full report.
Our Thanksgiving meal yesterday was quite nice and I had the opportunity to meet some lovely Irvine families and share a wonderful meal with them. I thought it was fairly humorous that a sizable contigent present at the Margalith home last night came from Turkey (the country) to celebrate Thanksgiving.
This morning the Pope and I are going to Santa Ana airport to pick up our friend Maurice, who is visiting from NYC this weekend. Our plan is to go to San Diego, though that may change.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Nicki of Haircutters for cutting my hair quickly and well. I would also like the thank the person who cut the Pope's hair slowly and well. Not knowing his exact name, we've decided to call him the Secret Asian Man.
In addition, I am grateful to Demetria Williams and Jan Carpenter of Cingular Wireless. The former struck a deal with the Pope that allowed him to get a new cell phone and the latter helped him to set up his new phone. His new phone works well, and it's just like mine. We have twin babies! Both of us are happy when our phones work as they should, so this is very good news.
In the post-Thanksgiving tradition, here are a few more:
- Thanks to my parents for providing us the Hippo Mobile, previously known as the I.
- Thanks to the Pope's parents for a wonderful Thanksgiving and a pleasant respite in Irvine.
- Thanks to Crazy, Cous, the Liebermans, the future Kagans, the former Mormons, the Score manager, and the Lion Cub for hosting us at their respective homes.
- Thanks to all of our friends and relatives who have provided us with encouragement, suggestions, food, emails, phone calls, and love.
- Thanks to the Lieutenant for encouraging thrift store shopping in every state.
- Thanks to Gurie for showing us the edge of the world as we know it.
- Thanks to Ronald for teaching us the art of frequent text messaging (or in my case, receiving).
Most of all, thanks to you, our literate readers, without whom this blog would merely be a forum for us to write lots of random stuff. Oh, wait. . . . . . . .
Thursday, November 27, 2003
Good evening, fellow Americans. Tonight, I return from non-blogging purgatory to discuss certain things with our dear readers.
Tonight, while enjoying a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner with my parent's good friends and their children and relatives, Darryl Stein of Irvine, California informed us that tomorrow, Friday November 28th, marks National Buy Nothing Day. The purpose of this national day is to protest American consumer culture and, according to Darryl, "neocolonial imperialistic exploitation". I am aware that some blog readers may be opposed to the implications of buying nothing. In fact, some fellow travelers on the Committee may defy National Buy Nothing Day. However, I fully plan of abiding by this noble concept and will protest our consumer culture by buying absolutely zippee doo dah tomorrow. I encourage you to join me in this endeavor, and thank Darryl for bringing this event to my attention. He may or may not receive a prize for his contributions.
Today's dinner conversation also involved some discussion regarding international politics. Indeed, we saw some heated debate concerning America's involvement in Iraq, tax policy in America, a local grocery store strike, and whether the Stein's cat is indeed becoming less antisocial. I am of the firm belief that said cat does not even exist, as I have never seen it. Clearly, this issue is crucial from the standpoint of American foreign policy.
We realize we have blogged infrequently since our arrival in Irvine. This is because we have been vegetating a la candied yams for the past two days. You see, it's very difficult work traveling across a big hippo, and even Committee members need some rest. Yesterday, we ran several errands, and I am proud to sport a new haircut for our trip in the south. I am not sure what kind of haircut is appropriate for southern travel. If any readers have their opinions, please do not hesitate to make them known to us.
Yesterday, we had the opportunity to watch an episode of the O.C. on Fox. I do not know if many people, beside current roommate of America Buffy a/k/a Antwan, have seen this show. Mistah and I concluded the show is overdone and shallow. We mentioned this fact to our fellow dinner guests, who confirmed that Orange County, like the O.C., is also overdone and shallow. I am tempted to agree on several counts.
Currently in several Orange County supermarket chains, employees are on strike in order to secure better health benefits. We have heard much about this strike since our arrival in Southern California. I would like to take this opportunity to praise the striking workers at Albertsons, Ralphs and other supermaket chains, and to priase those consumers, like my mother, who have decided to shop at competing chains where employees are not on strike. According to our guests tonight, Costco, Trader Joes and other competitors are reaping tremendous benefits from the fact that consumers like my mother are shoppping at their stores instead of the stores where employees are striking. That concludes this public praising session.
I have started offering more opinions because of the dearth of exciting facts happening on this end of the country. Oh, I did learn how to count in Korean today, as well as to say my name is Guy. Or rather, Ga-ee, as my name would be in Korean. This is an improvement from "Gaa", which is what my former band director in high school used to call me.
And now that you're bored to tears, I will sign off of the blogspot this evening. Enjoy your turkey day!
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Happy Wednesday, dear readers. In case you were wondering, we have arrived! Pope and I are now comfortably lodged in the Margalith home in Irvine, California, and likely to remain so until Sunday. This completes the GO portion of our trip and we will enjoy a leisurely respite before embarking on the BACK segment.
We arrived to a warm welcome yesterday afternoon after a scenic drive south from Santa Barbara. Pope and I thought we had a lot of people to visit in southern California but we were mistaken. Aunt Shirlee of Santa Monica has fallen ill and we hope she will improve very soon. Hipolito, formerly of New Jersey, is currently residing in Brazil, or so we've heard. Grant of UCLA is visiting his family in northern California for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. That leaves Laurie of LA, who is currently in San Diego. We will try very hard to see her either there or elsewhere before we depart the great and unfortunately Republican-led state of California.
Pope and I will now attempt to get haircuts. Peace and love from Irvine!
Monday, November 24, 2003
And I'm back. Successfulness has been achieved and I will continue with my reverse narrative. When we last left our story, the Turks were advancing rapidly toward California and frequently text messaging Jed Gross for sociological background on the shopping centers they passed along the way.
So the other thing we saw in SF yesterday was the Palace of Fine Arts, aka Palace of Arts and Crafts. It got a thumbs up in our LET'S GO guidebook. The things that get thumbs up in that book are invariably amazingly splendiferous and this was no exception. There are these huge columns and you feel like you're in ancient Greece. Our experience was heightened by the darkness, my old friend. I highly, highly recommendo.
On Sunday morning, Kerri and Colleen cooked a super crepe breakfast. That was a real treat.
On Saturday evening, I had a chance to meet Kerri's friends, which was great because I'd heard a lot about them as Kerri and I traversed the eastern hemisphere last year.
Saturday was a day of work as we desecrated the holy Sabbath in various ways. Kerri worked, Colleen worked a mountain, and Pope and I worked the streets of SF. We saw Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Union Square, the Castro, and the Mission. We also took a subway and tried very hard to ride the famous cable car but failed miserably. The line was really long at the starting point so we walked along the road the cable cars travel on, hoping to get on at a designated stop along the way. At every stop, the car was full when it passed and didn't stop to let people on. We eventually walked the full length of the cable car track and found an equally long line at the other end. Sadness!
Hang in there. I'm getting close. Here comes my condensed version of the rest of it. Bet I can do it in one paragraph.
Friday night saw us arrive in Berkeley, have trouble parking, spring for a lot, reject it as too small, choose another one, search out a restaurant, use its bathroom, search out a restaurant to eat it, eat there, go to a coffee shop to use the internet, call Kerri, drive to Alameda, see Kerri and Colleen, hang out a bit and go to sleep. Friday morning we left Reno, which I didn't love so much and will therefore say nothing more about.
See? I wrapped it up in one final paragraph, didn't I? Of course this one doesn't count!
One last thing, I promise. If you think I wrote a ton today, you're absolutely right!
peace and love from sunny, Southern California : )
Yobo, say "yo!". I write from the illustrious University of California at Santa Barbara. If you know who Bob Barker is, you're familiar with UCSB. Here we are staying with the Pope's brother Gurie, who has been awarded a prize for being the first person to serve us a home cooked dinner. Gurie prepared salad, rice, and an amazing salmon teriyaki after working hard on behalf of California Jewry.
Remember that 80's TV show "Facts of Life"? This blog entry is going to be nothing like that. Remember the backwards Seinfeld episode? This blog entry is going to be something like that.
Before arriving in SB, we drove from Alameda, CA, heading south along the Pacific Coast Highway. We were able to eyeball the ocean and many mountains. Though we drove hundreds of miles, we passed only a handful of restaurants at which to lunch and no rest stops with picnic tables or McDonald's with free tables. The one restaurant we did find charged about $17.50 for a salad so we organized an instant boycott. There is some kind of recent internet trend involving instant gatherings of large numbers of people. I suddenly thought of it but can't remember what it's called. Email me at pennsmile@yahoo.com to let me know. You can also call (917) 657-8122 or even text message me. If you want to challenge a certain New Yorker for the nickname Reagan, you might try faxing me at an undisclosed location. Anyway, we ate outdoors, out of our cooler. Three green-eyed black cats eyed our tuna fish longingly. In my humble opinion, they licked the faux cobblestone clean once we returned to our vehicle.
Last night we watched "The Practice." Now there's something wrong with taking a popular show and firing half the cast. Yea, I know the new guy is slimy and everybody loves a slimy lawyer. But those intense eyes. That heavy sigh. The most serious demeanor possible. We want Bobby Donnell back!
Before getting home early so we could wake up to drive to Santa Barbara the next day, we dined in a Turkish restaurant with my dear friend Kerri, her wonderful sister Colleen, and their very friendly friend, Liz. You might say our whole day had a Middle Eastern theme because, a few hours before dinner, Kerri, Colleen, Pope and I snacked on hummus plate and Greek salad at cool coffee shop next to a popular park in San Francisco's Mission area.
We really needed that snack because we'd spent a couple of hours driving and walking around the Mission, a San Francisco neighborhood known for splendid murals, fine dining, and lesbians, among other things. Pictures of the colorful and sometimes politically inspired murals will appear on our yahoo photos page in less than fifty hours, I believe. As Verizon so helpfully said to my roommates and I last year in our third week without internet acess, "Good things come to those who wait."
In case you're getting bored with the play-by-play, I will now interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging to offer a challenge. Pope and I decided we have not had enough feedback from random blog readers. If you are a random blog reader, please email pennsmile@yahoo.com or call (917) 657-8122. The first random person to contact me may or may not receive a prize, so do it right now! (By the way, if I've met you before, you're not a random person, but you're still encouraged to call and email frequently.)
I would also like to take this opportunity to mention Cousin Deb of NYS, who has been emailing positive feedback recently. Dave of Harvard Law School and Seren of NYU sent emails in response to postcards. Great to hear from both of you!
I'm going to post now because I'm afraid I'm going to lose all this stuff I've typed, cry a river, and drown the whole world. That would be not good, so here goes.
Calling all random blog readers! After having been informed through the grapevine that many random people are reading our readers, we would like to let all our readers, especially random readers, that WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
That's right! If you are a random blog reader, meaning we have never met you before, please email us to let us know who you are! We may or may not give you a prize for stepping forward, but we may or may not mention you on the blog as well. Either way, we really want to know who among the planet's 6 billion people is currently reading our blog:)
Please email the pope at guymargalith@nyc.rr.com or the Mistah Mistah at pennsmile@yahoo.com.
I almost forgot to mention- many readers have protested my statement that we have arrived at the Hippo's tuchus. Indeed, many readers had believed that San Francisco was the Hippo's nose, and not the Hippo's tuchus.
Therefore, I submit to our dear readers a poll! Please email pennsmile@yahoo.com your answer to the following question:
After looking at the picture of the Great American Hippo , I believe that San Francisco represents
A) the Hippo's tuchus
B) the Hippo's nose
We will post the results of our poll as soon as the Advisory Council gets off their own tuchusi and starts advising us!:)
Do you know the way to San Jose, dear readers? Well, we sure do! Today we passed through San Jose on our way south to sunny (on paper at least) Southern California. I blog to you tonight from the illustrious Davidson Library at the University of California at Santa Barbara, an institution famous for one Gurie Margalith who attends this school. For those who are scratching their heads, Gurie is my 19-year old brother, currently attending UCSB as a Sophomore, majoring in Psychology and Business Economics with a focus on Accounting, as well as a minor in Phillosophy. I am as impressed as you are.
Before I discuss today, however, I will summarize yesterday's events after my high praise of Kerri and Colleen's apartment. We decided to return to San Francisco, where we indulged in mural eyeballing in the Mission and hummus platter-eating in Dolores Cafe, as well as some Kokology playing. We then had the distinct pleasure of seeing Liz, our sole human live Stock, once again in her home and her neighborhood in eastern San Francisco.
After a restful sleep in Alameda once again, we departed at approximately 9AM through San Jose and onto the Pacific Coast Highway. After beholding breathtaking ocean scenery and narrowly avoiding paying astromically high prices at a small town on the way, we safely arrived in Santa Barbara where we were warmly greeted by Gurie.
After having lived in and visited several college apartments and dormitories, we were not sure what to expect from Gurie in his humle home on a dreamy street in Saint Barbara. I am pleased to report that my parent's chairs, as well as a sparkly clean bathroom, made us happy to have decided to spend the night here.
We were further shocked by the most delicious dinner of salmon, salad and rice that Gurie had prepared for our consumption on arrival. The salmon, with a light braze of teriyaki sauce and lemon dill topping from Trader Joe's, was prepared to perfection and tickled the taste buds. Hats off to Gurie. Imma, you trained him well! He is more than qualified to cook any meal you can think of.
As Gurie's internet connection at home can be accurately described as a malfunctioning miserable failure, Gurie was kind enough to recognize our need to blog to you the day's activities. As an avid blog follower, Gurie was of course also keyed into the fact that you all are very curious to know what we are up to. As such, Gurie provided efficient and speedy transportation to the Davidson Library, a fantastic structure that has met all my blogging needs.
I am pleased to report that our non-human livestock count stands at 8644. Of course, I could be mistaken. I do not take any responsibility should this number be inaccurate.
Tomorrow, we depart for our final destination on the westward portion of our trip: Irvine, California! We will stay in Irvine until Sunday, at which time we will begin our great regression to New York City through the southern portion of this big Republican country of ours.
We have received a complaint from one loyal blog reader that we did not extend adequate coverage to the great and holy state of Minnesota on this blog. I would like to clarify that we did indeed enjoy Minnesota tremendously! Although we experienced our first snow storm in that northern state, our dining was superb and our hosts in that city were extremely welcoming. Indeed, to my knowledge Mistah Grandma holds Minneapolis to be his most favorite city visited thus far on our hippo! The next drink is for you, Minnesota!
That is all for now, dear hipposters! Till tomorrow, in Irvine! -P
Sunday, November 23, 2003
Good afternoon fellow Hipp-o-sters from sunny Alameda, CA! I write to you from the home of Kerri in her spacious, well-kept, incredibly clean, and very comfortable apartment after a very filling breakfast of crepes and lemonade. The Mistah is currently washing dishes, while I do the hard work of blogging to our dear readers what has transpired on our lengthy journey. I'm already breaking a sweat!
Alameda is a small post-industrial and pre-industrial island in San Francisco bay with an unknown hispanic population. (I apologize if some of you do not get our inside jokes, but literally this is true). Yesterday, we awoke to another beautiful day. After hunting through Alameda's military-industrial complex, we found the ferry landing and boarded the ferry to San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. The weather was amazing, and I will soon be posting pictures of our scenic journey through the bay, under various bridges, past Alcatraz island, and into San Francisco.
Unfortunately, we were unable to spend most of the day yesterday with Kerri and her sister Colleen, as Colleen accompanied Kerri to her place of employment yesterday. In their absence, Ari and I walked around several San Francisco neighborhoods. We thought we would take the trolley, but unfortunately we were miserable failures in boarding one as they were all full. Instead, we walked all the way from Fisherman's Wharf, through Chinatown, and to Union Square. We are probably much thinner now from climbing all those hills!
We then spent 40 minutes trying to figure out how to take the subway to the Castro. After touring the Castro area, we made our way to the Haight (pronounced "hate"), a hip neighborhood nearby, where we met Kerri, Colleen, and their friend Liz for a delicious thai dinner. Surprisingly, we felt much love in the Haight in the company of our new friend Liz, and were surprised that there was no hate in the Haight. I hate the Haight's hills, which were hard to climb, but I loved the Haight's lack of hate. As you can see, we had a good time last night.
I am proud to announce that yesterday we sighted our first human livestock. Our livestock count currently stands at over 5000, while our live Stock count stands at 1. How can this be? Well, Kerri and Colleen's friend Liz's last name is Stock! To the best of my knowledge, she is quite live, so that would make her a live Stock. We took a picture to illustrate, which should be posted within the next two days.
I am pleased to hear that our readership continues to grow. I am excited to welcome new international readers from Israel, as well as a potential reader from Spain! Welcome to the blog, we hope you enjoy it!
I discovered yesterday that the Mistah procured the nickname of "Grandma" when he was in Korea with Kerri last year. I never knew this. Apparently, Mistah is the Grandma because of his inclination to take care of others in a grandmotherly fashion. I can attest to this, as I have been well taken care of with frequent healthful snacks of banana chips, dried apples, strange cereals containing 5560.4 types of nuts, and of course health food bars. My bedtime of late has also moved back to a healthful 11AM average, and I can attest to the fact that I eat breakfast at Grandma's urging every morning. I submit to the advisory board a proposal to change the name of web address of this blog to PopeGrandma.blogspot.com.
The Grandma and I will attempt to blog more frequently, and we apologize for recently infrequent updates. We promise to do better over the next few weeks, now that we are near Silicon Valley, the home of Ebay!
Today we hope to explore more of the city, this time with Colleen and Kerri. We will blog to you our hill-climbing calorie count as soon as the Committee makes those numbers public. Have a great day, dear hipposters!
Friday, November 21, 2003
Tonight, ladies and gentleman, marks a very special day in the life of the Great American Hippo. Today, for the very first time, the time listed as the posting time of this blog entry actually represents the correct time. For you see, dear bloggers, yesterday we crossed the state line into Nevada and officially entered the Pacific Time Zone. Aren't you as excited as we are?
Today also marked a special occasion, for today we progressed as far west as we will be going on this hippo of ours. Those of you following along on our Great American Hippo map on photos.yahoo.com/popemistah, you will note that today we sit squarely on top of the Hippo's ass in San Francisco! That's right, I write to you tonight from the San Francisco Bay Area. Technically, right now I am in Berkeley, CA only a few feet from the CAL campus. For those of you yet to be initiated, CAL represents the University of California at Berkeley. We are also pleased to report that today we re-entered our first blue state since South Dakota. We are pleased to be in the presence of those who voted for Al Gore.
I am displeased, however, to be located in the same state as a Republican Governor. We had hoped to arrive while Governor Davis was still exercising his just and rightful authority, yet we were too late.
This morning we awoke in Reno (a city with no Internet access, which explains our absence from this blog for a short period of time). We departed early and proceeded through the Sierra Nevada mountains, and beheld the splendor that is Sacramento. But then we remembered the lousy governor, so after eating lunch in the capital of this state, we promptly made our way to San Francisco. We decided to take a lengthy route so that we could drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, which provided an amazing backdrop to our journey.
Tonight, we will be staying with Ari's Fulbright friend Kerri in her home in Alameda, CA. We will be here until Monday morning, at which time we're heading to Santa Barbara! Watch out all you surfer dudes down there.
In my opinion, the coffee shop where I am currently blogging to you smells like tuna fish. In my opinion, that isn't so great, but I am willing to suffer tremendous amounts to blog to you tonight.
This is his Holiness, signing off from sunny California! Farewell, dear readers!
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Good afternoon blogspotters. Pope and I arrived in the great and holy Salt Lake City yesterday and we said, "This is the place." We were referring to the Courtyard by Marriott, which provides wireless internet access in the lobby of its hotel in Sandy, Utah.
Last night we ate burritos with my friend Amber, her sister Hayley, and their mom. Then we relaxed and watched "Queer Eye" for a little bit before retiring for the night. We felt tired and didn't want to stay up late.
This morning Amber, Hayley, Pope, and I ventured into a canyon - or through a canyon, I'm not sure which - to breakfast at the famous Ruth's Diner. After a satisfying breakfast, Hayley headed off to class at the U of U and the three of us set off to see some sights. We stopped at a statue commemorating the spot where the Mormons stopped after trekking across America. I'd always wanted to see that place. Then we went downtown to visit Temple Square, the Mormon headquarters of sorts, and Utah's capital building. Check out our pictures of all three morning activities on our yahoo website.
We are currently experiencing the new public library of Salt Lake City, which has been incessantly praised by every Utahn we've met thus far. Amber is starting her own religion of SLC Library devotees. She intends to send them around the world in black suits to smile widely, approach strangers, and share with them the glory and inner peace that come to those who embrace her city's public library.
And on a totally unrelated note, here are things I'm excited about today:
- This library really is cool and reminds me of the newly renovated one in Flushing, Queens, which I highly recommendo.
- Pope and I are having lots of fun hanging out with Amber and Hayley.
- Only two days until San Francisco.
- The Massachusetts court system rocks.
- I purchased fifteen postcards today.
- It's like fifty-five degrees outside.
I regret that this blog does not provide a feature that would allow our brilliant readers to respond. In order to make it more interactive, please send your thoughts, observations, frustrations, comments, criticisms, suggestions, inspirations, poetry, and baby pictures to pennsmile@yahoo.com or call (917) 657-8122. As always, creative submissions will be shared with our worldwide audience and all submissions will garner electronic praise.
peace and love from Salt Lake City : )
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
In my opinion, the Pope and I were previously competing to see who could blog more. However, it seems that, as of this afternoon, brevity is in vogue. Less is more. Concision rocks. If you disagree strongly with this trend and want really, really long blog entries, email me at pennsmile@yahoo.com and complain bitterly. Otherwise, I win (for the moment)!
Hello dear readers from the great state of Utah, the home of the 2002 Winter Olympics, as we were informed when we drove in this afternoon. We write to you tonight from the Courtyard Marriott hotel in Sandy, Utah, not far from the home of Ari's friend Amber. We will be joining her tonight and will be spending the next few days with her.
Today was relatively uneventful, as was last night. Unfortunately, the committee does not have much new to report. We were able to see the new Matrix movie last night, and were not very impressed. We were impressed, however, that the movie theater offers wine in the theater as a healthful beverage. We were also impressed that we were the only ones in the theater watching the Matrix.
I am also pleased to inform you that I sighted my first Idaho potato last night at dinner. Mistuh and I shared this piece of Americana in its baked form, and can report it tastes exactly the same as potatoes in New York City.
That is all for now, dear readers. Please enjoy our new upload photos!:
http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah - WEEK 1 PHOTOS
http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah2 - WEEK 2 PHOTOS
Hello dear readers, I write to you today from the Courtyard Marriott at Sandy, Utah to give you the following important information:
Because we have used up all our available space on yahoo photos, we have created a new photo website. We now have TWO photo sites. Site 1 is dedicated to week 1, and site 2 is dedicated to week 2 of our journey. The links are as follows:
http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah - WEEK 1 PHOTOS
http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah2 - WEEK 2 PHOTOS
We will fill up the second web site as much as can and will create additional web sites as necessary. Because we are now in Utah, a state with advanced Internet technology, we can now upload these pictures. We hope you enjoy! Email us if you have any problem accessing the new pictures.
Regards,
The Committee
Monday, November 17, 2003
Hello, this is New York City reporting live from Ketchum, Idaho. Shouldn't they have just called it Ketchup? Why create so much unnecessary confusion?
I have been informed that there is a group of people at the great and holy Penn State University reading this blog. As someone who is often identified as a graduate of that fine educational institution, I welcome that group warmly to the Hippo family. I invite them, and all of our other loyal readers, to share this blog with anyone you think might enjoy it. After all, we're starting a movement here!
Today I was mightily ashamed to be an American and even more so to be headed to the unfortunate state of California. The Pope watched Arnold's inauguration on television today. He takes a strong interest in his sometime home state. I chose to read a month old New York Times Magazine, as is my custom, in the upstairs lobby of our hotel. I noticed that several cows perished in the creation of that fine lobby and I truly believe that it would be a tragedy to rival the one that took place in Sacramento today were I to forsake the upstairs lobby of the Clarion Inn.
So far today the Pope and I have spent time in a bookstore and a library. Isn't there something funny about those two places? In the bookstore, you have to pay for books if you want to take them out. In the library, you can take books out for free. But the bookstore we visited, like many, had several chairs in it. So customers there are encouraged to read the books, presumably before buying them. But a clever cat could just read a chapter each time she visited the bookstore and never buy anything, couldn't she?
And here in the library, where reading books would certainly seem to be an encouraged activity, and multiple chairs and tables are provided for that very purpose, the majority of the people seem to be primarily interested in the internet. Any explanations or comments on these trends would be greatly appreciated. Email pennsmile@yahoo.com or call (917) 657-8122.
Hi, this is Hari. Today I would like to share some suggestions that I received via email from my Uncle Fred.
A few tips for the road:
1. Never drink and drive, especially when you are on a one lane mountain road in a blizzard. In that situation, pull into a motel and drink heavily.
2. Eat plenty of fiber, unless you are driving on a long road with no bathroom access.
3. Never book a room in a motel with a name like "The Benjamin Franklin Motel" if it is run by Arabs. Just take my word on this one.
4. If while driving you hear Heavy Metal but the radio is off, pull into the nearest gas station.
5. If you get pulled over by a state trooper with a 3 pointed hat and boots above the knee, say "no habla ingles." Never say you are "2 Jewish guys from New York who graduated from an Ivy League school and are touring around our beautiful country to see the remarkable splendor that is America. " You will both wind up in jail.
Hello dear International readers! I have been recently informed that our blog is being read by both foreign and domestic audiences. I am greatly honored that we have people in Israel, Great Britain, France and Canada all reading our blog entries! If anyone else is reading this blog and lives in a foreign country, please let us know! We will praise you mightily on this blog.
I am also pleased to welcome readers from Penn State University. We were not aware that our blog reached even the deepest reaches of rural Pennsylvania.
Today I write to you from the Ketchum Community Library, which has a 30 minute only Internet access policy if people are waiting in line to use a computer. Since I've already utilized all 30 of my minutes reading your great emails, I apologize if I need to cut this blog posting unduly short.
Honestly, I think we had no intention of blogging you today. Ketchum Idaho is even more beautiful than Bozeman, MT. It lies in the heart of the Sun Valley area, in the dead center of the state of Idaho. Normally, it is a busy ski or hiking town. However, we arrived at an awkward time of year, since there is not enough snow on the ground to ski and there is too much snow to hike. Therefore, we find ourselves the sole occupants of the Clarion Inn in the HEART of Ketchum, ID, with little else to do except relax by the Clarion's fireplace, watch the Matrix, and blog to you at the library, only a 2 minute walk from our hotel. Aren't you thankful?
Regretably, I have yet to confirm that there is indeed Ketchup in Ketchum. I will keep my eyes peeled. In addition, we have yet to try Idaho potatoes. I don't know where they can grow these mythical potatoes, everywhere we passed yesterday was snowed in, or too barren to grow anything. Maybe they have secret underground passageways in Idaho where they grow their potatoes.
While we relax, put up our feet by the fireplace, build snowmen, and hunt for ketchup for our potatoes, we vaguely remember that today is Monday and is indeed a day of hard work and no play for many of our dear readers. We highly recommendo you come to Ketchum to relax, during the ski season, when your hotel room may actually be worth the price:)
Tomorrow, we will be heading to points south, this time to the Mormon bastion of Salt Lake City. We are preparing ourselves for the experience, believe you me. In SLC, we will stay with Ari's Fulbright friend, Amber (pronounced Am-buh). After that, we will drive through Nevada, past Sacramento, where we may or may not see the new governor, and then onto our furthest point west: San Francisco. From then on out, it's technically heading back east.
I have just been informed that someone on the waiting list has been asked to displace me on illustrious "Internet Computer #6" in Ketchum, ID. I am awed that such an experience can take place in Idaho. I am so much in awe, I will indeed surrender my computer. And if I'm making no sense, blame it on the lack of oxygen in Idaho.
Till then, dear national and international readers, be well and stay warm!
-P
Saturday, November 15, 2003
The Committee of the Great American Hippo thanks all of its readers who have submitted applications for the Advisory Council. Regretfully, we are no longer accepting applications for the Advisory Council at this time as all positions have been filled.
The Committee is proud to nominate Adam Lubow of Tannersville, New York to the Advisory Council. Adam brings an extensive Spanish language vocabulary to the Committee, which will assist us in no way at all when we are in the states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Nevertheless, the Committee is pleased to welcome Adam.
The Committee is also pleased to welcome Jay Wang of Cambridge, Massachusetts to the advisory Council. Jay brings an extensive ability to budget time and money to the Committee, as well as special recommendations for nightlife activities in the states of Idaho and Wyoming. Having hosted the Committee on its last road trip outside of the Great American Hippo, Jay understands exactly what is required to truly advise the Committee on its journey. Welcome, Jay.
Thank you to all our readers who submitted applications! We look forward to fantastic advice from our dear Advisory Council, especially on cheap hotel rooms on the Las Vegas Strip. This, so far, seems to be our most immediate concern. Get to work, all of you!:)
I'm back! That's right. After a brief respite, Mr. Kong is a blog man once again.
Today was a wonderful day because we went absolutely nowhere! As fabulous as it is to traverse this large, beautiful, empty, misguided country, everyone needs a break after a while. So today we slept in. I spent the morning reading the NY Times magazine in our hotel room and the afternoon strolling along the streets of downtown Bozeman. It's a pleasant university town and I was able to do a little shopping, shopping.
Now I am going to offer praise and gratitude. Oprah says gratitude is the key to happiness, as does Dennis Prager. So here goes.
The person I must praise is my fellow traveler, car companion, Nature Valley bar splitter, twenty questions partner (don't worry Lieutenant, I'll still play with you, too), nighttime chatter, blogger blogger, and best friend. I am very lucky to be crossing this great megook with the Pope. He truly is great and holy.
In my opinion that's enough sappiness for one day. I will continue to praise and thank other people and places in future posts.
I think that Pope and I are now in the West. I've noticed a few things about the West. I strenuously oppose generalizations because they are necessarily reductive and do justice neither to particular details nor to broad experiences. Please note that the following are generalizations.
Here are some things about the West that are good.
- Traffic is light or nonexistent.
- There is a lot of space in which to move.
- Mountains make for pleasant scenery.
- Hotels and motels abound.
- USM provides free internet access.
Here are some things about the West that are bad.
- Cingular Wireless does not provide service.
- Vegetarian cuisine is severly limited.
- Parking in urban areas and and near universities is as difficult as it is anywhere else.
- There are very few people.
- Public transportation is limited or nonexistent.
- Most of the people are white.
Peace and love from Bozeman, Montana : )
Good afternoon, dear readers. Today we find ourselves hijacking yet another University library for the purposes of blogging. You may have noticed a conspicuous absence of blogging yesterday. We had travelled very far from the state of South Dakota to Boseman, Montana - nearly 550 miles in one day.
Boseman, MT is a moderately small town in the southern portion of the middle of Montana. The scenery here is simply spectacular. The town is bordered on all sides by mountains, and two ski resorts lie in close proximity. I am pleased to report that the manager of the Ramada Inn where we are staying was "greatly honored" that we had chosen her hotel for our stay in Boseman. At least, that's what she wrote on the fancy laminated note left on our beds.
Yesterday on our way to Montana we stopped at Devils Tower National Monument. Those of you who have seen the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind may recognize the pictures of this big rock once we post them. The famous scene with the flying saucer was filmed at Devils Tower. Our attempts to circumnavigate the tower on foot were foiled, however, due to slippery ice lining the hiking trail. In apparent compensation for this dissapointment, the National Park Service provided two pleasant Wisconsinites out of thin air to take our pictures. We missed Wisconsin very much, and thanked the Park Service for their generous apparition.
Later in the day, we drove through Wyoming and were pleased to quickly depart. In Montana, we stopped briefly at the Little Bighorn Battlefiled Memorial, where one can still see exactly where Custer made his famous last stand. We drove an additional three hours to Boseman, MT.
Today, we took a break! We woke up late and Mistuh and I decided to engage in different activities during the early afternoon hours. I drove 40 miles to Pleasant Valley, Montana to behold world-famous mountian scenery just outside of Yellowstone National Park. Mistuh decided to go shopping. While I was driving back through Main St., Boseman, I was shocked to find Ari walking down the street with shopping bags in hand. Since this was very much out of character for Ari, I offered him a ride to U of MT, where we now sit.
Montana is much warmer than I thought. It is only 45 degrees outside. However, there is a lot of snow on the ground that has not melted, which tells me we better get out of here fast before any more of that snow traps us here. It is very ominous to be driving down a major interstate highway and to pass barricades and yellow lights that when flashing, tell one to "Continue No Further, Return to Previous Town" because of snow. Luckily, no road we have traversed has been closed so far.
Tomorrow, we depart Montana and proceed to Ketchum, Idaho. Maybe Ketchum will provide ketchup to go with their famous potatoes. Or maybe because probably other people have made fun of it, they just call ketchup ketchum in Ketchum. The answer to this, and other life mysteries, awaits our dear blog readers in the next entries.
Till then, a tip of the ol' cowboy hat and a kick of our shiny spurs to you, dear readers.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Hello America! This is the Pope again, reporting to you live from Rapid City, South Dakota, a small pre-industrial town with no hispanic population. Today's activities were a change of pace from our standard driving across hundreds of miles of territory. We woke up relatively late and headed off to Keystone, South Dakota. From there, it was a short drive to see Mount Rushmore. It was a truly gorgeous day, so the four heads stood out even more with the beautiful blue sky. Later, we progressed to Crazy Horse Monument.
I bet only some of you know that Mt. Rushmore, and Crazy Horse Monument, were carved out of the mountain using dynamite. Crazy Horse, a monument to the famous Native American leader, is not yet finished. We had the great luck of witnessing a dynamite blast at the Crazy Horse sight, which was very exciting.
Throughout our travels today, we noticed that we were among the very few tourists in the area. Apparently, nobody comes to South Dakota or Wymoing during the early Winter months, so we basically had all the parks to ourselves today.
Later, we drove to Wind Cave National Park and were fortunate to make it just in time for the last tour of the Wind Cave that day. The Wind Cave is an extremely large cave formation hundreds of feet below the ground in Southwestern South Dakota. Mistah, myself and one other woman were the only people on the tour given by the National Park Service.
Today we would like to notify you of a change in our travel plans for the next few days. Due to road closures and possible wintry conditions near Yellowstone National Park, we have decided to bypass our three night stay in the State of Wyoming. Instead, we will now be proceeding to Boseman, Montana for a two night relaxing stay. Some of you who have seen the movie A River Runs Through It may be familiar with the scenery we will see in Boseman, as the movie was filmed in that city. We are looking forward to it.
After Boseman, we will progress through the western border of Yellowstone National Park on the Idaho side, all the way to Ketchum, Idaho, a small resort town four hours north of Salt Lake City. On Tuesday morning, we will resume our regularly scheduled itinerary and progress to Salt Lake City, and then on to Nevada and California.
We are saddened to hear about the severe weather conditions our dear readers may have experienced in the Northeast and in California. We are pleased to report that we are high and dry in South Dakota, and look forward to another stunningly beautiful clear sunny warm day tomorrow.
Ari, in my opinion, has left me to report on our South Dakota experience for today. I share your hope that he will resume reporting our progress soon, as I'm sure I'm missing out on important details.
For those keeping track, our Livestock Count continues to rise. It now stands over 1000, although I don't have the exact number in front of me because we left the paper in the car and it's too darn cold to go outside. Yes, we know we're lazy.
Today we were able to sight many non-livestock animals. At Mount Rushmore, we made friends with a mountain goat who decided to walk us out of the parking lot and to the main highway. We weren't able to ask it its name before we departed. At Crazy Horse, we made friends with Thunder the cat. Or rather, Ari made friends with Thunder. I was the official photopher for that momentous occasion. In Wind Cave national park, we had to drive carefully to avoid running over thousands of field mice roaming the praries. We also narrowly missed having to wait for wild bison to cross the road on our way back to Rapid City.
All in all, it has been a really exciting stay in South Dakota. Tomorrow, it's off to Republican Red State lands Wyoming and Montana. If we survive, we will be sure to report our progress. Till then, fellow compatriots! -P
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Hello from the the state with Famous Faces with Great Places, the long and narrow state of South Dakota! Miraculously, we are able to blog to you tonight utilizing the wonderful powers of NetZero and the RoadKill Inn's free local calling promotion. The RoadKill Inn, Imma, is not really called the RoadKill Inn of course, it's the Roadway Inn, but from henceforth we shall call it the RoadKill Inn.
I will start off with some public service announcements tonight. First, the Blogspot web site only provides a few days in the past of history when you first load the page. To see everything we have blogged this month, please click on the Archive link for 11/01 through 11/30. Secondly, we will be unable to upload photos until we reach Salt Lake City due to Internet restrictions. Thirdly, cell phone service in the middle of buffalobill america seems to be spotty at best. We will be unreachable by cell phone. When we reach Salt Lake City, or maybe even sooner, we will be available once again.
Today was a very long driving day. We left the Liebermans at around 9AM, drove through rural Minnesota and a very strong snowstorm. However, we quickly pierced through the storm and found ourselves in South Dakota with 350 miles ahead of us until we reached the other side of the state. On the way, we visited Badlands National Park to see some truly stunning natural rock formations. Nightfall fell as we were driving through the park, and we were able to see one of the most beautiful and star-filled night skies I can remember.
Not to be outdone, here are some of my opinions of our trip thus far:
1. I am a big fan of dried bananas. I will praise the Department of Homeland Security for not confiscating my bananas when we crossed from Canada.
2. Dried bananas are a pleasant snack to eat, but they leave a powdery residue on your fingers. Dried apples are also pleasant to eat, but they leave a nasty aftertaste. Kit Kat is pleasant to eat, but you feel like a pig afterwards, especially if you have a 10 hour drive ahead of you. We will refer this problem to the Advisory Council for consideration.
3. The Livestock Count now stands at 967, having jumped more than 800 today alone. Apparently, there are a lot of cattle and horses in South Dakota. I almost ate one for dinner instead. If I did, however, we don't think this would lower the livestock count in South Dakota, since we are only counting witnessed livestock, not all living livestock. This is a deep philosophical question only two guys driving for 10 hours through South Dakota can consider.
4. Rush Limbaugh is lousy. We could barely listen to Rush for more than 2 minutes today before almost running off the road. We settled for Dances with Wolves instead. Yes, there is a difference.
5. Rapid City, South Dakota is a big city! They have a Chilis, Fuddruckers, Target, a mall, and lots of gas stations. However, they have no synagogues.
6. We are going to probably change our plans soon once we near Yellowstone National Park. Due to winter road closures in the park, we may detour through Montana and Idaho instead. Keep posted to see where in the world you'll find Pope & Mistah.
That's all for tonight! Tomorrow- Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse National Monument, Black Hills National Forest, and maybe a Wind Cave. Keep warm, America! -P
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Hello loyal Hippo followers. In my opinion, my recent postings to this blog have included a lot of factual information about the things that happened to us in different places. I am tired of facts so today I will only offer you my opinions.
Coffee shops that offer wireless internet and restrooms but don't require you to buy anything are great.
Nature Valley bars make great snacks and it's exciting to share one with your travel mate for the first time at a random rest stop in the middle of America.
It is possible to describe our entire trip using the words livestock, Woodstock, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, healthful snack, and blog.
Wisconsin is a big state. It is not next to a foreign country, Mexico.
Wireless cards are miraculous technology.
Modern art is attractive.
Grammar is fun.
Blogging makes the heart grow fonder.
Asian food and Latino food are a better match than you'd expect. Black bean soup and raw tuna are a filling and delicious dinner.
It's hard to know how to pronounce places you've never heard of.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is an outstanding senator.
Now I will offer one final opinion. I believe the final statement I made was a fact.
peace and love from Minnesota : )
Hello Minneapolis! I believe that the Mary Tyler Moore Show took place in Minneapolis, but I still to meet Lous, Roda, Mary and the gang. Maybe you'll see them and let us know. I write to you from uptown Minneapolis, Minnesota at the conclusion of a long day of driving from Chicago. Not too much happened to us today, except for a very peaceful day of driving through some of Illinois, a good part of Wisconsin, and a very teeny tiny part of Minnesota.
Today, we crossed the Mississippi river for the first of two times during our journey. Unfortunately, we crossed the river at night, and my attempts to photograph it through the car window resulted in a glaring miserable failure. Perhaps the next time we cross the river in New Orleans I will be a resounding success.
Today's most exciting activity took place in Madison, Wisconsin, where Mistah and I stopped two finish our Quizno's sandwiches we had purchased the previous day. The Canadian air must still be fresh in our cooler, because the sandiwiches tasted about the same as they did in Illinois.
We stopped at the University of Wisconsin, Madison campus for lunch and pretened to be U of W students as we strode into the Rathskeller, apparently a popular eating establishment in this University. To make sure no one suspected us, we struck up a conversation about a fascinating lecture in Wisconsin history we had just attended with the mythical professor Finklestein. Later, Mistah read the Daily Chronicle, the newspaper at the University, and commented knowingly on the fact that a recent lecture given at the University by some famous person that we now can't recall.
Unfortunately, our cover was blown because we were mesmerized by the beautiful scenery of the campus, which lies on the shores of a large lake, and proceeded to take numerous pictures. It was difficult to pretend to be tourists standing by our New York State vehicle. I'm sure we fooled many Wisconsinites today.
Tonight we will be staying at the home of the Liebermans, relatives of my good friends in the great State of California. We eagerly await seeing both the Liebermans and Neudorfs on this Great American Hippo.
Since we must arrive at the Liebermans at a reasonable hour, I will now sign off and allow the Mistah Mistah to use this computer for blogging purposes. You audience members probably have no idea how much this blog has taken over our lives at this point. Maybe a lack of Internet access in South Dakota will allow us to go into withdrawal.
Tomorrow, we may or may not blog you from Rapid City, South Dakota. Jed Gross, we're thinking of you!:)
Monday, November 10, 2003
Hello fellow Bloggers. I am delaying sleep before our long trip West to announce a last minute submission and nomination to the Advisory Council of the illustratious Committee. The Committee, meeting in extraordinary session outside of normal sleeping hours, is proud to announce the nomination of one Rachel L. Gershman of Waltham, Massachusetts to the Advisory Council. Rachel a/k/a the Lieutenant brings excitement and constant praise for our blogging endeavors to the Advisory Council, having kept in constant touch with members of the Committee on a regular basis since their departure from Big Apple. The Committee looks forward to her useful contributions to our adventure.
And now, to Minnesota!
Hi, this is Hari. Today I had an opportunity to see certain parts of Chicago.
This morning the Pope and I decided to sleep in a little since we had no driving to do today. We ate yogurt for breakfast and then headed out into the world. And by that I mean that we went to the car to make certain changes.
At the recommendation of the Kagans, we lunched at the famous Quizno's. Pope chose smoked turkey and I chose tuna. We discussed how many people, including the two of us, always choose the same things to eat. We each could have predicted what the other would order from that menu.
Today we saw frogs, dolphins, catfish, salmon, trout, seahorses, anemones, otters, turtles, ticket collectors, animal trainers, and a man selling coffee at the Shedd Aquarium. I encountered tourists of all kinds there and concluded that the Pope was the sharpest tool in the Shedd. We also put on a brief show for the dolphins, who quite enjoyed our clapping. One dolphin told us she was very proud to have trained human audiences to clap whenever she gave them her secret signal.
After the aquarium we dined with my good friend Adrienne of Fulbright and Teach for America fame. Pope and I both chose something called a bread bowl for dinner. Mine had tomato soup inside a carved out crust of bread. Pope's was the same except that he chose chilli instead of soup. The dinner was good. It was a lot of bread, though, even for me.
The Kagans - as we discovered during our evening rendezvous - made a strong attempt to take their dinner at Quizno's, where the Pope and I had lunch. However, they departed from the premises as soon as they discovered that there was no tuna remaining. If you see the Kagans, please do not tell them that I contributed to the run on tuna by eating some for lunch. Furthermore, please be absolutely certain not to tell them that I ordered a regular size sandwich when I probably should have chosen the small size and stowed the uneaten half of my tuna lunch in the trunk of the car along with the Pope's leftover turkey. By reading further on this blog, you are committing to taking these secrets with you to your grave.
I would like to make certain comments about public transportation. Today, the Pope and I enjoyed buses, subways, and an elevated train, all operated by the illustrious CTA. Those who know me well know that my usual sarcasm is suspended when I discuss public transportation and the federal mail system. I thoroughly enjoyed riding today, especially on the el, because I felt like I was on er.
It is now time to mention that Osnat Margalith of the unfortunate state of California was the very first person to successfully link the title of our trip to the shape of our route, as outlined in green on our map. She deserves a heap of high praise for her efforts and may or may not receive a prize. Please note that she phoned in her answer. We will accept answers to questions posted on this blog by phone, email, or in person. Call (917) 657-8122, email pennsmile@yahoo.com, or just visit us at a random location in the contiguous forty-eight if you'd like to respond to a question. Kagan and the Lietenant may or may not receive runner-up prizes for figuring out the riddle of the hippo but mentioning it only in passing.
Tomorrow is a big day of driving to Minnesota. I'm not such a big fan of soda, but I do like Minnie Mouse.
The Committee is proud to announce the nomination of two individuals to its illustrious Advisory Council. After careful deliberations, and after considering the numerous qualifications of those who applied, and of course never once even thinking about possible financial resources of the applicants, we have come to a well-considered initial nominations to the Advisory Council.
The Committee is proud to welcome Aviram Margalith, of Irvine, California to the Advisory Council. Aviram brings years of experience to the Council, including deep concern for cold weather climates and snow the Committee may encounter (but has fortunately not yet encountered) on its lengthy journey. Due to his extensive experience, and the Committee's desire that Aviram (a/k/a abba) also participate actively in the blogging of this trip, the Commitee will award Aviram 3.487 seats on the Council. Welcome, Abba.
The Committee is also proud to nominate Maurice Michaane of New York City, New York to the advisory Council. Maurice brings extensive text messaging experience to the Council, having been clocked using the cell phone keypad at more than 10 letters per second. Maurice brings extensive political and legal experience to the Council, and will be able to extricate members of the Committee from any legal troubles they may encounter upon passing through uncharted reaches of the Country. Welcome, Maurice.
The Committee would like to conclude this public service announcement by encouraging others to apply to the Advisory Council. With many seats available, many of you may still be able to participate in an advisory capacity. Resumes may be text messaged to Mistah Mistah at any juncture.
-The Committee
Good evening America! This is the holy see, emailing you from Merav Kushner's glorious apartment complex near Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illionois, the Land of Lincoln. Today's blog entry comes to you courtesy of NetZero.com, which I highly recommendo. We were wondering how we would satiate the thirst of our dear readers for the blog this evening, and while hunting on my computer I realized I had never uninstalled netzero, which provides free Internet service. So while the connection is too slow to upload pictures, we are still able to blog away. Blog blog blog blog blog...doesn't it have a certain ring to it?
Today's day was rather lengthy and tiring, yet exciting as always. I started my day with hardcore negotiations with Ms. Demetria Williams of Cingular Wireless. Upon complaining that my phone has been experiencing problems throughout my trip, she informed me that Cingular customers from New York are currently experiencing problems roaming. After informing her that I was making the call from Ari's phone, which also uses Cingular Wireless, she informed me the problem was limited to New York customers who just happened to have my particular brand of phone. On previous occasions, Cingular had informed me that the problem was to a localized area in upstate New York, or due to a nationwide GSM outage. In other words, they kept making things up. This was unacceptable.
So I utilized my Wharton School knowledge and began hardcore negotiations to fix the problem. I am proud to say my professors would be proud: I was able to arrange for a new phone to be delivered to me in California (that's right, Imma! Please keep it safe until we get there!:)), as well as extra minutes and a refund of a month's connection charges. I may or may not begin an alternate blog for negotiation lessons, if you are interested.
Having negotiated the wilds of Cingular Wireless, we negotiated the intracasies of the Chicago bus system. We explored downtown while heading to the Shedd aquarium, where we spent a good deal of the afternoon looking at various aquatic creatures. Despite the fact that we have been offered extensive nautical and aquatic adventures once we reach the state of California by one Gur I. Margalith, we availed ourselves of the same opportunities in the Shedd, minus the surfing of course.
All those fish made us hungry for sushi, but when we met Ari's fulbright friend for dinner, all that we could find open downtown was the Corner Bakery. Our dinner consisted of 90% bread and 10% miscellaneous. The rest, I can't remember right now.
We then said goodbye to the Kagans with some Kagan Biscotti, chocolate covered pretzels, and Herbal Lemon Zest tea prepared by the famous Samantha Jones of BearingPoint consulting, who bears a striking resemblence to Merav S. Kushner.
For those who may have been uninformed, Merav and David are called the Kagans because they will shortly be wed. Because they did not express strong interest in creating an alternate blog to track their exciting lives, I am going to take the initiative of letting all our dear readers know that today the Kagans visited a photographer of high repute, although it remains to be seen whether said photographer will be chosen for their wedding.
On another side note, careful readers may note that Ari's (a/k/a the Mistah's) postings are proofread and thus, contains very few gramatical and spelling errors. I, on the other hand, prefer to just blurt out whatever comes into my brain, and naturally, I have no spell check in the hippocampus. I believe I may have learned from David Kagan what that actually is at some point. I will spare our dear readers from my posting an additional contest to define a Hippocampus. We all have access to dictionary.com:)
Per Neil Gershman's advice, we tried to look extra beautiful for the day's pictures. Hopefully, you will all be able to see them soon. Accolades go out to Maurice from NYC, who became the very first blog reader to request a picture from the Committee. The Committee thanks Maurice for his attentive attention to our itinerary, and will be happy to oblige his request upon the next upload of our pictures to http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah.
Tomorrow, we awake bright and early for our long hard blog out to Minneapolis. We look forward to our next post, from the northernmost point of our trip thus far. After that, we plan to depart for points west such as South Dakota and Wyoming. Please be aware that Internet service may be spotty at times in the great plains and rocky mountain regions of our country, and that we will try our best to blog as often as possible. Unlike Cingular Wireless, we have our users interests strongly at heart and value your continuing support:).
Till then, this is the Pontiff, signing off from Chicago.
Sunday, November 09, 2003
Hello fellow blog-lovers. As you may or may not already know, we are writing to you tonight from Briar Place, a beautiful road filled with out-of-state license plate in the heart of northern Chicago. This evening, while returning from dinner with our good friends Merav and David, we were able to sight no fewer than 8 out-of-state license plates on this very block. We are thrilled to increase our collection of out-of-state license sightings.
Today's activities found us leaving Michigan, passing through Indiana, the crossroads of America, and entering Illinois, the Land of Lincoln. It was a light day, filled with the enjoyment of seein our good friends the Kagans once again.
Stayin with the Kagans is always a very special experiene for me. Their bedrooms are always a place where good luck flows and memories are made. You may be getting the wrong idea. Antwan, I know you are. When I was studying for the Foreign Service Written Examination, Merav offered me her bed in New York, so that I could be rested before taking the exam near her apartment the next day. After I passed the Written exam, David offered me his bed in Chicago, where I was to take the Oral Examination. I passed both exams with flying colors, and I believe the Kagans' beds are directly correlated to my success. I wonder if they use Sealy's? 1-800 MATTRESS? The world may never know.
Tomorrow, I am looking forward to a restful day in Chicago, filled with such relaxing activities as seeing 4 different friends, yelling at Cingular Wireless for my continuing lack of phone coverage, blogging some more for our dear readers, and preparing for our long hard blog out west.
We are thrilled to have the honor of staying with relatives of my family's dear friends in Minneapolis: the Liebermans. We eagerly await our arrival in the northern tundra lands. Our dog sleds are prepared, our provisions will be stocked, and our antifreeze is ready. However, we first must experience one more day of the Windy City.
Before I sign off for today, I would like to acknowledge several items. A special congratulations to Neil Gershman of Douglaston, NY, for correctly and accurately defining Consanguineous- (kon sang gwin' e us) descended from the same parent or ancestor; related by blood. Neil may or may not receive a prize for his helpful definition.
The same Neil of Douglaston must have been on a role last night, for he also met an additional challenge posted to our blog readers. We had asked for a legal waiver to provide to individuals of whom we have taken a picture. Neil provided the following information: "model release not necessary for editorial photos, a model release would only be necessary for commercial use anyone walking down the street is fair game for news people, that's why you should always look good." We know are more relaxed knowing we will not be sued for providing pictures for your enjoyment. Thank you Neil! Your prize may or may not be awarded at the conclusion of our trip.
Today's livestock count (LC) increased for the first time since rural New York State. It now stands at 86. Thank you, oh horsedrawn carriage, which was sighted this evening on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
Till tomorrow, good night!
Hi, this is Ari. I'm writing from the home of the great and holy Kagan of Chicago. My first ever visit to Chicago began at about 1:45 this afternoon, though I thought it was 2:45 because we had just changed time zones. So we were about an hour early and our friends were out. As a result, we had a little time to kill. We decided to hit the venerable Sutton Place Hotel for a quick internet fix before heading to our friends' apartments.
This morning we left the pushy hotel clerk behind and headed out of Ann Arbor at 10:30 AM. We made great time across Michigan and stopped for lunch at a minimalist rest stop. Now, I'm normally a big fan of minimalism but I'm also partial to choices and this particular place provided us only one eating option - outdoor picnic tables. So we ate a quick, cold lunch out of our cooler and didn't worry much about the food going bad - though I did consider whether it would freeze.
This evening we dined at the Grand Lux Cafe in downtown Chicago off Michigan Avenue. It is a huge, beautifully decorated restaurant that serves huge portions of fabulous food. Our dear friends Kagan and Merav chose vegetarian burger options, the Pope enjoyed halibut, and I had a great salad that had about ten different things in it. For dessert, we shared a molten chocolate cake. If you don't know what that is, you're missing out on something amazing.
This evening the Pope and I are staying in the apartment of our dear friend Merav, who is kind enough to be our hostess. We have not seen Merav very often since she moved to Chicago and it's wonderful to see her again. We are also lucky enough to be visiting medical student David Kagan, a native of the Chicago area, former student president of Penn Hillel, and the best apple cake baker in the world.
Recently, we have received positive feedback on this website - and some funny commentary on our funny commentary - from the Lieutenant of Waltham, MA and Gurie of UCSB, who sometimes calls "The 'Vine" his home. We have also gotten praise from our parents and grandparents. Laurie of LA and Lubow of NY have called to check in. Both of you should expect to hear from us soon. Also, Seren of NYC has kept in close contact, as is her custom. In addition, we are constantly entertained by text messages from Maurice of NYC.
Tomorrow I am going to see Adrienne, my friend who lives in Chicago, and we are hoping to see the Pope's friend John. John, if you see this message, please call (917) 657-8122.
Peace and love from the Land of Lincoln : )
Saturday, November 08, 2003
Where did we start today? Did we leave Toronto this morning? Did we really? Well that's what I'm hearing from the pontiff.
So I think we departed Toronto this morning at 11:30 AM. Due to traffic regulations, we had a bit of trouble getting out of the city. Once we did that, though, it was smooth sailing all the way to Woodstock. That's Woodstock, Ontario, population 30,000. We chose Woodstock for our lunch and driver switching operation. Arriving there, we made an astounding discovery - every Wal-Mart has its own town! And all this time I thought that little Wal-Marts with fewer than 50,000 people wouldn't bother to go through all the trouble of building towns around them. But, proving its constant devotion to humanity, Wal-Mart invested heavily in Woodstock in order to provide its products with customers.
So it was with heavy hearts - and wind whipped faces - that we entered Wal-Mart to purchase some supplemental lunch items. That done, we looked around for a nice, warm picnic table on which to eat our midday meal. The golden arches beckoned. So do the napkins we took from McDonald's make up for the money we gave to Wal-Mart? Was it a wash in corporate Canada? Any help you can provide in unwrapping this enigma would be happily received.
Leaving Woodstock, we headed back to the Meegook. Despite our fears, we successfully passed the US border patrol officer with all of our banana chips safely stowed. It was nice to see kilometers turn back to miles, liters turn back to gallons, and dollars turn back to - - dollars.
Arriving in Ann Arbor, we phoned our hotel to inquire about parking options. The clerk assured us that the hotel provided free, abundant parking and we could leave our car in front for up to fifteen minutes while unloading our bags. When we entered the hotel and spoke to the clerk, we found out that his idea of providing parking was directing us to a nearby bank's parking lot. "Don't worry," he said. "The bank is closed now, and tomorrow's Sunday. You can park there or anywhere on the street where there's a meter for free." He was quite right, and apparently he's not the only one who knows that metered parking is free at night and on Sundays. The streets were full of cars. Fortunately, we got the last spot in the magnificent bank parking lot.
Now, wouldn't you think that streets filled with cars would indicate that people would be walking around outside? After all, our hotel is right near dowtown Ann Arbor, only a ten minute walk from the University of Michigan and its tens of thousands of students. Yet the streets - and the university - were strangely bereft of people. Pope and I noticed the same thing in Niagara Falls and parts of Toronto. We have concluded that New York City has a lot of people and the rest of the country is relatively empty. It's sometimes eerie.
We concluded our day with a delicious meal at Seva, a vegetarian restaurant recommended by our guide book, LET'S GO USA. Since using it to travel through Europe and Asia, I have come to rely on LET'S GO so heavily that I now carry a copy even when I'm in my hometown, NYC. So far, it hasn't led me wrong. I should mention, though, that the hotel clerk would be disappointed with our dinner choice. He seemed to feel strongly that we should eat Indian food for dinner, despite our assurances that we ate Indian food last night, enjoyed it thoroughly, and felt like something different. Some people are never satisfied. And they're the same people who believe in the utilization of bank parking. We may or may not award a prize to the reader who can connect those two tendencies.
Tomorrow, it's on to Chicago. And all that jazz.
Hello friends! This is Guy writing to you tonight from the great and holy University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Shapiro Undergraduate library! The Shapiro library far exceeds Steinberg-Dietrich Hall of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, in that it offers free internet access to whomever walks in the door. In my opinion, the University of Michigan, despite being extremely cold, is very open and friendly. The Wharton School, including its Defender and and all its defenders, should all learn from the inclusive policies of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library.
Today was a very cold day. According to a random building in Ann Arbor, the temperature is currently 29 degrees. I tend to trust random buildings as they have little incentive to lie. The weather channel predicted heavy snow today. While I did experience my first time ever driving in snow, said snow storm barely lasted five minutes. In the future, I will check to see if I can get my weather reports from random buildings in Michigan.
Today's activities involved a lot of driving, a lot of eating, and some crossing of international borders. The drive from Toronto to Ann Arbor was relatively short, and we discovered that fewer people have a desire to enter America from Ontario as people want to enter Canada from New York State. I think my last statement made no sense. Oh well.
We were harshly interrogated by a nice midwestern Customs official upon crossing the border in Detroit. she was concerned about the nature of our fruits and vegetables. Anticipating problems with the importation of our one remaining banana into the United States, and not trusting in the all-healing power of NAFTA, we decided to stop in a random farm road in Ontario so that Ari could finish off the banana. Fortunately, the woman customs official was not overly concerned that my extensive supply of dried banana chips, which is too extensive to consume in a backroad in Ontario, posed a threat to national security. So now, dear readers, we are still in full posession of all our banana chips. I know you were greatly concerned.
Today I have been experiencing problems with my Cingular phone. I believe this does not bode well for future voice communication in America, and I am hoping Cingular Wireless resolves their problems promptly so that I can talk to all our wonderful audience members.
I have but one complaint about the computer terminals at the Shapiro Undergraduate Library at the University of Michigan: they do not offer chairs in which one can sit while safely uploading a blog entry. This computer, we just discovered, blocks access to yahoo's mail service. If I had my digital camera, this would preclude me from uploading my pictures to share with you. Fortunately, I do not have to contend with such a situation, as I left my camera in our hotel, located just minutes from the U of M campus.
At dinner tonight in a vegetarian restaurant popular with the locals, Ari and I spent a great deal of time staring at a big map of the USA that was posted on the wall. We were fascinated by the large extent of our journey, and how little we have progressed thus far. Still, it feels like I've come a very long way from Harlem, NYC.
Tomorrow, we will wake up early and progress to Chicago. There, we will spend three fun-filled days with our good friends, the Kagans, as well as visit friends of Fulbright and Urban Fellow ancestry. If these friends are reading this now, we hope you are as excited as we are!
Good night America!
Friday, November 07, 2003
Hello, again. I nearly forgot to mention that our trip may have a new name. Two weeks ago, a memo written by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld surfaced in Washington, DC. In it, Rummy noted his firm belief that the American occupation of Iraq is going to be "a long, hard slog." As much as I hate to take a page from the man who believes, according to NY Times columnist Maureen Dowd, that manliness is next to godliness, I was inspired by Rummy's unintended press release to submit a new item to our list of possible names for this trip. Because Pope and I spend much of our days debating which of our experiences are blogworthy, I hereby suggest that our trip be know as The Long, Hard Blog. I also suggest, in case any high level White House officials who enjoy serving as unnamed sources stumble onto this website, that Rummy be sent someplace where he can put his compositional talents to use full time. If I were doing the shipping, I'd use Overnight Express. And in the part of the form that asks what should be done with the package in case of nondelivery, I'd check the little box that says "Treat as Abandoned."
Hello dear readers, from our third day in the great frigid country of Canada. Today, we found ourselves waking up to our first beautiful day on our trip. The skies above the center of Toronto were a crisp clear blue. One of the first things I did this morning was to step out onto our balcony (yes, our guest suite in Cous Cous's apartment includes a balcony - aren't you jealous?). After basking in the perfect guy weather minus 40 degrees (fahrenheit, take that Canada!), I checked on the status of our cooler.
A little background for our readers: the Gershman family was kind enough to lend to us the services of their cooler on our journey so that we may store perishable items such as turkey, yogurt, cheese, and other sundry items. As our trip progressed, we were concerned that these items may go bad and spoil should the temperature inside the cooler be too high. Therefore, last night, we made use of one of Canada's most plentiful natural commodities: cold air. We decided to leave our cooler open to the elements on our balcony overnight. This morning, I was pleased to note that our ice pack and the contents of the cooler were at a lower temperature than the previous day. Canadian authorities may want to use us in their publications, because we will now readily praise Canada's cold climate.
Of course, this euphoria wore off as the day progressed. After breakfasting on recently rechilled yogurt, we sojourned through the crowded streets of Toronto on this beautiful Friday morning. However, a strong gust soon englufed us and before we knew it, innocent passersby were assaulted by small air particulants and dust blown by the strong wind. We promptly took refuge in a nearby food concourse, and wrote down the experience on a pad of paper so that we could remember to recount this horrific experience to our dear readers (see accompanying photo on the yahoo page!).
But, my mood quickly improved as I realized how open Canada seems to be towards American Credit Cards. Not only does Canada accept credit cards at muni-meter machines and most stores and restuarants, but their pay phones also readily accept credit cards! I was most pleased at this turn of events. In my opinion, Canada may be more accepting of credit cards, but they still have room for improvement. Our efforts to use said method of delayed payment were stymied at the Canadian post office, subway station, toll booths and post card stores. Sadly, we were forced to surrender our Canadian cash, which still feels like Monopoly money to us.
Later in the day, as you may learn from Ari, we took a brief journey towards the northern suburbs of Toronto to visit Ari's great Aunt and Uncle. To arrive at this destination, we made use of my navigation software on my laptop. This software recommended we make use of the Don Valley parkway, a large highway that runs through Toronto. Unfortunately, we soon discovered that many other individuals also had relatives to visit in northern Toronto, and we experienced heavy traffic. At this juncture, we took great pleasure in noting that the Don Valley Parkway would be pronounced exactly the same as a mythical "Darn Valley Parkway" in New York City. Maybe you had to be there, but the Darn Valley parkway was just too darned slow for us speedy northeasterners. Darn it!
During our long wait on the Darn parkway, I learned a new word: consanguineous. Thanks to Cous Cous, we were able to engage in deep dialog on the nature of this word, as well as the difference between consanguineous relationships in New York versus Canada. To the reader that successfuly provides to us the dictionary definition of this word, we may or may not award a prize at the conclusion of our journey.
I would like to announce that Jenny from the DOT, who may or may not be from the block, may or may not receive an award for being the very first person, to our knowledge, to have been referred to this blog by an official blog audience member. Jenny, it's great to know you're reading this blog and yes, I love you too! I would like to encourage all our readers to spread the word about this blog far and wide, for the Great American Hippo represents the deepest and most profound experiences we are all looking for on this Earth, no doubt.
Tomorrow, I am very excited to return to America. As much as I liked Canada's liberal credit card (and social) policies, and as much as I enjoyed hearing the natives speak in their unique accent (eh?), it will be good to exchange our Canadian currency for good old American greenbacks, even the funky new $20 bills. Looking at the Great American Hippo, we realize we have barely started our journey, and that it really is a big wide country. We are looking forward to arriving in Ann Arbor sometime near evening. For our Chicago audience, we are rapidly approaching your position, and soon, very soon indeed, you too will be famous like our friends Cous Cous and the Crazy One Blessed Be He.
For legally-minded audience members, we realized today that the pictures of random individuals and close friends we are posting on the internet may open us to liability. At the current time, we do not require people to sign waivers allowing us to post their likeness on the Internet. We may or may not award a prize to the loyal audience member that provides us with such a waiver that we can give to people we take pictures of, in order to cover our asses:)
To date, the committee has only received ONE application for its advisory council! We are deeply disappointed at this response and thus are extending the deadline. We know some of you would be PERFECT for the job, and we really do need advice sometimes. Remember, you may or may not receive a prize:)
Thanks again to those of you sending us feedback via email, voicemail and text messaging. We love you dearly.
From Toronto, signing off-
Hi, this is Hari. Today was fun and funny! Here are some highlights.
We had no serious driving to do today and no destination to reach so we were able to sleep in this morning. We breakfasted on the balcony of our illustrious guest suite. This morning's breakfast came from the stock we purchased at Waldbaum's in Douglaston, NY. The Pope will discuss how we stored our food in the cooler.
After a leisurely morning, we went for a stroll in one of downtown's shopping areas. There we entered the Gap, as we are prone to do. We made two discoveries therein. First, everything seems more expensive until you realize that the prices are listed in Canadian dollars. That realization was like an instant 20% off storewide sale! Second, the Canadian Gap has different items than its American counterpart. If you want a lined nylon jacket with a faux fur-lined collar in navy blue or army green, I recommend the Canadian Gap. If you want a pastel colored toggle coat, I recommend the American Gap. If you want to buy a stylish coat this winter, I recommend avoiding the Gap like the plague.
While walking on the sidewalk here in Toronto, I noticed that street vendors sell vegetarian, chicken, and turkey hot dogs along with the traditional beef variety. I think other cities would be wise to follow suit. I believe in choice of hot dog and this is really the first time I've felt that my preferences are respected by local food cart operators.
Those who know me well surely know that I am a big fan of the United States Postal Service, which I fondly refer to as the USPS. I also enjoy visiting post offices in foreign countries. Here in Canada, I had an opportunity this morning to enter a Canadian post office. It's called Canada Post, or CP for short. As the Pope and I entered the CP, we were greeted by the pleasant aroma of freshly baked bread. Apparently, the CP we entered shares space with a bakery and a convenience store. The CP therefore ranks as my second favorite post office outside the US. It ranks just below the Korean post office, which gave me a gift wrapped package because I was such a good customer.
At one point the Pope stopped to take a picture while we were walking down the street. A man passing by asked him if he was taking it for the newspaper. Initially we thought that was a strange question. However, I was taking notes on a small pad, writing down things to include in this blog posting. So I guess with me writing on a pad and him snapping photos, we did look like a couple of rookie newspapermen!
After our morning excursion we met Cous Cous back at the ranch - and by ranch, I mean luxury apartment building - and then ate sushi at one of his haunts. I intended to sample the bubble tea from the cafe upstairs (which, according to Cous, is frequented by the Asian mafia), but unfortunately the scarecrow syndrome kicked in and I completely forgot. Happily, the place is right across from Cous's apartment building so I was able to stop by this evening on our way back. The Pope got citrus bubble tea and I had taro. The bubble tea was good, but not as good as Black Pearl in Gwangju and not as good as the place in front of the gym that Kerri and I belonged to in Seoul. So maybe it ranks third or fourth among bubble teas I've consumed.
After lunch we visited my Aunt Emma and Uncle Sam in Thornhill, Ontario. Cousin Andrea and her family also dropped in. It was lovely to see all of them. I showed Korea pictures, the Pope showed Hippo pictures, and Andrea showed wedding pictures. After the show, we headed back to Toronto for dinner.
Now I will mention certain things about this blog. That's more interesting than my description of what happened to me, isn't it?
I would like to note that Maurice of NYC was the first person to get my phone number from the blog and use it for the purpose of text messaging me. Thanks, Maurice! Maurice may or may not be awarded a prize for his effort at the conclusion of this Hippo.
I would also like to make sure that no one was offended by my earlier Gap comments. Please be assured that I am a big fan of the Gap - sorry, Nevin - and meant no disrespect. It's just that those toggle coats. . . .
Thursday, November 06, 2003
Hello from Toronto! I am currently writing to you from the home of one our FRA's (Former Roommates of America), Tony Yeung a/k/a Tony Luka a/k/a Luka a/k/a Cous Cous. Cous Cous is currently studying at the University of Toronto in an MD/Ph.D. program. From the looks of his apartment, he is indeed quite busy. Speaking of Cous Cous's apartment, I am very impressed with the amenities in his building. We are staying in a guest room facility in the heart Toronto only 14 floors below the very room where Cous Cous sleeps every night.
I believe Ari will be recounting the generalities of the day's experiences, as well as the fact that our photo site now works (http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah). I also believe he is revealing exciting information concerning the title of our trip.
Along the theme of the title of our trip, today in Toronto I had the unique honor of visiting Toronto's CN Tower, the world's tallest free-standing structure. CN Tower contains a unique glass floor section, whereby individuals may pay very high prices to stand on the glass floor. As you stand on the floor, you have the sensation of literally standing on thin air hundreds of meters above the ground. A photo has been posted to illustrate this unique Canadian phenomenon.
Today, while parking in Chinatown for a wonderful lunch, I had the delightful pleasure of utilizing my first muni-meter machines. Now of course, my Department of Transportation friends in the audience will appreciate the fact that I have never utillized muni-meter technology. Non-DOT audience members may be wondering what is a muni-meter. It is advanced parking meter technology that allows people to park their cars anywhere along a designated block face, and thereafter purchase a ticket from a machine located on that block face for a given amount of time. The ticket is then displayed on the dashboard of the vehicle and provides information to enforcement officials as to how much time remains to park at the given blockface. Muni-meters are a step above parking meters, as they allow more cars to park on a given blockface than would otherwise be possible.
Unlike New York City, however, Canada's muni-meter's are far superior in that they take major credit cards as payment. For innocent Americans unfamiliar with foreign Canadian currency, this proved very useful. Transportation professionals in the audience, please take note of the advanced position of your Canadian counterparts:)
Speaking of Great American Hippos, I was informed at the CN Tower that the glass floor was designed to support 18 hippos at the same time. This was undoubtedly meant to alleviate any fear one may face from standing on glass over much air. I found this amusing, yet was a miserable failure in taking a picture of the informative sign informing me of this fact. Hippos are indeed wonderful creatures.
Today we unfortunately sighted no livestock. To my knowledge, livestock may be very rare in the heart of Toronto in the year 2003.
Apparently, Cingular Wireless does not consider Canada as part of America. Therefore, to conserve on roaming charges, I will be using my phone sparingly, if at all, until we return to the United States on Saturday. If I owe you a phone call, I will do so at that time. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Till next time (and thank you Cous Cous for your FANTASTIC blindingly-fast wireless Internet connection!!):)
Hello, people! I am in Cous Cous's apartment in downtown Toronto! It is a beautiful apartment and Cous has provided us with lodging in a guest suite in this building. He has also allowed us to use his parking spot, which is worth a lot in this busy metropolis. Thanks, Cous!
Today we enjoyed the Hampton Inn's complimentary breakfast in Niagara Falls, Canada and then experienced a 10:30 AM departure. Though we initially decided against seeing the whirlpool segment of Niagara Falls, we changed our plan when we passed right by. It took only five minutes to see and was, in my humble opinion, worth the amount of time we spent there.
We then took the scenic route toward Toronto. About half our journey was on back roads. They allowed us a fabulous view of Lake Ontario (http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah) as well as some small towns and residential areas. The second half of the drive was highway. We hit no traffic until we arrived here in Toronto.
Some readers of this blog have inquired about how many states and cities we will visit along our trip. I submit this question to you, dear readers. Please email your opinions to pennsmile@yahoo.com and I will discuss the responses at a later date. I recommend looking at our yahoo site to answer this question. There you will see a picture of a map with our route highlighted. That map also provides the answer to a question that I posed earlier. Savvy readers will quickly note the connection and email me the correct answer to that question.
Speaking of emailing answers, I am proud to report that Teresa of NYC is the first person to respond to a blog question via email. For that, she may or may not be awarded a prize in the future. The Lieutenant is the first person to leave me a voicemail message about this blog. For that, she may or may not be awarded a prize in the future.
For those who noticed that it sometimes take a while for us to post to this blog, please understand that internet facilities are severly limited outside of East Asia. We will do our best. Unfortunately, our communication has also been hampered by our location outside of our calling area. Pope and I both purchased national calling plans from Cingular Wireless. Those plans should allow us to make and receive calls anywhere in the USA. For most of our trip, that's perfect. For the few days that we are in Canada, however, we are limiting our calls to essential ones only because we will be charged extra.
We would like to thank Canada for providing the following services, some of which we have taken advantage of:
- parking in Toronto that is cheaper than that in NYC
- free parking next to Niagara Falls at night
- a road that provides excellent snapshot opportunities near Lake Ontario
- gay marriage
- inexpensive and tasty Chinese food
- casinos
- zealous enforcement of traffic and parking regulations
Please email me at pennsmile@yahoo.com to let me know about the exciting and mundane things that have happened to you recently. Life's a blog. Drink it up.
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
Hi, this is Ari. This morning we experienced a 9 AM departure from Tannersville, NY after breakfasting in a small deli/restaurant/convenience store. I am always interested in learning about small town life and today’s breakfast felt to me like something out of Green Acres.
We journeyed across the great state of New York, taking the scenic route part of the way. As a big fan of the great indoors, I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty I saw. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has been to every county in NYS several times and so I believe that today we followed her path in some places. It was an honor to do so.
Today we began playing the license plate game. So far we have seen Ohio, New York, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Vermont, Michigan, Maryland, Wisconsin, Maine, and Pennsylvania. I encourage our dear readers to play along at home.
I am ashamed to report that I filled the car with gas twice today. Please do extensive volunteer work to benefit the environment and please support peaceful international policies in order to counteract the harm that our frequent gas purchases causes. We are proceeding with equal doses of guilt and caution.
Tomorrow we have a short drive to Toronto. There we intend to visit Cous Cous, an esteemed member of the Former Roommates of America. I am excited to return to a large city. Small towns are nice in theory, but. . .
The committee is proud to announce that it is forming the official Great American Hippo Advisory Council. This council will be formed to advise members of the committee currently engaged in the Great America Hippo and to provide thoughts and opinions on ways to most effectively maximize the experience of the Great American Hippo. Applications are available on a first come first serve basis by emailing a committee member of your choosing.
Successful applicants should have at least 2 days of cross-country (or cross-city) travel experience, having successfully booked out of state hotel accommodations in the past. Applicants should demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the English language, although French and Spanish or Klingon may be useful should the committee find itself traveling through uncharted space or time. Advisory Council applicants should be prepared to work for little to no pay, as the resources of the committee are limited pending the conclusion of potential activities perfectly legal in Nevada and select Native American Reservations. A gift of appreciation may or may not be offered depending upon successful service at the conclusion of the Great American Hippo.
The committee eagerly awaits your resume and a cover letter and thanks you in advance for your willingness to participate.
Hello from the red light district of Niagara Falls! I bet you did not know that Niagara Falls contains a seedy red light district. I am proud to say we did not know this either, but discovered this while attempting to find dinner establishments in which to, of all things, eat dinner. Ari may or may not discuss the red light district at some future time, but suffice it to say that if you like to gamble or have a particularly strong desire to pay $8 (Canadian of course) for parking when there are hundreds of empty spots available, you should enjoy Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Of course, I have nothing but mostly good news to report on this, the first full day of the Great American Hippo. I am sad to report that at the time of this writing, we still do not have the capabilities to post pictures on the yahoo site. I am pleased to report that we, just like Cingular Wireless and my previously unavailable national calling plan, are making the restoration of service our top priority. We may even be willing to pay money to the evil Starbucks Corporation to utilize their high speed wireless Internet capabilities to upload pictures. For tech-savvy readers, you may be pleased to know that we have reduced the average size of our pictures to accommodate the slower upload speeds we may (and have) discovered along our route. An audience member highly skilled in photographic technology informed us that this reduction in size would not affect image quality for those viewing our site on the Internet, which I assume includes all of you.
We were competently advised by the Crazy One’s father last night to utilize a back road to make our way towards western New York. This two hour excursion proved highly valuable not only for the stunning scenery of back woods New York State, but also to substantially increase our standing Livestock Count (LC). Today I am proud to add cows to my list of sighted livestock, as well as a leather jacket-outfitted horse, to our Livestock list. The LC currently stands at 85, a dramatic increase from yesterday’s count of 5.
Today was the first time I drove the car on our trip. Ari and I have devised a highly competent division of labor for our journey. Out of all committee members polled, I feel most comfortable navigating, and least comfortable driving in the city or in inclement weather. Ari feels the least comfortable navigating and the most comfortable driving, even through inclement weather. Therefore, I will be driving during long stretches of interstate (isn’t it supposed to be intrastate?) highways that require little to no navigational services, whereas Ari will be driving through cities or areas that require extensive utilization of our onboard mapping software, which I have become quite adept at using.
Today I also had my second black squirrel sighting ever. After referring the matter to the committee, a squirrel has been declared as live, yet unfortunately not livestock. Therefore, I have not increased the livestock count after sighting said squirrel. My first-ever black squirrel sighting occurred in City Hall Park in New York City only five days ago. We may be witnessing a modern evolutionary natural selection process among urban squirrels in New York State. Biologist audience members, take note.
For nature-loving readers, you should know that I very much enjoyed my third-ever trip to Niagara Falls. The weather cleared up just as we arrived, and the late afternoon sun provided a stunning conclusion to our 6-hour drive. On the Canadian side at night, we saw the beautiful horseshoe and American falls lit up by multicolored rainbow lights. Undoubtedly, this would provide quite a romantic setting in warmer weather. However, we rushed to get back to our hotel to enjoy our good night sleep and to enjoy hot decaf coffee and Canadian heating capabilities.
Tomorrow, we are off to Toronto to visit our former roommate, Tony (Luka) (Cous Cous) Yeung. We are very much looking forward to our third day of the trip, and our second day in a foreign country. For those of you who may be skeptical, Canada is indeed a foreign country. After working so hard to obtain national Cingular Service in America, I was dismayed to learn that said service will not work in Canada as the American nation does not include foreign nations. Furthermore, and most shockingly, our hastily acquired American quarters do not work in Canadian parking meters. The trusty US mint was, most unfortunately, a miserable failure.
Thank you to those who continue to send us feedback. We apologize for the unfortunate delay in photograph posting, and look forward to a resumption in American currency spending and nationwide Cingular calls at the earliest available opportunity. Till then, may we all find resounding success, especially to committee members (whose identities may soon to be revealed in a picture posting) on the Great American Hippo.
Today we will leave America. Isn't that sad? We've only just arrived here and. . .
Don't cry for us, blogspot readers
The truth is we'll be back in three days
All through the waterfall
And then to Michigan
We've made a promise
We'll keep on blogging
Here we come, Canadia!
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
To those eagerly following our progress, I am pleased to report that the rain today finally dissipated somewhat to the point where we could actually see some nearby mountains later in the evening. The Crazy One has, for years, raved about the beautiful scenery of the area. I was able to witness some of this scenery on the drive back from dinner. The sight of mountains, trees and nearby houses bathed in soft moonlit twilight added a hypnotic element to our first day.
We are preparing ourselves for the next few days. The temperature up here is much colder than in New York City and unfortunately, the weather report is not good. The rain appears to be following us throughout our first week. Rain is forecast in every city we are planning to visit at the exact time we arrive. As I no longer have any sway with public authorities, a last minute appeal to the City Council may not even be enough to lift the threat of miserable weather:)
We promise to try to upload our pictures to the yahoo site (http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah) as soon as technology permits. Till next time! -P
Hi, this is Ari. I am currently located in Tannersville, NY in the home of Crazy Lubow. In my opinion, our journey is off to a great start.
This morning I voted and departed Douglaston at 9:15 AM. Due to the wonderful lack of traffic, I reached Harlem in twenty minutes. After completing the loadup of the car, the Pope and I exited NYC at about 11:30 AM.
Traveling both south and north, we were able to do some leaf peeping along the way. We reached Tannersville at about 1:30 PM. If you're ever in Tannersville, you might want to visit Shorty. That's the first thing we did, anyway. Shorty is a local mechanic and our friend Lubow had told us he might be there getting his car repaired. However, Shorty knew nothing about our friend. Careful readers will note that Shorty is the first new person we've met along our way. A special prize may or may not be awarded to the person who does the best job in helping us keep track of all the people we meet during the trip.
Now I want to offer you a coming attraction. Due to the backward technological state of our nation, high speed internet access is unavailable to us at the present time and therefore we have been unable to post our pictures to yahoo. However, we intend to share them with you as soon as possible.
In the meantime, I want to offer you a challenge. There may or may not be a special prize awarded to the first person to figure out why we've changed the title of our trip to "Great American Hippo." Such a potentially hypothetical prize would be of greater value if the reason were discovered prior to our picture posting. Hint: We did not see any hippos today (though I was certainly looking hard for them).
For those who enjoy history, I want you to know that Crazy Lubow proved an able tour guide today. He provided us with a lot of information about local history, including the Legend of Rip Van Winkle, the Catskill Mountain House, and North Lake. We also received a personal history. Lubow's family has been in this area for four generations. We lunched in the restaurant where his parents first met!
For those who followed my Korean adventures, today's excitement also included two hikes, which represent a coda to my frequent outdoor climbs. One was a short walk to a waterfall; the other was a moderate walk to a famous outlook point. There, the famous painters of the Hudson River School developed the first truly American painting style.
Pretty good for Day One, no?
PS - I ate a Banana Nut Nature Valley Bar and Lubow ate a Peanut Butter one. Thanks, Grandma!
PPS - The time indicated on this website represents Pacific Time. It will be correct when we reach the west coast. For now, please add three hours if you wish to know the actual posting times.
peace : )
We arrived at our first location about 4 hours ago: Tannserville, New York. We are here to visit our good friend, the crazy one blessed be he, Adam Lubow. En route to Tannersville, which is about 2 hours north of New York City, we decided to take a detour through Washington Heights to purchase some apple pie. We were tempted to order in Spanish.
Soon after our departure, and after an aborted detour through the Bronx, we crossed the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey. Somewhere on I-87, I was able to officially confirm our first livestock sighting. The current Livestock Count stands at 5. I am unilaterally declaring horses livestock, as per my prerogative as blog contributor. I am not sure whether horses are really livestock. Credit goes out to loyal audience member Maurice for suggesting the Livestock Count (LC).
It is difficult to coordinate posting when two people want to post, so I apologize for any eventual reptition. I have delegated to Ari certain tasks of discussing today's activities and certain exciting news concerning the title of our great journey.
I am looking forward to driving tomorrow to Niagara Falls. I am sure I will be much more tired tomorrow than today, as we've barely started this journey. Till then, :)
Monday, November 03, 2003
Hi, this is Ari. I am delighted to welcome you to our blog. In my opinion, this blog will allow us to offer updates on the various experiences of our cross country adventure.
I must get a good night's sleep because tomorrow is election day. I will try to wake up at 7 AM, vote at 8:30 AM, and depart at 9:30 AM for Harlem. There I will pick up the Pope and some of his belongings. We will depart NYC, aiming to be in Tannersville, NY at about 1 PM. Crazy Lubow is awaiting our arrival and has planned certain hiking activities.
In my opinion my effort to post to this blog has been a resounding success. I will try very hard to share certain information as our trip progresses. Unfortunately, readers of this blog cannot post responses. However, I highly encourage you to email your feedback to pennsmile@yahoo.com or call (917) 657-8122.
Hi, this is Ari. I have been conducting a fierce battle with modern technology. I do not know whether I am posting to this weblog or not. Please offer me your opinions on this matter.
We have created our tentative itinerary for the first half of our trip. Our target: Irvine by Thanksgiving! We will be driving hard to ensure we can make our ambitious deadline:)
11/4 - NYC to Tannersville
11/5 - Tannersville to Niagara Falls
11/6 - Niagara Falls to Toronto
11/7 - Toronto
11/8 - Toronto to Chicago
11/9 - Chicago
11/10 - Chicago to St. Paul
11/11 - St. Paul to South Dakota
11/12 - South Dakota
11/13 - South Dakota to Wyoming
11/14 - Wyoming to Montana
11/15 - Yellowstone
11/16 - Yellowstone to Idaho Falls
11/17 - Idaho Falls to Salt Lake City
11/18 - Salt Lake City to Lake Tahoe
11/19 - Lake Tahoe to Yosemite
11/20 - Yosemite to San Francisco
11/21 - San Francisco
11/22 - San Francisco
11/23 - San Francisco to Santa Barbara
11/24 - Santa Barbara to Irvine
11/25 - Irvine
11/26 - Irvine
11/27 - Irvine (THANKSGIVING)
11/28 - Irvine to Las Vegas
We have been ruminating for the past few weeks on what to call the official title of our trip. Finalists are as follows:
- Miserable Failure Tour 2003
- Resounding Success Tour 2003
- Big Country Circuit
I think there were other finalists, but in my rush to type random things to start off the blog I can't remember any more. Until the committee returns from its deliberations, I have unilaterally decided to call our trip the Resounding Success Tour 2003. The committee reserves the right to change this title at its discretion without prior notice to our faithful audience. If you have any ideas, please let us know. If the committee chooses not to use your ideas, too bayad!:)
Welcome to our BLOG!! This web site will chronicle Ari & Guy's adventures across America. We plan on updating this web site frequently. Pictures will be posted to:
http://photos.yahoo.com/popemistah
Time is quickly winding down to prepare for our trip across America! Ari and I are currently running around like madmen trying to get everything together. Ari has gone to AAA to get maps and pertinent reading material. Guy ran all across Manhattan to buy other supplies like the ever-important dried fruit and travel-sized toiletries. After much deliberation, we have decided to purchase both salted AND non-salted pretzels. This compromise will no doubt go down in history as a crucial turning point in the affairs of mankind. Now, I really really really need to pack!
