A beautiful time in Joshua Tree National Park! The weather was perfect, some of the trees were blooming and the rocks were incredible! Southern Californians are spoiled for sure! I didn’t do any climbing, but had fun scrambling around on the boulders and hiking. Here are some of the views:
And, of course, the Joshua Trees…
I’m just getting around to posting this trip, although it has been several weeks since returning. There are definitely more remote parts of the country to try to get to. I always assumed that the capitol of a state wouldn’t be one of those situations. Columbia, SC apparently takes longer to get to from San Francisco than Indonesia does!
I left from SF early on a Sunday in order to be in Columbia at a reasonable time to make my meetings the following day for work. By early, I mean 6 in the morning. The idea was that I would make it to Columbia around 5 in the afternoon. At 2 am on Monday morning I actually arrived. That is 17 hours after the time difference!
The airport in Columbia is small, but quaint. There are white rocking chairs everywhere and only somewhere around 5 gates. As soon as you step out of the airport doors, the fun begins! It was 105 degrees with 90% humidity!
I picked up my rental car and headed to the downtown area. It is a very cute town (I realize it’s a city, but it really feels like a town). All of the buildings are well kept up and there is parking even in the downtown area. I spent most of my week there in the downtown/capitol area.
I can’t say there are a ton of things to discuss about Columbia, other than the fact that everyone was very, very nice. People say hello to you when you walk down the street. Business attire has a different definition in warm, damp climates. I don’t exactly own a vast collection of polo shirts, so I looked a little out of place with my suit on. Business meetings with people wearing khaki shorts are a strange site to see. The food in Columbia was decent, but with seemingly everything being deep fried, I found very few gluten free options. One day, I had chips and salsa twice because nothing else was available.
The one notable thing about Columbia is the Capitol building. While keeping all poiltics aside, I have to say that it was strange to see a confederate flag flying at a government building, and a monument to the Confederate States of America. I did take a little pleasure in the fact that within one day, I went from SF with rainbow flags to Columbia with the confederate flag flying. That is the kind of thing that makes the US so interesting to me. The diversity of all the states is a crazy thing to witness sometimes.
Bad sprain, no appearance that it’s broken. Awaiting confirmation from radiologist. Hard catch on the fourth clip resulting in a 16′ lead fall (6′ above the clip, belayer came up 4′) that took me into the wall. In non-climber speak – I fell and swung into the wall, and my ankle is killing me. I have to fly to Dallas tomorrow morning for work and it’s going to be miserable on crutches…
UPDATE: I went back to the podiatrist and apparently I tore my Achilles Tendon. I guess that explains why it was still hurting after 6 weeks. I’m in a walking boot and will have to wear it for another 6 weeks. In other news, I’m getting really good at climbing with one leg :).
Over the weekend my rock climbing partner (Brian) and I decided to drive to Sonora to find “the good rocks.” the drive was about 2 1/2 hours from San Francisco on 580 to 205. The place turned out to be amazing and had some really great climbing! We top rope and sport climb most of the time, but this trip we decided to try our hands at a bit of trad climbing as well. The concept of trad climbing is that you place your own protection as you go up the wall, instead of relying on bolts that someone else has placed. This is a bit sketchier because if the gear is placed wrong, it can pull out and you could fall more than expected. Everything went great except for a nasty lead fall that Brian took that has him hobbling around on his right ankle. We both agreed that the pain that we were both feeling (I was mauled by foliage on the approach to the point where I questioned whether stitches were needed) was absolutely worth it and we will return at a future date. What a beautiful wall!
I am so heartbroken! I just completed an entry about the great time I had in the DFW area, and my iPad zapped it to the place where all the left socks go! I’ll try my best to recap it again:
Dallas (& Fort Worth) have almost all the requirements of a world city: great people, great food, and a sense of pride in community that is apparent from the moment you step off the plane.
The pride that shines from the sides of the buildings downtown is crazy! The city has some great architecture, and the city is peppered with fountains and parks to enjoy while in the heart of this bustling city. This is amplified by the bright faces of the proud citizens you meet. When discussing what entertainment options that exist, you can see the sense of community that is present with the population. People don’t just live here, they make it a home!
A foodie culture is everywhere in DFW. You will eat some great food. Portions are perfect, people are pleasant, and palettes are pleased. The servers I spoke with were very savvy and more than happy (and more importantly, able) to provide me with some dish recommendations without gluten. Some recommendations were the Swiss cheese Kobe beef burger (sans bun of course), and the spicy barbecue lamb with asparagus. Prices are reasonable, but what you get at most restaurants is easily worth double. You will find fine dining, without gluten, with ease and without breaking the bank.
The weather is not bad in Dallas. The perception everyone has, is that it is miserably hot in the summer. Relax, it isn’t Houston (please don’t send me any more hate mail Houston, I got enough after my Houston posting a few weeks ago)! The nice thing about a dry climate is that 95 degrees feels pretty pleasant. Put on a t-shirt and a smile and make Dallas a summer destination as well.
San Diego most definitely wins the “Best Weather in the World” award. I have never been here when the weather has been bad. This is the “California from the movies”. The easy, laid back nature of San Diego folk make this a pleasant destination for business or pleasure.
The true make up of San Diego is as ideologically diverse as it is ethnically diverse. Home to a huge navy base, San Diego is pretty buzz cut. You will see lots of support for the military as it is a huge part of the local economy.
On the flip side, there is the expected beach bum contingent as well keeping up the laid back reputation of the area. The slackers are here. Why would you get a job when you can go surf during the day and live with 8 of your friends comfortably for cheap. Think Point Break and this is what you will find in the San Diego beach communities (minus the bank robbing, of course). Did I mention that the water is just a little colder than bathwater? It is amazing. Truly one of the most hospitable climates on earth. Maybe the weather makes people friendlier, but the slackers and military crowds exist seemingly harmoniously as well.
I stayed near the Gaslamp District in downtown SD. It has a reputation as a more raucous neighborhood filled with bars and debauchery. This neighborhood is a great place to stay if you don’t want to drive, or worry about transportation. Everything can be found in a short walk. The district gets its name from the very cute light posts lining the streets downtown. This is unconfirmed, but I believe they actually are still powered by gas, not electricity. Feel free to correct me on that.
I had business in Murrieta, CA the next day and made the hour drive. The surrounding areas of San Diego get really rural, really fast. Most of these communities are driven by the transportation (trucking mainly) or manufacturing industries. Great cheap food, but not exactly a destination.
I’m sure everyone reading this blog is tired of reading about me eating tacos, but I am only a few miles away from Mexico. It would be a crime to not write about the tacos. These little greasy pig and corn concoctions are the best you will ever eat. I am so depressed that I can’t make a taco this good. I can’t even tell you why it was so good, but it was amazing. Another reason to do as the Romans when in Rome.
For those curious about getting to Mexico from San Diego, there is a train from downtown that will drop you off at the border. I believe it was just a few dollars for the ride. Remember to bring your passport and account for a long process coming back. Local radio stations give updates about the approximate border wait times with the traffic if you are thinking about checking out TJ.
I spent this week in Denver. Quite a few surprises:
Denver, the mile high city, is a weird mix of hipsters, hippies, and rednecks. The first impression was surprise over the number of young people in general. There were a huge number of twenty-somethings in the downtown area. This may account for the large amount of happy hour/brew pubs on the 16th street mall. It is quite a bustling downtown that seem to retain the working crowd after 5:00. The restaurants on the 16th St mall were many. The first night I went to Earl’s, a little happy hour joint with a terrace out front. When discussing the gluten situation with the waitress, she informed me that they have a gluten free menu. This usually is a great thing, but the menu (that said: “gluten free menu” at the top) included things like Kung Pao stir fry. When I asked to make sure that the Kung Pao was safe to eat, she came back from the kitchen and said that it wasn’t. There were other questionable items that I decided it was probably best to avoid. I opted for the mini taco appetizer that was good and safe. Great meal, just a little sketchy to have a gluten filled gluten free menu.
The next night I ate at a restaurant half a block off of the mall. It was an Indian restaurant called “Little India”. It was fantastic. They clarified that all the food was cooked with chickpea flour (except the naan, of course) and it was gluten free. I ate the Sikh kabob with a side of masala. Fantastic food! I don’t know how to describe it any better than that. I went back the third night and did it over again.
Denver brings the nightlife/dinner scene. If you are looking to have something to do after work, there are no shortages of gluten free happenings.
Biggest surprise: there are a number of painted upright pianos along the mall. As far as I can tell, the city leaves these out to encourage artistic expression, but I couldn’t confirm that. I found this a little strange. Most cities try to discourage panhandling, but Denver seems to give the panhandlers the means to continue. This probably explains the large numbers of young homeless people around.
Portland is a special part of the US. I can’t think of very many cities anywhere in the world like this one. It really is a small college town that acts like a major US city. You can pretty much count the number of skyscrapers on one hand, the airport really doesn’t handle many planes other than the smaller CRJ700 regional planes, and I am positive that the number of trees in the city outnumbers the population.
Portland is hippie. I don’t know how to phrase that any differently. You would probably find more beards in Portland than Yemen. I was trying to find something to eat at one of the 6 million coffee shop/cafes, doing my usual 20 questions about the food preparations, when the girl working behind the counter asked “are you allergic to gluten?”. I agreed, and she proceeded to recommend four different special meals they could put together. I ended up settling on the Caesar salad, no dressing, no croutons, add salmon, add almonds, and with a gluten free lime/cilantro dressing. It was good. The type of gluten free good that only hippies could come up with.
The down side to Portland is the microbrew culture. There is some great beer here, and I can’t drink any of it.
Overall impression:
Understanding people, check. Quaint waterfront and small town feel, check. Hippies to feed you as many goji berries as you can digest, check. Just make sure you drive the speed limit, which is 50mph in most places. Oregon has the most aggressive cops when it comes to speeding. Trust me, I speak from experience.
My first impression of Houston was that the city was pretty boring. When the international airport is named after former president Bush, you begin to question the wisdom of the locals. The weather is very similar to Ho Chi Minh City, and biggest change in elevation in the city has to be the railroad crossings. This isn’t the biggest tourist hang out by any stretch of the imagination, but I ended up being surprised.
Houston is one of the fattest cities in the US. I was reminded of this fact whenever I talked to anyone. Whenever you ask someone the “what is there to do in Houston?” question, the first thing out of there mouth is that Houston is one of the fattest cities. I had a woman follow that comment with a very strong recommendation that I try the deep fried butter. I have to say that I was pretty curious. Not for myself, but just to witness someone eating deep fried butter sounded interesting.
The less heart attack inducing variety of cuisines in Houston were hit or miss. Tex-Mex was the idea I was shooting for. I love tacos. I really love tacos. I must have eaten 10 meals of tacos here in Texas. Nothing here is mediocre. The food was either terrible, or fantastic.
Just like most places, the more effort put into getting you in the door (i.e. Signage, decor, theme, etc) the less effort they put into the food. The best tacos I had this trip were from the worst looking taqueria in front of a strip mall (an actual strip mall, like stripped -empty!). There were two pawn shops across the street, and a check cashing business. The tacos were amazing. Corn tortillas, juicy pork, and cilantro. Happy me.
The biggest surprise: the Galleria Mall. It is an impressive sized mall if you are into that sort of thing. The strange thing was the diversity. It reminded me of the the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. There is even an ice skating rink by the food court. I actually saw a woman in a Burqa. If women can go to the mall in George W.’s home state wearing burqas, that speaks volumes to the tolerance of America. I love it.
I am constantly surprised by the US. Anywhere you go, your stereotypes will most likely be proved wrong. If people traveled more, we would probably have a much smaller ideological divide between the extremes in this nation.
Lesson learned: People in Houston and People in San Francisco are not all that different.
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