| August 20, 1998
Currently Kristin and I are in Oulu, Finland where I'm finishing up doing a VHDL training course for Nokia. I'm a trainer for Esperan Ltd. where I travel about once per month to teach a class in VHDL. VHDL is a hardware description language that hardware engineers use to describe the guts inside your computer or other electronic equipment.  August 26, 1998 - September 6, 1998
September 6, 1998
September 7, 1998 - Labor Day
September 8-10, 1998
September 11, 1998 - Kristin's Birth Day
September 12-15, 1998
September 16, 1998
September 17, 1998 September 18, 1998
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On a nice note we met some really nice and loquacious people from Portland, Oregon, Mike and Sue Counts, in the laundry room of the Days Inn. We really enjoyed talking to them. They gave us some good traveling pointers. Thanks Mike and Sue! If you are ever in the Philadelphia area make sure you go to the Evergreen Restaurant. Evergreen serves gourmet vegetarian cuisine. This is some of the best food I've ever eaten! It's only 10 minutes from Philly's bridges and definitely a reason to get out of town or a place to visit if you have a long layover. The telephone is 609 384 6610. It is run by a great family and if you go tell Ryan (the son) that Chad and Kristin say hello. Don't miss this place! My food selection was Treasure Island and needless to say it was fabulous. There is lots of variety on the menu, but the specialties seem to be of chinese origin. We need a chain of these restaurants. Evergreen is located: September 24, 1998
September 25, 1998 - October 5, 1998
Rome DetailsSeptember 25, 1998We arrived at Leonardo da Vinci airport outside of Rome and promptly got on the wrong train. It was totally my fault. I purchased the 15,000 L ($US 9.00) tickets saw a train about to leave for "Rome" and climbed on. Well actually it said South Rome which was not anywhere near where our hotel was located. We got off and reboarded another train going in the opposite direction and after trying to convince the conductor that we really knew what we were doing went back to the airport bought another set of tickets and got on the correct train. By this time K and I are totally exhausted since we had been traveling for 7 hours + a 6 hour time change. I hate traveling east! Well anyway we finally get on the correct train and get to the Termini station in Rome. We follow the uscita (exit) signs through a maze of construction and temporary walls and find a taxi to our hotel, The Grand Flora. The Grand Flora isn't very grand nor filled with flowers. It was however very expensive with rude help. The entire facade of the building was scaffolded (like most of Rome) and there was quite a bit of construction going on inside also. This I don't mine as our room was very nice and accommodating but do they have to start working and banging at 6:00 am? The price per night, L 400,000 ($240.00) did include a breakfast which was typical european fare, Mueslix, yogurt, fruit, and coffee. Not bad but hardly grand. When we arrived there was a stage being setup outside the hotel and I asked what was going on, the female desk clerk said, "They are going to play some music or something..." "Oh really? what kind of music?" I asked. "RRRROOOOOMMMMAAAAANNN Music" she crows shaking her head like I wouldn't understand this type of music. Whatever! Well we go to our room and and find a very nice room and collapse into a deep nap. September 26, 1998
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Canadian customs stopped our van and confiscated Kristin's pepper spray. (Note to self: don't bring guns or pepper spray into Canada) Long hair and a VW van are conspicuous to customs employees worldwide so to avoid hassels lose one or the other if you have contraband. We have no contraband, of course, so it's ok with us if strange people go rummaging through our dirty clothes bag and port-a-potty. I learn that when canadians say 40% exchange rate they mean $US 1 = $CA 1.40. This makes no sense to me. I would say this is a 140% exchange rate... The campground is very nice although no flush toilets. It has a beautiful view of the bay. Our campsite has electricity but no water as it has been turned off for fear of the pipes freezing. The sky is clear and the weather crisp. October 19, 1998
October 20, 1998
We didn't want to leave the ovens but since the campgournd was CFTS (closed for the season) we drove to Lunenburg, a small fishing village. We visited the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic and learned about fishing history in the north Atlantic. This was quite interesting to me since I was reading The Perfect Storm by Junger. (Update: I finished the book and it is quite good. A real page turner.) This is an interesting museum even if you don't know anything about commercial fishing in the Northeast. Kristin even liked it. Later, we stayed in the Hillcroft Bed and Breakfast. We stayed their because they advertised vegetarian food on their dinner menu and the rooms were non-smoking. If you stay there you will have to share a bath but the rooms are nicely appointed and comfortable $CA 60.00 . October 21, 1998
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October 31, 1998
Turns out that the rangers weren't putting on a show afterall. All of the children were murdered and there bodies sold to large multi-national pharmaceutical corporations for research...<g> It's Halloween humor people! C'mon! We drove to a beautiful state park in West Virginia today. Went for a bike ride and struggled for an hour climbing up a huge mountain. Once we decided to head down our hour worth of work got us 7 minutes of really fast downhill. Not bad but I thought an hour would surely get you more than 7 minutes. After setting up, and getting a shower we returned to camp and found a fox near our campsite. It was hunting for mice and couldn't see us because of our large flashlight shining his way. It was a red fox and our light didn't seem to bother him. November 2, 1998 Started heading towards a campground in South Carolina but ended up calling Kristin's parents in North Carolina to see what they were up to. We ended up going to see them on a whim and it was a good thing since 60 miles from their cabin the battery idiot light went on. No weird sounds or anything but I didn't want to turn off the engine. I was sweating bullets as we pulled into their driveway. I was pretty sure it was the alternator... ( I bet I'll have a tough time finding one for the VW in Burnsville, NC). November 3, 1998 Went to Advanced Auto Parts and sure enough they had an alternator in stock! Damn I love the USA! Pop (Kristin's dad) and I got the alternator and went back to the cabin, about a 20 minute drive each way. Upon installing the new alternator we noticed that the main belt had a tear in it. Back to Burnsville for a new belt... Finally, got it all together and it worked like a champ. It took about a minute for the battery light to go out once we cranked Miles up but I just figure the battery needed to be charged. I would really like to thank Pop for helping me change out the alternator; I couldn't have done it without him! November 4, 1998 My Birthday!! I'm 30. Boy I bet my Mom sure feels old today. <G> We bid farewell to one set of parents and drove to Cartersville, GA to say hello to another set, Leon and Sylvia. In addition to being my b-day it's also Leon and Sylvia's wedding anniversary. Congratulations Dad and Sylvia! I hope there are many more. I'm here in Cartersville to help my dad install an electronic security gate for his mini warehouses. If all goes well it should be a 2-3 day job. I've never really installed anything like this before so it should be an experience. I'm much more comfortable with Voltage ranges between -5 and +5 volts not 220 VAC. November 5, 1998 Read up on gate stuff and helped my grandmother with some things around her house. November 6, 1998 Assembled the keypad controller, outside gate keypads, and printer on the kitchen table to see if I could get it all to work properly. I also studied on the gate controller schematics that I had faxed in from the manufacturer since my dad got a used gate and controller from a god knows where... Kristin continued to help my Grandmother with her house and decorating. It's starting to come together... November 7, 1998 As does YAHWEH take a day off, so doth I. November 8, 1998 Poured concrete pedestals for gate keypads with my dad and old friend Matt. Matt is still the same; happy, friendly, and loves life. November 9, 1998 I mounted the keypads in the morning before it rained and tested them successfully. Later that day a guy named Floyd who helps my dad on occasion came up to help me dig the ditches for the saftey loops. The safety loops are needed incase a car breaks down in front of the gate so that it won't be crushed when the gate tries to close. Very improbable, but needed none the less. I can just imagine a golf cart full of nuns in traction being killed by our gate because we were too cheap to install safety loops. It didn't help that it rained like hell all day long; I'm 3 inches taller from the clods of mud on my shoes... November 10, 1998 Hooked everything up and it worked pretty much the first time! We have to do some adjusting to the gate controller so the gate slides to the correct position but all-in-all a pretty painless installation. Still raining like felines and canines... November 11, 1998 Do some minor adjusting on the gate and prepare to travel to Jacksonville to see Glenn and Steve. November 12, 1998 Travel to Jax after a late start (about 2 pm) and have dinner with Glenn and Steve. It's great to reunite with them and see my old 83 Ford Ranger. Glenn's taking real good care of it! He's even acquired a bed liner for it. Uptown! November 13, 1998 Took a load of stuff to the storage unit that we haven't used in the van since the trip began. November 14, 1998 Had dinner with my brother, Eric and his woman-friend, Spring in Fernandina. Later that night we went to the Jazz Festival in Jax with Glenn and got 2 free VIP passes from some couple leaving the concert. (Finally, lady luck smiles upon us.) We saw the Robert Cray Band and had a groovy time. It's always fun to people watch, and especially at outdoor events. People seem to let their hair down more. PS. We haven't missed a Jax Jazz Fest since 1986! November 15, 1998 Headed down to Cape Canaveral National Seashore where we got in free with our Golden Eagle park passport. We had a late lunch on the beach but not before a swarm of mosquitos entered the van and almost caused us to abandon the vehicle. We stayed in a private campground called Sugar Mill and swam in their Florida shaped swimming pool. November 16, 1998 Drove to Boynton Beach and stayed with Gary and Donna. Gary married us back in July and we had a nice conversation over a Thai dinner. Donna and Gary were most gracious hosts and we thank you! November 17, 1998 Headed down to Oleta State Park in North Miami but it was raining heavily and they didn't have any camping sites so we opted to drive down to the Keys. Word to the wise DO NOT take US 1 through Miami, instead use the Turnpike. It may cost more but it sure beats going about 20 MPH for 2 hours. DOH! We spent the night at John Pennekamp state park and met a very nice Bavarian couple, Christian and Jeannie. He is a private forrester and she a hair dresser. We drank much of their Budweiser and some of our Baily's Irish Cream and had a great night! Hello Christian and Jeannie if you're out there! November 18, 1998 We went snorkling at Pennekamp and then headed for Key West. We stayed at the Best Western. While there we packed all of our gear for camping on Garden Key for the next 3 days and 2 nights and also learned to use our MSR Whisper lite camp stove for the first time by cooking dinner or our hotel room private porch. We were completely exhausted and got to bed late. November 19, 1998 Got up early and headed to downtown Key West to park the van and take the ferry to Fort Jefferson on Garden Key. We secured the van and boarded a high speed catamaran run by Sunny Days. The trip to the island is fast, about 2.5 hours. There's not a lot to see enroute so if you go bring a book or newspaper to pass the time. We've gone once before for a day trip but this time we wanted to experience it after all of the tour boats and planes leave. We arrived at the fort around 10 AM. There are carts available to load your stuff on to take to your campsite. It's just a short walk, less than 100 yards. We picked out a place and ate the lunch that Sunny Days provided. Explored and set up camp. The sunset was gorgeous that night as I did the dishes. November 20, 1998 Paradise on Fort Jefferson! We explored the fort and here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. shark!
November 21, 1998 Last day of paradise and first night of Hell. We enjoyed Fort Jefferson until 3 PM when we reboarded the ferry for the trip back. After arriving in Key West we found the van. We really didn't want to drive anywhere so I inquired at a nearby bed and breakfast if there were any vacancies. I was told by the male that answered the doorbell that it was an ALL MALE, ALL GAY establishment. I told him my wife and I didn't mind, but he reiterated that it was ALL MALE and my wife wasn't welcome. What an asshole! I'm glad I don't descriminate based on gender or sexual preference, I actually thought it was illegal. Anyway I digress... We grabbed a quick pizza and drove to mile marker 70 where there is a KOA. They charged us $50.00/night to CAMP! Definitely NOT WORTH it. I was getting very tired and cranky by this time but my wonderful night wasn't over yet. We found our camp site and began to setup everything-- which is about an hour long process when I stepped into a nest of fire ants. Ouch! Ooooh... Ouch! Kristin sensed that I was about to lose it (mentally) and ordered me to go and stand next to the picnic table and to not move. She found our shower pail, handed it to me and then looked for my clean underwear. As she searched, the shower pail fell apart and dumped it's contents into the fire ants! $%&!!! $%#$^^$$!!!!! I was very close to kicking the whole damn thing into the swamp right behind the van. Kristin, goddess bless her soul, collected the contents, gave me my underwear, and sent me off to the showers. The shower helped quite a bit-- it was my first in 3 days. When I got back, the campsite was all together; I climbed into bed and fell asleep to the sounds of our neighbor's incredibly loud music. Luckily it was the Robert Cray Band, a strong persuader... November 22, 1998 Ah, what a difference a good night's sleep makes. We met Kristin's uncle Glenn and his beautiful wife Hoa in Marathon and had a nice lunch out on the deck of the Islamorada Fish Co. restaurant. We had a nice visit and then headed to North Miami Beach. November 23, 1998 Soaked up some rays on Haulover beach and then headed to da Vinci Systems in Ft. Lauderdale to catch up with my friends who still work for a living. Joel and Andrea had dinner with us at Thai Spice, then we went back to Joel's boat for some artful conversation. We talked Joel's ear off until midnight then headed back to our kooky hotel in North Miami. Ever stay somewhere that you just know has peepholes? November 24, 1998 Drove to Fernandina and had dinner with Mom and Bob. November 25, 1998 - December 4, 1998 Hung out at the pool villa provided by the Walnford Inn and helped out whenever we could. December 5, 1998 - December 12, 1998 Taught a VHDL class in Rochester, NY and enjoyed unseasonably warm weather. Toured the Susan B. Anthony House, the George Eastman House and Photography museum and the city's zoo. We even saw a turtle that looked a lot like Kristin. Went to a really cool independent and foreign film theater call The Little Theater and saw Elizabeth (3.5 out of 4 stars). December 13, 1998 - December 26, 1998 Still hanging out at the pool villa. Started our taxes and beginning to plan our assault on the western USA.
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