Summer Internship and Travel Blog

A Day in the Sun and Surf of Pensacola, FL

2007-01-13T21:12:00.000-05:00

So we had been planning a trip to Pensacola ever since I got the job, but we never got around to it. Well, finally the time came. It was just a lazy weekend and we didn't really have anything to do, so we decided to wake up bright and early, catch a flight to Pensacola, rent a car, and just have some fun for a few hours.

After we landed and picked up our car we headed over to East Hill Animal Hospital to drop in on Dr. Hall. For those of you who don't know, Dr. Laura Hall was sort of a mentor to me when I was in high school and working for Terrell Mill Animal Hospital. She was one of the many veterinarians working at the clinic and was really great about teaching me things and giving me opportunities to learn and get experience in everything from lab work to pharmaceuticals to radiology and surgery. At the time I really thought I wanted to go to vet school and Dr. Hall was really a great mentor to me at the time. Right about the time I was leaving TMAH to head to UGA, Dr. Hall left to move to Florida and open her own clinic. Unfortunately, with me starting college and her opening her own clinic, we lost touch.

Seeing Dr. Hall for the first time in over 5 years was great. Her clinic looked great and I was just so proud of her. She was really busy, so we didn't' have a lot of time to catch up, but I promised to do better at keeping in touch.

After we left the clinic, Elizabeth and I drove across the scenic Pensacola Bay Bridge, through Gulf Breeze, and then on to Pensacola Beach. It was pretty cool and breezy, but sunny, so we took off our shoes and walked down the beach. There were a TON of seashells along the beach, presumably left over from storm season, so we had some fun collecting shells and sand dollars.

Then we grabbed some lunch at this local place called Flounders Chowder House. The chowder was OK, but nothing like what you find in Boston. I had a delicious shrimp po-boy, my favorite beach food even if it was winter! I'm loving this global warming thing. Haha!

Anyway, after not even 5 hours after we had landed we decided we were bored, so we hopped on the next flight home and our 8 hour day trip was done.

Until next time!

Los Angeles for Fall Break

2006-10-10T22:31:00.000-05:00

We had tried to go to LA for our very first trip when I first got this sweet job, but it didn't work out. Finally, we decided to give it a shot again. We caught a flight out to LAX around 6:00pm Friday night and arrived just in time to grab some dinner in the airport, catch the shuttle to the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, and go to bed.

The next morning we grabbed breakfast at the Starbucks in the lobby of the hotel and then caught a shuttle back to the airport to catch the bus to National Car Rental. We picked up of G6 and headed to the Pacific Coast Highway. We drove north through Santa Monica and up to Malibu. The houses we saw on our way seemed to just get bigger and bigger and we even saw a castle! We also went by Pepperdine University and took a short walk on the beach and watched some surfers.

We ate lunch at Coogies in Malibu. The guacamole was awesome (gotta love those fresh California avocados) and our meals weren't too bad either. We walked around this cool little shopping center and had some ice cream before we got back in the car and headed back down the coast so we could get back to our hotel in time to watch the Georgia game.

We're not going to discuss the Georgia game, but during the game we ordered room service from Shula's in our hotel. We split the hickory burger because the menu said it was voted "Best Burger in LA" by the LA Times. They weren't kidding! This was, without a doubt, the best hamburger I have ever had. Between it and the apple cobler desert, the Georgia game almost didn't matter...but it still did and I still hate Tennessee.

Anyway, Sunday we headed in to Beverly Hills. We walked up and down Rodeo Drive, Wilshire, Santa Monica Blvd, and all those other streets made famous by the movies and television. There was a fashion show going on on Rodeo Drive, so we got to see them setting up for that. We went in to a bunch of stores with clothes worth more than most people's cars and saw lots of cars worth more that most peoples houses. There were more BMW 7-series and Mercedes 600 series, a McLaren, a few Ferraris and Lamborghinies, more Bentley and Rolls' than I could count, and of course plenty of Hummers and Range Rovers. It was pretty sickening.

We ate at 208 Rodeo, which was one of the highlights of the trip. The service was great, the atmosphere was awesome, the people-watching was fun, and the food was perfect. I had the Gourmet Grilled Cheese which was by no means your typical grilled cheese and Elizabeth had the Goat Cheese & Grilled Chicken Salad. Finished it off with some French roast coffee and it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. Can you tell I like it?

After we left Beverly Hills we slowly made our way back to the hotel via Sunset Blvd. We detoured through Bel Aire and saw some more amazing mansions and then made our way to UCLA. Finally, we got back on the highway and headed back to the hotel to chill out.

The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to head down to CBS studios to get on The Price is Right. Sadly, even though we had tickets and got there right when the tickets said to get there, we were too late as all of the reserved seats had been given out and the agent told us the odds were pretty bad for getting on.

Our bubble burst, we decided to cut our losses and return our car a day early and try to catch a flight home a day early. We were able to get on a flight home and got to sleep in our own bed Monday night and spent today just relaxing at home.

JFK and back in 8 hours

2006-09-22T22:22:00.000-05:00

Well I did about the worst day trip for work ever today. Not that it was a bad trip, but it was REALLY REALLY hectic. I flew up to JFK on an 11:30 flight, arriving around 3:00. I got a bunch of sampling done in about two hours and got back on a plane at 5:35. The highlight of this trip, as with the last one, was that I got business class on the way back, which was AWESOME. Great meal, great entertainment, and just a great flight overall.

Best of all is tomorrow I get to watch Georgia whip Colorado!

Conference in San Jose

2006-09-20T22:16:00.000-05:00

I got a great opprotunity once again from work! This time I was given a pass to PCIH in San Jose, CA. I got to attend the IH Expo and meet a ton of vendors, contractors, and publishers as well as attend two short sessions. One was on risk assessment and the modern applications and the other was on carbon monoxide poisonings in and around boats on the water. The highlight of the trip, however, was the 4 1/2 plane ride home in first class!

Maybe not exciting for you, but it was great for me!!!

Labor Day Weekend in Seattle

2006-09-05T17:44:00.000-05:00

What better way to finish out the summer then with a trip as far away from Atlanta as possible in the continental United States! To finish out the Summer before school starts (actually, I skipped the first day) Elizabeth and I flew out to Seattle to do some heavy-duty, fast and furious sightseeing and then met up with Jared for some more sightseeing and the Dave Matthews Band concert at The Gorge.

We landed in Seattle Thursday afternoon and picked up our rental car for the weekend, a Chevy Impala (worst car we had all summer) and we headed to the hotel, which was the crew hotel in Seattle, the Renaissance Madison Hotel. It was really nice and, of course, I got it for a steal. It was right in the heart of downtown Seattle a few blocks from the piers and the Space Needle.

After we checked in we walked down the street to the piers and ate at Ivar's, a really cool little seafood place right on the water. After lunch we walked down the boardwalk a little, played at a little arcade, and just hung around. Unfortunately, I had forgot the battery for our camera at home, so that evening we drove in to the suburbs to a circuit city to get a battery and charger. While in town, we also went to the mall and just grabbed a cheap dinner at Mickey D's. (hey, traveling isn't cheap!). We also went to WalMart to grab a Styrofoam cooler, some lunch stuff, and a few other things we had forgot. We finally, by our last trip, realized that a ton of cash can be saved on these trips if we make our own lunches.

The next day we woke up early and decide to drive out to Olympic National Park. The drive was forever long, but the park was beautiful and we got to see a lot of really cool scenery on our drive out there. The mountains were snowcapped and the air was cool and it was just a really nice day. We took a ton of pictures and just had a really nice day out there. Coming home we decided to take a different route and instead of driving around the bay, we took a ferry across it. That was really cool driving on to the boat and then getting to see downtown Seattle as we approached it. The boat was really shaky and it was real dark, so we didn't get any really clear pictures of the city, but trust me, it was cool.

Saturday morning, we woke up pretty early again and headed to the airport to pick up Jared who had used a buddy pass to get out to Seattle. We went straight from the airport to Mount Ranier. The route there was pretty scenic as we were told by some locals the best way to get to the mountain. We got to see a bunch of tiny local towns in seemingly the middle of nowhere. We also got to see the mountain from every imaginable angle. At one point on our way out to the mountain, we came to a shallow glacial river with these cool smooth stones scattered all around. Of course we stopped and crossed the FREEZING water. It was worth it though for the cool pictures.

The first park we stopped at was called Sunrise. We got some really cool pictures of the mountain chain and the peak of Ranier and ate lunch there. Then we headed to the south side of the mountain for Paradise. Here we got to see some of the most amazing views of the mountain and the glaciers on it's peak. We also did a short hike here.

Finally, as it started to get dark, we headed back north to Seattle and got back to the hotel around 10. Although Elizabeth and I were exhausted and wanted to get a good night sleep for the next day, Jared was still rearing to go and decided to walk downtown to the Space Needle. He got some pretty cool pictures, and I sort of wish I had gone, but oh well. Maybe some other time.

Sunday morning we all woke up and headed to the Gorge for the DMB concert. We stopped in a little city outside of Seattle for breakfast and then made our way across the state for the concert. It was a really long drive, but we got to the Gorge around 2pm and had plenty of time to explore. The campground was a sight to see. There were all sorts of people hanging out under their customized tents and RVs. I got a bunch of cool pictures of that. Around 4 we met up with some people from the DMB fanclub and took a few pictures and met some people from the message boards. I'm on the boards, but I'm just a lurker, so I only hung out a little before me and Elizabeth went back to the car to take a nap since it had already been a long day and I was still going to have to drive the 250+ miles back to Seattle after the show.

The gates opened around 6 to the venue and we headed in about an hour later. We all ate Gorge Burgers (ugh...) and then watched O.A.R. open for Dave. When Dave introduced O.A.R. it was such a thrill. We had missed that in Atlanta, and it was just so cool for me to see him just chilling out and talking. While O.A.R. played, Jared and Elizabeth went down to the seats Jared had got through the Warehouse while I waited for the lights to go down. After O.A.R. finished, but before Dave Matthews Band came on Jared came up and got me and we went down to join Elizabeth. Fortunately, we all stood the whole show, so it was no problem getting 3 people in 2 seats.WARNING: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND FAN CONTENT

So for my mini-show review. This was only my second DMB concert, but it will probably be hard to beat, ever.

They opened the show with Granny which is one my favorite songs, so that was freaking awesome. It's also not a very common show opener, so I wasn't really expecting it. It's just such a great song for how it starts slow and mellow and then explodes. Next up was Typical Situation which has been a somewhat rare song since 1999 and is just flat out awesome,despite the fact that since Pluto is no longer a planet the lyrics aren't accurate ;-) Next was Grey Street, which is my #1 favorite song by Dave, probably because of the way I interpreted the lyrics. It was played with great energy and I think Rashawn adds something special to it. Next was Where are you Going, which was a nice relaxing break for my throat, which I could tell was not going to last the night... Next was The Idea of You, one of the new releases of the tour. I've heard it already live and listened to it a lot on the iPod, so it was cool to be able to sing along to it. I love how Dave introduces it too, "This is a tiny little guitar...." Next was Lie in Our Graves which, little did we know, was the start of an AMAZING run of songs. LIOG is a really great song and even Elizabeth was starting to get in to the show at this point. She even said she loved the jam, which is unusual, because Elizabeth usually gets bored during long jams. The band was on fire and the energy was just through the roof (if the Gorge had a roof). Next was JTR, a song that the band hadn't played since 2001 and most people assumed was gone forever until it re-emerged this season. It's another great song and I really hope we see it on their next album release. The end of JTR is awesome and as the crowd is chanting Dave says, "He's very serious about his job. Stefan Lessard on the bass guitar" and Stefan goes in to Crush, and I thought I was gonna die. I was so happy they played this, not for me but for Elizabeth. She's not the worlds biggest DMB fan, but she agreed to dance to one Dave song at our wedding and it was Crush. It was great because she was singing along and we were holding each other and right then I knew the summer had been the best one ever. But continuing on, next was The Dreaming Tree, another rare song and one that I haven't listened to much, but really enjoy and we got what I thought was an awesome live version. Dave forgot the lyrics at one point and his expression was priceless as he searched for (or waited for someone to tell him) the lyrics. At this point I think the crowd and band were just feeding off each other and the feeling was so intense I can't even describe it. After Dreaming Tree the lights went down and then came up with a dark, deep red hue and the band started this low, deep jungle sounding rhythm. Then Dave started doing this really deep moaning and you could hear what sounded like animals. We had no idea what was about to happen, and they just went full speed in to Last Stop, another of my all time favorite songs and a true rarity and the song was so powerful. The crowd was crazy, Dave was crazy, and, with the intro, outro and reprise, it was almost 20 minutes long! They could have walked off the stage right then and there and I would have been happy. But luckily they didn't and next was Digging a Ditch, which was a great way to bring everyone down from their high. The drunk guy next to Jared from Oregon was hilarious, "I don't wanna die, digging YOUR ditch!" Next up was Can't Stop which is another of the new songs and is awesome. Dave's voice was great and when he screams during this song it is just awesome. The way he clenched his hands and strains his face you can just feel the emotion. This song better make the album. Next was Jimi Thing which was great and ended with everyone getting a solo, Butch doing a little scat, and then Dave scatting about getting shot down by a girl followed by the For What it's Worth outro and I just love when the crowd gets to interact and even Elizabeth was singing along. The show closed with Tripping Billies which was fun and I really enjoyed it. The encore break was about 15 minutes long and the crowd was just exhausted, so we were a little worried the band might be like, "Well if they aren't gonna cheer for us, screw 'em," but they didn't let us down. The band came out and Dave told a story about a kid he met who wasn't able to make it to the show because he had been killed by a drunk driver. The message Dave gave us was, "I wish Robert was here with us, so he could be jammin' and if you're gonna drink, just lay down until you feel good enough to drive." Then Dave played Loving Wings, which was just great. Finally, for the finale, Stefan went in to Watchtower for the debut of the tour. Watchtower is also one of my favorite songs they play and I just exploded. Everyone was singing along and just bouncing to the music. It was crazy. It was totally the best way to end the best concert I'll probably ever see.

We headed back to Seattle after the show and then headed home to Atlanta early the next morning.

What a great end to such a great summer!!!!

Surprise Visit to Henderson, KY

2006-08-28T17:02:00.000-05:00

This weekend Elizabeth and I decided to surprise Cody (Elizabeth’s cousin) and just fly up to Henderson, KY, rent a car, and drop by her house for a visit. It worked PERFECT. We flew in to Henderson, IN around 9:00pm, grabbed a rental car (a Nissan Maxima, I want one!) and then drove into Henderson about 10 miles away. We called Elizabeth’s aunt and found out her and her husband were at church and Cody would be home alone, which was perfect for surprising her. Well we pulled in to the driveway and went to the door and started knocking. After a few minutes and no answer, we peaked in through the window and realized Cody was peaking around the corner at the door, but apparently couldn’t see us. She was terrified. We finally got a cell phone and called her, and only then did she realize it was us at the door.

Cody was sooooooo excited to see Elizabeth and me. She was almost in shock that we just jumped on a plane and came to visit her, but she was really really happy too. After we talked a little, we headed over to the church to see Paula and Bill. The church was having a function called Fifth Quarter, for kids to hang out after the high school football game, so we hung around and had some snacks and played foosball and air hockey. Afterward, we dropped Cody off at home and went to Elizabeth’s grandparents place to go to bed.

The next morning we went to the nursing home where Elizabeth’s grandparents are staying and visited with them for a few hours. Once Cody got there we all went to the movies for a while and then drove around town a little. That night we went to a casino on the river. Elizbeth and I broke even, but Cody lost $15.

The last morning of our trip was a little surreal. We weren’t planning on leaving until about 10:00 am on Sunday, but we woke up with Elizabeth’s phone just ringing and ringing and ringing. When we finally answered it, my mom was just about crying, but apparently VERY happy to hear my voice. As you probably know by now, a Comair plane had crashed flying out of Kentucky Bluegrass Airport and my parents thought we might have been on it. Now for future reference, the chances of us waking up for a 6:00am flight are pretty slim and when we visit Henderson, we fly in to Evansville, Indiana, but regardless, it was pretty crazy to be thinking about all of that while we were heading home.

Thank you Lord for getting us home safely and always being with us when we travel. Amen!

Salt Lake City for Environmental Training

2006-08-23T15:25:00.000-05:00

I got a great chance with work to go to Salt Lake City to help run the environmental coordinator training. I got there a day early to help with the setup and had plenty of extra time after checking into The Peery Hotel, so me and a co-worker hiked from the heart of SLC, through the town, and to the top of this huge hill where Brigham Young and a group of Mormon settlers went to map out the valley. The first thing I saw was city hall. It's really Gothic as is a lot of the older architecture in SLC. Next, we headed north through the city and passed through the courtyard area of the Mormon Church headquarters. The entire area was landscaped perfectly and was designed around the original church building, which was amazing. After we went through the courtyard of the church area we started really climbing up-hill. We could see some sort of monument on the peak overlooking the city, but weren't sure how far it was, so we asked a guy who was out watering his lawn. He explained that it was a memorial peak and that it was only about 30 minutes further, but that it was pretty steep. We figured we'd already come this far, so we might as well get all the way to the top. Well, about three hours after we started our little walk, we came to the Ensign Peak......and the view was amazing. The air was thin and I thought I was about to die, but man was it worth it to climb up there. You could see all of Salt Lake City, part of The Great Salt Lake, the airport, and the mountains on both sides of the valley. It was really a pretty breathtaking sight.
The next day we had work to do getting set up for the conference, but that night a bunch of us drove out to Park City. A pretty hip town during ski season, Park City was fun, but not all that exciting. We ate at some really nice steakhouse, but not so nice that I can even remember the name of it. (maybe if I had posted this blog right after the trip, that would have helped....) Oh well.

We hung out one night at a bar called Squatters which had about a dozen house beers (Full Suspension was great) and a pretty cool atmosphere. We also went to another bar close by, but it wasn't as cool so I can't remember what it was called.

The trip to Salt Lake was pretty cool, but it was long and it was work, so I was certainly glad to come home.

Day trip in the Lone Star state

2006-08-19T21:23:00.000-05:00

On the recommendation of my supervisor, Elizabeth and I went to San Antonio for a little daytrip today. We decided to sleep in a little late and catch the second flight out, which worked out great as we got in Business Class! When we got to San Antonio we stopped by the visitors desk and got some information about how to get downtown and what to do once there, then we picked up our rental car ($23.00 for the whole day!) and then headed downtown.

Once there we found a parking deck right by the River Walk Mall and then crossed the street and headed down to the River Walk. The San Antonio River basically passes right through the city and has been developed into public park with dozens of cool little restaurants and shops lining the river and boat, the Rio San Antonio, that will take you on a tour of the River Walk.

We grabbed some lunch at a little Mexican restaurant right by the waterfront called Casa Rio. It was some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had. It was totally different from what I’m used to in Atlanta. We then took a little walk to a shop and picked up some souvenirs before heading through the Hyatt Hotel to Alamo Plaza. There in front of us was The Alamo. It was pretty cool to see the original building and the items inside like Davy Crockett’s rifle and an original Bowie knife. Being there, in a place where 200+ men gave their lives defending our country was a very surreal feeling. It truly felt like hallowed ground.

After walking The Alamo grounds, we headed back to the River Walk and took the little boat tour. We got to hear about all of the history along the river and Elizabeth took some great pictures along the way. At the end of the tour we went to Marble Slab and got some cones before heading back to car to go to the airport. We were home by 9:00 and all in all, had a great little day trip in Texas!

First DMB Concert

2006-08-16T16:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this has absolutly NOTHING to do with travel, but I am just so psyched about it I have to blog it. Last night, I went to my very first DMB concert. It's crazy. I've been a fan for over 10 years and been a HUGE fan for like 6, but every time they come to town I either have school stuff or can't afford tix or something like that. But this time, Jared called and told me his roommate had backed out on him and he had an extra ticket, so I was like, "Let's do it!"

The concert was SOOOOO awesome. Here's the setlist, so you can it was crazy. #41 was awesome, the new songs are great, JTR was incredible, and now I am more excited then ever for The Gorge in a few weeks. It's gonna be AWESOME!!!!!

First anniversary cruise

2006-08-15T15:57:00.000-05:00

So when the time came to start thinking about our first anniversary, I decided the best thing to do would be to relive the honeymoon. As an added perk of working in the travel business, I discovered interline discounts. Basically, the industry has a you rub our back, we’ll rub yours attitude, so airline employees get discounts from resorts and cruise lines in exchange for giving their people discounts on airfare. So anyway… I got us an unbelievable deal on a 4 day, 3 nights cruise to Coco Cay and Nassau, Bahamas with Royal Caribbean out of Miami.

Now the idea was to fly down to Fort Lauderdale to spend the evening with the g-rents and then have them drive us to the port the next morning, but with the drama that happened in the UK the morning we were supposed to leave, we had to change our plans. We drove! Elizabeth got off work early and we hit the road at about 1:30. We drove straight through and got to Deerfield Beach at about 11:00.

We spent the night with Bobbie and Zaydee and then they drove us to the cruise terminal in the morning. We got there really early and were able to get right on the ship with no line by around 11:30am.

Once we got on the ship, we just sort of wandered around for a few hours until we could get into our cabin. Our cabin was at the very front of the ship overlooking the deck with the lines and anchors. The cabin was larger then others of the same class, but because of its location we found it to be incredibly loud when the anchors were being lowered and raised. It was also VERY hot in the room all the time, no matter what we did with the air conditioner or the window shades. Oh well, still a good deal!

The first day we just hung out. We went for a walk on the deck, played a little in the casino (broke even), and then went to see the welcome aboard comedy show, and then played Canasta in the Viking Lounge at the top of the ship.

Day two was spent at Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean’s private island. We rented a floating mat and snorkeling gear and just spent the whole day at the beach in the clear blue water. It was soooo relaxing. Dinner that night was the dressy night, so we got all dolled up and thoroughly enjoyed our steak dinners. Then the headwaiter came over with a slice of cake with a candle in it and little chocolate placard that said Happy Anniversary! The wait staff around our table sang for us and it was just a great time!

That evening we just went for a walk and did some shopping in the onboard shops before heading to the casino again (broke even again!). Then it was off to bed to get ready for our next adventure.

The last day of the cruise was spent in Nassau, Bahamas. We got of the ship and it was sooooooo hot that we decided to pass on the beach and just do some shopping. We went to a few little shops and then made our way to the straw market. Elizabeth saw a bunch of purses that she liked, but none as nice as the one she saw on the ship (and ended up getting J). After that we got back on the ship and took a much needed, long nap in our cabin.

The last night we spent first hanging out in the casino (finally won a few bucks!) and then we bought some liquor and souvenirs in the shops on board. I then went to the champagne bar and selected a Macanudo and we went out on the deck so I could enjoy it. After that we went up to the Viking lounge again and got some drinks. Eon, one of the servers in the lounge, came over to us and showed us a bunch of bar tricks and then made Elizabeth a napkin rose. The time in the lounge was probably one of the highlights of the cruise.

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast in the dining room before disembarking and getting picked up by Bobs and Zayds. We got to their place, packed our car, and hit the road again, only stopping for dinner near Warner Robbins.

Thank you Dynamic Travel for the great interline rate!!!

Providence for work

2006-08-09T15:17:00.000-05:00

I flew in to PVD (Providence, RI) yesterday at 1:30 for a visit to the airport this morning. When we got here we didn’t have any transportation pre-arranged, so we went to the car rental place and got ourselves a Chevy Cobalt. Getting to the airport was an adventure as we didn’t have any real directions and the roads in Rhode Island are less then well planned. After driving back and forth through Providence, we finally found the Renaissance we had booked through Priceline.

After spending a few hours hanging out in my room my cousin, Alana, came in from UCONN to take us out to dinner. We went to this cool little place called Fire and Ice. You pick out all the raw ingredients you want, meats, veggies, and sauces, and then they cook it for you on a huge grill. The food and atmosphere were great and it was fun to hang out with Alana and Moe. After dinner, we went to a bar for some drinks before it was time to hit the sack for work the next morning.

Work at PVD went well and I was hope in time for dinner with Elizabeth. Another 1-2-3 trip done!

The tropical vacation to prep for the TROPICAL VACATION!

2006-08-06T18:42:00.000-05:00

We decided sort of last minute on Friday to go to Florida to get a little sun before our REAL tropical vacation for our big 1 year anniversary. Elizabeth got home from work at like 3:45 and we were out the door at 4:05. I entered the economy lot at exactly 4:56 and somehow managed to catch the flight that left at 5:35. I parked while she checked us in and cleared security, so I didn't see her, but I'm told the run through the airport was something to be seen.

We landed in West Palm Beach and got a rental car and drove down to Fort Lauderdale so we could stay with the g-rents. When we arrived the POS Ford Focus was broken. It wouldn't go into park and the key was stuck in the ignition. Fun times....

The next morning, after quite an ordeal with Enterprise, we finally had another car and headed to the beach. The water was awesome, the sun was bright, the sand was clean, and the weather was clear. We had a great time for a few hours, but eventually got bored and decided to head back to the pool. Bubs and Zayds took us to The Cove for dinner. What a nice restaurant right on the water!

Sunday we went to the clubhouse for breakfast. I love the earlybird special. Where else can you get 2 eggs, grits, toast, and coffee for $2.49??? We then went to the pool for a few hours before showering and getting ready to head home.

On the way to the airport, we stopped and Palm Beach Atlantic University so Elizabeth could check out their pharmacy school there. I can say this...I would not mind living in West Palm Beach for a few years while Elizabeth goes to school. The campus was awesome, and the beaches are about 1/2 mile away.

Anyway, we caught a return flight at 4:00 and were back at the APT by 7:00.

All in all, another great trip!

Visit to the Boeing Factory in Renton, Seattle

2006-07-14T22:43:00.000-05:00

I had such an awesome opportunity this week to head out with the other interns to Seattle to visit Boeing's Renton facility where they build the 737. Unfortunately, they don't allow camera's in the factory, but I got to see how they build entire wings from scratch and the assembly line where the fuselage, wings, tail, rudder, engines, wiring, and landing gear all come together to make a plane. I also got to go inside a plane a few days from completion without it's seats. It was VERY cool.

After the tour we were taken by some of the Boeing guys to The Dog and Pony Ale House and Grill. I'm not a beer snob, so I didn't really appreciate and was starving so was pretty pleased when we left and headed to the hotel to change for dinner. We made reservations at this place called Salty's that was recommended by several people we talked to.

Salty's wasn't just "on the water," it was built on short stilts directly OVER the water right on the edge of Redondo Beach in South Seattle.

We all took a walk on the boardwalk after dinner and took some fun pictures before going back to the hotel for the night.

The original plan was to head out to Mt. Rainier on Thursday and then catch the red-eye home for an inservice on Friday, but the weather didn't cooperate, so we caught an earlier flight and were home Thursday night.

I'm looking forward to heading back out for the Dave concert September 3rd at the Gorge!!!

Work at CVG

2006-07-10T22:54:00.000-05:00

I flew in to CVG (I'll let you figure out which airport that is) this morning to get some work done. Nothing special, just some night-time water sampling, some dinner, and then back to hotel for some sleep before catching an early flight back home. There will be plenty more of these kinds of trips....

Vancouver, B.C. - Day 3 & 4

2006-07-04T22:02:00.000-05:00

Well we're home from our Vancouver trip. We had such a great time on Monday. We woke up early and grabbed a delicious breakfast at this little Greek eatery by the Waterfront and then walked down to a bike rental shop. We decided to give a tandem bicycle a try and after a few scary seconds had the hang of it. We went to Stanley Park and rode the six miles around the sea wall in a little less than an hour and decided to return the bike and go around again, but walking this time.

It was just such a great, sunny day to do this. We got to see the harbor from every angle and then out into the ocean. We stopped for a snack to watch some people playing cricket and then ate lunch under a shade tree along the boardwalk.

We also saw Inukshuk, which are round stones carefully stacked on edge to resemble people and were placed just by the water. They aren't glued together, but just perfectly balanced as many as 7 stones high. I was really impressed by those.

We took a ton of photos and videos yesterday and the day before that you can check out too.

We ate dinner at the same Greek place from the morning and then grabbed desert at Starbucks and headed to the park beside Coal Harbour near our hotel to sit on the grass and talk. Then, just for a laugh, we went to the float plane terminal to find out how much a flight to Victoria was. It was $109 per person, each way, but when I mentioned I was an airline employee she told me we could fly for just $49 each way! We would have done it except that we couldn't catch a return flight that night and didn't want to risk missing our flight home so instead we headed back to our hotel for a swim and soak in the hot tub before heading off to bed.

We woke up this morning and went to a little crepe shop and had breakfast before catching the bus back to the airport. The flight home was good. No first class, but we did get a 3-wide row to ourselves which is always nice!

I'm thinking Bahamas or Grand Cayman next...

Vancouver, B.C. - Day 2

2006-07-02T21:41:00.000-05:00

So we slept great in our hotel room and after waking up and getting ready headed to Tim Horton’s which was basically a Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. We then walked down to the SeaBus station and headed across the harbor to catch a bus to Grouse Mountain.

When we got the other side of the harbor there was this cool marketplace called Lonsdale Quay. There were all sorts of fresh food from fruits and vegetables to Alaskan salmon. We just grabbed a little pastry snack and a huge bottle of water and then headed to the bus station to catch our ride to the mountain.

Once we got to Grouse Mountain there was a tram ride that you took to the peak. The ride took 8 minutes and lifted you up one mile to the “top of Vancouver.” The view was AMAZING and the pictures don’t even begin to do it justice. You could clearly see Mount Rainier in Seattle as well as, of course, all of Vancouver.

We had picked up a sandwich and chips on our way to the mountain so we had a nice lunch at the lodge on the top of the mountain. Then we watched a lumberjack contest, saw grizzly bears, lots of awesome trees that were carved into figures from Vancouver’s history and wildlife, and just took in some really breathtaking views. They also had their ski lift open for free rides up and down the now snow-free slope which was fun and gave us a chance to relax and just take in the sights.

After we left the mountain we stopped back by the market to have dinner. Elizabeth had what she said was one of the top 5 burgers of her life and I FINALLY had the salmon burger that I had been looking forward to for about a week. I will totally get another one next time we get out there!

At this point we were pretty much exhausted so we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.

Vancouver, B.C. - Day 1

2006-07-01T20:13:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Vancouver at about 11:00 on Saturday and the airport was REALLY nice. They are really doing a great job getting ready for the 2010 Winter Games. Our only bump was from the customs agent who didn't seem to like that we didn't have hotels plans, weren't meeting anyone, were on vacation cross-continent for just 3 days, and didn't have return tickets. After I showed her my airline badge and explained that I was nonreving she was cool though and we were headed to the terminal where we decided we HAD to eat.

After a quick meal we grabbed a computer in the terminal that still had 4 minutes of internet access already paid for and I very quickly made our hotel arrangements on Priceline. My bid for $80 for a 4 star was rejected, but $80 for a 3 star was accepted and we had a room for 3 nights at the Renaissance Harbourside Hotel in downtown Vancouver. The people at the information counter were very helpful in getting us bus information to downtown and 6 loonies (dollars) later we were headed downtown.

The bus ride took us about an hour, but was well worth it when it dropped us just a few minutes from the hotel. I don't know how nice a four star hotel is, but I sure think the Renaissance should qualify as one. The first room they gave us smelled like cigarette smoke, but the hotel staff was very nice and put us in an upgraded room on the club level! I looked it up and that room should have been over $200 a night!!! Our vacation was off to a great start.

Unfortunately, I forgot the memory card to the camera (actually found it the next day in my shorts) so we had to go to a store to buy one. We went to this place called London Drug which was like a Walgreen’s upstairs and a Wolf Camera downstairs. They had a card and with the exchange rate it ended up being an alright deal.

It just so happens that July 1st is Canada Day so we headed down to the harbor front to see all the festivities. Elizabeth got some free Canadian flags and a handful of Canadian pins and we decided that was about enough Canadian patriotism for one weekend and headed back to our hotel. On the way we found a tourism bureau and went it to get all of the information that we would need for the rest of our trip.

Our last stop for the night was a little bistro by the float plane docks. We had a great view of the mountains and the planes taking off and landing while we ate and took a little walk around before heading off for some much needed sleep.

New York and Beantown in two days

2006-07-01T11:38:00.000-05:00

I’m typing this at about 40,000 feet above Wyoming! We’re on our way to Vancouver for the long weekend, but that’ll be the subject of my next post. This past week was VERY exciting. After getting home from FLL on Tuesday, I only had one day to recuperate before my next trip. I headed out on a tiny regional jet to JFK in New York Thursday afternoon to do some air sampling for mold spores in the terminal and baggage claim area of the airport. The flight up was delayed about an hour so we had to really rush to get all of our sampling done and then caught a cab to LaGuardia for a Delta Shuttle flight to Boston.

The Shuttle flight was one of the coolest things I’ve done thus far. The terminal was separate from the rest of the airport and was VERY clean looking. There were leather seats everywhere, a room full of Apple computers for fliers to use, free magazines and newspapers you could take with you. The plane, an MD-88, was single class and you just got on and took whichever seat you wanted. I was able to get a seat in the front. The meal service was a fancy little cheese, cracker, and fruit basket with free alcohol. I figured a Sam Adams was appropriate for the flight to Beantown!

When I arrived in Boston I received curbside service thanks to Grandma and Papa and we headed to the Causeway in Glouchester for some fried calamari, scallops, and shrimp. It was SOOOOOO good.

After dinner it was time to head to the hotel where I got a few hours of sleep before having to wake up and catch a ride to the airport at 5:30am to sample aircraft water. We were done with work at about 10 and by 10:45 I was on a flight back home to ATL. A middle seat ride on an MD-88 L and I was home.

We’re now on our way to our 4^th of July vacation in Canada!

I’ll post this when we land if I can.

Later!

Working in FLL

2006-06-27T12:22:00.000-05:00

So I had to come to Fort Lauderdale today to do heat stress monitoring and I figured, as long as I'm going to be here, I may as well visit Bobbie and Zaydee on their 53rd wedding anniversary! They were kind enough to come pick me up at the airport at 7:00 and then took me to Olive Garden for a very filling dinner. Then back in the Village Bobbie had me fix her computer (what would a trip to Bubz and Zaydz be without fixing their computer?) before I went to bed. Up bright and early at 7:30 and after a quick shower it was already time to head back to the airport to meet Megan and set up out heat stress monitors.

After we got the monitors set up we went to the beach to grab a bite to eat, which was a bad idea because "business casual" clothes and 90+ degrees do not go well together and the cab driver took us on a 30 minute ride to a destination less then 10 minutes from the airport and the lunch wasn't that good anyway. At least it was free.

Back at the airport we have an hour before our flight, so here I am posting this.

Until next time....

Blurry cell phone pic :)

It's raining, it's pouring..... but Charleston wasn't boring.

2006-06-25T12:05:00.000-05:00

I know, dumb, but whatever. After spending all night Friday and all day Saturday working on my truck, we decided to take my parents on a day trip to Charleston, SC so that they could see how non-revving works. Elizabeth had taken the PCAT on Saturday and I was beat from laying under the truck all day, so we chose the second flight out around 10am. As it turned out it was a good choice because all four of us got in FIRST class. Mom and Dad wasted no time in taking full advantage of the "little extras" first class affords ;)

When we got to Charleston, it was a deluge, but we grabbed a cheap rental car and headed out anyway. We went to the marketplace and saw all the little shops before having a VERY nice lunch at Magnolia's. We then walked to the waterfront before getting back in the car for the ride back to the airport. We caught a flight home and were in bed by 11:00pm.

26 Time World Champs

2006-06-12T19:37:00.000-05:00

So as if one trip this weekend wasn't enough, on Sunday Rob and I had plans to go see the Yankees take on the A's at historic Yankee Stadium. We caught the redeye at like 7 am to Laguardia and pretty much winged it from there. We found ourselves in West Harlem when the bus dropped us off and then took the train to Grand Central Station. We thought we'd walk to Rupert's Hello Deli, but found out it was closed on Sundays.

Back on the subway we headed to the Bronx and arrived an hour before the game. A $12 hotdog and fries lunch later and we were in our bleacher seats. The Yankees have some cool traditions I guess you'd call them, like Roll Call at the top of the first inning when the fans in right field call out each player who then responds with a wave or gesture. They also sing God Bless America during the 7th inning which I liked. Also, the ground crew came out to Y.M.C.A. and stopped at short stop to dance out the corus twice. The Yankees lost, we got sunburned, and spent about 4 hours in the airport trying to get a flight home, but what an experience. Yankee stadium is being replaced in the next year or so with a more modern facility, so I'm really glad we got a chance to see a game in it. A day-trip I won't soon forget.

Oh It's Good to be in D.C.

2006-06-10T19:10:00.000-05:00

So me and Elizabeth decided that since we didn't have anything better to do today, we'd head to Washington, D.C. for the day and visit some of the free Smithsonian museums since I'd never been to them and she hadn't been since she was in the eighth grade. We go up at the crack of dawn and made our way to the airport. For the first time we got first class which was VERY nice!

When we got to D.C. we took the metro to the Smithsonian station and came out right in the middle of the mall. We started our day at the American History Museum and saw the flag that was hung from the Pentagon after 9/11 (below) as well as the original Star Spangled Banner that inspired the national anthem (most amazing thing I saw all day!), the top hat Honest Abe was wearing in Ford's Theater, the drums that played at JFK's funeral, the bike Lance Armstrong rode in the 2004 Tour de France, and tons of other great things.

Our second stop took use to the Air and Space Museum. We saw the Spirit of Saint Louis, Spaceship One (the first amateur craft to go to space), a full-scale lunar lander, a Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile, the original propeller from the Wright Brothers flight at Kittyhawk, a Tomahawk cruise missile, and the Mercury 2 space capsule among other things.

Our final destination was the Museum of Natural History. There we saw hundreds of animals in a taxidermists dream world. We also saw skeletons from hundreds of animals, and of course, the Hope diamond.

We finished our trip with a ride back to the airport and a, sigh, coach flight home.

A fun day trip, but man we were exhausted!

We had a GRAND time this weekend. : )

2006-06-03T22:59:00.000-05:00

So after a week of touring around the TechOps and planning out some noise sampling and indoor air quality samples, Elizabeth and I decided the best way to unwind from our busy weeks would be to head out west and see the Grand Canyon. We spent Saturday night in Phoenix and woke up on Georgia time (4:30 am in AZ) and decided to just get ready and go get our rental car. The Chevy Aveo is basically a roller skate with an engine, but you can't beat 35mpg when you're driving 600 miles round trip. We got to the canyon at about 1:30 and spent the rest of the day. We saw every viewpoint from the South Rim possible from inside the park and then decided to hike down. We went in about 1.5 miles and then headed out. It's not a hike for the weak. While we were hiking in we saw a longhorn sheep with it's lamb and then on the way we saw the whole family. Check out my pictures at http://photos.yahoo.com/joshuas83 for everything we saw!

Next week I'm heading to Detroit to get a tour of the lab we use at work and then on Sunday me and Rob are going to see the Yankees take on the A's at Yankee Stadium!

OSHA 10-hour Certification Course

2006-05-23T20:20:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day of the 10-hour course the company sent me to. My internal clock is all screwed up so I woke up at about 4:30 local time and couldn't get back to sleep. However, with the help of plenty of coffee, I got through the day. I learned a ton about OSHA compliance, injury reporting, record keeping, electrical safety, specific industrial hazards, industrial hygiene, and ergonomics. Everything we talked about was applicable to all industries, but was somewhat tailored to the air line industry.

After we got out at 5 I decided to get changed and try to walk to The Great Salt Lake. According to Google Earth it's only a three mile walk, but what I thought from the satelite pictures was a dirt road turned out to be a creek and what I thought was a empty dirt lot was actually a farm. So next time I come out here I'll have to get a rental car. I did, however, get some great pictures of the mountains. I have never been to a place quite like this!

First week and already loving it!

2006-05-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

I finally was able to start last Tuesday! The first week was pretty slow as my supervisor was out of town. I pretty much just sat in my cubicle and read chemical registries for hexavalent chromium and methylene chloride. I did get to help set up some equipment for indoor air monitoring in an office, but otherwise, work wise, it was a pretty slow week. BUT, on Wednesday I got to leave work early, on business of course, to go see the Braves beat the Marlins 9-1 for a Businessman Game compliments of our risk adjusters. Then on Friday I attended my first real business meeting.

Today, when I came into work I was asked if I wanted to go to SLC for a 10-hour OSHA training course. I said, “yes” of course. My days will be pretty packed with the course, but I’m hoping to get some sightseeing done in the evening at least. I’ve never been further west than western KY, so needless to say, I’m pretty excited!

I’ll keep you posted.

I start May 10!

2006-04-27T21:17:00.000-05:00

I got my offer letter in the mail today! My official title will be Corporate Safety - Graduate Intern at the ATG, GEORGIA location in the OPERATIONS location. All I have to do now is pass the background check and drug test and I'll have the best summer internship ever!!!

What's this, a blog?

2006-02-03T23:03:00.000-05:00

So you may be wondering why I'm starting a Blog and guess what...I'm going to tell you.

As part of getting my MPH I have to do a practicum in which I work 600 hours in a position related to my field. I decided to keep track of what I'm doing for my records and figured since it might actually be pretty cool I'd make it public. If you're not interested then stop reading now.

Considering I don't actually have a position nailed down solid yet there really isn't much to post about, but I'm hoping to get a position at Hartsfield-Jackson working for a major airline in their Industrial Hygiene office. Besides doing EXACTLY what I want to do for a career, I get all the perks of a regular airline employee which means I'd be doing a lot of FREE traveling this summer both for work and play. If you have a suggestion as to where I might want to go, let me hear it so I can start planning!