Sunday Afternoon in Central Park

One of the first trips Lindsay and I took when we were married was a quick long-weekend trip to the "crossroads of the universe" New York city. As it happens the Big Apple was having one of the wettest weekends in years and it was constantly raining. After 2 days of being soaked we woke up to our last day (Sunday) and were very disappointed, but not surprised, to see that it was cloudy and wet. We decided to take a walk down to Central Park anyway and by the time we got there the clouds had parted and the sun was shining! All of the sudden people started heading to the park in droves! The rest of the afternoon we just ate hot dogs, walked along the winding paths, people watched and enjoyed the greatest park on earth. It was a refreshing and bright ending to a very cloudy and wet weekend!

A Boarder Crossing to Remember:

About 2 weeks into our Middle East trek Lindsay and I found ourselves needing to cross from Jordan to Israel. Border crossings anywhere are never really "easy" and when your in the Middle East it quite the experience (especially going from an Islamic Country to Israel). We started in the little beach town of Aquaba, Jordan and took a cab to the border and then started the exiting process. We began by paying the "exit tax" in Jordan and then discussing "Obama" with the friendly guards while they took 20 minutes to stamp our passports. We then were led through a series of gates until we found ourselves face to face with the last Jordanian guard holding a huge gun..he was very intimidating. He took our passports and then said "I cannot give you back your passport...unless you promise to come back to Jordan!" He then started laughing and gave us a huge smile! We continued to chat with him for a few minutes about how much he loved Americans and wanted us to come back, it was a great ending to a beautiful country. After that he pointed us down a long road surrounded by barbed-wire fences. We walked along this (very) deserted road for about 100 yards before finally seeing the large Israeli flags. The border in Israel was a much different experience. It was full of serious guards, lots of weapons and very intense security measures. When they noticed the Syrian visa in our passports they became very suspicious and set us aside for "further inspection." This ended up being a 3 hour ordeal that consisted of interviewing us separately, calling the US Government to verify identity and lots of waiting. Eventually we were cleared and headed off to the beach party town of Eilat, Israel. This border crossing was such a unique experience, the contrast between these two countries and the intensity we will never forget!

Portland = Urban Paradise

As an Urban Design major in college I was constantly reading case studies and examples about Portland, OR. This relatively small city is the "poster child" for good Urban Design. It was a Friday afternoon labor day weekend 2008 and Lindsay and I were dying to go somewhere. At the last minute I thought "lets load up the Mini-Cooper and head up to Portland"...and that we did. We drove from Salt Lake City to Boise for the night and then on to Portland the next morning. The drive is beautiful; riding along the Columbia river with Mt. Hood in the background is fantastic. The highlight of the trip however was the city of Portland itself. As we drove across one of the many historic bridges I began to realize why this city was so famous amongst urbanites. Portland has all the ingredients for an urban paradise: Narrow streets, very small blocks (you can fit 9 Portland blocks in 1 Salt Lake City block) and lots of "districts" with varying personalities. We spent the weekend exploring the neighborhood markets, hanging out in the trendy "Pearl District" and riding the streetcars from place to place. The city also has a huge park with the world famous "international rose garden" which was simply beautiful. For this trip we decided to really enjoy our hotel room by renting movies, sleeping-in, etc which felt great because we rarely take the time to do this. Portland is definitely a city worth visiting; for us it was everything it was hyped up to be. If you want a "big city weekend" with a "small town feel" head off to Portland!

Canada or Bust!

In the summer of 2007 Lindsay and I attended her family reunion in Yellowstone. We were there for about 3 days and then had 4 more days of vacation to use. We know we wanted to go to Canada with the extra time but there was a number of unanswered questions: were would we stay? Can we take our dog across the border? Any campgrounds left in Banff? The last day of the reunion we decided to just load up the jeep and head north! Normally we are very obsessive and meticulous about our trip planning but this time we just went! As a result of no time to plan we ended up sleeping in the back of our jeep in a rest-stop somewhere near Missoula, Montana. All in all it ended up being one of the funnest road trip adventures we have ever had. We watched summer storms come across the beautiful wilderness of Montana, took the "road to the sun" in Glacier National Park and ended up in the beautiful Canadian Rockies! This taught me and Lindsay the value of the "spontaneous road-trip" and was a memory we will never forget.

Miami Beach: Architecture, Style, Sun & Fun.

In October of 2008 while visiting Lindsay's brother in Florida we took a quick trip down to Miami Beach. I have never wanted to go anywhere near Miami until I took a "History of American Architecture" class in college and became fascinated with the Art Deco architectural style. As we pulled into the city and began exploring I quickly realized that I had underestimated Miami, especially Miami Beach. The white washed art deco buildings, the posh shops, the Caribbean/Cuban vibe, the palm lined beaches and the eclectic mix of people gave for a very exciting experience. We got a room at the "Colony" which is one of the most photographed hotels in Miami. In the 1st picture below you can see the top left room light on in the blue lite building; that is actually our hotel room. For just a couple of days we hung out on the beach, admired the architecture and took in the scene. We would sit on the beach during the day and walk the scene on "Ocean Drive" at night. For us Miami really was a pleasant (and fun) surprise!

4:00 AM "Call to Prayer"

As the Lonely Planet guidebook states: "The call to prayer quickly becomes the soundtrack for any Middle East adventure." Lindsay and I had our first experience with a call to prayer when we first arrived in Istanbul, Turkey. We arrived in Istanbul around 6:00 pm and after a few hours of wandering we retired to our cute little hotel in old town right near "The Blue Mosque." That night we slept with the window open to take advantage of the cool breeze that was coming off the bosphorus. This was a great idea until a cat came through the window in the middle of the night and jumped on my bed almost giving me a heart attack..:) After getting over the cat incident we fell back asleep but were woken up at 4:00 am to the sound of a man singing in Arabic as loud as he could into a speaker system; it was the first "call to prayer" of the morning. For those who have never experienced a call to prayer it is quite fascinating. At various times throughout the day the Mosques will have someone go to a microphone and sing a religious song that is blasted through loud speakers throughout the entire city or village. The songs, although loud, are quite beautiful and really give you the feeling that you are in a place so far removed from anything you consider "familiar." This 4:00 am call to prayer in Istanbul was the perfect "welcome" for me and Lindsay and sitting in our little hotel listening to it in awe will be a memory we will always cherish.

The Magical Islands of San Blas:

Off the Eastern Coast of Panama lies a collection of Islands called San Blas . This little known stretch of land is home to the fascinating and friendly Kuna Indians. They live in wooden huts and make their living mostly from fishing, farming, etc. This area is only accessible via a small prop plane from Panama City (that topic is for another blog post)that flies from village to village dropping off supplies, etc. Lindsay and I stayed with a Kuna Family on their little island retreat called Yandup. Our accommodation consisted off a wooden hut with a bed and mosquito net. Everyday our Kuna guide "Leo" would load us up in a wooden canoe with a motor and take us to some of the most beautiful and remote islands in the world. Each small island is owned by a certain Kuna family and lucky for us our friend/guide Leo had already arranged for us to hang out on these islands. Leo would drop us off on an island and then Lindsay and I would simply go find the best "spot" to lay out our towels and hang out. The sand was white, the water crystal clear and the coral reef spectacular! I have really never felt so removed from the world as I did laying around the San Blas islands off the coast of Panama!

The Long Trek Home...

When you are young and backpacking your way across the world "logistics" becomes an art. You figure out how to get from point-a to point-b and everywhere in-between. However, when coming home from our Middle East/Northern Africa trek Lindsay and I forgot that art. Our schedule to get from Morocco to home (Salt Lake City) turned out to be a logistical nightmare that left us so tired and worn out that we were on the verge of insanity! The objective was this: get from the desert Moroccan city of Marrakech to our studio apartment in SLC as cheap and quick as possible. This involved trains, sleeping in airports and the worst flight pattern ever. Here is how the journey ended up:

Marrakech->Tangier->Madrid->Frankfurt->New York->Los Angeles->Salt Lake City

This trip started after a long and hot day exploring Marrakesh. We boarded a very hot and crowded night train headed north. The next morning we woke up in the fantastic whitewashed city of Tangier (made famous by the Bourne Ultimatum movie). We spent most of the day exploring the city and in the afternoon we took a short flight to Madrid. Once in Madrid we took the Metro to the center of the city and just spent the rest of the night taking in the sights and sounds of that beautiful European metropolis. At around midnight we took the metro back to the airport and slept that night on the cold, dirty and very hard airport floor. The next morning we boarded flight 1 to Frankfurt, then flight 2 to New York, then flight 3 to Los Angeles and finally flight 4 to Salt Lake City. 2 Days, 9 time zones and 3 nights without a bed later we found ourselves home. (in case you are wondering, we booked the flights with skymiles which meant we had to take whatever they gave us). Although we loved the adventure this last leg of our trip left us so exhausted we could barely stand, oh, did I mention that we did this entire trip home carrying our backpacks?...ouch!

River Of Dreams

While backpacking through Thailand in 2006 Lindsay and I spent some time in the beautiful city of Chiang Mai. This city is in the northern mountains of Thailand and is surrounded by mountains, lush forests, and amazing villages. One day we were taken to an area called "Chiang Dao", this is the northern most area of Chiang Mai and is famous for beautiful mountains, valleys and streams. On the way back we were offered a "river ride" from a small Thai boy. The "ride" consisted of a raft which was made from large bamboo sticks and twine. The young Thai boy (about 11) simply guided us along this river using a large stick that he would occasionally stick into the river bottom to guide the raft. This raft ride ended up being one of the most surreal and special travel moments we have ever had. We knew it was going to be a good ride when I stood up to help steer the raft and fell through two bamboo sticks and had to be helped out by the young boy. Joking aside, we drifted down this beautiful river in the mountains of Thailand and watched the afternoon turn into late evening. Occasionally we would drift by farmers working in the field, old women casting their nets into the stream and young Thai children who would swim up to our raft with huge smiles! This glimpse of Thai life was priceless, it was so real, so far away from the highways, cities and other travel destinations. We will never forget drifting along that beautiful river watching evening settle and catching a glimpse of what life in Chiang Mai, Thailand is all about.

Shoes, Wallet, Coffee and Friendship.

By the time Lindsay and I made it to Damascus, Syria we were beat. We had been traveling for well over a week and had just arrived on a night train from Aleppo, Syria. My little "puma trainers" were simply not doing the trick so I needed to get a new pair of shoes. That night while walking the streets near our hotel we found a shop that was open. The owner sat politely and welcomed us with a very happy "welcome to my shop." I purchased some shoes and a wallet and after some brief conversation went on to our hostel. Our last night in Damascus we wandered by this shop again and the minute the shop owner saw us he gave us a huge smile, a big wave and a "please come in my friends." He invited us into his shop and made us a cup of coffee/tea which is true Middle East hospitality. We sat there for about 2 hours just discussing family, friendship, politics, etc. He had us call his kids on the cell phone so that they could "talk to Americans." We found out that he is working 2 jobs to support his wife and 5 kids. His brother (a police officer) was also there to share in the conversation. I will never forget as this man (speaking the best English he could) tried to explain to us that it is the U.S/Syrian governments that don't like each other but that Syrians "love Americans." For us this night was the perfect ending to an AMAZING experience in the country of Syria. What we found there were the nicest, sweetest people we have ever meet. We are taught to believe that the Syria is full of terrorist & extremest but for Lindsay and I it is full of friends; including this man and his little shop in the middle of Damascus.