Kitty Hawk – Cape Hatteras

Aunt Lauren, Arien and I departed from their house at about noon today after packing up the car which took a little while. We drove down to North Carolina today. Our first stop of the day was a rest area where we ate lunch. The next stop I recall was in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the site of the first (powered) flight. The site of the historic event is now part of the national parks system. They have a visitor’s center and such. In 1932, a monument was constructed atop Kill Devil Hill commemorating the flight. We spent an hour or so there. Arien and I walked up the hill to see the monument up close. I got a few decent pictures of it. After leaving there we continued driving along the outer banks and stopped again at the Bodie Island Lighthouse, one of a handful remaining along the coast. You could not go inside this one. The keepers house was a small visitor’s center and gift shop. After leaving there we decided to drive about an hour to Cape Hatteras, where there’s another lighthouse that you can climb. I guess this one is sort of famous. About six years ago, it was moved about a half mile, away from the eroding shore line. The two keepers houses were also moved. These are intact and a separate visitor’s center was built. Arien and I climbed the 257 steps to the top with the first group that climbed up after it had been closed earlier in the day because of lightning. Since so much of the structure is cast iron the park rangers that work there are very cautious about the weather. I didn’t this climbing the equivalent of a ten story building would be that big of a deal until I got about a half way up and my legs started hurting. I was exhausted by the time I reached the top, which was rather embarrassing. The view from the top was rather impressive though. You can see the end of the cape, a nearby town in the opposite direction, the path that was cleared and the old location of the lighthouse, as well as the Atlantic ocean of course. A park ranger at the top talked about the history of the place and answered several questions. The trip down was considerably easier. We drove back up the way we came and stopped for dinner after about an hour of driving at a seafood restaurant called Uncle Pauly’s on Hatteras Island. I had this pasta dish with shrimp and pork which wasn’t bad. After dinner we stopped at one of the beaches and walked around a bit before heading to our hotel which was located inland a bit in a town called Plymouth. I think we got there some time around nine.

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Jun152006

Manhattan, and Norfolk… Eventually

I got up at seven this morning. Yeah that’s right, read it again. I’ll wait. I had everything packed and ready to go last night so I didn’t have to think about anything this morning. Dad and I left for the airport at about 7:30. We didn’t have any trouble outside of the regular morning traffic. Checking in at the airport was no problem. Since I flew last a few years ago, the humans at the ticked counter have been replaced with kiosks. There are still people there to take and tag your checked luggage though. It took me a bit longer to get through security than most people because I didn’t take my laptop out of my bag before putting it through the X-ray machine so one of the people there thoroughly searched it by hand and put it through the machine again. I got through and into the terminal well over an hour before my flight. I got a bite to eat and looked at the planes until I got bored of that and then watched a 24 episode. The plane didn’t arrive until after 9:30 so I figured we’d have to be at least a little late leaving because I was reasonably certain they can’t turn around the planes that quickly. We departed the gate at about 10:15, just ten minutes late. The flight to Newark wasn’t too bad. I had a window seat just behind the starboard engine. I already knew it sucks to sit behind the wings because of the noise but there were no forward seats available even back when I booked the flight in the first week of May. Between that and having the headphones volume almost all the way off, I walked off the place with a headache. A little over in to the flight we started moving through some clouds which means there was nothing to see and it was more than somewhat bumpy. I was hoping to get a good look at Manhattan on the approach but I was disappointed. I did get a distant glimpse of it though. It would have been better but the air wasn’t especially clear. Not long after I arrived at Norfolk-Liberty, a very big airport by the way, I learned my connecting flight was cancelled. I was scheduled for another flight which was to depart at 8:45 instead. The thought immediately came to mind that I could go to Manhattan for a little while. I’ve never been to New York before and I’ve wanted to visit there since I was little. I didn’t want to risk missing my new flight but I asked some TSA’s about it and they put my mind at easy about the simplicity of getting there. I took the airport’s “AirTrain,” which connects Newark’s three terminals and a few parking garages. It also goes to a New Jersey Transit transfer station, which I took to Manhattan’s Penn Station. It’s rather impressive all the things Manhattan has underground and Penn Station is an impressive example. It’s like an entire airport underground, except for trains of course. Even so, I was able to find my way to the surface without much trouble. Emerging from the ground to see Manhattan for the first time was certainly an interesting experience. There are so many people, all apparently in a big hurry, and tall buildings everywhere block your view of the famous tall buildings. Since I wanted to be cautious about being on time, I decided to spend only an hour or two in the city before heading back to the airport. With that in mind, it made the most sense to see Times Square, although it was painful to pick one thing since I could stay there for a week and still feel bummed about missing out on sights. Times Square is about eight blocks from the train station. After walking around for a block or two I went back down to a subway station to get there, so I got to have the whole New York subway ‘experience,’ which sucks by the way. They’re just as hot, cramped and smelly as I’ve heard. Times Square was pretty fun to see. Like everyone else I’ve seen it in pictures and on television countless times and it was cool to see it all in person. I walked around a bit and stopped in a few places including the ESPN Zone, Virgin Megastore, Gap and a place called Ray’s Pizza. I thought I might have a chance to get some good New York pizza which I was there but this place was basically a privately owned Sbarro. It’s wasn’t too bad though. The Gap the last place I stopped in before I headed back to Penn Station. It was a lot more hassle getting back to the airport. It took me more that a couple minutes to find the NJ Transit ticket counter. Those trains work in an amusing and slightly irritating fashion. Even though the trains run on set schedules, the tracks they stop on are not predetermined. They are announced no more than ten minutes before the trains depart. That means all the passengers have to congregate around these screens that show the train schedule. When a track is announced, a good number of people will bolt and run to that track. It’s funny until your train comes up. The track for the 5:37 train I took back to the airport wasn’t announced until about four minutes before it was supposed to depart. Oh, and the tracks are a level or two below all these screens, and they don’t seem to have much of any public address system on the tracks level. I was back at the airport a good while before I learned my ‘new’ flight was delayed at wouldn’t be leaving until ten. I got a drink� well a couple drinks, and a sandwich at one of the little bars in the terminal. I left there well before nine to be at the gate and catch my flight. The flight was delayed two more times after this. I called Aunt Layren at least four times about delays. I finally did board at about 10:30. We left the gate at about 10:40, but between taxiing and waiting in line to take off, we didn’t get off the ground until about 11:15. This flight wasn’t in a big Boeing 757 like my last flight, it was an Embrarer 145, a small jet that seats about 50. I was in the left side, which has only one seat. There are two on the right. The ride is a lot less smooth as a consequence, and I think even louder than my first flight today. The plane does feel faster though, for whatever that’s worth. I closed the window a few minutes into the flight because there was nothing to see aside from the strobe light. I opened a few minutes later after my complimentary beverage and saw the moon, just starting to rise in the horizon. It was big, ever so slightly red in color and its dim light barely illuminated the clouds under the plane. It was a lovely image and for a few seconds I forgot about the loud and incessant engine noise, but only for a few seconds. The plane landed about midnight. The Norfolk airport was pretty deserted. I got my luggage from baggage claim without too much trouble. Aunt Lauren was waiting for me just outside. She drove me back to her house, which took about a half hour. I got to bed at about 1:30.

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Jun142006

Pre Flight

Jeff came along with Dad and I to work this afternoon. I showed him a few more things about my job so he can handle some of my 'work load' while i'm away. We all got lunch from the nearby mexican place, Nacho Mama's, which I suspect will get alot of our money as long as we have an office in Metairie. I finished packing for my trip this evening, although I had most of the work already done last night. I'm flying to Norfolk tomorrow to an aunt's place. I'm riding with her and a cousin when they drive down to Florida, where they're moving. I'll probably be able to keep the log updated at least some of the time during the two weeks i'll be out of town.

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Jun132006

Some Bad Weather Tonight

Dad and I got to the office at about one this afternoon. I didn’t have much work to do when I first got there. I proofread the reports I did for doc over the weekend. Later in the afternoon after doc got to the office I did get some reports to work on which kept me busy through the rest of the work day. We didn’t leave the office until after 7:30. Dad waited for a late patient that never showed up. Not long after Dad and I got home, we lost power in the house. Some severe thunderstorms went over the city tonight. The power came back on before ten. I did most of the packing for my trip this evening.

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Jun122006

Weekend

Uncle Larry and my cousin Chelsea were in town this weekend for Larry’s high school reunion. They stayed at our house for a couple nights. I was home all day on Saturday, mostly wasting time doing nothing. I talked to Khadijah on the phone for a while on Saturday night. On Sunday dad took me to try and find a place to get a haircut but we didn’t have any luck. We did stop at Circuit City for a while though. No impulse purchases today.

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Jun102006

Playing Elite Force Again

I’ve continued to neglect the log this week as there hasn’t been much to report. I did work every day this week which is unusual. Yesterday I worked from 1:40 to seven as we had to go to the west bank office this evening. We went to Wal-Mart after work for a few things but were there for about an hour and a half. One the way to work today, we picked up Jeff to go to the office with us today because Dad wanted me to teach him how to do my job as I will be gone for about two weeks starting next Wednesday. I think we worked until about five. Later this evening I played Elite Force for a little while and broke down and watched the first episode of 24, season four.

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Jun062006

Mall and the Office

Before making it to the office this afternoon, Dad and I stopped at Lakeside Mall as I asked to go there earlier in the week to get some clothes. We stopped in the food court first for some lunch. I went to the Subway. After eating, I went to the Gap and got a couple shirts. I also bought a shirt from the Pacific Sun store. We made it to the office shortly after two. I really didn’t have much work to do today. Dad and I went to the west bank office later in the afternoon to conduct a job interview. I think we got some sometime around seven. This evening was pretty devoid of activity.

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Jun052006

Weekend – Monday

I did get out of the house this weekend but not for anything remotely enjoyable. On Saturday, the whole family went to a self-storage facility to help move some stuff from grandma’s old house from one unit to another, where doc has some equipment stored. I went to church and the hardware store with Mom on Sunday. Mom wanted to check out a lawn edger she saw in a sale paper. When we got there we found out why it was only $50 and decided against it. Later that day I added some stock photos to the random banner rotation on my website. Beyond that there isn’t anything new going on besides the fact that I haven’t been feeling quite right. I think I have a cold or something like it coming on, which sucks because I’m traveling next week. I worked from about noon to about six today. I had a mix of things to do today. Late this evening I started playing HL2: Episode One again, this time set to “hard” and with the commentary on. THere's been some interesting bits of information so far. The way they discuss the production makes it sound even more like making feature films.

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Jun022006

Week of May 30

I wasn’t really motivated to post this week, which doesn’t really matter because nothing much happened anyway. I worked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week. I had enough to do but I hardly felt busy. I finished watching 24 season three and played Half Life 2: Episode One, both of which were enjoyable

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June 2006

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