Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Florida
Remember that trip to Florida I was yammering about (wow, I just said "yammering," that automatically makes me like 80 years older)? The one tha was $22, yeah. I have some pics and a trip report.
We left LGA at about 7:00AM on Saturday, right on time, and landed in Fort Lauderdale about three hours later. Once we basked in the 85 degree heat and got our rental car, we drove south on Florida's Turnpike to its end. Here's a very tropical looking picture in Homestead:
After the turnpike ended, we drove on US 1 to Key Largo and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. If I had had my way, we would have gone snorkeling offshore there at the actual reef. But we, like, didn't, because my mom didn't want to. Anyway, we had lunch on the beach and then rented a canoe to travel through the mangrove channels. What more can I say, there were mangroves, in a channel...
Yeah, that's my mom. Anyway, after canoeing, I decided I still wanted to snorkel, even if it wasn't going to be in the most spectacular part of the park. So I rented gear and I snorkeled by myself off the beach. Here are a couple of pics:
Left: the beach.
Right: me snorkeling. You might want to click on it for a bigger view...
I didn't really see much, just some sponges and a few fish. And I helped this old dude find his mask, which he dropped under water. So then we left the park and drove to Everglades National Park, which was having a free admission day due to its 60th anniversary. We went to the Royal Palm Visitor Center and hiked two trails--the wildlife-full Anhinga Trail, which went along a freshwater slough, and the tropical Gumbo Limbo Trail, which went through a rainforest with vegetation more typical of Central America than the US of A. Here are pics from the a trails:
Above: gator and Everglades on the Anhinga Trail.
Below: Tropicality of the Gumbo Limbo Trail.
We were planning to do a hike in the Long Pine Key area before it got dark, but unfortunately we took the wrong road and had to leave the park due to the setting sun. SPeaking of which, I did get some ppretty good pics of it, here's one:
We drove up the Tunrpike again to our Days Inn at Sunny Isles Beach (basically North Beach Miami), which we arrived at around dinnertime. Our hotel was in an odd location--a low slung 4 story motor inn surrounded by 50 story Trump-owned resorts. We ate dinner at the best restaurant ever, an all you can eat sushi place. It may sound like shit, but the fish was fresh, you could see the people making it.... Anyway, the next day we had to get up at 5:00 to be back at Fort Lauderdale International Airport for our 7:00AM flight. So in total, we spent about 21 hours in Florida. The flight cost $44 round trip, the hotel was $60, and the rental car was $35. Not bad.
We left LGA at about 7:00AM on Saturday, right on time, and landed in Fort Lauderdale about three hours later. Once we basked in the 85 degree heat and got our rental car, we drove south on Florida's Turnpike to its end. Here's a very tropical looking picture in Homestead:
After the turnpike ended, we drove on US 1 to Key Largo and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. If I had had my way, we would have gone snorkeling offshore there at the actual reef. But we, like, didn't, because my mom didn't want to. Anyway, we had lunch on the beach and then rented a canoe to travel through the mangrove channels. What more can I say, there were mangroves, in a channel...
Yeah, that's my mom. Anyway, after canoeing, I decided I still wanted to snorkel, even if it wasn't going to be in the most spectacular part of the park. So I rented gear and I snorkeled by myself off the beach. Here are a couple of pics:
Left: the beach.
Right: me snorkeling. You might want to click on it for a bigger view...
I didn't really see much, just some sponges and a few fish. And I helped this old dude find his mask, which he dropped under water. So then we left the park and drove to Everglades National Park, which was having a free admission day due to its 60th anniversary. We went to the Royal Palm Visitor Center and hiked two trails--the wildlife-full Anhinga Trail, which went along a freshwater slough, and the tropical Gumbo Limbo Trail, which went through a rainforest with vegetation more typical of Central America than the US of A. Here are pics from the a trails:
Above: gator and Everglades on the Anhinga Trail.
Below: Tropicality of the Gumbo Limbo Trail.
We were planning to do a hike in the Long Pine Key area before it got dark, but unfortunately we took the wrong road and had to leave the park due to the setting sun. SPeaking of which, I did get some ppretty good pics of it, here's one:
We drove up the Tunrpike again to our Days Inn at Sunny Isles Beach (basically North Beach Miami), which we arrived at around dinnertime. Our hotel was in an odd location--a low slung 4 story motor inn surrounded by 50 story Trump-owned resorts. We ate dinner at the best restaurant ever, an all you can eat sushi place. It may sound like shit, but the fish was fresh, you could see the people making it.... Anyway, the next day we had to get up at 5:00 to be back at Fort Lauderdale International Airport for our 7:00AM flight. So in total, we spent about 21 hours in Florida. The flight cost $44 round trip, the hotel was $60, and the rental car was $35. Not bad.
Updatings
It's 2008. Yep. I wonder, if you get shot at about the same time it becomes midnight in a nEw Year, which year of death do they put on your gravestone? We were talking about that during la clase de math today....
Today we had to go back to school, which sucked a bit. BUt meh, I have another break in 2 and a half weeks. And it's just as long as this one, so, uh, woot. And then after that break, there's another one in mid-February, 2 and a half weeks later. So between December 23 and February 25, I have a total of 4 weeks off from school. I think.
So uh, my thumb. I still have a scar. And I can't feel a portion of it. And I probably wont ever be able to. Oh wells. I have to get back to my hw.
Today we had to go back to school, which sucked a bit. BUt meh, I have another break in 2 and a half weeks. And it's just as long as this one, so, uh, woot. And then after that break, there's another one in mid-February, 2 and a half weeks later. So between December 23 and February 25, I have a total of 4 weeks off from school. I think.
So uh, my thumb. I still have a scar. And I can't feel a portion of it. And I probably wont ever be able to. Oh wells. I have to get back to my hw.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Last Weekend's Adventure (Proof of my travel nerdity) + Upcoming December Adventure
I really hate using the word "adventure" in any sentence, because it sounds stupid, but I'm too lazy to look for a synonym. But last Saturday, I went on a 500 mile drive with my dad in New Joizey and Pennsylvania to see the fall foliage (albeit in a crappy foliage year).
We left at about 7:00, with the sun not up on this last day of daylight savings time. We went across the GWB and it gradually got lighter as we traveled west across NJ. Due to the cloudiness, November-ness, and west-ness of our location, it didn't really get light enough for the street lights to go off until about 7:50, which is when we crossed I-287 and officially left the NY area.
The fall foliage was decent in northern NJ, some areas seemed past peak and some seemed near peak, but none were directly at peak because the foliage this year is crappy.
It was never really light enough for any pictures, but this is the best I got, while passing thru Allamuchy State Park.
We stopped at a scenic overlook above the Delaware Water Gap, one that we had stopped at once before in April when we took a different 500 mile drive in the snow to the Grand Canyon of PA. Anyway, here's the view from the overlook:
Not bad, no?
A few miles later, we stopped at the Water Gap itself. I've been there four times in the last seven months--once in April, once in May, once in August, and now once in November. The foliage was probably peak there, but it was only like 45 degrees, do we didn't linger.
We crossed the Delaware and entered Pennsylvania, and a few miles in, we left I-80 and started on a southwesterly course on US 209, through the southern part of the Poconos. The scenery was decent, and the hillsides were completely draped in muted peak color. It probably had peaked a few days ago and by the time w were there was starting to fade.
It was still pretty damn nice though. Anyway, when we got to the town of Jim Thorpe, we left US 209 to a little known scenic overlook on Flagstaff Road, on a cliff about 600 feet above the Lehigh River. Here are some pics from dat:
Above: This is the fall color of Flagstaff Road, on the way up.
Above: The view to the north, including the Lehigh River and Jim Thorpe.
Looking south, where the foliage seems to be past peak on the north facing slopes.
We passed Jim Thorpe and continued south, passing lots of election signs. The most contested election, judging by the signs, seemed to be the election for coroner, oddly. We passed Tamaqua, a slightly larger town with 2 skyscrapers, both across the street from each other. One was a 15 story housing project, and the other was a 6 story luxury co-op.
When we reached Pottsville, we headed south for a few miles on busy PA 61, and then a few miles on less traveled PA 183, which seemed to be heading straight for Blue Mountain.
We turned west before we could reach Blue though, onto PA 895, an obscure road paralleling I-78 that I have now traveled 36 miles of on 3 separate occasions--November 2005, October 2006, and now November 2007. We took it all the way to I-81, which we took south over a gap in Blue Mountain and into the Susquehanna River Valley. We exited the interstate in Carlisle, to go south on SR 34 and 94 through the foothills of southern Pennsylvania's mountains. The sun was out here, away from the coast and the remnants of Hurricane Noel. This made for some pretty sweet pictures, like this one.
We then took SR 243 east to York, and got stuck in a sea of red lights for about one hour, and also stopped to pick up lunch for 15 minutes. Afterwards, we headed east on limited access US 30, crossed the Susquehanna River, and then exited the highway for SR 340 through the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. The road took us through towns like Intercourse and Bird In Hand. It was also excruciatingly slow, commercialized, and unauthentic, filled with shoppers and stuff. Pretty much all of the horse drawn buggies were run by tourist companies. It seems that if the Amish want a quiet life, why would they live in PA Dutch Country? Anyway here's a pic of some Amish people:
Then we reached US 30 again and skirted the outer suburbs of Philly--King of Prussia, Norristown, Conshohocken, and the like. Then we went north on the Penna. Turnpike Northeast Extension. The foliage ever since recrossing the Susquehanna had been pretty crappy--either green, bare, or brown--, but as we approached Allentown the yellows and oranges began to appear once more (there were, like, zero red trees this year). In Allentown we took US 222 to SR 33 to I-78, after missing the exit for I-78 right off the turnpike. As we approached the Delaware we got a very nice view of the sunlight on yellow NJ hills, against a dark gray sky.
In NJ, we got some more nice views, including one where we rose to the top of a crest in a rock cut and then saw the whole piedmont--it was very pastoral. The weather conditions were optimal for taking pictures of good fall color--a dark sky, bright late afternoon sun, and...um, an interstate. But here's a nice pic.
I-78 really seems to stay out of the suburbs for a while--while I-80 passes huge towns like Hackensack and Paterson, I-78 rolls gently through the hills, and, althugh suburbia is all around, you can't see it. Anyhowsers, when we got home it was 5:45 PM. The end.
On a related, although not related matter: Last night I was bored, and I subscribe to all these emails about travel deals. One of them last night was from Spirit Airlines. Usually they have some pretty sick sale fares, but they're for midweek travel or they're all sold out. But this time there was a $21 fare to Fort Lauderdale on a weekend in December. So I convinced my mom to book it, and I'ma go to Florida December 8th and come back the morning of December 9th. I'll be there for like 22 hours, but at least it'll be warm. And fun. And unique. And interesting. And relaxing. And exciting. And enjoyable. And palmy. And balmy. And breezy. And watery. And recreation-ful.
We left at about 7:00, with the sun not up on this last day of daylight savings time. We went across the GWB and it gradually got lighter as we traveled west across NJ. Due to the cloudiness, November-ness, and west-ness of our location, it didn't really get light enough for the street lights to go off until about 7:50, which is when we crossed I-287 and officially left the NY area.
The fall foliage was decent in northern NJ, some areas seemed past peak and some seemed near peak, but none were directly at peak because the foliage this year is crappy.
It was never really light enough for any pictures, but this is the best I got, while passing thru Allamuchy State Park.
We stopped at a scenic overlook above the Delaware Water Gap, one that we had stopped at once before in April when we took a different 500 mile drive in the snow to the Grand Canyon of PA. Anyway, here's the view from the overlook:
Not bad, no?
A few miles later, we stopped at the Water Gap itself. I've been there four times in the last seven months--once in April, once in May, once in August, and now once in November. The foliage was probably peak there, but it was only like 45 degrees, do we didn't linger.
We crossed the Delaware and entered Pennsylvania, and a few miles in, we left I-80 and started on a southwesterly course on US 209, through the southern part of the Poconos. The scenery was decent, and the hillsides were completely draped in muted peak color. It probably had peaked a few days ago and by the time w were there was starting to fade.
It was still pretty damn nice though. Anyway, when we got to the town of Jim Thorpe, we left US 209 to a little known scenic overlook on Flagstaff Road, on a cliff about 600 feet above the Lehigh River. Here are some pics from dat:
Above: This is the fall color of Flagstaff Road, on the way up.
Above: The view to the north, including the Lehigh River and Jim Thorpe.
Looking south, where the foliage seems to be past peak on the north facing slopes.
We passed Jim Thorpe and continued south, passing lots of election signs. The most contested election, judging by the signs, seemed to be the election for coroner, oddly. We passed Tamaqua, a slightly larger town with 2 skyscrapers, both across the street from each other. One was a 15 story housing project, and the other was a 6 story luxury co-op.
When we reached Pottsville, we headed south for a few miles on busy PA 61, and then a few miles on less traveled PA 183, which seemed to be heading straight for Blue Mountain.
We turned west before we could reach Blue though, onto PA 895, an obscure road paralleling I-78 that I have now traveled 36 miles of on 3 separate occasions--November 2005, October 2006, and now November 2007. We took it all the way to I-81, which we took south over a gap in Blue Mountain and into the Susquehanna River Valley. We exited the interstate in Carlisle, to go south on SR 34 and 94 through the foothills of southern Pennsylvania's mountains. The sun was out here, away from the coast and the remnants of Hurricane Noel. This made for some pretty sweet pictures, like this one.
We then took SR 243 east to York, and got stuck in a sea of red lights for about one hour, and also stopped to pick up lunch for 15 minutes. Afterwards, we headed east on limited access US 30, crossed the Susquehanna River, and then exited the highway for SR 340 through the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. The road took us through towns like Intercourse and Bird In Hand. It was also excruciatingly slow, commercialized, and unauthentic, filled with shoppers and stuff. Pretty much all of the horse drawn buggies were run by tourist companies. It seems that if the Amish want a quiet life, why would they live in PA Dutch Country? Anyway here's a pic of some Amish people:
Then we reached US 30 again and skirted the outer suburbs of Philly--King of Prussia, Norristown, Conshohocken, and the like. Then we went north on the Penna. Turnpike Northeast Extension. The foliage ever since recrossing the Susquehanna had been pretty crappy--either green, bare, or brown--, but as we approached Allentown the yellows and oranges began to appear once more (there were, like, zero red trees this year). In Allentown we took US 222 to SR 33 to I-78, after missing the exit for I-78 right off the turnpike. As we approached the Delaware we got a very nice view of the sunlight on yellow NJ hills, against a dark gray sky.
In NJ, we got some more nice views, including one where we rose to the top of a crest in a rock cut and then saw the whole piedmont--it was very pastoral. The weather conditions were optimal for taking pictures of good fall color--a dark sky, bright late afternoon sun, and...um, an interstate. But here's a nice pic.
I-78 really seems to stay out of the suburbs for a while--while I-80 passes huge towns like Hackensack and Paterson, I-78 rolls gently through the hills, and, althugh suburbia is all around, you can't see it. Anyhowsers, when we got home it was 5:45 PM. The end.
On a related, although not related matter: Last night I was bored, and I subscribe to all these emails about travel deals. One of them last night was from Spirit Airlines. Usually they have some pretty sick sale fares, but they're for midweek travel or they're all sold out. But this time there was a $21 fare to Fort Lauderdale on a weekend in December. So I convinced my mom to book it, and I'ma go to Florida December 8th and come back the morning of December 9th. I'll be there for like 22 hours, but at least it'll be warm. And fun. And unique. And interesting. And relaxing. And exciting. And enjoyable. And palmy. And balmy. And breezy. And watery. And recreation-ful.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Yo
Yo, sup?
It's been a few weeks since I last posted, but I'm still here. So I'm a Jew. Yeah. I had to do a Jew service tonight at the synagogue. It was actually rather hilarious for some reason, just because there were lots of Jewish people there. And they were Jewish. And it was funny. Haha, yes.
So I was supposed to get the stitches taken out yesterday but they weren't ready. o I I have to wait until Sunday or MOnday. But it is a 3 day weekend, fun fun.
Um.....we're supposed to get our report cards tomorrow. I have no clue what I'm gonna get.
I really could elaborate more on any of these things, but I'd prefer not to...
It's been a few weeks since I last posted, but I'm still here. So I'm a Jew. Yeah. I had to do a Jew service tonight at the synagogue. It was actually rather hilarious for some reason, just because there were lots of Jewish people there. And they were Jewish. And it was funny. Haha, yes.
So I was supposed to get the stitches taken out yesterday but they weren't ready. o I I have to wait until Sunday or MOnday. But it is a 3 day weekend, fun fun.
Um.....we're supposed to get our report cards tomorrow. I have no clue what I'm gonna get.
I really could elaborate more on any of these things, but I'd prefer not to...
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thumb Update Uodate Update: Visit to the Urgent Care Place
So I went to the urgent care place in Bayside (there's one in my 'hood but my mom says it's filled with drug addicts), and while I was waiting I started to regain some of the feeling in my thumb. Some, but not all. So I showed it to the nurse lady there and she was like, "I think you're gonna need lots of stitches" and she moved me from the doctor room to, like, the hospital room, where there's a bed and shit.
The doctor, whose name was, like, exactly the same as the doctor from the Simpsons, came over, took a picture of the the wound (for medical records, maybe?) with a really cool SLR camera, and I told him my thumb was numb. He pressed down on various parts and he said, "The reason your thumb is numb is that the cut was really deep, and it probably struck a nerve, resulting in peripheral nerve damage." I asked how long it would take to heal, and he said, "It'll start to heal gradually, and at minimum you'll feel fine in a few weeks." So I was like "Holy shit" and I probably exclaimed that to him. But, see, I was right, wasn't I?
So then he started applying a lot of pressure to the cut for some reason, which hurt like hell. He was like, "I'm gonna need to sew this up." And I asked him, "How many stitches?" He didn't know. I estimated it would be 5 stitches.
So he made the nurse bring him a pillow, and Ilaid down on the hospital bed. He put all this numbing dye that looked like blood onto the area, and gave me 3 shots of lidocain, which started out hurting like hell, but as time progressed, I realized that I couldn't feel my right hand. It was really weird.
He said he was going to wait 10 minutes for it to become numb, but in 3, he came back and started stitching me up. That hurt like hell, even with the lidocain. I caught a glimpse of the string going through my thumb, it looked and felt, for lack of a better word, odd.
The nurse put antibiotic on the newly stitched cut, and the Simpsons doctor took another picture. Then she warpped it up in this bandage that makes it look at lot worse than it really does--it wraps around my thumb and my wrist (but it makes me look like Stephen Colbert!). Then I was prescribed an antibiotic, and was told to write "very awkwardly and carefully" for the next month (actually, I dont think I can write at all right now).
So now the injury is inside the tightly wrapped bandage and it's swelling. And it hurts. And it's numb. And I won't have to take the math test or participate in gym this week.
The doctor, whose name was, like, exactly the same as the doctor from the Simpsons, came over, took a picture of the the wound (for medical records, maybe?) with a really cool SLR camera, and I told him my thumb was numb. He pressed down on various parts and he said, "The reason your thumb is numb is that the cut was really deep, and it probably struck a nerve, resulting in peripheral nerve damage." I asked how long it would take to heal, and he said, "It'll start to heal gradually, and at minimum you'll feel fine in a few weeks." So I was like "Holy shit" and I probably exclaimed that to him. But, see, I was right, wasn't I?
So then he started applying a lot of pressure to the cut for some reason, which hurt like hell. He was like, "I'm gonna need to sew this up." And I asked him, "How many stitches?" He didn't know. I estimated it would be 5 stitches.
So he made the nurse bring him a pillow, and Ilaid down on the hospital bed. He put all this numbing dye that looked like blood onto the area, and gave me 3 shots of lidocain, which started out hurting like hell, but as time progressed, I realized that I couldn't feel my right hand. It was really weird.
He said he was going to wait 10 minutes for it to become numb, but in 3, he came back and started stitching me up. That hurt like hell, even with the lidocain. I caught a glimpse of the string going through my thumb, it looked and felt, for lack of a better word, odd.
The nurse put antibiotic on the newly stitched cut, and the Simpsons doctor took another picture. Then she warpped it up in this bandage that makes it look at lot worse than it really does--it wraps around my thumb and my wrist (but it makes me look like Stephen Colbert!). Then I was prescribed an antibiotic, and was told to write "very awkwardly and carefully" for the next month (actually, I dont think I can write at all right now).
So now the injury is inside the tightly wrapped bandage and it's swelling. And it hurts. And it's numb. And I won't have to take the math test or participate in gym this week.
Thumb Update Update
I'm going to the urgent care center soon, I'm guessing I'll need stitches, b/c the cut is still open.
I still can't hold a pencil...hmmm, maybe no math test for me?
Maybe I'm a hypochondriac. But I just touched the scalding hot light in the bathroom with my thumb and felt nothing, which is really scary. So hypochondria is out, for now. I did start to regain some of the feeling in other parts of my thumb, so maybe it's not that bad. Mehopes.
I still can't hold a pencil...hmmm, maybe no math test for me?
Maybe I'm a hypochondriac. But I just touched the scalding hot light in the bathroom with my thumb and felt nothing, which is really scary. So hypochondria is out, for now. I did start to regain some of the feeling in other parts of my thumb, so maybe it's not that bad. Mehopes.
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