Category Archives: Travel

Travels around the world

Road Trip: Iowa

There is a lot of corn in Iowa. Seriously. I think we might have crossed back into Wisconsin when this photo was taken, but you get the idea. Actually most of the day we were driving through southern Minnesota, and … Continue reading

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Road Trip: Minneapolis

State two in our three state road trip: Minnesota. First stop: The Mall of America. Well, it’s really big. The usual mall stores, some home grown ones, and a lot of restaurants. Many restaurants. Many chain restaurants. And a theme … Continue reading

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Road Trip: The Wisconsin Dells

Dani and I are on a quick weekend road trip to add three states to our list. I’d always thought Orlando, and especially its International Drive (the old section) was the tacky capital of the universe, but I’d never been … Continue reading

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Arizon and Utah Art Photos

I usually only post photos with people in them to my blog, as over the years I’ve found those are the only ones I really care about later. But these five turned out so well, I’ve decided to put them … Continue reading

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Restaurant Michael

Last night we went to Restaurant Michael in Winnetka, about four miles north of Evanston. The original plan was to take the Metra train, but it was a cool, rainy and blustery night, so we opted for a cab. The … Continue reading

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Terra

A few nights ago we visited Terra, an American bisto just north of Central Avenue in Evanston. It’s about two miles from the condo, so we took the Metra train up, and then walked back. It’s a small plates sort … Continue reading

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Evanston Remodelling

This week we remodeled Dani’s condo, replacing the carpet with wood flooring and painting all of the rooms. We actually started by having the two bedrooms repainted in early July, getting rid of the horrible hospital green color. The painter … Continue reading

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Crosby, Stills and Nash at Ravinia

This was one of the best shows I’ve seen at Ravinia. I liked the band’s 1969 and 1970 albums, and their individual solo albums, but haven’t really followed them. So it was a pleasant surprise to discover they are a … Continue reading

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Roasted Cauliflower Pizza

Dani and I decided to try to duplicate the roasted cauliflower pizza from Anthony’s in Orlando, and we came darned close. We started with some pizza dough from Whole Foods, which I rolled out repeatedly, really thin, and then baked … Continue reading

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Las Vegas Dining

We had a jam packed week of fine dining in Las Vegas. Here are some brief thoughts about the various restaurants. Verandah at The Four Seasons This is the coffee shop at the Four Season. The weekend brunch, included in … Continue reading

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The Vdara

Dani and I completed our tour of national parks, finishing with two days at the Four Seasons Las Vegas, which is the top five floors of the Mandalay Bay. Then we moved to my favorite (non-smoking casinoless) hotel in Vegas, … Continue reading

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Vdara Window Washer Rescue

We had a bit of excitement outside our hotel yesterday. Firefighters had to be lowered from above our 56th floor suite to rescue three window washers when their basket got stuck and started to slip. TV crews gathered down on … Continue reading

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Tour Wrap-up: Blogging in the Sticks

Our Tauck Tour is wrapping up, and we reached our final destination: The Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas. It’s my fourth Tauck Tour, and they just seem to get better. I wouldn’t change a thing about this one. Each … Continue reading

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Zion

If it’s the only park you go to, Zion is incredibly beautiful, with its contrasting red and white peaks. But it’s always seemed a bit of a letdown to me, after going to Grand Canyon (which is far bigger) and … Continue reading

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Bryce

I’ve always thought Bryce is the most beautiful of all the National Parks. Our room was at the Bryce Lodge, which is newly refurbished. The weather was perfect, and the sun was just setting as we arrived to take photos. … Continue reading

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Colorado River Rafting

I’ve been without Internet for one day, and I sure have a lot of updates to do! This trip is definitely keeping us busy, in a fun way. Wednesday morning we checked out of Lake Powell and drove to Page, … Continue reading

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Monument Valley

I’ve always wanted to visit Monument Valley, but it’s not the easiest place in the world to get to. Even though as a kid I vacationed all over the Southwest, I don’t recall ever passing through. So today we did … Continue reading

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Morning at the Grand Canyon, Evening at Lake Powell

This morning I happened to wake earlier, so I went out a little after 5am to photograph the sunrise over the canyon.Clouds to the east provided a dramatic backdrop, but only a few rays managed to hit the canyon walls, … Continue reading

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Grand Canyon 2012

What a great day! We set out with our Tauck group from The Four Seasons Scottsdale and headed north through the saguaro-littered desert. Soon we had ascended far enough for the cactus to disappear, to be replaced by scrub and … Continue reading

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Scottsdale

We had a relaxing day at the Fours Seasons. After breakfast we went for a short walk through the desert and took some photos, then back to the room to cool off. Even though it was overcast and in the … Continue reading

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Four Seasons Scottsdale

We had an uneventful flight from Chicago to Phoenix (best line by the Southwest pilot: “Well, we’ve found Arizona, now we’re just looking for Phoenix”) and a 45 minute limo ride from a real tech-head that involved discussions of tablets, … Continue reading

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5-Spice Apples

I invented this simple recipe to use up ingredients before leaving town. It turned out delicious. Ingredients 2 apples 3 Tbsp brown sugar 2 tsp Chinese 5-spice Preparation Peel and chop up apples. Dump in a covered casserole dish, add … Continue reading

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Pan-Seared Chicken with Balsamic Fruit Glaze

I fiddled with this recipe so much I’m calling it my own. This is a really good way to cook boneless, skinless chicken; it ends up crisp yet moist. And the glaze can be prepared in a leisurely fashion while … Continue reading

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Cozy Noodles

Cozy Noodles is a funky little cafe near Ace hardware, on Davis, but on the other side of the tracks from the business district. The striking thing about the place is the collections of tin toys, Pez dispensers, license plates, … Continue reading

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Ravinia: Santana

Santana was good, but of course they couldn’t compare to last night. They were very generous with their time, playing all their hits, and as near as I could tell every song from their second and third albums. In fact, … Continue reading

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Ravinia: Marvin Hamlish, Idina Menzel, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Tonight we went to a concert I was expecting to just be so so, and it was fantastic. It was in the open air stage a Ravinia. The hundred degree weather of the past week had abated, and it was … Continue reading

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Grilled Zucchini with Pesto

These turned out great. I used much more garlic and twice the pine nuts the original recipe suggested. I don’t see how you could stretch it to recommended six zucchini, though. I used more than half the pesto on one … Continue reading

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July 4th

July 4th was hot in Evanston. 102, to be precise. We stayed in, except for a run to Whole Foods, but in mid-afternoon the power went out and we were thankful our dinner plans included Dani’s new portable gas barbecue. … Continue reading

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Garden Lasagna

Last night I made a vegetarian lasagna. I was skeptical because of the large amount of skim milk in the recipe, but it worked great. I left out the corn the recipe called for, and used ricotta cheese rather than … Continue reading

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Kinky Friedman

One of the funniest authors I know is Kinky Friedman. He began his career in the 60s as a folk musician with the band The Texas Jewboys, and also played backup for Bob Dylan and many others. His biggest hits … Continue reading

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