Friday, 11 April 08   

Sunday, 16 Mar 08   

                                                                           Jellyfish swimming at the aquarium

After the aquarium we walked around downtown a bit, then had a late lunch at Glady's and Ron's. We had heard about chicken and waffles as a popular dish, but had never made an effort to find a restaurant that served it. With our plans we were fortunate to be able to go somewhere in the downtown area where we already were at to try it. I didn't get the signature version of three wings and a waffle, but instead got the fried chicken breast and buckwheat waffle a la carte. Now normally I don't eat fried chicken, but I made an exception this time, and it was really, really good. The chicken and waffle combo might sound really odd, but it's actually quite tasty. Kelly had the smothered chicken breast which she enjoyed as well. It was a unique experience, but one I'm glad we made the effort to try. After eating we headed over to park the car and hang out at the CNN Center to wait for the arena to open. It wasn't as busy as previous times we had been waiting for a game at the Philips Arena, but there were quite a few Avalanche fans wearing their jerseys. We got inside and had really good seats in the corner at the end the Thrashers were defending twice (more chances to see the Avs score goals). We went to the tunnel with many other Avs fans to watch the team come out for warm-ups and take some photos. In talking with some of the other fans we learned that Salei hadn't fractured an eye bone in his fight with Ott the previous Sunday and was possibly going to play that coming Thursday night. He also said that Forsberg was day-to-day (still) and Smyth might also be coming back on Thursday after an ugly looking hit into the boards 'post' that is at the end of the bench a couple weeks prior. We were impressed by the number of Avalanche fans who had come out for the game. It was actually even more noticeable when the game started how empty the arena actually was. There were some empty seats in the lower level where we were, but there were also upper level sections that were completely empty. It doesn't help that the Thrashers haven't had a great season this year and are near the bottom of the standings, plus trading off one of their star favorites at deadline time also doesn't encourage fans, but wow. We were impressed by how well the Avalanche played, including rookie David Jones, a call-up from Lake Erie earlier this season who finally scored his first NHL goal. The Avs looked much better than their non-showing in Dallas on Sunday and won the game 5-2. It was kind of funny that the two goals scored by Atlanta were from players acquired from Pittsburgh in the trade that sent star Marian Hossa to Pittsburgh.

                             
                         Adam Foote back in an Avs uniform                            Celebrating after goal #3 (or was that goal #4?)

Saturday, 1 Mar 08   

Saturday, 16 Feb 08   

I got home this past Wednesday morning after a little over a week's vacation out west to visit family in Colorado and Las Vegas. It was a good trip and I enjoyed seeing my parents, brother, and grandmother, but it is nice to be home again with the kitty girls.

My flight left at 4pm from New Orleans on Saturday the 2nd. I made sure I left and got to the airport plenty early because that Saturday was the prime highlight of Mardi Gras (which was avoided this year completely) and I didn't want to get stuck in traffic re-routed to avoid the parades. I grabbed lunch to go from The Mockingbird Cafe in Bay St. Louis along with a frozen mocha and drove over to New Orleans. I arrived at 1pm, so I made an extra stop at Lenscrafters at the mall near the airport to have my glasses slightly adjusted, then went to the airport to wait for a few hours. It really wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. I had my book to read along with my mp3 player, so I was set. The flight from New Orleans was quick, then I had an hour layover in Atlanta, which has a decent airport with CNN news being broadcast on television monitors throughout (that night was one of the Obama/Clinton debates). The flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas was full and long (about 4 hours). I slept a bit while listening to my mp3 player, but I also watched bits of the in-flight movie 'The Bee Movie' without the sound. I don't think I really missed much. Arrived in Las Vegas and had to wait about 45 minutes for our luggage to be unloaded, then another half hour before the shuttle to the Best Western showed up. There was a couple from Calgary also waiting for the shuttle, so I chatted with them a bit. By the time we arrived at the hotel and I checked into my room, it was almost midnight (Pacific Time). I decided not to attempt to call a taxi and head to the Hard Rock Casino sportsbooking to bet on the Giants winning the Superbowl the next day (now that they've won I wish I had gotten to Las Vegas earlier that night), but instead was able to watch that week's episode of 'Death Note' (for the first time during the weekend). I then watched hockey highlights on Sportscenter and went to bed since I was getting up early the next morning to fly out to my parents in Loveland.

Allegiant Air said on their website that passengers are supposed to be checked in 2 and a half hours prior to their flight. I made sure I arrived early enough to meet this time frame, in case it was actually true. I probably could have arrived later, but I've been to the Las Vegas aiport previously and the line to get through the security checkpoint snaked around for a long distance. This time it was quick with no problems, so I had a couple of hours to kill. I watched people a bit, then plugged in my music and read. This flight to the Loveland/Fort Collins airport was pretty full, but I managed to be near the front of the plane in an aisle seat, so maybe arriving extra early paid off. The flight was less than two hours long, a quck hop over the mountains and onto the Colorado plains. Talk about a tiny airport. It's like a large shed where passengers go through the security checkpoint on one side, the check-in counter is in the middle, and a door to the outside landing area is on the opposite side of the counter and people can meet the people flying in as they walk in from the runway/landing point. This is smaller than the airport in Fairbanks used to be. My parents were both waiting for me inside the small terminal area, then they unloaded the bags outside from a cart underneath this canopy. Odd. I gathered my rolling duffle, and we were on our way. We were all a bit hungry, so we stopped at the Whole Foods in Fort Collins to have some lunch from their many food bar options, plus we picked up a few groceries for the week. I had some grilled tofu and a salad while they had udon noodles. The last stop on the way to their house was just up the road, a Great Harvest Bread Co. that I noticed on the way to Whole Foods. They were about to close on Sunday afternoon, and didn't have many loaves left, but I picked up a cinnamon swirl loaf for breakfast that week. I had brought along a loaf of my chocolate chip/pumpkin bread for my parents to try, but wanted another fresh loaf from Great Harvest.

We finally made it back to their place (after an hour of errands, then a long drive up the hill to their house) about 2 hours later, near 5pm. It was just in time to watch the Superbowl, and we had only missed the first quarter. My parents have a nice HD 46" television in their living room, so it was great for viewing during the week. The Superbowl wasn't really that exciting until the final quarter, and the commercials weren't that great either. It was nice to watch with my dad though, and I'm glad that the Giants ended up winning in the end. Yeah, baby Manning! For dinner my mom had made some pizza dough in their bread machine and some pizza sauce, then we topped it with cheese and other items we had purchased at Whole Foods. I selected fresh basil, artichoke hearts, veggie pepperoni, and spinach for all of us. We each had our own mini-pizza and they tasted really good. I spent the rest of the evening talking with my parents before they went to bed and I went down to the guest room in the basement (my dad's study) to use my laptop and their wireless router (DirecTV satellite internet) while watching some hockey highlights on the 42" HD television in that room, then reading before falling asleep.

Monday morning my dad was working on paying some bills while I was on the internet for a bit, then we headed out to Denver by noon. It was snowing pretty heavily that day, but not enough to hinder our trip to see the Avs game. We stopped along the way to get coffee, then met Matt for dinner before we all went to the game. I wasn't sure if we'd make it in time because one of the commuter trains (like an above ground subway) had hit a vehicle and was stopped in the middle of the road on the street which led to the Pepsi Center. We made it just in time for the faceoff. The arena hadn't been selling out lately (as in the past), and the incliment weather probably hampered more people in attending, so the upper bowl looked pretty empty at the beginning of the game. It filled up a bit into the second period, but definitely far from sold out. I always enjoy live hockey, especially NHL games. Being in the lower lever corner we had a really good view. It was an exciting game which the Avs seemed to dominate most of, but they had a horrible face-off in the third period to give up their lead and let Phoenix tie it up. In overtime the Avs got totally ripped off by the officials and Phoenix ended up winning 4-3. Lame. Still fun to attend and I am really looking forward to the game in Atlanta (against the Avs, of course) that Kelly and I are going to next month. On the way home it was snowing pretty hard again, but my dad is a good driver and we made it home safely. When I got home I was able to re-watch the week's Death Note episode in HD (Cartoon Network has an HD feed) on the big screen. Awesome!

                             
                         Snowfall on the porch from just one day                          Colorado/Phoenix second period face-off

On Tuesday we just stayed at the house. I read and was on the computer some, while my dad did more bills and my mom worked in her studio. We had salads for lunch and leftovers for dinner. Wednesday was another trip down to Denver. In the morning my mom had a doctor's appointment in Longmont and my dad had a dentist appointment in Boulder. We dropped my mom off, went to Boulder and I left my dad at the dentist's office, then drove back to pick up my mom in Longmont before we got my dad after his appointment in Boulder. It's actually not that far of a distance between the different communities, kind of like here on the coast. After Boulder we stopped at the Flatirons Mall halfway between Boulder and Denver and had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. Not bad for a chain, although I just had a salad. I purchased a plain grey t-shirt for myself at Banana Republic because the weather in Las Vegas was going to be warmer than I had originally expected, so I figured I would get something nice, but comfortable (instead of a sweater) for my visit to the culinary school there. We also stopped by the Bose store to look at soundsystems for my parents. They were thinking of purchasing a wave machine with a multiple cd changer and built-in speakers. Those have pretty decent sound, but after talking with the salesperson, they ended up considering a larger, more elaborate system. I'm glad I was there to give some input and minor knowledge of questions they might think of, but overall I was impressed by what they selected. They were going to think about it a bit, but then decide by the end of the weekend because their 24-month no interest financing special was going to end at that time. After shopping we got into Denver and had a snack at a small bar near the theater complex. We then went to see the play 'Plainsong', which is based on a book about life in a small town on the Colorado plains. I hadn't read the book and wasn't sure what to expect, but it was actually really good. I had forgotten how enjoyable it was to see small theater productions. Maybe Kelly and I will have to go to some more in New Orleans or Biloxi this year. The play was 3 hours with two intermissions, so it was over at 9.30pm and we went home. On the way we were able to listen to some of the Avs game in San Jose on the radio, but Altitude rebroadcast it late, so I watched it when I got home in the study. They looked good and actually won 3-1. Not bad against one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

Thursday I was taking my mom's Land Rover and driving into Denver myself. I left early because I had plenty of shopping to fit in before the show that night. I first stopped at Daveco Liquors, which is just off the interstate north of Denver. There were a few other box stores around, and I was talking with the woman at the checkout and she showed me their recent certification by Guiness Book of World Records for being the world's largest liquor store. Nice. State law in Colorado prohibits sending liquor out of state, but that didn't stop me from purchasing 12 different 'large' bottles of beer to send to Jason and Ellen. I wound up with 11 different types of beer brewed at Colorado breweries (most were from different ones, although I did get a couple different types from the same brewer) and one from California that I couldn't pass up with Thelonious Monk on the label. I purchased the beer and had them give me two 6-bottle wine boxes, then I went to Office Depot and purchased some bubble wrap and some duct tape at Home Depot (all in the same box store complex), then I was set to find a UPS Store later in the day to mail home the goods.

Upon arrival in Denver, my first stop was the Pepsi Center. I had browsed the Avs merchandise on Monday night between periods, but didn't have time to get what I wanted. I saw the items I was interested in and purchased a hooded sweatshirt for Kelly, and a short and long-sleeved t-shirt (with different designs) for myself. The items I found I hadn't seen online, and I was pleased with my purchase. Next I headed out to the suburb of Aurora and to Gimme Anime, a store I had found before my trip on the web. They had an extensive collection of anime dvd's for rent, but also merchandise to purchase. I ended up purchasing a Skuld (from Ah, My Goddess!) t-shirt and a couple of manga. I also asked the woman working if she knew of a nearby UPS Store. She looked it up on the computer and there was a location about a mile away, and she wrote down the directions for me. I drove to the UPS Store and packed my two boxes VERY well (wrapped each bottle in bubble wrap twice, then packed each slot with another piece of bubble wrap, then laid a few sheets on the top before taping each box up with duct tape) in the car, then carried the boxes inside. The young woman at the counter looked at me and asked if there was wine in the boxes (which were for different wines), and I replied 'no', then we sent them on her way after I had her stamp them with the 'Fragile' stamp. At least I didn't lie to her. I grabbed a bagel for a late lunch, then drove downtown to Wax Trax to browse the cd's. For some reason the selection seemed rather lacking this time, which seemed odd to me, but maybe diigital downloads are having more of an effect on smaller record stores than I was aware of. I found a couple of discs on my list, then I headed to Tattered Cover. I think I've mentioned that Tattered Cover used to be a great independent book store in Denver, but when I last visited they had recently moved from their Cherry Creek location to a new spot on Colfax. I'm not too keen on the new location, and the selection seems to be either diminished or laid out so much differently that there doesn't seem to be as much in stock. I browsed the cookbooks a bit in seaarch of an Ethiopian cookbook, but no success. Next door I did find Twist and Shout records, which one of the clerks at Wax Trax mentioned, so I went to check it out. They had a much better selection, especially used, as well as avant-garde/experimental. I purchased a few more discs including the Nurse With Wound/Faust collaboration disc that I had read about when it was released last year. I'm glad my brother called me to let me know he was home from work and ready to go to dinner, otherwise I probably would have bought more. Anyway, I drove to Matt's apartment downtown and then we headed to a nearby Japanese restaurant he enjoys to have sushi. It was pretty good with standard rolls. It was nice to sit down and talk with him since I don't see him much during the year and we don't talk very often. He's doing alright with his new job and the main distress in his life seems to be trying to sell the home he and Tymbre own in Longmont. It's a nice place, but the crummy housing market hasn't helped things at all. After dinner we went back to his place so he could be there to watch 'Lost'. I sat for a few minutes, then drove up to the Ogden Theater for the main reason I was in town that night and staying on Matt's couch afterwards.

I think I've been to the Ogden Theater once previously years ago, but I can't remember what show. Ah, well. It's a pretty nice set-up with the front section near the stage, a 'lean rail' seperating a small riser or floor space from the main floor, the sound table, then another lean rail on the next riser up (where I stood right behind the mix board), and one behind me with a bar at the back. There was also an upstairs, but I found a spot below early that was near the mix board and had a level view of the stage area. Ever since I had read about the DJ Shadow/Cut Chemist 'Hard Sell' tour I partially planned my trip to Colorado around the show so I could attend. One of the best ideas I've come up with in awhile. Kid Koala opened up with his own 45 minutes set of some awesome mixing and scratching on four turntables. There were cameras all around the stage area that displayed some of the action on the two large screens behind the turntables, so the view was of the turntables, mixer, and his hands in action. Most impressive and so enjoyable that I'm going to purchase a cd later (I had already purchased a shirt and cd from the main headliners). After a brief intermission to clear his gear from the front of the stage, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist came out from behind the screens to 'man' their 8 turntables, mixers, and effects pedals under the table (to loop sound, etc). DJ Shadow was more talkative and introduced what was going on, but they also played this video as their standard intro before launching into their set. They had split it up into about 3 or 4 main 'movements', but it was a pretty continuous mix with accompanying visuals/videos on the screens behind them (look on youtube for various show coverage). They also had quite a few cameras set up (including the wristband cam that Cut Chemist wore to be right in the action). They mixed all sorts of genres of music with cutting and mash-ups, some of it was some pretty ugly shit, but for the most part it was jaw-dropping and amazing to witness live. They played just under two hours total and this was the BEST show I've seen in quite a long time. I mean, mixing all 45's is just insane. It would have been even better if in this 'non-smoking' venue I didn't have a bunch of potheads getting high right behind me (yuck!), but still it didn't detract too much from the show itself. I'd go see them again if I had the chance. I'll just have to purchase the dvd when it comes out (as with their previous live collaboration dvd's). They ended their set by coming out in front of the turntable set-ups with 'portable' turntables and mixers they strapped on over their shoulders, cutting up some Metallica and other rock shit. Crazy! At the end of the show it was just midnight. I didn't really want to search around for places to hang out, so I went back to Matt's and went to bed on the couch.

Friday I drove back up to my parent's in the morning. I rested a bit, then my dad and I went down to Loveland where I purchased a New Belgium Brewery sampler pack to bring back bottles in my luggage at another liquor store I had read about. My dad also had to stop by Barnes and Noble to pick up a book, then we came back home. For dinner my mom had gotten some chicken breasts out of the freezer and I went through her spices to find something to use in a marinade and grill outside. I found some Tandoori seasoning from Penzey's Spices and mixed that with some lemon juice and olive oil and let the chicken soak in it for a bit. I kept turning it and adding more spice directly to the chicken to increase the flavor. It turned out really well and was good with the brown rice my mom had cooked. After dinner they watched 'Best in Show' while I read.

Saturday we went back down to Denver one final time. My mom had to pick some Quilt Guild items up from the house of a recently terminated volunteer employee from the southside of the city, so we left early to get that finished. On the way we did stop at the Bose store and my dad purchased the home stereo sound system, then they dropped me off at a Border's for a bit to read while they picked up the Quilt Guild boxes. It wasn't too long before they came back to get me, so we looked around a bit, then went to Matt's apartment. Matt and I were taking my parents to dinner for both of their birthdays which fall in February. We ended up at Kevin Taylor's, a well-known local chef. It was a bit pricey, but had good food. I wasn't starving and ended up having the sea scallop appetizer (one scallop, but it was really good), the bouillabaisse soup, a salad, and dessert. Everyone else got something different and we shared small bites of each. It was nice to take my parents out. We dropped Matt back off at his apartment and headed home. It wasn't even that late, so we got to listen to the first two periods of the Avs/Canucks game on the radio. Colorado played well and was leading 5-1 in the second period. We got home and I watched the final period on television before my parents went to bed and I headed downstairs to pack and watch 'Death Note'.

Sunday morning my dad had to leave early to head out to Cortez because he was going to be working at the lab out there for the next two weeks. It took about 12 hours to get home the last time he went. I got up and had breakfast with them, then he drove off. After some final packing my mom and I left to get me to the airport in Loveland. We stopped by Whole Foods and got wrap sandwiches for lunch (mine I put in my carry-on bag) and coffee, then headed to the airport. My mom dropped me off and I waited in line to check in and get my seat assignment. My suitcase was 3 pounds over the 50lb limit, but the guys there were nice and let it slide. I guess trying to bring 12 bottles of beer adds significant weight. After going through security I went to the next building over, which was like a small hanger, that was the waiting area for passengers and listened to a couple of podcasts before boarding the plane. The flight to Las Vegas was another relatively quick one, about an hour and a half. I slept while listening to my pod. I got my rental car and drove out to my grandmother's house. On the way I found a coffee shop with a UPS Store in the same parking lot, which was perfect to lighten my suitcase the next day. She had some cold chicken (like a rotisserie chicken from the store) in the refrigerator, plus I grilled some red potatoes with olive oil and spices I found in her cupboard, and also had some raw baby carrots with ranch dressing. We talked for awhile after dinner, then I went to bed to read.

Monday I went to the UPS Store first and bought a box and some packing tape. I loaded 9 of the bottles (which were still wrapped in bubble wrap inside freezer ziplocs, then wrapped in my shirts individually) into the box, had them top it with some packing peanuts, then sent it on it's way. I then went to the coffee shop and had a bagel for breakfast and made use of their free wi-fi. After about an hour I drove down to Caesar's Palace and the Forum Shops because it was the only Swatch location still in town. I needed to get a battery for one of my Swatches at home, plus I like to look. That was a quick stop, so next I drove out to the Sun Coast Casino which had a movie theater (like most in Las Vegas) to see 'Persepolis'. It's an animated story about a girl from Iran who grows up in the late 70's during the Islamic Revolution, moving out of the country to Europe, then back to Iran. It's gotten really good reviews and I enjoyed it. It was kind of funny that I was the only one watching it on a Monday afternoon. After the movie I went to another coffee house closer to my grandmother's called It's a Grind. They also offer free wi-fi and had good frozen mochas. Another bonus was that they are open 24 hours, although I wasn't planning any late night coffee runs, it was good info to know. After a bit of internet business, I went back to my grandmother's to pick her up and head downtown to dinner at Lotus of Siam. This was a place Kelly and I had read a review of in USA Today on a previous travel, and we brought everyone on our last visit to Vegas. They have some of the best Thai food we've ever eaten. I told my grandmother I wanted to go when I visited and she made reservations. We had Tom Kha Gai soup, Panang Curry with shrimp, and drunken noodles. All were excellent. After dinner we stopped by the largest souvenir shop that sells all sorts of Las Vegas junk (literally some real crap), and I bought a few decks of casino-used cards. I think some of the colors and designs of the casino decks are pretty neat. Then it was back to her house to read.

Tuesday morning I woke up and got re-packed, then I headed out to Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute. I had an appointment at 12.30pm, but on the way I was picking up the bagel order I had made the previous day at Einstein Bros. I also had some extra time, so I stopped at the public library, which was very nice and had an impressive collection of dvd's as well as a good selection of manga and graphic novels. Lynda from the culinary institute called me at 11.30am to make sure I was still coming to visit, which I told her I was, so she said that I could show up early if I wanted since she had plenty of time until the afternoon. I was close-by, so I went over. She gave me a tour of the main campus which had multiple large kitchens set up with individual workstations, a computer library for on-line study/reference, and the student-run/staffed restaurant. We talked about the school and she answered the questions I had on my list and it was very informative. The school costs $21,000 for the 9 month Baking and Patisserie certificate program, but that includes tools and the required uniforms (always worn on campus). They are well-known and most students go on to form careers in their field, plus some have worked for more reknowned chefs. Many stay in Las Vegas because of what the service industry field has to offer there. The program I was inquiring about focuses on many different aspects such as breads, tarts and pies, cake decoraring, sugar sculpting, and centerpieces. A lot of those would be invaluable and useful skills, although I'm not totally 100% sure that's the kind of focus I am interested in. I'd rather bake breads, cakes, and cookies, taking a more 'simple' approach. I thanked her for her time and showing me around and said I would contact her by late spring to let her know if I was intending to apply. I think at this point, probably not. I have some other options that I am pursuing and ideas of how to do exactly what I am interested in, so I'm going to follow those paths and see what happens.

I came back to my grandmother's briefly, then went back to It's a Grind for a bit, and made a final stop at Whole Foods to get some tuna steaks and a side dish for dinner. I made a teriyaki marinade when I got back to her house and let the tuna soak for awhile before grilling it for dinner. We had a few potatoes left and I had picked up and pasta salad with pasta, spinach, and mozzeralla cheese. We sat and talked and I watched the Avs lose to Anaheim on Versus before heading back to the airport to return the rental and check in for my 1am flight. It was a quick check-in, so I had about 3 hours before my flight left. I ended up finding a quiet part of the terminal with an electrical outlet nearby and watched about 5 episodes of 'Kekkaishi', an anime torrent Gary had burned to disc for me. Quite entertaining.

Leaving Las Vegas (moon and Luxor light beam)

Saturday, 26 Jan 08   

The songs today are for Kelly because I'm a sap. It's our 13th anniversary and she's out on a ship while I'm sitting alone at home with the cats. She did call me late last night which was nice, but it's not the same. We probably would have gone out to dinner and then came home to watch the NHL All-Star Super Skills Competition tonight up in Atlanta (if we weren't up there to see it live). Instead I have these songs for her. Happy anniversary!

Well, the H.P.P. League Tour 2008 is over and I have tales of my journey to the Northeast and Canada. I woke up at 3.30am on the 16th (after watching the Seawolves beat the Texas Wildcatters at home 5 hours earlier) so I could shower and drive over to the New Orleans airport for my 7am flight. Everything went well with no delays and I actually arrived in Boston half an hour early. Andrew and Ethan picked me up and we went to a pub in Cambridge where they had vegan stew (Ethan is vegan) and we all split 'chips and dip', which was raw sliced beets and carrots with an herb dip. It was my first time trying beets, but it turned out to be a pretty tasty dish. I wasn't too hungry since I had brought pizza from Mellow Mushroom with me on the plane. After eating we got coffee and stopped at Newbury Comics to browse cd's while killing time until Andy was ready to leave. We drove up to Andy's house about 30 minutes north of the city of Boston and loaded our gear into the rented Explorer (which was actually a nice, comfortable option for the trip) and hit the road north a little after 5pm. The drive up wasn't too bad. We talked (mostly about hockey) and Ethan and I slept a little bit in the back seat. It took about 7 hours to get to Ottawa, and we arrived at 12.30am. We brought our luggage up to the room, then the other three went to have a drink at a bar. I stayed in the room and read because I was kind of tired from traveling all day long. They didn't stay out too late and we all went to sleep around 3am.


                              
                Ethan, Andrew, and Andy- 3/4 of Team Awesome                   Maurice 'Rocket' Richard statue in Gatineau

Thursday we woke up around 10 or 11am, and went downstairs to have lunch at the Don Cherry's in the lobby. The food was standard sports bar fare, but not too bad, plus there were televisions all over the place with hockey news on. After eating we went driving over to Gatineau across the river to find out where the arena for the game Friday night was at, plus I cashed some traveler's checks to get some Canadian money. Fortunately, the exchange rate had improved for the American dollar, so it was a few cents in my favor. After our trip to Gatineau, we drove back to downtown Ottawa to stop at the Ottawa 67's arena and merchandise shop. We were hoping to catch these guys play, but they were out of town that weekend, hence the Gatineau Olympiques option on Friday night. The merch shop for the 67's had closed down and we were directed by some of the staff to a sporting goods shop a little drive outside the city in the suburbs. This place didn't have what Andrew was looking for, but they did have a nice selection of hockey jerseys as well as hockey sticks (and some other sporting gear). After checking out the sporting goods shop we hopped back onto the highway into mild rush hour traffic and headed west towards the Scotiabank Place arena (where the Senators play), which is about 25 minutes outside of Ottawa. Near the arena there was a small shopping center where we had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. Everyone pretty much had some kind of noodle dish. I had the spicy mixed seafood which was a huge bowl of noodles and assorted seafood. It had a kick and was tasty. Next stop was the arena and the first game of Hockey Tour 2008. We had pretty decent seats in the upper lever near one of the corners of the ice. The crowd was kind of quiet, but I've noticed when watching some of the Senators home games on television that the crowd takes awhile to get into the game. It was Canadian Armed Forces appreciation night, which paid tribute to the Canadian military and 2600 fans gave their tickets up for the military members and their families. During the singing of the National Anthems, in the upper level across from us, a huge Canadian flag was unfurled by the fans and passed along the sections until the first puck dropped. Although I was rooting for Ottawa to win, unfortunately it seemed as if Carolina was asleep or didn't show up at all. The Senators schooled the Hurricanes 5-1, and in the 3rd period the fans were chanting 'pizza, pizza' because if the Senators scored six goals and won the game, each fan would get a free slice of pizza from local pizza chain Pizza Pizza. No pizza goal was scored though.

                                                                            Inside Scotiabank Place in Ottawa

After the game we made it back to the hotel and dropped off the car. We then went out and walked to a nearby bar called The Pour House, which was upstairs from Aulde-Dubliner, an Irish pub. It wasn't too crowded when we arrived, so we sat at the bar. The bartender was a younger, blond-haired woman that was friendly enough. The guys were talking with her and telling her about our hockey tour and how Ethan and Andrew were disappointed they couldn't skate on the river because of the recent 'heat wave', which presented a safety hazard and wouldn't be usable again until the temps had dropped below -5 degrees Celsius for at least 3 consecutive days so it could freeze again. The bartender, Heather, was telling us how she used to be a goaltender herself in minor leagues, which impressed all of us (especially our goaltender, Ethan). After a bit a group of guys came in and asked if the guys had heard of Sleeman beer and said they were buying the drinks for all of us (well, the other 3 since I was drinking water). They were some kind of sales reps for the Sleeman Breweries, so the guys each had a few of their different beers which were on tap. We talked with them for awhile about hockey, sports, and music (well, I actually listened mostly). They were alright guys (they bought a few rounds of beer). One of them had lived in Detroit for awhile and the discussion of Detroit bands came up and one of the funniest comments he made was calling Kid Rock 'Skid Rock'. After they left it was pretty much just the four of us and Heather. We talked with Heather some more before the bar closed at 2am. Ethan was pretty happy talking with a young, attractive, female goaltender. We went back to the hotel and watched a bit of television (hockey highlights) before falling asleep around 4am. Friday morning we got up and walked around downtown Ottawa. It's not a large city, but nice and clean. We stopped in a few shops and at a bar (you note that these guys like to drink?), as well as a couple coffee shops (I had to get my daily mocha fix, at least once or twice since I wasn't eating much during the trip). Finally we headed back to the room to get the car before driving across the river to Gatineau. We arrived early to purchase our tickets for the small arena (oldest in the QJMHL league holding a little over 3000 seats), then grabbed a snack at the mini-mart before the gates opened. Gatineau is part of Quebec, so everything was in French. We did talk with some local guys before the game who were pretty impressed with our roadtrip from Boston. Kind of crusty older guys, but friendly. One of the guys who was a bit younger though had the most distasteful comment of the whole trip, 'Ah, I like the Boston Celtics. You know who my favorite player is? Larry Bird, because he's white. Heh, heh.' Ugh, that kind of turned us off, but other than that the guys were pretty cool. We were sitting in the same section as they were and when they saw us they gave us the thumbs up sign. There was a small pre-game ceremonial puck drop that featured a couple of the players from the Candian team that recently won the Junior World Cup, and all the fans were cheering during the presentation (which WAS all in French). It was a fast paced game that reminded me a bit of the play of the Seawolves and the ECHL. Gatineau lit up Chicoutimi 7-2. It was more exciting than the game the previous night. The arena totally reminded me of the University of Alaska Fairbanks games when I lived in Alaska or the Gold Kings games up there. Totally family oriented in a small arena. After the game we dropped the car off and went to grab something to eat at a falaffel stand (shop). I had a falaffel sandwich with hummus and potatoes. Yum. Ethan had falaffel quite a few times during the trip being a vegan. We went to the 'punk rock' bar the guys had gone to on the first night. It was pretty crowded, more than when they went two nights previous, so Ethan and I went back to the room by midnight, only staying about an hour. Andrew and Andy stayed for awhile longer. Ethan fell asleep pretty quickly and I watched some hockey highlights and then the new episode of Death Note. The two Andys got back and we were all asleep by 3am because we were planning to get up earlier the next morning for the drive to Montreal.

                             
                 Parliament House in the capital city of Ottawa                             View from our hotel room in Ottawa

We checked out of the hotel room by noon the next morning and hit the road towards Montreal. It's not that far of a drive, only about two hours on a clear day. It was a bit cloudy when we left Ottawa, and got progressively worse on the road as we drove along. Good thing that we had an Explorer that had automatic traction control as well as 4 wheel drive. We did stop on the way so I could get coffee and the other guys had something to eat, all at a mega-truck stop. We passed time on the drive by playing a hockey name game, each person had to name a player who's first name began with the first letter of the previous player's last name. It got pretty challenging after awhile not repeating the same player twice. It took us all the way into Montreal.

                              
               Blizzard-like conditions on the road to Montreal                      Not the best coffee, but it'll do in a pinch...

We arrived in Montreal and it was noticeably colder outside. Fortunately, I had planned ahead reading the weather forecast and wore both my long john top and bottoms as well as a couple of other top layers. Montreal is a much larger city which kind of surrounds this hill in the middle of the city. We drove up towards the top of the hill and took some photos looking out across the area. A pretty nice view. We then checked into the hotel and walked to one of the main shopping streets to get something to eat and check out the Moog Audio shop that Andrew had been to on one of his previous visits to the city. We stopped at a small steakhouse so Andy could get a steak to eat (he's a meat and potatoes guy). Ethan had a salad, but I didn't eat anything because I was going to stop at a place I had seen walking along the street earlier called 'Just Noodles'. We got to the Moog shop and I was thoroughly impressed. They had all sorts of models of the Moog as well as turntables, keyboards, and other instruments of noisemaking. Pretty cool. There was also a room with guitars and amps, which Andrew and Ethan were looking around in. Andrew started talking shop with the guys who ran the place and was trying out the equipment. Andy walked with me back to 'Just Noodles', which had more than noodles, and I had King Tao Tofu which came with some cheap steamed rice. It was my only meal of the day, so I was pretty hungry and ate all of it while Andy and I chatted. I finished eating and we headed back to get Andrew and Ethan, but Andrew was still playing some of the guitars. The other 3 of us waited for a few minutes, then went back to the hotel since we had to get to the game soon. I think we were getting on each other's nerves a bit in one way or another at this point. We made it back to the hotel, but somehow Andrew had made it back before we did. We think he cut up a different street, then ran on the street the hotel was on, but he never told us. We all used the bathroom then took a cab to the Bell Center (Le Centre Bell) for the Canadiens and Penguins game. Unfortunately, we weren't going to get to see Sydney Crosby due to his injuring his ankle the previous night, which was a big bummer, but it was still going to be an exciting game. Our seats were about 3 rows from the top of the arena on the side, and Andy was feeling a bit of vertigo at first, but got over it after awhile. The really great thing about the arena is that the seats in the upper level had 'lean bars' on each row. Like a hand rail which could be used for a person to lean on and watch the game. Cool concept. It may have been so people that high up didn't go tumbling down into the lower levels, but it served a dual function. The strange thing about the arena was the press box. Instead of at the top on the sides, it was kind of suspended over the ice on this catwalk. We could see it in front of us with the televisions and the windows on either side. We wondered if it had a glass floor, but we couldn't see from where we sat.

                              
                  View from our seats at Bell Center in Montreal                     Press box 'catwalk' in Montreal over the ice

This was an exciting game with amazing saves by back-up Penguins goaltender Sabourin. The Montreal fans were pretty ruthless. They kept yelling and booing at their own team who couldn't seem to score. They cheered their goaltender, with chants of 'Huet, Huet' when he made some good saves himself, but in the end it was a 2-0 shutout by Pittsburgh. A win which I had hoped for, but cheered a little more silently. With Crosby out, Evgeni Malkin really stepped up his game and led the team with all sorts of great plays. He got an empty-net goal at the end for his awesome effort. On our way outside there were some people smoking (with a distinct marijuana odor) and watching a couple of guys fighting halfway inside and outside the arena as the security attempted to detain them. Mean hockey fans in Montreal. After the game we walked around the city some, getting me a mocha at a coffee shop, then ending up at a pretty cool bar. It was kind of like a warehouse space with plenty of tables and chairs spread out on one side, then on the other was the bar, walking area, pool tables, foosball tables, and coat check as well as stairs to the restrooms in the basement. There was also a dj booth/table with live dj's playing 'nu metal'/punk music over the soundsystem. They also had four large flatscreen televisions hung around the space from the ceiling showing hockey on one, boxing on another, and old 70's(?) Marvel Comics cartoons with Thor and the Hulk. Total old school. It was a pretty awesome place to hang out after the game, talking and watching people. There was also some really neat artwork on the walls by one artist that I really liked. I wanted to purchase one of the pieces of a train engine appearing to be spraypainted on canvas. I took the artist's myspace profile, but it's in French. Maybe if I send a message I can find out if it's possible to purchase it and have it shipped here. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at another falaffel shop for Ethan. We got back and I read for awhile when Ethan fell asleep. Andy and Andrew went out to get something to munch on at the convenience store. Another late night of going to sleep around 3am.

The next morning it was noticeably colder than the previous night. The temperature had dropped the night before and the wind was cold outside, which made me thankful for multiple layers, but it wasn't bad enough to not be able to walk around the city and get some exercise. Montreal is definitely a larger city, and reminded me a bit of someplace like New York City with the hustle and bustle. We checked out of the hotel and drove to a vegetarian/vegan restaurant to have brunch. I had a couple of croissants, but Andrew had eggs and Ethan had a vegan breakfast burrito. Andrew gave us a brief driving tour around 'old Montreal' but we all decided it was too cold to get out and enjoy the city, so we hit the road so we could get home not too late and catch some of the Patriots/Chargers football game (big Patriot fans I was with, as well as Bruins fans). The drive home was smooth. I got rid of my last Canadian $10 at the duty free shop before crossing the border. On the way we stopped in Burlington, VT where Andrew, Ethan, and I again had falaffel, then I had a great mocha at a local coffee shop right next door to a pub where Andy had a burger and we watched some of the pretty unexciting football game. We hit the road again after I picked up some regional and Candian beer for Jason and Ellen at a local shop, and arrived back at Andy's around 8 or 9pm, in time to watch the end of the second football game where the Giants beat Green Bay in overtime to earn a rematch against the Patriots, this time in the Superbowl.

Architecture in Montreal

After we got back we watched some of the football game and I talked to my dad to let him know I had gotten back to the states. I also used their computer to check email and ate some halibut and barley (like rice) that Andy's girlfriend Inmay had fixed for dinner earlier. We chatted for awhile, then I went up to bed to read. Monday Inmay had to work, so Andy drove me around the neighborhood he lives in and the surrounding communities. Very nice area. First we stopped at Whole Foods where I got a couple of side items for dinner to go with the fish, then we stopped at a corner deli/convenience store where he knew the owners because he'd been going there since he was a kid. They had good sandwiches and wraps. I had roasted turkey with stuffing in a wrap. Yum. We then went back to his place and watched three hockey games on tv. With the MLK holiday, there were games starting at staggered times during the day, and we were able to catch them. Andy has some old stand up video games in his basement as well, so we played Ghosts and Goblins for a bit during the break between games. He cooked himself steak and tuna for me in the oven, which went well with the potatoes and sauteed spinach I had bought at Whole Foods.

Tuesday we slept in a bit, then Inmay dropped us off at the commuter train station where Andy and I rode in to Cambridge. We walked along Harvard to a shopping area which had been converted from a parking garage. I picked up a couple of cd's at Newbury Comics and then stopped at an anime store called Tokyo Kid. I had to muster up much restraint so as not to go 'spend crazy' with all the anime, figures, and manga. I only bought one manga I hadn't seen before. Andy was impressed with all the Death Note items because we watched the repeat of last week's 'Death Note' late on Monday night after hockey, and he's hooked on the series after not watching it previously. He'll just have to start watching again when they start at episode 1. Mwah, hah, hah. Another convert. After shopping we wandered to the recording space where Ethan works as a sound engineer, recording bands. It was a pretty impressive little studio that they had fixed up with a lot of equipment. He wasn't recording, so we just talked with him for a bit then said goodbye and walked to a nearby T station. We rode to another part of town with another Newbury Comics that was larger (and I found a couple more cd's) then took a taxi to the Italian restaurant where we were meeting Inmay for dinner called Giacomo. It was really good and fresh. I had a house salad with balsalmic dressing and lobster ravioli in a creamy cheese sauce. Very good. After dinner we drove to a bar to meet some of the other H.P.P. League members that I hadn't met yet, while watching the Bruins lose dismally to Montreal 8-2. Ouch. It was really great to meet some of the other people that I've been gambling with on-line for the past few years. We didn't stay too late since I was leaving early the next morning and I went to bed soon after we got back to their house. My flights back to New Orleans the next morning went smoothly without complications. I got home to the kitty girls around 5pm. It was nice to be home in my own bed and having clean laundry.

It was a great trip and nice meeting friends only known previously via email. We talked a bit about Hockey Tour 2009 hitting some different cities with more minor league games. We'll see what happens, but I can say that I very much enjoyed the trip and company I was with, despite a few minor group conflicts. The area was really nice as well and I look forward to when Kelly and I can take a trip back up together maybe in the summer, spring, or fall months when it's more colorful. Now I'm back home for about a week before I head to Las Vegas and Colorado next weekend for more hockey, a nice visit with the parents, and checking out the culinary school in Las Vegas. More on that trip later on.

Monday, 7 Jan 08   

Monday, 31 Dec 07    

Saturday, 22 Dec 07    

Friday, 23 Nov 07