Thursday, October 11, 2007

I got some hoped for news today.

Looks like I will be having a good home cooked meal in Boston.

As I may have mentioned before Boston is the birthplace of my mother and where my grandparents were married - 100 years ago this week - so I have some relatives there - including two who are Catholic nuns - while the health of one of them is isn't good the other one is still very active and has invited me over for dinner and a chat - guess I will have to remember all my nice manners and to remember to say grace before I dig into the meal and to cross myself properly.

They have provided me with directions to the mother house - which is in Brighton - just how much time should I allow to get from downtown Boston out to Brighton by bus. It will be on a Friday evening - need to be there by 4PM.

Now I am starting to get excited - when my Mom and my godmother visited there a number of years ago they were treated royally my the nuns - that was a memorable trip as a hurricane came up the Atlantic coast through Boston and caused an excitable 75 year to go crazy with worry as plane travel etc was obviously disrupted. While born in Boston my Mom left before she was one and settled here in Vancouver - that was her only trip she ever made back to her birthplace in her nearly 93 years of life.

Time to start thinking about supper and then watching the Rockies - D'backs go at it - no doubt which team I want to win - Rockies starter Jeff Francis is from the Metro Vancouver area and is gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated current issue.

Cheers

Dennis

Thursday report

Morning report brought to you by the Urban Trekker live and direct from a ninth floor apartment overlooking downtown Vancouver.

A look out the window sees grey skies with a chance of both showers and sun today which has me trying to decide whether to head out on the bike for a short trip around False Creek or to just get in the car and head over across the bridge and join the old guys for coffee and chat.

Only a week to go before I depart Vancouver and start the trans-continental trip by Amtrak across the northern US states to NYC.

Will spend some time today trying to figure out what to do with my 6 hours in Chicago on a train change - there is a first class lounge that I can use - it has free internet and coffee, pop and donuts as well as a place to store my luggage between trains.

Must figure out how to get my images to fit nicely onto this blog .

More later

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The day started out wet but it has gradually cleared off and is quite pleasant at the time of this post and it looks like it is going to be nice for the next few days.

Well in two weeks time I will be in Boston after having ventured up from NYC. Looking forward to seeing Boston and meeting with up my cousins.

If the Red Sox advance to the World Series the first two games will be on while I am in Boston - no chance of getting any tickets the the atmosphere in the City should be something but first they have to beat the Indians.

Have one suitcase packed and are making arrangements to get a ride to the train station on departure day.

A little tooth problem that has bothered me for the past week has been fixed.

Don't forget to checkout my website at www.urbantrekker.com

More later

Cheers

Dennis

Monday, October 8, 2007

Today's events

Spent today driving up the Sea to Sky Highway corridor towards Whistler - it was meant to be a photo stop and short hike type of day and that is what it turned out to be - while it didn't clear off completely until later in the day I still enjoyed my stops at scenic Shannon Falls, the Stawamus Chief viewpoint, a hike around Brohm Lake and finally on the way back a stop at Porteau Cove for some ocean views

Highway 99 North as the Sea to Sky is officially designated is being totally rebuilt in time for the 2010 Olympics so the drive is slower than normal but that gives you more time to enjoy the drive - also being the Thanksgiving holiday weekend here in Canada there were no construction delays.

I will be posting some photos on my Picasa photo site later and will attempt to link to them from here.

Preparations continue for my trip and cruise - one more laundry late this week and the final packing will be done - it's the two digital cameras + the camcorder + the laptop + the batteries chargers and cables that are taking up the room in the suitcases.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Introduction

Welcome to my my blog - the prime purpose of this electronic diary will be to share my travel experiences with others here on the world wide web.

In less than two weeks I will be boarding an Amtrak train and heading for a three day visit to New York City and then up to the city of my mothers' birth Boston where I will meet up with some cousins. After three days there I will return to NYC for one night before embarking on the Norwegian Dawn for a 14 Caribbean cruise where I will visit nine ports of call before disembarking in Miami - from there it is back on Amtrak for the return trip back to my hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

This trip which is my 60th birthday present to myself was more than a year in the planning and hopefully will be successful.

Return often for more details on this trip and you may also want to visit my web site at www.urbantrekker.com for more on what I have done with my life.

Cheers

Dennis