url='/Videos/3701.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/3701.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;'Mr. Panda eats Call me 7 years old, that's fine, but if there was one thing I was really looking forward to in DC it was going to the National Zoo and seeing the panda bears. And it was so much fun! So today, Keith and I woke up and made our way to the train station to go to the zoo. That was a bit complicated, not in getting there but the because of getting tickets. Like New York and Chicago, you buy your tickets from an automated ticket booth, but we also needed a SmarTrip card to also pay for parking at the station. That took a good ten minutes to figure out how to buy one of those (key: find the SmarTrip machine, different from the regular booths...). But once we ... read more

url='/Videos/2998.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/2998.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;'The deer and me What an adventurous day. The simple plan of the day was to wake up, grab food, go to Humpback Rocks to do some hiking, come back, and enjoy the rest of the day. As you can probably guess, that's not what happened. We did get up, and we did get food. We did, also, make it to Humpback Rocks in Shenandoah National Park; however, before we got there, we got stopped and searched by a National Park Ranger/fake policeman. Rob was speeding, and just before we made it to the parking lot below Humpback Rocks, he saw the flashing lights behind him and had to pull over. I really didn't know that National Park patrolmen had the authority to pull people over and write tickets until now. The ranger came ... read more

Wandering through the Big AppleLiz Toms I dig New York City. I feel like it's such a different city than any other, but for reasons I can't really put my finger on. Maybe I'll have to spend more time here to really know why I feel that way. My best guess right now is probably because of the sheer size of it. Everywhere you go, there is something. Tall buildings, people, shops, trash, street vendor here, street vendor there, landmark here, landmark there, apartments, delis, newspaper stands, hot dog stands, peanut stands, ethnic food stands, squares, gardens... all over and over again. I would imagine that you could spend a week here, doing nothing but tourist things in Manhattan alone, and still have so much more to see and do. Then you have the the other ... read more

Leaving Las Vegas - 38 hours and 5,000 miles later, we're back home North America » United States » Illinois » Champaign By ilchicagMarch 26th 2007Trek homeThe Whole Trip RecapLiz Toms Well, I'm back in the Land of Lincoln, unfortunately. As much as I love U of I, man... I'd love to be back on the west coast right now. It was such a great trip. Looking at it either as a whole, or part by part, just continues to wow me either which way. We did a lot, and saw a lot, and were in a lot of place... read more

I LOVE THE OCEAN. I just have to say that. It's hard to say that this was the best part of the trip because of how great the whole thing is/will be... but I can at least say today on the beach has been as good as any other day (that says a lot). We got up, grabbed a bite to eat, walked over to the beach, and pretty much stayed there all day. The weather was great... and though the ocean was freezing cold, we still got to wade out and play in it. It's really not that bad once you get used to it. The waves will rock you though, if you catch them just right. One thing I love about the ocean is how much you learn to respect it once you ... read more