Blogs from United States, North America - page 4767

Rockport, IL to Alton, IL 80.6 total miles. We woke up to a very thick fog, so we got a late start. We ran the entire day at 2200 rpm, which was around 9 mph. We used less fuel from 1.31 miles per gallon, the day before, compared to 1.79 miles per gallon, today. Better, but not a huge savings. Thus far, the water current has been about the same, anywhere from 2 - 3 miles per hour. The tall tower like structure was called a "Sky Ride". It was constructed back in the 1960's, in Clarksville, Missouri. At that point and time it was the highest point and view on the Mississippi river. It was similar to a ski lift that would take passengers to the top to view from the observation deck.... read more

Tour of Microsoft Campus, Redmond For a billion dollar company our visit to Microsoft was surprising. There were several occasions during the morning that we nearly walked out. Anyway, not to dwell on the negatives we did eventually get into the technology centre that is set up with examples of how Microsoft think we will be working in the next 5-7 years. The confidentiality paper we had to sign to be allowed in means I better not describe in detail what we saw on this blog. There were some software items and ideas that would be incredibly cool if they pull them off. Of course adoption in UK Universities may take much longer. The physical layout of the "office of the future" display was surprising for the lack of technology. There were funky surfaces in group ... read more

Another morning by the pool watching the helicopters buzz past every minute or so on their standard tour of the strip. There must be thousands of these trips per week!! Decided to spend the day shopping at one of the Outlet Malls and hopefully find a sporting shop somewhere. Found one thanks to the directions given by hotel staff and had a great day out. I don't know how much cheaper some of the stuff was, but we managed to bag a few bargains and now have enough shoes for two caterpillars... Ate a home cooked dinner in our apartment for a change - nice to have real food for a change before tidying up ready for our departure to the Grand Canyon tomorrow. ... read more

23 more days until we leave for our Transatlantic Cruise. It is a 16 day cruise beginning in Rome, going to Spain, Portugal, St Maarten and ending up in Ft Lauderdale. Ken and I will be flying to London, taking a train to Paris, exploring Paris for 2 days, then taking an overnight train to Rome, where our cruise begins. I will be keeping you up to date as much as I can (some entries may be late). I will also include pictures when possible. We will be meeting 8 of our friends in Rome who will join us on the cruise. Let me introduce everyone: Me~Margie, and my husband Ken will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary on this trip (it actually was September 23rd). We will meet our friends in Rome before getting on ... read more

Life is peculiar. We arrived in NYC a few days ago, packing our jackets and sweaters, scarves and mittens, arriving in the fairly warm Big Apple was a bit of a surprise. The winds have blown here and there and grey clouds have moved about, tonight there was some actual rainfall. I actually wish I would have stayed outside to dance in it, to cleanse me from the grief I was feeling today, to allow me to smile and to soak in the glories of life and nature and love and to look up at another angel over head... I am glad and grateful to be back in this unique city, along with wonderful friends. Getting to see old friends and somewhat new friends... How appropriate of a place for me to be when I was ... read more