August 26, 2001

August 26, 2001 

We spend our last day in California driving the coast south of San Francisco to Monterey. We walk along Cannery Row and eat lunch at a Mexican restaurant overlooking kelp beds in Monterey Bay. We can see otters and scuba divers playing in the chilly water. Surprisingly the person eating behind me taps me on the shoulder to comment about my Nalco t-shirt. It turns out she also works for Nalco in Naperville. Small World! After lunch we pay a fee and cruise the ‘17-mile Drive’ around the Monterey peninsula past great views and multi-million dollar seaside homes. We stop to take a peak at the famous Pebble Beach golf course. We finish at the beach in Clint Eastwood’s Carmel by the Sea. We fly home in the afternoon.

January 20-27, 2002

January 20-27, 2002

I went to Europe for some business meetings. Upon arrival at the Amsterdam airport I was pulled aside for not paying a speeding ticket from a prior visit two years ago. After a tense few minutes, the official conceded he couldn’t make me pay and I was let go. Phew!

At the end of the week I flew to Basel, Switzerland to renegotiate a contract with a supplier. I spent some time browsing the shops outside the hotel, and bought Aimee a music box that plays ‘Edelweiss’, a classic Alpine tune from the ‘Sound of Music’. After the meeting Friday, I stayed and took the train to Zermatt to ski the Matterhorn, probably the most recognizable mountain in the world. Saturday morning I rented boots and skis and then took the gondola lift to the open treeless shoulder alongside the peak. From there I was dragged to the top of the ski runs with old-fashioned T-Bars instead of chair lifts. A lot of work to ski! From the top I could look down the far side of the mountain and see (and ski) Italy. When I was done I tried to ski all the way back down to town but my legs were dying. Not wanting to break a leg, I caught the Gondola at an intermediate stop. Afterwards I hopped the train and spent the night back in Basel before catching the Sunday flight home.

Apr 30-May 3, 2002

Apr 30-May 3, 2002

Aimee and I have talked about retiring soon to Arizona. Tucson has been our default location because both of us have pleasant memories there. Aimee went to college in Tucson at the University of Arizona, and I traveled to Tucson for a business meeting every cold January. But we felt before moving there, we ought to take a serious look at the state. We flew into Phoenix, rented a car and drove the two hours southeast to Tucson staying at the La Quinta Hotel off the interstate.

We started our exploration of Tucson with some tourist activities. We visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is supposed to be Arizona’s second most visited sight after the Grand Canyon. More than a museum, it is a combination zoo, botanical garden and natural history museum, all designed to help people appreciate the desert. We are intrigued but a little intimidated by the scorpion collection. They have a black light button that makes the scorpions glow in the dark! The site also has a hummingbird enclosure. We loved watching them buzzing around the flowers.

We also strolled the campus of the U of A so Aimee could reminisce. Unfortunately she said the campus has had many changes making it difficult to remember. I am thinking she has just gotten old and forgetful. While on campus we ran through the Arizona State Museum, which describes the various Indian tribes that inhabited the state. We have lunch on campus at the Frog-n-Firkin. I tell the young waitress we are grad students; but she thinks we are a little old to still be in college.

We also spend a couple afternoons playing golf, at El Conquistador and later at El Rio golf course. After golf at El Conquistador, we spent some time looking at new construction model homes. The housing looks very reasonable and we are very tempted to buy a home. Maybe doing that would encourage Aimee to let me retire sooner rather than later.

On our last day we visited the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area and hiked the four-mile Phoneline Trail up the canyon paralleling the Tram Road. Surprisingly there is water in the stream running down the canyon. It is the first water we have seen here. All the rivers we crossed while driving around the city have been bone dry!

May 4, 2002

May 4, 2002

After getting a good taste of Tucson, we drive north to Phoenix and stay at the Doubletree by the airport. Aimee loves the chocolate chip cookie they give us on check-in. On the way we stop at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Casa Grande, which means big house in Spanish, is the remnants of a large adobe Indian pueblo. It is unimpressive, a half-melted house sitting in the middle of the flat desert.

In Phoenix we drive east of town to Lost Dutchman State park. The park contains the pretty Superstition Mountains, where some old prospector is supposed to have had a gold mine hidden somewhere in the hills. Across the street is the old ghost town of Goldfield where we spend a quick hour walking around. Continuing east we come to Roosevelt Lake. This pretty lake, tucked inside a canyon, serves as both recreation and a main source of water for Phoenix.

May 5, 2002

May 5, 2002

After our taste of Phoenix, we head north and take the exit for Prescott, AZ. Prescott is also a popular retirement area. It is also a former capital of Arizona and has a small one-street historic center. On one side is the park-like Courthouse Square and on the other is Whiskey Row, a line of saloons and shops. It looks like a nice spot to spend a night, but we have reservations elsewhere. On our way out of town we pass by Prescott’s scenic Granite Dells. We stop for a photo of this pile of boulders surrounding Watson Lake.

The drive northeast is very scenic as it passes through Prescott National Forest. Just before the town of Jerome we stop for a photo. Jerome is a small town hugging the edge of a cliff. It is a former mining town that sits above what used to be the largest copper mine in Arizona. After the mine closed, Jerome became a ghost town but in recent years has turned into an art colony.

From Jerome we continue northeast to Sedona and stay at the Radisson. Wow, is this area beautiful with its red rock buttes!

May 6, 2002

May 6, 2002

Yesterday we stopped by the tourist office for a map and hiking recommendations. They also suggested taking their famous Pink Jeep Tour. So this morning our tour driver picks us up at the hotel in an open bright pink jeep. He takes us into the backcountry for up-close views of Sedona’s red rocks. At one point we literally drive UP the side of a hill to come out on top of a red rock expanse.

Afterwards we give ourselves a tour noting the many named buttes in the area. We drive by the Chapel of the Holy Cross. This is a beautiful little artistic church set high on the base of a butte. West of Sedona, we take a hike around Boynton Canyon. It is a pretty box canyon, and has a famous spa, the Enchantment Resort, nestled inside it.

From there we drive northwest of town on a gravel road to the Palatki Heritage site and hike amongst some ancient Anasazi Indian cliff dwellings. There are also numerous petroglyphs painted on the cliffs here.

Back in Sedona we run across a little Motion Picture museum about the many Western movies that were filmed here. The Sedona airport is built on a flat mesa in the middle of town. At sundown we drive up and watch the sunset from that vantage point (along with a hundred other tourists!)

May 7, 2002

May 7, 2002

This morning we drove fifteen minutes south of Sedona to Red Rock State Park. We take a Ranger-guided nature walk where we learn about the unique flora of the area (Pinyon Pines, Junipers, Palo Verdes, and Chaparral). Afterwards we hike the Eagles Nest Trail that takes us uphill for some great vistas.

We then drove a few miles north to Red Rock Crossing where we find a particularly beautiful view of Cathedral Rock from across Oak Creek. This scene has been the setting of many Westerns and is supposed to be one of the most photographed spots in the Southwest. Intrigued by Cathedral Rock, I find a trailhead close to our hotel that leads us up the other side of this butte. I scramble up to the saddle of the butte, but Aimee stops halfway because of her fear of heights.

Back in Sedona, we spend an hour in a large unique art gallery that has a nice outdoor sculpture garden. Late that evening we stop at Slide Rock State Park north of Sedona. It is after closing time so we hike down from the road. Somebody at work told me that as a child they loved sliding down a portion of Oak Creek that goes thru a narrow chute. I jump in and give it a try. Nice, but my butt hurts hitting the rocks. On the way back we stop at the Midgley Bridge that crosses Oak Creek to hike around the small gorge.

May 8, 2002

May 8, 2002

Our Arizona adventure is over. So this morning we drive back towards Phoenix. We make one last stop along the way we at Montezuma Castle National Monument.  This is the site of an often-photographed Anasazi Indian pueblo that is built high up a rock face and tucked underneath an overhang. Tough place to have your home.  But I guess it got them out of the hot Arizonan sun. We finish our drive south, turn in our rental car, and board our flight back to Chicago.

June 2002

June 2002

Aimee persuaded me to take her and her mom to the Garfield Park Conservatory. This historic greenhouse is almost a hundred years old. They are also hosting a special exhibit called “Chihuly in the Park: A Garden of Glass. I had never heard of Dale Chihuly, but this artist’s exquisite glass creations make a wonderful juxtaposition against the plants.

July 2002

July 2002

Aimee and I took a ride out to the Quad Cities area to learn about John Deere. The corporate Pavilion in downtown Moline is mostly about the line of tractors and harvesters Deere sells today. There is almost nothing about John Deere, the founder.

We had a nice lunch of chicken wraps at the exhibit house and drove to the historic site in Grand Detour near Dixon, IL. John Deere was a blacksmith from Vermont. His 1837 plow innovation was to replace the cast iron blade with a highly polished steel one. The thick Midwest turf didn’t stick to it, making farmers more efficient. Demand exploded for the “The Plow that broke the Plains”. In 1848 Deere moved his operation to the river port of Moline.

On the way home we stopped by Ronald Reagan’s boyhood home in Dixon. Congress recently authorized the National Park Service to buy the house and establish a Ronald Reagan National Historic Site.

September 18, 2002

September 18, 2002

I flew into Amsterdam for a business trip. I don’t have to meet anybody till later so right after landing I went to see the Maritime Museum before catching the train to Leiden. The Dutch at one time were big marine traders having setup the Dutch East India Company. This pseudo-government business enterprise dominated trade with India and the Spice Islands in the 17th century.

September 21, 2002

September 21, 2002

Finished with my Leiden meetings, I took a puddle jumper to Southampton, England for more business. I take advantage of the opportunity and stay an extra day giving me most of Saturday to see some sights. I start with the nearby Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. It turns out to be a big place and I end up spending all day here. I start out in the Dockyard Museum where I learn that this area has been the prime shipbuilding spot for the British Navy since around 1200. For most of its life the British navy ruled the ocean. At times this dockyard was the largest industrial complex in the world making state of the art naval war machines. Most of the exhibit is about what it was like to have worked here in wooden ship days.

I then move on to the Royal Navy Museum that has several exhibit themes. The most interesting ones are about the Battle of Trafalgar where the combined French and Spanish navies were defeated in 1807, and another on Lord Nelson, hero of Trafalgar. I also visit the Mary Rose museum. The HMS Mary Rose was the flagship of Henry VIII. It sank in 1565 outside the harbor as it went to meet the French in battle. It was raised in 1982 and this museum contains the artifacts found inside.

From the museums I move on to the ships available for touring. The most famous is the HMS Victory, the flagship of Nelson at Trafalgar. It is in remarkably good condition. There is a memorial on the ship marking the spot where Lord Nelson died during the Battle of Trafalgar.

The Mary Rose, which sat on the bottom of the harbor for 400+ years, is not in as good a shape. Only one side survives and it is behind glass and being sprayed with an aqueous polyethylene wax solution for preservation. This will continue for many years more to come. Before leaving I also take the harbor tour, which is unexciting.

January 16-18, 2003

January 16-18, 2003

I am flying to Shanghai on my first business trip to the Far East. I have no idea how I am going to deal with the time change or the nuances of China. So I compensate by getting there early and staying at a nice hotel, the Ritz-Carlton. I leave Thursday late afternoon, arriving Friday evening, losing a day as we fly over the International Date Line. On the 14-hour flight, my seatmate is a Brit working in Shanghai at some petrochemical complex. He offers to drop me off at my hotel on his way home. The Ritz is very nice, but it turns out I could have stayed at any of the western hotels and would have been happy. I try to sleep through the night but I can't. It is morning at home.

I get to the restaurant for breakfast as soon as it opens. I was worried about the food and water, but the buffet at the Ritz is great. They have a wide variety including American and Oriental dishes, but especially wonderful fresh fruit.

After breakfast I try to overcome the jet lag and take advantage of this free vacation by getting out and seeing Shanghai. I use the hotel cash machine to get some Yuan (Chinese dollars). I also pick up a couple of hotel business cards. It has the name of the hotel and several local attractions printed in Mandarin and English. All I have to do is show the taxi driver the card and point. Taxis are dirt cheap, no more than a dollar or two.

I first head to Renmin Park (Peoples Square). Like Central Park in New York, this open space in the city center is surrounded by skyscrapers. The difference is here they are all ultra-modern. To me it looks like they had an architecture contest for a building design. Instead of choosing one, they said everybody wins and built all of them. Looking around the park I see lots of people doing exercises, probably Tai Chi. I get hijacked for a few minutes by a teacher wanting to have his students practice their English on me. Also in the park is the Shanghai Museum. I spend a couple hours perusing the exhibits. It is interesting. Jade must be something special in China as they have lots of jade artifacts.

From Peoples Square, I walk down Nanjing Lu, China’s version of Rodeo Drive. There is a mass of humanity on the street. I walk down the street east to the Bund. The Bund on the wide Huangpu River is the old commercial district of the European colonial empires. It hasn't changed much in the last century. I stop at the famous Peace Hotel there. Across the river is the futuristic newly developed commercial area called the Pudong. I drove through it yesterday from the airport. At night it looks like Times Square or downtown Las Vegas with all the lights. Most conspicuous in the Pudong is the 1500-foot Pearl Tower, third tallest TV needle in the world. 

I see a bunch more Tai Chi exercisers along the riverfront. A Chinese lad starts up a conversation with me and offers to escort me west to the YuYuan gardens. It is a traditional Chinese garden in the middle of Shanghai. A Chinese garden is a mixture of small pavilions intermixed with ponds, rocks, and horticulture. Next to the garden is a large shopping bazaar where the bargains of China can be found. I buy a couple Rolex watches for $5. (The one I give my wife stops working the second week).

From the market I take a taxi to the Jade Buddha temple. This temple has a bunch of orange-robed Buddhist monks wandering around. The centerpiece of the temple is two Buddha statues made entirely of ivory-white jade. 

For dinner I eat at a Sichuan restaurant inside a mall near the hotel. It is delicious.

January 19-20, 2003

January 19-20, 2003

The next morning I take an organized tour to Suzhou. Not far from Shanghai, Suzhou is supposed to be one of the prettiest places in China, or Heaven on Earth as legend suggests. We travel there on a minibus along a very new but empty expressway. Once we get to Suzhou, I can say it looks pretty… pretty dreary that is. I think the nice parts must be hidden somewhere within this small town. (With 1.3 billion people, a small town has a couple million people!) Our first stop is the PanMen City Gate. Suzhou used to be a walled city and this section is the only remnant. Suzhou is also on the Grand Canal that connects this area with Beijing far far to the north. This wall section also has a water gate controlling boat access to the inside of the city. Next to the gate area is the Ruiguang Park with a pagoda at one end, but we don't visit it.

We then drive to the Humble Administrator's Garden, one of several that make up the World Heritage site, Classical Gardens of Suzhou. It is similar but more extensive than the one I saw yesterday in Shanghai. The garden is a maze of pavilions set amongst pools, bridges, and islands. Afterwards we stop for a group lunch. With us on the tour is a friendly Korean lady. She speaks very good English and said she comes to China often on business. Interestingly she said that Korean and Mandarin are so different she conducts business with the Chinese in English.

After lunch we visit Tiger Hill. It has a tall historic pagoda on top. We walk up for a look. So far the tour has been so-so. The guide speaks English but does little to explain the sights besides giving the English translation of the site names. Personally because of book censorship, I don’t think they know much of their own history.

The last stop is the most interesting. A tour of a silk factory. It is fascinating how they make silk fabric. Local farmers raise silkworms. These silkworms are pretty particular only eating leaves of the mulberry. In the factory, a sweatshop of women unravel each silkworm cocoon by tying them onto a thread-pulling machine. From there we walk next-door to the factory store where we can see all the garments they make from silk. I buy some silk pajamas for Aimee. The Chinese are pretty small, so I ask the biggest clerk what size she would buy and I buy it one size larger.

In the evening I ask the hotel concierge for the nearest Hunan restaurant and take a taxi there. It is crowded and nobody speaks English. I order a dish at random and it turns out to be something like green beans and bacon. It tastes good though.

On Monday, a driver picks me up and drives me to a supplier factory along the same highway as yesterday. Only today it is bumper to bumper. The traffic is so bad, it comes to a stop and then almost on queue, all the Chinese get out and pee along the side of the road. I had to laugh. Once we finally get to the supplier, I have a private lunch in the factory with the management staff. It is authentic Chinese food with turtle soup, some unidentifiable fried seafood item, and the scrawniest chicken you have ever seen.