Rally to Restore Sanity 10-30-2010

I recently moved to DC (technically Silver Spring, Maryland but I'm only a block away from the DC/Maryland state line) at the end of October for a new job. It's been a pretty big transition especially now that there is snow everywhere! In summary though, I believe it was the right decision. At least so far...

I arrived the day before the Rally to Restore Sanity was being hosted by Comedy Central's John Stewart on the Washington Mall. I really wanted to go to this event and I'm really glad I was able to show my support for open political dialog and working together to make this a better country. Not all the Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt tactics and political mudslinging just to gain political party control of congress. Anyway, I digress. Enjoy the photos. One of the best parts of the rally was all the signs that people created!

Visiting "The District"

A few weeks ago I visited Washington DC to visit a few friends who live in "The District" and finally see the U.S. Capitol, White House, and all the monuments, museums, etc... I had a great time and it snowed while I was there. Fortunately, it was enough to be pretty without all the headache. The record setting blizzards started the day I left.

STS 129 Shuttle Launch

I've lived in Florida for 20 years now and Central Florida since 2000 but have never seen a shuttle launch up close. You can see them from Orlando but its not quite the same. As the number of remaining shuttle launches remaining starts to dwindle (only about 5 left) I finally made it over to the Kennedy Space Center to see a shuttle launch. It was spectacular and you couldn't have asked for better weather. Thanks to my friend Misty (who works at NASA) for the hookup. She was able to get a visitor pass to the closest viewing area allowed (3 miles from the launchpad) where all the media are located.

Giant Cacti

I was back in Arizona last week for work. This time I landed in Tucson while it was still daylight and was able to get a few photos of the giant saguaro cacti in the area. They are absolutely impressive! Here's a photo of one next to an SUV. They are as large as trees.

Visiting The Big Apple

I took a mini-vacation this past New Years to visit a friend up in New Jersey. He lives in Princeton which is a little over an hour away from Manhattan. We visited New York City on December 30th and stayed into the early morning hours of New Years Eve until we left around 5 am. We then returned on New Years Day. One of these days will go to see the ball drop in Times Square. As you will see in the photos and videos, we managed to cover a significant number of things to do and see in NYC in a very short amount of time. A trend seems to be emerging that you might notice if you seen my photos from other recent past trips. Visiting a cemetery seems to be a necessity.

The Town too Tough to Die

I recently traveled to southern Arizona for work. I wasn't too far away from Tombstone so I stopped in for a visit. In case you haven't seen the movies or don't know your history. Tombstone is best known for its most famous residents, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday and their famous shootout against the Clantons at the OK Corral. Here are some photos from my trip.

Visiting The Big Easy

Last November I went to a conference in New Orleans for work. Luckily my work obligations went well, so I had free time to do some sightseeing. New Orleans is a place rich in history and amazing cuisine; I would recommend it as a great place to visit. My hotel was one block from the French Quarter and one street over from Bourbon St. So it goes without saying that I had a great time! Here are some photos from my trip.