San Diego Comic Con 2010 - Day 2

My second day at comic con..

San Diego Comic Con 2010 - Day 1

Here's my video from Day 1 (Preview Night) at Comic Con

Tour of my hotel room, SDCC 2010

Here's a quick video of my very cool hotel room at The Keating down in San Diego. It's odd having an open shower in the same room as your bed.

KOTG CompanionCast S4E2

Show Notes:

Here is our second CompanionCast for Season 4 of The Guild. First of all be sure you watched Episode 2 of season 4. If you haven’t seen it yet watch it HERE

What is a CompanionCast?? It’s a behind the scene look at the current episode of The Guild.

I was on set everyday while they shot Season 4. As actors and crew were finished with scenes I would try and speak to them. Get some inside info about the scene they just shot. I also interviewed Felicia Day and Kim Evey about the storyline and Sean Becker about the directing. Each one of these CompanionCasts will be episode specific and will vary in length depending on how much guildie goodness I was about to gather.

In this CompanionCast I interview Felicia Day, Sean Becker, Amy Okuda, Jeff Lewis, Vince Caso, Teal Sherer and Greg Aronowitz. I also included our first crew interview with our Line Producer Bea.

I hope you enjoy a look behind the scenes of Season 4 Episode 2 “Strange Allies”

Kenny

Other Important Links

• Knights of the Guild Feeds/Downloads http://knightsoftheguild.com
• Knights of the Guild Daily Blog http://knightsoftheguildpodcast.blogspot.com/

Packing for Comic Con

Today was pretty much spent finishing up prepping for comic con, making sure I have everything as well as packing up all the Knights of the Guild swag that I'm bringing to con to give away. Also had to pack up all electronics, computer, microphones and clothes. I was hoping to pack light but it looks like it's going to be 2 + suitcases. I also went to the grocery store to be some snacks, soda and water so I have to see if I can fit that in my suitcases are it's going to be three suitcases.

I plan on head out early tomorrow around 10am which means I should get to San Diego by 2ish and can check in to the hotel at 3pm, pick up my badges and be good to go.

I'm going to try and do video blogs every day from comic con.... at least that's the plan.

Wash That Gray!!!

Today I wanted to dye my gray hair.. as I seem to be getting more and more as time goes on. I got this "Just For Men" stuff that is suppose to target just the gray hair. Well that didn't quite work and instead I darken my already dark hair a few shades of brown. But at least my gray hair is gone and it doesn't look half bad.

Prepping for Comic Con

Spent all of yesterday and today prepping for Comic Con. Yesterday I was trying to get more podcasts done and prepped so I don't have to worry about them while at comic con. I also packaged up all the KOTG shirts, Comic books and Autographed pictures that people won as prized in my Knights of the Guild podcast.

Today I had to go to the post office and ship off the above KOTG shirts, Comic books and Autographed pictures that I owed people.. I feel bad as some folks have been waiting over a month and I really wanted to do this before comic con.

I also had to get a tire fixed on my jeep as I didn't like the idea of driving down to San Diego and not having a spare. And though I haven't driven my car much the past few months I got the oil changed as it was past due and again since I'm driving down to San Diego I wanted to make sure my Jeep was in good shape.

When I got back home I had received the two missing elements that I needed to finish my third podcast Ep. 18 pt2 which will be released on July 29th. So that's three down and if I'm lucky I can get my KOTG CompanionCast S4E3 done before I leave tomorrow.

So it was a busy day and tomorrow all I have to do is pack up cloths and all my KOTG stuff and I'll be ready to drive down to San Diego Wednesday morning.

WE DID IT!!!!!

Today we went past 100,000 downloads. When I started Knights of the Guild podcast I never thought in my wildest dreams that it would hit 100,000 downloads. Thank you to all our loyal listeners who come back time and time again and enjoy the bantering of Jenni and I. We call this a "Fans" podcast not only because Jenni and I are "Fans' but because this podcast is all about The Guild Fans. The Guild was built around it's fans and it's the fans that got us to 100,219 downloads as of 9pm 7/17/2010

Editing Podcasts

This past week I have been working on editing podcasts. Since Comic Con is next week I am really trying to get as many podcasts done before then. Today I spent the entire day working on these.

My current goal is finishing CompanionCasts for the first 3 episodes of The Guild (currently got 2 done). A regular podcast Episode 18 pt2 (almost done just waiting for two segments still to be recorded) and an surprise Microcast (which is done).

So as of now I have 1 CompanionCast for S4E3 and finishing Ep18 pt2. All in all I'm very happy with how much I have done this week. Should get done before next Tuesday when I head down to San Diego.

The Last Airbender

Harry and I just got back from seeing this movie. Now first let me say that I have heard nothing be bad reviews and comments about this movie. But from the previews both Harry and I wanted to see it. Again when I tweeted that I was in the theater getting ready to watch this movie I got over 15 replies saying things like.. "Run for your life" , " Get out while you still can", "You can't unsee this stuff once you watch it"... and so on.

When it ended I turned to Harry and said so what did you think. He looked at me and said I don't know what everyone is talking about.. I loved it.. and I said I know.. whats up with that... I loved it too.

It was a cool story, beautifully shoot, AWESOME effects, I felt for the main character and it was non-stop action. All in all it was a fun entertaining movie.

I have to say that I have never seen the TV series, but even if I had I would have still loved this movie. I am one of those rare people who understand what an adaptation is. I know it's not going to be like the TV series.. it's another persons idea of the same story... ie Harry Potter

I still can't get over the SFX.. they show alot of them in the commercials but man there are so much more. And the ice castle and temples are amazing looking. I know some have complained about the casting as most of the cartoon characters are Asian and they weren't Asian in the movie. Part of me understand why that route as an all Asian cast wouldn't sell to the masses.. it's sad but true. I think they casted very well all the main characters. The other thing is this only book one of the story.. though there is a beginning, middle and end they do leave the story open for book 2.

Anyways.. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. If you want a fun, entertaining ride then go see this movie and don't pay attention to all the haters out there.

A Visit from Lydia

My friend Lydia from Switzerland/Germany came to LA before heading down to San Diego for Comic Con. We've been trying to hang out all week and finally on her last day we manage to accomplish it. Harry and I wanted to take her out to Vasquez Rocks since it's only a few miles from us. Only issue is it's over 100 degrees. We figured we'd go and at least show her the place.

When we got there they were filming a movie, signs said HIRO but looked like Firefly to me. Maybe it's the new Mad Max film. Anyways we got out and walked around a bit. Even though it was hot she wanted to take a little hike. About a half hour later and a lot more hiking Lydia hit a wall and couldn't go any further. While she rested in the shade with Harry I quickly got back to the truck and drove to as close as I could got pick them up. Harry says she was really bad for a moment and looked like she was going to pass out... she didn't luckily and both made it back to the truck.

Once back at home both Harry and Lydia looked like they had heat stroke. Lydia actually took a shower to cool down and rinse off. After 2o minutes or so both were fine and ready for lunch. Since Lydia is a vegetarian I questioned my plans to take her to Islands (one of our favorite places) but they had veggie burgers and she was cool with that. So we had lunch, came back home and chatted for a bit. She debated on leaving at 4ish and dealing with traffic or leaving at 7ish and getting to SD really late.. she opted for 4ish and dealing with traffic.

It was a fun visit.. other then almost killer her from a heat stroke.

Knights of the Guild Ep 18 pt1

THIS PODCAST IS DEDICATED TO OUR FRIEND JIM QUON AKA SCARBUCK

Show Notes:

Here it is Episode 18 part 1 of Knights of the Guild… Enjoy!!!

Today’s show features:

• * First up a classic Vorkism
• * We are recording this weeks podcast live in a secret location.
• * We discuss the latest Guild News
• * We have a great interview with crew member Stephanie Rose

• * We also announce winners of our end of month contest for June and our winner for our Business Time Contest as well as talk about continuing contests
• * Then Business Time (I continue to use our contest entries as they are so good)
• * Then our Good byes

Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.

Kenny & Jenni

Other Important Links

• Knights of the Guild Feeds/Downloads http://knightsoftheguild.com
• Knights of the Guild Daily Blog http://knightsoftheguildpodcast.blogspot.com/

KOTG CompanionCast S4E1

Http://knightsoftheguild.com

Show Notes:

Here is our very first CompanionCast for Season 4 of The Guild. First of all be sure you watched Episode 1 of season 4. If you haven’t seen it yet watch it here.

What is a CompanionCast?? It’s a behind the scene look at the current episode of The Guild.

I visited the set everyday while they shot Season 4. As actors and crew were finished with scenes I would try and speak to them. Get some inside info about the scene they just shot. I also interviewed Felicia Day and Kim Evey about the storyline and Sean Beacker about the directing. Each one of these CompanionCasts will be episode specific and will vary in length depending on how much guildie goodness I was about to gather.

In this CompanionCast I interview Felicia Day, Kim Evey, Sean Becker, Sandeep Parikh, Jeff Lewis, Tymberlee Hill and Greg Aronowitz

I hope you enjoy a look behind the scenes of Season 4 Episode 1 “Epic Guilt”

Kenny

Other Important Links

• Knights of the Guild Feeds/Downloads http://knightsoftheguild.com
• Knights of the Guild Daily Blog http://knightsoftheguildpodcast.blogspot.com/

Podcast Craziness

As many of you know I do the official podcast for the webseries The Guild. Well because of my vacation by podcast duties go a bit behind. Not only am I doing our regular podcast, microcasts, and minicast I've added something else to my duties.. CompanionCasts.

If you read my blog on a regular bases then you know I worked on set of the Guild. This season I was solely there as a podcaster, gathering interviews about the upcoming season. And now that Season 4 is about to begin I have to create this brand new podcast.

So the past four days (Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) I have been working on various podcasts. I have to do 3 CompanionCasts, 2 Regular podcasts and 1 Special podcast. All by next Tuesday.

I currently have 1 CompainCast done, and just in time as it is released tomorrow (or midnight tonight). I finished 1 regular podcast Ep. 18 part 1 which is due Thursday July 15th. Once those are done I have to work on 2 more CompainCast for episode 2 (which is released next Tuesday, which means my cast has to be done by Wednesday) and 3. Then part 2 of episode 18 which we still have to record a part of it. And I have to get all these done by Tuesday of next week as I'm heading out to Comic Con on Wednesday and will be gone until Sunday evening.

So I have lots of work ahead of me. I'll be spending most of the rest of this week working on these podcasts. I'm hoping now that I have 2 done the rest will be easier to finish.. I hope.

Top Secret Project

Today was a ton of fun. I got up early to get there. Once there it was nothing but fun and excitement. Got to meet some new people and hang out with old friends. It was a super long day 8am to 11pm but it was chuck full of OMG and I can't believe they did that moments. Will be doing this all again tomorrow. Can't wait until I can share what it exactly it is I did.

(BTW this is the only picture I can show that doesn't give away anything or does it...)

Home Sweet Home

Today I did very little.. did a little unpacking, had to go grocery shopping (as we made sure we had no food before we left for our trip) and tried to caught up on some internet stuff but for the most part I did nothing but relax and catch up on some TV that we had recorded during our vacation. It's good to be home!!!

2010 Pacific Northwest Road Trip

17 Days, 8 States and over 4000 miles. Harry, Daisy and I had a fantastic vacation/road trip. For the most part everything went as planned. We didn't have any issues with the truck and only a few issues with the hotels. Daisy was wonderful, if not over protective at times and Harry and I got to see some very beautiful sites.

I know I was ready to come home when we did but Harry said he could continue to travel for another few months.

I'm not going to go into great detail about the trip as I did written and video blogs every night of the trip. If you want details read/watch my previous posts.

I'm looking forward to getting my life back to normal, or as normal as my life can get. I was excited to get up this morning and not have to drive anywhere.. that was a great feeling.

I will be traveling again at the end of the month for Comic Con but that's down in San Diego and only a few hours drive.. I think I can handle that.

Hope you enjoyed my daily blog and felt as thought you got to travel with us during our 2010 Pacific Northwest road trip.

There are three albums on Facebook.. Here's a link to the first one and you don't need to be part of facebook to see them http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=447511&id=707225374&l=c4162dd85e

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 17

This is the final day of our 2010 vacation / road trip. We are driving from St. George, Utah to our home in Agua Dulce, California. We took an unusual way home as both Harry and I are not fans of the Arizona Governor and her ultra right wing garbage with immigrants and gays. So instead of driving the 50 miles stretch of the 15 through Arizona Harry routed an alternate route.. only issue was that it was 135 miles out of our way and would add 2 1/2 hours of travel time. I was willing to over look hating Arizona and just get through that state as quickly as possible but Harry was adamant not to set foot there and I understood where he was coming from and agreed to drive the extra miles.

I'm kind of glad we did as it was an adventure into it's own. Harry mapped out everything on google maps but our travels didn't go as planned. We got to the highway that Harry had mapped out but soon it turned into a highway that we didn't know about and shortly after that it turned into a dirt road. Yeah we were in the middle of Utah/Nevada desert on a dirt road hoping we were going the correct way. When we hit a fork in the road we started to panic.

Harry had no idea which way to go and there was no clue as to which road to take. So we used our trusty GPS (which btw didn't show us on any road, just showed us driving in the middle of nowhere) I zoomed out on the GPS as far as it would go and saw that the 319 (which is the highway we were looking to connect with) was north of us so we took the north fork. Another half hour and we saw a sign that said 319 15 miles ahead. I could breath again... still had to drive on a dirt road but we knew we were going in the right direction.

After that we made it to the 319 then to the 93 and finally back onto the 15 and into Vegas. It was a long and crazy detour but a fun adventure.

Once it Vegas I knew we would hit traffic as it was the Fourth of July holiday traffic and it was Monday so everyone would be heading home.. I was hoping we were early enough to miss the traffic but I was wrong. Took about an hour and a half to drive from downtown Vegas to Primm (CA/NV border). After that we hit pockets of traffic here and there and in the end it added about 2 1/2 hours to our already extended trip home.

But at 8:30pm we made it home and man there is no place like home. I know Harry could have traveled for a few more months but I was happy to be home.

I'll write up an overview of the past 17 days in the next few days.. Thanks to everyone who has followed my video/written blogs for the past 17 days... hope you were entertained and enjoyed them.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 16

Today was the last day of sightseeing of our 2010 Vacation. We planned to visit Zion National Park. So we left around 10 am, took I-15 to Highway 9 and followed it east. about 1 hour later we got to Zion. We checked the map and it turns out that most of the features of Zion can be explored if you go backpacking. Since dogs are not allowed on trails, that wasn't really an option. So we drove through the southern part of Zion. That are about 15 miles or so, but it was still very impressive and the rock formations are incredible. Something that definitely has be experience in person. We have to go back to Zion in the future and without the dog to go backpacking. We crossed Zion from West to East and by the time we reached the East Entrance it was just a little after noon. People told us that we should go visit Bryce Canyon National Park while we were down here.. so we looked it up on the map and saw that it was about 60 miles north of were we were so we decided to go up and check it out.

So we took US Route 89 north to Highway 12. We followed highway 12 east. While on the 12 we came across a place called Red Canyon and OMG.. there was some of the most amazing looking rock formations that I had ever seen. It was like driving on Mars.. everything was an organish red. It's hard to describe the beauty of the lands, it's something that really needs to be experienced in person. At every view point we stopped and took a ton of pictures and video.

After the Red Canyon we followed highway 12 and got to the entrance of Bryce Canyon National Park. Our first stop was called Swamp Canyon. You have a pretty good view of parts of Bryce Canyon and here it becomes clear, why it is called a canyon. Until that point it reminded us more of your average forest. We drove further up and decided to stop at most of the view points on our way back down, since they all were on the opposite side.

We finally made it to Rainbow Point, the endpoint of the road and with an elevation of 9115 feet also the highest point of the canyon. From this point you have an absolutely amazing 180 degree view... And man what an fantastic view. The Hoodoo's are absolutely stunning. A Hoodoo is a Sandstone Columns, it's something that I have never seen before.

After we had taken pix and video we started to drive back down. We stopped at several view points and from every view point we had an absolutely stunning view. One that was pretty cool was called Natural Bridge. It's kind of a rock bridge, but it reminded me way more of an arch. Regardless it was just amazing to look at. After taking pix and video we continued to drive down Bryce Canyon. We stopped at several amazing viewing points before we got to Bryce Pointe... WOW.. that is all I can say about that view. I can't even put it into words. I have to say that this is the best thing I have seen on our entire trip.. and I've seen some really beautiful stuff.. this view took my breath away. While I was taking pictures I saw way down at the bottom what looked like a hiking trail... the only thing I thought was, that this has to be one of the most amazing hiking trails I have ever seen. Guess we will have to go back to Bryce Canyon and hike that entire trail, but in order to do so we have to leave the dog at home.

Next up was a viewing point called Paria View. This point had some great views, but doesn't even compare to Bryce Pointe. We then saw Inspiration Point, Sunset Point and Sunrise Point. Though they were all great views after Bryce Pointe, nothing would compare.

We headed back through Red Canyon and back on the freeway. It took 2 hours to get back to our hotel, we picked up some Wendy's for dinner and called it a night.

All in all it was a great day.. so glad we decided to head to Bryce Canyon because if we didn't we wouldn't have seen Red Canyon or the stunning views of Bryce Canyon.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 15

Today was pretty much a travel day. We were going down to St. George (UT) since we will be visiting Zion National Park tomorrow, and St. George was the closest city where we were able to get a hotel.

We got up at our usual time and started to get ready. By 10 am the truck was all packed up and we were ready to leave. So we took US Route 191 North until we reached the junction with I-70. We followed I-70 to the junction with US Route 6. We stayed on I-70 and followed it west.

I-70 was so much more interesting to drive than the I-15, as the areas you drive through are more diverse. There are a couple of view points along the freeway that we checked out. Two of them were Black Dragon Canyon and Bottom of the Sea. Black Dragon Canyon is a mini version of the Grand Canyon and therefore very impressive. Bottom of the Sea is, like the name suggests, the former ocean floor and quite an impressive site as well.

The only thing that you have to consider when traveling the I-70 is the fact that you should make sure you have enough gas. We didn't fill the truck up at the junction with US Route 6 and you have only 1 chance to fill up for about 106 miles.

We weren't sure if we were going to make it to Salina, so we got off the freeway and drove to the little town of Emery (UT), it was about 12 miles from the freeway and we got gas there. So we filled the truck up and headed back to the freeway.

We probably could have made it to Salina, but it was better to not take the chance. We got off the freeway in Salina anyway and had lunch at Denny's. We got back onto the freeway and continued to head south-west until we hit I-15. we got onto I-15 and headed south. At the next rest stop I took over the driving.

The further we got south the hotter it got. So far it hadn't been that bad... It has been around 85 all day long. That changed during the last 30 miles, when the temperature went up to 100. Pretty toasty. At 4.30 pm we had finally made it to the hotel in St. George (UT).

Looking forward to Zion tomorrow.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 14

Today we took a trip into Arches National Park. Since we were staying in Moab (UT) we were only a couple of minutes from the park entrance. We started driving into the park and stopped right at the beginning at a point where you had a great look at the Moab Fault. We then continued driving through the park. And the same thing as in Glacier National Park was happening. You see one absolutely great view and you turn around to find an even more amazing view. We got to see lots of absolutely amazing rock formations. You just have to see these in person as there are no words to adequately describe them.

Our next stop was a point called Courthouse Towers. An absolutely stunning rock formation. As always Harry and I took lots of pix and video. Next up was a stop at the Petrified Sand Dunes. As the name suggests it's a rock formation that looks like sand dunes frozen in stone.

Up next was the Balanced Rock. This formation features a large rock being balanced on a very small surface. It's incredible how it sits there right on top and not falling over. We stopped at a formation called the Garden of Eden.

Next up was our first real arch. This feature is called Windows. I walked up and took quite lots of video. I got also to take same video of the second arch of the Windows arch feature. Since we had the dog we had to take turns going on the path and checking out the three arches. Harry took the video and I took photos. We got to see the North and South Arch and what they call The Turret Arch.. all of them were amazing.

Next up was an overview point from where you have a very good overlook over the 'Salt Valley'.
Then we checked out the "Delicate Arch". I walked up first and checked out the lower and the upper view point. Turns out that it doesn't really matter which view point you choose, you pretty much have the same view and man it's a long walk up to the second higher view point. I saved Harry from doing it. The only way to get a really good look of that arch, would be to take the 3 mile long hike to the arch, which we couldn't do since we had Daisy with us.

Next up was "Fiery Furnace", again this is something that needs to be viewed in person as it's so hard to describe it's beauty. The next stop was an arch called "Skylight Arch". It's another cool looking arch.

Once we were done with that, we drove to "Devils Garden", were the road ends. We took pix and video, but couldn't go up to any of the features since that would have been a longer hike and since dogs are not allowed on trails that wasn't an option. So we didn't see Landscape Arch and a couple of other arches.

All in all it was a great day.. it amazes me how Glacier National Park was so beautiful with it's waterfalls, lakes and green everywhere. And Arches was just as beautiful with it's rock, dirt and brown everywhere.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Poster

Today the WB released a teaser poster for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows parts 1 & 2.

This poster is amazing and gives me chills every time I look at it. What do you think??

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Trailer

OMG.. this came out a few days ago and when I watched it for the first time it brought tears to my eyes.. it looks AWESOME!!! I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. I LOVE the books but I also LOVE the movies and this final movie (well 2 movies) look like they are going to be the best. I so can't wait till November for this to come out.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 13

Once again this is a travel day. Driving from Ogden, Utah to Moab, Utah. The drive was pretty good. It got warmer as we went south and east. Utah reminded me of California more then any other state. It has the same stores, fast foods and looks the same with the brown hilly lands. As we went further southeast we got to what I see in my mind as Utah. The cool rock formations and the red rocks.. that's Utah to me.

We made it to the hotel and are relaxing for our long day tomorrow of exploring Arches National Park.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 12

Today was a travel day.. we were going from Butte, Montana to Ogden, Utah. Our next destination is Arches National Park but it would have been too long of a drive, or at least to long of a drive for us. So Ogden is a halfway point. Nothing really happened. The drive was nice. Idaho is a very green and hilly place. It did get hotter as we went south. North Utah wasn't what I expected.. it's also farmland and very green.

One thing that did happen is I broke Harry HD video camera. Not on purpose, it was an accident but I felt horrible so we stopped in Idaho Falls, Idaho at a Best Buy and I purchased him a new cam. It was a costly mistake on my part but I hope the broken cam is still usable.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 11

Well today we were visiting Yellowstone, but the day started off badly.. actually it stated last night when we got to the hotel and I realized I booked us a hotel that was about 125 miles / 2-1/2 hours away. Now it wouldn't be bad if we didn't have to come back to the hotel later that night. So my mistake added an extra 250 miles to our already 3500+ and an extra 5 hours of driving for the day which takes away time from our visit to the park.

Anyways we get to Yellowstone around 1pm. We enter the west entrance and just a few miles in we see a group of Moose's. One actually crosses the street and walked about 5 feet from me.. it was pretty cool.

When we entered Yellowstone wasn't what I was expecting.. I expected tall trees all over the place and there as nothing but acres of tiny (5 feet) trees all over. I mentioned this to Harry and he said "wasn't there a fire here years ago" and that is why there were no big trees.. they all burned down and what we saw were the re-plants. There were larger trees in other parts of the park and there were also blacken trees that have yet to be re-planted.

A few more miles and we see a few Buffalo's/Bison. We decided to take the south route as this is where the majority of the Geysers and hot springs are. We stop over and over at each group of geysers/hot springs. We took tons of videos and pictures. Because we had the dog we had to go one at a time while the other one watched the dog. I took all the pictures and Harry took all the video, expect the video I took with my still cam for my blog.

We wound up at Old Faithful and missed it by 5 minutes. Since this is something that both Harry and I really wanted to see we waited the 90 minutes for another eruption... and it didn't disappoint. Again because of the Dog I was back in the tree area (where dogs were allowed) and I took pictures and Harry was up where the benches were with the video camera.

We only had a few hours of day light left so we headed toward the north exit and on our way we came across the Mud Volcano section. There were several cool hot springs like Dragon's Mouth and a Mud hot spring.

After that we headed out as the we were losing light but as we were leaving we saw a group of Elks and stopped to get some pictures and video.

Now it was dark and we headed out of the park which was going to take an hour just to get out. A lightening storm started, then rain and then dusty winds. I was driving these small windy roads getting blown around and not being able to see because of the heavy rain and dust. There was one moment where I was stuck between two hills and a gust of dusty wind swirled through and there was a moment where I couldn't see anything.. it was a very scary and slow drove back to the hotel. We got back to the hotel at 1am and there was no time to do any blogging or anything.

Next up Utah!!!

Day 11 - Yellowstone - Mud Hot Springs

There are several of these hot springs that spue mud instead of water.

Day 11 - Yellowstone - Dragon's Mouth

This is a cool cave where the hot spring/geyser is inside the cave.. It looks as if it's a mouth spouting smoke.. ie Dragon's Mouth.

Day 11 - Yellowstone - Old Faithful

Here is Old Faithful erupting. This is the final seconds of the eruption. Harry took video while I did photos but you can take only so many photo's so I switched to taking a little video.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 10

Today we planned a visit to Glacier National Park. We got up at 8 am and packed up the truck and were ready to leave by 9.30. We took US Route 93 north. Once we reached the junction with Highway 40 we followed it east to US Route 2 and followed it to the west entrance of Glacier National Park. We got a annual pass for all National Parks for 80 bucks. That might sound a lot, but by the time this vacation is over it will have paid for itself.

First we checked out the visitor center and Lake McDonald. We followed the "Going to the Sun Road". We got to see lots of forests, rapids, white water, water falls and lakes. Then the road started climbing. We got to see the aftermath of an avalanche. It was a narrow and windy road, fortunately Harry was driving but he found it fun to drive. He just loves driving mountain roads because it reminds him of home and roads in the Austrian Alps. The higher up you get the more amazing and breath taking the views become. The view right in front of you is absolutely breath taking, you turn around and there is even a more amazing view. Harry and I took tons of pix and video. Shortly before we reached Logan Pass the road narrowed to a 1 lane road since an avalanche had taken out part of the road a couple of years ago. We were in luck and there was no wait on our side. Once we got to Logan Pass we drove by several snow fields. We also saw a mountain goat on one of the snow fields. That was very cool.

Once we passed Logan Pass we went down on the east side. The road on the east side is not impressive as it was on the west side.

Once we reached St. Mary's we jumped onto US Route 89 and followed it south, until we reached the junction with highway 82. We followed highway 82 until we reached the junction with highway 83. we followed it south to State Route 200 until we reached I-15. We were driving through lots and lots of rural area's of Montana. Rolling hills as far as the eye can see. It was pretty amazing. It gave Harry and I a very good idea what the great planes must have felt to the first settlers.

One thing we learned is that if you go on a road trip through rural Montana make sure your car has enough gas and you bring enough food and water with you, as it might be a few hundred miles until you can stock up on these items. As there was nothing... nothing in the rural parts of Montana.

We finally reached the city of Helena. I'm talking about a real city and not some tiny, rural townships. We had Wendy's for very late lunch and then continued on the I-15 south. around 7.30 pm we finally reached our hotel in the city of Butte, Montana.

Glacier National Park - Day 10 - The Weeping Wall

Glacier National Park - Day 10 - Rapids

Glacier National Park - Day 10 - Beautiful Lake

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 9

Wow.. what a horrible night sleep. Went to sleep at around 1am and when I say sleep I mean sit there in the drivers seat tossing and turning. Around 4am it was super light out so we opted to get up and get moving. We had made it to the border of Montana and Idaho. Our plan for today was a few hundred mile drive to Kalispell, MT as this is was the closest hotel we could get to Glacier National Park which is our next destination. The drive was beautiful, but again the terrain was very different as you drive. Hills of farmland and hills of thick trees, but it was all very beautiful.

We got to Kalispell around 9am but we can't check into our hotel until 3pm.. so we had six hours to kill. We were already tired but we continued to drive around the area, we stopped at Red Lion so I could hijack their wifi and we also had some lunch. Around Noon I thought I would call and see if we could get into the hotel room early. The lady on the other end of the phone said "let me check with house keeping, if your room is done then you'll be able to check in". A few minutes later she said we were all good. Both Harry and I were so excited.. as I said we were both drained from the horrible night sleep so we are just going to crash the rest of the day.. try and catch up on our blogs and such.

Tomorrow is going to be another long driving day.. but we should have some more beautiful sights.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 8

Sorry about the dark video.. was in Harry's truck and it was past midnight.

Today was our travel day. We were leaving Aberdeen Washington and our friends The Moyers. We had planned to visit Seattle, WA because we wanted to see the Space Needle. Many folks suggested that we visit the Sci fi Museum and I would have agreed with them but everyone keeps forgetting that we have our dog Daisy with us. That limits us on what we can do and where we can eat.

So we got stuck in traffic in Seattle but finally made it to the Space Needle. It was smaller looking in the skyline compared to the high rises but when you get up close to it, it's pretty tall. Loved the "pride" flag on top.

After Seattle, Amy Moyer mentioned a really cool town that she and Rick had visited called Leavenworth. It's a small town that is built like a Bavarian/German town. Buildings, the food, the beer and the dancers all were all in authentic German/Bavarian style. Since Harry is from Austria Amy thought Harry would enjoy that town.l. she was right. We stopped by for about an hour and walked up and down the streets.. also watched the German dancers (see video in blog). Again because of the dog we couldn't go in any of the stores or restaurants, but it just means we have to go back in the future.

After Leavenworth we didn't have a plan.. well we did have a plan. We were going to drive to Spokane, WA and stay in a hotel but there were several events going on this weekend and every single hotels for 50 miles around were sold out. So we decided that we were going to try and make it to Montana before parking and sleeping in the truck.

So we headed toward Montana, and let me say Eastern Washington couldn't be more different from Western Washington.. if it's much warmer but the big difference is the terrain. West side was nothing but beautiful trees..East side is farm land as far as the eye can see.. some green some dirt. Felt like forever driving through that.

Speaking of driving, Harry drove from 9am to 2pm I drive from 2pm to midnight. I don't think I have every driven 10 hours in one day.

Before we left Washington we stopped in Spokane to pick up some dinner at Panda Express. Then we drove into Idaho. At this time it was dark so we didn't see much and finally we made it to Montana. Just over the boarder of Idaho and Montana was a rest stop and this is were we finally stopped and crashed for the night.

All in all it was a long long driving day but we got to see so many beautiful sights. We also were in three states in one day :)

Day 8 - Leavenworth, Washington

Amy Moyer mentioned this town in Eastern Washington that is themed as Bavarian / German city with building, food, music, beer and dancers. Speaking of dancers there was this really cool troop who street preformed with German Dances... they did about six of them but this was my favorite.

Day 8 - Space Needle in Seattle

One thing I really wanted to do while in Washington I wanted to see the Seattle Space Needle. We got stuck in Seattle traffic for a little over an hour but finally got to the Needle.. I did a little video.

My First Smores

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 7

Today was a very relaxed day. We went over to Ricks place and had breakfast with him and his family. Rick made Belgian Waffles, which were good. After breakfast we hang out and did a recording for a podcast for my friend Meds for his Waffle On program. After that Rick, Harry, Catherine (Rick's daughter), Andrew (Rick's son) and I went to the movies to see Toy Story 3. LOVED IT... you can read more in my separate blog.

After the movies we went back to the Moyer's house where Amy had prepared a special snack... a Deer / Elk Sausage. I had never had deer or elk so I was in for a first.. and I have to say it wasn't bad.. I'd eat it again. While we were at the movies Daisy stayed with Amy and actually did fairly well.. so that was good.

I then tried to find hotels for the rest of the trip. We had booked hotels only up to Aberdeen. We didn't want to drive all the way trough to Montana and wanted to stop in Spokane (WA). Turns out there is some sort of event going on this weekend and it is literally impossible to find a reasonable priced hotel room. So we opted to book hotels for all other stop on this road trip, which almost caused me to have a nervous breakdown.

This of course means that we have no hotel book for tomorrow. Tomorrow we will drive east and visit Leavenworth (WA), a town that is a recreation of a German city. After that we will have to decide if try to find a hotel to stay, continue to drive east and hope to find a hotel along the way, or sleep in my truck in the parking lot of a Walmart.

After that we took Rick and his family out for dinner to the Mazatlan restaurant. All of us love Mexican food and it was absolutely worth it. After dinner we hung out at Moyer's house and made S'mores... and believe it or not that was my first time every having them. (you can watch the video in my blog) Then it was time for group pictures since that was our last day with them. Both, Harry and I, loved spending time with them... and it's sad that we had to say good bye. Maybe they can make it down to our place for my 40th birthday in September. That would be awesome.

It was a FANTASTIC 3 days hanging out with The Moyers

Toy Story 3

When we left for our vacation Toy Story 3 began. I knew I couldn't wait three weeks before seeing it so we were going to have to somehow see it while we were on our road trip, which of course made it difficult because of the dog. Well a few days before we were to come visit Rick and his family, Rick asked if we wanted to see it with him and his daughter one of the days we were here visiting. They said we could leave Daisy with Amy and not have to worry.. so that is what we did today.

I have loved every Pixar movie that has come out so there was no doubt that I was going to love this movie and I did. Toy Story 1 & 2 are some of my favorite Pixar movies, for that fact they are some of my all time favorite movies all together.. and part 3 has joined them. It's one of the best Trilogies around. Part three was well written, well acted and was a prefect end to a prefect story. I laughed, I cried, I was moved by the plight of these animated characters. It's amazing to me that Pixar can put so much life into these characters that you instantly fall in love them. Their facial expressions, their actions are so moving. I got teary eyed throughout the movie but the last third of the movie tears where rolling down until the very end.

I can't wait till we get home and I watch this again.. and then maybe again.

Another fantastic job Pixar.. you continue to amaze and entertain me... THANKS!!

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 6

Got to Rick's a little later then expected but once we were there we had breakfast and once again Rick's wife Amy made some build your own breakfast burritos, which were very delicious.

Since Tess and Daisy hadn't been getting along with each other, we put a muzzle on Daisy and introduced the two dogs slowly... they managed to tolerate each other. So there are chances that the two might mange to get along with each other after all.

The first thing we did was head to Westport to see Pacific Ocean in Washington. We climbed up the Jetty and took some amazing pix and lots of great video. Next we walked along the docks and Rick and I picked up some sinfully delicious fudge and salt water taffy. After that we stopped at a non-functioning light house.

After the light house adventure went to check out a beach. This was our first visit to a beach in Washington and Daisy's first visit to a beach ever, since there are only a few beaches in LA county that allow dogs. The beach was really great...a little different than SoCal beaches. On the SoCal beaches the sand is a little lighter. This beach had quite a nice amount of driftwood, something you don't see on the LA beaches. First Daisy wasn't to sure about the entire thing, but warmed up very quickly and absolutely enjoyed her time at the beach and wasn't too thrilled when we were leaving.

After the beach adventure, we drove back to Aberdeen to check out a Star Wars Store. I have heard about the Star Wars store for years from Rick so it was awesome to actually see the store in person. It was everything I had expected.. lots of things that I have had/seen over the years. Lots of used toys and some very cool promotional things that I had never seen before. I could have spent hours in the store and still not see everything. I did pick up a poster and put a request in for another cool poster. I'm thinking about getting some Star Wars plates.. have to decide by tomorrow.

After the Star Wars Store we went to Dairy Queen for a rather late lunch. Next we picked up some groceries at Walmart and headed back to Ricks house. After a first few tense moments, Daisy and Tess sniffed each other and started to get along with each other. Well they weren't exactly best buddies, but Daisy tolerated Tess for most part. Tess kept following her around and Daisy was kinda fine with it. Sometimes Daisy got a little annoyed with it but other than that she was fine. So there is definitely hope for our dog.

We hung out at Ricks house for about 1 1/2, then dinner was served. Rick's wife Amy prepared her famous Tater Tot Casserole... I had heard about this for years and I was really hoping to experience it while I was here and I was not disappointed... it was absolutely delicious. As desert Amy and Cathrine prepared an Apple Crisps and it was soooooo sweet.

After dinner we hung out with the Moyers and then took a walk at Friends Landing. It's a man made lake, it's a 1 mile hike around it. After we got back we hung out with the Moyers till about 10 pm. It was another AWESOME day with The Moyers

Our second day with the Moyers

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 5

Today was the day I was looking forward too this entire trip. I was going to get to meet Rick Moyer face to face. Rick and I have been chatting online for years and developed a very close friendship so I couldn't wait to meet him and his wonderful family.

So we got up by 9:45 and arrived at 10am at Rick's place. Meeting the Moyers was liking seeing old friends. It was though we hung out all the time. Amy (Rick's Wife) and Catherine (Rick's Daughter) made some very delicious Swedish pancakes with Strawberries for breakfast.

Only down side to our meeting was Daisy and Tess didn't get along with each other at all. Tess is way too excited and Daisy doesn't quite understand what to make of it. So the only solution was to keep the 2 dogs apart from each other. Maybe with time they will warm up to each other.

After breakfast we left for a trip to the Washington Rain Forest. It took us roughly a hour to get there. Again we were driving through lots and lots of forest. We got to hang out at the beautiful Lake Quinault. After that we walked over to the world's largest Spruce Tree and took lots of videos and photos. Next up was lunch at the Mercantile, a 'mom and pop' restaurant near the lake, and lunch was absolutely delicious. After lunch we hung out at the lake a second time. Next was a tour of a architectural very interesting lodge. After that we went to see Marriman Falls. It might not be the tallest waterfall, but it is certainly the most beautiful waterfall Harry and I have seen on this trip so far.

After that we headed back to Ricks house and a delicious pot roast for dinner. Then we hang out with Rick's family for a couple of hours. All in all it was a fun filled day and it was so much fun hanging out with The Moyers.

Our first day with the Moyers

Here is my friend Rick's little video from today's adventures.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 5 - Marriman Falls

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 4

Today Harry and I were going from Hood River (OR) to Aberdeen (WA). We got on the road around 9:30. It was only going to be a 200 mile drive so the night before I told Harry I wanted to see Astoria, OR. This is where they shot Goonies and I'm a huge Goonies fan so I thought it would be fun to see the place.

So we took I-84 west and on the outskirts of Portland we merged onto the 205 North. It's rather odd as the GPS made us go up north into Washington and than back south into Oregon. So we passed the outskirts of Vancouver (WA) and then took highway 197 west and were supposed to go via the Lewis and Clark Bridge over the Columbia River back into Oregon. But somehow our GPS got at little confused and told us to go right and that way we ended up in a lumber yard. So we turned the car around and took the Lewis and Clark Bridge into Oregon.

This is a big and architecturally very impressive bridge. From the Oregon side you have a absolutely stunning view of the bridge. We then followed the historic US Route 30 west. It's a 2-lane highway and you get some interesting views. What you see most of the time is lots and lots of forest. So made it to Astoria and stopped at the entrance to take a picture with the city sign and than drove into town.

While we were driving through town in search of a fast food place we found a much better 'Welcome to Downtown Astoria Sign' so we stopped and took a picture in front of that sign and then we hit the road again. We didn't find any fast food place that would have agreed with our stomach, so we opted to drive over the 4.3 mile long Astoria Bridge into Washington. This bridge is absolutely amazing... not only because of it's length, but also because of it's architecture. I was terrified driving over it.. but manage to get across with no issue. We stopped at the next turn out on the Washington side and took quite a number of pix and videos and we also took picture right in front of the Washington State Sign.

We merged onto the 101 and followed it north. Again we came across some quite interesting views, lots of forest but also lots of dead and fallen trees. We drove for about 1 1/2 hours and didn't come across any city. We finally reached the city of South Bend but didn't find any fast food place that would have agreed with us. So we continued on the 101 north and soon reached the city of Raymond where we had lunch at a Diary Queen.

After lunch we got back onto the 101 north. That's when a really odd thing happened with the GPS: We had about 30 miles to go and the GPS estimated that we would need another 2 hours. That struck us as rather odd. Turns out that the GPS was wrong, as about 40 minutes later we reached Aberdeen and checked into the Hotel. So far this hotel is the nicest on the entire trip but the internet is super slow and I'm not able to upload videos.

All in all another great day...

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 3

Today was the first time during this vacation that we weren't doing any major traveling, instead we planned to visit a couple of waterfalls about 20 miles west from where we were staying and to explore parts of the historic Columbia River Gorge Highway, which is part of the old US Route 30.

We headed out around 10.30 am and took the I-84 west. At Cascade Locks, we stopped at The Bridge of the Gods, which is this very cool steel bridge that spans the Columbia River Gorge. We continued on the old US Route 30 and entered Ainesworth State Park, we stopped at a rest stop for a little hike, then explored the Horsetail Waterfall... it was absolutely gorgeous. After that we went even further west to the Multnomah Waterfall, a 611-foot-tall roaring, awe-inspiring cascade of icy water. . This waterfall is absolutely stunning and definitely worth a visit. We did hike up to a bridge from where you have an awesome view of the waterfall and we managed to take lots of pix and absolutely stunning video of the waterfall. After that we hiked back to the base of the fall and decided that it was time for lunch. We checked a restaurant near the fall, but neither Harry nor I were willing to pay 12 bucks for a burger. So we got back onto the I-84, headed east and picked up lunch at Dairy Queen. Taking lunch back to the hotel was definitely the easier thing to do.

After lunch we relaxed for a couple of hours at the hotel and then we headed back out. This time we wanted to explore parts of the historic US Route 30 east of Hood River. So we got onto the I-84 and headed east. One of the first few exits lets you explore the historic Columbia River Gorge. We took that exit and followed US Route 30. This is a very scenic road, but also very windy. Highway 30 brought us higher and higher up where we found several great spots to stop and view the gorge from high above. One of the places was called Memaloose Overlook. From there you have a absolutely gorgeous view of the Columbia River Gorge. You have an almost 180 degree view from up there and it is definitely well worth the drive. We then continued on highway 30 and reached it's highest point at Rowena Crest. This is another place from where you can enjoy absolutely stunning views of the Gorge. We then took the narrow and windy US Route 30 down back to I-84 and followed it to a city called The Dalles. We drove across the Dalles Dam Bridge and into Washington.

We took US Route 197 north to Highway 14 and followed the 14 west. The scenery of the the Gorge on the Washington side is equally impressive. I just wish there would have been more turn outs, so that you can stop to take pix and videos. We stopped at one turn out and got quite a number of great pix and some good video as well. After that we took the Hood River Toll Bridge back to Oregon. While we were crossing the Gorge we got some awesome pix of
Mt. Hood and Toll Bridge. Turns out that this bridge isn't paved, and you have to drive over steel plates across the Gorge. On top of that this bridge is very narrow and a drawbridge... and it was very strange driving over it but you definitely get some stunning views.

All in all it was a really great 3rd day of our vacation and Harry and I enjoyed it a lot.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 3 - Bridge of the Gods

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 3 - Multnomah Falls

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 3 - Horsetail Fall