The Badlands 2

The Badlands 1

Back again for a quick post on the next part of our road trip through the U.S.

The next leg of our journey was through Iowa, South Dakota and Wyoming. There wasn't much to check out until Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota and then Yellowstone in Wyoming but the pictures will give you some idea how flat the terrain was for awhile. Wyoming has some really cool geography and we took a great drive through the Black Hills National Forest on our way to Yellowstone.

I noticed after spending the first part of the trip in very urban settings that I feel much more at home outdoors, especially in the mountains.

I never get tired of waking up in Banff and seeing the snow-capped peaks that surround the town.

Windy City 2

Windy City 1

Next stop on our cross country trip... Chicago!

Chicago had a very different feel from NYC, it was much less hectic and seemed more laid back.

After picking up Franny along the way, we arrived at our hotel in Chicago's downtown core. That night we went in search of some Chicago deep dish pizza and found an awesome place called Pizano's. The pizza was great, although very cheese heavy!

The next day we went to the zoo in Lincoln Park in the morning, then dad and I went to the White Sox-Orioles game while Franny explored downtown Chicago. My favorite animals at the zoo were the kanagaroos and the big silver back gorilla. The kangaroos just seemed enjoy life and the gorilla, who I nicknamed "Big Boi". He reminded me of the gorilla in Ishmael if anyone has read it.

Pittsburgh - City of Bridges

Next stop on our roadtrip was Pittsburgh. I really didn't know anything about Pittsburgh other than that it's known as the steel city and the Steelers play there. I was surprised to find that it's a pretty interesting city with a very unique layout.

The city is built around the meeting of two rivers and also has two large hills on either side. The pictures above were taken from the top of one of the hills, after taking an elevator type thing to the top.

New York 2

Our second day in NYC was jam packed. We began by getting breakfast at a small bakery in Tribeca, then we headed uptown to the American Museum of Natural History, on the edge of Central Park. The museum is huge and I got lost a few times. To properly explore the whole thing would take several days.

After spending the afternoon in the museum, we headed to the upper west side to get some food before heading to Yankee Stadium to see the famous/infamous Bronx Bombers.

We ended up eating at a great little sandwich shop called the Hampton Chutney Company. I had a turkey sandwich, washed down with some excellent orange-ginger iced tea. It really hit the spot and after hanging out there for a bit we headed to the ballpark to see if we could get some tickets to the Yankees-White Sox game.

The weather during the game wasn't the best and it ended up being a blowout(12-3 Yanks) but it was still a fun experience.

New York 1

As I mentioned in my last post my dad and I are on a road trip through the U.S. We started in New Brunswick and our stops have included New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Rapid City and Yellowstone National Park. My brother Adam met up with us in New York and we also picked up one of my friends from Banff between Pittsburgh and Chicago. Here is our itinerary in Google maps if anyone is interested.

Before I get to the first post on New York I'd like to congratulate my brother Luke and his fiancée Mary on their baby boy, Abram Robert who is shown in one of the posted pictures. He doesn't seem to like me much, but I like think I just end up holding him when he's getting hungry.

So... Finally I will begin discussing our road trip. Our first stop was in Freeport, Maine, to do some American-style outlet shopping and we then moved on and stayed the night in Worcester. The next day we traveled into New York city to meet up with Adam and spend a couple of days exploring the city.

After checking into the hotel in Brooklyn, my dad and I took the subway into Manhattan where we explored the southern part of the island. That night we met up with Adam near Madison Square Garden, then headed to a brew pub for some drinks and food.

Life Update

Wow... It's been awhile since I've blogged. Currently I'm finishing a road trip through the U.S., on my way to Banff, but I'll get to that in other posts, first I'll give a quick update on my final year at Carleton.

After travelling back to Ottawa last September I began my fifth and final year at Carleton and after moving around a lot in the fall I ended up in a nice house with great roommates.

In electrical engineering, each student is assigned to a fourth year design project that involves researching and developing an engineering product. I was assigned to a group supervised by Dr. Garry Tarr that focused on developing a thin film solar cell using a deposition technique called sputtering. The project and year went well, although I am still very happy to be taking a break from school.

One photo above is of me in Carleton's fabrication lab with my clean suit on. The other pictures show our testing apparatus and a sample we tested for photo-conductivity. If anyone wants more info I'd be happy to elaborate on our project.

Soon to come are blog posts on my road trip across the U.S. with my dad!