Another Trail to Machu Picchu

Ran across this great article today in USA Today about the regulations that the Peruvian government has placed on the number of visitors using the Inca Trail, and how adventure groups have started using a lesser-known route to get to the famous city in the clouds.

The photo gallery accompanying the article makes me want to hop on a plane today to enjoy more ruin-hopping!

Great Katrina Blog . . . First-Hand Photos from Mississippi

I put a link over on the right to one of the best blogs that I've read thus far about the devastation in MS and LA. Two guys, Joshua Norman and Mike Keller, write for the Biloxi Sun-Herald in their "day jobs" and have been posting a bunch of pictures and stories to a created-on-the-fly blog from late August. It's been a great read, with a couple of good chuckles, especially on news from MS which we probably haven't heard or seen enough about given the events in much-larger NOLA. God bless each and every soul down there.

Georgia Tech vs. UConn Football, 9-17-2005

This is Ethan Polk, a very cute six-month old little guy belonging to Chad and Dawn, our good friends from church and Tech. During our pregame tailgate, it appears that someone is having WAY too much fun with a camera and an unsuspecting baby in setting up this shot. Isn't this picture a hoot?


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A very cute Ethan sitting on his Dad's lap . . .


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Shannon and Ethan watching the game . . . Ethan thinks someone just scored! High five!

 

Bad moon rising for UConn . . . Tech wins 28-13.


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Some GT, GT Football, and General Football Love . . . (Shannon, just keep scrolling)

Okay, it's early in the season but I'm starting to get the excitement and fever pitch towards football, particularly the collegiate variety. Shannon rolls the eyes into the back of her head every time I chant out the "Monday Night Football" theme (dun-dun-dun-DUNNN . . . "Are you ready for some FOOTBALL???" Sing it Hank . . . )

But the Georgia Tech team this year seems to have some moxie and desire to take the next step to a > 7-win season. Beating Auburn and North Carolina have created a "buzz", and the pundits and pollsters have taken notice, but the upcoming weeks against Virginia Tech and Miami (both on the road TOO!) will be the real indicators of how good the team may be . . . ESPN and CNN both seem to also think Tech is now back among the "Power" team elite (who knew Colin Cowherd and Stewie Mandel even took notice of our little program???)

Shannon's 15th High School Reunion (Durham, N.C.)

Shannon and Patrick spent this weekend on the campus of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) in Durham, N.C. It was Shannon's 15th high school class reunion and a great chance for Patrick to hear and see more about all the madness that occurred during her last two years of high school!

This was a picture of many of Shannon's group of classmates from the Class of 1990. The building behind them is the Main Entrance for the school where all visitors are received. The school is a former hospital in Durham and many of the features of the "medical/science" history of the location are still visible.

"The Watts Hospital" was first on site before the NCSSM was created by the state of North Carolina as a school for advanced students.

Shannon contributed to a fundraising campaign several years ago and "bought a brick" in support of the campaign. This reminded me of the same thing that was done here in Atlanta for Centennial Olympic Park.

Another entrance to the main building of the school. This was newly constructed/renovated several years ago and has a very modern look and feel. Lots of trees dot the courtyard area around this entrance and would make for an excellent relaxation area.

Shannon in front of her residence hall while she was a student at NCSSM. We got to walk into the dorm and snoop around a little bit. She and a few others went into one of the suites to see what had changed . . . not much apparently!

At the evening dinner banquet for the reunion class of 1990, Shannon got to meet a bunch of folks that she hadn't seen in years. This is a picture of her and a classmate, Laura Jackson.

Shannon with another of her good friends, Brian Mahoney.

At the close of the weekend . . . Shannon with two very good friends, Colin Law, who serves with Shannon on the Alumni Board of Directors for the school, and Therese Taxis, who works in the Development office (fundraising) for the school.

THE CRESCENT CITY CRISIS

My good friend, Scott Carson, hopefully won't mind if I borrow his very eloquent words from his 'Blog.

"While we debate college football statistics and games, thousands of our brothers and sisters are homeless and without food or extra clothing. Folks, people are dragging around the dead bodies of their loved ones with them because they don't want to take a chance of losing the bodies. It's time for Jacket nation to step up and provide our support. I am encouraging everyone to give a small portion of your blessing to the American Red Cross (see link). There is a Blog Relief drive and bloggers everywhere are encouraging their readers to give. We should do our part.......... Every bit helps....... You know, they are saying that all they need is money right now. However, there is one thing you can do - pray. Pray for the people there and their safety. Pray for the children and infants and mothers. Just pray. If you don't pray, start now. Just do it..........."















This whole thing has been unbelieveable, a shock and awe of different, more strange, more drawn out proportions than perhaps the days of 9/11, which lasted seemingly an "instant" compared to this event. That wonderful city of culture, entertainment and the epitome of Southern class, New Orleans, will never be the same, if it exists at all.




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Family Weekend in Chicago (Labor Day Weekend), Sunday

Jim and Becky set up a great tour for Sunday morning . . . Right near the hotel at the Chicago River and Michigan Ave. was the embarkation point for the Chicago Architectural Boat Tour.


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The Chicago Tribune Building.


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Obviously, we're about to pass under Clark Street . . . this was a pretty close call for the boat to squeeze under. Guess they don't let the river get any higher?


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Looking back (north) towards Michigan Ave.


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This is a bridge tower that was manned to raise/lower the bridge at Wacker Drive. Not sure how long it has been out of use.


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Sun reflecting off the Sears Tower


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Loved the "70's" design of this building. Cars park in the deck underneath and everyone lives in a circular pattern above. Wouldn't your apartment be in the shape of pie-piece ???


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Holy cow! There's two of them?


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Family Weekend in Chicago (Labor Day Weekend), Saturday

Walking around the area of our hotel, the Intercontinental on Michigan Avenue at the south end of the "Magnificent Mile", we discovered the Chicago River was right next door. Our friend, Kristi Turnbaugh, lives up in Wrigleyville and took the "el" down to come walk around town with us for the afternoon.


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Shannon and Patrick over the river @ Michigan Ave.


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Patrick, Shannon and Kristi walked further south on Michigan Ave. down to Millenium Park, which was a new park that opened in 2004 after much fanfare (it was about 4 years late in opening!).


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This very cool "sculpture" is called "Cloud Gate" and is a key attraction in Millennium Park. Funny thing though about art . . . people tend to call it what they want, and Chicagoans have dubbed it "The Bean", which has all sorts of artists and city folks gnashing their teeth. Ha!

It was only recently opened after final touches were completed by the artist and the city. Work still is being completed on some of the inner "seams" to buff out the rough edges to make the surface perfect.


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A photo of the Chicago skyline (and us) off of the mirrored surface of "Cloud Gate". Shannon's expression was particularly funny in this picture. Poor Kristi was having camera issues.


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Looking up into the belly of "The Bean" . . . This is the area that still requires touch-up work to buff out these seams. Even still, the reflections and distortions are very cool.


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An absolutely beautiful view of the Chicago skyline underneath the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. This amphitheater-like design is unlike anything we had ever seen. It still felt "open", even with the web of crossbeams and speaker mountings.


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I took this picture because I couldn't help but think how much this building (AON Center, ne' The Amoco Building and The Standard Oil Building) looked like each of the Twin Towers in New York. Same corners, same concrete lines running up all sides. It's kind of an eerie feeling when you think about this.

I had never noticed (more likely bothered to pay attention) to this building on any previous trip to Chicago, but this time it caught my attention in a big way.


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Shannon dipping her toes in for a quick refresher in the Lurie Garden, which included this nice footbridge over shallow water dividing the garden into two "light" and "dark" plates.


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Probably the coolest part of Millennium Park was The Crown Fountain. This incredible art design is a nod to the old "gargoyles" that used water emanating from mouths to exemplify life. In this modern design, the 50-foot towers had images of Chicago's citizens changing every few minutes, with water streaming out of the "mouth" every 10 minutes or so. Kids really seemed to be having a good time playing around in the water and under the waterfall that ran constantly down the face of the two towers at each end.


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At Navy Pier with the John Hancock Building in the background.


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This "hole" in the center of the tower at Crown Fountain was where the water streamed from . . . the image would purse its lips when the fountain was getting ready to spew. Cool!


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We met the family that evening for drinks at the top of the John Hancock Center. A great picture from inside the restaurant looking north along Lakeshore Drive.


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Is It Right That We Go To Chicago?

I wanted to post a note that I had written to my family before we left for Chicago . . . Katrina really hit home for Shannon and me, and we were very torn about making the trip this weekend to have so much fun, while others were struggling for their livelihood.

"Hello all,I'm not sure how many of you will see this before you actually leave on Friday a.m. for Chicago . . . Shannon and I are very excited about seeing everyone and eager to catch up after a long absence from many of you.However, we come to Chicago tomorrow with something of a dilemma and a heavyheart. Everyone has seen the devastation of this week in Louisiana and Mississippi. It is heartbreaking to see the results of this tragedy, along with some of the rawest of human emotions, actions and reactions on the TV, Internet and newspapers for the past 3 days.

Is it fair that we are the lucky ones to be able to go off on a great weekend in Chicago while there are hundreds of thousands of individuals that have no home to go to, perhaps lucky to have even a hotel to go to for an indefinite amount of time until something resembling a normal life comes back together? We are both struggling very hard with this concept and are wanting to do everything we can to help in any small way.

PLEASE understand that we don't want to cause any major disruptions, but wewanted to offer a suggestion: Instead of spending a night out on the town with a large dinner at a fancy restaurant on either Saturday or Sunday, can we choose one of those nights to do something low-key and, instead, donate that money to the American Red Cross or some other equitable charity of ourindividual choosing? This is completely voluntary . . . but we think that it is the very least that we can do to help out many people in the Gulf that do not have the choice to stay home for this holiday weekend, go to another city for a short vacation or much of anything else.

I plan to call Jim and Becky tonight in Chicago as well to get their thoughts and ideas on what we might be able to do with our plans. I'm not sure we could come to Chicago this weekend without at least putting the idea out there . . . We look forward to seeing everyone on Friday night.

With Much Love,
Pat & Shannon"