Przygoda = Adventure

The Efficacy of Replication

2011-12-31T09:44:00.001-06:00

I've grown tired of tools and processes that promise innovation and deep thinking banded together as an end-all-be-all strategic planning device. Beware of sleek process matrices, web-based collaboration tools, and scripted brainstorming models taped and bolted together promising a turn-key solution to creative thinking. Organizations (also known as a collection of human beings) are too complex for approaches always too simplified or abstract for the real world of group problem solving.

That's not to say there are not tools and approaches that work ... however, you need to be able to employ any number of them at any time during the process of problem solving for effective creative thought and problem solving. As a facilitator, you have to be comfortable with an unscripted iterative approach to thinking otherwise known as "the way the real world works".

This might seem obvious: organizations are complex, remain flexible, try new ideas, learn from mistakes, stay agile in your approach, build on success for long-term progress. However, we seek order out of chaos and that holds true with our never-ending desire for a ready-made solution to problem-solving at the organizational level. We have to be comfortable with the fact that there isn't one answer.

The last decade has brought a veritable waterfall of new technologies and discoveries about the human mind allowing us to mimic human thought and behavior with more and more fidelity. We have online manifestations of humans, virtual worlds of group dynamics, cheap automated online tools facilitating more communication every year ... our ability to create copies of thought and human behavior grows. However, it seems as if the quest to replicate human interaction has only muddied our own results.

We seem to understand more and more about the complexities of human interaction however we seem dead set on continuing to try and automate the process. We've moved away from the notion that the inherent complexity of the way groups think their way through a problem is idiosyncratic of being human and too messy for an automated tool or process alone.

These great tools best used to "grease the skids" of thought are now being marketed as replacements for the personal enterprise of interacting with others and solving a shared problem.

The interesting implication here is while we are busy falling in and out of love with the next great solution using the next great technology, we need to be relying more and more on the messy and complex collection of experiences we have as professionals. We need to depend less on tools and more on our own intelligence to read situations, understand people, and read group dynamics in order to facilitate productive thinking and problem solving.

Being human is as important as ever.

Design Thinking

2011-12-20T00:04:00.001-06:00

Design Thinking: Embracing the Complex ...

I just completed a week-long course in Kansas about design thinking and the facilitation of groups using design thinking to solve complex challenges. The class was fascinating ... hard, complex, exhausting ... the best class I've attended in many many years of workplace learning. Design thinking has some heavy-hitting academics researching the way of thought and has some successful manifestations in business. This course has been a cornerstone of the School for Advanced Military Studies in Leavenworth, Kansas for over a quarter-century. I was lucky enough to take the course from the original professors.

Simply put, design thinking is a way of approaching complex issues or challenges that are made of multiple systems. It is not a set of tools nor a defined process as much as it is a collection of methods to get groups thinking big and delving very deep into a situation. The goal is to move out of the traditional paradigm of thinking (whatever that is for the group at the time) which is causing the vexation as they address the problem. Moving to the edge of thought about the issue, a group can begin to explore alternative solutions, trying out potentials ways ahead, experimenting, learning more as they fail as a group, and ultimately arriving at a novel appropriate solution to the situation.

I'm still an obvious novice but the subject matter will be my focus over the next several months as I explore the possibility of using design thinking in the workplace. I have some key questions:

1. What type of person is a good fit for a design workshop/session/challenge?
2. What types of problems are best addressed with this approach?
3. How do you facilitate a group addressing something that is going to be confusing and vexing?
4. Ultimately, where does design thinking fit into the workplace as a tool/approach?

MD

Employee Engagement in the Era of Individually Contracted Personnel

2011-03-08T23:18:00.001-06:00

Does the basic set of tenets regarding employee engagement change as the workplace evolves from organizationally employed workers to a collection of individually contracted workers? We always want to look at employee engagement from the perspective of their relationships to their manager, executive leadership, and to the organization as a whole. What about when they are not full-scale employees with benefits, a salary, etc.? How do you measure the engagement of a workforce hired to completed specific tasks for companies. Does it matter anymore? I'm thinking it does but how do you measure this engagement? Is it the same measurement technique or different questions? What does an engaged employee look like when they are contracted personnel? Does their fundamental measurement focus on their relationship with their work manager and the task at hand? What do you do with all those questions about their connection to the organization's mission? Chunk them? Who is looking at this? We are a nation evolving out of the dust of the Great Recession as a growing workforce of contracted specialists. What does this mean for organizations concerned about their engagement? Let's hope somehow measuring that engagement still matters!

PLE = Outlet for Leadership Development

2010-09-14T23:26:00.001-05:00

How do leaders learn when they have so few peers in the workplace?

Courtesy of elvis_payne

My friend Jill and I were talking yesterday about this new course PLENK2010 I've just joined. We are both involved in leadership development and our discussion quickly turned to the PLE and how it could be used for leadership development. It's intriguing to think of a structured PLE being "given" to a leader to help guide their own self-discovery learning process as a leader in the workplace. While PLEs are no doubt useful for many types of learners, it's interesting to think of them as especially useful for someone who doesn't have workplace peer network to lean on during the learning process. #PLENK2010

Talk + Work = True Workplace Learning

2010-08-01T21:31:00.000-05:00

You can always learn a lot about how people learn when you study people who actually do something for a living! It's the tangible skill-set of a copier repair person which jump started the little learning niche I find myself in over the past several years. Xerox created expensive toner cartridges, empty paper trays, and communities of practice ...

A researcher at Xerox named Julian Orr wrote one of the most important pieces in workplace learning when he wrote "Talking about Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job". Here's a good review.

So, why the post? While reading Brown and Duguid's Social Life of Information. I cam across their mention of Orr. It's not the first time I've touched on his research. However, I think Brown and Duguid do a great job discussing the interplay between talking and working. The authors simply note: Talk makes work intelligible and work makes talk intelligible. They are both crucial ingredients to any learning experience in the workplace. A learner has to engage in practice while being led through the process ... it's the age-old need for learning in context ... nothing new here. However, I love the simple equation of talk + work = learning.

Photo by Yo Spiff

Workplace technology = streamlining + quality of life at work?

2010-08-01T21:04:00.001-05:00

Does workplace technology innovate/streamline the human capital design of the organization? According to Paul Attewell as cited by Brown and Duguid in their book The Social Life of Information, the answer is a resounding "no". Attewell's 1994 study is dated but interesting. The article "Information Technology and the Productivity Paradox" shows, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, that the non-production workforce and management ranks swelled through the first half of the 1990s.

I'd like to see a comparison study now that we are a decade and a half after Attewell's article. Can "innovative" technology in the workplace really streamline the workforce? My gut says yes since technology since 1994 has gone social and increased in engagement and efficiency. However, that's a wild-assed guess at best and doesn't get to the value-laden question if this is a good thing. Streamlining is good for efficiency but what about the quality of life for those lucky enough to keep their jobs? We know we have shed entire labor categories through the first decade of the 21st century, but what categories were they and what do people do now who remain in organizations? Is technology making their work easier or does it just obfuscate the reality of more hours, less time to think, higher expectations of turnaround, and more complicated tasks?

At what point does the resulting workplace actually provide less happiness? We are conditioned to think of social media driving change in the workplace as a good thing. We are pressured into believing a streamlined workplace is more engaging for the workers who remain and therefore more fulfilling. Is this really true? How much more productive are you with the technology around you now on the job? Do these technologies "aid and abet" your professional career or litter it with cognitive overload?

Old Handiwork

2009-01-25T23:56:00.000-06:00

This is a close-up on an exterior wall from a very old home in the French Quarter in New Orleans. It survived the 1788 Great Fire. You can see the handhewn toolmarks on the wood. I guess these walls might have been stuccoed at some point ... not sure.

Woodwork!

2009-01-25T23:53:00.000-06:00

Which HOme Depot aisle has this stuff?

Central Grocery Muffalatta!

2009-01-25T23:51:00.000-06:00

Oh so tasty!

Web 2.0 in a nutshell

2008-12-08T00:16:00.001-06:00

Museum was Beautiful Too!

2008-08-13T20:07:00.000-05:00

Jola with the Field Museum on a gorgeous Saturday facing the Chicago lakefront.

Art for Art's Sake

2008-08-13T20:02:00.000-05:00

You know you've got a great city when it starts to concentrate on the little nooks and crannies of city life. Chicago has a great collection of public art ... mostly centered around Millenium and Grant Parks. This one is made out of 1000s of seamlessly connected (possible?) metal pieces. It reminds me of a giant dollop of Mercury rebounding from hitting the concrete. It's cool.

Civilization Spilling onto the Street

2008-08-13T19:57:00.000-05:00

Chicago is known for sports, hot dogs, wind and broad shoulders. It should also be known for world renown museums, fantastic public transit, a great lakefront and a fair bit of street life. This impromptu chess "vendor" opened up on the sidewalk in front of the Art Institute and hosted rapid fire games for anyone walking by ... I love this.

Chicago Architecture

2008-08-13T19:54:00.000-05:00

Okay, so Chicago has tons of great buildings ... no doubt. The amazing thing is that even the more plain examples are great. I caught this tower when the late Summer sun was just beginning to set behind the Sears tower. The red the building "caught fire".

Hydroponic Miracles!

2008-07-06T00:34:00.002-05:00

After significant experimentation with the art and technology of hydroponic gardening, I have come to one solid conclusion ...

In order to feed one adult human being, one would need about 146 of these hydroponic machines here. It's rather doable if space and the cost of these machines are non-threatening.

Why I Usually Don't Use the Couch

2008-07-06T00:29:00.000-05:00

Rather self-explanatory ...

Pampered?

2008-07-06T00:27:00.002-05:00

We supposedly have been generating more disposable income for ourselves over the past 40 years here in the United States.

This pictures represents where about 90% of that new-found income goes in the United States.

Yes, sometimes it snows in Memphis

2008-07-06T00:21:00.001-05:00

Okay, we're no Minnesota ... or any state north of Kentucky for that matter. However, we do get snow every once in a while.

Talk about a very non-timely blog post! I still wanted to post some photos from the snow back in March (I think).

MINI Dominates (Yet Again!)

2008-07-06T00:15:00.003-05:00

Why do MINIs dominate the world? One word: invincible! This is a shot of my MINI after doing battle with about 8 inches of snow and ice 30 miles from downtown to Eads with downed trees, getting stuck briefly, etc..

Yes ... domination even in snow!

Why Minneapolis Gets It

2008-07-01T20:28:00.000-05:00

Minneapolis is a fantastic city. Given we were visiting during the first real week of summer, but the place is great. The temps were hovering near 70 and the entire city was out in force soaking up the sun and lakes. The week before they had a late Spring snowstorm that dumped 12 inches on the entire city! Amazing ...

Anyway, the Grand Rounds are a series of interconnected parkways, trails and paths that follow around the main lakes south of downtown and connect across the river even to St. Paul. There are around 50 miles on the main car route ... it's a huge system of parks and byways. The amazing thing is that the basic system was outlined and created in the early 20th century by developers seeking to attract wealthy homebuyers looking for summer retreats out of the city.

Well, what goes around comes around. What Thoreau wrote about and Frederick Law Olmsted designed ... Minneapolis put into good design. Bravo!

American Fromage ...

2008-07-01T20:10:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately, all them cheeses were the American varieties. I'm all for local but American cheeses really cannot compare just yet ... at least not Midwestern varieties. I know that there are plenty of boutique goat cheese providers ... we have one in Memphis! However, cheddar doesn't cut it for me.

Quick fact I learned in California: When you buy pepper cheeses that have nice big orange pieces of habeneros in them ... those pieces are usually pieces of carrots! Ugh!

Another Great Farmer's Market!

2008-07-01T20:06:00.000-05:00

This is a great farmer's market in Minneapolis, MN. It stretched an entire city block downtown abutted against an interstate overpass. Okay, not quite romantic. However, the overpass provided great naturally covered parking!

The best parts were the cheeses (not suprising given we were that close to WI) and all the sausages being grilled out front. Well, the flower market was astounding as well given that we were there just 12 days after a 1 foot snowfall.

Arlington Gets It

2007-07-18T23:04:00.001-05:00

If you didn't know already, the town of Arlington in Northeast Shelby County has launched a farmer's market. The market, while small, is running several days a week with Saturday being the big day. Many of the tables are representing a Laotian farm family in Middleton, TN. They have all your traditional Mid-South vegetables and fruits but have the added dimension of a few Asian items on Saturdays.

Check it out when you can. I think it's important to support these types of ventures when possible. It's easy for Jola and I since we live nearby in Eads and go to the grocery store in Arlington anyway.

The concept of a farmer's market isn't new to Memphis of course. We've had the daily farmer's market at the Agricenter for over a decade and we've got the new downtown market going strong on weekends at least. I think we take them for granted and I've watched several come and go over the years including the one at Central and Cooper at a long vanished health food store and even one downtown several years ago that was probably a few years ahead of it's time.

I'm a big believer that Memphis sits about 5 or so years behind the curve on trends nationwide that usually emanate from the coasts. Sometimes that a good thing ... witness the come and gone trend of dress up your dog parties ... let's hope that stays away from the Bluff City. However, some trends are worth looking at and learn from as a Memphian.

I think the trend toward locale food sources and farmer's markets is a great one that needs to get moving in Memphis more than it is today. Supporting local farmers, enhancing community ties, and eating healthier are all huge plusses that are driven by something like a farmer's market.

I'll post photos soon from Arlington and probably try and get to all the markets around town over the next month or so.

Portland, Oregon and the end of the photos ....

2007-07-04T00:32:00.000-05:00

Well, we've finally made it out of California and landed in Portland this past Sunday. We're actually checking out of the hotel here tomorrow morning and making our way back to Memphis via Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and Arkansas roughly.

My camera died on us three days ago. I'm going to return it when I get back home ... however, I've got no way to taking photos and don't feel like buying a camera for just a week or so of travel. Therefore, the pics are done.

Maybe we'll spend more time on the photos we have, adding captions, and adding some pics to the blog with some discussions. Who knows ...

Locovores!

2007-06-30T03:09:00.000-05:00

San Francisco gets food. The city and it's citizens understand what it means to have fresh, high quality, and local food available on a daily basis. The Ferry Building at the end of Market Street on the Embarcadero is a perfect example.

Tuesday is market day and that's why we were there. However, inside the Ferry Building are several shops and a mini food court of sorts selling everything from organic meats, seafood, sandwiches, handmade cheeses, baked good, and as the photo suggests ... mushrooms!

San Francisco and the entire West Coast is heading in the direction of the Slow Food movement. If you don't know what it is ... look it up ... it will be worth your time. However, they are even going a step further in Northern California with the Locovore movement.

The New York Times did a great four article story of the value in finding local food as a consumer in the United Stated. The writer even made the case that local non-organics were better for the environment and thusly you than organics shipped in from overseas or even across the country. This is a big deal for Easterners and even Central Time Zone shoppers who end up buying loads of Honduran and Californian organics at the supermarket trucked in via diesal belching tractor trailers and shipping terminals.

The San Francisco Ferry Building market was full of local produce created withing 100 miles of San Francisco. The 100 mile rule of thumb seems to be popular with locovores so I'll go with it.

So, would you purchase a Ripley non-organic tomato in Memphis this July versus an organic variety from California? I see tons of benefits over and above evironmental pollution factors in "going local". It's interesting to think about how much you would be willing to spend on food for local produce.

Only in San Francisco!

2007-06-30T03:00:00.000-05:00

San Francisco is a city of hills ... many of them. There is a reason there are cable cars in SFO! Jola and I crested Russian Hill looking for a teahouse when we saw this ship passing in the Bay. It was a crazy site that my non-wide angle digital camera just cannot adequately capture ... however, we tried.

A real Chinatown!

2007-06-30T02:56:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows about San Francisco's Chinatown ... it's the most famous I guess ... along with New York's. It has to be older just because of geography and it has to be one of the most authentic. I've been to a few Chinatown's in my travels in North America and I can safely say that SFO's is a fantastic one to visit.

Chinese streets signs and big red and green ornamental gates do not impress me (like the photo above) ... real working ethnic minority areas in big cities do however.

NPR did a story on micro-travel a few years ago that really hit home with me. It's the sort of travel where someone goes to big cities looking for ethnic enclaves in order to experience a bit of the culture without going all the way to the home country or area. Little Italy or Chinatown is a perfect example. San Francisco did not disappoint for micro-travel.

Chinese schools, chinese language newspapers for sale in stores, afternoon vegetable shopping for the day's dinner ... it was all there and I loved it.

Mass Transit

2007-06-30T02:46:00.000-05:00

I've always been enamoured with mass transit. A lot of that has to do with my growing up in Memphis where mass transit is barely existent I guess. San Francisco does it well ... mostly because of necessity.

I'm not the only person I know who has dreamed aloud about moving to San Francisco for one reason or another. After visiting, I can tell I will not be the first to act on the dream if I ever do move there. Let's just say that SFO is crowded ... real crowded.

It's almost crippling downtown where most of the tourist things are located and also where most everyone works. Jola and I got pretty good at navigating the city after five days and found the city pretty easy to move around in. Even though Paris' Metro makes most cities subway systems look toyish ... SFO makes up for it with a great bus system. They are the backbone of the city transit system.

The cable cars are tourist traps on cables ... but worth it if you have a MUNI pass that allows free rides. I cannot fathom how many tourists pay 5 bucks a pop for a short ride on one of the cable car lines ... sufficed to say, I think SFO covers the costs of maintaining them ... let's hope so anyway.

I've got a great video of the Powell Street turnaround I'm going to try and make available so some of you can see how these contraptions turn around for the climb back up the hills.

Gay Pride = Loads of Traffic

2007-06-30T02:36:00.000-05:00

We picked Gay Pride in San Francisco as our event to deal with on our first day to the Bay! We always seem to find the wrong time to try and fight our way into a city and Gay Pride was our thing last Sunday. After getting through the traffic and closed streets, we found and our hotel, checked in, and set out to experience the parade since it was a first for both of us.

I've seen photos and sort of knew what to expect ... the photo gives a glimpse that is publishable! It was a first for Jola of course and we had fun wandering through the throngs and thongs and making our way to a good Vietnamese place in the Tenderloin District.

It's been a while since I last posted for a number of reasons. First, we've been busy ... simple as that. Second, we've had terrible WiFi access in San Franciso ... who would have known!? We're north of San Francisco now in Mendocino Wine country, so I'm taking the time to catch up at this point with a very nice 100 MegaBit connection courtesy of Hilton's Hampton Inn in Ukiah, California.

I've also posted 123 new photos on our web album ... so enjoy!

Google Maps

2007-06-20T23:54:00.000-05:00

You'll notice that we have a link over to the right entitled Google Maps. This is our annotated map of our travels with push-pin notes on a google map of the US. Each tells a small story about some experience we have had ... good and bad. Take a look at get an even more updated view of our travels compared to my picture posts or the web album.

New word ... arboretum

2007-06-20T23:38:00.000-05:00

According to Wikipedia:

An arboretum is a botanical garden primarily devoted to trees and other woody plants, forming a living collection of trees intended at least partly for scientific study. An arboretum specialising in growing conifers is known as a pinetum.

This is Balboa Park's arboretum in a giant latch house built for the Pan-Pacific Expo in the early 1900s for the city of San Diego. The arboretum was full of sub-tropical species you usually don't find in Memphis. Ask Mary for more info on that since I was just a casual observer.

I did take some fine macro pics that you'll find on our web album under the Balboa Park title. Don't ask what most of the flowers and plants are ... I won't know ... I just appreciate.

Daytime B-Star Awards!

2007-06-20T03:30:00.000-05:00

Hey hey hey! Look who we saw at the Daytime Emmy's in Hollywood! Let's just say that Jerry was the ONLY person I recognized tromping down the red carpet on that 100 degree afteroon in front of the Kodak Theater.

Daytime Emmys? Do they need to separate this out from the regular Emmy's? Are the daytime Emmys that big a deal as to have their very own celebration?

Is there an award for best injury attorney commercial? What about daytime talk show guest awards? Those guys would be interesting!

No, we did not see Oprah, Rosie, or Bob Barker.

We weep every night quietly thinking of the missed opportunities ... we were hot and wanted ice cream ... so we left.

Camping done right!

2007-06-20T03:24:00.001-05:00

Let's just say that camping with Mary brings the quality and style of food up a few notches ... more than a few notches.

You'll notice in the pic above that Jola seems to enjoy the fresh crustini Mary has prepared. On our trip to Sequoia, we had pecan and manchego cheese crustini drizzled with honey, fresh tomato and herb crustini, marinated salmon filets with an avocado salad, mashed potatos gently cooked in the fire coals with goat cheese, seared scallops, and great gin and tonics courtesy of Wade.

Top all that off with the classic s'mores you remember well (Jola's first!) and you have the makings for the best campfood I have ever had!

Photo Ethics or "The PhotoShop Conundrum"

2007-06-20T03:01:00.000-05:00

I've posted this photo to show what you can do with just about any image editing software out there on the market. What I used on this photo (compare it with the original post below) was Picasa by Google. The application (free!)is a giant one from the folks at Google that acts as a photo organizer, conduit to your blog, launch pad for your web albums (1GB free), and even image editing software. There really isn't anything Picasa cannot do.

However ... that doesn't mean you SHOULD do everything that Picasa will do. In my humble opinion (same as most pro-photographers) ... image editing is cheating. Believe me, I've been through all the bells and whistles through the years and found myself more than once all about a photo I doctored. I've even played around with Picasa as evident by the pic above.

Yes, you can make your photos look better. Yes, you can improve mistakes and sometimes even eliminate them. However, it's a sad crutch compared to just getting better at shooting your photos.

Part of the fun with photography is playing around with the camera, the angles, the light, etc. and creating something. You will not always get what you want and it can be frustrating. However, it's ALL a learning experience that I'm afraid is shrinking with the advent of cheaper and more effective image editing software.

Where's the skill in editing your photos? I'm no William Eggelston (sic?) but I have progressed over the years from when I started taking travel snaps in China in 1998. I enjoy seeing what I can create and I take pride in showing photos that have been untouched by any app besided the internal processor on the digital camera as it creates the image.

At the risk of sounding over the top on this issue ... I simply say this ...

Pick up a camera (any camera) and learn to shoot with it. Ansel Adams used a camera so crude by today's standards that my crappy mobile phone camera has more options and ability in some regards. The beauty of Adams' camera was that it had no technology and was pretty much pure glass exposing film. Adams didn't have Photoshop to edit his red-eye or adjust his contrast ... pure art I guess.

So ... forget the image editing and show your photos the way they were meant to be shown ... they way you saw the image and captured it.

I now turn over the lecturn to the next blowhard ...

Pollution on a Grand Scale

2007-06-20T02:44:00.000-05:00

Sad fact of life is that the Grand Canyon is getting harder and harder to see as the years go by because of pollution. Located so close to Southern California and basically in the direct path of Westerly winds carrying millions of cubic feet of particulate across the desert from the LA area, the Grand Canyon get's choked in smog on a daily basis now.

The USFS has a cool laser measurement system at the GCNP that can shoot a laser beam across the canyon to a sensor on the other side and measure the brilliance of the light thereby giving them some sort of gauge on how clear the day is at the Grand Canyon. This is a lot more useful than just a smog index of the park that might not tell the whole story.

Some days are bad, some days are good. We lucked out and got to the GCNP a week after a really bad period because of really dry weather and some fires through SoCal. This photo shows a typical view we got to see while there ... which isn't half bad. I say half because there is an entire mountain range (the Sierra Nevada) beyond the GC that should be visible on a perfect day ... they aren't there on this photo because of the limitations of my camera, the brilliance of the sun in the background, and because of the aforementioned particulate matter.

I don't know if we are getting cleaner as a nation or dirtier. I know our energy use is way up but I also know that our roads are cleaner compared to the leaden gas days of the pre-70s when we got 8mpg and filled up on less refined fuel. I'm not sure if it all matters when we crank up huge PCs, turn up the ACs, click on the giant plasma TVs, and careen around town in our Hummers.

I do know that sites like the one above of the greatest show on earth will fade away slowly if we aren't more careful. As the Western states settle back into their more normal rain patterns (desert!), the pressure on the Colorado river and the air through the airid Southwest are going to take a beating.

Are we going to take our kids to the Grand Canyon or show them photos of the canyon in a few decades?

A real urban park

2007-06-20T02:26:00.000-05:00

Growing up in Memphis, I've always had a bit of pride in our Shelby Farms complex and everything it stands for. It's a huge urban park (actually the largest by acreage) with multi-use facilities and a lot of the natural beauty of West Tennessee maintained. I really cannot complain. Add Shelby Farms to our Overton Park and you have a great duo of parks for Shelby County that a lot of cities would be jealous of if asked.

However, after visiting Balboa Park ... I've got to say that San Diego has it nailed. The park is huge ... really big ... like 1600 acres big. Given the price of San Diego property ... that's one expensive expanse of land. Anyway ... the park has tons to offer besided just size. The San Diego Zoo, nearly 20 museums, nearly 100 miles of trails through multiple micro-climates, arenas, and just good ol' public space. It's truly a gem.

What I love most about the park is that the city isn't afraid to use the land for so many facilities. You never get a feeling that's it's overdeveloped or crowded even though 1000s are sharing the sidewalks with you. It's the cultural and historial center of the city ... something every city needs.

After experiencing Balboa Park firsthand, I cannot help feeling like Shelby Farms is vastly under-utilized. I know I know ... I'm going to make ecological conservationists shake their heads with that one. Maybe Overton is much more like Balboa Park than Shelby anyway. However, when I see all those facilities at Shelby Farms rusting out and closing down ... I cannot help think that we need to give SF a shot in the arm.

Maybe it's more about the people than the parks or the cities. Maybe San Diego is just much more park-oriented, more outdoor loving, more civic in nature? I know the weather is nicer for sure.

Anyway ... rambling aside ... San Diego is blessed with a centrally located park big enough to house just about every major cultural institution the city has, the zoo, and more traditional park facilities ... and is better because of it.

Santa Barbara

2007-06-20T01:36:00.000-05:00

Hello from Santa Barbara ...

Nice town! We spent two days kicking back in the gateway to the California Central Coast exploring the city and soaking up pretty much nothing but sea air and good food.

SB is only about an hour and a half from Wade's house in northern Los Angeles, so the getting here was sort of easy. Too bad there really isn't much commerce or industry here to speak of besides hotels, restaurants, and crab fisherman. I guess that's why they call it a resort town! End result is that it would be difficult to live here unless you were teaching at UCSB or running a commercial fishing boat.

Highlights: State Street on Sunday, art on the beach, calamari sandwich on the pier, fresh veggie tamales at Le Super Rican Tacqueria, real French camembert at c'est Cheese, and neighborhoods up on the hills overlooking the town. Just beautiful!

Checking back in .... and catching up ...

2007-06-20T01:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, this blog thing has been tough while on the road, I admit as much. It's been tough to keep it updated with pics AND post witty or interesting pieces about our travel adventures. We've simply been too busy or too tired. However, I'm making a concerted effort to get back on the wagon and keep this thing rolling along.

Before I forget, let me remind everyone that we have web albums through Google's wonderful Picassa application and site at http://picasaweb.google.com/mdowdy74. The web albums have now been split up into areas of our trip to make it easier to navigate and to allow me to post more pics.

Turns out there is a 500 photo limit to the albums that I crossed sometime today while uploading. Now I've got several albums, many more photos, and room to grow over the next week or so. Take a look and leave comments. I DO read them when I have a chance and I've had two comments directly linked to photos thus far by my good friend Larry.

San Diego Zoo

2007-06-14T16:13:00.000-05:00

If you are a zoo fan or someone who hasn't been to one in a while ... don't miss the San Diego Zoo. It's a truly amazing place with over 4000 animals including this wayward peacock Wade and Mary encountered.

Jola with more big trees

2007-06-14T16:10:00.000-05:00

Here's Jola with two giants that have grown together ... also known as twins. These tress were about 300 feet tall.

Big Trees

2007-06-14T16:06:00.000-05:00

We visited Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks last week with Wade and Mary. You might not be able to tell from the photo; however, this tree is huge. Notice the fence? It's the garden variety 4 foot tall fence you'd see in anyone's yard. Now sit back and think about that tree again ...

New York, New York, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

2007-06-07T03:04:00.000-05:00

Were we in New York? What?! ...

This was our home away from home in Las Vegas. We had fun staying at NY, NY Casino. Just about the only room on the strip south of $300.00 made this choice pretty easy.

The Grand Canyon

2007-06-07T02:40:00.000-05:00

The Grand Canyon is everything you think it should be ... much like other great places like Paris, France, New York City, and Fayette County. Jola and I spent two days all along the South Rim of the Canyon braving the heights, the dry desert, and the dust. It was our first of many camping trips as part of this much larger trip through the West. Things went well and we will camp more in the future. We've been in Las Vegas and Los Angeles for some time now but will be going to Sequoia with Mary and Wade tomorrow for the new outdoor adventure.

Hoover Dam ... Yeah!

2007-06-06T14:02:00.000-05:00

The Hoover Dam is on Hwy 93 between Kingman, AZ and Las Vegas, NV. The dam is sort of impressive. However, more impressive are three things: the power of the Colorado River (should fill up Lake Mead with boulders in 150 years), the size of Lake Mead (big), and the future Hwy 93 currently being built around the Hoover Dam (absolutely the highest and scariest ascent and descent through a mountain chain I have EVER seen ... bar none ... I WOULD NOT drive on the new road without some serious introspection). If you would like a clue, check out the pic above more closely and you will see the pile-ons for the descent up in the mountain behind the dam to the left and the crane up in the air on the right still building out the ascent .... NO WAY!

Chopin on the Floor

2007-06-06T13:57:00.000-05:00

This is Jola doing the Tom Hanks thing at FAO Schwartz's at the Forum Shops in Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is way more than gambling these days with more non-casino diversions that table games really if you think about it. We had a great time in Vegas walking through all the casinos (lost $4.00) and taking in a Cirque de Soleil show at the MGM Grand. We saw KA which was worth every pretty penny we dropped on the show ... a definite highlight to our stay. Well, besides the scene in Walgreens on the Strip at midnight with the scrum for cheap bottled water and cheaper Vegas souveniers.

More Photos ...

2007-05-29T12:06:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone, we've got a Picasa web album for the trip as well. You'll notice that's how we post our photos to the blog here. However, the albums have a slideshow and comment functionality too so they are full-service of sorts. We haven't added comments to any of them yet ...we'll get to that.

The address is: http://picasaweb.google.com/mdowdy74/SummerTrip2007

Today we are in Flagstaff, AZ and headed to the Grand Canyon National Park. Evidently this is a big thing to see around here so we'll give it a shot.

Old Town Santa Fe

2007-05-29T11:23:00.000-05:00

A view from the plaza at Santa Fe. The building to the left is the old government building that was built in the early 1600s. It's the oldest government building in the United States. It was the governor's castle/office for the Spanish Empire, the Mexican government, and the US once we took control of the New Mexico territory. Now the building is used as a museum of sorts and a place where Native American craftsman sell jewelery, etc.

Albuquerque

2007-05-27T10:22:00.000-05:00

We finally made it to Albuquerque on Friday evening. Besides a bunch of rain in New Mexico just before Albuquerque, the drive was uneventful.

What a beautiful city! Our friends Phil and Shelby live in a town just north of Albuquerque called Rio Rancho. We'll post pics of their house and the area soon.

Our first true travel food was Friday evening courtesy of Sadie's in downtown Albuquerque. [Notice how I like to type Albuquerque a lot since I now know how to spell it!] Anyway, fantastic margaritas and stuffed sopaipillas!

On Saturday, we drove out to Santa Fe and enjoyed the old town for the afternoon before heading up to Taos, NM where Shelby's mom lives. The drive was spectacular as we wound around the foothills of the San Juan Mtns before ending up at Taos somewhere near 7000 ft in altitude!

Shelby's mom lives in a wonderful 200 year old adobe she has been improving over the years. Jola sat out in the hot tub ... a great experience for her! We'll post pics of the house soon so you can see what mud can really do for house construction!

More later after our next stop ...

Our Chariot on this Ride!

2007-05-25T07:33:00.000-05:00

It's a 2005 MINI Cooper S with little or no modifications besides the back bench and seat backs taken out for more cargo space. It's got 38,500 miles on it as we speak with a lot more coming over the next several weeks. Gas efficient, compact ... all that and so much more! Even has four cupholders! Incredible ...

Recap of the first day of driving

2007-05-25T07:21:00.000-05:00

Polish

Okay folks, we made it through our first day of driving. We left Memphis after lunch and made our way to Midwest City, OK ... home of Tinker AFB! Midwest City is just outside of Oklahoma City. Plans today are to make it to Albuquerque, NM where our friends Phil and Shelby live. Drive should take about eight hours and some change.

Oklahoma has not been kind to it's asphalt in the last decade or so. Rough! It's got to be the worst patch of I-40 i've ever driven.

The MINI held up well. We'll post a photo of the MINI before take-off soon along with some magical pixie dust treatment courtesty of Jola.

Welcome

2007-05-21T23:56:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone ... first posting for the new blog. Yeah for us! This blog will principally follow us on our journey West this summer. We'll see where it goes from there ...