Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub (Colorado Springs, CO)

Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub
21 S. Tejon St., 719-385-0766
We ventured over to check out the local Irish bar, no cover, and crowded to the brim. Caught the last act of Brian Clancy (pub sing-a-long), which was really good. Had my Irish Whiskey and Coke and absorbed the fun atmosphere. I definitely will be coming back to this cool bar. Looks like a divine food menu too. Worthy of further investigation. Rated 4 1/2 stars out of 5. Visited 10/27/2005.

Tips for Cheap and Easy European Travel

After having an tremendous experience traveling through Europe, I have a few tips I’d like share with the world about how to have a more successful trip.

1.) Plan ahead:
Planning ahead can save you tons of money and headaches. You can find affordable places to stay, decide on the things that you really want to see, figure out your means of transportation, and aquaint yourself with the appropriate cultures and languages.

2.) Learn some of the language:
Knowing a little of the local language will go a long way. People will be very excited that you are putting forth the effort to appreciate their culture. Even if you can’t carry on very deep discussions, there will be very few issues that you can’t solve with a smile, broken french/german/etc., and pantomime (actually, most people you run into on the beaten path speak some level of English, so you’ll be fine).

3.) Get off the beaten path:
The most memorable experiences on my European travels have been from getting off the normal tourist path: going to some remote Roman ruins, seeing a Scottish folk band in a pub in Aberfeldy, eating lunch at a authentic Italian eatery in the back alleys of Florence, and making friends at church services around Europe. Just take in the culture. Go to concerts and sporting events (do what you do for fun in the U.S., but in Europe).

4.) Learn some of the history:
If you do a little reading and a little research before you go to Europe, your sightseeing can be so much more meaningful. Don’t just go to sights because you think you should; you’ll fly through the sites wondering why they are so special. See the things that interest you or things you want to learn more about.

5.) If you are smart, you don’t have to spend a fortune:
Shop at grocery stores and bakeries while you are in Europe especially for lunch and breakfast (you will save a ton, and the food is great). Also, plan ahead on your lodging and transportation: stay with people you know, find hostels or B&B’s, buy tickets well in advance. With a little research, you can find cheap hostels that are not flea bags too.

I must say I highly recommend all of Rick Steves’: Travel Guides, Videos, Phrase Books, and Maps. My ideas about traveling align exactly with Rick’s. He promotes traveling light, frugally, and “through the back door”. Go to his site.

I enjoyed my European travels very much, and I can’t wait to go to Europe again “through the back door”.

Tucumcari, New Mexico

Saturday, October 1, 2005
Tucumcari, New Mexico
Tucumcari Mountain
“Tucumcari Mountain has long been a landmark for travelers along the Canadian River. Pedro Vial mentioned it in 1793, while opening a trail between Santa Fe and St. Louis. In order to find the best route from Arkansas to California, Capt. Randolph B. Marcy led an expedition past here in 1849.” Tucumcari - “This area was troubled by both Comanches and Comancheros, New Mexicans who traded illegally with the Indians, until the military campaigns of 1874. With the coming of the railroad in 1898, the small communities of Liberty , 8 miles to the north, moved here to form the nucleus of Tucumcari, which was incorporated in 1908.” (- Historical marker outside of Tucumcari).

The Hog’s Breath Saloon - La Junta, Colorado

Hog’s Breath Saloon and Lounge
808 East 3rd
La Junta, CO 81050
719-384-7879

An escape for me from the field, in a Colorado country town of “La Junta” this western Saloon will surprise your palette with a host of appetizers, dinners, and drinks … It’s been a while since I’ve eaten steak - but breaking the lack of steak in my diet, this was certainly the place to do it. Great specials. Good service. Good food. Strong drinks. Large beers. Specialized “Snake Eggs” appetizers rock my world. Highly recommended: **** stars out of 5. Visited 9/2005; 10/21/2005. Favorite dishes is the Ribeye Special, the BBQ Combo plate, and the snake eggs appetizers.

Sushi King (Vancouver, B.C.)

Sushi King
1431 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. V5L 3X8
604.255.9050
A take out and eat in Japanese restaurant with outstanding affordable prices. Incredible deals like 18 pcs of sushi with miso soup for only $4.95. Sushi is pretty good as well. Rating: 3 1/2 stars. My favorite is the Works Combo (30 pcs) for $9.99 - California roll, dynamite roll, yam roll, inari roll, and avacado roll. Good stuff!

Chicago Eats

I recently traveled to Chicago for a long weekend because, well, it’s the closest cool big city to where I live and it only takes an hour to get there by air. Of course we wandered the Magnificent Mile, visited Marshall Fields, took in the view from the Hancock Observatory, stared in awe at the band shell and Cloud Gate in Millenium Park and visited the Field Museum and the Art Insitute.

Maybe I’ll write more about some of these later. But the real reason we went to Chicago, and what I want to talk about today, is the food.

There are all sorts of options for food in the Windy City. If you want to find a good restaurant in a certain part of town or with a particulary cuisine, from Afghani to Vietnamese and literally everything in between, the Tribune’s Metromix is the site to visit. Here you’ll find listings and reviews for most of the eating establishments in the city.

Another good way to find food in the city is to follow your nose. You’re bound to pass a few restuarants every couple of blocks no matter where you are in the city. If something smells good, stop and eat.

That’s how we found McCormick & Schmick’s a beautiful seafood restaurant on Chestnut Street. The menu is printed daily depending on what fresh fish is available that day, and every fish is labelled according to where it was caught. Several kinds of trout, hallibut, snapper, tilapia and more where on the menu when we were there.

My hubby and I spent our honeymoon in Maine, eating tons of the local seafood, and the clam chowder (New England style, of course) and McCormick & Schmick’s was the best we’ve had anywhere since Maine. It was obviously made with cream (and was so rich it just about killed me) and the freshest clams anywhere. The crab cake was melt-in-your-mouth, slap-your-mama delicious, and, oh yeah, the fish was good, too.

Of course when you go to Chicago you have to eat pizza. I wanted to go to Gino’s, but the one we were close to was closed for remodeling. So we went to Giordano’s instead. The stuffed-crust deep-dish vegetarian was so good, we’re definately looking forward to going back for seconds. Unfortunately, the pizzas are really big (even getting the small we left half the pizza on the table) so bring lots of friends or stay in a hotel with a fridge so you can keep the leftovers for midnight snacking.

Driving through Snowy Wyoming

Monday, October 10, 2005 Rawlings, Wyoming It’s Crazy!!! Early October and it’s Snowing … Last night, after work, we saw the rain storms coming, and driving down those two track dirt roads for hours to get to civilization I felt the cold rain come. Exiting the high desert where I work, I noticed it was in the low 30’s.

Too cold for an open window. I could see the tarantulas migrating fast across the road searching warmth - late bloomers who didn’t migrate fast enough. The rain storms were horrible, but nothing compared to what met me last night around 9 pm, just north of Colorado Springs … hard core rain turning to a blinding blanket of snow. Many not used to driving in snow, skidding everywhere, wrecks all along the journey, cops pulling people over. It got so slippery and crazy, I pulled over and slept at a rest area outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming. It’s in the high 20’s. This morning, woke up frozen solid, my car covered in snow, digging my way out, feet frozen. Soon enough, the car defrosted after removing piles of snow off the windshield - wondering if the cracks in the windshield got worse. Grabbed a Wyoming map and had a frustrating and edge-of-your-seat drive from Cheyenne to Rawlings. Slipping, cars skidding, cars turning over, Semis-overturned. finally once over the mountains, got down to some plains before the next set of mountains - it’s still snowing, but its lightly sticking. I may not get to Seattle tonight, depending on what snow lies ahead … It’s still around 32 degrees F.

snow storm in Wyoming early October 2005 ©2005 Technogypsie.com, click photo for larger view

Mesalands Dinosaur Museum (Tucumcari, NM)

Mesalands Dinosaur Museum www.mesalands.edu A pretty neat museum that’s part of the local community college. Since they specialize in bronze castings, they’ve made replicas of many dinosaur bones. Good to see some great fossils and dinosaur tracks, eggs, amber, and artwork portraying the large creatures that once roamed this earth.

©2005 Technogypsie.com, click photo for larger view

This museum provides students and visitors with an interpretive look at New Mexico/Colorado and related area’s rich fossil records and geological stratas, equipt with a modern paleontology lab with the latest equiptment for preparing fossils. The museum has 10,000 square feet of exhibit space comprised of donated specimens and artwork from individuals, organizations, businesses, and local governmental entities. Mesalands has one of the world’s largest collections of bronze skeletons, fossils, and replicas of prehistoric creatures. The Museum also possesses one of the world’s only Torvosaurus skeletons - a rare relative to Tyrannosaurus Rex. Museum has a pretty nifty Museum shop as well. Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5. Visited 10/01/2005.

Manitou Cliff Dwellings (Manitou Springs, Colorado)

Rock Art ….

This carved stone is called a petroglyph, meaning carvings on stone or rock. The Anasazi culture had only two methods of recording their images on stone - by carving or by painting. Paintings on stone are called “Petroglyphs”.

Manitou Cliff Dwellings Rock Art ©2005 Technogypsie.com, click photo for larger view

This culture had no knowledge of marking their images on parchment, animal hides, or tree bark. The carvings on this stone appear to depict a bear track in the upper right corner, a four legged animal and several other carvings. Petroglyph images are difficult to determine because so many have spiritual and supernatural meanings. Another petroglyph stone can be seen in the Pueblo Museum along with more information on “rock art”. ~ Information sign at Manitou Cliff Dwellings.