lecklund's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member lecklund on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/lecklund en-us Copyright ©2012 TravelPod.com Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:59:16 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com Home to Saskatchewan for Christmas — Regina, Canada http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1324482596/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1324482596/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1324482596/tpod.html Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:59:16 +0000 Here I Go I Go Again
Regina, Canada

I have to update my blog between Durham, NC and my return to Canada but it will have to wait as Christmas is here. I got back to Saskatchewan/family and farm on the 15th of December so lots of family and community get togethers right now, and farm duties which included moving 150 head of cattle about 6 miles from pasture land to closer to home quarter.
I plan to do some visiting closer to home until mid January when am going to travel with my dad to Dominican Republic for my nephews' wedding,
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and all the best in 2012!
Linda
]]> Back to Boston — Boston, MA http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1322585795/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1322585795/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1322585795/tpod.html Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:04:01 +0000 Here I Go I Go Again
Boston, MA

Where I stayed
H.I. Boston Downtown
(Boston hotels)
What I did
State House, MIT, Harvard Square


I finally got to stay in this popular Hostel at $39/night including breakfast. I took the . Every night they offer an event, and I went along on a Jazz night at a pub but it was too packed so the group went on to another one the first night . I chose to stay in the hostel (rather than a hotel) over American Thanksgiving Nov. 24 as I knew there would be people around to hang out with for turkey! As it turns out, the hostel cooked all guests (over 200!) turkey dinner complete with stuffing, gravy, pumpkin and apple pie, all free! Pretty amazing. During the day I went to church service at Trinity Church, a very old, huge and beautiful church in downtown Boston. Very upbeat gospel music with such a talented choir and individuals who could be recording artists. As most things were closed Thanksgiving Day (including grocery stores!) I found the only thing to do during the day, other than have a close up look at the Scientology Buildings which were only a block away from the hostel, was to go to a movie, "My Week with Marilyn" which was entertaining. After that, back to hostel for turkey and then out for drinks with those at my table who were mainly my dormmates as well.
]]> Weekend in Hyannis -Home of Kennedy's summer place — Hyannis, MA http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1322585623/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1322585623/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1322585623/tpod.html Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:49:22 +0000 Here I Go I Go Again
Hyannis, MA

(Hyannis hotels)
What I did
Kennedy Museum and Monument


I took the bus from Boston to Hyannis, about an 1.5 hour trip; roundtrip was $34. I stayed in a cheap hotel I found on Priceline and it was Priceless. Clean but outdated rooms, built around 1950's Some Like it Hot movie! haha Still pleasantly mild out, although not much to see or do in the off season, but can only imagine the zoo it is in the 'on season'. Those I spoke that lived there agreed. Summer has a lot of activity up and down the A lot of restaurants and shops were closed but still enough open for me. I visited the Kennedy Museum, and walked to the Kennedy monument. The Kennedy Family's summer home was in HyannisPort, about 2 miles from town.

]]> Beantown Boston — Boston, MA http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1321372218/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1321372218/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1321372218/tpod.html Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:32:30 +0000 Here I Go I Go Again
Boston, MA

Where I stayed
Constitution Inn Boston
(Boston hotels)


The Constitution Inn is fabulous - attached the YMCA whereby guests get to attend classes and uuse the Pool for free. I got a shuttle ride (in the dark) to a nearby building on the historic site and others on the bus were kind enough to tell me how to shortcut it to the Inn. Then I hadn't eaten so found, in the dark, the Tavern on the Wharf which was like a beacon in the dark.
The skyline of the lights and shapes of Boston reminded me of Baltimore and the owner came over to chat as they weren't busy, and said it was similar to Phili as well. I didn't get that, but now i do, as Phili has a shipyard, and Boston has the USS Consitution. I got a hop on hoff off trolley ticket on Monday and the winter offers a ticket that can be used for 7 consecutive days, a really good deal. I went to Pilates on Monday night. On Tuesday I walked from the Inn to downtown Boston and the Appalachian trail office to get some ideas of where I could Thanksgiving dinner somewhere on the trail.
Went to see the Cheers Bar (on my dad's recommendation). It is on the circuit for the Hop ON Hop Off bus and very popular. Another person got off at this stop, a woman from Kansas who was in the city while her husband was at a conference so she and I ate lunch together and got her to take some pics of me. Took this bus to Mass. Institute of Technology (MIT) just over the bridge into Cambridge. Another day I took the subway to MIT and walked to Harvard, about 2.5 miles away and soaked up the history and the ambience as well as had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant that I read about. It was underground so took some doing trying to find it. Interesting how accessible these iconic and historic institutions are.Got back to downtown Boston in the pouring rain to where the free shuttle was for that took people to the Navy Shipyard, where my lodgings were. After a week at the Inn, I wanted to stay at the Hostel but they were completely booked until Sunday so on Friday I took the bus to Hyannis for the weekend.

]]> A few more bites of the Big Apple — New York City, NY http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1320928715/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1320928715/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1320928715/tpod.html Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:00:05 +0000 Here I Go I Go Again
New York City, NY

Where I stayed
Hostelling International Hostel
(New York City hotels)
What I did
Central Park, 911 WTC site, Wall Street, Brooklyn Bridge
Off Broadway and Broadway
Metropolitan Opera


This is my third visit to New York City (the 2nd staying at the hostel) and do feel very comfortable here. I arrived in 1.5 hours via Penn Rail to Trenton, New Jersey and then New Jersey rail to Penn Station, NYC. Then I took subway(s) to exit at 103 Street on the red A line which is one short block from the Hostel! Although this hostel is one of the largest in the world, at 650 beds, it only had a bed for me for one night and then nothing for 2 nights until Sunday as of the 47,000 marathoners running in the ING-sponsored NYC marathon held on Sunday Nov. 6, many had booked the hostel! So I was in Chicago and NYC for their marathons. Apparently in NYC there were so many runners who applied and didn't get in, the city is thinking of offering two days of marathon next year. I did see runners/tourists walking around on subsequent days still wearing their t-shirts from the marathon (I'm sure they were washed!) and their finisher's medals around their necks, which had their time etched on the back. I know that as I took 'Jerry's all day tour sponsored by the hostel and a runner from Aust and his wife were staying at the hostel and on the tour so we all had a look and feel of his medal! I overheard lots of others in the hostel talking about their run.....I didn't see the finish although it was relatively close to the hostel, as I was in Queen's. For the two nights I needed alternate accommodation, I went through Priceline and as all accommodation in NYC seemed to be impacted by the marathoners I had to search further afield which ended up being Friday night in Brooklyn at Day's Inn and Sat. night in Queens (Long Island City) at a Marriott. They were both in unappealing areas with the major businesses being small local stores (bodegas) and Mexican restaurants which were outnumbered by cheque cashing shops, and close to Days Inn was also an handy undertaker.....
So I chose to do r and r and lots of channel surfing and stayed in my room alot, savouring a tv, peace and quiet (relatively), my own bathroom - no roomates! So the good Lord books hostels up once in awhile so I have to stay in a hotel!!
So my adventures my first weekend in NYC consisted of using my week long Metro Card ($29) with my rolling suitcase, up and down in subway stations and then walking on the street trying to find the hotels and then on Sunday getting back to the Hostel. It didn't help that track repairs are done on the weekends so Saturday Long Island Railroad (LIRR) train #7 was not running from Grand Central station to Queensborough so I had to take a subway to Queensborough and then wait for the LIRR, which was running infrequently. Then several subway loads of people were deposited on the platform all waiting for the same train I was so we were jam packed once the train arrived. Since I had a backpack and suitcase, I took up a bit more room and got jammed in the back so had to practically fight my way off - people actually had to get off the train to let me off and then they got on again. Fortunately the City did not do train repairs on SUnday due to the NYC marathon as 47,000 runners were using it to get to and from start/finish. A man and his son staying at the Mariott were from QUebec and were taking the train into NYC to get to finish line at Central Park to watch his wife finish. I saw several finishers on the subway on Sunday early evening, wearing plastic ING capes
My NYC Hostel dorm of 12 women included Jeannette, a rehab counsellor from Australia who had been at her step son's wedding in Washington DC and was enroute to Whistler to visit her son and daughter were were working there and who were on a gap year, and Erin who lived in the Blue Mountains of Australia and who worked for her family's juice factory. She was travelling the US for about 3 months. We, along with about 15 other hostellers (a drop considering the hostel had 650 beds and was always full) did an 8 hour Central Park tour with 'Jerry' which is offered free of charged through the hostel, and the next day a 12 hour tour of Brooklyn Heights (where I saw the nice! and exclusive part of Brooklyn, and we walked back over the Brooklyn bridge, easier than it sounds!) a nd went to the World Trade Center (WTC) memorial site and saw the new building in progress, one that will be impossible to penetrate and will be I believe about 150 stories when done. The Occupy Wall Street protestors were very close to the WTC which we found strange. Wall Street itself is a narrow and short street, a contrast with its large reputation. Then the tour took the ferry to Staten Island but I had to leave at that point as I got a ticket to the Metropolitan Opera! Was a great thrill, after having attended the broadcasts 'Live in HD' from the Met operas at the Yellowknife Capital Theatre and thinking 'some day I will be there live in the theatre in NY. So I attended the Philip Glass 'Satyagrah' opera, all sung in Sanskrit with no subtitles, about Ghandi's early years as a lawyer in South Africa. It was in the 'classic minimalist' style, according to the young man sitting beside me. He was a fan of Philip Glass's music so was attending his first opera to hear it. THe next day Jeannette and I went to the NYC Public Library which is like an Art Gallery in itself, and the fabulous Grand Central station (actually I went there a few times as their food court was amazing)! One night Jeannette and I went to an off-broadway play called 'Freud's Last Session" about a fictional account of him meeting CS Lewis and debating the presence or absence of God. It was not a very uplifting play and i had wished we had got Mamma Mia tickets! I needed a Mamma Mia fix. Anyway after 5 nights in the Hostel I had to move again as it was full on Friday and Sat. nights. So I got a really good priceline deal on Friday night for a Hilton Doubletree in TriBeCa (short for triangle between Canal) and the next night a scuzzy hostel called Chelsea Hostels in Chelsea, across the street from Madison Square Gardens. On Sat. I had a ticket which I received as part of my membership in th Appalachian Trail Conservancy which I bought in Harper's Ferry, for a documentary at AMC theatre in downtown Manhattan (42nd and 7th) at 11 a.m. That was very nice - as there were a couple of people who gave talks on their experiences as a 'thru hiker' of the 2400 miles of the trail. It was very inspiring. Then I went to eh movie J.Edgar with Leonardo DiCaprio a very enlightening movie about Hoover.
The only advantage staying at the Chelsea Hostel was that the Mega Bus which I had booked ($26.50) to go to Boston at 11:40 a.m. on Sunday was a short two blocks walk away. The Mega Bus preloading experience was Mega disorganized. In a parking lot were separate lines of people going to Phili, Baltimore, Toronto, Boston etc. and there are buses almost every thirty minutes for various groups would get intermingled. In my line up which I got to at 11, were people for the 11:10. 11:40 and 12 10 for example. They would call for loading the 11:10 and various people from the line had to squeeze through to get on. Once on the bus, there was an annoying passenger who kept talking loudly on her cellphone and the bus driver finally had to shout at her to please cut her use of cellphone - she was so loud she didn't hear him, so i think her seatmate told her as she said oh sorry and then lowered her voice.
After 4 hours on the bus I arrived at the South Station in Boston. I will write more from there!
]]> Chicago International Film Festival & Sightseeing — Chicago, IL http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1318344391/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1318344391/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1318344391/tpod.html Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:42:07 +0000 Here I Go I Go Again
Chicago, IL

Where I stayed
getaway hostel
(Chicago hotels)


I arrived about 10 at night so stayed at a cheap airport hotel in
Chicago, which I booked through Expedia. The hotel's fax was not
working so they had not received my reservation so I had to call
Expedia when I got to the hotel and get Expedia person to speak with the
hotel person. A prettty cheap hotel.... next door to 'Hooters but
they had a free shuttle to the airport. The next day the shuttle
dropped me off at the nears blue line train station to take into the
City. I had to transfer at Jackson to the red line to Fullerton and
then find my way to the "Getaway Hostel" in Lincoln Park. It was a
huge hostel, allowing alcohol, which is not usual, but lots of age range
of people and again with free breakfast, same as Avenue but no eggs!
As the Chicago Marathon was happening last weekend I could not spend all
8 nights at that hostel so ended up at another one , the HI Hostel on
East Congress, near the Chicago Public Library where I am now. It is
the biggest hostel in Chicago, with 500 beds! I was in a 10 female dorm
with 8 beds taken, most people were Asian but all very friendly. Some
were students from China studying at Purdue, Indiana and they came to
Chicago for Columbus Day, which was yesterday and a National Holiday.
Again a free breakfast (no eggs but cheese slices, cereal, toast, fruit
etc.) and with bed/towel/blanket all for $33 including tax. i have 5
minutes left on this computer - I also i am taking Amtrak at 6
p.m. tonight for Harper's Ferry W.V. in the Appalachians. I am staying
at a HI hostel there too. To arrive at 10:15 a.m. tomorrow./ 17 hours
for $74.00 will report more then. Have had a wonderful time in Chicago
- it is an amazing city. Met a couple of people from my dorm to hang
out with a bit.
Went to three Chicago International Film festival films: "The Student" which was a documentary about student life in Argentina, and 'the star' who was unilingual Spanish, attended in person to take questions after the movie, "Top Floor Let Wing" and "Loverboy." THe latter was the best of the 3, but all seemed like they were filmed with home movie cameras. Might be the new style? I like their transportation system, but was stuck on a train last night for about 10 minutes while driver had to 'fix something'! Marilyn Monroe's statute is amazing as is the Sears (now
Willis Tower). I took pics but again will have to be uploaded at a later date. will report from Harpers Ferry - i want to do some hiking in the Appalachians.

]]> The Charm City - an unexpected gem — Baltimore, MD http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1319466812/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1319466812/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1319466812/tpod.html Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:36:20 +0000 Here I Go I Go Again
Baltimore, MD

Where I stayed
hostelling international Baltimore
Hostel baltimore
(Baltimore hotels)
What I did
Baltimore blew me away


Baltimore, of the cities I have visited so far, has most impressed me, sorry Washington DC!
The city has made a concerted effort to retain their heritage buildings and have thousands intact, albeit many are restaurants, stores and condos now. They have a producing sugar refinery, they are a port with cruise ships going to New England and Nova Scotia, home of Johns Hopkins University/medical school and Hospital, plus Universities of Maryland and of Baltimore. A Symphony, the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, Edgar Allan Poe is buried here, several theatre groups, home of the Star Spangled banner anthem, beautiful old churches including the oldest Catholic Basilica in the US and the oldest fruit/veg/meat Markets in the USA (Lexington Market est 1789 or so) and it is still going on 6 days a week. I had New England clam chowder for lunch there, standing up at a table in a bustling old old market. The old port, 30 years ago was full of bars, brawling and brothels so they say, and now is full of restaurants, shops and residences. It is a beautiful rolling
On Saturdays live bands play there. I have met a few people as they are very friendly and are proud of their city. There are pockets that have not been cleaned up, though, and the next street over to the hostel is one of them. I walked home at 9 p.m. last night though, from a movie, and felt safe as the streets are very well lit. I am in a hostel, in a 10 bed female dorm at $25 per night including tax and pancake breakfast (I hate pancakes... so it is wasted on me!( but free coffee and internet as this is what I am doing now as I do laundry. My Samsung Galaxy tablet is good, but is so touchy when I keyboard that it takes me a long time to go back and correct my mistakes, hence my slowness is getting this blog up to date! I think i will hit a Samsung store and maybe they can change the sensitivity....not suire/
Well another feature of my trip so far has been 'Occupy Chicago' demonstrations and camps in parks, followed by Occupy Washington and yep, Occupy Baltimore. Here they have broadened the grievance to include municipal issues. But main theme is big banks and auto companies are bleeding the government and the people. Canada is looked on with envy regarding its banks and health care system. Well I just wander around and people watch and see the important sights and try to learn about local history. Each place has a lot of that! Baltimore was founded in about 1729.
They have the great library (EW Pratt Free Library built in 1800s with Italian lighting fixtures, ols wooden desks etc and free lectures and readings - i went to one yesterday by a biographer of American Gothic artist) )across the street from the hostel (which is also across the street from the Basilica which gives free tours). I have been taking pics but hard to load on my tablet - and then upload to this but will try... I have extended my stay here until Friday, mainly cause I joined a gym - Brick's Bodies for 7 days for $25 and so to make it worthwhile at least will be able take classes for 3 days.
I took two Zumba classes and a step aerobics classes - all wonderful. Thanks to gym instructors in Yellowknife, I had no trouble keeping up or knowing the steps. The zumba classes were SO PACKED, even more than Yellowknife,! and the gym was just getting aircon installed.... The gym was great, a 20 foot pool with aquafit classes, a gym for yoga, aerobics etc., a bit weight room, a room dedicated to spinning (it was way hot!) and a room for stationary bikes. I thought $25 for 7 days (for new people only) was a great deal.
I met Seren at the zumba class as she was next to me and asked if I had done zumba before. Anyway we sweated it out fr the hour and got chatting and went for Thai food after. She is Exec Drector and founder of a non profit called Laces Sport. Both she and her Canadian husband work for non-profits. Anyway it is funny how you can just click with someone immediately! It was great to have a visit with a 'local' although she is originally from Indiana.
The hostel building I stayed in was an old brownstone built in 1859, high ceilings, fireplaces in each room, long and narrow. It was across the street from the first Basilica/Cathedral built in Baltimore after the Constitution, started building in 1812 and I believe finished in 1821. I had a tour of it and it has been restored to its original design by LaTrobe, the architect who designed the White House in DC.
Thursday the 27th is my last evening in Baltimore and I read an article in the paper about this dish called 'shrimps and grits' and where the best restaurants were to try it. Both were just down the street on Cathedral st. (the area the hostel is in is one of the oldest areas of Baltimore and where the rich lived and is now has home t the Walters Museum and Art Gallery which i spent all day Thursday in and it's free! and the Peabody Library and Music center. So I tried the dish Thurs. evening and it isi like a shrimp stir fry with green peppers but instead of rice it is served wth cornmeal and that is what grits is! I admit I never knew that. The owner was waiting on me and she said the paper had come and interviewed her a couple of weeks ago and tasted the dish but she hadn't read the article yet and I was the first person to have mentioned reading it. She gave me an order of cornmeal bread with it. As i had just finished an hour of zumba and walking around all day otherwise, i was hungry and so it was a great day to try this rich dish (made with cream!)
Also I took the city bus to the Greyhound bus station as a dry run and picked up my ticket there which I bought for the web price of $14 to Philadelphia. I left Friday at 10:30 a.m. for the 2 hour trip to Phili and will write more from there (actually I am in Phili now and it is snowing!)


]]> The City of Brotherly Love — Philadelphia, PA http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1319892781/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1319892781/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1319892781/tpod.html Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:08:43 +0000 Here I Go I Go Again
Philadelphia, PA

(Philadelphia hotels)
What I did
Ran in Rocky's footsteps


Well I arrived via Greyhound bus from The Charm City -Baltimore to "The City of Brotherly Love- Philadelphia - a short hour and a half or so trip. I had a great seatmate, Jerrie, on this crowded bus and the time flew as we chatted. It turns out she is an entrepreneur with a professional matchmaker business as well as hosting gold buying parties around Baltimore where she and her family lives, and Philadelphia, where she grew up. She had lots of positive energy and told me the must do's in Philadephla including eating a Cheese steak from a street vendor (which I did for lunch and delicious and I didn't need any dinner), and a warm bagel with mustard (also did, also very good). So I found my way from the bus station, past the Market much like the Lexington Market in Baltimore, to my hostel. The City was hit with a snowstorm on Saturday and it was a miserable enough day I had to buy a hat at Macy's and deliberated buying boots! Needless to say, I was not impressedabout the sleet and wet snow and wind all day especially knowing Yellowknife and Sask were dry and warm still! Fortunately the next day it disappeared and life was good again. The snow did not return...
The hostel staff were terrific and the hostel was in an old building in old city which is right where the Independent Hall and Liberty Bell is. I had a tour of both and saw the building where the Constitution of the USA was signed. Still lots of tourists around. Macy's is in the old 'Wanamaker' Building, a beautiful restored building which has the oldest and largest organ, which was built for the World's Fair, in the USA with thousands of pipes and several keyboards played by an organist who gives daily half hour concerts (12 noon and 5:30 pm) in a tiny open but plexiglass encased cubicle on the second floor. Beautiful classical music (mainly) resonates throughout the store and shoppers (some of them) stop and listen and tourists (like me) just come into the store to listen. I have some more details but the pamphlet is buried in my bag somewhere.
There was a film festival on and so I took in a French film called "The Conquest" about Nicholas Sarkozy running for French election. It was very good. The Apple Hostel hosts a 'Ghost Walk' which takes in many graveyards around and a doctor's house with supposedly true tales of apparitions and voices. By coincidence, i was there for it on Monday of Hallowe'en. Hallowe'en seems to be a big deal there as all the houses around the old part of Philadelphia, with brownstones owned by professionals, had lots of Hallowe'en decorations with many decorated pumpkins. And I saw parents picking up their little kids from school, (and going to school in the a.m.) and they each were dressed up in their finest Hallowe'en costume, just like home! The hostel offered free beer after the tour too! THen people were lining up at the hallowe'en party at the nightclub across the alley from the hostel and they came into the hostel wanting to use our bathroom and buy beer ! Quite funny. I also took in the free pasta night on Wed. at the hostel. Very good deal! Also a good deal was every week they show a movie at the hostel (hostellers choice of their selection) with free wine and cheese! So we watched "Crazy Stupid Love" - the only downside is there are always people sitting around who talk, oblivious to or ignorant about people trying to listen to the movie!
Aside from Independence related history, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is famous for its 'Rocky' steps - the ones he ran when training for his movies. There is even a statue of Sylvestor Stallone outside the building by the steps! It, as well as the Public Library, are more like palaces from the outside.
One of my Apple Hostel roommates, Megan from Warsaw, Poland and I did a little touring around together. She is a huge Flyer fan, and came from Poland to Phil to go to a live game, wearing her new jersey! They lost in a shoot out with New Jersey. She has worked in Canada and Ireland and is in the tv industry in Poland.
I delayed my leaving Philadelphia by a day as I was having a hard time getting a ticket to New York City, my next destination. Several things happened the day I was trying to buy a ticket including having trouble connecting to Megabus online on my Samsung tablet, and so I went to the Library to use their PCs only to arrive in time for a building evacuation due to a water line break! Then the next day after I decided how I was going to travel (I chose local commuter train to Trenton New Jersey and then transfer to New Jersey rail, for a total of $25 for 1.5 hours), the subway station computers for New Jersey rail was down so I had to go to another main subway station! I was beginning to think the signs (I always pay attention to the signs) were telling me I was to stay in Philadelphia......But I left and will write from NYC!
]]> getting ready and being ruthless — Yellowknife, Canada http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1314255205/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1314255205/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1314255205/tpod.html Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:32:29 +0000 Here I Go I Go Again
Yellowknife, Canada

Well, countdown is on, one month from today I leave. Now that the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) Capital Visit and Arctic Caucus events held August 17-19, 2011 inYellowknife are over. For the last 9 months all my energy was devoted to putting the events on, leaving not too much for planning my departure. I have decided to sell furniture and put stuff in storage in Yellowknife, and keep a mailing address here as well. I am not ready or think it wise to pull up stakes from Yellowknife. Twenty five years is a long time, which didn't sink in until i had to think of where else I would move. No community in the south leaped out to me, so here i will stay until it does, or it doesn't....
]]> History all over — Washington Dc, WashingtonDC http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1319369797/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1319369797/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lecklund/2/1319369797/tpod.html Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:09:00 +0000 Here I Go I Go Again
Washington Dc, WashingtonDC

Hostelling International Washington, D.
(Washington DC hotels)
What I did
soaked up us capital


I arrived in Washington by Amtrak train from Harpers Ferry and it was quite straightforward to get to the Hostel. Red line to Metro Centre and then 3 blocks walk. The Hostel was in a great area of the city, within 20 minute walk to the WHite House for example. To get my bearings, i got a 48 hour Hop on Hop off bus pass on a double decker and there were 3 routes and I did each one twice. I did a lot of walking and it was a nice break to sit for awhile. Each round trip route took about 1-1.5 hours. I stayed in a female dorm with 8 beds. The only annoying thing was most mornings the person in the breakfast room (free toast, cereal, fruit,.juice, coffee) wanted us to say Good Morning in a language other than ENglish, and introduce ourselves to the person sitting at the table (there were long tables) and I am not all that garrulous in the morning as I like to read my travel guide and figure out what I want to do that day. However, I did meet people from Korea, Calif, China, Washington State, Poland. Most in my dorm were Asian and found it so cold! And here myself and the German girl were so hot.....Again good value for money, they also had free tours in the evening but I was too tired from walking all day to walk again. The highlight, other than the thrill of seeing the White House - it is indeed accessible and it and Congress are at opposite ends of Pennsylvania avenue.was going to an evening musical celebration of 150 years of Asbury Church, a predominately black church across the street from the hostel. some of the soloists brought tears to my eyes and they could have been Aretha Franklin and professional opera singers but they were just church members. It was a well to do church which sponsors 4000 meals per month for homeless people. Each city has its share of homeless people and panhandlers that is for sure.The other highlight was the Newseum which showcases 4 slabs of the Berlin Wall and displays on its outside walls front pages of many USA daily papers as well as some foreign ones. I took a free tour of the 6 story building and the tour volunteer pointed out that next door was the Canadian Embassy, the only Embassy downtown and within sight of Congress. It is a new building with a huge inukshuk in the foyer. On the hop on hop off bus, the taped tour guide also pointed out various Embassies, ie Turkey, even Iran, which had bars on all its windows, including those 4 floors up, Australia etc. and that Canada was conspiciously missing as it was downtown, the only one allowed that close to the White House. I spent 7 days in Washington and got a feel for the city, it has various neighbourhoods. There was a Washington Capitals hockey game when I was there and all the bars around the Verizon Centre were packed at 6 p.m. and people were streaming by wearing their red jerseys with their favourite player's name on the back. Lots of couples and families. The arena is right in the middle of Chinatown, which was quite amazing!
Anyway I am heading to Philadelphia but will go to Baltimore first, leaving on the 22nd


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