Fall has always been a busy travel time for me. Since I'm now the North American sales manager for a company out of Germany, I've been doing a lot more flying than driving since Labor Day. (And that will continue into December.) My travel has taken me to far flung places such as Southern California, Toronto, Dallas-Fort Worth, and - just recently - Washington D.C. Over the years, people ask me, "Man, it's great that you get to go to all these places." But people who travel for a living know that it's not all that great - eating alone in a restaurant, waking up in a hotel room not knowing where you are, not being able to take in sights like a tourist, etc., etc. But there are times when I'm able to catch moments with my camera that will make the business trip more memorable. I've got a few photos that I've taken on my recent trips that I thought I'd share with you today.
Business travel does have its perks - hotel and airline points, eating in good restaurants, meeting with clients and making new friends. But most of the time, it's airport, rental car, hotel room, restaurant, meetings, restaurant, hotel room, meetings, restaurant, hotel room, airport and home. I don't get to really go and do and see like I would want. But every once in a while, I do take the time to take a step back and enjoy my surroundings.
When I'm close to the ocean, I like to go near the water and clear my head. In this case, on a trip earlier this fall to Southern California, it was actually going OVER the water and heading out to the Newport Beach Pier after I had lunch. There was parking nearby and I was able to get out to the end of the pier to hang out for a while.
While it was a sunny day and warm inland, there was a cool breeze coming off the water. When I got out to the end of the pier, I noticed a number of fishermen who were dressed more for late fall in the Midwest than a sunny day in Southern California. I was in a polo shirt and jeans, and it was a bit nippy. But being able to smell the sea air and take in the sights of the beach up to Huntington Beach and down to just north of Laguna Beach gave me a moment of zen that I need from time to time. And water always seems to be involved when I have moments of zen.
For September, the weather was a little strange. In the months of May and June, the California coast line is usually inundated with low clouds and misty precipitation. "May gray and June gloom" are the terms residents use when they have to put up with dreary weather in the mornings in late Spring. But by 11 a.m., the clouds burn off and it turns into a glorious day. That's what happened every day I was out in Southern California. Locals said it was highly irregular for that time of the year. Each morning, it was fog, low clouds and misty rain. You certainly couldn't see the Santa Ana mountains east of Orange County.
But in the afternoon when I would get back to the room, the day had turned sunny, warm and beautiful. The Santa Ana mountains were majestic off in the distance. Days like this in Southern California always remind me of the deadpan weatherman (played by George Plimpton) giving the forecast in the movie L.A. Story - "Sunny, 72."
Whereas, the equally expressionless anchor in the movie (played by Sam McMurray) says, "The next forecast will be in three weeks." I said, "Sunny, 72" many times while I was out in Southern California a few weeks ago.
Of course, when you're in Southern California, you have to go to In-n-Out Burger. I snuck away from the trade show one day and tried to get into one near the show venue. But the line was literally out the door and the drive-thru had something like 25 cars in line. (And I don't think I'm exaggerating.) So, I got up the next morning and went to one near my hotel in nearby Irvine right when they opened at 10:30 a.m. And I have to say that I was NOT the first customer in that location that morning. By the way, when I was in Dallas recently, there was an In-n-Out Burger near my hotel, but I never went. Quite honestly, I would probably go to a Whataburger if the two were side-by-side. (And they were close together, but I didn't go to either one when I was in Texas.)
And as a longtime Iowa sports fan, it's always good to see like-minded people when you're over 1000 miles away. I saw this license plate in the parking lot of a brewpub I had lunch in one day. Hawkeye fans are truly everywhere.
I had to go back up to Toronto for a trade show in October and when I got off the plane, I was on the interminable walk from the gate at Toronto Pearson Airport to Canadian customs. I was discombobulated with my directions last year and always thought that downtown Toronto was northeast of the airport. Actually, it's southeast of the airport and as I looked to my left walking to customs, I saw the skyline of Toronto complete with the CN Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. The tower was the world's tallest free-standing structure from 1975 to 2007, and the world's largest tower until 2009. Since 2007, 9 other free-standing buildings or towers have been built that have all surpassed the CN Tower in height.
Last year when I was in Toronto, my hotel room faced the west. So this year, I asked for a room at the same hotel with a room that faced the east. When I got settled into my room and when I opened the shades in the living room part of my hotel space, I saw this spectacular view of the near-full moon rising over Toronto. Pictures from the camera phone doesn't do justice of the remarkable vista, but it's still not that bad of a pic.
Speaking of remarkable pics, nearly every morning had a glorious and colorful view of the pre-rising sun coming up over downtown Toronto. (You can click on the pictures to make them larger.) The clouds over Lake Erie to the south and east of downtown Toronto gave the sunrise a spectacular color scheme. It was mornings like these that helped make the time away from home a bit more bearable.
When I stayed in the same hotel near the airport last year, I had a view of a large transport plane that was sitting on the tarmac. When my colleague from Europe and I were walking from our hotel to the hotel near the airport where the trade show was being held, I remarked that the plane was still there. "It's Russian," I said. "I can tell by the flag. I wonder if it's been seized by the Canadian government after Russia invaded Ukraine."
We were out to dinner that evening and I looked it up on my phone. The plane - an Antonov an-124 super freighter aircraft - landed on February 27, 2022 loaded with COVID 19 supplies from Europe. The next day, the Canadian Transportation Agency closed all air space to Russian aircraft due to Russia's incursion into Ukraine. Two months later, the Canadian government started proceedings to seize the plane and convert the assets into proceeds for the Ukrainian government.
However, that hasn't happened. The plane has been parked for just over 1000 days - 1007 days, to be exact. And the airport has been charging the plane's Russian owners - Volga-Dnepr Airlines - about $1100 Canadian dollars ($770 USD) a day since. The total is now over $1.1 million Canadian dollars and about $775,000 in U.S. dollars. Nothing has happened in terms of selling the seized plane or handing it over to the Ukrainian government, and it's been sitting so long on the tarmac that it's easily seen in satellite photos that are shown on Google Earth. The Antonov an-124 entered service in 1986 and there were just 55 built. 25 remain in operation around the world - not counting the one still sitting in Canada. The an-124 is the largest heavy-lift airplane in the world. The previous largest - the Antonov an-225 - was destroyed in the opening days of the Russian/Ukraine war as it was being outfitted with new engines at an airport just outside of Kyiv. Only one of the Antonov an-225's were built and it could carry a payload twice the amount a Boeing 747 cargo plane can carry.
One funny picture picture that I got while staying at my hotel in Toronto was the one below right. Marijuana is legal across Canada, but can't be smoked in public buildings including hotels, restaurants and other places that outlaw smoking tobacco. And these signs were just outside the front door of hotel.
And being a Hilton Lifetime Diamond member, the hotel had a goody bag for me when I checked in. Two of the treats were these Nestle Aero bars that are only available in Canada. Now, if I had smoked pot when I was there (I didn't) those candy bars would have been gone in 30 seconds. But even without the help of marijuana, I devoured the first of the two candy bars upon arrival into my room since I hadn't had anything to eat all day long. I've found over the years that there are many types of snacks (like ketchup potato chips) that are available in Canada, but not in the U.S. These Aero bars were fantastic and it's probably a good thing they aren't sold in the U.S. For me, anyway...
Renting cars on my travels has been an adventure since I gave up on Hertz earlier this year over a billing dispute that started in March of 2023. (I lost a wheel cover on a Tesla 3 in Montreal and they wanted to charge me $331 Canadian dollars - $235 US dollars - for a wheel cover that costs $25 dollars US. We negotiated down and I paid an amount in August of this year, but I told Hertz that I would never rent from them again because they ripped me off. And I was a Hertz Gold Plus member for nearly 25 years. They didn't care.)
So, I've been using National and Avis - I still get a deal on renting cars through National on my old company's account; and I got a deal through Hilton hotels to be an Avis Preferred Plus member. I have to tell you - I love National. Their cars are nicer, lower miles and generally cleaner. Avis - I don't care much for their selection process, whereas National you go to the Emerald lot and pic out any car. And if they don't have the kind of car that you want - like a sedan - they'll make sure they get you one from the pool right away.
I rented Avis in Dallas and I had my choice of five different vehicles on their app through an upgrade for being Preferred Plus. The less pimp-ish of all five was this 2022 Chrysler 300S. (I could have had the red two-door car next to it, as well.) Actually, it was a nice ride, but it had 56,000 miles on it and it needed a deep wax job. I had rented a 300S in Southern California a number of years ago and they're OK. I just don't like driving black cars.
Near my hotel in the north Dallas suburbs, I kept passing this store in a strip mall along Belt Line Road. I was sort of amused by the store's name - Condom Sense - and I had to pull into the parking lot to get a closer look at the place. From the outside it appeared to be a vape store, but when I looked it up on the internet after I got home, it turned out to be an adult shop - one of ten Condom Sense locations in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Founded in 1990 at the height of the AIDS crisis, Condom Sense started out selling safe sex products before morphing into a full-fledged adult pleasure store that their web site says welcomes couples of all persuasions in large, well-lit, clean store fronts. Now, I don't know about if they sell vaping products like their signs said in the front window, but I didn't see anything on the web site that alluded to the fact that they sold vaping products.
That was the extent of my sight-seeing during my trip to the Dallas area, but my next trip was going to be to Washington D.C. a week after I was in Dallas. Plane travel these days is usually a hassle with full planes and people stuck in middle seats who aren't happy. I usually take the window seat so I can rest my head up against the plane's wall. A plus for me during plane flights is having the middle seat empty. A double plus is having the whole row to myself, but that is few and far between. (That happened to me on a flight back from Paris about 8 years ago. It was great!) But when you have your own row AND the row across the aisle empty, well, it's like having your own personal jet. And that happened on my recent flight between Chicago O'Hare and Reagan Washington National. It makes air travel more tolerable.
As we were coming in for a landing at Reagan Washington National, we were coming in from the north on the final approach. It was a beautiful clear day and I was on the left side of the plane facing Washington D.C. It was my first ever visit to Washington and I was able to see Georgetown University, then the Capitol Building, the National Mall up to the Washington Monument. Just before we landed, the Jefferson Memorial along the Tidal Basin was plainly visible. I was like, "Shit! Why didn't I have my camera phone ready to take pictures on the final approach!?"
Then divine intervention took over. The pilot suddenly hit the throttle and we rose and turned away from the final approach. I thought, "Wow, I haven't been part of a go-around for a long while."
About 30 seconds later, the pilot came on the flight intercom - "Well, folks, as you've probably noticed, we're not on the ground. We were coming in a little high and a little fast and we decided to go around and give it another shot."
That gave me the opportunity to get my phone out and set up my camera with a bit of a zoom on it. The picture below left is the campus of Georgetown University. I didn't really know where Georgetown was, but it was further out to the northwest side of Washington D.C. than I realized. If I were seated on the right side of the plane, I would have had a great view of Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon on final approach. (I drove past the exit ramp for the C.I.A. on my way from the airport to my hotel in Rockville, MD. I thought about getting off and going to see the entrance to the facility, but I thought better after a few seconds.)
I completely missed the White House which is located north - or to the left in this picture - of the Washington Monument, and we flew almost right over the Lincoln Memorial so I didn't see that. But I was able to get a shot of the Capitol Building, the National Mall and the Washington Monument. The now-closed RFK Stadium is in the background of the Capitol Building.
I particularly liked this photo (below left) where the Washington monument's reflection is shown in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and it is lined up perfectly with the Capitol Building. (And with the Lincoln Memorial which would be out of the picture at the bottom.) This picture was just dumb luck.
Just past there, the Jefferson Monument loomed in the distance. Jutting out into the Tidal Basin, the Jefferson Memorial was easy to spot. I knew most of the memorials were close, but I didn't know how close. From the air, they all looked within easy walking distance of one another. But I'm sure that if I went on a walking tour, I'd be walking a long way in between the sites.
During this trip, I was able to knock off two more states that I have visited or set foot in. Reagan Washington National is in Virginia and I had never been there before. And I visited an account up in Wilmington, DE - the first time I'd ever been in Delaware. I'm now up to 47 states that I've been in - I'm only missing Idaho, Oregon and Alaska. I was able to knock off a number of states - New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maine - on a visit to New England earlier this year. And I've now been to Washington D.C.
I bagged the trade show early on Sunday and drove Connecticut Ave. down into the heart of Washington D.C. I did see the White House off in the distance through some trees and barricades, and I did see the Lincoln Memorial off in the distance. But they were having a parade that day and a lot of streets in the downtown area near the White House were closed off. Or, maybe they're closed off at all times due to security issues. It would be nice to spend some time in Washington D.C. at some point. I know if I went to the museums, that would be four or five days, minimum.
So, that's my photo dump for my most recent trips across America and into Canada. Thanks for indulging me with my descriptions and explanations. Sometimes you do get to spend some time looking at stuff when you're traveling for business, but it's not the same as if you're there to be able to go and do and see the sights in a given area. Still, even a ten to fifteen minute stop to see something neat is worth it to me.