Travelogue: Day 3 &4, 10/20 – 10/21 – Yellowstone and drive to Salt Lake city

Day 3

I was worried that my car does not have snow tires or chain and we had to drive through some snow area. Fortunate for us, there were only a few part snowed in and the snow was flurry. We drove on I90, thus there was nothing impressive along the road. On the way to Yellowstone, we passed a city called Belgrade. The reason for name is that wealthy Serbians financially supported a group of explorers who discovered the city. This information might not be of interest to you, but it caught my attention as I have just returned from the Balkans.

We arrived at Yellowstone River Motel around 1 p.m. This was the cheapest motel we could fine: $46/night including tax for a double-bed room with free wireless Internet access. The owner, Betty, was an exceptional host. She voluntarily provided us with useful information, things we needs: microwave, sweater for DL as he forget to bring warm clothes. The motel is closing next Thursday for the season. But next time if you decide to go to Yellowstone and plan to go through North Gate entrance, check out this motel.

- Gardiner city -

See the park

We left the motel at 2:45 for the Park. Knowing we don’t have enough time to see everything before it turned dark, we decided to drive all the way to Yellowstone Lake through Mammoth Hot Spring, Norris and Canyon without stopping at Mammoth and Norris.

- Grand Canyon of Yellowstone -

Chitchat

My traveling companion, DL, is one heck of a smart kid.  While he was in Vietnam, he racked up a bunch of national titles in Computer Science and Math. Not only that, he possesses tremendous knowledge of Vietnamese literature and music.

Day 4

Drove to Mammoth Hot Spring, Norris and Old Faithful and get out at the south entrance because I wanted to pass Grand Teton National Park and Snake River after seeing Ansel Adams’ famous black-and-white photos of Grand Teton range and the river.

I tried but failed miserably in my attempt to find a spot which able me to have the same view as in the picture on the left. So DL assured me. “I think they took such pictures from another mountain. You can’t see the river standing low right here.”

- Grand Teton pass and Snake River, Ansel Adams –

However, I managed to snap photo (right) with the same concept: a trail leading toward infinity.

I was utterly impressed by Wyoming’s open space. I’d never witnessed a sky so clear with clouds flowing so closed to my head as if I could reach them with my bare hand. I’d never traveled amid so much empty space around me.

Arrived in Salt Lake city at 9:30 p.m. Met DL’s friends at a restaurant before heading to Provo to stay the night.

See more photos

RESOURCES

Yellowstone River Motel

14 Park St., Gardiner, MO – 406 848 7303 – yellowstonerivermotel.com – Yellowstone North Entrance

Travelogue: Day 2, 10/19 – Nanaimo, British Columbia – Seattle – Yellowstone

Quick trip around Nanaimo

We walked around the harbor for a quick sightseeing. It rained a bit so the scenery was not as nice. We went to a coffee shop. [Ask Matt for the name].

Took the 12:45 ferry back to Tsawwassen. Writing the entry while on the ferry.  I ‘m sitting at the cafeteria section by the window where they have an electric socket.

Problem again with authority

I got a ticket for speeding near Seattle. The policeman claimed that I was driving at 86 mph, 16 miles over the speed limit, that I was passing four cars. Hmm! I was on the fastest lanes, of course eventually I had to pass cars on the slower lanes. Bullshit. I kept a distance with the car in front of me. Some 100 bucks plus thrown down the drain for no reason.

Met DL and his friends at Thanh-Vi restaurant in the Vietnamese community area in downtown Seattle at almost 8 p.m. We left Seattle at 11 p.m. for Yellowstone.

The weather and road condition were good. However, I could almost seen another speeding ticket from the same state on the same day. DL was driving and I was falling asleep while occasionally telling the guy, “hey slow down, it’s okay, we don’t have to rush.” Yah I had too much excitement with Washington police for the day. During one of those half sleep, I opened my eyes and saw flashing blue-red lights in a far distance in front of us. I hurried DL. “Hey probably the police, slow down. Uh, what’s that car in front of us? Is he stopping? Why can’t we catch up with him?”  Then after three minutes, we stopped seeing the lights. We drove on and saw a police car parking on the emergency lane with lights turned off. I didn’t have time to say anything as DL breathed out in relief. “Oh my gosh. I was driving for 100 mph. How could I ever saw him like this without his lights? Thanks god.”

Travelogue: Day 1, 10/18 – Astoria (OR) to Nanaimo, British Columbia

Astoria – Vancouver: 314 miles, 5 hours 34 mins by car.
Vancouver – Nanaimo: 2 hour ferry

Canada shooed me away

I was denied entry into Canada. Why? I had too much in my car making them think I came there to live. Nobody believed that I would come for only a day. Did I look like a refugee? After all I did have the American passport. Do Americans start flooding the Canadian border now?

 They ask me a bunch of question How long you meet him?

• Where did you meet your friend?
• How long did you meet your friend?
• What did you do there (meaning the country I met him)?
• Was he also working there?
• Why all the way from California for just one night?
• Why you need all that stuff with you for just one night? (I’m moving out of a house for god sake!)

One particular  officer tried to act intimidating, making me wonder if it was part of the job at the custom check or he was just exceptionally mean. I was trying to reason when he raised his voice. "Don’t argue with me. Listen!"  Yeah, I listen my ass.

I had two choices: either forfeited the trip and headed back to Seattle. But my friend wouldn’t fly in until tomorrow evening. What was I supposed to do in Seattle? Angry, I drove back to the closest US town after the border looking around for overnight storage.  I entered a bakery called "Seaside Bakery Cafe" and asked the lady there.  She seemed very nice, turned out she really was. She suggested Pantec and a Mail Service next door.

Fishy people near the border

The lady who worked there kept telling me  she said she will accept just to "help me" because we are the post office we don’t do this thing. She told the man to the back and whispered something to him and when she came out, She wanted $50 dollars. I balked at the ideas, then she said she will take $35, 15 is deposit will return to me if i take it tomorrow. She did not trust that I came back the next day as I could be a runaway from my parents; my parents were frantically looking for me at the moment. It was ridiculous as she held my driver license and passport. Yeah, and she wanted cash because she could not be sure if my credit card had money.

Red flag #1:  If she’s honest, why didn’t she talk to the guy in front of me? Why did she have to whisper with him in the back?

Red flag #2: Why cash only in a credit card country? I don’t buy the the reason not being able to check for the money. Yeah, that’s why people swipe the card to see whether they can make the transaction.

This shady woman’s action can be simply interpreted as:

1. The post office does not accept random luggage deposit.  So this woman was trying to a business on the side therefore she had to consult the guy first so they can split the money.

2. She wanted cash because even if the post office accepted luggage, she could keep the money to herself. She said something about writing me a receipt. But this kind of receipt can be torn up the minute I leave the door.

Genuine people and cheap storage

I returned to the Bakery to seek help from the owner. She jumped at the price quote for my luggage and called Pantec from her phone before writing a good direction, only 10 minute away. The 5×5 storage cost only 20 dollars for a few days.  You can fit a mini truck load in there, bicycle, big TV, etc.  Credit cards were accepted.  The only setback was there wasn’t any security. Once people have access to the storage rooms which are left open, they can cut the lock. At this point, I simply did not care. If anybody wanted to steal my clothes, magazine, food, cooking stuffs, be my guest.

Now, I’ll show you a trick to catch an insincere person. Observe his smiles.

A sincere smile can last up to 5 second (or close that).  When you see a smile on a person for an extended time, it’s likely you’re staring at a fake smile.  When a person smile sincerely, both the tips of his mouth and eyes moved.  A fake smile is when only the mouth’s tips change and the eyes’ tips remain where they are. [Link]

Canada finally

Sweet Canada neighbor granted me entry into her country. Drove to Tsawwasen ferry to catch the 5:45 ferry to Nanaimo island where Matt lived. Acted like a complete idiot as I gave my luggage to a baggage guy and 10 minutes later begged for help from a boy to run with me to see where my luggage was? Yup yup, I’ve been to many places people were afraid of traveling to. I’ve been to place I didn’t understand a single word spoken there and I was okay. Ironically, in sweet maple Canada, I kinda lost my composure.

I learned a hard lesson:

1. Don’t estimate any situation ever.
2. Research research and research.

Typical Canadian

• A Canadian will suggest going to an ice skating ring. This was the first choice Matt brought up when he asked me what I would like to do.
• He will take you to Tim Horton to try out doughnuts especially the Tim’s bits.
• Uhh, I only notice that.

I’m in Canada for less than a day, so I can’t write much about this country and the people. However it’s safe to say that Canada is very similar to the US. The people look, dress, and almost behave the same; I barely notice anything different.

Chit chat

Matt and I discovered we shared the same interests and were working on similar projects, using similar resources and technology, aiming for similar goals. Can’t say more.

I had a nice sleep in a decorative room full of porcelain dolls, some of which were handmade by his mom. [Pix]

RESOURCES

Pantec Mini Storage
943 Boblett St., Blaine, WA 98230 * 360 322 6111 (phone)
How to get there (very easy):

1. From the Canadian border, you drive on freeway 5 for five minutes
2. Get to the first city after the border
3. Drive on main street. You’ll see "Seaside Bakery Cafe"
4. Go straight to first stop sign. Turn left on H St.
5. Turn right on Mitchell, 2nd street after overpass
6. Pass a school and turn left on Boblet.
7. Pentax is on your right

Ferry
Schedule: http://www.bcferries.com/schedules/mainland/
From Tsawwassen to Nanaimo (Duke Point): http://www.bcferries.com/schedules/calendar/sch09050602.html
Prices: http://www.bcferries.com/fares/nanvanoffpeak.html

Driving instructions from Seattle:

1. I-5 North to the Canadian border
2. In British Columbia, I-5 becomes Highway 99
3. Highway 99 to Highway 17 (Exit 28)  
4. Southwest on Highway 17 to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal
5. Total estimated driving time: about 2 hrs 30 minutes depending on traffic conditions

(Thanks Matt for the information)

Travel itinerary

1. 10/18 Wed morning: Depart Astoria, Or to Vancouver, British Columbia
   Chitchat and sightseeing with Matt
2. 10/19 Thursday afternoon: Depart Vancouver for Seattle airport
   Pick up DL in the evening. Meet up his friends
   Leave for Yellowstone (night driving)
3. 10/20 Friday: Somewhere in Washington or Montana
   Probably stop some place to take rest
   In the morning, sight seeing along the way
   Arrive at the motel in afternoon or early evening
   Drive around a bit and go back to motel
   Use wireless internet there to write a bit
4. 10/21 Saturday: Enjoy Yellowstone, take lots of pictures.
   Either stay one more night at Yellowstone or leave in the evening heading toward Salt Lake city
5. 10/22 Sunday: Option 1: Somewhere near Salt Lake by early morning or Option 2: Drive to Salt Lake very early in the morning. Sight seeing nearby places and Idaho.
   Meet DL’s friend, see Mormon Church, see lake, night gathering
6. 10/23 Monday morning: Drive back to bay area 11 hours
   Arrive home

Whacked myself on head to force out this post

I have not blogged for a long time. Shoo me to the devil. Shoo! Shoo! For the past two weeks, I’ve been working on my new/old site about Sarajevo. Yah I finally admit it; this city and the country haunt me. I first blog about Sarajevo on sarajevo.wordpress.com using the free hosting provided by wordpress. However, I want to grow this site as well use it as a learning experiment so I decided to host it. It now has a new home at beyondsarajevo.com.  I use a wordpress template and dress it up a little. Don’t you dare go ballistic about the site’s visualization. I never said I was a pro web designer anyway. 

I see beyondsarajevo as a foundation brick for me to build other more successful and worthy sites in the future. For example, I’m planning to create a site about Prague and the Czech Republic once I arrive in November. I have not nail down the site’s content. I believe ideas will come to me. 

I had a nice dinner chat with my Japanese boss last night about everything, mostly Japanese culture. This is the reason why I really forced myself to crank out this post to jot down notes about this conversation.

I will update tomorrow as I want to finish setting up my hosting account for a Vietnamese version of the Saraj site, then I’ll go to bed. It’s difficult but I manage to wake up a bit early in the morning for the past month.

QuickLink: Flock, the coolest thing

When I discovered Firefox in 2004, I thought I found one of the coolest web browsers compared to IE, Netscape, built-in browswer inside AOL. I digged the tab feature and completely switch to Firefox or a two years until I found another coolest web browser, Opera. Opera has Firefox’s tab feature, built-in mail and rss feed reader, cool widgets among other things. I’m happy with Opera, and using it for the past month now.

Until yesterday, I discovered Flock, a browser built based on Firefox. Oh my gosh, this blue baby is the darnest thing: great baby blue GUI, integrated with flickr, youtube, gmail, blog editor in addition to gazzillions darnest extensions.

From now on, I will use FLOCK and FLOCK alone.

Credit card charges

I called up my credit cards companies to inquire about international transaction fees.

CaptialOne: no fee 
Chase : 3% of the total amount.

It’s crazy since I’ve been using mosly Chase card for the past few years including all the time I spent overseas. How much extra money I paid for using Chase instead of CapitalOne.  The reason I used Chase was that I had more money on the card, thus more convenient. 

Yah. I should have researched and know more about my credit cards instead of just simply using them.  Just some research, carefully read the statement, and simple phone calls, I could have avoided all those extra charges.  (I had a bad habit when it comes to dealing with money.)

Okay, a lesson learned.

Update: Target Visa card charges 1% for international transaction. 

I’m writing a children book

I’ve always thought that someday I’ll write a children book, not any kind of book, but the kind which sets a high standard for others to follow, the kind which make people think a little, …no…alot, the kind which changes their thinking…

I’ve entertained this idea for quite long time and actually set out to write short script, but I threw it aside ’cause it was too much jumbo, mumbo and uh SUCK. However, I know so well if I don’t write what-i-want-to-do down and stick to it, surely I will not. Human has the tendency to act in auto-pilot mode, to stay in the comfort zone. I used to be like this a lot.

You probably heard of the song “Losing my religion,” the best song of R.E.M. Michael Stipe, the song writer, said in an interview that he was inspired by a song from The Police: “Every breath you take.” He thought that it was a great song about love obessision, and determined to write another just like that if not better.

If “Everybreath you take” serves as a benchmark for R.E.M. “Losing my religion,” these following stories and books are well kept in the back of my head for inspiration:

• The Little Prince (French) – Antoine de Saint Exupéry (a story about a little boy’s view of the world)
• Totochan, The Little Girl by the Windows (Japanese) -Tetsuko Kuroyanagi (a book about a little girl’s view of education)
• My Heart’s in the Highlands (American) – William Saroyan (about an impoverished poet and his son who worry about their household income)

In case you question about my English writing skills. Hmm, I think in order for me to achieve the highest standard I set for myself, I should write my book not in English, but in my native tongue, and later translate into English.

Daily notes

Career/Education: I thought about going to take some classes, get a certificate, or attend graduate school for a busies-related subjects. However, I was discouraged with academic training without or wit little practical experiences. So I will apply for companies which offer good training programs, preferably multi-faceted and international companies. J., he has a technical degree and now works for Ernst & Young where he gets his 2 month training in auditing among other things. Columbia river: I arrived in Astoria after a 750+ mile drive from the Bay Area and stopped by Safeway to buy some food. I could smell and feel the coolness from the nocturnal water, and instantly forgot that I had driven for 14 hours. Craigslist.org: This community/classified website is great. I got so much done through it: getting a job, renting rooms, buying, selling, and recently got a traveling partner through rideshare category. Cheaptickets: I found the cheapest airfare ever from Dusseldorf to JFK for less than $200 one-way. However, "cheap is not always good" turned out to be right in this case as my credit card was multiply charged, the ticket was not confirmed by the airline, their reluctance to let me cancel my UNCONFIRMED ticket, the lack of sync-knowledge among their travel agents. I lived in Bosnia at the time and had to talked to them almost every other days to resolve the issue. Imagine I have to report information between the American and German agents giving the time difference. Every single time I talked to the cheaptickets’ agents, I had to repeat the information. Each call lasted more than an hour. Thanks god for Skype, I would not dare imagining using the traditional phone service. Tom Peter, a management guru, mentioned that businesses seldom own up to their mistakes, instead they point the fingers. It’s advisable just to have the courage and say: "We’re sorry we made blunder, how can we fix it for you?" I finally got a confirmed that I would get my money back for the ticket plus other multiple charges. The last agent I talked to was really nice, but eventually, she said: "It’s LTU. We have no trouble with other airlines. Something must be wrong with their systems. They kept refusing booking from us." But the thing is, I booked the same flight directly through LTU’s website. It went through. When I double booked, they canceled my other booking right away. I talked to four agents. Three of them were professional and helpful. I doubt I will ever deal with cheaptickets again. Too much hassles. Too much negativity. Ideal place: The other day, I thought of my ideal place to live. It should be near downtown to have easy access to culture events and people. Preferably near the water.Quiet. House with upstairs bedrooms. Organizer: I’ve used many organizers: electronic, computer, programs, online-services, paper and pens. Recently, I’m using MS Outlook 2003 integrated with Franklin Covey Plus. Plus, I have a small Todo-list pad which I carry around. So far so good. Too bad, don’t have the Palm Pilot. . Skype: A miracle. Not surprisingly, it was the brainchild of two idealists. Saves me a fortune in telephone bill. Especially now I don’t have a phone line and have to use my cell with only 300 free minutes. Skype is best used with a fast connection and good microphone/earpieces/headset. Walmart: I bought a lens cleanser botle at Walmart and got unlimited refill. Yes, I’m not joking. Free refill for life. Wallmart is insanely smart you know. Who would not want to buy something for less than 2 dollars and get refill for life? I wouldn’t. These refilling cost is nothing compared to Walmart’s huge pocket, but they will have people who come in for refilling, then cruise around, and buy other items. Later, they tell other people as I am doing right now. Shopping at Walmart is not simply going to the store, getting needed items, and driving away. No, it is more of an American pastime of the lower-class and perhaps frugal middle-class who would not care at all about those left-wing conspiracies against Walmart: exploiting Chinese workers, ruining small towns’ culture by driving away mom-and-pop stores. People, nowadays, go to Walmart during the weekend, eat at the in-store restaurants, look, and then shop. I was there last weekend and saw they just added a nail shop. Wifi: Wifi is everywhere now, good for me. JetBlue at JFK airport offers free wifi in the areas surrounding their terminals. In the mean time, I can sit comfortable in my own home and enjoy the free Wifi from outside, without their knowing, of course. Writing: More and more I realize that writing is a form of meditation. It builds focus and clarity. Read/Reading UPS vs. FedEx Which shipping company is right about the economy? http://www.slate.com/id/2146636/?GT1=8482 (logistic, culture, shipping, business, economy)

Everyday crap : Instant noodles mess up mind

This is no news. Everybody knows that the Asian-breed instsant noodles are no good for your health. I learnt that since forever, when I was smart enough to pronounce noodles and snatched a package off the food closet whenever my mom did not pay attention.

But there must be something going on with this shie^.t they call noodle. Just like potato chips, we sweat over the thought of putting another chip into our mouth and eat a whole ddam bag right after getting out of the gym::yah the feel-good hormone level in our brain must have told us that, "Dear body, you're safe to eat that bag of potato chip now. Just remember to bring your huge ass to the gym again tomorrow!"

Yay yay, my math is above average; still I can't recall how many times I entertained myself with such ambivalently positive thinking.

Back to instant noodle. What is it about this noodle that a whole trash poor and dirt cheap student population crave after? Must be its inflatted price. I bought two dozens of cups for less than 4 dollars at non-asian market. What other food item can beat this?

Other than price, it must be the Asian cannot-live-without spice and the after boiling hot tap water mixed with the noodle that I shove down my throat faster than I can say out lout the word "Crap."

Other than whatever I mentioned in the previous paragraph, it must be the taste and look simulation to real gourmet noodle dish I eat at a real good Chineese or Vietnamese restaurant if my uncle takes his favorite niece::hmm he has only one:: out for dinner, my hypothetical gallant hot date wants to try authentic Asian watery food::keyword=hypothetical:, or I'm too lazy too cook::it doesn't help that I'm in the top-ten lousy Vietnamese female cook.

For all the reason above, it's very simple to declare to the whole world: I LOVE INSTANT NOODLE and I don't care how crappy it is.

But but but after knocking down a cup, my head is in a spin, and it feels like that there is lead in the back of my head. I barely think nor function properly. I'm so thirsty from the loaded bad sodium, and water doesn't help.

So I will refrain from eating noodle cup now, maybe once a week.

Instant noodle eating experience is like a good battle while you're munching string after string with a nasty aftermath when you realize WHAT THE HECK I JUST DID TO MY BODY AND BRAIN???

9.9.04