Writings, Wanderings

Originally posted on the now-defunct TravBuddy site December 30, 2008.           Growing up, Pittsburgh was the closest big city, and we would take advantage of the theater and museums from time to time.  Once in awhile, we drove past the Cathedral of Learning, the visual centerpoint of the University of Pittsburgh .  When I learned that the stone skyscraper housed unique classrooms designed in a variety of international styles, I decided I had to visit.  On Tuesday morning my dad and I set off.  We swung through a drive-through for lunch, drove alongside the Ohio River , passed the airport, and  headed through the Fort Pitt tunnel.  Coming across the bridge, I had a quick glimpse of a stadium and science museum before turning to follow 376 until our exit at Forbes St .  The Cathedral waited directly in front of us as we curved off the exit although it was still quite a few blocks away.  We found parking in a lot ac...

Yesterday the National Park Service celebrated 102 years of service in protecting our natural lands and historical and cultural heritage. Although the NPS has over 400 units to manage, only 60 are currently designated as national parks. To honor this occasion, I thought it would be interesting to create a list of the parks I have visited. (I used this site for quickest viewing of all 60). So here we go! 1. Badlands 2. Cuyahoga Valley 3. Gateway Arch 4. Grand Canyon 5. Grand Teton 6. Great Smoky Mountains (although this was more just a drive-through) 7. Kings Canyon 8. Mammoth Cave 9. Sequioa 10. Shenandoah 11. Yellowstone 12. Yosemite I think Shenandoah was the first one I visited in conjunction with a trip to DC when I was early elementary age. If not, then I believe it is Mammoth, also early elementary. (Since Cuyahoga is in Ohio, there is chance my parents took me there first but I don't remember it while I have vague memories of the other two trips.) Newest on...

Old Faithful isn't quite so faithful as it grows older. Once erupting about every hour, it has slowed to  stretches closer to ninety minutes than sixty. Even if this most famous of geysers does not hold true to the wristwatch, it still hints to visitors of the show that is to come. Steam. Low gurgling. A few spurts. Then the rush, the swoosh as a massive column of water jets skyward, the plume reaching dozens of feet above the heads of park visitors. The hot liquid blasts forth for several minutes, creating around its core a cloudy mist that on windy days graces bystanders' faces. Even after the fountain has receded back into the ground, runoff dribbles across the silter, Old Faithful pulls forth from me a unique sense of awe; especially outside of the bounds of Yellowstone National Park, there are few places in the world one can experience a geyser eruption especially one of this magnitude and relative predictability. (Fun fact: over half of the world's geysers...