In the City of Brotherly Love - Philadelphia, for an Eagles game!
Good evening all! It is hard to believe that I haven't had the time to write at all during the month of October until now (and I just barely have time to write before heading off to the airport again in a couple of hours). So much has happened! I'll go over quickly, then hope to be able to write more thorough updates with pictures when I have a more prolonged break next week (home for a whole 7 days in a row - wow).
First, I got back from Hawaii and had one day of rest before heading to the East Coast. I had a ticket for my first ever Philadelphia Eagles game (I've been a fan since the early 2000s, when I just really liked Donovan McNabb - how the mighty have fallen). Since JetBlue doesn't fly to Philly, I routed to the next closest/easiest city to take a bus from: Washington DC. How I love that city! So many reasons why.
The new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington DC.
Stayed the night in DC, then took a MegaBus to Philly on Saturday, the 1st. Got into the city and had fun walking around downtown/South Street, before heading back to Apple Hostel (the Hostelling International affiliate in Philly, which was nice, but nothing will ever top the DC location).
The game itself was fun, even though the Eagles lost as they let the San Francisco 49ers come from 21 points down to win. It was a great experience, though the atmosphere really wasn't even close to a Oregon Ducks game at Autzen. I think I'm going to try to sell my two remaining game tickets, because in all honesty, it was a bit of a hassle to get all the way to Philly, and a decent amount of money.
Helicopters flying over Lincoln Financial Field at the end of the national anthem.
That night, the 2nd, I took a bus from Philadelphia to Boston. Ugh. Sure, it saved money, but wow, so uncomfortable. I got into Boston around 6:00 AM, and proceeded to the airport, where I promptly found a bench of seats to lay down on and sleep intermittently for six hours or so. Then it was back home.
When I got home, I had plenty to do - like seeing my grandparents for our monthly luncheon, talked with my friend Clarke in Vietnam on Skype and finalized plans for me to fly out in December! So I booked those flights using Alaska Airlines miles - I'll be in Southeast Asia from December 4 to the 22nd. As it happened, I was also looking at flights to next summer's Olympic Games in London, which my brother and I are going to because it's a once in a lifetime type thing, since we are half-British and can stay with our awesome relatives in England. So I booked those as well, and used more miles to get from Portland to Chicago, for a cheap Aer Lingus fare leaving there ($882 total, on the perfect dates).
Ouch. That is a heck of a lot of miles to spend in one day (85,000 for the Asia trip, 25,000 for PDX-ORD-PDX next summer to position for the Olympics). Still, I have a decent amount left. :-)
I also watched the Oregon Ducks beat the California Golden Bears in football, which was fun, but sad because LaMichael James, our star running back got injured (hopefully not for too long). You can sense that it was a busy time at home, I think. Hence, no blog update.
Then, on Friday, I flew out overnight to Buffalo, New York (again, via JFK and BOS), to spend the weekend with my Uncle Sam, Aunt Diana, and cousins. Uncle Sam and I went to the Eagles/Buffalo Bills game (again, my Eagles lost - bad times), which was fun - I got greeted by two of the Buffalo Jills cheerleaders, who gave me a hat! We also went apple picking with the cousins, which was really nice too. Just a fun, relaxing weekend. Thank you Uncle Sam and Aunt Diana!
With my Uncle Sam and the hat that the Buffalo Jills gave me!
From Buffalo, I headed to New York, to watch the US Men's National Soccer Team play Ecuador. That was an interesting experience - the US supporters were completely outnumbered by Ecuador, and we lost 1-0. Soccer still has a long way to go in our country - though I doubt that would happen in Portland. It was great to see our team and Red Bull Stadium was very nice (but also way the heck out in New Jersey).
The view from my seat for the US vs. Ecuador in and international friendly on October 11, 2011.
The next day, I went to Pittsburgh, because I had never been, and wanted to see the Penguins play the Washington Capitals in hockey, since I had seen those two teams play in DC a year prior. I booked my place to stay on Airbnb.com, and it worked out great! My hosts were awesome, and the place was perfect. I got to explore downtown Pittsburgh for the whole day before the hockey game, including a visit to the Senator John Heinz History Center, which was REALLY well done. Every city should have a museum like that. I ate a local sandwich and walked a ton. Pittsburgh is really beautiful - it reminded me a lot of downtown Portland's waterfront area.
At the point where the three rivers intersect in Pittsburgh.
The next day, I flew back to Portland. Whew. That was the super short story to my travels. Of course, when I got home, I went to another Ducks game in Eugene, with my brother and mom, where Oregon beat Arizona State on ESPN. That was fun too.
So what's next? Well, I'm headed back to Washington DC tomorrow, for the Portland Timbers/DC United soccer match that was postponed because of Hurricane Irene! Remember that? Well, the BluePass made it super easy to just fly back again, hehe. I love it. It is a must win for the Timbers to try and make the playoffs, and will be on ROOT sports in Portland, channel 34 or 734 in HD on Comcast, starting at 4 PM PST. Watch for me with my Timbers jersey, if they ever show the supporters section! Hoping to meet some cool Portland people, in DC! :-)
After DC tomorrow, I'll wake up super early (probably like 4:30 AM, ugh, but necessary) and leave the hostel to get to the airport for a 6:25 AM flight to Boston, so I can make the connecting flight to... ARUBA! Woo hoo! Another new Caribbean island to visit! I chose Aruba because it's pretty exotic, and plus, when I talked to my English Grandma Pam on the phone over the weekend, she said that her friends all rave about it. A recommendation from Grandma: sold! I'll be in Aruba for two nights - enough to take the lay of the land if I ever want to go back for longer (like I do with most Caribbean islands). I'm staying with http://www.a1apartmentsaruba.com/ - who get great reviews on TripAdvisor and aren't super expensive.
I will leave Aruba on Saturday, and manage to make it to Chicago around midnight - score one for the Boston/JFK/Chicago JetBlue flight schedule actually working in my favor on that day. I'll spend Saturday and Sunday night with my brother Maxwell, hanging out and watching football. You know, just because I can. Third trip to see my baby brother using the BluePass, and at least one more after that, too. Definitely excited.
Back to Portland next Monday (the flight from Chicago to Boston will be my 100th lifetime on JetBlue, which I think is a pretty big deal), and I'll be home for another week (until October 31st) as I rest up and prepare for the last 22 days of BluePass, where things are going to get really crazy.
That's it for now. An hour to go and pack! I hope all is well with everyone! :-)
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