This weekend wrapped up a string of mini weekend vacations that I have been taking throughout April and May. I went to Minnesota to visit my friend Katie and her fiance Josh at their place just outside of Minneapolis in Plymouth, MN. The weekend was action packed and we were on the move!

I have to wonder to myself sometimes if people think I'm crazy, especially lately. When I go on these mini vacations, I'm so on the move that I sometimes have to wonder if the people I am going to be with are going to be able to keep up. Sure enough, Katie and Josh were able to hang with me, although we were all pretty tired as the weekend wrapped up.

The drive from my house in Hammond to their place in Minnesota was about 460 miles, and get this...I drove the entire way by myself and never listened to the radio or CD's or anything! I drove in silence. I loved it! You would think that would be so boring, but I guess if I would have been that bored, I would have turned something on. I took I-94 from my house all the way to their place, so most of my time was spent driving through Wisconsin. I guess if I was REALLY bored, I could have counted all of the cheese stores or indoor water parks as I drove north. The drive was nice and easy and I never caught any traffic, suprisingly. When I crossed over the Mississippi, I was in St. Paul first. I went to the side of the river opposite of the city and took a few nice skyline pictures of the city. Then, it was off to Minneapolis. I had some time to kill before Josh and Katie got home from work, so I did my photoshoot of both Minneapolis and St. Paul before I even made it to my friends place.

Saturday, we enjoyed an early round of golf, and I am proud to say that I shot a 6+! Not bad for a guy who hasn't golfed in almost five years. We also went and saw United 93 at the movies. I wasn't sure I was going to feel about the movie, both before and after seeing it, but now that I've seen it, I would recommend others to see it also. The movie is well portrayed and is a story of courage and bravery. We also went and saw a Minnesota Twins game at the Metrodome. It was Minnesota vs Detroit and the Twins got the win. Santana through a 7 inning no hitter and there were a few great plays that made the ESPN clips later in the evening.

On the way home, I took a different route. Instead of taking I-94 all the way home, I left Minneapolis and went south on I-35 to Iowa. I was headed for the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, IA. For those of you who don't know what the Field of Dreams is (which should be very few of you), it is the baseball field that was built next to a house in the middle of a cornfield and is the field that the movie Field of Dreams was filmed (starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones). Of course, I got a ton of pictures from the site at about every angle of the field that I could get. Everything there looks the exact same and has been well preserved since the filming of the movie. There are a few slight changes:

1. There is now a white picket fence that goes around the majority of the white house in the film. The white fence use to only be in the front of the house. When the people began coming to visit the field, they would go up to the house, so later the owners built a fence to prevent that, since the house is still occupied by the original family that was there during filming.
2. There are overhead electrical lines that run from right field, over 2nd and 3rd base. These were not there in the filming of the movie. They were actually moved during filming and replaced afterwards.
3. There are two small shops that sell tshirts and other nicknacks and memorabilia. Those stands were not there during thr filming of the movie.
4. Being that it is only early May, the corn that makes the outfield fence is not grown yet. Me and some buddies are planning a return trip in August.

I would recommend anyone passing around or near Dyersville, IA (15 miles west of Dubuque, IA along US-20) to stop by the Field of Dreams. Admission is free and you have the freedom to run the bases, play catch, hit some balls, or sit on the bleachers and dream.

Also on the way home, I stopped in Galena, IL. What a cool town! I'm not really into shopping or anything, but the aesthetics of the town were fabulous. I never knew that Illinois had hills! So as you will see to the right, I have a few pictures of the town and surrounding areas.

The drive home was a total of 570 miles, bringing my weekend driving total to approx. 1030 miles! Thats a lot of time spent in the car!!!

I hope all of you enjoy the pictures that I have posted. I always love getting your feedback!

Send Feedback To:

jlaxsalinas@robertmorris.edu

  After spending some time in Atlantic City, it was time to head north toward NYC. I stayed with my friend Jason in Marlboro, NJ, which is about 45 minutes south of NYC. I got there around 6:00 and we hung out for a bit and ordered some pizza. This was also Monday, May 22, which was the 2-hour season finale of my favorite TV series 24. That started at 8:00 and we watched the entire thing, then hung out the rest of the night talking about old times in college.

  The next morning we had a bit of a slow start and got to NYC around 12:30pm. We rode the bus in and were dropped off at the Port Authority in Times Square. First, we walked to Central Park and spent a little bit of time there. We went and saw the Bow and Gastow bridges which have been made famous in many movies featuring the park.

  Afterward, we walked around a bit, making a stop at The Trump Tower and other random stores along 5th Avenue before we headed for Rockefeller Center. Once we got to 'The Rock', we took the journey to the top of the observation deck and took in a beautiful day over NYC. I took a bunch of pictures while Jason videotaped the entire experience. After we were done, we headed down and looked for a subway to take us to lower Manhattan.

  We got on the subway not long after and headed south toward the financial district. We got off a few blocks from Ground Zero and took the Staten Island Ferry to Staten Island. I got some of my best photographs from here! The ferry also gave us a nice view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. When we got to the other side, we got off the boat and got right back on to head back into NYC.

  Once back, we stopped at Subway and got a bit to eat before heading to Ground Zero. Once there, it was a sobering site. Ground Zero today looks like a gigantic basement. There wasn't much to it other than some semi-exposed subways that were running at the bottom. There is a tall 7 foot fence around the entire perimeter of the property and no postings are allowed. There was a very small area designated for that. The flag that was draped over the rubble of the Sept. 11 tragedy is perched within the hollowed crater and still flies, although it looks worn and raveled. When we finished visiting the site, we took the subway (which still has the WTC sign posted underground) back north towards Rockefeller Center and Times Square.

  It was sunset by now, so I made my way back to 'The Top of the Rock' and took some beautiful night photos. After I finished, I headed down and we walked to Times Square. The lights there were amazing and reminded me of Las Vegas. Huge LCD screens line the buildings and people are everywhere. From there, we headed back to our bus and made the trip back to New Jersey. We got back to Jason's around 12:30 at night, hung out for a bit, then called it a night. The next morning was going to be a big day because I was picking up my friend Tim at the airport in Newark, beginning the third leg of my journey...

...TO BE CONTINUED

Send Feedback To:

jlaxsalinas@robertmorris.edu