Living in Chicago, its a city i take for granted, and don’t explore as much as I should with my camera. The past few weeks, when I have been home, I have ventured out and explored a bit with my camera. Here are some of my favorite shots:
Work took me to New York for a few days and during a bit of downtime, I was able to explore a bit in the city with the M9. One of the stops, though sorry no photos, was at B&H Photo. It was pretty freaking cool. A HUGE warehouse and the products zipped around on a conveyor belt system. Was pretty neat. I won’t do my useful play by play, I will just let the photos be what they are.
So despite having just gotten home from China on a Monday. A buddy and I decided to head to South Dakota the following weekend to experience the Badlands and just take in that part of the country. Unlike the China adventure, this is not a day by day entry, as I was too lazy for that…
First up was the uneventful flight from ORD to Rapid City, SD. The plane was TINY and packed, so it made for a shitty knee crushing experience. One request that i have of people on airplanes is that if you seat feels hopelessly jammed forward, thats probably the super tall dude behind you that you spotted when you were boarding the plane’s knees. It’s not very nice to assume that your aggressive pushing and shoving against the bones are going to miraculously compress his legs. Oh and at 5’6″ i think you are going to be ok.
Anyway, arriving in Rapid City, it was time to explore. We didn’t have much time on the weekend, and we had an aggressive sight seeing goal; Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Crazy Horse, Missle Silos, Cave, and newly added… Wall Drug.
Picking up at Avis, the sky felt BIG
With car packed. We were on our way to explore. We headed first down toward the Badlands national park. But along the way we couldn’t help but keep seeing signs for “Wall Drug”. From free donuts for military men, to $.99 pie. It was shaping up to be an Oasis. Like mice following a trail of cheese we made our way to the town of “Wall”.
The Town of Wall
This little town was AWESOME, but also bizzare. It had a strange mix of tourist, but also locals at the random restaurants and shops. We made our way into Wall Drug to explore…
We Found it
So Wall Drug is really not just a drug store, but more of a Drug-store, restaurant, hardware store, gift shop. It was awesome. We were starving so we were pumped for the famous donuts, but before we could indulge, a special warning.
I never see signs like this in Chicago.
With the warning fresh in our minds, we made it to the Donut Factory but they had made the donuts for the day and they were available at the counter.
My buddy in a sugary donut induced stupor.
Feeling full and grateful that we heeded the signs, we made our way to see some missles.
Looks like a trailer park to me…
Well looks were deceiving. When we made our way inside, we say about 3 other tourists watching a dorky video talking about the Minutemen missles. Um, maybe its not so dorky, because it turned out to be pretty darn interesting. Missles placed in the ground, ready to deploy to end the world, and all of this in fields with Bison. Pretty cool. The one fact that struck me the most was the 5000+ mile journey to Moscow the missles were ready to make in THIRTY, 3-0, minutes. Why did it take me 14 hours to china??
30 minutes to impact…
Now the only part of this, beyond the trailer park housing, that was a bust is that the actual missle sight is NOT there. What? yep, you got it. This information “center” was no where near where the actual missle was. The best part was that “Butch” was going to be closing the missle site in 30 minutes, but if we hurried and made the 15 mile drive quickly, we might beat him. Oh and they were closed the rest of the weekend, so it was to be today or never. Armed with our map we hit the road, and found the random field, and no Butch!
This was pretty damn cool.
The Dome
The Missle
It was interesting that it was just sitting in the middle of a field. The glass top had been installed for us tourist to peer in. The thing that struck me was that there was just an open gate to walk right in, and no one in sight for days. More than anything I was thinking about some teenagers pulling a prank to collect souvenirs. I guess south dakota kids have better things to do. Remember the sign from Wall Drug…
Leaving the missle, it was on to the Badlands! having heard all of the hype about it looking like the moon (like anyone has really been there…), and being out of this world, the hype was high.
We’re there…Badlands National Park
The park truly is an experience, and AWESOME. the landscape suddenly struts up from the prairie and it really is unique. But the coolest feature of the park is the fact that you can drive all around it. Having coming back recently from Denali, it was a stark contrast to feel free to drive around and see more of the park, and stop and explore. We wanted to drive every mile of the road to explore, and hike around.
The moon?
The rest of the landscape was truly stunning and unique. We spent a total of about 3-4 hours exploring the park, including a late night run in with a bison.
Prairie & Rock
Sky
Controlled Burn
The Road
Not THIS is the moon
Sunset
Bison in the way… (Bad photo but good memory)
Exhausted we made camp that night and explored some more the next morning. The one watchout with the Badlands is that it isn’t really hiking terrain. Sure there are trails here and there, but there aren’t many true long hikes to make, as it’s mainly prairie.
Feeling good with the Badlands we headed out to simply drive some of the small towns and roads of South Dakota, and we came across this awesome car in the middle of a cattle pasture.
Protected
Stalled
That’s the awesome thing about travel. Just being able to stop and explore and then keep going. We were cautious of rattlesnakes though. The day was filled with more sights like the car, but we just took it in over good conversation and tunes.
Next up, were the monuments; Mt. Rushmore & Crazy Horse. Growing up I never heard of Crazy Horse and never had any desire to see Mt. Rushmore, but now, hey, we’re in SD, why not. So while the previous day was ugly and rainy, this day was brilliantly clear. Mt. Rushmore was filled with old couples and friends, seemingly completing their bucket list activities, interspersed with a young family or two. We were definitely the only two buddies there under 60. Was funny.
The Walkway
I feel obligated to also give you the beauty shot
The Men
It really was a perfect day. Next up was ice cream… So the entire time we are there i am noticing the most delicious looking ice cream with grandma and grandpa. I did chuckle as one grandma went to share her ice cream with another grandma and that grandma knocked the scoop off the cone. They both sort of watched as it went tumbling to the concrete, and the look was pure horror. I wanted to get up and get them another, but when I got there I decided I wanted one.
The Ice Cream Shop. These two guys reminded me of me and my buddy.
Post ice cream it was time for Crazy Horse. The story of this mountain is fascinating, and if you ever visit, please do sit and watch the informational video about how the project started. I rarely link out, but this is worth it. (http://www.crazyhorsememorial.org/monument/) The cliff notes are that a powerful Native American chief, asked a sculptor (who was an apprentice on Mt. Rushmore) to build a monument to “the Red Man”. What’s amazing about this project is the sheer scale. Mt. Rushmore is Child’s play to this thing. The heads of Mt. Rushmore would fit on the side of his head, and then that leaves his body and horse. It’s amazing. Check it out. And the project doesn’t accept state or federal funding on principle.
The Vision and The Current State
In the foreground you see a model of the sculpture to be completed and then in the background you see the current status and progress. Yes, its going to take a while to be complete.
A Mt. Rushmore matching beauty shot
Again this monument is huge and amazing. Its a must see. I feel like it should get much more love in the press than it does… But we won’t get too political.
We spent the rest of the trip exploring and just enjoying South Dakota. Overall a big thumbs up to SD and the sights. It’s truly a very special part of the U.S.
So day 8 was a big day in China! Post the panda bust, we got back into our car and headed 200km to the largest buddha on the planet. It promised to be epic but we took it with a grain of salt because the panda center was supposed to be amazing as well.
On the way, we had to stop for gas. And apparently our up close and personal look at the gas pump is not normal. Our driver asked us to get out of the car at the entrance to the station, and we noted others were doing the same. While waiting, both the cutesy and ugliest dog came strolling by. He literally was strolling, he had a plan of where he was going, walked inches past us and never slowed down.
Lomo
Post gas it was back on the highway and I have to say our driver kinda sucked. He wasn’t pleasant at all and even when we would say please and thankyou for stuff, he wouldn’t say anything back. You could tell he was not happy to be driving all day. Poor service I am sadd to say has been pretty prominent this trip, at least by western standards.
Anyway, once we pulled up to the Big Buddha park, the one thing that struck is was the humidity. The air was sopping wet. Crazy crazy wet. It immediately brought back flashes of the Bangkok horror.
The Entrance
Immediately we were drenched in sweat and it promised to be a hike up a huge staircase to get to the buddha. Ugh.
Stairway to Buddha, level 1 of 150
On the way up, there was a “Little Buddha Cave”, so we decided to hop in.
The Cave entrance
Oh cool, there IS a little buddha in there. Well he wasn’t little. More like the size of a d lineman.
Cave Buddha
Post the mini break we got back to the climb. It wasn’t as tiring as sweat inducing. Sweat was literally pouring off us and into our eyes. Gross and it burns.
We did get a few cool views of the surrounding city on the way up.
View of Le Shan
Just about when were ready to call it quits and have a little google images and Photoshop fun, we saw the upper gate.
Final stairway
Ok, this was cool and well worth the hike up. Buddha was HUGE, and it’s impressive to think he was carved into the hillside hundreds of years ago!
First up his “corn rows”, each twist was the size of a head
Corn Rows
Alright let me just show you how big we are talking.
His head is almost as big as my friend Tony’s. Check out the people against the railing for a sense of scale.
Big Buddha
He has an awesome view out onto the world.
Buddha’s POV
Now, this is a full body buddha and his body is carved into the cliff side to the scale of his head. If you look at the picture above you can see the stairway leading you down. I’m sorry to say we just couldn’t do it. It was too hot and the line down was taking an hour minimum. If you have never experienced a packed chinese stairway in the heat, then you don’t get it 
but we got some awesome views down, but no good photos 
What’s really cool about the entire place is that it’s still a working temple, and along the way at all of the Buddha people were praying and showing respect. We found this courtyard with all of these prayer candles and lamps. And of course you could pay and get one, but what was cool is that it was dirt cheap. Not at all priced to make a profit. Very cool.
My lamp for my one wish…
We also spotted this bad ass monk protecting the entrance.
Be Careful
Speaking of pimps, this guy made it look easy
Balance
So it was back to the car and beside the parking lot we spotted her.
Sleeping Beauty
She was in this room of lawn chair, and i initially thought it was some type of cooling room, but then realized it had no door. So maybe it was just a place to catch a rest while waiting for family or friends to come out of the park??
Now it was back in the car and on the way to the airport. The driver was grumpier than ever and the traffic home was tough. We saw a total of 5 accidents to and fro and it made us want to use the seat belts, but of course they didn’t work. Doh!
We made it to the airport and checked into the first class lounge. Not bad. Next up, the final day in Beijing.
This morning saw an early start to the day. We once again hired a driver for the day to take us on our ambitious trek. We have over 400km journey today! First up was a visit to the Chendu Giant Panda research facility, which is the largest captive breeding programs for pandas in the world.
At college we had an awesome chinese restaurant called “Panda House”
When you arrive you pay about $10 to get in, and then have the option to pay another few bucks to take a ride up the hill to the nursery or you can walk for about 20 minutes. Um, ride please. At the nursery you get to see the baby pandas in the incubators and man they were so cute, but no photos then exiting that, its kinda just a bust and here is where the hustle comes again. So they advertise that you can get up close and personal with the pandas and feed and touch them. The Stig was pumped to pet and coddle the panda, hence our flight here in the first place. What they don’t tell you is that it’s like $200 to take a picture with a panda. Yes $200, and. You can’t even go in and see them up close unless you pay that. We’d been lured by promises of pandas up close and personal and we got a massive door and hands outstretched for the dough. Bust. Somehow all the guide books and the locals forgot to tell us this. Grrr.
The queue of rich folk who were willing to pay
So given that we were cheap, and while the soft fur of the panda was appealing to the Stig, we still decided to pass. So we walked around to see what we could get for the price of admission, and what it amounts to is a basic zoo. Ugh. And because it’s pandas they freaking just sit there and sleep, even though this was feeing time. But we did manage to get a couple of pics
“Jill” sitting
But we did learn where baby pandas come from, and it was traumatizing.
There isn’t a panda stork?
So after seeing Jill, panda sex, and another Panda in a concrete box, we bounced. On our way back to the car, we found the second largest breeding program!! It was amazing luck, and again not in our guide book! And at this center, they let us have run of the place, and you could even “adopt” a panda for cheap too!
Second Largest Breeding Center
Cute pandas, tied up.
They love tourists so much they even scarified one panda to make a hat!
So with two panda centers under our belt, it’s back to the car, and a long drive to the next leg of the adventure.
This morning we awoke in Xi’an, China!! After a bit of a rough night, it was nice to wake up in a nice hotel and feel well rested for the day. We were staying at the Sofitel and this place was pimp. Our “double” bedding situation was pretty funny.
“Double” Room
We had a taxi and driver arranged for us to take us to the Terra Cotta soliders. Of course before we got there, he had to take us into a “museum factory” where they also made Terra cotta figurines; for sale of course. This place turned out to be actually cool, and interesting to see how they made figurines today. But definitely makes you wonder how much of the soldiers we later see in the museum are indeed real.
Factory Floor
Artisan at work
Of course at the end of the tour, there is a “sell” for us to buy figurines or other items at a great discount because this is the sale month. Of course it is. How lucky we are! I resisted the temptation, because this wasn’t the actual Terra Cotta warrior museum, this was the little hustle that the driver wanted us to go by first. But again, it was cool to see.
On the way out we saw a glass locker on the side of the alley with everything we needed to start a revolution.
Bento revolution
When we arrived at the official museum, we were greeted by a potential guide. She spoke great English! Normally i am not a fan of guides, but for 100 yuan, and she spoke excellent English it was worth it.
Unesco World Heritage Site
We started our tour in reverse of what was typical, so we would start by seeing the smaller excavations and work our way up to the larger more impressive ones. This was a great idea, because had we seen the big site first, the rest of the walk would have been a yawn. You can read a ton of sites about the story of the warriors and their emperor. But as a site, it was indeed worth it to see. The warriors have been unearthed in different “pits” of varying sizes and various levels of excavation. You stand up high and look down into the pits. I had dreams of walking through warriors, but that only happens for folks like Bill Clinton and stuff.
A Smaller pit
In addition to the pit view, they have also pulled figurines out of the pits for inspection. The guy below is an archer nicknamed “Lucky”, because he is the only statue that was 100 percent intact, and he also still retains some of the color painted in his armor on his back.
Lucky
After the smaller pits we went on to hit the mother pit, pit 1, with over 6,000 figures. It was huge and impressive to think about the labor that went into it.
Pit 1
Ready for battle
In addition to the warriors, we also checked out a few other items from the excavation. First up was this weird lucky dragon. While our guide spoke great English, the story she told us of this dragon made absolutely no sense. But we did gather that this is some type of lucky dragon and when you go to Macao to gamble, if you have it in your pocket as a charm they make you leave it at the door and get it on your way out.
Lucky Dragon
Post checking out the pits, we went to have a spot of tea in the teahouse on the campus. It was empty. I had a great cup of goo long tea which was delicious. And our tea hostess taught us a lot.
Tea was beautiful
Our hostess hard at work
Post tea it was time to head back to the driver and get back to the hotel to check out. But of course its china, and everyone has a side hustle. The guide noted our disdain for walking and instead of taking us the forced 25 minute walk back past the gift shops, she offered a “taxi” for 20 yuan each. Um, I don’t see where taxis would pull up. Well remember its china. We cut down a side access lane, a guy jumps the barricade (miraculously it’s the only checkpoint with no guard??), presses the button, and let’s us out. Hmmm. Taxi? More like friend, wasn’t a meter in sight. But it was nice not to walk. So we rode down a dirt road and circled back to the entrance where our driver was waiting, it was $5 well spent.
At the hotel, we had an awesome lunch which i didn’t take any photos of. Sorry. We had a traditional japanese shabu shabu! Freaking awesome.
After checking out, we had a title time to kill, so the bellhop asked the driver to take us to the muslim quarter of the city. This was really interesting, and reminded me a lot of the markets in thailand and cambodia. Very packed and narrow thoroughfare and lots of action. I was bummed we didn’t get a chance to spend more time there.
The main walking street
Quail eggs for sale!
Nuts, breads, and baked yummies
My favorite family on a bike
A great conversation
On the walk back out, we passed this woman and her friends, she was making her own broom to sweep the sidewalk.
DIY
Post muslim quarter it was off to the airport, but first we needed gas. We pulled into the gas station, and our driver insisted I get out so his friends could see me.
Gas time
Oh yea, the tank is in the front
Post gas it was onward to the airport and now where i am drafting this from; the China Southern Airlines VIP lounge/ my first class seat (had to finish it on the plane). Yea, no more coach travel. More from Chengdu later
In the back of a cab now in Xi’an china and furious with this cab driver. I am fearing a Man on Fire moment. At the airport there is a 25RMB bus to town or taxis. Taxis are much more expensive in the 150 range but after a bad flight and such we wanted it easy. Well it’s not easy. After a 1 hour cab ride I realize we are being taken on a ride. Pulling up the GPS we were traveling in the opposite direction of where we needed to go! And 30km out from it. Furious I hold up the phone and he’s like “ooohhhh, you no want mountain?”. Um no mother fucker you heard me the first time when I told you the hotel name and you repeated it to your friends. What the fuck am I going to do at a mountain at 1am? I call the hotel and tell her to translate for me. Now he wants to negotiate, 260 for the ride. It should cost 150-175. Are you freaking serious?? This is getting old. I think the bars in the back of the cab are fitting.
The Cell
The Warden
On the way to the airport! Full post coming later today. Hopefully we can make this flight. Traffic is unbelievable. But the fingers are crosses and optimistic that it might just work. I really don’t want another night in Beijing!
Today has been spent planning the rest of the days here. After being burned by the train and stuck in Beijing for another day we wanted to ensure we got out today. So over breakfast we spent the morning planning. We met a fun and helpful couple over breakfast. The guy was American and spotted the iPad and struck up conversation. He was nice and stereotypically American gregarious and we loved it. He is from Houston but does a lot of business here in China as well as being engaged to a beautiful chinese woman. She also joined us for breakfast. The two gave us a ton of tips on what to do with the balance of our time. Me and the guy shared a laugh about the forbidden city “up and down, up and down it’s all the same stuff. Nothing to see.” with travel tips in hand we did some serious planning and booking. I don’t want to spoil the fun, but there are numerous flights and some locales last only hours. Should be fun.
With the morning burned, and a flight set for tonight, we locked in on food! Trip advisor, lonely planet, and our front desk all recommended the same restaurant for Peking Roast Duck. With the address in hand, off we went.
It was a hard cab ride. Traffic was literally stand still and I started to appreciate the 3 month long traffic jam that I read about heading out of the city. To make matters worst our driver had the ac on the lowest setting so it was an exercise in futility to try and explain to him to turn up the air.
The restaurant
But once we arrived at the restaurant it was well worth it. The staff immediately sat us and presented us with 5 menus. A very impressive sight. We settled in on a duck & all the trimmings, sauteed shrimp, hot sour soup, sparkling water, and 2 beers.
Up first was the hot & sour soup.
It was served very delicately in this massive black bowl that didn’t leave that much room for the soup. But the soup itself was amazing. I knew this was the start of a great meal. Unlike most hot and sour soup in the US, there was no meat or overt chunks of vegetables. This was much more refined. Judging by the consistency, those elements were present but part of the base. Delicious.
Next up were the succulent sauteed shrimp and the duck. First the shrimp. These were delicious! Very lightly sauteed with a soft sweet coating on them. These were a classic sweet and sour taste but it was very light so you could taste the fresh shrimp beneath and the presentation was great. Next up was the duck. They bring out and present to you your whole duck. Once you nod acceptance the carver goes to work delicately carving the skin and meat off the duck. And serving it on two plates, each with half of the duck and then a third plate with the duck neck and head
1 half duck & shrimp (we had eaten the other half)
The skin is presented on top of the meat and it appears to be a whole piece but instead it’s expertly cut into slices! Now the skin was amazing. I was expecting crunchy but instead it just dissolved on the tongue. No I am being serious. Like a culinary tab of acid, it was euphoric! The meat itself was succulent and well flavored but the skin was definitely the star.
In addition to the duck, they give you seasonings and pancake wrappers to roll your own baby duck burrito. They also gave us another soup which was like a miso and solid. But another surprise was the grapes that came out in the end on a bed of ice!
The Grapes
These grapes were “juice” grapes, and thusly plump with a juicy fleshy core and seeds to discard. They were a perfect way to finish the meal.
Post lunch it was back to the hotel to get the heck out of Beijing and on to the next stop. Xi’an, China! You can read the escapades in the other posts…
Wow. Today has been a long day and been up and down. On the up, the “Stig” has arrived! For all of you that know the Top Gear, you will get the reference and for those that don’t, there is google. With the Stig here, i finally had an adventure buddy, so this morning it was a little work over breakfast and then off to the Forbidden City to show him the place.
On the way over I spotted this shot of dad and daughter in traffic.
Work’s Commute
And as we crossed though the mini gardens, saw the scene below.
Rest Crew
Unfortunately, with each pass, my like of the Forbidden decreases. Yet again a ton of tourists and all wanting photos with me. The Stig was creeped out by it. He thought I was exaggerating!
Back to the Forbidden City
Meet “Cameron”
More Fans
I did find a few people that I liked.
Family fun
Center of attention
The morning was spent in the FC, and then it was back to the hotel for more work and trying to plot the way out of Beijing. We were sadly informed that the trains and planes were booked going out of Beijing to get to both Xian and Shanghai. I am itching to get out of Beijing!!
Settling in for another night in Beijing it was work, and nap. The Stig was tired from the travel over. Well by now you know how these afternoon naps go, and we woke up LATE and missed the night market again!! Determined to not just sit in the room and complain, we headed out to look for food…
Uh oh…
Ha, but luckily they were in the middle of cleaning, so the plans for a bad McD meal were thwarted and we went on in search of a new option. On the way back, i saw it again; the Blue restaurant!! And they were still open at 1:30AM! Well, i should say barely open, we came in and sit down and were immediately surrounded by the staff waiting to takeout order. The menus were huge and extensive, there were 4 separate menus. We were going to get mutton ribs, but she kinda informed us that “We kinda closed now. How about something else?”. Fair enough. So we settled on some other options.
A late night feast
The food was awesome!! Their food lived up to the great marketing efforts. The coolest part though was green tea that the Stig drank. Look closely, those are leaves in there!
The walk back was how it always has been. Chill.
Puddle
So now it’s off to bed. Its crazy late here, and we have a packed day trying to get the hell out of Beijing. More later.
