Aris' posts with tag: travel
|  | Blank Park Zoo and Des Moines Botanical Center |
| | This is the first time we went to Pella, which is about ninety miles west of Iowa City. Pella is known for historical sights, its Dutch architecture, and of course, the tulips that bloom in spring. Pella Tulip Time was held May 3-5 this year. |
| | Lincoln Park Zoo & Navy Pier |
| | We spent the holidays with relatives in California. We stayed in Las Vegas, Nevada for a few days and were able to go to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. |
| | Zen attended the conference of the American Society of Human Genetics at New Orleans, Louisiana. We decided to go there by car, and it was our longest road trip yet.
New Orleans is more than nine hundred miles away from Iowa City, and it would take about fifteen hours to get there if driven straight. We left Iowa on Sunday morning and rested overnight at Horn Lake, Mississippi. We checked in at New Orleans Monday afternoon and stayed in the city for four days. We were able to visit some popular attractions such as the Riverwalk and the French Quarter. |
| | The Cedar Rapids Filipino-American Association held this year's annual summer picnic at the Coralville Lake Marina, Iowa City, IA from 11:00AM to 4:00PM. |
| | May 22 - stayed at Chicago/Niles, IL
May 24 - drove to Bloomington, IN
May 25 - toured Indiana University, IN
May 26 - saw the Benedictine monastery at St. Meinrad, IN
May 27 - visited Terre Haute, IN
May 28 - attended mass at St. Paul Catholic Center
May 29 - drove more than 400 miles in 7 hours (including gas and rest stops) back to Iowa |
| | Zen's still in the process of changing her last name to her married name. One of the documents that needed ammendments was her passport, and so we went to the nearest Philippine Consulate General in the midwest -- in Chicago, Illinois!
Using Google Maps, we estimated a 226-mile trip in four hours to downtown Chicago. We left Coralville before 6:00AM to reach the consulate upon opening.
The trip was exciting as it was our first time to drive across different states. Cruise control helped a lot in the long freeway stretches, especially in maintaing the legal speed. Everything seemed to be easy, until we reached the highways of metropolitan Chicago. The traffic began to tighten. Other cars were zipping past us and approaching our rear fast. I tried to stay in the limit but decided it was safer to just speed up with the general flow of traffic. Driving like there's-no-speed-limit reminded me of similar conditions in the Metro Manila hiways. No wonder some people are "allergic" to freeways. Consequently, we arrived at the consulate early.
At the consulate, we were asked if we would like to wait for the processing of Zen's passport until 3:00PM. We decided to return to the consulate in the afternoon, and waiting turned out to be a blessing as we were able to tour some of the attractions in downtown Chicago . . . |
| | The summer heat is really on so Zen and I drove to Solon, IA to feel the fresh woodland breeze. Lake Macbride is about twenty miles (20 mi) away from Coralville. |
| | It was a beautiful Spring day. Zen and I rode our bikes and had a mini-picnic at the City Park beside the river in Iowa City. |
| | It's Zen's spring break! We get to visit my uncle and aunt at Cleveland, Ohio from March 16 to March 21. We enjoyed the malls, local museums and restaurants, especially uncle Joe's white pizza (yummy) at Valentino's. |
| | Zen and I biked Sunday morning along the trails of Coralville. |
| | From Coralville, I rode a bus to the university campus to join Zen in her laboratory. I then sat in Zen's molecular genetics class, the topic of which dealt with phenotypes and pedigrees. We went to a bookstore just across the hospital and bought myself a book. These pictures were taken as we walked to Downtown Iowa City. |
From Manila Philippines, we had an hour stopover at Nagoya Japan. The flight from Nagoya to Detroit Michigan took about ten hours. I was able to sleep in the 747, though not deeply, and was able to watch an inflight movie, "Bourne Supremacy." The long travel wasn't that bad, especially with Zen along with me.
The immigration officer at Detroit was nice to us, and our entry into the US was straight-forward. It was the first time I was able to see real snow! We took a plane to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and from the plane's window, I could see dirty white snow covering the whole landscape below. I also noticed the high-rise buildings of Chicago through the opposite window. At the airport, we were picked up by Zen's friend and classmate, Fedik.
We reached Coralville, Iowa around 3:00PM (Central Time -06:00 GMT), and Fedik dropped us off at the apartment. The temperature outside was seven degrees Fahrenheit at that time. Armed with heavy jackets, gloves, and bonnets, we walked to the grocery which was about ten minutes away. The ice was about six inches deep. We then walked back to the apartment with three to four grocery bags in each hand.
Zen prepared our dinner, which was rice and canned "sisig". I cleaned the dishes afterwards. Zen was so exhausted, she was in bed around 7:00PM. I still wanted to write some email, but my eyes were closing on me, and I was asleep shortly thereafter.
I woke up around 1:30AM local time with my stomach growling. I just ignored it and was able to return to sleep. I got up at 6:00AM, and that's another day...  
| | Living Hope Community-Building Activity
Tagaytay Highlands - October 16, 2004 8:00AM |
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