Winter Classic - Hockey outdoors in Pittsburgh

So we traveled by bus with a few hundred Washington Capitals fans to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to take on the Penguins. I've never been to Pittsburgh and this was definitely the coolest event to go to I can imagine. The weather was rainey, and unseasonably warm for New Year's eve so I was apprehensive, not to be confused with ungrateful for the coolest Christmas gift ever, about if the game could be played! We had New Year's Eve dinner at the Grand Concourse, which is a beautiful restaurant, with mediocre food and service, but we could walk to it and it is gorgeous so no complaints. The news came that the game would be delayed, to 8pm, so we had a free Saturday, and the game was still on. Upon recommendation of a coworker we did a classic Pittsburgh first date activity, travelling up Mt. Washington on the "incline" which is like funicular... And if was free because all public transit was free that day! Reminded us this was THEY way Pittsburgh-ers traveled to the river to get to downtown for years. Only a few remain but, hopefully for a long-long time, and the best way to get a view that 100 years ago would have been the smoke of steel mills and no trees. Some industry may have left but the view is much better. one problem with the free transit, it was New Year's day so all of the Carnegie museums were closed, nowhere to go! Maybe I'll return to see the Andy Warhol Museum some other trip. Now getting to the game was cool too, we tool one of the ferrys across a very foggy Monongahela River (and the Ohio) under the Yellow-painted steel bridges to Heinz Field where the Steelers normally play. The excitement built, bands, ice-sculptures or zambonis..., giant hockey players, face-paininting (no line for the Caps!) everyone dressed for their team. The Pittsburgh fans were surprisingly friendly, and a horde of Caps fans made the trip. Fireworks, more bands, then the puck dropped! Great game even with some drizzle occasionally. A good fight and 3 caps goals! C-A-P-S CAPS CAPS CAPS!

Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in Pennsylvania.

Visit to Mill Run, Pennsylvania, Frank Lloyd Wright's famous house designed for the Kaufman family. A beautiful, if long November drive from Alexandria led us to a tour of the most famous house in the United States, not because of who lived there, but who designed it, and its unique setting. It really is a beautiful house, in a nice canyon. The scale was bigger than I thought, 4 bedrooms, but huge terraces and an guest house with a pool up the hill. Everything is built-in and "human scale" inside, low ceilings, cleaver windows, everything attached horizontally to the walls. Not 100% practical, but very cool looking. The family rejected his rigid chairs for 3-legged antiques, which are much more practical for the uneven flagstone floors. Great tour worth the time, but wish we stayed a weekend as he designed another house down the road and there are outdoor activities like horseback-ridding and rafting very near by.

Back in the U.S.A.

We have repatriated back the United States and are happy to be home. I use that broadly as we are not in California or Colorado, but in our new home in Virginia.

We spent Independence Day watching the fireworks from the U.S. Capitol lawn. Great welcome back to America.

Back in the U.S.A.

Wadi Rum, Jordan

Off into the desert for some catered camping and good stories over tea, between 4WD and Camel journeys. Travelling to Jordan nearly always includes Petra and the Dead Sea, and we travelled there and were impressed, but Wadi Rum is a bit of beautiful outdoors in the Middle East that is also worth the trip. South of Petra and nearing the Red Sea and the deserts of Saudi Arabia, Wadi Rum is the Desert of Lawrence of Arabia fame and the best place to ride a camel and enjoy a sunset that I can imagine.

Dubai Rugby 7s

The Dubai Rugby 7s is a 1 weekend Rugby Tourneyment for the 7-person rugby teams from around the world. 7's Rugby is fast and fun to watch. The games last 15 minutes and are unpredictable as an individual performance can turn a game. The event itself is a bit of infamous expat fun, where the beverages flow liberally and costumes of all types abound. It is a fantastic time when you can see people dressed as divers, flintstones, cheatahs, cheerleaders and the like along with flag-waving, singing, chanting supporters from teams that cover 6 continents! Dubai si a fantactic place for this because you really do get contingents of supporters ranging from 1000's of English, Austrailian, and South African supporters that live in Dubai, to Fiji and Samoan islanders to Kenyan drummers to a group of 50 Kiwi kids that can shout a mean Haka (Maori chant/dance) the team usally does before a match, but at 7s they did for theur victory lap.

F1 in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Dubai's neighbor to the south sure knows how to put on a show. The event was well organized, traffic no problem. A few hiccups fixed by day 3 or 4. Great course, great races and great concerts! I love Kings of Leon music, but Aerosmith showed them why they are still famous in their 60's!!!

Al Ain Zoo

During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, certain venues have special hours as sleep cycles of fasting Muslims change. It is also still quite hot. So, the Al Ain Zoo was open from 9pm until 2am! I had never been to Al Ain which is very far inland in the United Arab Emirates. After a 90 minute drive from Dubai we came up to the zoo, which in contrast to the tiny cages of the Dubai Zoo is a refreshing, huge place. It has mostly large, open enclosures with mixed animals and tree cover. It is definitely modelled after the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Parks. Not ass great as the San Diego parks, but very nice and cheap! It hard to take photos at night but here is a shot of the african animals below Jebel Hafeet, the largest mountain in the UAE in the background.