Camping in Wisconsin 2007
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
As I posted last year, I wanted to go camping this year at Blackhawk Memorial Park Campground in Argyle, Dells of Eau Claire County Park Campground in Wausau, Long Lake Recreation Area Campground in Dundee, Nelson Dewey State Park Campground in Cassville, Point Beach State Forest in Two Rivers and Pine Woods Campground in Wales. Well, I made it to Blackhawk Memorial Park, Long Lake (Kettle Moraine North) as well Pine Woods (Kettle Moraine South).
So, for next year, I would like to camp at Dells of Eau Claire, Nelson Dewey and Point Beach.
Getting away without leaving
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
I reserved a fire circle at Picnic Point last weekend and rode my bicycle there with a friend. It was such an awesome time. There’s nothing like being able to jump on my bike in such an urban area like I live, ride it for 15 minutes and be able to build a fire in what is essentially the woods and settle in as the sun goes down. And the wood was already stacked up, ready to go and free! I felt hundreds of miles away. Oh Madison, you rarely disappoint (ahem, public transportation).
Ghana Trip
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
I just returned from spending 15 days in Ghana. The large cities – Accra, Kumasi – are swarming and oven-baked and marked by an ever-present blanket of filthy air and traffic jams. The simplest excursion is a battle against impenetrable crowds, scorching heat and a mad, horn-blaring rodeo of cars, overloaded and mufferless trucks and tro-tros, ambling goats, and gangs of adolescent hawkers going car to car peddling everything from sweatrags to sunglasses to burlap sacks of cassava root. Following is an itineray of what I did.
4/09 (Mon) Madison / In flight
Left Madison at 7:30 AM
4/10 (Tues) Accra
Arrived in Accra at 7:30 AM
Got some breakfast at Frankies (an expat hangout)
Went to an Internet cafe
Checked in at Central Hotel (A/C, large room, hot water)
Visited the Accra Peace Corp office
Walked to lunch at a vegetarian restaurant
Went back to hotel for a shower and nap
Went to dinner at Mamma Mia Italian restaurant for pizza which was very good by American standards
4/11 (Wed) Accra / Kumasi
Planned on going from Accra to Tamale via STC (countrywide bus system), bus leaving at 8:00 AM we arrive at 7:30 AM
Wait until 12:00 PM when bus finally shows up (my first experience with waiting obscene amounts of time), find out we have tickets for the wrong day
Get tickets for Accra to Kumasi, bus scheduled to leave at 1:30 PM
Wait until 5:00 PM when bus shows up, this bus doesn’t have A/C as it should so get refund for non-A/C bus
Arrive in Kumasi at 11:00 PM, I stay at Maplewood Hotel (clean, hot water, A/C, breakfast included)
4/12 (Thur) Kumasi
Check out of Maplewood Hotel and drop bags at Kumasi Peace Corp office
Head into the city and walk through Kejetia Market as well as part of the city
Go to the Vanef station to get tickets for ‘fast car’ to Bolga
Walk through the National Culture Center where I buy an african mask and a painting
Eat lunch at Vic Baboo’s (really good fish biryani and samosas)
Pick up food at Kejetia for dinner
Cook dinner at Peace Corp office – chili, guacomole, potatoes, salad
Spend night at Peace Corp office
4/13 (Fri) Kumasi / Bolga / Navrongo
Vanef ‘fast car’ scheduled to leave at 7:00 AM and leaves at 7:45 AM
Arrive in Bolga at 2:45 PM (this was very fast travelling in Ghana, driver going 75-80 km/hr)
Take taxi to Navrongo and get some beer and Wachi (rice with beans)
Check in at Saint Lucien (small clean room, no A/C, fan, bucket bath)
Drink some beer at Cool Base Spot and pick out fish to be grilled from restaurant in front
4/14 (Sat) Navrongo / Paga / Bolga / Bawku
Visit Zenga crocodile pond in Paga, feed two chickens to croc
Head to Bolga, eat some fresh pineapple and koala nuts
Get on tro-tro to Bawku, while enroute it runs out of gas, driver goes to get gas and has to suck some out of the line
Visit Bawku Secondary School
Check in at Good Shephard guest house (clean room, A/C but not running, fan, bucket bath)
Eat at Shalom Restaurant – the best fish and jollof I had in Ghana
Walk around town a bit, stop at a couple spots and visit with Godfred
Godfred gave me a ride at night on his moto through the dirt walkways to the guest house
4/15 (Sun) Bawku
Walked around Bawku a bit more in the morning
Had red red for lunch (the best red red I had in Ghana)
Stopped at a pito spot and partook
Went to Shalom Restaurant for dinner
Godfred gave me a gift of a beautiful fugu or smock
Could not sleep, it was too hot and I had no water to drink, very miserable
4/16 (Mon) Bawku / Bolga / Tamale
Left on tro-tro to Bolga in the morning and then caught tro-tro to Tamale
Arrive in Tamale at 2:30 PM
Visited with Bill at a spot
Had dinner at the Crest / Local Spot overlooking Tamale
Bought some food for breakfast
Stayed the night at the Tamale Peace Corp office
4/17 (Tues) Tamale / Mole National Park
Had breakfast of potatoes, eggs, cheese and toast
Went to Tamale station to get bus ticket to Mole
Visited arts/crafts shops, negotiated (from 180 to 140 cedis) with a guy to make 4 cloth bags from material I picked out
Made lunch, grilled cheese and avocado
Went to get cloth bags before the Mole bus left, the guy couldn’t get the material so no bags
Went to station for 2:00 PM bus, it left at 3:00 PM
Arrive at Mole at 8:00 PM and checked in (fan, sometimes A/C, bucket bath)
Had dinner of fish and chips
Had dip in the pool before bed
4/18 (Wed) Mole National Park
It rained the night before so no elephants at watering hole
Went on 6:00 AM safari for 2 hours, saw warthogs, kob antelope and roan antelope
Ate mushroom omellete for breakfast
Dip in pool
Rented bikes and rode to Larabanga to see Mosque from 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Went on safari at 3:30 PM and saw the same wildlife along with baboons but no elephants
When arrived back at hotel there were elephants at watering hole
Had guide take us back down to get closer look which was amazing
Dip in pool
Dinner of vegetable pasta that wasn’t very good
4/19 (Thur) Mole National Park / Techiman / Nkoranza / Fiema / Kumasi
Bus left Mole at 4:00 AM headed to Tamale
Got off when bus reached the Tamale-Techiman road to get tro-tro south to Techiman
Took tro-tro to Techiman
Took taxi to Nkoranza, ate yam and sauce, then taxi to Fiema to the Monkey Sanctuary
Went on tour of Monkey Sanctuary and saw Colobus and Mona monkeys and some really neat trees
Got lift in bed of pickup (along with two women and alot of mangoes) back to Techiman
Took tro-tro to Kumasi which was terrifying as it was dark outside, the roads were dusty and the driver didn’t seem to care if he lived or died
Arrived Kumasi at 8:30 PM
Stayed at Peace Corp Office
4/20 (Fri) Kumasi / Sekondari / Busua
Left Kumasi for Sekondari at 7:30 AM
Got on tro-tro in Sekondari headed to Busua
Took taxi with rastas into Busua
Got a two bed hut for two nights at Alaska Beach Club (sometimes fan, shower) which was right on beach
Had a few beers and good vegetable pizza for dinner
Went swimming in ocean under a clear starry sky
Went across the road to another hotel to play a couple games of pool
4/21 (Sat) Busua
Got up early to take pictures of sunrise
Went for swim in ocean
Got some fresh juice from a guy selling it
Went for a swim
Walked to Dixcove and back
Bought lunch of tuna from Nannah (local restaurant fish guy)
Sat by beach and read and swam
Drank some beer at Swingers Spot
Bought dinner of fish from Nannah
4/22 (Sun) Busua / Tekoradi / Cape Coast / Anomabu
Left early on tro-tro for Tekoradi
Took tro-tro to Cape Coast
Took tro-tro to Anomabu midday and ate at Anomabu Beach Resort, very good vegetable pasta
Swam in ocean a few times and went body boarding
Tro-tro on way back to Cape Coast caught on fire (this happens alot)
Ate dinner of red red at Elmina Castle Restaurant
Stayed at Kates house (fan, bucket bath)
4/23 (Mon) Cape Coast / Accra
Woke up by very loud roosters very early
Took tro-tro to Kakum Park
Went on tour of Kakum Park
Waited a long time for tro-tro back to Cape Coast
Ate lunch at Cape Coast Cafe
Went on tour of Cape Coast Castle
No time to visit Elmina fishing boat area
Took tro-tro to Accra
Arrived in Accra at 7:00 PM
Checked in at Central Hotel (A/C, large room, hot water)
Ate dinner at Frankies
4/24 (Tues) Accra / In flight
Left for airport at 6:00 AM
Airplane departed at 10:30 AM
Arrived at JFK at 6:00 PM
Slept at airport (not recommended)
4/25 (Wed) In flight / Madison
Airplane left at 6:00 AM
Arrived Madison at 10:00 AM
Camping in Wisconsin 2006
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
This summer I’ve camped at Governor Dodge State Park, Point Bluff Resort and Wyalusing State Park (good sites are 148, 150, 152 and 154). The other campgrounds that I want to visit are Blackhawk Memorial Park Campground (good sites are 15 and 33) in Argyle, Dells of Eau Claire County Park Campground in Wausau, Long Lake Recreation Area Campground in Dundee, Nelson Dewey State Park Campground in Cassville, Point Beach State Forest in Two Rivers and Pine Woods Campground in Wales. I may pick up The Ultimate Wisconsin Camping Guide CD. It looks like it was put together by an individual who’s done a lot of camping in Wisconsin.
Japan vacation
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
I just returned from a week long vacation in Japan. I had an absolutely fabulous time. Here’s the itinerary of what I did less I forget:
Leave Madison @ 7:00
Arrival at Narita Airport @ 16:35
Check in at Park Hotel Tokyo
Dinner at a Japanese GYO (Grill Your Own) in Hiroo
JR station to retrieve JR railpass and acquire tickets
Sensoji Temple in Asakusa
Lunch at Katsuyoshi in Shibuya
Meiji Shrine in Harajuku
Sony Building and electronics shopping in Ginza
Dinner at a sushi restaurant accompanied by a geisha
Drinks and karaoke at a hostess bar
Tsukiji fish market
Lunch at Pizzeria d’Ivo in Ebisu
Travel by Shinkansen to Hakone
Check in at Hotel Senkei (Hakone Yumoto)
Tour the Hakone Yumoto town
Hot springs, dinner and more hot springs
Hot springs
Travel by Shinkansen to Hiroshima
Check in at Mitsui Garden Hotel
Visit Istukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island
Dinner of okonomiyaki at Okonomiyaki-Village
Atomic Bomb Memorial
Peace Park
Travel by Shinkansen to Kyoto
Check in to Hotel Granvia
Kiyomizu-dera temple
Dinner at Sayonara No Ato in Shijo-Kawara
Travel to Nara
Deer park
Todai-ji temple
Nandai-mon gate of temple
Kasuga Taisha shrine
Travel back to Kyoto
Kinkaku-ji
Nanzen ji
Dinner at Italian Asian fusion restaurant
Ginkaku-ji silver pavilion
Ryoan-ji
Niji-jo castle
Sanjusangen-do temple
Travel by Shinkansen to Tokyo
Check in at Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza
Dinner at Gonpachi in Nishiazabu
Clubbing in Roppongi
Shopping in Ginza
Chinese lunch in Ebisu
Leave from Narita airport @ 17:00
Arrive Madison @ 23:15
Sailing across Lake Michigan
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
On Friday, June 25th, I headed from Madison to the McKinley Marina in Milwaukee, WI to begin a sailing race (The Queen’s Cup) across Lake Michigan to Grand Haven, MI. The vessel for the trip was a 37′ Hunter 376. It’s a fine vessel, with a forward berth, an aft berth, a modest galley, and ample room in the cabin itself to sit or sleep. The trip across Lake Michigan was 76 nautical miles, which translates to 87 miles. We departed the Marina at around 5:00PM and headed to the start of the race. We waited with the other sailboats, which numbered about 170, until the start time of our class which was about 6:30PM. Once the race began we took down the jib and put up the spinnaker (a large triangular head sail that swings out opposite the mainsail) since we were running before the wind. The wind was excellent, around 15 knots, and the boat began cruising between 8-10 knots. The water was calm with maybe 1 foot waves and the weather was pleasant as well. At around 9:00PM after a gorgeous sunset, we took down the spinnaker and put the jib back up. At this point, Jon and I went under to catch some sleep until 1:00AM when we would relieve Ken and Dennis. Coming back up at 1:00AM, the wind had died down some – around 8/9 knots – and we were doing 4/5 knots. Ken and Dennis pointed out a huge freighter off in the distance. These ships follow a specific line and have the right of way. They also do around 35 knots, so it is imperative that they somebody is on watch for them at all times. Ken and Dennis went under the deck to sleep and Jon and I were on watch until 5:00AM. At this time of night the view was amazing. No land was in sight, there were lights of other sailboats off in the distance, there was no noise except the sound of the wind against the sails and the sound of the boat moving over the water. The sky was breathtaking. I can’t remember the last time I was able to see so many stars. The moon was with us for a bit before it set. We didn’t have to move the sails but Jon adjusted our direction by a few degrees to bring us back on course. When 5:00AM came around I was feeling delerious and definitely ready for sleep. I slept until 9:00AM and when I returned to the deck Grand Haven was a few miles out. We crossed the finish line of the race and motored in to the marina shortly thereafter where we found a open slot on the pier and tied up. Then it was vacation time: food, exploration of Grand Haven, beer, stogies, sun, frisbee, and naps. Later in the evening we went out for more drinks, got kicked out of a bar (no comment), and then crashed at 1:00AM. I slept until about 9:00AM and woke up to the boat being around 10 miles out and headed back to Milwaukee. Since there was paltry wind (4 knots) we motored back (the boat is diesel equipped) to Milwaukee in order to make it there at a decent time. It was a relaxing trip back, fairly uneventful. We pulled in to the marina in Milwaukee at about 4:30PM and I headed back to Madison. Now, I can’t quite call myself a sailor but I can certainly say I’ve sailed. And it was fantastic.
MIT card counting
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
I was in Vegas a couple weeks ago. Played some $10 blackjack which was entertaining. I was up around $100 at one point but ended up leaving Vegas about $100 poorer. No big deal. I mention this because there’s a fascinating story about the MIT card counting team that allegedly bagged millions from casinos across the US. I think I’ll just stick to a simple table though.