Status Wheel

Traveling these days can be quite an expense ordeal, and traveling with children even more so.  Although popular family destinations such as Disneyland or Sea World, are offering special deals, nothing beats the special deals, that are actually free of cost. In New York, there are loads of free activities for children to partake in, and most of them if not all of them, are fun for the adults as well.  For a variety of free options head to The Audubon Center located in the heart of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. 

They offer regularly occurring, weekly activities that are fun as well as learning experiences, involving the outdoors, wildlife, interactive learning tools, and art.  Each Saturday from noon until 1:30, it is a session of birdwatching.  The tour involves the guided explanation and the search for glimpses of the more than two hundred and fifty different species indigenous to the region.  Similar to the birdwatching tour, is the Discover Tours.  This takes you through the natural habitat of the Meadow and the Ravine, and gives the little ones hands on experience with working with a set of binoculars.  A guided tour as well, the many sites on the park are explained the history of those sites revealed.  This tour takes place on both Saturday and Sunday, from 3pm to 4pm. 

The Science Power Hour is each weekend day from 1:30pm to 2:30pm.  A naturalist from the Audubon Center guides the kids through various fun science activities and projects.  And finally, again on both Saturday and Sunday from 1pm to 3pm it is the Nature Crafts program.  Here the kids will work on various art projects using natural elements and materials.  This class takes place in the boathouse, and as with the other activities, it is all free of charge.  So when you consider it all, you will have the financial freedom to go ahead a book your stay in a wonderful five star hotel.  New York City has so much to offer, and much of it offered for the children, is offered for free.

It was my first time to see Ground Zero while visiting here in New York. Ground Zero is the place where the World Trade Center Twin Towers stood. I was hoping I’d see something that perhaps could move me or even shock me; I hoped Ground Zero would be that place in New York City, where I might possibly discover something deep within myself, maybe even something spiritual, or a message. Ground Zero is the scare that formed after the terrorist attacked the Twin Towers back in 2001, where almost 3000 people perished.
 
When I got there, nothing stirred in me, I was looking at 16 acres of space that doesn’t remind me of that terrible time in history. There was massive construction on the way to build the new Towers, which with all the walls put up around the construction site, made it almost impossible to see the deep hole in the ground. I don’t know if there will be a building next to the towers to memorialize that day, but I would hope so.
 
The next day, after having a restless nights sleep at one of the hotels in NY, I went back to Ground Zero, and still had had no stirrings of any kind. I took a walk to the nearby Trinity Church and to Wall Street. This area is where I found some small gravestones, they don’t concern 9/11 victims, but the gravestones are a sharp contrast to the skyscrapers surrounding them. Actually, I seemed to get the irony of these gravestones here on Wall Street…dying economy and all.
 
I caught the Metro to Staropolski’s meat market a Polish area, which is right next door to a Starbucks coffee shop. This place felt like time stopped; there was a store where half the shelves were empty and the music they sold even my folks don’t listen to anymore. But, this area still made me feel a little less homesick.

Is your truck boring and lifeless? Does it lack character? If you answered yes to any of these questions than you need to trick your truck. You will probably not need to go as far as Pimp My Ride with their extreme colors and toys but some hot new accessories will definitely spice things up a bit and maybe breathe some life back into your love life.
One of the first things that people notice when you drive up is the grill. There are many different types of grills and grill guards available. They vary in size, design, and material. You will want to base your decision on two primary things. First the type of vehicle and second what you use your vehicle for. If you have a smaller truck, you will probably want a smaller grill guard. On the other hand, if you drive a lifted Ford Super Duty, a massive grill guard will make your truck that much more intimidating. As far as materials go, grill guards are primarily made of steel and various blends of rubber. You can also choose to have additional accessories added to your grill guard such as lights, shackles, winches and d-rings.
The second thing that people are going to notice, especially when you are driving down the road is the tires and rims. You can set yourself up with some custom truck wheels pretty easily by visiting most auto parts stores. What people are really going to notice are the rims. Depending on the size of your truck you will want either 20″ rims or 26″ rims. These also vary in style and in material. You can consult your local auto parts dealer for the best type material for your area. For example if you live in a real rainy climate, you may want to consider aluminum alloy rims because they are the best at preventing rust; however, they are easily damaged if you spend much time off-roading.
These are just a couple ideas to get you started. There are many more accessories that will prove not only stylish but practical and useful as you embark on this journey of tricking your truck .

Now that you have decided to stay in a Grand Prairie hotel, click here, and you have seen some of the interesting sights around town, you may want to take a bit of a drive. Not far along the Interstate 30 , to the west lies the big city of Dallas. There are a number of things to do in Dallas and if you are interested in politics and fame than you may want to visit the sixth floor of the Dealey Plaza Book Depository Building. This is where they have a museum that remembers the life and untimely death of President John F Kennedy. This is, of course, the building where Lee Harvey Oswald took the life of the well love President as he drove by, with is his wife Jacqueline in a motorcade.

Lee Harvey Oswald was quickly caught and accused but as they were hauling him off to jail, he was shot and killed by someone in the crowd. The assassination has had years of questioning that came with many conspiracy theories and alternate stories. There are still many people today who think that Mr. Oswald may have had a partner or two. Or that he was just the pawn and someone else actually killed President Kennedy. No one really knows if the facts given are the truth or if there is another story. If there is anther story will it ever be told to the public. The National Academy of Sciences has conducted some research on the matter and they do question the accuracy of the evidence as it relates to their finding four shots fired.

More than six million people have visited the museum since it opened on Presidents Day 1989. Visitors can stand were Oswald stood. They can walk the street with a listening guide to hear all the about the facts collected and from the outside park. There is a shop with books and souvenirs. It all is a bit eerie, sad and a must see.

All was not well for champions and favorites currently playing at the Australian Open. Tennis. player shoe-ins perhaps felt it the hardest when they realized that their formerly favored position in the world wide ranking system of tennis got knocked around a bit during the next round of matches in Melbourne, where the current Open is being played out, along with all the drama it encompasses for tennis fans.
Ana Ivanovic had a tough year. Though she had it good in 2008 as a finalist, this go around at the Australian Open with Gisela Dulko cost her big time. She lost 6 to four during the 3rd set she played with her opponent. Ana was number last year, but unless her luck and game and Tennis Scores improves, she might lose that top seeding she held in 2008. Big time losses since her grand win at the French open do not bode well for her maintaining her stardom on the court.
It was quite sobering to see another young and hopeful champion rising through the seeding, a term that is often used interchangeably with ranking, have problems during play too. Marcos Baghdatis was a finalist during the year 2006 but David Ferrar, who was ranked as 17th worldwide in the world of professional tennis, won in their recent tennis match.
There have been over events that have made the career of Marcos in tennis a little less than stable and not perhaps the ever rising and evolving star that fans and coaches want him to be. He has had his ups and downs throughout the years, but hopefully he will stay on the up and up this year and make good on the mens singles title that other historic players such as the Ice Man have won throughout the years and made history with. Everyone wants the ball at the Australian Open Tennis games, but not everyone can have it as the trials and tribulations of these players demonstrate all too well.

We’re in Seattle! Or as we like to say ‘Sea-at-el’ just to mess with the locals. We only have tonight and tomorrow here, so we wanted to do as many Sea-at-el things that we possible could do. On our list of things to do was the Space Needle, taking a rowboat out on Lake Washington and then see the aquarium. We made sure that one of the luxury hotels in Seattle was close by to do everything on are itinerary.

The Space Needle, which the Seattle’s tower for viewing the entire cityscape was pretty expensive. Tomorrow, we’ll be in New York where there are taller buildings, so we didn’t bother to pay the high price to go up the Needle, but we did take a photo of ourselves in front of the Needle, that was free. Next to the Space Needle is the Science Center and a children’s playground. We ran all around the playgrounds, which offered us some great photo ops, we acted all crazy and laughed until it hurt. We had to sit down afterwards, we really managed to exhaust ourselves.

We needed to get a move-on in order to complete our itinerary, we made it to the Seattle Aquarium and scratched off the row-boating, didn’t have time. The aquarium was nothing outstanding, but we still managed to have a laugh or two, because there were several interactive things designated for the children to do, but as you can tell, we’re big children. We had fun messing around and taking more photos. After a great wrestling match with an octopus, we posed next to the tank of ‘Nemo and Dory’. Then it was off to the feeding the seals extravaganza. All the seals looked alike to us, so we moved on and we thought we saw Claire Danes by the tropical fish area, we slowly worked our way right up next to her; we were all giddy, and then she turned our way and that’s when we could see it wasn’t her. Dang!

Well, at least Sea-at-el proved to be so much fun even if we only had a day here.

Whenever I’m traveling, I try to seek out the smaller, intriguing offerings of a city, and one that caught my eye was the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette in Louisiana.  This small museum, with a collection of over 800 works of art, was founded in 1909, with the title the Lafayette Art Association, and it’s main goal is to encourage the community’s interest in art, to provide annual exhibitions, and to maintain permanent collections.  For over a hundred years now, the art museum has worked with the community and provides to the public lectures, classes and exhibitions.  On top of all that, it’s free (donations are welcomed, though).

In 2010, there’s a number of upcoming exhibits that showcase new artists.  Here’s a sampling of some of some of them: In May and July, there will be a juried show to display the best work by area high schoolers in over eleven different medium.  The works are submitted by art teachers and a professional art juror will make the final selections.  Each spring, this particular exhibit draws in two thousand five hundred visitors.  From June 4 to October 1st, an exhibit will feature art from local women who hope to gain attention as professional artists.  This year, there will also be an exhibit called Summer and Fall Scenes from the Permanent Collection.  This particular exhibit, in the Weil Gallery, will display paintings of summer and autumn landscapes.  Also promising is an exhibit in August and October titled, A Salute to Saturday Evening Post: America’s Oldest News Magazine.   Thirty art works from the 1950s and early 1960s which made the covers of the famed weekly magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, will make up this display.  It’ll feature artists such as Norman Rockwell, Steven Dohanos, John Falter, John Clymer, as well as Amos Swell and George Hughes.

Once you’ve checked into the hotel of your choice in Lafayette, stop by the museum gallery and shop at any time from Tuesday to Saturday at 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m..  It is closed on the major holidays; and, something that’s particularly special to anyone from the bigger cities, such as Los Angeles, there’s free parking.

Romeo, and yes, that is his name, grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a cute kid, which for him made it even worse. As could be expected he was frequently kidded in school, though luckily for him it was mostly by his friends and was in good nature. He was called lover boy before he even knew what the phrase meant and by the time he was old enough to understand it, it had become one of his common nicknames. He also played baseball from the time he was six years old. And it didn’t take long for the phrase to be heard by opposing teams who taunted him with it every time he was up to bat. This, in part, inspired Romeo to be the best he could be and he practiced hard and was able to knock many balls across the home-run line, which was usually enough to silence some of his more vocal opponents.

Baseball quickly became one of Romeo’s favorite sports and activities. His grandfather had been a huge of the Atlanta Braves every since they first arrived in the city in 1966. In fact, it has his grandfather that first took Romeo to Turner Field. He frequently thought back to that day when he was eight and the cool breeze of the afternoon and the great hot dogs they enjoyed while they watched. Romeo and his grandfather frequently watched the games together and it was a ritual to eat corned beef sandwiches with a pickle and chips on game days. This only occurred when they watched them from Romeo’s grandparents’ house. His grandmother made the best corned beef sandwich in the world and they always had hot dogs at the stadium.

It had been ten years since Romeo had last visited Atlanta. As he flew in with his wife and son he thought about his grandparents and greatly missed them. He was headed there for a business meeting and it was his wife’s idea for the two of them to go with him since that’s where Romeo had grown up. While they were there the Braves happened to have a home game against the Minnesota Twins. Romeo was suddenly struck by a great idea and when he returned to one of the hotels Atlanta to meet his family he presented them with tickets to the game. That ended up being the first baseball game his son had attended in person, and you can be sure that the family enjoyed a hot dog while they were there.

Grand Rapids Michigan is a beautiful city along the Grand River and is only about 30 miles from Lake Michigan. It’s not a large city for the country but it is the second largest city in its state. It started of as that home of a few Native American tribes that inhabited the area for thousands of years. Then of the British came in do do some fur trading which was typical for that time. The first famous person to live in this area was I suppose the first settler to the area Isaac McCoy, Baptist minister, who arrived in 1825. Then there was Joseph and Madeline La Framboise who were the first to establish a trading post in the area.

Madeline La Framboise came from a fur trading family and stayed with the trade with the help of her husband. Joseph was murdered in 1806 so she was left to handle the business on her own. Of all the northwest territory, Madeline was the most successful fur trader. It was a hard and dangerous business to be in during those times. Most women were not subjected to such a difficult business. But Madeline took it on and became the most outstanding business women in the state.

Another modern women to be raised in Grand Rapids was actress Gillian Anderson. She was actually born in Chicago and spent the first part of her life living in different places. As an infant she lived in Puerto Rico and then in London until age eleven. That is when she moved to Grand Rapids with her family. Her father was a film maker and she took to acting a passion she discovered when she got a roll in the community play while in High School. She also had another love which was archeology and marine biology. It is funny or fitting that she ended up on the hit television series the X-Files in 1996. Which then put her on the map as the Sexiest Woman in the World according to FHM. There are plenty of rooms in the hotels Grand Rapids has available to come and see the beautiful area.