Malibu

I love the California sun. We took the rental car out to Malibu beach and enjoyed the California sun and just driving around LA.

Leaves!!!

God bless Canada

The Alamo

I never knew that the Alamo was in the heart of downtown San Antonio. That is cool. I guess I just think that most historic stuff is something that you have to drive very far to or out of city limits because most things inside cities are hard to keep historic with all the wear and tare.

San Antonio is a fun little (not little at all) city with the riverwalk being the main hit with all kinds of resturants up and down that keep it fun to go out and eat at different places.

Been there, done that

0920081240.jpg, originally uploaded by writedanhere.

I got to give it to Disney, I was blown away. I have never seen fireworks like that even at the fourth of July, and they do it every night. The place truly is a magic kingdom.

ITS HOT

I really like Orlando, but its hot. Nice time of year to visit Orlando the hotels are not full and are having all kinds of sells and Disney World lines are shorter and the weather, believe it or not is better than the summer time.

My hotel im working at

http://www.seralagohotel.com/

Louisville slugger

I was surprised by Louisville. I like it a lot here, the hotel is really really great. You have to check it out at www. 21chotel.com

This is probably the best hotel I have worked at so far.

Love it

Long Island

Fishing at 530 in the morning in Long Island

Check out the hotel I was working at
www.danfords.com

Montreal

Oh Canada!

Family Time

Me with my cute nieces and nephew :)

Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

Ok so I didnt take this picture but I was here in San Francisco for the last week, and people want to know where I am.
Here you go Wyane.
But to my saving grace even if I didnt take this picture I have seen the bridge in person looking just like this.

You can check out the hotel I was working at www.parc55hotel.com

Richmond

IMG_3040, originally uploaded by writedanhere.

Check out the hotel I was working at www.berkeleyhotel.com

On April 18, 1780, as Virginia’s population moved further west, the state capital was moved from the colonial capital of Williamsburg to Richmond, to provide a more centralized location, as well as to isolate the capital from British attack.[7] In 1781, under the command of Benedict Arnold, Richmond was burned by British troops causing Governor Thomas Jefferson to flee the city. Yet Richmond shortly recovered and, by 1782, Richmond was once again a thriving city.

In 1786, one of the most important and influential passages of legislation in American history was passed at the temporary state capital in Richmond, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Written by Thomas Jefferson and sponsored by James Madison, the statute was the basis for the separation of church and state, and led to freedom of religion for all Americans as protected in the religion clause in the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. Its importance is recognized annually by the President of The United States, with January 16 established as National Religious Freedom Day.

The Virginia Capitol Building, designed by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clérisseau.The Virginia State Capitol building, designed by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clérisseau, was completed in 1788. It is the second-oldest US statehouse in continuous use (Maryland's is the oldest) and was the first US government building built in the neo-classical Roman style of architecture, setting the trend for other state houses and the federal government buildings (including the White House and The Capitol) in Washington, DC. The state capitol is one of thirteen in the United States without a dome and underwent a complete renovation which was completed in May 2007.

Devils Tower

Check out the hotel I was working at http://www.grandgatewayhotel.com/

Devils Tower (Lakota: Mato Tipila, which means “Bear Tower”) is a monolithic igneous intrusion or volcanic neck located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112 feet (1,558 m) above sea level.
Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Monument's boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres (5.45 km²).
In recent years about 1% of the Monument's 400,000 annual visitors climb Devils Tower, mostly through traditional climbing ("trad") techniques. The monolith is featured prominently in the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was distantly showcased in the 1965 animated tv show Johnny Quest in the episode entitled "The Devil's Tower" though in the cartoon the tower was set in Africa.

Devils Tower National Monument

Tribes including the Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone had cultural and geographical ties to the monolith before European and early American immigrants reached Wyoming. Their names for the monolith include: Aloft on a Rock (Kiowa), Bear's House (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear's Lair (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear's Lodge (Cheyenne, Lakota), Bear's Lodge Butte (Lakota), Bear's Tipi (Arapaho, Cheyenne), Tree Rock (Kiowa), and Grizzly Bear Lodge (Lakota).
The name Devils Tower probably originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge when his interpreter misinterpreted the name to mean Bad God's Tower. This was later shortened to Devils Tower. [1] All information signs and references use the name "Devils Tower", following geographic naming standards wherein the apostrophe is eliminated.[1]
In 2005, a proposal to recognize these ties through the additional designation of the monolith as Bear Lodge National Historic Landmark met with opposition from Rep. Barbara Cubin, arguing that a "name change will harm the tourist trade and bring economic hardship to area communities" [2].

Geological history

Red sandstone and siltstone cliffs above the Belle Fourche River

Map of Wyoming National Parks and landmarks, showing Devils Tower (upper right) far east of Yellowstone (upper left), north across the state from Cheyenne.
Most of the landscape surrounding Devils Tower is composed of sedimentary rocks.
The oldest rocks visible in Devils Tower National Monument were laid down in a shallow sea during the Triassic period, 225 to 195 million years ago. This dark red sandstone and maroon siltstone, interbedded with shale, can be seen along the Belle Fourche River. Oxidation of iron minerals causes the redness of the rocks. This rock layer is known as the Spearfish formation.
Above the Spearfish formation is a thin band of white gypsum, called the Gypsum Spring Formation. This layer of gypsum was deposited during the Jurassic period, 195 to 136 million years ago.
Created as sea levels and climates repeatedly changed, gray-green shales (deposited in low-oxygen environments such as marshes) were interbedded with fine-grained sandstones, limestones, and sometimes thin beds of red mudstone. This composition, called the Stockade Beaver member, is part of the Sundance formation. The Hulett Sandstone member, also part of the Sundance formation, is composed of yellow fine-grained sandstone. Resistant to weathering, it forms the nearly vertical cliffs which encircle the Tower itself.
About 65 million years ago, during the Tertiary period, the Rocky Mountains and the Black Hills were uplifted. Molten magma rose through the crust, intruding into the already existing sedimentary rock layers.

Theories of formation

Mato Tipila (Devils Tower) at Devils Tower National Monument

Devils Tower National Monument near the base
Geologists agree that Devils Tower was formed by the intrusion of igneous material. What they cannot agree upon is how, exactly, that process took place. Geologists Carpenter and Russell studied Devils Tower in the late 1800s and came to the conclusion that the Tower was indeed formed by an igneous intrusion. Later geologists searched for further explanations. Several geologists believe the molten rock comprising the Tower might not have surfaced; other researchers are convinced the tower is all that remains of what once was a large explosive volcano.
In 1907, scientists Darton and O'Hara decided that Devils Tower must be an eroded remnant of a laccolith. A laccolith is a large mass of igneous rock which is intruded through sedimentary rock beds but does not actually reach the surface, producing a rounded bulge in the sedimentary layers above. This theory was quite popular in the early 1900s since numerous studies had earlier been done on a number of laccoliths in the Southwest.
Other theories have suggested that Devils Tower is a volcanic plug or that it is the neck of an extinct volcano. Presumably, if Devils Tower was a volcanic plug, any volcanics created by it — volcanic ash, lava flows, volcanic debris — would have been eroded away long ago. Some pyroclastic material of the same age as Devils Tower has been identified elsewhere in Wyoming.
Geologists agree that the igneous material intruded and then cooled as phonolite porphyry, a light to dark-gray or greenish-gray igneous trachyte rock with conspicuous crystals of white feldspar. As the lava cooled, hexagonal (and sometimes 4-, 5-, and 7-sided) columns formed. As the rock continued to cool, the vertical columns shrank horizontally in volume and cracks began to occur at 120 degree angles, generally forming compact 6-sided columns. Superficially similar, but with typically 2 feet (0.61 m) diameter columns, Devils Postpile National Monument and Giant's Causeway are columnar basalt.
Until erosion began its relentless work, Devils Tower was not visible above the overlying sedimentary rocks. But the forces of erosion, particularly that of water, began to wear away the sandstones and shales. The much harder igneous rock survived the onslaught of erosional forces, and the gray columns of Devils Tower began to appear above the surrounding landscape.
As rain and snow continue to erode the sedimentary rocks surrounding the Tower's base, and the Belle Fourche River carries away the debris, more of Devils Tower will be exposed. But at the same time, the Tower itself is slowly being eroded: cracks that form the columns are subject to water and ice, becoming larger. Rocks are continually breaking off and falling from the steep walls, and occasionally entire columns fall. Piles of scree — broken columns, boulders, small rocks, and stones — lie at the base of the tower, indicating that it once was larger than it is today.

Recent history

Ponderosa Pine forest east of Devils Tower
Fur trappers may have visited Devils Tower, but they left no written evidence of having done so. The first documented visitors were several members of Captain W. F. Raynold's Yellowstone Expedition who arrived in 1859. Sixteen years later, Colonel Richard I. Dodge led a U.S. Geological Survey party to the massive rock formation and coined the name Devils Tower. Recognizing its unique characteristics, Congress designated the area a U.S. forest reserve in 1892 and in 1906 Devils Tower became the nation's first national monument.

East face of Devils Tower
The 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind used Devils Tower as a central plot element and as a location for its climactic scenes.

Climbing

In recent years, climbing Devils Tower National Monument has increased in popularity. Yet men have been climbing the tower for centuries. The first known ascent of Devils Tower by any method occurred on July 4, 1893, and is accredited to William Rogers, a local rancher in the area. William Rogers completed this first ascent after constructing a ladder of wooden pegs driven into cracks in the rock face. A few of these wooden pegs are still intact and are visible on the tower when hiking along the 1.3 mile Tower Trail at Devils Tower National Monument. While William Rogers may technically have been the first man to reach the summit, the man most famous for first climbing the tower using technical rock climbing techniques is Fritz Wiessner, who first reached the summit in 1937 with a small party from the American Alpine Club.
Today hundreds of climbers scale the sheer rock walls of Devils Tower each summer. These climbers ascend the tower on every side, climbing up the various vertical cracks and columns of the rock face. These paths, called climbing routes, are defined by the lava flow which formed Devils Tower. Moreover, the difficulty of these routes vary greatly, ranging from relatively easy to some of the hardest in the world. On some routes the gap between columns is just narrow enough to bridge with stretched-out legs, so the climber ascends doing "the splits" all the way. All climbers must register with a park ranger before and after attempting a climb.

Native American folklore

A poster of the national monument made by the Federal Art Project.
American Indian legends tell of six Sioux girls who were picking flowers when they were chased by bears. Feeling sorry for them, the Great Spirit raised the ground beneath the girls. The bears tried to climb the rock, but fell off, leaving their scratch marks on the sides.
Another version tells of how two Sioux boys wandered far from their village when Mato the bear, a huge creature that had claws the size of teepee poles, spotted them, and wanted to eat them for breakfast. He was almost upon them when the boys prayed to Wakan Tanka the Creator to help them. They rose up on a huge rock, while Mato tried to get up from every side, leaving huge scratch marks as he did. Finally, he sauntered off, disappointed and discouraged. The bear came to rest east of the Black Hills at what is now Bear Butte. Wanblee, the eagle, helped the boys off the rock and back to their village. A painting depicting this legend by artist Herbert A. Collins hangs over the fireplace in the visitor's center at Devil's Tower.
The Tower is sacred to several Native American Plains tribes, including the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne and Kiowa. Because of this, many Indian leaders objected to climbers ascending the monument, as they felt this was a desecration. The climbers felt that they had a right to climb the Tower, since it is on federal land. A compromise was eventually reached with a voluntary climbing ban during the month of June when the tribes are conducting ceremonies around the monument. Climbers are asked, but not required, to stay off the Tower in June. According to the PBS documentary In Light of Reverence, approximately 85% of climbers honor the ban and voluntarily choose not to climb the Tower during the month of June. However, several climbers along with the Mountain States Legal Foundation sued the Park Service, claiming an inappropriate government entanglement with religion.

The Road King

Check out the hotel I was working at www.grandgatewayhotel.com

While riding through the hills on a Road King Harley Davidson. I can see why one week a year this region recives over 500,000 bikers. Breathtaking rides through some bueatiful contry. No wonder its a bikers paridise.

U.S. Route 16A is a scenic United States highway, which divides from U.S. Route 16 in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The highway's eastern terminus is at a junction with US 16 called the Keystone Wye south of Rapid City, South Dakota. The western terminus is a junction with US 16 in Custer, South Dakota.

The route passes through Keystone, South Dakota; Norbeck Wildlife Refuge; Mount Rushmore National Memorial; and Custer State Park (including State Game Lodge and Legion Lake); before rejoining the parent highway.

US 16A is famous for its scenic, one-lane tunnels aligned to frame the faces on Mount Rushmore, its "pigtail bridges", and its sections of divided highway but with single (and narrow) lanes on each roadway. It is the only route which can be used to drive through Custer State Park without having to pay an entrance fee for the park, provided the traveler does not stop in the Park.

Portions of US 16A are known as the Iron Mountain Road. The route includes most of the tunnels on the South Dakota state highway system, including the only four-lane tunnel in the state, just north of Keystone. Part of the highway is also a boundary of the Black Elk Wilderness. The Iron Mountain portion of the road is not maintained in the winter. The road, like several other scenic roads in the Black Hills, was originally laid out by Governor Peter Norbeck, specifically to create a very scenic, slow-speed road for tourists. At the highest point of the byway, there is a small memorial to Governor Norbeck.

Mt. Rushmore

IMG_2881, originally uploaded by writedanhere.

Check out the hotel I was working at www.grandgatewayhotel.com

Even though Rushmore did not carve it why was it called Mt. Rushmore?
Charles E. Rushmore (died October 31, 1931) was an American businessman and attorney. In 1883, a tin mine, the Etta, was opened, which caused excitement among Eastern investors. In 1885 Rushmore was in the Black Hills of South Dakota to check the titles to properties for an eastern mining company owned by James Wilson. Although an Easterner, Rushmore quickly made friends among the miners and prospectors. One day he was returning to headquarters of the Harney Peak Consolidated Tin Co., Ltd., located at Pine Camp, which was north of the great granite peak soon to bear his name. With him were a local business man, and William W. Challis, a prospector and guide. As they neared the mountain, Rushmore turned to Challis and asked its name.

Challis jestingly replied: "Never had any but it has now - we'll call the damn thing Rushmore." The United States Board of Geographic Names officially recognized the name "Mount Rushmore" in June 1930." Forty years after the initial 1885 naming, Rushmore donated $5000 towards Gutzon Borglum's sculpture of the four presidents' heads on the mountain - the largest single contribution. The Memorial was dedicated by President Coolidge on August 10th, 1927.

Me at Don Cesar Loews

Me at Don Cesar1, originally uploaded by writedanhere.

Check out the hotel I was working at http://www.loewshotels.com/en/Hotels/Don-CeSar-Beach-Resort/Overview.aspx

The sand at St. Petersburg is really great its more like powder than it is sand, it is not too hot to walk on since it is so white and soft in most parts because it is more powder than sand. Really go give it a try its great!

I Am Front Desk Agent

I have advanced degrees in Accounting, Public Relations, Marketing, Business,Computer Science, Civil Engineering, Phycology, and Swahilli. I can also read minds.
Of Course I have the reservation that you booked six years ago, even though you don't have the confirmation number and you think it was made with a name that stars with "S".
It is completely my fault that the blizzard shut down the airport and you have to sleep in a warm king-size bed while 5000 of your co-travellers are sleeping in benches at the airport.
Of course it is not a problem for me to give you seven connecting, non-smoking, poolside suites with two king beds in each, four rollaways, three cribs, and yes I can install a wet bar. I know it is my fault that we do not have a helicopter landing pad and a pier for your brand new 60ft yacht.
I am a front desk agent. I am expected to speak all languages fluently. It is obvious to me that when you booked your reservation for Thursday, that you actually meant your arriving on Saturday where we are already over sold by 15 rooms. My company has entrusted me with all financial information and decisions, and yes, I am lying to you when I say we have no more rooms available, I am saving them for my friends who are coming to party tonight cause we don't want to clean up after ourselves. But no problem I am easily able to construct more guest rooms. THIS TIME I will not forget the helicopter landing pad and pier. Oh, and yes it is my fault that everyone is staying in MY hotel. I should have known you were coming in, even though you had no reservation. After all, you are a frequent quest of our hotel, 60 plus nights a year, yet you still don't know how to get to the elevators.
I am quite capable of checking three people in, two people out, taking five reservations, answering fifteen incoming calls, delivering six bath towels to room 625, plunging the toilet in room 101, restocking the supply of pool towels, and running the night audit report all at the same time. Yes, I will be glad to call the van driver and tell him to drive over all the other cars stuck in traffic because you've been waiting at the airport for fifteen minutes and you've got jet lag.
I am a front desk agent, an operator, a bellhop, houseman, guest service representative, housekeeper, sales coordinator, information specialist, entertainment critic, restaurateur, stock broker, referee, janitor, computer technician, plumber, ice-breaker, postman, babysitter, dispatcher, laundry cleaner, lifeguard, electrician, ambassador, personal fitness trainer, fax expert, human jukebox, domestic abuse counselor, and verbal punching bag. Yes, I do know that room 202 is not answering there phone but don't worry I have their schedule for the day and according to their personal GPS tracker that I have installed for every guest it looks like they are down the street at Mario's having pizza, yeah I already have their cell phone number written down for you before you came to the desk and asked where they were.
I always know where to find the best vegetarian-kosher-Mongolian-barbecue restaurants. I know exactly what to see and do in this city in fifteen minutes without spending any money and without getting caught in traffic, because you have to catch your flight in an hour. I take personal blame for airline food, traffic jams, location of our hotel, rental car flat tires, parking tickets, and the nations economy.
I realize that you meant to book your reservation here. People often confuse us with the Galaxy Delight Motel in Antarctica. Of course I can "fit you in" and yes, you may have the special $1 rate in the Royal Crown Suite because you are affiliated with the Hoboken Accounting and Bagel Club.
I am expect to smile, empathize, sympathize, console, condole, (but don't overstep the bounds of personal space, yet avoid getting written up becuase you wrote a complaint letter to the CEO of the investment company that owns my hotel that I wouldn't spend all day listing to your sob story about your bird Pette dying) upsell, downsell, perform, outperform (and what cirmcumstances your supposed to do which without going over budget) sing, dance, fix the printer, network, and the computer that was originally installed in 1965, tell your wife that your not really here, but tell your girlfriend your room number, and yes I know exactly where 613 Northwest Possum Trot Lane Nowhere Town BFE is.
After all, I AM a Front Desk Agent!

Hawaii

Halifax, Canada

Installing Opera on the Delta Barrington and Delta Halifax hotels. Beautifuly cold place. Its so funny that my first assignment that I get sent to is to visit my brother up in Canada.

My Review of the Delta Barrington/Halifax

Rooms: Basic Stuff. Wall paper covered few pictures. Lamps for lighting. Nice pillow top comfy bed. Great down comfortor. Love the pillows! Needs more room to put clothes, half your drawer space is taken up by a minibar fridge. Great to have a decent desk space with the only hotel I have ever seen to give you tape, paperclips, post-it notes, and even a little stapler ha ha wow!

Bathrooms: Granite counter tops. Could use some drawers to put stuff, everything has to go on the coutertop. Good showerhead. Water takes a while to warm up.

Employees: Great Staff! Very friendly and knowledable staff.

Food: In room dining, buffet/resturant, lobby bar. All have the basic stuff. The hotel is a little understaffed here. You can definately find some slow service durring busy times.

Gym & Pool: Nice little pool and has a decent size hot tub. Both are a little dated but works for the size of the hotel. Gym has two tredmills which is unadaqute durring the busy times. Has the basic all in one fitness machine. Yet this gym comes with a nice touch of some free weights. The Halifax does have a definately better gym with newer free weights.

Busniess Center: Very limited business center. Just two computers hooked up printers in their own little booth. Needs a printer and a working fax machine to become more helpful.