Hellir.

The De Folt Family :)

For September we should probably decide on where we're going. I think we said the weekend of the 18th/next weekend. I've heard Mt. Rushmore, but will the leaves be turned? Mt. Rushmore National Park charges $10 to park all day with no entrance fee. Here's the official site for those interested.

http://www.nps.gov/moru/planyourvisit/index.htm

Someone (Jordan?) mentioned Nashville and I said Louisville for potential alternatives.

Let's get this planned before Saturday; hotels and such will have to be figured out quickly.

I'm sure no matter where we end up going it'll be an excellent adventure. :)

Things to do for Saint Louis trip: 1. pick a date 2. Choose what sites to see. 3. Plan a schedule of events. 4. Ask others if they want to join

Someday you are going to run into Tyler Perry...

Well day three in NYC has come to a close and now we're in Mike's apt watching movies and enjoying the time pass. Today got a late start around 1:30 and we were in the city @ 2:00 pm. It was a rainy day in NY and we mostly just walked around the financial district and then took the Statten Island Ferry. After that we decided to travel back to NJ and have dinner and movies in the APT. Tomorrow will be interesting indeed. Later.

Update

I'm half in the bag and Jordan is blogging at the counter. I love vacation.

Jordan just slapped himself. Omg

Mitch
-- Post From My iPhone

Sleepy Thursday Mornings...

Its exactly 1:00pm on the button as I am typing this sentence.. wonderful. We kind of collectively slept in and "missed" the trains into the city this morning. I am ok with that as I am still a little fatigued from the drive here (which was on monday). Today I am thinking that we are going into the city on the 1:47 train. We are going to visit the statue of liberty again, hopefully the weather is better. Then we will most likely wander around the downtown area. There is something about being in Manhattan that gives me peace. When I am at ISU I hardly have anonymity anywhere I go, its a major downturn to working for 6 major offices/departments. So for while we are here I am going to take some pictures, meet some people, and have a lot of fun. Here's to the rest of our trip!

How ye derin'?

Hello! Yesterday was a loooooonnnnggggg day! We started out about 11 to head to the city and it was bright and shiny! We enjoyed the day traveling throughout the city (mainly Midtown). We started out the day just browsing about the city and then we decided to head to Rockefeller Center where we took a tour of NBC Studios. Mitchel and I participated as anchors on a fake news broadcast. That was fun.... After the tour we headed around NY and just walked around. Derek, Clarissa's man-friend, was on his way to NYC to meet up with us and see the sites but unfortunately had missed his train back in Newark to travel near to Secaucus, NJ. So Derek had to catch the train in Secaucus and travel in from there. Once he got to Secaucus he boarded the train and headed into Penn Station. We stopped at a Starbucks near Central Park and Mitchel sat down and planned out how Derek was going to get to Starbucks. We decided that Mitchel would pick him up while Clarissa and I waited. Cut to 30 mins later, Mitchel and Derek walk in. It was a nice reunion for Derek and Clarissa and they were their usual cute selves. Mitchel has a friend that lives in Brooklyn and he joined us as we traveled to Central Park. We walked around the park and Mitchel and I took some great pictures. After that we headed to Chelsea to get some Greek food. We ate at the restaurant and then we headed to small park that offered wifi internet sponsored by Toyota. It was pretty sweet. New York is starting a new initiative where they close streets and create areas for tourists. After about an hour we headed back to the street that we were on and looked for a Starbucks for Derek and Clarissa to chill at while Mitchel and I went to another club. Well long story short we headed to back to NJ because Clarissa had to use the restroom and we couldn't find an open Starbucks. It was a good day indeed. Can't wait until tomorrow!

ABC Underwear

Hello all! Today we journeyed about New York City. It was nice to see all of the places I've always seen in pictures, in person. We started out the day by making the commute from New Jersey and heading into the city. We contemplated several things to do but in the end just wondered around and tried to avoid the rain. Mitchel and I took some pretty cool pictures near the bay and Clarissa kept us entertained with her humor. ha! We decided to head to the financial district where we saw The NYC Stock exchange and Trinity Chapel. We tried to stay dry for a bit by ducking into a Borders and browsing. Clarissa and I, being ourselves, found the social sciences section and found some books that we are interested in purchasing. We headed to the Brooklyn Bridge for some pictures and to walk the bridge. I'm definitely looking forward to posting some of video from today because I'm sure that most of it is pretty funny.
After that we headed to Greenwich Village for our afternoon. We walked around and really just enjoyed the scenery and people. I really enjoyed the environment of the village because of its laid back atmosphere. It didn't feel like it was downtown NYC and that was a nice change. We stopped at this small pizza place to eat lunch and it turned out to be very good. It was authentic Italian pizza, accompanied by an Italian staff. I loved the atmosphere and Clarissa and I decided that we definitely liked that pizza better than American style pizza.
Especially near and dear to my heart was a small visit we made to Greenwich Village. As you may know, this year marks the 40th anniversary of Stonewall. (The beginning of the modern gay rights movement). It was really surreal to stand in the place where it all began. I had to take a moment and reflect about what happened there 40 years ago and how my life might be different had it not happened. Thanks to the many people who fought long and hard back then to make things better for those of us today. You were truly pioneers and we wouldn't be this far had you not sacrificed so much long ago.
After Stonewall we walked near to the Washington Square park and saw the fake Arc de Triomphe as well as a big fountain. It was a very nice park and full of happy locals as well as tourists. Later in Greenwich we met up with Mike Glazer who joined us from NJ. We got on the subway and headed to Pier 17 where we shopped around for a bit and looked for a t-shirt for Clarissa's sister Andrea. It was a fun experience especially because Mitchel got to take some cool pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge. After the pier we headed to a comedy club that Mike got us tickets for. It was a really good experience and the two comedy troupes that performed were really funny. It was all on improvisation and the first group did a phenomenal job. After the club we headed to Times Square which proved to be a fulfilling experience. It was amazing to stand in the middle with so much going on around us. Right now, they have the street blocked off for some project that the mayor started but it is still very cool. We then headed to a restaurant to eat dinner. It was a nice place and the food was great. We looked down and it was time to head to the train station to catch the train back to NJ. Don' worry, we had to run three blocks to get there. And so began our cross city sprint. It was funny and I think its something that I'll remember the rest of my life. Well thats pretty much the end of Day 1...tomorrow should prove to be interesting. haha