This is not mind-blowingly cool, but it’s cool none the less. I’ve already blabbed a bit about the National Parks today, so why not just one more post about them. This one is about a kite camera that was used to take photos at Yellowstone. The gallery is not, as I mentioned, going to drop your jaw in awe, but it’s a rather neat idea, especially for techno-gadget geeks like myself. The group of kids here have rigged up a camera to the string of a kite that has some circuitry on board the helps it determine the best time to take a photo and then the photo is relayed to a computer on the ground. I could see this being used i lots of places, and sadly Iraq is one of them. It’s probably a lot cheaper than a predator anyway, although the kite isn’t yet equipped with air to ground missiles. But seriously, I could see a new genre of outdoor photography emerging from the idea. Kite photos. Perhaps a whole coffee table book on the subject.
Snack Healthy on Road Trips
Thanks to our sister site, That’s Fit for being health conscious enough to supply the blogosphere and us here with some tips on how to snack healthy on road trips. I’m especially grateful considering I’m on the road at present and always looking for a word of advice on the topic. I’ve watched trips turn to “hell” for some people who input all the wrong goods into their bodies, sit on their butts, lounge in beach chairs and it ain’t pretty. Snacking is one of the easiest ways to kill time on those long drives and also an easy way to gain weight, but if you plan well in advance and think outside the box, or your vehicle your chances of fighting weight gain or just that nasty fatty feeling can be reduced.
For starters if you’ve ever taken the oh-so-scenic Route 66 or any parts of America’s great Midwest you can kiss most healthy pit stops bye-bye. I remember craving some edamame, sushi and a green tea smoothie with boba (specific, I know) on one long drive through Missouri somewhere. There were stretches of nothing followed by more nothing and then the great golden arches (McDonald’s) appeared, but the semi-healthy Japanese fare my stomach desired was never to be found. Tired, hungry and defeated, I gave into chicken mcnuggets. Planning ahead and packing your car with granola, water, trail mix, dried fruit, and fresh fruit that can survive the trip are good starters. The About.com article which That’s Fit references, suggests eating only salads and grilled foods from fast food joints. Also, all those rest stops we all tend to speed past – utilize them. Take a moment to let the car cool, step out the vehicle and do some stretching or light exercise. It may slow you down in the short-run, but in the long-run your body will probably feel 10x better. Let me not babble about it, go see for yourself.
Do you have any secrets for snacking healthy? Maybe a recipe for the road?
Restaurants Worth Flying To
Given the task of coming up with ten international restaurants so very tasty that they warrant a plane ride on their own sounds like a great assignment. Of course, to land such a great assignment, you have to be a rather lofty food critic like R. W. Apple Jr. who wrote regularly for the New York Times until passing away earlier this month.
His piece, which came out a day after he died, whisks the reader around the globe to fantastic eateries in France, London, Italy, San Sebastian, Brussels, and more. The selection is truly spectacular and while perhaps not worth a plane ticket on their own, each is certainly worth an overland detour if you happen to be in the region.
And yes, the rich folks can fly in if they want.
Red Corner: The Napa Valley of Georgia
We’ve posted a couple of times before about the wondrous wines which hail from the former Soviet republic of Georgia. And now, the New York Times has discovered them as well.
C. J. Chivers, writing in last Sunday’s paper, takes us to the fertile valleys of Georgia for a bit of the old world wine tasting.
Georgians claim that the drink itself was actually first invented in their country thousands of years ago. There is certainly some speculation over this claim, but be it true or not, the reality is that Georgian wine tastes as though they’ve been perfecting the product longer than anyone else.
Sure, some of it is hit or miss, but that’s the case with any country’s vino.
Chivers spends much of his time in Kakheti, a region I visited two summers ago which is crammed with vineyards and wineries. In fact, every house in the area is a winery. Grape vines grow over practically every bit of real estate and the locals are constantly producing their own vintage. If you visit, however, don’t be alarmed by the copious amounts of wine stored in plastic, one-liter Pepsi bottles. Georgians recycle the containers and regularly use them to bottle their home made wines.
Ice Cream Capital of the World
One of the joys of a well constructed road trip is that it isn’t as well constructed as you would have liked to it to have been, but it is here where fluke accidents occur. Some may call it a glitch in the matrix, but I say it is ice cream heaven on Earth. We didn’t anticipate going there because we never knew of its existence, but along a long stretch of Iowa highway rests a small quiet kind of town named Le Mars which has been proclaimed ICE CREAM CAPITAL OF THE WORLD! I shouted at my pal to pump the brakes and hook a quick left into the parking lot. My senses went into hyper-active mode and my emotions felt tangled. I was beyond feeling overjoyed, but in slight panic that we could have missed this lotus land for ice cream lovers. Once inside I felt my feet lift from the ground as I whiffed and followed the sweet scents from the various ice creams, frozen yogurt and waffle cones. As much as I LOVE ice cream I’m a fairly boring person when it comes to flavors. My personal favorites being natural vanilla, French vanilla, butter pecan and strawberry, I tend to stray from anything too exotic or containing explosive peanut butter filled chocolate bunnies. But that’s just me.
I ordered a cup of the homemade vanilla which wasn’t too bad on the pocket book ($2.19) and my companion had a strawberry cheesecake frozen yogurt on a waffle cone. Considering how incredibly warm it was in Iowa at this time of year (86 degrees) we decided to take our delicious desserts outside to bask in the afternoon sun. We walked around the big white Blue Bunny truck and stole a peek inside the museum which was closing in five minutes. Had we known about the place we might have been able to plan ahead and take a tour of the place, but once we finished our cones we were back on the open road and ready for the next big little secret spot to jump out at us.
Wonder why Le Mars is considered the Ice Cream Capital of the World? I did too, so before hitting the gas I asked and was told Le Mars is known for housing the largest family-owned ice cream production in the world. Owned by the Well’s family who still resides in Le Mars, Iowa it has little to do with taste or varieties, although they do have 37 different flavors. Find out more about Le Mars from their Visitor Guide and plan your own trip into the town.