Picture of the Day: Tower in the Old Wall in San Juan

San Juan, Puerto Rico
2.2007

Picture of the Day: Coastline at Roatan

Roatan, Honduras
11.23.2004 

Picture of the Day: Elephant at Sunrise

Kruger National Park, South Africa
7.30.2004 

Heading Home From Japan

After a short trip I am heading back home today. I had a great trip getting a ton done for work as well as catching up with colleagues in the evening and having a bit of fun traveling on the weekend which I will share more about later. I've been almost continuously out of town lately so I am looking forward to getting home and doing some things around the house. Next stop Detroit!

Picture of the Day: View of Mitre Peak from Milford Sound

Milford Sound
South Island, New Zealand
9.18.2005 

Back in Japan

Within 24 hours of getting back from Atlanta from the Final Four I was back on the road again, heading to Japan for work. I left on Wednesday afternoon, arriving in Nagoya in the early evening on Thursday.

Being back in Japan always feels so good and the second I step foot in Toyota City it feels like home again. One of my tricks for getting over my jet lag is to keep busy after I arrive and not let myself go to bed until ten or eleven no matter how tired I am. By the time I checked in at my hotel it was eight o'clock so I did a little shopping at my favorite Hyaku-en Store in town and then went out for a small dinner at nine with some colleagues. We went to one of my favorite places in town, Tsubasaya, which brought back so many good memories.  

I'm only in town for a few days, but I am looking forward to a good trip full of productive meetings for work and some tasty Japanese food.

Picture of the Day: Wooden Bird Carving in Hoi An

Hoi An, Vietnam
8.10.2011 

Picture of the Day: Wat Paphaimisaiyaram

Luang Prabang, Laos
8.16.2011 

Final Four!

Frank has been saying all tournament that if Michigan made it to the Final Four we were heading to Atlanta to watch the games in person. We watched the Florida game almost in disbelief as Michigan steamrolled them, putting in the bench for the end of the game. Within minutes Frank was looking for tickets online while I watched the Duke vs. Louisville game. I was hoping that both our teams would make it to the Final Four but sadly my Blue Devils lost.

Right after work on Friday we loaded up the car (decorated with a few Michigan magnets, of course) and headed South stopping in Knoxville for the night before arriving in Atlanta at noon on Saturday. Frank drove the whole way and I was a lousy company since out of those eighteen hours I probably slept fifteen. I really appreciate Frank letting me sleep. I definitely needed the rest and it went a long way to helping me finally get rid of this lingering cold.

After getting to Atlanta we relaxed a bit, had an awesome late lunch at Flip Burger and headed to the Georgia Dome.

We walked around a bit and headed to Centennial Park to check out the celebrations.

There was a huge concert venue set up for the fans in town and we walked around and listened to Flo Rida for a while before heading back to the Georgia Dome for the game.

Our seats were in a really cool spot in the lower bowl behind one of the baskets and off to the side a bit. Although it wasn't always the best for seeing the game sometimes we were down low and relatively close which was nice. We also were right near where CBS was taping the Final Four show which was cool to see.

The first game was the Louisville Cardinals vs. the Wichita State Shockers. We watched the first ten minutes of the game and then did a lap around the concourse coming back to our seats just before halftime with the score pretty even.

At half time they played Christian Laettner's shot to win the Kentucky game in the 1992 NCAA tournament and then gave him an award. My Duke pride came out a bit watching the clip, I have to say...

Part way through the second half of the game we spotted the Michigan team watching the game off to the side.

The Shockers pulled out ahead of Louisville and were up by eleven at one point, seeming to have the game in hand. Louisville was not going to go down easily and rallied to end up winning the game.

We had forty minutes between the games and watched the teams warming up while the Final Four show for CBS was being taped.

Lucky for us the Wolverines entered for the game in a burst of smoke from just off to the left of where we were sitting. After being relaxed for the first game we were pretty amped up.

The game was a defensive struggle but Michigan built up a little lead over Syracuse going into the half.

In the second half Syracuse started chipping away at the lead and the last few minutes were pretty tense as it looked like Michigan might blow the game but it all worked out.
At the end of the game Frank and I ended up on TV a few times over the shoulder of the Michigan players while they were shooting free throws.

It was so exciting for Michigan to win and Frank just stood there in amazement about the fact the Michigan was heading to the title game to play for the National Championship.

We lingered for a bit soaking in the atmosphere and listening to John Beilein and Mitch McGary get interviewed.

It's been an exciting ride and I can't wait for the game tonight! Go Blue!

Picture of the Day: Warrior Carving at Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza, Mexico
10.2005