Las Vegas

The Traveling Mushroom made it to 'Sin City' and also known as the adult playground.  Smack in the middle of the dessert this city lives up to all of its nicknames.  This was a special trip that had a main purpose of a Pan/Am hockey tournament.  After playing our 2nd game of the tournament early Saturday morning, the team went back to the hotel to drink a little and grab something to eat by the pool before our evening game.  By the time we made it back to our second game (3rd in the tournament) half of our team was a bit inebriated but luckily so was half of our opposing team.  It was a good time as the goalie from each team took the opening face-off.  In between 2nd and 3rd period, as we gathered by our bench to discuss strategy and make adjustments it had become apparent that one of our defensemen had passed out on the bench... sitting up.  We decided to forfeit our bronze medal game due to the fact it was at 9 something Sunday morning and we were all going out that night.

Staying along the strip while going in and out of the casinos but only gambling just a little, the nightlife seemed more fitting than the gambling.  Entering a red carpet event in Paris, it was a pretty nice club that even the infamous Charlie Sheen was there.  We grabbed a V.I.P. booth and partied big and then closed the club down at sometime passed 5am.  Waking up at sometime just before noon it was very smart to not play the 9am game.  Rumor had it that there was a sighting of a Gorilla on our way home from the club the night before but this has been highly debated.  Yes, an inside joke, ha-ha.

Epcot

Park Hopping isn't for the weak, it can be very exhausting and leave your dogs barking.  After hopping the parks and trying to visit as many of the rides as one possibly can the day came to a conclusion.  A beautiful night helped to pause, take a breath and start a photo shoot in front of the classic and easily recognizable iconic Spaceship Earth.  It is so well lit up that it's easy to take a photogenic shot with it.  Epcot has so much to offer but if you can't do any more rides and waiting in lines after running through all of the other parks earlier in the day than go to grab a seat around the World Showcase Lagoon and enjoy the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.

Hollywood Studios

Taking another visit to the Orlando area, the Traveling Mushroom grabbed a Park Hopper pass and started out at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  This Park will always be remembered as MGM studios because growing up that's what it was called.  This theme park is the 2nd of four Disney Resort theme parks the Traveling Mushroom has visited and it was a great time.  Riding the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is an amazingly entertaining and exciting roller coaster experience and is worth the average wait of about an 45-60 minutes.  Classic rides like the newly renovated Star Tours and the Muppet's 3-D are also a must experience.  My favorite is the well known and visible from almost anywhere in the park is the Tower of Terror.  The entire experience including the wait in line, introduction, seating, cast members, the travel to the elevator drop position is all apart of the show.

A must see and worth the wait as well is the Extreme Stunt Show and has some very impressive stunts on a minimal stage in front of a live audience. 

Walt Disney World

Probably the most popular family tourist destination in the entire world is The Magic Kingdom.  This is just one of four other parks in the Walt Disney Resort area.  Located just outside of Orlando there are a lot of other theme parks and many tourist traps.  It is this park that everyone has to visit at least once.  It is a classic family vacation spot that can help create a lot of fun lasting memories so how can the Traveling Mushroom pass up the visit?  Classic rides like Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and The Haunted Mansion and a personal favorite of the Carousel of Progress.  You can catch a lot of flak saying that's one of your favorites but it's always entertaining to see the carousel's time changes stop in the 70's when it was built.  Then it leaves you to think about how far we've came and how there needs to be another stage or two to show our progress since.  Known as the happiest place on Earth, it was a beautiful in January and the day amounted to a great memory.

Buffalo Weekend in Florida (The Visitor)

Sometimes the Traveling Mushroom visits you and sometimes you visit the Traveling Mushroom, ha-ha!  Apart of the Buffalo weekend the Traveling Mushroom had a good friend from Buffalo visiting and help cheer on the visiting Buffalo teams.  After the disappointing loss of the Sabres and a night of partying away our sorrows the shenanigans continued onto the Bills win.  Before flying away we did a quick photo shoot and the semi-randomness of the weekend is summed into this one quick, semi-random picture.  There's nothing like a nice long weekend of friends, sporting events, drinking and partying.

Buffalo Weekend in Florida (Bills v. Dolphins)

By Miami standards it was a bit of a brisk cold day in South Florida with the lack of sun and cloudy skies it just made for a long pants and sweater attire.  Unfortunately they don't make pants that small for the mushroom so naked was the only way to be.  Another installment of the "Buffalo Weekend" was Bills v Dolphins a long time rivalry that wouldn't fail on this day.  Buffalo won 17-14 but the Dolphins put up a big fight at the end almost coming back for the win.  As cold of a day as it was it was a lot of fun to see two NFL teams fight it out with 65,511 other fans.  

Buffalo Weekend in Florida (Sabres v. Panthers)

The Buffalo Sabres were in South Florida to play the Florida Panthers and the Traveling Mushroom was routing for the Sabres due to the all out Buffalo invasion for the weekend.  The Florida Panthers look to be a disappointing struggling team this year and of course as the Sabres are the team of choice for the night they loose which simply defines irony.  Regardless of who won, it was a great time just to hang out with friends and cheer along with them.  This was another first as it was the Traveling Mushrooms first NHL game and even though they were semi-nose bleed seats there isn't really a bad seats in the Bank Atlantic Center.

Louisville, KY

The Traveling Mushroom was all business on this trip and got together with a very welcoming and friendly office just outside of Louisville Kentucky.  All of the people in this area were friendly and welcoming actually and it was nice to hang out in an area that was like that.  After driving by this location earlier in the day there was no way the Traveling Mushroom was going to miss this opportunity.  Sometimes it can be difficult to find the perfect spot to show the Mushroom's Travels by selecting the most recognizable, famous or unique location for a photo.  This was one of those few times there was no question that this will be the place to take a couple of pictures.  It was a bit cold, a bit late but it's never too cold or too late to take a few pictures with the Traveling Mushroom.

Miami Heat

Unless you've been living under a rock during the off season then you know about the controversy of LeBron James moving from Cleveland, OH to Miami, FL and teaming up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosch.  The three have a lot to prove to the NBA fans and Miami Community that this wasn't a very expensive scuff and they will be able to bring the Miami Heat to the NBA playoffs and beyond.  This was the Traveling Mushroom's first NBA game and rightfully so it is with a team that has been widely in the news and holds such a controversy.  The American Airlines Arena is nestled just outside of downtown which like any major sporting event can make getting to and from and parking a bit of a headache.  Winning this game against the Toronto Raptors of a final score of 109-100 putting their over-all record to 9 wins and 8 losses, it's not that great of a start.  Time will tell how they will do this year and hopefully time will tell and exciting story and not a let down all hype of a year.

Sedona, AZ

This was a short hike up on top of a plateau that had a breath taking view.  The layers of colored rocks and how clear the visibility was made it a picture perfect day to stop and take some pictures.   The view in the picture is pretty amazing but the 360 degree is something that one must experience on their own because this picture does not do it justice.  It was very windy on top of the Plateau which is why the Traveling Blue Mushroom ingested some rocks before he was able to do any photo shoot to ensure he wouldn't fly away.  Sedona Arizona is kind of a weird tourist trap because a lot of people believe it's part of a healing vortex so their are a lot of bizarre shops in town.  One thing I really did like about Sedona was that they had a light pollution ordinance that restricted street lights as well commercial signs that helped to keep the sky at night well preserved.

Wedding - Waukesha, WI

After traveling to several family and friend's events and weddings it is often asked where the Traveling Mushroom is?  So this family wedding was used for the one and only wedding the Blue Mushroom will go to besides maybe his own.  Who doesn't have to or has not traveled to a wedding before?  Like all weddings it was a beautiful wedding and it was nice to catch up with family.  It's unfortunate that Waukesha doesn't have more to offer and there wasn't enough time to stop in downtown Milwaukee.  On that note, what could Waukesha, Wisconsin really offer for a photogenic picture really?  No, seriously the best story that Wikipedia has is, "In August 2010, the singer Ke$ha came to Milwaukee to perform at a concert. On a radio interview, it was suggested that Milwaukees close neighbor, Waukesha, unofficially change its name to "Wauke$ha" for a day. That radio broadcaster, from WRNW, tried contacting the mayor of Waukesha, asking if he would. The mayor did not respond through various means of communication. Later, when Ke$ha was interviewed by that radio broadcaster, he had Ke$ha call the mayor. She offered to have a beer with him if he were to "slip a dollar sign" in it. He declined by e-mail, and the name did not change. Petrie, Joe "Scrima: Singer Ke$ha should rename herself 'Waukesha'" GM today, August 26, 2010." - wikipedia.org  I mean seriously, Kesha?

The Lincoln Memorial - Washington, D.C.

"In this temple, As in the hearts of the people, For Whom he saved the union, The memory of Abraham Lincoln, is enshrined Forever" is what is inscribed into the wall above the statue.  This is a pretty significant monument in the D.C. area and a must see.  So much history is to be respected in this location and because of this location.  I wanted to get the Blue Mushroom to sit on Lincolns lap but I was unable to pull it off.

The White House - Washington, D.C.

THE TRAVELING MUSHROOM for PRESIDENT!!! We are only a few steps away for making it true, YES WE CAN!  This was the Blue Mushrooms first time visiting the nations capital and stopping at the White House was a must.  The president never showed but there were a lot of guys with rifles and sniper rifles on the roof and it must be assumed that this was for the protection of the Blue Mushroom. There really wasn't much to see of the White House through a big Iron fence but do they still allow tours of the White House?  If they do then maybe that would be a reason to go back and visit.

Washington Monument - Washington, D.C.

A short but longer than it should have been 9 hour road trip followed by a 45 minute ride on the Washington area Metrorail finally arriving in downtown D.C. to view the sights.  The first stop would be the easily recognizable Washington Monument.  This was a beautifully lightly covered cloudy sky August day.  One could not paint or ask for a better day to view the nations national monuments.  For some who don't know, construction stopped on the Washinton Monument due to money and the start of the Civil war and didn't finish until 30 years later.  It's because of this that about 150 feet up can you see a slight discoloration where the construction re-began.

RTD - Denver, Co

The Denver area light rail transit system or actually known as RTD was a bit unique and a slight eye opening ride into downtown Denver.  It was unique because there was no turn styles, no ticket taker, no conductor to monitor who's getting on and off the train.  It was eye opening because it was based almost completely on the honor system.  It was explained that from time to time a uniformed officer will board and check to see who has paid and check their stubs.  Also, the trains are monitored more closely during certain professional sporting events and other similar big festivals.  It would be my opinion that this speaks a lot for Denver and their way of thinking and really fits the atmosphere of Denver that I love so much.  This was a short ride to downtown with a new brother and a tasty beer with a good Texan.