San Francisco Continued....

So, we wake up early in the morning…we wanted to see much of the city. You all know how Alejandra is totally one of those detailed oriented women. She likes photography. We took the auto that we rented from Rentalcarmomma, and headed toward the city. Yeah, I know it is a funny name, but they have pretty awesome prices!

It took us a little more than we bargain because of the early rush traffic, but we finally got into the northern point. We parked the SUV and we got into the Trolley to the Castro, which is a colorful and very historic place to visit in San Francisco. Probably you’ve seen it in the commercials to San Francisco, it is that subway looking wagon that is traveling in those rails over the hills of the city. It is open, so you can walk in and out really fast. Of course, we were all laughing cause they have signs to never get off until the wagon has stopped. But, if you look closely, the locals are totally a pro at this…one of my friends try to do the local thing, and almost got his face plastered in the floor, which we all were laughing.

Alejandra was in total photographic focus. I was mesmerized by her way of setting the shot and playing a little with the color palette. Plus, she remember that I love monochromatic pictures, and I could see her wicked look when she was doing it. Which, you know, if you’ve seen this woman and giving you that “look” it raises the adrenaline and heart beat as fast as the speed of light. She took awesome pictures of the surrounding buildings, and the city have a very awesome looking exterior, which adds to the historical vibe of the city…plus, the people were extremely friendly. We ended up meeting at the end of the Castro, which is a wonderful place to be…they have pastry shops and bakeries and restaurants that add its own personal touch to this incredibly city.

Since the whole gang loved the area and the surrounding we decided to eat around. As usual, we asked around…who knows which is the best place than the locals, right? And you know how we’ve found awesome places in our travel, today was not the exception. There was a local’s favorite called Mama’s Restaurant, which is located in the bohemian part of the city. At first we were “Italian! Awesome!”, then the joke was on us, it was a beautiful contemporary decorated bakery/coffee shop. They have menus for Breakfast, which the locals say is one of the best, and they have one for lunch as well. Immediately we went to the menu, and it was pretty neat from the waiter that we ask about their awesome pancakes, and we were really amazed that we said that we were going to have breakfast tomorrow! We all pick different plates from the menu. I got the chicken Caesar salad, and Miss Hotness got the Vegetable Quiche, which was her way to keep with healthy living!

I had the guys covering me during the sightseeing of the city tour. The reason being is while during the Castro trolley travel my phone was ringing, and it was an alarmed that I had one year ago….it was the anniversary of the first time I saw this stunning woman. One year ago it was in a concert, so I thought, what better way than to have her and me to attend a nice concert here in the city, right? So I heard of this place “Live at Rrazz”, which was located in a Cadillac showroom, a 1921 Art Deco building that is a major landmark in San Francisco. The good thing is that they have good shows and today is no different! So, the gang totally left us in the night, they did their thing, which did not seat well with Alejandra, but it was part of the plan! We arrived at the place and to my surprise it was schedule to be their final concert, and after that they were going to close indefinitely the place…what a bummer! Alejandra looked at me, and I finally said to her that I remember what she was dressing that night, and to my surprised she was wearing the same pin she was wearing the night I met her, and she was teary eyes and all. Alejandra was looking spectacular and what a beautiful dame she is…red dress, strapless, you can see that when she entered in the room every men’s eyes were unto her. The bartender was doing his theatrical flipping of the bottles for showmanship, and when he saw Alejandra he almost fumbled one of the two bottles and the lady that he was serving was chuckling. Another lady was hitting his husband or boyfriend cause he followed Alejandra to our seats. Told her that the gang was backing me and it was planned, so that is why they weren’t here…more teary eyes…and finally I told her how special she is to me and that I would love her to be part of my life, forever…. That was the cusp and she was hugging me and holding hands and totally emotional, that the waiter was all teary eyes as well. The group was a jazz band, and it was playing all sort of oldies classics from count Basie, Louie Armstrong, Gillespie, Holiday (which is a favorite of Alejandra), and Miles D, Parker, and the one and only Duke Ellington….they gave their all in those awesome renditions…some songs were very danceable, so I took Alejandra a little to the side and people were watching me dance with this amazing woman. All in all was a night to remember, and we walked a little talking and having a wonderful time. Picked up the car and got her, we headed to the presidio, which overlooks the beautiful Golden Gate. We were going to visit it tomorrow, but since it was a lovely night, I decided to bring her here…it was a place someone told me where you can sit down while watching the light up bridge…

At the end of the wonderful meal and evening, and listening to the amazing performers, we went to watch the beautiful and amazing Golden Gate…it was totally illuminated and had that distinctive paint job that has made this amazing bridge as one of the most beautiful in the entire world. As we were sitting on a bench overlooking this amazing engineering marvel, Alejandra and I started talking about ourselves and how we were missing each other. It felt as if time did not go by…we were flirting and more so in love with each other. It was a different feeling than before. It was more mature, and we looked into each other’s eyes and we said at the same time “I love you”, which we laugh for how corny that was. We told each other that we’ll go slow and making sure that what we do is in the interest of the other.

When we arrived to the hotel the guys were asking us how it was, and we told them a bit of what the evening was like. In private the guys were asking me if things were heading toward a date at the altar, but I told them that was in the future, but right now we wanted to make sure to erase what made us felt apart and we were looking at the future more brightly.

Take this new Tesla electric car on a spin for
your next trip to Orlando

For more than 154 years, the lead-acid battery has been the cornerstone source of power for the automobile industry.

Recently environmental concerns regarding the Lithium-Ion Battery used in computers has prompted a team of Chevrolet Volt and Toyota Prius engineers to begin R/D on a new cutting edge battery
Energy Power Systems has put forth an effort to design a new battery based on a wide range of demands from computers to electric cars.

Unfortunately, overheating of the current Lithium-Ion battery has even grounded so super 787 aircraft until the problem is fixed.

For over 10 years,  physicists have conducted  research to design a new battery to date without success. Some believe that a new battery will not be rolled out for another 10 years.

Clean Technology advocates had hoped that battery size reduction would maintain pace with technology but to their dismay,  chemistry has not outpaced technology. 

Nevertheless, recent technology has improved gas mileage in lieu of new EPA laws. Battery designers including Boeing, Tesla Motors Co and General Motors Co remain committed to the creation of a new state-of-the-art battery.Some companies like Toyota don't believe that Lithium-Ion batteries will carry the industry to where it needs to be and are exploring alternative battery chemistry theories for the lead-acid battery. Can you imagine billions of dollars invested in battery manufactures throughout the country are just sitting idle due to the uncertain future of the Lithium-Ion battery.

Case in point, GM continues to hail its Volt battery although designers say that it is composed of 600 seals which must maintain integrity to avoid catastrophic failure.  Some start up companies like Jukso after spending $6 million went bankrupt failing to solve heating problems within the battery resulting in fires that were hard to extinguish.  Since then airlines industry Airbus has dropped the Lithium battery altogether.

A former employee of Boe now working for East Penn Man. Co believes that advanced lead-acid batteries may be the hope of the future for consumers like electric cars and jets.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/04/10/analysis-rethinking-lithium-ion-battery-revolution-over-cost-safety281434/#ixzz2QGhW5HbS

Trip to San Francisco

So, I decided to take on an invitation from my friends to go to San Francisco. Never been there, so I check the flights that they were in. I bought the tickets, and made reservations to the hotel that the gang will be. As usual, I went to my favorite place, and on the discussion, I made a comment to my friends that it was better to pick up a nice SUV, so we can all be together. They told me that they were going to be about 5 including myself. I tell you, they were very sneaky, not telling me too much, which kinda raised the flags that something was up their sleeves, if you know what I mean!

We went to our favorite website, RentalCarMomma, to find our vehicle. We got incredible prices. Ultimately, we choose the Ford Explorer which granted us unlimited mileage, which came in handy because we were going to travel quite a bit in the area. It came roughly 133 per person, which was awesome! Once in the flight, because I book after them, we were sitting in a different cabin. Lo and behold, there I was heading to my seat and she was there….those of you who knows her from my blogs will know how much that woman makes me weak in the knees. Miss Hotness Alejandra in all her beautiful stunning glory! She was with her cargo pants, and her white shirt, her incredible smile and those amazing eyes that will melt with the mere “hi”. That woman is charismatic and full of life…anyways, the guys decided to revive a little the flames of love, and they bring her for the trip….definitely I will kill the guys, but judging for the things that happened during the trip, well, let’s say that I will forgive them!

After we got into San Francisco, we picked up the car and got into the airport. One thing, we both were not the same people, Alejandra and me, there was a level of romanticism in the air, passion was on each other’s skin, but there was something that was holding us and we were not sharing fully what we felt…So, the guys in the conversation were discussing that fact, therefore, we decided to bring a little the girls into the folds of Valentines day…and we saw that here they have one of the most amazing festivals for romantic couples, the Tulipmania!

It is a major festival where they have incredible array of different species of Tulips and full blown. Their colors are fantastic and there’s great guides in handy that will tell you all about them. It is a local’s delight, plus since it is located in the famous Pier 39 there’s so much things to look in here…there’s a great area in the west marina where you can see the famous sea lions, something that should not be missed cause is an incredible sight! Plus, the restaurants in the area are something for a delight. We walked very slowly, watching the different tulips and at the same time, there was something flirty in Alejandra’s eyes…she was wearing an appropriate flowery dress, very summer-y in style, but covered because of the California weather, which is really cool and nice. It was funny that one guy was walking and stumble unto a table because he was watching Alejandra, and his wife came out of nowhere saw the whole thing and hit him in the head and he was like saying sorries to the wifey, funny as hell, and Alejandra turned to me and we saw each other…yep, that woman has that effect on people!

It was getting a little over noon time, so we decided to go to a nice restaurant. We decided to visit one overlooking at the bay in Fisherman’s Wharf called Fog Harbor Fish House. It had a fantastic ambiance and the view was spectacular…it was a good time that we decided to go while the sun was up, cause at night we were walking by the boardwalk and it was too dark and you cannot see how beautiful it is. I personally took a gamble and had the Seafood Cioppino and added pasta…it was a superb plate, I tell you! And Alejandra got a seafood pasta, which was to die for. Just to see again her smile and the way that she was flicking her hair, was totally hypnotic and amazing to see…I was awestruck and probably she knew that.

After that we walked a little bit into the boardwalk and headed to the SUV, then we took the road and ride toward Presidio, which is a wonderful place to see the city and especially nearby you can see one of the most breathtaking views of the Golden Gate. It was a nice way to sort of walk into the steps and see what was formerly a military base, but now turn into one of the major attractions in the city. Those of us who knows Alejandra, knows her love for Photography, so I took her to one of the most amazing bridges in the world. You can see the length in size and how amazingly beautiful that bridge is…no wonder is called the Golden Gate. The time was excellent, and you can see in Alejandra’s lips how concentrated she was. I kind of let her do her thing. Once in a while I peek a little, she is such a beautiful woman and her hair and her look was highlighted in this amazing place. At one moment, I turn and she was there taking pictures of me, so all in all, we were being a little flirty with each other. She mentioned that some pictures are going to look amazing in black and white. But, she made the remarks that some are going to be private for herself only…wonder which ones will be.

There’s more amazing things happening in this amazing city, so stay tune cause there’s more awesome memories to tell!

My trip to Tennessee!

The first thing you should know is my sister was very sheltered and is a "hold my hand the whole time" kinda girl. So when i heard she was moving down from Tennessee, I knew she would ask for help from the sister that doesn't ever say "No". She called me 2 days later and being the "greatest sister in the world" I was now making flight arrangements to Tennessee. The plan was for Luke, her marine husband whom just got back from his 3rd trip over seas and my sister to have everything packed by the time I arrived. I finally got picked up from the airport and we started by packing up all the stuff she had accumulated during the 2 years on base.

Luke would be driving the Penske truck down with most of the furniture and boxes and we would be driving a rental car that Channing was suppose to book weeks ago. "Ooops Sorry it must have slipped my mind".. So i went to Rentalcarmomma and was so thankful that they still had some larger SUV's available because we were getting into the holidays and everyone was on the move! I caught the best deal, 49.99 for the week! With all the stops i had to make because she had to use the bathroom, is hungry, is thirsty or oh that looks interesting, i was sure to need the SUV for the week.We hit the road early the next morning and the traffic was not to bad.

I don't trust Channings driving so i offered to drive for the trip. When it started to get dark and i needed a break we decided to look for a very inexpensive hotel for the night. When we drove for another 45 mins only spotting trees and some truck stops til finally the huge "Red Scottish inn" appeared in the distance. Finally we got into the room. Thinking its only for a hour or 2 of some good shut eye. As soon as we opened the door, it became apparent why the room was so reasonable. We snuggled up on top of the covers in our heaviest winter jackets and eventually fell asleep.

I woke up 2 hours later to something moving in the room. I flicked on the light to find bugs having a family reunion on the night stand. The light waking up sleeping beauty, she jumped up screaming and running for the door. I grabbed our things and followed. After another uneventful morning of driving, we ended up stopping in Georgia to swing by my parents farm. Luke ended up heading straight to Florida with not a single stop so we had some time to spend. My youngest brother talked my mom into letting him come down with us. Of course, me being the never say "No" sister, he will be staying at my house.

After a lunch in Valdosta, we jumped back on 75 for 4 more hours, i am counting the miles. I believe the SUV was just a little to comfortable because they are both sprawled out and snoring by the time we hit the FL line. We finally made it into town by dark and i got some well needed sleep finally.

Thanksgiving in Georgia

The week before Thanksgiving i was getting ready for a trip to visit my family that i have been so excited for all year. Of course i would not only get into a car accident, but they need a whole week to fix the bumper and hood. This is my luck, so fortunately i pre-booked my rental car on RentalCarMomma before they sold out for the busy holiday. I got the whole week with a Ford Focus for my trip for 178.00. I had room for all my luggage and was very comfortable so it worked out to my advantage in the end. I was headed for a small (one stop light) town right outside of Valdosta Georgia called Morven. You would think that the day before Thanksgiving people would be traveling and traffic would be a nightmare but it was not to bad on my 4 hour drive straight up 75.

It was a very uneventful drive with a lot of built up anticipation for the feast the next day. My whole family lives there on the farm that we have had for as long as anyone can remember and thanksgiving is the best time of year for me because of my family's unusual traditions. We have 3 huge tables full of food and one full desert table that my grandma and her 8 brothers and sisters prepare for all of us (a ton of children and grandkids). I think about this food all year long! We have a couple turkeys that my brother collects off the farm and a ton of catfish from my dad in Okeechobee FL. We begin eating around noon and don't stop until late with some breaks in-between. After all the cousins and siblings are done eating the fun really begins. We set fire to a burn pile that my brother collects for all year and that is our "base". We all load up on the fourwheelers and dirtbikes and play hide and go seek on the 400 acres that isn't used for farming till we are to tired to play anymore.

How is the game played? One person gets on the dirtbike and the rest are on fourwheelers. We then hide deep into the woods and wait to be found, or you can run from the person until he catches you. This is how my family spends thanksgiving night. The next morning all the boys get up and head for the woods and hunt until my grandma gets up and lets us all know breakfast is ready. She cooks enough food for an army but somehow it is always gone by 10 o clock am. Then the boys go clean the mornings catch and begin preparing that for dinner along with what ever the women decided to throw together. This goes on until Sunday morning when we all have to say goodbye until Easter. Luckily I found such a reasonable rental car on RentalCarMomma or i would have missed family tradition of Thanksgiving.

An awesome trip to Colorado!

So the gang was more than surprised to be taking the trip to Colorado. We made our itineraries about a year ago…we even, send a request to the visit Colorado to check the interested places and attractions and did a list of everything we wanna hit. So, seating in the plane was totally amazing specially to see the scenery change from flats to mountains. Once we arrived Denver, we headed to the airport desk of Thrifty, which was the company we pick for the car, since it was giving us a wonderful price. I have to be honest, I was a first apprehensive of being in charge of the getting discounts and doing the reservations, but it was sucha breeze with the help of RentalCarMomma. With the print out copy of the reservation, which we didn't have to put anything for deposit (which was surprising and at the same time so awesome for our budget), we got there, pay and then head to take the car. It was a Ford Escape that was appropriate since it was the five of us, and our luggage. We decided to stay in the vicinity to Colorado Springs, which was centric and at the same time close in distance to the things we wanted to do.

We decided to rest and chill out from the trip, which was a bit tiresome. Next day, we hit the road early in the morning and headed toward Boulder, which was a few minutes away from us…we found the place, and we were directed to this open field where a huge multicolored balloon was being readied for us. You see, we never have done ballooning before, so we were decked out, since it was cold, and it was something the reservations lady told us before. Jackets and gloves and scarfs were all full swing. We even bought a nice chilled bottle Chardonnay. And the girls came with some crackers and two cans one of pate and the other of caviar. We wanted to make this special, since a couple of the guys were celebrating their anniversaries. This time around, I was totally since. But it was funny that with the group we were schedule to be included with this brother and sister that we all hit it off pretty good…the brother was a riot, funny as hell, cracking jokes left and right that we all couldn't hold it chuckling and having a heck of a time…but she was out of this world!!! Star Wars fan (later at the end of the conversation she even said she went to comic-con dressed as Princess Leia in her Jabba the Hutt slave bikini, which I was open-mouthed and she even have to close it playfully hehehe), she was majoring in Psychology, and she was very likable, so much that the girls in the group were like pushing each other to the side and taking pictures of the two of us, I was like telling my girl friends not too over stretch it…but she was sucha wonderful sport, and at one moment up high, she was even telling us where they were going to visit, which to our surprise and major coincidence where exactly the places we were going. They had family here, but they came from Boston, MA (which was another beautiful surprise to her that I live for a while there). It was a swift way up, but it was a very slow progressive trip down…but, I totally recommend the view, it was super, and because it was near the mountains, you can see the beautiful scenery that Colorado is famous for…totally a terrific experience. We share our drinks with the new friends, and they even carried some other treats as well that surely were delightful (that Jedi Hawtness was also a culinary chef!)

So, the two new members of the group where saying about this terrific Italian place called Radda. At first, we all kinda look at each other cause it was in a mall by Boulder, it was a bit off the tourist area to be honest, but it didn't have that wow effect, if you know what I mean. However, since they knew more about the area then us, we let it go. We were escorted by our maitre and we were seated. This is were I would have to say, I will eat again. This place totally rocks. Servers were nice and the food was totally amazing. We could recommend this place blindly!

Our ride back to the hotel was smooth...it was a good thing that we have our SUV. The scenery here in Colorado is simply breathtaking and the sights and sounds of Colorado Springs is quiet and relaxing. We couldn't have gotten a better place! The people are overall friendly and since this is tourist area, but at the same time fill with locals during this time, it has a nice blend of people from all over the states. We already met some people from California, and Vermont, plus a couple on their honeymoon from Boston, and us from Florida, so you can see it is a nice blend. The weather, even tho it is cold from our Floridian stand-point, it is awesome and comfortable. We were wearing our jackets and our boots, termos are a given cause at night the wind packs a little gusts that sort of gets in between your clothing. Once we already gotten into our room, we were preparing for our next part of the trip. We overheard that there was a few snows on the hills, so that means that skiing season is underway and that I cannot wait to enjoy, it's been a long time that I have not tried it, and certainly the guys and girls are looking forward to it. Since we got the phone number of miss Princes Leia, I will surely ask her if she and her brother wants to join us on our skiing part of the trip. And that I cannot wait to see...her delicious warm smile and her amazing personality, surely two things that stand out...but the one that really was sealing the label of stunning was her intelligent conversation! That certainly was the highlight and I cannot wait to keep talking to her!

Dancin' in Atlanta

My sister talked me into riding with her to Atlanta Georgia for her dance competition coming up in a couple weeks, and i knew i was going to be in for a long weekend. We decided to drive her car and just hit the road and not rest until we arrive. Channing assured me that i am just along for the ride and she would not drag me into the clubs with her but i was not counting on it. I should have known better than to believe her.

So we leave on a Saturday morning and head straight for our hotel. We got to the Georgia line and noticed that the air was very hot in the air conditioner so we decided to pull over in Valdosta GA. Upon inspection, we came to the conclusion that the compressor had went out on my sisters car and we are only 4 hours from home and at this point it is high noon and the heat is in the 90's. After wasting 2 hours with no fix for the car, I was ready to call my mom and have her come get us. Luckily my sister found a website and we were able to reserve a car last minute and pick it up about 6 miles down the road. It was a nice size standard car so we had plenty of room for her 3 suitcases and various make up and costume bags and for only 139.99 for the week, I was ecstatic.

Once we are back on the road it was a very uneventful but comfortable ride. We stopped a couple times for stretch or bathroom breaks. When we arrived at the hotel we got checked in and set up for the next morning and after exploring the downtown nightlife with the rest of the dancers, which was very eventful. Watching Channing try to get up and ready was the best part in the morning and saying I told you so. After a not-so well rested night it was time for the big dance competition. I was one of the crazies seen running around back stage with tu-tu's, hair spray and tights chasing dancers around with dangerous amounts of glitter and false lashes. It was quite an eventful day and in the end, it turned out to be a good trip. Now we just have to make it home and she was very tired from her long day of dancing and so I decided to test out the rental car with my NASCAR driver tendencies. The car was very clean and did not look very used, I was very happy with my rental car. Not only was it a nice and clean, well ran car but it was so economical. It turned my vacation around completely.