Your city/hometown

[crazycanuck]

Hey ladies,

As i was biking this evening, i thought about asking you lovely ladies about your city or hometown.(I know i mentioned something like this in the SS thread but will put it here...)

Is there something well known or special about your town/hometown? I know very little about many of your hometowns and would love to know more..I know i could google but i'd be here for a while....(Curious about missouri for some reason...)

So i'll start...1-from what i understand Perth is the most isolated capital city in the world. 2Western australia has 12500km of coastline...!!! 3-The rabbit proof fence is/was situated in WA & is the longest in the world...

c

[Kimmyt]

My hometown where I was born was supposedly the place that Ben Franklin flew his little kite thinger?

I don't know much about the town I live in now, but the next town over and the town that I really really wanna live in, is the town where The Blob was filmed! The theater in the movie that everyone runs screaming out of is the still in operation and every summer they have a Blobfest where theres a parade and people dress up as characters and then they load people into the theater and watch the film and re-enact the running-from-the-theater scene. I'm totally gonna go this year.

K.

Also: I saw Rabbit Proof Fence and OMG was that the saddest movie ever...

[AllezGirl]

Curious about missouri for some reason...)

I grew up in Camdenton, Missouri. There really isn't much to brag about, but it is on the RAAM route and the people are extremely friendly. That's the aspect that I miss the most about the Mid-West.

[QUOTE][I don't know much about the town I live in now, but the next town over and the town that I really really wanna live in, is the town where The Blob was filmed! The theater in the movie that everyone runs screaming out of is the still in operation and every summer they have a Blobfest where theres a parade and people dress up as characters and then they load people into the theater and watch the film and re-enact the running-from-the-theater scene. I'm totally gonna go this year.
/QUOTE]

I have lived in Phoenixville, PA for the about 10 years (yup, home of the blobfest!)...I love it here!

[SJCzar]

Hometown : Milwaukee, WI

Everyone thinks beer, brats, and Friday Fish Fry when discussing Milwaukee but there really is a lot more.

We are also known as the City of Festivals. We have a beautiful lakefront area which hosts a different ethic festival every weekend of the summer.

Our main festival, Summerfest, which runs for ten days from the end of June into July is really worth coming to town for. There are multiple stages with all different types of music going on all day. It really attracts some great acts. A few years ago Billboard Magazine even rated it as the best music festival in the country.

We also have a first class zoo and excellent museums. Our art museum got a fabulous makeover with an new addition designed by Santiago Calatrava.

[caligurl]

i was born and raised in herkimer, ny (http://www.herkimercounty.org/).... in the mohawk river valley of upstate new york.... right smack in the middle of the state!

herkimer was named after a revolutionary war general.... his home (http://www.littlefallsny.com/herkimerhome/page1.htm)is still a popular place to visit on the mohawk river/barge canal..... the whole area is rich in history.... a lot of people don't realize that upstate NY has a lot of agriculture and dairy farming... most people think of NYC when you mention NY (hubby fell in love with the area when he visited.. all the older colonial homes.... the green grass... trees.... cows.... far from what he stereotypical pictured for "new york") even though we lived in the middle of town, we was fortunate that our grandparents had a small "hobby" farm with a few cows.... my sister and i would spend our younger summers at their house during the day... playing in the hay barn... in the neighbors corn fields... with the cows! (one of my most traumatic memories was walking through the middle of a neighboring barn and a cow with runny poop splattering ALL over me! UGH! yes... i was a priss even back then and that was VERY traumatic! another traumatic memory.... when i found out that one of the little cows had actually been purchasefd for and meat! i NEVER ate ANY of it! if my mom was cooking that meat.... i got to eat spaghettios.... i look back now and wonder how i would have known the difference?????? but she appeased me for some reason and didn't make me eat it!)

we are "famous" for herkimer diamonds (http://www.herkimerdiamond.com/History06.html)..

we are close to remington guns (http://www.remington.com/)(in ilion... where my mom grew up) and utica.... which, of course had the fx matt brewery (http://www.saranac.com/).... home of utica club beer *rolls eyes* and the boilermaker race (http://www.boilermaker.com/).....cooperstown and the baseball hall of fame is also just a short drive away... all in all... a nice area to grow up in and to be able to go back and visit!

oh... we're also an exit on the new york state thruway! lol!

[kaybee]

I actually grew up in the bayou country of Louisiana. Sure do miss crawfish! I married a Georgia boy, and for the last 20 years have lived in or near Dalton, Georgia, the Carpet Capital of the World. Most of the carpet made in the United States is made in a three-county area centered around Dalton. Shaw, Mohawk, and Beaulieu are headquartered here. However, neither DH nor I work in the carpet industry.

The Tour de Georgia will roll through here next Friday, and BRAG begins here the second weekend in June. We're 25 south miles of Chattanooga, TN, and 90 miles north of Atlanta.

KB

[bikerchick68]

I'm in San Diego, CA. Famous for surfing, fish tacos, near perfect weather, the start for RAAM every year, and Hotel Del Coronado. Also a military town with both Miramar Naval Base (where Top Gun was filmed) as well as Camp Pendleton...

every fall the Blue Angels fly over my office for 5 days during the air show... I sit in the grass outside and eat lunch so I can watch them without fighting the crowds!

We have wonderful riding routes... inland is plenty of climbing and you can ride the coastline from LA to San Diego cycling along the water most of the way... really neat to be riding and watching the surfers catch waves!:)

[Dianyla]

I grew up in Redlands, CA. Known for lots of WASPs, old victorian mansions, and the Redlands Bicycle Classic. ;)

[Popoki_Nui]

Hometown: Victoria BC
http://www.tourismvictoria.com/

Originally a Hudson's Bay Company trading outpost and Gold Rush staging point in the 1800's, Victoria was built largely by Chinese and Kanaka labourers and ruled by the British. Today Greater Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and a city of 350,000 laid-back, slightly off-centre folks, most of whom have ended up here on the island to escape from the harsh climate in the rest of Canada, as well as ex-pats and wanderers from all over the world.
Some of our most notable events are the Swiftsure and Victoria-to-Maui yacht races, Tall Ship Festival, FolkFest...a celebration of multiculturalism, and the Victoria Cycling Festival (yay! :D )
Hope you can visit sometime!

[bikerchick68]

Popoki... also the Gardens! I love Buschart Gardens (sp?)... and Stanley Gardens in Vancouver... as well as Capilano Suspension Bridge... Victoria and Vancouver are both just gorgeous!

[mmelindas]

...Yes, I have lived in 57 places in my 62 years... :eek: I consider a lot of places my "hometown".. but I spent most of my life in one place, Asheville, North Carolina...up in the Appalachian mountains, close to the Blue Ridge Parkway of western North Carolina....probably the most gorgeous mountains on earth... http://www.exploreasheville.com/

Asheville is famous as being the home of THOMAS WOLFE, a famous author whose stories made the theatre screen in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"... He wrote "Look Homeward Angel" and "You Can't Go Home again".... ;) http://library.uncwil.edu/wolfe/wolfe.html

Asheville was voted the "Best City to Live in" back in the late 90's because of it' s mild climate, lots of beautiful mountains, low cost of living and tourist attractions (golf, hiking, great dining, mountains). People flock from all over in the fall to view the incredible colors of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It used to be one of TWO International Weather Records Centers in the US, but after the cold war, those centers were dispearsed all over because of security reasons. The military depends on those weather forcasts!

It's home to the famous Biltmore Home and Gardens, an amazing estate....
http://www.biltmore.com/

I loved living there and have a lot of memories. Billy Graham used to come to my high school and he lives in a small community nearby, Black Mountain, NC.

I imagine biking would be so much fun there, because of all the tree-shaded roads and gentle hill. :D

[mmelindas]

Oh, the southland, how beautiful... here are some shots from the Bayou country that I took from the cab of our truck when were there...(no more trucking for us, a year was enough...)

[btchance]

I grew up in Mustang, Oklahoma. The Chisholm Trail passes through at the Western edge of town (a whole 12 square miles of town). It's also where Kendall Cross, the Atlanta Olympics gold medalist in wrestling grew up (he was on the same team as one of my brothers). We've also had a few famous football players come through here, but I can't think of the names right now, which is completely unheard of for someone who went to OU. Oh well, I'm not that crazy about football anyways ;)

[Crankin]

My hometown is Newton, MA. Known for being the birthplace of the Fig Newton cookie and having a great school system. I have also lived in Miami, FL (ugh), Tempe, AZ, Philadelphia (briefly), and Tyngsborough, Boxborough, and now Concord, MA. The Old North Bridge (the "shot heard round the world") is 3 miles from my house. I live in a town where tourists come from all over the world! Still can't get used to it.

[songlady]

Hey Caligurl, I have been to the Herkimer Diamond Mine! My mother is from Middleburgh, NY. Not exactly next door, but in the area.

Ok, Rochester is the home of Kodak. We also have one of the largest Lilac Festivals in the country every May, beautiful sight! Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass lived here. We are also the home of Wegmans grocery stores, if you've ever been in one, you know how wonderful they are.

[shadon]

famous for fog, and currently rain.
known for the Summer of Love, Gay liberation, and good coffee.

"If you're goin' to San Francisco,
be sure to wear some flowers in your hair"

[mmelindas]

Here are some photos we took of some of the places you all are posting about... Are any of these familiar to you? The restaurant and arboretum are in Milwaukee, the Rocket shot is in Alabama, the elevated highways are in Louisiana, and so forth.... The mountain that's snowy is out side and west of Denver....Enjoy!

[Deanna]

My hometown, Santa Rosa, CA, is probably best known as the home of Charles Schultz & Snoopy's Home Ice. Among cyclists, it's known as the place Levi Leipheimer currently calls home and the Amgen Tour of California finished it's first stage here to amazing crowds. Among gardeners, it's probably best known as the home of Luther Burbank. For those Hunter S. Thompson fans, he was treated at our Memorial Hospital when he got stomped by the Hell's Angels.

[mmelindas]

We were blessed to be able to travel from coast to coast, except for then NE states and I have photos of so many places to share...do any of you know these places or scenes?

Hey, why don't you all post photos of your favorite places? :D We'd love to see photos of your hometowns, too!

[Kimmyt]

mmelindas, I have a friend that lives in Asheville! I hear it is one of the greatest towns to live in if you're into the outdoors.

Mmmm....don't tease me with NC climbing!

[miffy'sFuji]

Here's another entry for San Francisco...

I was born and raised here as was my dad.

Some famous San Franciscans include Ansel Adams, Gracie Allen, Mel Blanc, Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson, as well as Clint Eastwood, Bruce Lee and Joe DiMaggio.

We're famous for Lombard Street, which actually isn't the crookedest street in the city...Levi's jeans (the jeans were patented in 1873), Victorian houses, Golden gate Park (which is 147 acres larger than NYC's Central Park), the Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz (the prison on an island in San Francisco Bay that once housed Al Capone).

The city is 7 miles x 7 miles, barred from expansion by water on three sides. Our population hovers around 750, 000. There are nearly 17,000 people per sq. mile here.

The United States claimed San Francisco in 1847 during the Mexican American War. Two years later, with the discovery of gold in the California foothills, the population exploded. Railroad barons made their home in San Francisco (Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford)

In April 1945, the UN Charter was signed at the United Nations Plaza, Civic Center.

We're about to mark the 100th anniversary of the April 18, 1906 earthquake. The city's flag depicts the rising phoenix, and our motto is, "Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra" : "Gold in Peace, Iron in War".

[betagirl]

I currently live in Oak Park, IL. Home of Frank Lloyd Wright and birthplace of Ernest Hemingway. It's the first suburb due west of downtown Chicago. I lived here for a few years, then moved for a while. I just moved back and am so thrilled. This is my favorite part of the Chicago area. I grew up in Lisle, IL (another suburb further west) which isn't nearly as exciting. :D

Other Oak Park tid bits:

It was settled in 1833 and started out as 172 acres. Most of the homes here are from the turn of the 20th century.

Birthplace of Carl Rogers (Clinical Psychologist) and Betty White (from the Golden Girls)

Other famous Oak Park residents:
Ray Kroc (founder of McDonald's corporation)
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Kathy Griffin
Johnny Galecki
Carol Shields
Bob Newhart
The voice of Homer Simpson, Dan Castellaneta
Comic book artists Chris Ware and Gene Ha
Former "Frasier" star John Mahoney
Ben Weasel.

Notable former residents include:
Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs
Chemist Percy Julian
Poet Charles Simic
Ludacris

Will host some events of the 2006 gay games.

Known as "boys town west" in some circles

None of the entire geographic area of Oak Park is covered by water

Great town to bike in, in my opinion :D

[betagirl]

I'm in San Diego, CA. Famous for surfing, fish tacos, near perfect weather, the start for RAAM every year, and Hotel Del Coronado. Also a military town with both Miramar Naval Base (where Top Gun was filmed) as well as Camp Pendleton...


mmmmmmmmmmmm fish tacos! Love em.

[KnottedYet]

I live in Seattle. Yup, it rains here all the time. Sprained my ankle once from slipping on algae growing on a wet sidewalk. My old Subaru had moss growing on it, never came off even when I drove on the freeway.

The best time to buy a house here is Jan/Feb, when the new folks get sick of the rain (no sun since October) and sell fast so they can leave. I grew up here and actually like the rain and gray skies. To each her own...

Oh, and Seattle has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the nation. Cuz we're all on the pale side regardless of ethnicity, then when it's sunny we all go outside and get sunburned. And we have the highest per capita ownership of sunglasses. (I bet you can figure that one out.)

[kaybee]

Hey Melinda, did you ever drive I-10 between Baton Rouge and Lafayette over the Atchafalaya Swamp? We used to call it the "Cajun Autobahn" because it was hard to enforce the speed limit on a 21-mile-long bridge, and everyone took advantage of that fact. Sunrise over the Atchafalya is still one of my favorite scenes.

KB

[CorsairMac]

My City:

Albuquerque, New Mexico (yes we're in the United States).

Although Albuquerque (Abq) is celebrating it's 300th birthday this year, New Mexico hasn't been a state for 100 yrs yet. Orginally started by the Spanish Inquisitors -oops...I meant missionaries, you can still see parts of the orginal settlement in Old Town where the cathedral was built in something like 1723 and is still in use. Old Town is built in a series of "squares" out from the church and quite a few of the shops/restuarants down there are in original homes. We also have parts of the city that were built in the mid-late 1800s as "railroad" homes and a "wealthy" area built in the early 20s. Although the center of town is 5000' above sea level we let Denver call itself the "mile-high city" coz we felt sorry for them! (ok...that last part isn't true - we don't know Why Denver got the title...maybe because people keep forgetting New Mexico is on This side of the border). The western side of the city is fronted by volcanic cliffs and is the site of Petroglyph National Park. There are also 5 volcanos known as the 5 sisters located there which are considered dormant. The eastern side of the city is hemmed by the Sandia (means watermelon in Spanish) Mountains. They are considered the "foothills" of the Rockies and when the setting sun is just right - the mountains turn a bright watermelon red. We are also host to one of the largest hot-air balloon festivals in the world the first full week in Oct when we host anywhere from 750-1000 balloons for a week-long festival. Our avg temps in the winter range from 35-55 and in the summer from 85-110 with an avg humidity in the teens or lower. Most days we have clear skies with little or no cloud cover and the skies are blues you can't even imagine.

[DirtDiva]

I grew up in Redlands, CA. Known for lots of WASPs, old victorian mansions, and the Redlands Bicycle Classic. ;)
Dudette! I was conceived in Redlands, CA. Well, it's where my parents lived at the time - I never asked for details. :p

[SJCzar]

Hey there mmelindas,

I do recognize the two Milwaukee pictures. The one labeled restaurant is actually the Calatrava addition on the museum. The one that is called arboretum is one of 3 domes in a county park that each house different types of plants...a tropical dome, a desert dome and one that changes with the seasons.

[snowtulip]

Wow, everything Corsair said (she makes it sound so great)! Born and raised in Albuquerque. We made it in the top five of new bicycling meccas because of our diversity of mountain biking and road riding routes. My favorite thing about abq. include the smell of roasting green chile in the fall and the sound of the sandhill cranes.:D

[ladyfish]

Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona. Home of the Wrigley Mansion (yes the gum people). Close to Goodyear, home of our own Ironwoman--Denise! Famous for saguaro cactus, mexican food, and HOT summers.

Current town: Springfield, VA: home to all sorts of US history, and next door to places like Washington DC, the Pentagon, George Washingtons home, George Mason's home (that one may actually ring a bell since the GM Basketball team made the final 4).

Other homes: Augusta, GA home of the Master's Golf Tournament (my favorite), Leavenworth, KS (known for all its prisons), Taunton, MA, Biloxi, MS (before the gambling casinos took over), Karlsruhe, Germany and Darmstadt, Germany, Killeen, TX (home to Ft. Hood, the largest Army Base--not known for much else!!)

I thinks that's all so far. Probably several more moves in the future!!

[mmelindas]

Leave it to me....I am NOT a Milwaukee native and hubby was driving all over and I took shots and forgot half of what he said it was.... he's the native Wisconson guy...I hail from or claim Washington state, since I lived there 27 years..:D

Yes, We did drive across that long bridge but in a Swift Semi, so we were governed at 65...Louisiana is awesome, so sad that the hurricaines destroyed so much.... some of the pictures I have of NO and places around there are places that no longer exist...:o

Seattle, is one place I would only like to visit..because of all the rain. I am an east-sider in WA, from Yakima, Moses Lake and Spokane, all places I have lived in the 27 years....

Here are some shots of other great WA state places.... Oh, and thanks for the corrections on the Milwaukee photos...my DH would cringe from my misnaming them..... :eek:

[mmelindas]

Actually, since DH and I now call our RV home and plan to start touring the US in 2008, I am planning on visiting the great places you gals wrote about -- CorsairMac did a great job promoting her state and area but DH knows all that great stuff because he lived there for 8 years in Las Cruces..... :D wheee!!!

The USA rocks!! Canada, especially the western part where Popoki Nui lives is gorgeous too..... why not post some photos with hometown description. I plan to make special note of all the places you mention and show me photos of, on our RVing tour starting in 08'

I wanna see photos!!!!!

[wavedancer]

I grew up in Whittier, California. Home of "Tricky ****" Nixon (infamous past president).

Lived in Berkeley, California during the height of the Vietnam War...People's Park...protests...

I now live on the other side of the continent in Sandwich, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. Sandwich is the oldest town on Cape Cod, settled by the first early-arriving exiles from England.

[Popoki_Nui]

Popoki... also the Gardens! I love Buschart Gardens (sp?)... and Stanley Gardens in Vancouver... as well as Capilano Suspension Bridge... Victoria and Vancouver are both just gorgeous!
...bikerchick...did you actually cross the Capilano Susupension Bridge?? Wow...you're made of stronger stuff than me. I made it about ten feet before freaking out...I just can't deal with the height!
D'oh...I forgot about the Buchart Gardens! :eek: Pretty spectacular, for sure. Did you visit in summer with the fireworks? This past winter they put in a refrigerated outdoor skating rink...now we can ice skate among the palms and cedars. Bizarre but neat :D

[Waverly]

I live in North Georgia. I have lived in several areas in GA but mainly grew up in Athens. Athens is the home of the University of Georgia and is a neat place to live....if you like college students. North Ga is home of the famous Brasstown Bald climb of the Tour de Georgia. I have never even attempted to climb it. I actually tried to walk up it and pooped out so I watched the race from where I stopped :) Ga is also famous for peaches and peanuts. I enjoy riding around here because there is still a lot of "country" in this area and really all over Ga. I am very accustomed to heat and really whiny if I am cold. And yes I have the awful wicked southern accent!

Jessica

[TsPoet]

This is too good an opportunity to pass up for my first post -
I live/work just outside the Hanford Nuclear reservation. WWII, plutonium was mined in Oak Ridge, shipped to Hanford Washington and refined then sent to Las Alamos and blown up.
We have over 80% of the world's (the whole world's) radioactive materials burried right here.
Come visit, you'll go away glowing from the experience :D .

Sue

[Waverly]

That's pretty funny, Sue. I assume, and am hoping, it is actually safe right?

Jessica

[maillotpois]

I grew up on a farm in Paso Robles (central coast of CA). Its big wine country now, but when I was a kid all there really was to do was ride my horse!

Now we live in Mill Valley, just over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. We live in a redwood forest on the shoulder of Mt. Tamalpais with hundreds of miles of great biking roads and mountain biking roads and trails around us.

Mill Valley is in Marin County, which is the birthplace of mountain biking. Mill Valley is the town where the character BJ Hunicutt from MASH lived. It is a pretty small town (about 13,000 people) with about five coffee places, some great and some so-so restaurants and two local bike stores. It is also the place where rock stars seem to retire. There's a great music club here and locals Bonnie Raitt and Huey Lewis will often show up to perform. Grace Slick lived here for ages and Sammy Hagar's daughter is in my daughter's class at school.

I've also lived in San Diego/La Jolla and Maine.

[TsPoet]

That's pretty funny, Sue. I assume, and am hoping, it is actually safe right?

Jessica

That's a good question :eek:
There are the "downwinders" who claim to have higher incidences of cancer and have been trying to sue the government for the past 50 years. There was the pathologist I sat next to on the plane when I moved here who told me he was comparing pathology samples from here to the rest of the country (and they are different) and there was an article in the paper last year with the title "Water in the 300 area mostly safe" (I work in the 300 area). I never read the article, just liked the title.
It is mostly safe here, no worse than riding your bike in traffic. Much safer than smoking. It's all relative. And it's really a nice, family-friendly place to live. Clean up efforts are in full-swing, now if we can only convince those selfish New Mexican's to take our wast it would all be good :rolleyes: (I grew up in NM, the WHIP program was very controversial. Now I've heard the other side - and everybody is wrong on both sides).

Sue

[fatbottomedgurl]

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, CA, home of the original "valley girl." We are known for Mulholland Drive, movie stars, and cruisin' on Van Nuys Blvd. Charles Manson lived where I "mountain biked" as a kid (he was in jail by then). Both Kevin Spacey and Val Kilmer went to my highschool, but a few years before me. Like, totally fer shure.

I now live just over the hill in Simi Valley, Ventura County, CA. Home of the Lone Ranger, Little House on the Prairie, Star Trek, and many other film sites. Currently overcoming its bad rap for aquitting the police officers who beat Rodney King which sparked the Los Angeles riots in '92. Ronald Reagan Presidential Museum is here too, you may have seen it when he was buried here.

As I get stronger I look forward to longer rides north into Camarillo, Santa Paula, Ojai. I hope someday to ride home from Monterey.

[fixedgeargirl]

My hometown is Crested Butte, CO, the Mountain Biking Capital and home of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame (http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/crestedbutte.cfm). Also the home of the most lift-served extreme skiing (when there's enough snow :rolleyes: ) and over 45 km of groomed nordic trails. The area was once summer grounds for the Ute Indians, who were smart enough to leave in the winter ;) ! Originally a supply town for surrounding precious metals mines, the primary industry became the mining of anthracite coal after the fall of the silver standard. The Big Mine closed in 1953 and many of the second generation Slavic and Croatian immigrants were forced to leave to find work. Mid-westerners tired of regional heat began to snap up the cheap ($500 in some cases!) homes to use as summer residences. This began the shift to resort-town status, with the ski area opening in the mid-60's. Crested Butte Mountain Resort (http://www.skicb.com/page.php?pname=summer/home)is now the locus of industry in town.

It is stunningly beautiful, there is only one (two lane) highway into town, and in the winter it is the only way in and out. The town is surrounded by National Forest and BLM lands, open space abounds!

I currently reside in Austin, Texas, the Live Music Capital of the World. It's not bad for a city ;) :rolleyes: . Lots of trees and public parks. A definite live-and-let-live attitude prevails. It's historic for all kinds of reasons. I've only been here 18 months, compared to 30+ years in CB, so I'm not nearly as well-versed in ATX lore :o . It's also very, very, very HOT in the summer. Lots and lots of triathletes of all stripes here, as well as an active and large cycling community. The heart of the city is the Town Lake (http://www.texasoutside.com/townlake.htm)Hike and Bike Trail, 10 miles long in the center of the city and attracts runners, riders, strollers, picnic'ers and others. Austin is also home to the largest urban bat colony (http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/thisisaustin/2004/main/200407_bats.html)-I think- in the world. An estimated 1.5 million Mexican freetail bats call the Congress Avenue Bridge home from late March until October. People from all over the world gather at dusk to watch the dramatic emeregence of a million bats taking off downriver on their nightly hunt for insects.

Other places lived: Bellingham, WA and Upper Skagit Valley, WA.

[fixedgeargirl]

Although the center of town is 5000' above sea level we let Denver call itself the "mile-high city" coz we felt sorry for them! (ok...that last part isn't true - we don't know Why Denver got the title...maybe because people keep forgetting New Mexico is on This side of the border).

The official NGS elevation marker for Denver is on a step in front of the capitol. Official elevation: 5280 feet above sea level.

[DrBee]

I live in North Georgia. I have lived in several areas in GA but mainly grew up in Athens.
Jessica

Jessica - 2 cool things about Athens are REM and the B-52's :)

[DrBee]

I grew up in northern Maryland (Baltimore County) - moved around a lot within the county. Maryland is known for it's steamed blue crabs and the world's best crabcakes. Yummmm - how I miss them.

For the past 5 years I've lived in Cleveland, MS. The MS Delta region is known for catfish (which I work on) and the blues (which I know very little about, but like the music). We have super hot summers which last forever, have high humidity and gigantic mosquitos (that take multiple hits to kill - seriously) and wet and not so cold winters.

[NorCalGal]

This is a great thread! I love hearing about everyone's hometown, either current or where they grew up, or both.

I grew up on the beaches of Ventura, California (south of Santa Barbara...and hello there fatbottomed girl in Simi Valley!) but now live in Orland, California. Hardly anyone knows of us, but when we tell them we're about 20 miles west of Chico, then the light bulb goes on. Good bike riding there, one of the largest municipal parks in the nation, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, and Cal State Chico, which is trying to overcome a party-school rep.

Anyway, when we moved here from Ventura we pretty much went into culture shock. There are REAL COWBOYS here wearing tight Wranglers and REAL SPURS and there are more cows than people. We're at about 6,500 residents, and our county has about 26,000 total.

Orland was once in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the most churches and bars per capita than any other city in the U.S.

We grow olives and rice and almonds. Cal Worthington lives here (but not his dog Spot). We're about halfway between Sacramento and the Oregon border, and Tahoe and Mt. Shasta are an easy morning's drive for skiing.

Besides the wonderful small-town environment, what I love about my little city is that on every holiday where an American flag is in order, such as Veterans Day, Memorial Day, etc., the local Boy Scouts put up hundreds of large American flags along the two miles of the city's main street. They drilled holes in the sidewalk near the curb for each flag's pole, and the flags are spaced about 20 feet from each other. It's absolutely spectacular, and when the flags went up after 9/11, it was nearly impossible to drive down the main drag without crying.

[bikerchick68]

[QUOTE=ladyfish]Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona. Home of the Wrigley Mansion (yes the gum people). Close to Goodyear, home of our own Ironwoman--Denise! Famous for saguaro cactus, mexican food, and HOT summers.

QUOTE]


ladyfish... I LOVE the Desert Botanical Gardens too... absolutely stunning... the Suagaros on the mountain side are amazing...

[bikerchick68]

...bikerchick...did you actually cross the Capilano Susupension Bridge?? Wow...you're made of stronger stuff than me. I made it about ten feet before freaking out...I just can't deal with the height!
D'oh...I forgot about the Buchart Gardens! :eek: Pretty spectacular, for sure. Did you visit in summer with the fireworks? This past winter they put in a refrigerated outdoor skating rink...now we can ice skate among the palms and cedars. Bizarre but neat :D

Yep! I thought it was breathtakingly gorgeous... and when you get to the other side, there are gorgeous walking trails thru the forest... really a beautiful area. Of course, I have also bungee jumped once... I'm going to Australia in Sept and will be doing the Sydney Bridge Climb... you have to wear a special suit where they clip ya in so if ya fall they can drag ya back up...:eek: :D :D :D falling is very unlikely... but I find it amusing. My best friend, not so much. She is not going, but will sit and wait while she sips an Appletini! :p

I was there in summer but didn't see the fireworks... have friends in Seattle so plan to come up next year again... but most likely in winter cause they want me to snowboard with them!

for those that haven't heard of the Capilano Suspension Bridge... it's 1 mile up, 1/4 mile across a river, fully suspended bridge... it shakes when ya walk on it! :eek: :D click the link and then watch it play... pretty neat!

http://www.capbridge.com/

[CorsairMac]

This is too good an opportunity to pass up for my first post -
I live/work just outside the Hanford Nuclear reservation. WWII, plutonium was mined in Oak Ridge, shipped to Hanford Washington and refined then sent to Las Alamos and blown up.
We have over 80% of the world's (the whole world's) radioactive materials burried right here.
Come visit, you'll go away glowing from the experience :D .

Sue

I'm guessing we have the other 20% buried here in New Mexico - which is where Los Alamos is located! Here's trivia: Los Alamos was the site of the Manhatten Project and it was originally a military compound. I have 2 friends that were raised there and you couldn't leave or enter the city without the proper IDs/clearance.

[mmelindas]

Oh,....crab cakes and steamed blue crabs...yummy! :D I used to go to a cool restaurant in MD that was out over the bay and had a crowd: it had tables covered with paper shelf stuff and the crabs were served steamed on lunchroom trays piled high. There was a deep sink and a waiter with clean towels at each end of the place. :confused:

All you could hear was the whacking sound of people beating their piles of steamed crabs to eatable pieces and the sound of shells flying all over...and lots of slurping and gulping sounds of deliriously happy crab eaters... :eek:

They served seasoned red salt and vinegar for the crabs and people in all kinds of dress, from mink and diamonds to bib overalls were in there eating. I think it was called "Captain Johns" or something like that.

It burned down and I don't think they ever rebuilt it, but no kidding the best STEAMED CRABS ARE FROM MARYLAND! ;)

I really miss Maryland crabmeat, cakes, everything food related to seafood there....wahhhhhhh!:o

[mmelindas]

:eek: I went to the site for the Capilano Suspension bridge.....and I almost passed out from terror!:eek:

Considering I am so afraid of heights, I get a nosebleed in high heels, and stark terror from glass elevators.....it put me over the edge...that's awesomely scary!!! I think I am having a coronary just thinking about walking over it, much less riding a bike..... ahhhhhggggh!

My DH just said, "Yeah, that's my kind of bridge!" at which I promptly elbowed him in a very painful area. (This is the same evil guy who has been threatening to kidnap me and duct tape me to the "Fall of Terror" bungee drop at the Valley Fair Mall in Minneapolis.... :confused: :eek: :mad: )

And HANFORD, WA...yeah, I've been there, lived near there and I DO GLOW!!! I worked with a lady in Moses Lake, Wa who had lived downwind from Hanford for over 45 years and she had dozens of diseases, nearly fatal conditions and all her family did...and she was trying to sue the gov....

So, if you do go to WA state, be sure you are UPWIND from that place!

I am loving all the posts from all over the place and all the historic info you gals are posting...Yee hahhhhha! I'm taking notes for future Rving places...

Keep 'em coming gals, I wanna hear more of the greatest places to visit in the good old USA. Thanks tons for this thread...but you can keep your Capilano Bridge..... :D

[DirtDiva]

for those that haven't heard of the Capilano Suspension Bridge... it's 1 mile up, 1/4 mile across a river, fully suspended bridge... it shakes when ya walk on it! :eek: :D click the link and then watch it play... pretty neat!

http://www.capbridge.com/
A mile-high swingbridge? Duuuuuuude! :D :D :D

[jobob]

Hometown: Victoria BC
Today Greater Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and a city of 350,000 laid-back, slightly off-centre folks, most of whom have ended up here on the island to escape from the harsh climate in the rest of Canada, as well as ex-pats and wanderers from all over the world.
PN, you lucky girl, I adore Victoria ! Hubby and I spent a few days there early June last year, on our cycling tour. It's a fabulous area for cycling. One day we rode around the perimeter of the Saanich Peninsula, with great roads and gorgeous scenery (and some of those homes - wow). Another day we rode out to Butchart Gardens - that hill you have to climb on the way out sure is fun, oy! - and the Butterfly Museum. It's such a cycling-friendly environment, with lots of urban bike trails. We stayed close to downtown and we had no trouble cycling through the city. I need to go back there ! :)

[crazycanuck]

Hey ladies,

Thanks so much for replying...! (I know it's bad form to not reply to posts but been reading the info....)
Just a few things, Popoki(sherry)-I lived in Victoria from kindergarten to gr3 (wayyy back from 77-81) prior to being posted to Lahr, west Germany(ex military brat). Lived right accross the field from of Fairburn school. Eventually ended up in Edmonton, Alberta(yes for West ed mall-:rolleyes: ) then in a roundabout way to Auckland, NZ(known for bad traffic, rangitoto island & GREAT mountain biking)

Have been to the US-mainly to the east coast(history buff)-Started in NYC(funky funky funky place-...) & took a backpacker van through the backroads-I can't remember where It ventured to-Anywho I know when i was on my own i know I visited Boston &concord(History major at uni), Arlington(specifically for the cemetary-amazing place & would love to revisit), Washington (had to walk past the watergate building & stand at the lincoln memorial where MLK did his speech), Antietam battlefield(v worthwhile) and the Mason-Dixon line. Baltimore sounds familiar as well...
Have rellies on Bainbridge(sp?) Island near seattle and would def revisit esp if i could tow my mtn bike along...!!!My brother lives in NY state-in fishkill(what a place name!!)

Very cool-Blobfests, ny state,BRAG,Top Gun,Ashville(mmelindas thanks for the photos!!! ), the chisholm trail(looks interesting!), never knew fig newtons came from Newton, Wegmans, San Fran(I have to go and see the corner of Haight & ashbury, alcatraz etc-didn't know robert louis stephenson was from SF)Santa rosa(isn't there a famous parade there every year-Just know about the rose bowl etc), Oak Park-is the whole area around Chicago v windy??? (only know chicago from ER), Albuquerque(would love to visit-not just for the cold war history), VA-remember visiting the pentagon (& only remember the middle bit being a target during the cold war...), Whittier(have to visit...!!!) , wicked georgian accents(i too thought of the B-52's), Los Alamos (also on my list!!!), Mill valley( have a marin....!), like i have to visit the valley now...& visit the presidential library (I remember the reagan years),Austin (country music show-austin city limits & isn't it home to george strait???), the mississippi-(another place i want to go for the history), Orland(are you close to the sierra nevadas..?),


Sorry such a long post but i just had to say thanks for the info!

c

[LittleBlackDuck]

Here'e the second Aussie contribution to this thread :) ....

For the past 10 years I've been living in the coastal tourist town of Busselton in the state of Western Australia. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive south of where CrazyCanuck lives (I grew up in Tuart Hill Canuck :) )

Busso, as us locals call it, is famous for having the longest timber jetty in the southern hemisphere. As you can see, it also has a glorious white sandy beach and calm, crystal clear ocean. The four boatsheds that you can see in the photo house the interpretive centre and for those that don't want to walk, or can't walk, the small dinky train takes you to the end of of the jetty.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/sampleusername/busseltonjetty.jpg

The jetty is almost 2 km long (about 1.2 miles) and at the end of it is an underwater observatory.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/sampleusername/busseltonjettyobservatory.jpg

The observatory is a chamber that takes you 8 metres below the surface of the water and has about 3 levels and 11 viewing windows allowing you to see the unbelievably beautiful coloured corals that habitate the pylons of the jetty.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/sampleusername/busseltonfishunderjetty.jpg

I haven't been inside the observatory but have scuba dived under the jetty and the marine life just took my breath away :) .

Oh.... and Busselton is host of IronmanWA (Ironman Western Australia) :D .

[Popoki_Nui]

[QUOTE=crazycanuck]Hey ladies,
Just a few things, Popoki(sherry)-I lived in Victoria from kindergarten to gr3 (wayyy back from 77-81) prior to being posted to Lahr, west Germany(ex military brat). Lived right accross the field from of Fairburn school.

crazycanuk: whoa...small world or what?! I went to Fairburn elementary! It was the first school I attended when we moved here from Calgary in '68...I was about 8 years old. My dad was posted in Lahr too, but in the 50's.

~S.

[Popoki_Nui]

PN, you lucky girl, I adore Victoria ! Another day we rode out to Butchart Gardens - that hill you have to climb on the way out sure is fun, oy! - and the Butterfly Museum. It's such a cycling-friendly environment, with lots of urban bike trails. We stayed close to downtown and we had no trouble cycling through the city. I need to go back there ! :)
I hope you do come back! We'd love to have you :) Yeah...we have a 'few' hills here. Personally, I'm allergic to hills. :D It is a cycle-friendly area though...so bring your bikes when you come!

~S.

[Popoki_Nui]

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Here'e the second Aussie contribution to this thread :) ....

For the past 10 years I've been living in the coastal tourist town of Busselton in the state of Western Australia. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive south of where CrazyCanuck lives (I grew up in Tuart Hill Canuck :) )

Busso, as us locals call it, is famous for having the longest timber jetty in the southern hemisphere. As you can see, it also has a glorious white sandy beach and calm, crystal clear ocean. COLOR]

So beautiful!!! Excuse me while I drool on my keyboard. Wow...that ocean is exquisite. Where's my suitcase..... :D

[mmelindas]

Wow, what amazing shots, especially the underwater one, you too-cool gal from Australia! Thanks so much for the photos...say how did you get them to display in your post? You are new here but so am I, and I don't know how to do it. Send us more, photos of your beautiful country and Welcome to TE!! :D

I love this thread, getting some great ideas of places to visit. I think my nosebleed from the Capilano bridge stopped, now I have "rocky mountain quick step disease from even contemplating what being on that swaying, rocking nightmare of a mile high bridge must be like.......eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkk!! I think I'm gonna hurl........:eek:

[DirtDiva]

Just above where you type in your message there's a little square with a picture that looks like it's supposed to be a couple of mountains and the moon. Click on that and type in/paste in the web address of the photo you want to add. (Or if you understand how to work HTML tags, the code is IMG.)

[Lise]

Chicago's my home town. I was born in Park Ridge, a NW suburb, moved around as a kid to Syracuse NY and Minneapolis, but back to Lake Bluff, a northern suburb by age 13, and then into "the city" at 18 for college, and never left. I love my home, and I think it would be a beautiful city to visit. We don't have the natural beauty that so many of you live in, and I envy that. But...there's no place like home, right?

CrazyCanuck asked if it's windy all around Chicago...it's the prairie--only thing that stops the wind is the lake, and when it blows off the lake--WHOA! What gets me is that sometimes it seems to blow from all directions at once. In those times, my feeling is: Surrender Dorothy. You're not going to overcome it, so hunker down and let it blow!
About Oak Park--I agree with Betagirl. It's a lovely town. My sister lives there. My grandma was born and raised there. Her dad was a building contractor that worked with Frank Lloyd Wright, and they grew up in a house designed by Wright, "The Balch House". The Hemmingway family lived close by, and Ernest's younger sister, Carol, was close friends with my grandma. My aunt is named for her, and my middle name is Carol, for my aunt. Hence...(six degrees of separation)...my connection to Ernest Hemmingway! :p

[Polly]

littleblackduck - wow! what a fantastic place to live.
I live in Rugby UK - and is the place with the famous school, where the game of rugby was invented. We have lots of historic buildings, though the town itself was medi-evel it grew much larger in Victorian times. There isn't much riding around here, a few bridle ways - you have to strap your bike to a car and drive about an hour in any direction to find somewhere decent to play

Just found this on the web - told me things I didn't know too! Cool

Rugby UK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby,_Warwickshire)

[westendgirl]

This is my first post here. I have lived in numerous places. Born in Ireland, moved to Nova Scotia, high school in Victoria, BC and have called Vancouver home for almost 10 years.

It is a beautiful city, and the Capilano Suspension Bridge is nowhere near as scary as ziptrekking at Whistler - though not as fun either!

[crazycanuck]

Hey polly-are you a rugby fan by chance???? I just figured out where the Ellis trophy originated!!!!

Westendgirl-where in NS did you live?? Still can't get enough of halifax nor the east coast-Def want to visit nfld again...Welcome!!!

c

[betagirl]

Lise, cool story.

I realized the other day riding up north on Oak Park Ave that the Mars candy bar factory is up there (technically in Chicago though). I knew it was in the area, but didn't realize it was so close. I wonder if they have free tours :D Another favorite on the border of Oak Park and the next town (Forest Park) is the Ferrara Pan Candy company, maker of the Lemonhead, Atomic Fireball, and Boston Baked Beans (ew). They do have a reject store and on certain days you can smell them making the candy of the day.


Oak Park-is the whole area around Chicago v windy??? (only know chicago from ER)

Lise summed up this part of town nicely. I experience less wind around here than when I ride out in the farm areas. Which it doesn't take very far to get from Chicago to farmland. The basic saying is there's Chicago, and the rest of the state (which is mostly corn and soybeans). But downtown, especially when the wind is blowing off the lake, look out. The waves get pretty big as well, where Lake Michigan is usually pretty calm especially compared to the ocean. We also get something called "Lake effect snow" in the winter when the wind blows across it, generating huge snow storms that only happen up to about 10 miles inland.

The hospital that ER is based off of is Cook County hospital, which is a public "free" hospital that serves those without insurance. You could go there if you have insurance also, though I'm not sure why you would. There's a couple private hospitals right next door to it. It was housed in this cool looking, but old building up until a few years ago when they built a nicer, more high tech hospital. The bureaucracy didn't stay in the old place unforutnately, and the waiting times and other crap that people have to go through to get care remain. I took my friend there in college and they had a "take a number" system like at a bakery, and we got ours and it was 143. I asked the lady what number they were on and she said 39. Our wait would have been approximately 9 hours. We went to another hospital and she figured out all the bills later. So the good thing about cook county is free or cheap care, the bad thing is the wait and the quality of what you get. The craziness that ER shows going on isn't that far off, but I don't recall the medical staff being as hot as Noah Wyle :D

[westendgirl]

Hey polly-are you a rugby fan by chance???? I just figured out where the Ellis trophy originated!!!!

Westendgirl-where in NS did you live?? Still can't get enough of halifax nor the east coast-Def want to visit nfld again...Welcome!!!

c

I lived in Halifax for a year, then Wolfville for 4.

[eofelis]

I live in Grand Junction, Colorado. I've been here for about 3 years and I love it here. I'm a (non-traditional, 38) student at Mesa State College, majoring in geology.

Before that I lived in Sheridan, WY for 7 years. It's pretty nice up there too.

I grew up in Ipswich, MA. I love living out west and I don't plan on moving back east. I'd like to go back there, with a bike, to visit more. School keeps me very busy right now, year round.

[bikerchick68]

This is my first post here. I have lived in numerous places. Born in Ireland, moved to Nova Scotia, high school in Victoria, BC and have called Vancouver home for almost 10 years.

It is a beautiful city, and the Capilano Suspension Bridge is nowhere near as scary as ziptrekking at Whistler - though not as fun either!

Hi Westendgirl and welcome to TE! Oh... Ireland... I got to do a 6 day cycling tour of the Connemara region in 2004... it was AWESOME!

OK... so explain "ziptrekking"... I know about Whistler (someday I WILL snowboard there!) but haven't ever heard of ziptrekking... :confused:

I love Stanley Park too... first time I went this little rodent was scurrying around... I asked my sister what animal it was and she said it's a squirrel. HUH? I knew it LOOKED like a squirrel, but it was the wrong color! That was my first experience ever seeing a BLACK squirrel :D Here they're all brown...

can't wait for my trip to Australia this summer... should see all sorts of animals I'd never see here! :)

[arnaew]

I live in Adelaide, which is nestled beween the Gulf St Vincent (which flows into the Great Southern Ocean and the Mt Lofty Ranges (aka the Adelaide Hills). I live in the foothills. Adelaide is the cycling capital of Australia, with the Tour Down Under and the Australian Championships held here each year. The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) cyclists train here, and amazing world and Olympic champions like Kerrie and Anna Meares live here. Stuart O'Grady is also from here, as is Lleyton Hewitt (tennis) and Jason Gillespie (cricket, a game we former colonials play with gusto). Oh, and Andy Thomas is our astronaut (flew on last space shuttle).
We host the Adelaide International Festival For The Arts which includes Writers Week and Artists Week, and the Adelaide Fringe Festival, which is huuge - Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland is the only one larger (we suffer from a tyranny of distance). We also host WOMAD, a world music and dance festival held in particular countries aross the planet, initiated by Peter Gabriel. With all that music, it's quite appropriate that we're also a sister city to Austin, Texas (I went to SXSW in 2002 - fantastic!). Um, there's a big car race too, but I just don't get it. Early next year we're hosting the World Police and Fire Games - all those big strong cops and fireys - swoon!:D
An hour north and south of here is the Barossa Valley vineyards and the McLaren Vale vineyards respectively - a trip the locals make quite regularly! The TDU runs through both these regions, while the Aust champs are in the Adelaide Hills (which also boasts a very strong viticulture history).
We enjoy what is termed a mediterranean climate - long hot summers, balmy autumn (fall) and spring and quite cool winters (which feel bloody cold to me!). Thousands of bikers for about nine months of the year, from the hills to the coast. Then hundreds.
And why are we known as the City Of Churches? South Australia was the only free colony settled in Australia - the others began as penal colonies for the British. Lots of very radical thinkers flocked here from all over Europe, and one of the cornerstones of the colony was that every person, regardless of their religion, had the right to worship whom they pleased, and to build places of worship to that effect. Hence, amongst the first substantial buildings, were mosques, synagogues, temples, and eastern and western churches. Very soon, tis true, the public houses far outnumbered the churches, but the sobriquet is about the variety, rather than the number, so all's well! If you ever decide to come to the Tour Down Under (remember there's a century for the public to ride over the same route as the pros), give me a hoy.

[DirtDiva]

Very soon, tis true, the public houses far outnumbered the churches...
Well, it is Australia... ;)

[crazycanuck]

Bikerchick...(i'm going to get hit for this....) be careful of the drop bears & hoop snakes...

*ducks n runs...***



c

[Lise]

bikerchick--we have black squirrels in the northern suburbs of Chicago--I grew up seeing them cavort, so they're normal to me. They're rarely seen "down here" (50 miles south) in the city. A friend saw one recently, and it really freaked him out. He decided it was a sign of the apocalypse. :eek: So far, so good, but you never know.

Arnaew--if I'm still single, I may need to fly > halfway across the world for those World Police and Fire Games! Sounds like some good viewin' and shoppin' :p !

[VenusdeVelo]

Hometown is Chicago, but lived in Milwaukee since 1985 (except for last few yrs in Europe). I second what SJCzar said, Milwaukee gets a bad rap for it's beer and cheese notoriety. They have a great lakefront -- the east side of the city is very nice. Ethnic restaurants, many of them and quite good, abound.

I still love Chicago, always will, but Milwaukee is a nice city to live and close by to Chicago.

And SJCzar, if you need riding partners, a couple of friends and me will likely startup our women's only riding club (once a week, after work) again as I am moving back in June. Was based on the Terry Bicycle's "Betty" group, but we're now half Velo Bella... We go for the cute jerseys. :D :p

Let me know, send a PM!

Renee

[bentforlife]

I grew up in Thomasville, GA. It's a small town in SW GA about 40 miles north of Tallahassee, FL. I've been living in Fort Worth, TX about 26 years now. I love this city. It has history, the Stockyards, a world class Art museum, a beautiful performance hall, and a small town feel to it, friendly people, nice neighborhoods.

What I wish is that it was friendlier to bikers. There are no bike lanes and very few bike trails. The drivers around here "own " the road and aren't afraid to let bikers know it.:mad: I do live in the the suburbs and can find safe streets to bike on but it is challenging. The one main bike trail along the Trinity River is nice but there are pedestrians, roller bladers, and dogs that have to be avoided. And with my long recumbent that can be hard sometimes.

I can't image living anywhere else right now.;)

Donna :)

[bikerchick68]

Bikerchick...(i'm going to get hit for this....) be careful of the drop bears & hoop snakes...

*ducks n runs...***



c

oh lord... do I need to google these two to find out what they are??? :eek: cause what I'm picturing is bears dropping down onto the sidewalk to grab me and snakes wrapped around me like a hula hoop :eek: :eek: :eek:

LISE- HAHAHHHAHHA! A sign of the apocalypse... oh my... too funny! Glad I'm not the only one who was completely caught off guard by those... once I thought about it, it made sense that in a cold region the animals would have darker colored coats to absorb any and all heat from the sun... but I was not thinking about that when it came scampering over the first time :eek: :D

ok... off to google snakes and bears...oh my!

[yellow]

So unglamorous...

I grew up in a coastal town (Pacific Ocean) with a name when translated is "Big Ditch" (Arroyo Grande). Actually, our house was in the gap between the Arroyo Grande and Oceano (so that would be the gap between the big ditch and the ocean), in a little hippie enclave called Halcyon. But my folks weren't hippies. It was and still is a very strong agricultural community. I am (was) a 9th generation Californian. My ancestors settled on a Rancho in Nipomo, California, back in the 1700s when I believe CA still belonged to Mexico.

I don't think there's much notable about the Ditch other than it's proximate to Pismo Beach, once famous for its clams (and mentioned by Bugs Bunny in at least one cartoon). I spent my childhood in or near the water and with one ear infection after another.

maillotpois...did you participate in any sports in El Paso de Robles? I'm wondering if we were ever at the same swim meet or water polo match...

Since I have only been in Salt Lake for about 6 months, it still doesn't feel like "home" to me. And I certainly don't need to elaborate on all that is Salt Lake. I do love the mountains, and we have lots of those. I don't think I'll ever live too far from skiable terrain ever again.

[SadieKate]

Lessee, born in Albuquerque, Nuevo Mexico. When I was 2 yrs old, we moved to Oxnard, Ventura County, California. At the time it was the lima bean and strawberry capitol of the world, plus the largest drug "port" on the west coast. Coast Guard would get tired of chasing the guys by then.

After a multi-city tour of colleges, I settled in the Republic of Davis, California, which is, as I recall, the USA's first declared nuclear-free zone, has built toad tunnels, and requires all it's citizens to wear Birkenstocks. Davis is a university town (vet/med/wine/law) and is the League of American Bicyclist's (previously League of American Wheelmen) only platinum level bicycle-friendly community.

Within a couple years, my hometown will be a bronze-level city that would be platinum if the only criteria were the mountain bike trails - Bend, OR.

[maillotpois]

maillotpois...did you participate in any sports in El Paso de Robles? I'm wondering if we were ever at the same swim meet or water polo match...


Wow - that's funny. What a small world! Actually until college I was a complete anti-athlete, so I would not have seen you at any sports. Basically all I did was ride horses. They put me in remedial PE in elementary school, and that sort of scarred me for life and prevented me from doing any team sports because I was fat and uncoordinated. (Basically I am an endurance athlete and NOT a ball sport person. I probably would have done well in swimming or water polo - well maybe not with the ball there - but I really wasn't encouraged.)

I think we spent a great deal of time in Arroyo Grande at the Solvang double - but that part of the ride is a bit of a blur!!!

[miffy'sFuji]

Here's the scoop:

http://tinyurl.com/s8zcx

I did this last year, and although I have a pretty good fear of heights, I had a little fun. The guides were cool. I like how they mixed some eco talk in with the "fun" of zipping across the ravine. The platforms and bridges were very neat. :)

[yellow]

Basically I am an endurance athlete and NOT a ball sport person. I probably would have done well in swimming or water polo - well maybe not with the ball there - but I really wasn't encouraged.
Ah! Missed opportunity! You probably would have been a swimming star. I was 15-20 pounds heavier then than I am now, most definitely not a ball sport person. Back then there were no girls' polo teams, so we played with the guys. You had to be burley to put up with the crap that went along with that whole scene...

[bikerz]

I've bounced around a bunch - born in NYC, lived outsude DC until I was 3, then my parents, baby brother and I all moved to Kampala, Uganda for 5+ years (my parents were in the US Public Health Service). That was a wonderful place to grow up, and my two youngest sibs were born there. Thankfully my parents sent us to the public school, not the American embassy school, so we didn't have to live in a little American bubble! I remember Kampala and our travels all around East Africa very well. I was 8 when we were forced to leave because Idi Amin getting ready to expel Americans and Europeans, having already expelled the Asians, and there were tanks going up and down our street. That guy was an evil evil man, and did so much damage to a beautiful country and its people.

We lived in Rockville in suburban Maryland (which I didn't enjoy so much) and then I went to high school in Bath, Maine (another place I really loved), and finally landed out here at UC Santa Cruz for college. I moved to Oakland after college and I've been in the Bay Area ever since.

San Francisco gets all the press, but I really love living in the East Bay - especially Oakland. Oakland gets a bad rap, but it is a very tolerant and open city - and all the neighborhoods have such specific identities. And the weather is generally better than SF, and if you live in SF, you don't get to see the beaufiful views of SF! Plus there's great cycling - loads of good hills! :eek:

[allabouteva]

Wow, Bikerz what an exotic upbringing in Uganda! And I so hear ya in terms of being located in Oakland and SF getting all the glory.

My story runs along parallel lines...

Born and raised until my teenage years in Karachi Pakistan, to a migrant Chinese family, came to Sydney Australia when I was 15. I've lived all over Sydney, which is of course a very famous iconic sort of a place, almost a bit of a cliche.

http://www.trafalgartours.com/upload/images/photogallery/Sydney_Harbour.jpg

Home to the 2000 Olympics

http://www.sojourn.com.my/archive/2000/09/images/sydney_stadium.jpg

But I live in an outerlying town called Penrith, which due to urban sprawl is now considered as an outer suburb of Sydney.

Penrith is not a glamourous sort of place, but our claim to fame is:

1) We're at the bottom of the Blue Mountains where you can see the Three Sisters:

http://www.deh.gov.au/soe/2001/heritage/images/ncph011.jpg

2) Home of the Penrith Panthers and the largest Football Club in Australia (rugby league version)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/ca/Pentrithpanthers.jpg/200px-Pentrithpanthers.jpg

3) and has a beautiful river (Nepean River) running right through it.

http://minebox.com/Uploads/Articles/nepe.jpg

It's a great place to live. Plenty of cycling opportunities both MTB and road. So come on down!!!

e

[uk elephant]

Time to get some more European cities on the map....

I grew up in Trondheim, Norway. Back in the middle ages it was the capital of Norway and the third largest catholic pilgrimage site in Europe. I grew up thinking I was living in a large city. I now realize it really is just a little village and I would love to move back. A great university town with easy access to the outdoors. And only a few miles from Hell where my dad was born....

Since leaving high school, I have lived in a variety of places: College in Madison (WI), fieldwork near Gaborone (Botswana), graduate school in Urbana (IL).

I am now living in Colchester (UK), which claims to be the oldest recorded town in England. It was established as the Roman capital of England before they moved on to London as the capital. It should be an interesting place to live, but really isn't. Far too busy, full of people, garbage and dust. Just too far away from London to have any exciting culture going on but close enough to be a commuter town. And it is in the flattest part of England. Proper mountains are many hours away. But I do live in an interesting house. Built in the early 16th century.

[arnaew]

Well, it is Australia... ;)
Oh, tlkiwi, way harsh! I could respond, is the Australian predeliction for the grape/hop/malt barley the reason that so many Kiwis live here? But I shall not. I shall simply say that, when faced with some of the best fermented grape juice on the planet, coupled with one of the best family breweries (Cooper's Brewery - if you haven't tasted the beer, you haven't tasted beer) ever to celebrate the true value of the hop... well, what's a gal to do?

PS I have of late developed a predisposition - in terms of white wine only, let us make that clear - for NZ Sauvignon Blanc. You are getting it so right! (I shall deny that statement if called upon publicly - I'm trusting you here).
A

[DirtDiva]

Well, you know, arna, a settlement in NZ is not reguarded as a town until it has a petrol station, a tearooms and a pub!

P.S. NZ SB is indeed pretty freakin' good. We also make a pretty damn good pinot noir (esp. in Canterbury and Central Otago) too, if you're up for broadening your horizons...

[johnmiller]

Introduction to Atlanta, Georgia

Founded in 1837 as Marthasville, Atlanta is a city of over 420,000 people. It is the largest city in Georgia, as well as the state's capital. According to U.S. census estimates, the Atlanta metropolitan area is the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States with a population of over 4.7 million people.

Atlanta is located in north/central Georgia. It is home to over 10 Fortune 500 companies, including household names such as The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Airlines, Home Depot, and UPS. In fact, as of 2005, the Atlanta metropolitan area was ranked third behind New York and Houston on the list of cities with the most Fortune 500 headquarters.

Atlanta was ranked as the fourth "Most Fun U.S City" in a survey conducted in 2003 by Cranium Inc. Factors taken into account in the ranking include the number of sports teams, restaurants, dance performances, toy stores, the amount of a city's budget that is spent on recreation, and other factors.

Atlanta "Must See" Attractions

Atlanta has attractions too numerous to do justice in a simple list. Some of Atlanta's more notable and unique attractions include:

The Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum
Centennial Olympic Park
CNN Center
The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum
The Martin Luther King Jr. Center
Stone Mountain Park, home to the Memorial Carving which depicts three Confederate heroes of the Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee, and Lt. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
Underground Atlanta offering shopping, dining, history and entertainment
The World of Coca-Cola
Zoo Atlanta
Atlanta Diamonds

Atlanta at Night

Atlanta's nightlife is legendary. The city has more bars and nightclubs than it does places of worship. Atlanta offers just about everything imaginable from dance clubs to sports bars. Many establishments offer live entertainment, including some excellent rhythm and blues. Atlanta's bars and clubs are typically open seven days a week, until 2 or 4 AM. The best place to look for coming events is the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Friday "Weekend Preview" or Saturday "Leisure" sections. Atlanta Magazine and Atlanta Magazine Online are also good sources of information about dining, events, and attractions.