I read somewhere that Dads serve two purposes on family trips - ATM machine and pack mule.
That about sums up the trip back east, although layered on top were some fantastic experineces with the family - re-visiting the Museum of Natural History (where I was terrified of the big Blue Whale as a kid), riding the subway, and eating Halvah at Zabar's.
We then drove up to Cape Cod and did some deep sea fishing (stripers and blue), lots of beach time and time with Grandparents and Uncles. My wife and I even had a nice night out at the Red Pheasant Inn.
In this post I documented all of the gear and tools I was bringing. So, how did it go?
- Portable Media Centers - these were very handy. I had them (including my notebook) loaded up with a variety of films and video shorts for the kids. I was able to entertain three at a time. I also used one as my music device that I piped into the house at the Cape using a simple headphone to RCA splitter. Maybe next year I'll have a Zune?
- The headphones were a bit of a mistake. I had a set of Bose QuietComfort 2s, which worked great for the the two year old. I assumed, since three of our five tickets were in first class, that American Airlines would provide decent over-the-ear phones. They didn't. They provided lame-o earbuds that had horribly low sensitivity. Fortunately I had a pair of iPod headphones that were at least more sensitive, although earbuds and kids don't mix. Next time, I'll hit Radio Shack for some inexpensive but comfortable headphones.
- The Nikon L1 was a champ. We took about six hundred photos, including short movies on the boat while fishing, etc. Battery life was decent due to some rechargeables and I keep a few 512Mb SD cards on hand. It's still comes up a bit short for low light conditions but it performed admirably nonetheless.
- There was virtually no cell phone coverage at the Cape house and my Dad has only dial-up access. I was mercifully "off the grid" for over a week. Joy!
- The Pharos 525 was a disappointment. It's a great device and I use it in Seattle quite often. However, it didn't have a map for where I wanted to go in Connecticut (although it had a map for NYC and Hatford) and it had no map for Cape Cod (although it had a map for Boston). I thought I had an SD card full of maps but I guess not. I should have checked beforehand and downloaded additional maps as neccesary.
- I left my live.local.com collection up in the cloud. I did print it out but it would have been nice to have that, in real time, in my pocket. No downloads neccesary.
- Budget's RapidRez was not Rapid, although they had my "Rez." Not only was my name not on the sign when we landed at JFK, but they had no sign! I ended up waiting in line, doing paperwork, while the family explored the fun-filled parking lot. Blecch.
Net net, a great trip. A few lessons learned but plentiful memories. Good to be back home, though.
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