Verde Canyon Railroad in Clarkdale, AZ and Jerome, AZ

A couple of months back, my wife treated me to a little weekend getaway starting in Clarkdale, AZ  with the Verde Canyon Railroad excursion.  Now a wilderness/green adventure, it was once the rail line that supported the Jerome copper mine, according to our guide, and was the richest in Arizona during its heyday.  She had scheduled us in a "first class" rail car which essentially provided VIP table like seating, for larger groups couches and coffee table, for couples a nice cocktail table and comfortable seating along the windows with the best views (facing the front of the train, windows on the left provide the best views of the canyon). Ours was called the Flagstaff as each is named after an Arizona town.

We were informed to arrive early as seating was not assigned, only rail car.  There is food available at the rail station as is some shopping to kill time while waiting for the conductor to give the green light to board.  I was pleased to discover that food was also served on our rail car and a good thing too as it helped stave off the affects of the full service bar which we took full advantage of.

The train was set up to have alternating rail cars of different types.  Between each closed car was an open air car that allowed for observation of the canyon while enjoying the breeze and smells of Verde Canyon while mingling with some interesting passengers.  I brought along my telephoto and wide angle lenses and was able to capture a few interesting sights.

   

One shot I wanted to get heading out was a Bald Eagle that everyone was chattering about... I may have been too involved with exploring the wine menu but by the time I moved out onto the observation car it had passed beyond my ability to see it.  I promised myself that I would keep my eyes open on the way back.  So we ordered a couple of experimental drinks from the bar followed by one of their touted Arizona wines...

If you take this train ride... pass on this particular AZ wine... I would rate it less than okay.  Maybe it was the plastic cups but I don't think so.  The ride was a very relaxing and pleasant 4 hours and I was very glad to experience it.  It isn't often that I ride trains, I think the last (not counting subways and airport shuttle trains) was from Norfolk, VA to Orlando, FL on Amtrak in '90 or '91.  That may have actually resulted in my last ride ever if I had given into the impulse to throw the two Cub Scouts off the train that thought the kick plates that opened the doors between cars was the most fun ever, kicking them over and over again as hard as they could at 12:30 am... not parents, no scout master to be seen, eventually they got board or someone more impulsive actually threw them off the train...

Back to Verde Canyon.  the views from the train were spectacular and I have added a few shots I took, including the Bald Eagle I was able to capture on the way back.

Once we returned to the station we still had some daylight left to go back up to Jerome and do some exploring.  We had come through the town on the way from Las Vegas to the train and it struck us both how interesting this small, historic town was.  First it is perched high on the mountain and it seemed many buildings and houses facing the street had no back yard but rather a sheer cliff providing some excellent views from the shops we visited.

If you do go there from Vegas, once you get onto 40 from Kingman, make sure you take the Rout 89 exit and then 89a route to Jerome if you are a driver and aren't afraid of heights.  What a great climb and decent up and down a very curvy road through the mountains with sheer drop offs to one side most of the way!  No problem for the Infiniti M35x... though the 928 would have been a thrill >;).

Jerome was a great place to explore... it felt like a hidden gem much like the small, quaint and historic towns I used to discover driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and West Virginia.  No chains, unique restaurants, bars and stores and a lot of history.  Worth the trip.

Royal Palms Resort and Spa

I surprised my wife this weekend with a stay at the Royal Palms in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. I booked a Valencia Suite through DVN and was very happy with the accommodations. We were on a second floor overlooking the courtyard and very near to the spa. The scent of eucalyptus met us coming and going from the room. The room was very nice, reminding me somewhat of Pronghorn's private residency club rooms. The tub however was one of my favorites. It was shaped more like a cube than a standard tub measuring about 5x5x3feet deep. Great place to soak after being out in the Phoenix heat.

The overall atmosphere of the resort is great. Service is A+ and the separated walled gardens, pools and hidden nooks and fountains made it an enjoyable place to wander. Our first night we dined at the resort restaurant, T. Cook's.  As our waiter served our lobster bisque we were pleasantly surprised by the presentation.  Chilled lobster in the base of the bowl with the warm bisque poured into the bowl table side.  The last time we had such a presentation was at Manuel's on the 28th, one of our favorite Orlando restaurants which is unfortunately closed now.  Manuel's still holds the record for the very best lobster bisque we have every had.  For years since we have ordered bisque's hopeful that we would one day taste a bisque the equal of Manuel's.  With the presentation we were hopeful but while very good... it fell short of our hopes while meeting our expectations.

However, the high point of the meal was our entrees and the wine I picked to accompany.  Sonny ordered Duck a L'Orange which she hadn't had in some time and I went with the Pork Tenderloin though I was thinking Georges Bank Scallops at one point.  The wine, Owen Roe Sharecropper's Pinot noir '09 was fantastic and paired well with our meals.  I was unfamiliar with Sharecropper's but there was a note from the sommelier on the wine list that it was delightful.  As would be expected at a resort of this caliber dining is not inexpensive.  An excellent option to enjoy a special night out with spouse.

Exploring the West just got a lot less expensive with the Dream Vacation Network

About 2 months ago I became a member of the Dream Vacation Network, a private access technology platform that offers all sorts of travel options for travelers that enjoy a high level of quality in their travels while seeking the very best deals available. There are a lot of tools for timeshare owners as well but as a non-owner I use it like I would Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia or before DVN, Kayak had become my search engine of choice for travel.

That being said, the savings and availability I have experienced with Dream Vacation Network are unbeatable. As a qualifier I have only booked 4 trips so far but the money I saved essentially made one of the trips free. The first booking was to Anaheim at a boutique hotel next to Disney Land for my wife and my birthday weekend. It was pet friendly though we left our Cockers with friends for this trip. When I first looked up the hotels in the area I did a lot of comparisons between DVN pricing and availability and Kayak, Orbitz, etc. I saved about $15/night over the best rates I could find anywhere else on the web. The Hotel Menage was quite nice and we had a view of the pool and of the Disney fireworks that went off at night. Though I must say, other than the trip up to Solvang, one of the highlights of the trip was a restaurant we discovered called La Vie En Rose. What a spectacular atmosphere, food and service. We were greeted upon arrival by the owner Louis Laulhere who was snappily dressed and greeted us at the foyer with a broad smile and warm welcome. The restaurant felt like it should be in a small village in the french countryside. The food selection, presentation and taste were excellent. We will definitely visit again!

The next trip I booked was for a family friends graduation from Marine Boot Camp at MCRD in San Diego. We stayed at a Doubletree Club Hotel that was very nice and conveniently located near the base. Again I saved roughly 20% on the accommodations and since I drove from Las Vegas did not need a rental car. Since I seem to be on a savings and eating theme, I would have to say that the most enjoyable meal we had while in San Diego was actually in Bonita California at a little hole in the wall seafood spot called TJ's Oyster Bar. Thank God we got there early. There was probably only seating for 20-30 people including tables outside and shortly after our arrival there was a line out the front door and down the sidewalk. I ordered a clam ceviche and a diablo shrimp plate while my wife ordered a garlic shrimp plate. Both were excellent with generous portions and just the right amount of spice. We found this restaurant through trip advisor and the recommendations where spot on.

I booked a trip to Orlando to visit family which since it is in the east I wont spend much time on other than to say DVN really seem to be member focused. While I can book hotels, resorts, car rentals, cruises (haven't tried yet) etc. to book flights you are redirected to a public access website Kayak that searches all the others for the best pricing. The concierge at DVN explained to me that there isn't much margin to discount airlines so it isn't offered directly on the site. However, she explained that I could book the flights on Orbitz for instance and e-mail or fax the itinerary back to DVN and receive one credit for every dollar I spent. I already receive one credit for every dollar I spend on the site itself, but to receive credits for money I didn't spend on the site is a good deal... especially now that I have:

Total Reward Credits: 744

Total Reward Credits Including Pending: 6,795

Including my pending credits I have enough for a weekend car rental. Timeshare owners can deposit their timeshare weeks for credits that can be used to book anything on the site. Having been in the industry for over 15 years you would think that I would own a timeshare but one of the benefits of being in the industry is that I can stay in timeshares as a perk of my occupation.

The last trip I booked was for Scottsdale for which I saved several hundred dollars at a resort that provides free cook to order breakfast and free happy hour. I look forward to heading out there this weekend with my wife though I dread what the temperature will be like. After all it is hot in Vegas but Phoenix will probably be much warmer.

I have to say though that the DVN site really makes me want to do some more traveling, even for weekend getaways. It seems like every week they have multiple super specials like groupon for travel that based on the few comparisons I have done save upwards of $400-$600 for 5-10 day stays which is pretty substantial. Priceline has their negotiator but you have to bid first and hope you get what you want. With DVN all the negotiations have been done ahead of time and I just pick and choose what I want.

Update

Since I just got my Asus transformer tablet from Amazon I can download the app for their MUVE application and manage my account from there!

Dusting off the blog.

It has been far too long that I have left my blog fallow and have neglected an enjoyable outlet and coverage of some great experiences. When last I wrote I was still with RCI traveling around the West. Since then I have started my own business, Quintessential Consulting Group and continue to travel, at times traveling so far West I ended up in the East, specifically Bali, Indonesia. All before the bruhaha of Eat, Pray Love. More to come.

Morris Day and The Time

Been gone a while to be sure but had to put up a new post after going to see Morris Day and the Time... back together again after 18 years... ohh -e-ohh-e-ohh... think I wanna know ya, know ya! Having problems posting pics... be back soon...

T

AIDS Walk

This morning Sonny and I got up bright and early to walk in the Las Vegas AIDS walk. We had gone to see LeAnn Rimes the night before (Sonny is a fan) and I enjoyed the concert... it was a good time all around. Back to the morning we arrived around 6:30am which was waaay early but Sonny's style and while we got a great parking space we mulled around for about an hour until more of Sonny's team from Travelocity arrived.

I was proud to be Sonny's number one cash contributor to her walk while I was there to keep her company and show solidarity for a good cause. Penn and Teller were the official celebrity hosts and kicked off the walk that looped around an area near the World Trade Center of furniture and the down town area on the edge of the Vegas Fashion District.

There was some live entertainment along the way and plenty of water to keep us hydrated... I hadn't realized how many people where there until we went under a train bridge and you could get a good perspective on how large the crowd really was.

After the walk I had to head home and get ready to get on a plane to Napa Valley for business...

Minnesota

I went to Minnesota and got caught in snow... what can I say? I can't wait to see it in the summer when it isn't so closed down!

My cat Paris

Seems to always come into my office and unleash a flurry of meows whenever I am on a conference call and using the speaker phone...

Carson City for a State Legislative Luncheon

I first must avail my readers of the wacky experience that is the Reno Peppermill. The above photo is what greets you when you enter the casino side of the hotel/casino. I was up in Reno and Carson City to attend a luncheon to meet and greet our Assemblymen and women and to promote our industry. The following are some more shots of the Peppermill...

There is a fantastic French restaurant in downtown Reno that I enjoy very much and it is on along the revitalized area of the Trukee River... it is called Beaujolais Bistro. Below is a poor picture but hey... I was indulging in French wines...

The flight up was followed by a drive down as it is more convenient to drive down to Mammoth Lakes and then continue the drive to Las Vegas than to drive back to Reno and then fly out. It was an extremely windy day as I made my way down to Mammoth Lakes and it made some particularly interesting cloud formations as you can see in this photo...

Private Concert with KT Tunstall

I had a great opportunity to be part of a private concert set up by Travelocity with KT Tunstall, the Grammy Award Nominee. She has been nominated for her song Black Horse and Cherry Tree. She is like 6 times platinum in the UK and is 1 time platinum here in the US as she begins to be recognized. When I went to the concert, I did not really know who she was nor was I familiar with her music or so I thought. However, when her music was being pumped through the sound system I recognized a few songs that I had heard on the radio like Suddenly I See. Because of my wife's relationship with Travelocity we arrived early and had an opportunity to sit down with KT. At first I suppose I was surprised by her small frame... I am 6'4" and she must be about 5' and very petite and understandably a little withdrawn meeting all these people she didn't really know but was open to questions and I recognized an underlying wit and depth of personality and decided I liked her right away and thought to myself, she would be a great person to sit down with, have a Guinness and a great conversation.

After about an hour of meet and greet, about 60 radio award winners filed in to enjoy a private concert with KT. I spoke to a few of them and they were from all over, Alabama, Washington, Mass... and were very excited to have won a trip to Vegas and a private concert.

I snagged a table at the very front of the stage for our party of 4 and the concert began. KT brought only her guitar and some Taiwanese instrument that would sample sounds that she set up before starting a song to either add back up vocals or percussion by beating out a rhythm on the face of her guitar or stomping her boot or both...

I have to say she is a great performer... her guitar was crisp and her voice was strong and clear... she won me over as a fan and as I write this I am downloading her album off I-Tunes. She would pause every couple of songs to do a Q&A with her fans and she proved further that she is quite funny. If music hadn't worked out for her she might have been great at standup.

And, I can't forget to mention that a big part of her involvement with Travelocity for this concert is due to their alignment on the environment. KT is a proponent of reducing pollution that leads to global warming while Travelocity is promoting a program (GO ZERO) where customers can zero out their emissions through a Conservation Fund program that will pay for the planting of trees and replenishment of wilderness areas to reduce CO2 and produce oxygen (of course this only happens through Photosynthesis during the day and at night the respiration process releases CO2 but at a much lower rate than it is consumed during the day).

The concert was held in a very small and cozy venue at the Flamingo in Vegas... after the concert we headed out to continue the celebration an a couple of bars on the strip... fun, fun!

Florida Trip

Made an east trip this past week! Went back to Orlando for company and personal business. It was good to be back in town to see old friends and eat at some of my favorite spots. I was only in O-town for one and a half days and then was off to Key West for another business meeting. It was a somewhat interesting flight out of Vegas however. I sat next to Billy Simms, the Hiesman Trophy winner, a few seats up was Lou Holtz and to my right was Carrot Top. And I wasn't even in first class!

Billy and I chatted a while and not being a huge college football fan... it took me a while to catch on that a) he is famous and b) who he was. I thought he was part of a big group traveling back home as people were walking by as they boarded the plane greeting and interacting with him in a very familiar way, like you would your company manager (the one you like) and Mr. Simms was equally cordial with what turned out to be his many fans. He was nice and down to earth which I thought was pretty cool. I didn't talk to Holtz but chatted with Carrot Top as we walked toward baggage claim. Since both of us are Orlando transplants to Vegas it was interesting to chat about the differences.

The next day after business was taken care of I hooked up with my old right hand, Wui from my days running Hilton Grand vacations International Sales Division better known as ISD. We headed off to our favorite Indian restaurant in Orlando called Dakshin for their fantastic Chicken Vindaloo! It was great to come back after two years and have the staff and owner welcome me like I was still stopping by once a week. The following day on my way down to Key West I grabbed lunch at Firehouse Subs... which is my favorite sub shop in the USA.

The drive down to Key West was not bad at all... I had a Lincoln Towncar signature limited... I was pretty jazzed as it had about 5 miles on it... brand spanking new. Bonus - Sunroof, Negative - a new stereo in a luxury car without XM radio or a jack for my I-pod... lame! I had to rely on my trusty I-tunes FM broadcast attachment. The Cadillac and the Buick Lucern have XM and I-Pod jacks!

The great thing about the Florida Turnpike is the speed limit and lack of traffic. It is an enjoyable ride south.

I arrived in Key West about 8:00pm, checked in and headed down to Duval street to get some eats. I had to stop in to Sloppy Joe's the famous Hemingway haunt for a beer or two. I actually was a bouncer at Sloppy Joe's in Orlando some time ago but that is a whole different story.

The next day I had some time before my client meeting so after answering a few e-mails and making some calls, I headed down to the beach to attempt to look less like a British tourist... you see my ancestry is Danish, English and German... so if I don't spend some time worshipping the sun I look much like that HP bright white inkjet paper sitting in the printer next to you. The beach below is called Smathers Beach.

There was a decent amount of kelp or seaweed on the beach and as I approached bare footed I was glad that I had the presence to see the big purple man o war or whatever just infront of me. I was never a student of aequorea so Man O' War is my best guess. There were a lot of them. The night before there had been a pretty strong onshore wind and I suppose that is how they all got there. To my rescue came a beach comber of the mechanical sort. It was a tractor sized contraption that raked, removed and smoothed the beach in one action.

Seeing that these jellyfish were "floaters" I decided to brave the water after some time in the sun. I live in the desert and it would have to have been a lot more of those jellyfish and circling sharkfins to keep me out.

The client meeting went pretty late into the day but was enjoyable as we had drinks and then dinner at La Trattoria on Duval... excellent service and excellent food! Another place you HAVE to eat at is Blue Heaven... my wife and I stumbled upon this place years ago and were blown away by the food and the experience... go there I command it!

The following day it was a nice breakfast, some time in the sun and then a drive to Miami to catch my plane to Vegas. The drive in the daylight through the Keys is always nice from a visual perspective. Some of the bridges damaged or mostly destroyed stand as testaments to the power of the Hurricanes that blow through the Keys.

Time Warner's Home of the Future

I was reading my January 22'nd New Yorker today and read in the second article under the Talk of the Town section titled Our Changing World about the home of the future model by Edwin Schlossberg hanging in the lobby of the Time Warner Center.

It discussed ideas about laptops in kitchens to look up receives and it made me think back to 1986 when my father Carl Madsen was way ahead of the game in that respect. You see in 1986 when I was a Junior in high school, my parents purchased their first new home... so new in fact that it hadn't been build yet.

My father having working in the computer industry for years with companies such as A.B. Dick, Phillips Micom, Zainax and PRIME was working with what was the leading edge technology. We built our first family computer which was a Zenith Heathkit 80/86 processor with a single 5 and 3/4 drive, 10 inch amber monochrome screen, 20 MB hard drive (yes that is 20 Megabites... I have word documents larger than that) and 16k memory. And for those of you that build computers these days it wasn't nearly as simple as the snaptite proposition of a computer build today... I love reading the forums on overclockers and the tweaks they make to their cmos and cooling... whatever! Imaging standing on an anti static mat, with all of your desktop work area on an anti-static mat and your ankle and wrist attached to bracelets with wires running to said mat? Why all this protection? Because back then you didn't buy a mother board or graphics board with everything soldered on already... you had to do it yourself. soldered chip anchors to the mother board along with diodes, resistors, transistors and every other istor you can think off. Then after you've soldered about 300 different things to the Mobo, but it in the case, soldered 200 things to graphics and modem... you plug it all in and hope you didn't screw one thing up. Guess what... we plugged it in and it didn't work... not because we made a mistake... it was because we had a bad power supply... after replacing that we were off to the races!

Anyway I am getting way off point here. Then new house that was being built, after the framing went up was going to be our house of the future in more ways than one. My father and I went through the house with (I wish I could remember the classification of the wire we ran) half inch think bundled cable that contained enough small wires in it to connect three parallel ports if I recall correctly. We ran these wires from the master bedroom, office, kitchen and living room all to what was planned to be a server room in the basement.

During this time we purchased a second computer similar to the first but was an 8088 with faster graphics... an old Hercules card and we didn't have to build it. We then, mostly my father with me looking over his shoulder started sketching out the plans to have a monitor and laser pen in the kitchen to read the bar codes on our groceries to keep a running inventory and automate the grocery list, put a monitor in the bedroom with speakers that would work as an alarm clock and daily planner with reminders for events and tasks and in the office run multiple PC's that would be networked through a mainframe in the basement with multiple printers and dial up to CompuServe in D.C. (CompuServe was about 6 bucks an hour to use back then) This was all pre-internet. I liked the idea because it would be super cool, I would be the only kid on the block and probably in the region if not the U.S. that had this sort of smart home.

Alas, it did not come to fruition but if Mr. Schlossberg wanted to get a head start on the home of the future our old house is prewired and ready to go in Fairfax, VA...

P.S. My father e-mailed me with this update...

The house was built in 1984. We wired it as a "homerun" and not a "daisy chain" so each individual cabling terminated at a single Telco punch down block. We used 25 conductor, shielded with drain cable terminated at plastic electrical boxes with DB25 female plugs and a coax connector. We could have run anything (telco, thermostat, video, computer, printer,you name it) through it. Unfortunately, our concept was ahead of the technology and software available at the time. (Unless you were willing to write your own programs in BASIC, build the interfaces, spend a LOT of bucks, and be willing to troubleshoot the glitches in your very limited spare time. Naaaaah.) But, it's much easier to run cable before the walls are up! Wonder if the current owners did anything with our "home of the future."

Sedona

I had a series of meetings with a client in Sedona, AZ this week and while I could have flown... there is nothing like a no traffic roadtrip. Driving in the Nevada and Arizona desert is great... long straight highways, high speed limits, few to no radar traps, other drivers that observe highway etiquette, great scenery, sunrises, sunsets, drastic flora and fauna changes along with climate due to the many elevation changes... I could go on and on. It is a 5.5 hour trip according to map quest which is an estimate based on your grandparents driving the rout. I make it in about 4.5 hours and I've heard of people making it in 4... maybe in a Prius going 95mph with no bathroom or gas stops. I did it in a Dodge Durango R/T making 13 MPG so missing a gas stop is totally out of the question. I took a different rout down into Sedona this trip... 89 which takes you on a multiple s-curve descent to the valley below... can be great, can be decent... depending on who is driving in front of you, a regular person trying to get down to the valley or someone scared of heights that breaks so much you think they are going backwards.

It was a short stay and all business. As I drove out of the Valley I promised myself that I would come back with Sonny and take at least a weekend to explore what Sedona has to offer other than business opportunities.

New Years Day

I feel better already! And when you are feeling better why not go to the highest point around Vegas and relish the crisp air, snow and tall evergreens... Mount Charleston, an oasis in the middle of the desert. Little did I know, but was soon to discover that everyone else in southern Nevada had the same idea! Families and friends with sleds, picnic baskets, snowboards and skis all ascended Charleston for a holiday romp in the snow... I thought I was driving down the strip on a Friday night... bumper to bumper traffic, 2 mph speed limit... but it was all worth it to luck out on a parking spot at the summit where Sonny and I could get out and enjoy the view. From this vantage point coupled with the bright clear day I could see far out into the valley below and wondered what 2007 held in store for me...

New Years Eve 2006

We decided that we wanted to have a somewhat tame NYE but didn't want to spend it at home nor did we want to face the throng of partygoers on the strip where they lock down the area to car traffic for far too long. For a potential local that might want to arrive later and leave earlier... it is a serious commitment... if you are going, you're going... and if you are leaving, you are walking a good portion of the way home...

We decided instead to enjoy a good but more moderate party at a local club/restaurant called Hannah's. We arrived at 10:00pm and from arrival to departure at close to 2:00am we had a great time... I would say it was exactly what we were looking for... Can I say I sooooo need it to be a New Year! 2007 wooohooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Eve 2006

I haven't posted for some time because I am a slacker! Well not really, I just have been very busy with work and had a tragedy occur during this time. But I am back and I will attempt as part of my New Year's resolutions to be better about it. We spent our Christmas Eve at our traditional locale... The Eiffel Tower restaurant at the Paris in Vegas baby! When we were in Orlando, FL the tradition was to go to Le Coq Au Vin which was a great experience, set and fantastic menus, very talented quartet that would come to the table and sing Christmas songs requested by guests if they knew them and they knew a lot!

Our experience in Vegas is fantastic in it's own way... more glitz and glamour than Le Coq but not as much of a Holiday Atmosphere... it is Vegas after all... but we always have the same table right infront of the glass looking down over the strip and the Bellagio Fountains... The food is spectacular and the staff is helpful, professional and a real delight.

For the Holiday feel, walk to the Bellagio before or after dinner to walk through their seasonal lobby.

A stroll along the strip among the Christmas lights is always nice... as you can see I am getting a lot more mileage out of my Zuit Suit than most people thought I would... hell I might buy another one! hmmmm... yellow like Jim Carrey in The Mask... Purple... White... so many colors.

The next morning after my grand showing in the red suit everyone was trying to get in the game... our cat Paris and her red Christmas suit, Angela and her red hair and finally....

Tour of Oregon

Spent a week meeting and training clients throughout Oregon.

Lake Creek near Bend, OR

Lake Creek

Dinner with co-workers

Keeping warm at Pronghorn

Climbing Mt. Hood

Indianapolis

Hey went back up to Indianapolis for a quick trip... had dinner at St. Elmos and had some great brews at McNivens.

Where have I been???

I suppose that those people that have been checking back on my blog are wondering... is it dead? Did Ted neglect his entries to the point of never updating again? Well that isn't the case... and I have a lot of material... but if I were to try to do all the material justice, well... I would keep neglecting... so I am going to do a picture bridge to bring the blog to the present so that I can continue with entries as I have a lot in the pipeline over the next months.