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Seems like Orlando always serves up interesting times. As I do every year we photographed the Miss American Coed National Pageant over Thanksgiving. It went off without a hitch this year as we worked in a different capacity this time. All I had to do was show up, take photos each day and hand my disk over to them. Easy money, which RARELY happens for us. We went out again for Vietnamese again, Pho 88, there and found a great one, with a menu so huge! Almost too many choices when you have no idea what they are even. So the bad thing that happened was I let me phone sit by my chair in the pageant to go get something to drink. And when I got back it was gone 🙁 Someone snagged it I suppose because noone ever turned into lost and found. I cant believe it. I had some good photos on that phone I did not want to lose. My horse shoe in the road! My red high heel in Denver! to name a few. Anyway something funny happened the next day. I noticed that on a seat in the pageant sat a phone that looked identical to mine, same scratches and chewed up antenna. So I decided to ask the person siting there with it some questions. I asked her what kind of phone was it? She answered correctly. Maybe she read up on it on the internet I thought. Next question I asked was so i could see the phone to view the call log. “Does it take good pictures?” I asked. “Yes great ones” she answered, “may I see them?” I replied. She then handed me the one with pictures to browse. I could not tell when they were taken, but when I asked her more about the phone she answered quickly and correctly. “Man she is good” I thought. So instead of making a fool of myself and accusing her I decided to call Verizon to see if my phone had been reactivated on another line. They said no, and now that I had reported it stolen it could never be reactivated by someone else. I felt bad about accusing her in my mind, but hey it seemed suspicious that a woman would choose such a big bulky construction type phone. I was bummed I thought I had found my phone and the culprit. I never did find my phone and have since had it replaced with the same model. I love it being shockproof and waterproof. Just when i was so down on the human race though a stranger made a kind gesture that restored my faith. This is the good part of my Orlando trip. As we were driving just down 27 outside Clermont we began to smell a burning smell. I knew the smell since we have had encountered it several times before. It was the smell of brakes heating up! We stopped asap and checked it out. There was smoke coming out fro below the coach but not from the wheels, but rather near the transmission. But I then recalled seeing in the manual that was where the parking brake is located. It seemed it was locked up. But why? I got onto the internet and started searching for the answer. I came across a name on almost every post about parking brakes, oldused bear. He seemed like the expert. I got his email from a forum and sent him a message detailing our dilemma. He responding immediately to my surprise. “Give me your phone number and Ill call you” it read. So i sent it and he called with information exactly what was wrong and how to fix it. It was something he calls a “Rotten Green Switch” 🙂 Apparently it goes bad a lot and it is of course, green. I was unable to get the part to repair it but he helped me through the steps of physically disabling the parking brake so we could get on the road to Port Charlotte. The power of the internet is astonishing. This was truly an example of it. How I, in Florida, can connect with someone else all the way in Oregon to help me while stranded on the side of the ride to get me moving again. It also restored my faith in the goodness of people. I have noticed then whenever something happens that lets me down with people someone always comes along to restore my faith. So what I am saying is always kep the faith. The world is not all bad 🙂

Okay, first off I need to explain the making out with a stranger statement. We were listening to the Lex and Terry morning show and they were trying to find guys to go make out with a girl who called into the show. It was complete with a “play-by-play” done on a cell phone at the location. Well the location of all places happened to be right down the road from us at the time in Dothan, Alabama. Of all places in the U.S. it was right by us. We were in a time crunch so we did not go to the location exactly to see it but just listened to the absurdness over the radio. So now the answer to why in the world were we in Dothan, Alabama 🙂 Well Randy Bonner had a show at the National Peanut Festival. It was so cold, but he played great. The crowd was non-existant. But many were flowing around us to see the attractions at the festival. I was just amazed how they were just walking by and not stopping. Randy and his band sounded incredible. So much energy and talent. Maybe it was because people were focused on seeing Darryl Worley who was also playing on another stage that evening. Overall it was fun and disappointing a little, but did serve purpose of getting Randy more exposure. It was depressing to see the dancing monkey. Just seemed sad and pathetic at how he was being exploited to earn money.

More photos from Rocky mountain National Park >>

The time had come that I traveled somewhere without Sharon and the dogs. It was actually harder than I thought as I have never traveled without her since we met. I missed them dearly. The adventure this time was with my BFF Kevin (LOL) We were to hike up to the top of the mountains eventually getting to Andrew’s Glacier. I decided to blog this entry as a day by day account, so here it is:

Day 1: A sad goodbye to Sharon started off a rough day of traveling. I had not been on an airplane in some time so I forgot how miserable airline travel can be. First off I had to switch articles between luggage in order to stay under the weight limit and my zipper on my bag broke! The trip started gong smoothly as I had in-flight entertainment in the form of playing electronic trivia against other passengers and did quite well.

Upon arriving at Denver I rode the shuttle to get my rental and when i tried to get the rental my credit card had just expired that day. No car for me!

Note: Always listen to what wife is telling you!

So i had to take a shuttle back to the airport. And when I got off the shuttle I was handed the wrong luggage. Luckily the other person noticed he had the wrong luggage and called me. Crisis averted! I then proceeded to take a shuttle to downtown. So after two hours being shuttled around I finally arrived to the hotel. And even managed to pick up a nasty head cold through this, good times!

Day 2: The day was pretty uneventful. I just worked a bit and tried to rest up for the adventure coming up. We did go out to a brewpub that night and came across a lone red high heel.

Day 3: This was the day we had set for traveling to Rocky Mountain National Park. We chose a route to take us through Boulder as neither Kevin nor I had ever been there and it sounded like a cool town. It did not disappoint from what we saw but we only had time for a lunch stop. I believe we hit a famous spot called “The Sink”. It had walls full of artwork by two wel-known political artists of the area. It is a must see if ever in Boulder. Food was great and had a great selection of local brews on tap. I cant wait to visit at a later time with Sharon to better explore the area.

As we got our first glance of the snow-capped rockies we were awe-struck. We could hardly believe we were going to be hiking and climbing this utopia.

Our first night we were to camp. We got the tent set up, but I was to sleep in the van as the seats folded down to make a perfect spot for my air mattress. Kevin got a roaring fire going that provided a ton of warmth. It was a beautiful night but around 20º that night. It got so cold that night. we were miserable. I longed for the Cruisemaster. I did not sleep well at all. My sleeping bag and I kept slipping off the air mattress. I had a fever throughout the night. Roughing it is not what it is hyped to be 🙂

Day 4: Upon first light Kevin popped his head into the van and announced that we were breaking camp and headed for a hotel. We just have gotten too soft in our old age I suppose. I was so relieved to get to the hotel. I was feeling so sick but we had a hike to do! The hike was a 4.5 mile up and back up through Glacier Gorge. So 9 miles round trip. I starting feeling better as we hiked and I warmed up. I eventually hit my stride. The sights we saw on this hike were breath taking and beyond my powers of story telling to describe. I have set up a gallery here to view the pics I took on the hikes.

We went past Mills lake and on to Black Lake. I had carried my fishing pole but felt like an idiot when we got to the first lake and it was frozen over. Forgot about what happens to water when exposed to freezing temps 🙂

But to my surprise Black Lake was fully thawed and full of trout! I made my first cast and caught a fish immediately, I caught about 6 or 7 before getting cold and the wind was freezing me. The hike down was gorgeous also and we cruised through it so to get back to the hotel and then eat food.

We went to a small local pub for beer and chili, it REALLY hit the spot! My fever though was back I really pushed my body on that hike. I was unsure I was going to be alright tomorrow for the big hike to the glacier.

Day 5: I woke up very rough, not sure if I was up for it. But really, I never let something like a cold stop me. I was determined, I felt it was a challenge, and I always take oon a challenge. The hike got off to a rough start as there were 30-40 mph winds whipping through the mountains. It seemed like it may be too much. But Kevin and I bundled up and set off. Once we reached Loch Vale we were greeted with winds in excess of 55 mph+ I would estimate. It was kinda neat. I always like nature at its extreme. We had plenty more to go so we did not stay long.

Upon reaching the trail up to Andrew’s Glacier we were a little intimidated. We met some fellow hikers on the trail also deciding whether to push up the final 800’ elevation rise or to head back down. They decided to go go visit another lake as Kevin and I were determined to see Andrew’s Glacier. This felt as if it were our Everest 🙂 We started the ascent. There was really no discernible trail as it was just a mess of boulders and deep snow. Some steps we sunk up to our waist in a hole through the snow. The climb was a trudge, like crawling up a boulder field, actually we were crawling up a boulder field! 🙂 The exhiliration upon reaching the top was well worth all the trouble. We hung around for a bit, we got a nice video which can be viewed here showing the wind and glorious scenery. We slide down the slope on our butts. It was a blast! What took 45 minutes to get to the top of, took only 5 to descend. We still had 4.5 miles to hike to get back to the van and we managed to do it in just over an hour. We were cruising. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Estes Park Brewery to sample the brew. It was alright, we actually came back and ate there. The food was average, but not bad. That night I slept like a rock!

Day 6: The day had come to travel home to see my wife and “kids”. I was very excited to see Sharon and share the stories of my adventures with her. It was something new because usually we experience all of our adventures together. The journey home was pretty uneventful for us. But not so for a poor kayaker that day. On our trip down to Denver we drove along the incredibly scenic Big Thompson River. We came across a horrible scene. We saw a yellow kayak crushed against a rock by the large rapids. There we numerous emergency vehicles parked along a long stretch of the river with emergency personnel searching the river for the poor soul who had been riding the river in that kayak. We assume they never found him/her alive and our hearts go out to the family and friends of this adventurer. It was a very sobering reminder of the dangers of mother nature.

Note to self: Remember the dancing sign cult 🙂

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Since we have decided to settle down in Pensacola and stop full time traveling in Jan., we have felt like we are in limbo until then. We have been looking at homes to see if we could find one we like, but without being able to do anything until January it seems futile. But it feels better than doing nothing. The decision is whether to rent a space for our commercial studio or rent a place to live. We are kinda ready to get out of the motor home, but not sure if we can afford to do both. I feel we are at another fork in the road. Hopefully we choose the correct route or we are battle-hardened now that we can make it through whatever life throws at us. Meanwhile not much has been going on since we have been here in Pensacola. We did have a blast at Halloween. So having said that I apologize if my blogs have been slacking off. But I will get back on the ball as I am off to Colorado!!!

View Pensacola Photo Gallery>>
We have made it back to Pensacola. Staying again out in Pace/Milton area at our friend Bryan’s house again. Not much going on so far. Kinda lame I know, but nowhere new to explore :( I had been selected as a featured artist of the month at a local art and frame shop in Navarre. My artist reception went great. We are very grateful to Paul and Tina for hosting our show at Dovetails Art and Frame. I was also chosen as artist of the month at the Pensacola Belmont Arts Center, but this time it was for my One Shoe Diaries where as Dovetails was my photos and paintings. My opening night at the Belmont was a flop. NOTE: Do not try to plan anything during college football season in the South. It has been nice to get to do some painting again as I really miss it. I did a painting of Big Sur and fell in love with it and do not care if it sells as I want to hang it on my wall someday. Speaking of walls, we are thinking of coming back to settle in Pensacola. We love the area and I think it is the best bet to start a photography business as I have a lot of contacts in the area. It does cause some anxiety when i think of giving up the traveling lifestyle, but we will never fully stop traveling in the CruiseMaster. Randy Bonner has once again come into the picture as a great possibility for future career possibilities. Stay tuned . . .

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We loved, LOVED Charleston. We had such a good time there. It is so much fun to explore such a historic city. We parked the Cruisemaster in our friend Kevin’s apartment complex parking lot and stayed at his place for the week. He was a great host, he really made me proud to be able call him my friend. Cannot wait to explore Denver in October with him.

We saw all the mansions and old homes and we just in awe. One night we went out and bought a 12 pack of various import and microbrew beers and tasted beer all night, to some it sounds boring. But to us it was awesome. Guess we are pretty boring.

We managed to find a dog park and a Thai restaurant while there. The dog park rates in out top 10, maybe top five. It was quite large and had a nice lake with beaches for the dogs to play. The only drawback is that it was located at James Island State Park and had a fee everytime we went 🙁

The Thai restaurant, Basil, was really good, a little expensive but very good. It has nice outdoor seating. After speaking with people about Basil it made me wish I had tried the famous tri-pepper sauce 🙁

One of the best nights was when the three of us had a great Italian dinner. Sharon and I the day before had attended a timeshare. We had not done one in a while so we felt we had the energy to sit through the spiel and say no, no, it just isnt the right time, it sounds great though, but we LIVE IN A MOTORHOME!!! Anyway, we got $50 gift certificate to Bocci’s. It was such a great atmosphere, food and wine. Highly recommend it! Afterwards we strolled through the historic downtown streets.

Another gift we received from attending the timeshare presentation was a Guided Tour of Charleston’s Seedier Side. It was pretty lame. Cannot recommend the “r” rated tour of Charleston.

Finally, one night we decided to do our own tour of haunted places in Charleston. We visited St. Philips Church and graveyard, Slave Mart, and the most documented haunted place the Dock Street Theater. I was determined to get a paranormal shot. Well, HELLO!! We got one (see photo above) The photo was taken of the theater exterior with the hopes of getting a ghost peaking out of window. Instead I got what looks like a figure up close! The pink tracer lights, or orbs as paranormal investigators call them really freaked me out. The ectoplasm was also a little freaky. Not sure what happened, all i know is it was a totally clear evening and there were no lights in front of the cmera, and the camera never moved as it was on a tripod. This is one photo I will always keep, it is soo spoooookyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!

Continuing on our nation-wide wine trail we stopped again in the wine producing region of Yadkin Valley, NC.

We did not have much time nor funds so we had to hit just a select few vineyards and Raylen was first on the list. It was a very nice vineyard with a very classy tasting room. We tried 13 different wines and found the Pinot Grigio and the Shiraz to be the best. The bordeaux was also worth mentioning. The only thing was the hostess for the tasting was a little pompous, and for no real reason to be that way.

Note: remember the wine barrel chairs and table

For lunch we found a cool little bakery cafe in Mocksville that we would like to hit again, and this time do more desserts!

We had stayed at this Thousand Trails last year and managed to hit it at the right time to visit the 1st Annual Childress Vineyards Harvest Festival and had a great time so we wanted to do it again.

Unfortunately I looked at the date wrong and we ended up being a day late 🙁 I was a little angry about it so I choose not to discuss any further …

On to Charleston

We were within two hours driving distance to my best friend Mark’s house where he and his wife Dana, and daughter Maddie live just outside Raleigh. They have a great house, and the best thing was the upper loft room, which was huge and PERFECT for an artist studio!&

After arriving we headed out to a local micro-brewery, the Carolina Brewing Company, for a tour which Mark claims usually has only around 6 people there and free beer for an hour afterwards. A dream come true. But after arriving late we did not get to get a beer to drink during the tour, which to our dismay was more like 60 people!! AARGGGHH!! The tour lasted what seemed an eternity as we watched everyone enjoy cold beer while listening to the spiel. Not to mention it was 100º in there!! And then to try and be sly we stayed at the back when everyone moved to see the packaging explanation so as to get out and be first in line to get a beer after the tour. FOILED AGAIN! The beer was actually to be poured t the packaging area so we were now last in line 🙁 But after what seemd an eternity again we finally got a well deserved beer. And Mark noticed that the temperature lowered several degrees just after that first delicious drink. This time we did something right, as we drank that first beer we got in line so right when we finished that one we were ready to get another. The best beer Sharon and I thought was the Octoberfest so we bought a six pack. We were now starving and the beer tasting was over so we went for lunch at…where else…a draft house!!

Eventually we did make it back home. Just in time to get ready for dinner. One of my other good friends (another “gang” member) Jeff was came over for dinner as well. It was great to hang out with them all. Their kids and our “furry” kids played and played. We need to do a “Gang” function soon. I love seeing my old friends!!!

Thanks Mark and Dana, we really appreciated the hospitality, and it was so nice to just hang out and talk. And Maddie, she is an amazingly special soul. Jeff, it was great to see you and Becky again, and you have great boys. I hope they can have a close group of friends to grow up with and enjoy life with as we all did.

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When we visit Baltimore, it is mainly about seeing Nanny. She is Sharon’s grandmother and a wonderful soul. I feel as if she were really my grandmother too, I love her dearly. This time we got to spend a lot of time with her because we stayed with aunt Glenda. I call her aunt Glenda because I feel she is my aunt too, she makes me feel part of the family and always has 🙂

The neighborhood they live in, Mount Washington, is beautiful with big oak trees lining the streets with big old homes in different stages of repair. Some are completely restored with amazing gardens, some are a work in progress, while others are just starting to get restored. But they are all great old homes. So many different shapes and sizes, no two alike. It is great just to walk the dogs around the block on a warm summer evening listening to the winds rustle the leaves high in the trees.

The Mount Washington Tavern was a great place to get a drink or eat. The garden room and the sky bar are places to see! The community is very artsy, some may say very liberal minded, but it is eclectic in a great way. We visited the Falls Park and walked the dogs, even got to let them swim off-leash for a bit. They have great trails to hike and the people seemed so nice.

A quick thanks goes out to my poltergeist for the shoes…keep em coming 🙂

We took a day to go to Fell’s Point in Baltimore with Glenda, Amy and Nanny to just stroll around. I got to see where they filmed a lot of the TV show “Homicide”. I was dying to find one shoe by the police building on the set but did not. However I did find up floating in the harbor nearby, Just hope there was not a body attached to it. The day was great, the sun was out and people were bustling everywhere. We ate some Bertha’s Mussels, and they had a great beer there as well. Oliver’s Darkness, a really good black ale. Also the Gelato around Fell’s Point is great, just steer clear of the spicy chocolate, not a good combo 🙁 It was so nice to spend time with family

That night we met up with Sharon’s best friend Vicky and her husband Scott for dinner at DuClaw.It was a brewpub of course, but the beers were average, nothing I personally cared for, but I like malty beers, not hoppy ones. The wheat beers were subpar in my opinion as well. However, the crab pretzels were the BOMB!

NOTE: Do NOT go to Arundel Mills Mall on a saturday night for dinner!

As some of you may remember from a previous blog (October at Styx River)Sharon found a sister she had never met, Elise, through the website MySpace. It was pretty emotional and something that I’ll never forget.

This past week her other sister Rachael was turning the big four-oh and as a present Sharon arranged for their little sister Elise to meet up with us to surprise her at Ocean City. It was a neat moment when they all met up. I think Elise may have been a little overwhelmed. Sharon was so excited. We got to hang out with her and her boyfriend Motts and their adorable energetic son Jake. Elise was cute as a button. Motts was a fun and very personable guy, easy to chat with. It was really nice, but too short. I wish we could have hung out longer and I know Sharon did also. We had so much going on that day and we figured we were going to see them the next day so we let them enjoy their day at the beach.

Unfortunately things never worked out to allow us to see them again 🙁 It was such a busy weekend for everyone. We had hoped to maybe visit them at their house, but we encountered some drama and other problems so we did not have time. We are planning on doing a Xmas visit to them so we can bring gifts to our nephew!