Author: Randy

It has been quite a while since we had taken a road trip, well in our terms 🙂 It felt to get back out on the road, but it was no in the CruiseMaster as we are weighing some heavy issues about how “green” the big RV is. And also to put it bluntly, we cannot afford to drive it 🙁 But that will be an issue for another blog.

After spending a great week with Sharon’s Nanny, visiting thrift stores, yard sales and eating a lot of food, it was time to give her a life down south to visit Rachie, Donny, Cookie and Scooter. Plus I had offered to donate a painting for a charity auction benefiting one of the servers from Deans South of the Border where Rachie works, Rena Darva.

The Charlotte Sun, May 16, 2008:
”Beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dean’s South of the Border will hold a benefit for the 35-year-old single mother of two who is fighting liposarcoma, a cancer of the soft tissue. Dalva began working at Dean’s a year ago, when the cancer was in remission. She has recently had a total of five surgeries — three to remove a portion of her lung where the cancer has recently spread — and she is still undergoing chemotherapy treatments.”

My painting was of underwater manatees as seen from above water, much like my dolphins I have been painting. It ended up going for $180, not bad as I was worried it may not sell at all in the down-troden economy of Charlotte County, and overall lack of art appreciation. It was bought by friends of Donnie and Rachie, and they really loved it. So I was thrilled to have it sell to them! If you read this blog THANK YOU AGAIN FOR HELPING ME HELP RENA!!

The auction went over so well, I believe they raised $6,000 or more in proceeds. And one other big gift was given to the cause by my great friend and buddy Scooter Ahrens. He is donating the proceeds of a raffle that is for one of his Tribal 14 fishing skiffs (a fish and skip to some). “Chop and bounce, Chop and bounce, Chop and bounce,…sorry inside joke 🙂 All he is asking for is the cost to cover building the boat which is around $4000 he believes. For more information on this cause visit his website at http://www.tribalboatworks.com .

Another reason for the trip was the baby shower. Rachie and Cookie were dying to see Sharon pregnant and to throw her a shower. They did a great job. The decorations looked great (I helped put them up:) The food was awesome and since it was a coed shower with beer it was kinda fun. We got many great gifts. One of the most thoughtful was the handmade Noah’s Ark print fitted crib sheet and mobile given to us by Kelly. Rachie and Cookie found so many cool Noah’s Ark stuff as well! I know I sound like a broken record but…we are so blessed for so many good friends in our life. Thank you all. And thanks for the boat Scooter 🙂

Well the trip is over, but it was a little bit of adventure which I had be so hankering for!! I discovered several lost shoes as well, even one I remembered from last time down there and did not photograph then. It was tough though when we pulled into a rest area and there was motorhome parked there, with car in tow. A coupel got out to walk their dogs. It all made me really sad. I miss those days on the road. Something about the call of the road. I loved those days and will NEVER forget them. Someday we will do it again, as a little family this time. Me, Sharon, Jack, Jinjer and little Noah 🙂

As I spoke of in an earlier blog, I have been building furniture. My first project was to create a platform bed with wicker storage baskets underneath. Much like the beds that go for over $1000 at Pottery Barn. I drew out my plans for almost a week, changing them here and there as I figured out better solutions. I finally just dove in and starting cutting and assembling. I was very happy with what I built and surprised Sharon quite a bit with my carpentry skills. So to follow that project up I decided to build our fishtank stand and hood.

The project went really well, with only a minor glitch in the staining process, but we got that worked out. We are now blessed with a big beautiful fish tank as the centerpiece for our tiny living room. Now I have the bug to build more. I am going to use this section of my blog to update all the furniture I create. And if anyone sees something I build that they would perhaps like in their home, I would be happy to build one for you at a reasonable price of course 🙂 🙂 🙂

Sharon and I have now begun what people refer to as nesting. We have begun filling our new little home with “stuff”. The very “stuff” we lost over 3 years ago. And what better and economical way to do it than to by buying “gently-used” stuff. After all it is a way or recycling instead of filling land fills more.

It has been a really nice way of spending quality time together for the family. We got into the routine of me waking up every saturday morning early and mapping out our attack route for the sales, usually in East Hill of Pensacola, sometimes Gulf Breeze. We then head out in search of treasures with the puggles coming along for the ride because after we are finished searching for stuff we go to the dog park to let them run around and get energy out so we can go out to the beach without worrying that they will get into something.

In the course of our bargain hunting, we have gotten a crib, rug, lamps, books, coolers, chairs, vases, glasses, curtains, and best of all for me…tools!

I have gotten the best deals on a sander, a saw, a weed eater, hedge clippers and more. Thanks to these tools my yard is looking great and I have been able to build some nice furniture. But we are not done yet, I am sure there are lots of stuff out there we need, just dont know it yet 🙂

Well, since we are up there in child bearing years, our pregnancy has been labeled a “high-risk pregnancy”, meaning we had to see a high-risk specialist, Dr. Mayer. We received a thorough ultrasound to calculate Noah’s size and assess his progress. We found out he has no noticeable defects, he has all his fingers and toes. The only thing that concerned the doctor was his size. Noah is a little small for his age but still within normal parameters so it is just something to keep an eye on but not freak out over 🙂 We were told to just try and have Sharon drink more water to help thin blood and increase blood flow to him to get more nutrition. So I have purchased an adult sippy cup for Sharon and I am trying to drown her she thinks.

We posted a couple more ultrasound pics that were taken in case anyone is curious to see him. For now all we can do is let him sit in there and bake. But I am sure it will seem like time is standing still, yet going so fast, if you know what I mean.

On another note, I set up the One Shoe Diaries exhibition this weekend for another gallery night in Pensacola and actually sold a print of one of my favorite shoes, #79!

Well we got rid of the Jeep in exchange for a mini van. Many of my friends are getting a kick out of me getting a minivan. But it wasnt that long ago that I had a Toyota minivan that i just loved. It was when I lived in West Virginia.

Originally bought when i still resided in Cincinnati, but the legend of the van really took life in Charleston, West Virginia. The van was perfect for me, I could keep all of my camping and fishing gear in there and load in my bike, still leaving room for the middle seat to fold back to create a nice bed for me to sleep on. It was an outdoors person dream.

I took that thing in so many places and also got it stuck several times. I remember one time at Babcock State Park when I drove it down a long and steep rocky hill road to get to a great fishing spot I had been told about by a local. I was so impressed by the van for making it down, I really was worried it would get stuck. Little did I know I was on a dead end road and would have to retrace that route to get home. I did not think there was going to be any way back up it. I started out going slow but the van did not have the power for it. So I had to get a running start and just attack the hill. What seemed like small rocks when going downhill earlier, felt like boulders going up! I was bouncing everywhere, things shook and rattled in the van. I was just hoping it would hold together. Rocks flew up and hit the bottom of the van with thuds. My gear flew everywhere. But somehow the van stayed together and rambled its way up the hill like a champ!

There were many more great van adventures and stories (ask me about Mark and surfing on the van. I loved that little van. It ended up catching on fire one night in the garage. I awoke to see smoke filling my townhouse and immediately started taking all my valuables out of the townhouse and putting them into the van, only to notice that the smoke was coming from it!! I used the extinguisher to put it out. Apparently transmission fluid leaked onto the alternator which was still hot from driving and started smoking, not sure if there were ever flames but it did smoke A LOT! After that I decided it was time for a new vehicle.

I ended up giving the title over to a waiter as a tip at a restaurant we visited often. He fixed it up and it ran just fine. I was always sad seeing someone else driving her around town. I loved that van, but I fell in love with my new Jeep Cherokee pretty quickly also.

And it has now come full circle back to a minivan. A Dodge Grand Caravan. I wonder what adventures it will hold for us. I am sure there will be some, there is always adventure somehow for me 🙂

Caravan Update: While the exterior and interior of the Van is in great shape. I cannot say that much for the engine 🙁 First we replaced the exhaust manifold, the catalytic converter and oxygen sensor. While it did sound 100% better it did not run any better. So we ended up replacing the CMP and CKP sensors, replaced the timing belt, cam key, and spark plugs…nothing. On to clean out the fuel injectors, still nothing changed. We are currently in limbo now awaiting more tests and attempts to find the problem. $900 so far and still hoping to find the issue and get it fixed. This is kinda par for the course for us, but it is getting old. We need a working vehicle soon 🙁 🙁 🙁 And when it rains it pours! The flywheel is now broken and will cost $400 to fix. Unbelievable 🙁 HAPPY UPDATE! The van is running!!! And running like a champ, just gotta get the A/C working now, and new tires and shocks!! *LMAO*

Lately it seems like there has been a lot to be down about, and most recently I have been down about the world losing a great animal. A warrior in his own right. A good soul…BoDog.

BoDog was Scooter’s, one of my best friend’s dog. But I do not like the term dog for him, he was a friend…a best friend to Scooter. If we could make a dog an honorary gang member (story for another time), BoDog would for sure be in. Actually I would like to formally make a motion to allow BoDog as a full fledged gang member. All in favor say I!! Motion Granted!

I get choked up thinking about him and the connection Scooter and him shared. It was a kinship that transcended species and now time. BoDog was a great soul. They bonded on such a level few people can understand unless you saw them together. One that comes along only once in a while, perhaps once in a lifetime for some. But even though the time was short, it is well worth the while. Scooter gave him the best life any creature could ask for. He was king.

Since I love to tell a story, let me indulge for a minute with one about BoDog and Scooter. Some years back BoDog had been hunting squirrels in the back yard to no avail. But he was persistent. Eventually he did catch and kill one. Scooter celebrated with him in Tribal fashion, both so excited to get a kill. And to memorialize this event Scooter put the squirrel in the freezer with the intention to go get it stuffed that week. Well it sat in that freezer for a couple of years until Hurricane Charlie rendered the area without power for a couple weeks and the squirrel thawed and he was forced to throw it out. I do not believe Bo got any more squirrel kills, but was a terror to lizards. He hunted and killed hundreds. I am sure he was a dark legend in the lizard world. He even got his final kill on his final day on this earth. He had not hunted like that for almost a year but for some reason felt he needed one last kill as if he knew what that day was to be 🙁

This is a very hard and emotional blog for me to write. BoDog touched many people’s lives, there was just something about him. Something good and pure. Something that I wish were more present in human’s spirits. Sharon and I loved him.

So I want to dedicate this portion of my electronic world to him. There are a lot of people who will miss you and never forget you. You were a one of a kind soul. Goodbye BoDog. And these quotes sum it up.

“If there are no dogs in heaven, then it is no place I want to be. I want to go where they are”
– Will Rogers

” He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. 
You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.”
– Unknown Author

Well I now have respect for those people that blog without travel and exploration as their source of material. I am now finding that mowing the lawn, sweeping the floors, cleaning dishes, doing taxes and running to the grocery store are tough subjects to write about. I am finding it hard to find material by which to be inspired to write about. Although maybe with a baby on the way I will have stuff to write again, but will I have the time or the energy to do it, that will be the big question.

But even in my mundane, ordinary existence there are a few things to write about. We have “turned in” our Jeep Liberty and purchased a mini-van. Which i hear is perfect for unloading and loading a stroller and car seat. Scary stuff there. It is a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan, that has perfect interior and a pretty good exterior on it. It does however come with 184,000 miles! And needs an exhaust manifold and catalytic converter totally $400. This is not bad considering our purchase price of only $1300. We will keep an update on the total amount sunk into it 🙂 That should be fun and interesting right? Oh boy!

— Update: As of May 10th, 2008 we have had to replace the fuel pump, fuel filter, distributor, engine computer, timing belt, cam key, a tension pulley, relays, CMP sensor, CPK sensor, fan and many more little parts here and there, the grand total now spent on the van is at $2800, and sure to rise more as we need the air fixed —-

I have to admit it has been nice being able to get back into tennis and volleyball again. It was really hard to do while on the road. The big semi annual Fudpucker’s tournament in Fort Walton Beach was this past weekend which I have not participated in since Hurrican Ivan in 2004. Just in Men’s A division alone there were 40+ teams!! It is a huge draw for people all around the midwest. They make a whole vacation of it and you see a lot of the same people down from Ohio, Michigan, Illinois to name a few. The tournament events run from tuesday until sunday with numerous parties in between. It really is fun and a must-attend event for any volleyball player within driving distance.

I played with my long time friends Mocha and Catfish along with our fourth, a new young buck, Matt. Our first day of pool play could not have went worse unless we lost all the games instead of pulling out the one lone win to stave off the donut. But day 2 held better fortunes for us. The only thing that

stopped us in the semi finals was 3 bad calls by our referee. And I mean bad. We were livid. There may have even been a few curse words being thrown arounnd. But in the big picture no one really rememebers the wins, we remember the stories that inevitably come from the night before’s parties. I will not be divulgiing those here as what happens at Fud’s stays at Fud’s, right Matt? 😉

There was my attempt to keep on blogging to keep momentum going. We are currentlyt planning a trip down south in the new van. There may be some blogging potential there. I hope so as I am dying to hit the road again!!!!

I recently saw the movie “Into the Wild” and it really struck a chord in me. So many things that the character Chris McCandless experienced reminded me of what we discovered in our journeys on the road in the motor home. We too feel like we connected and got to touch others lives, we made some very lasting impressions and many people did the same on us.

There is something about wondering around without much of a destination. It allows you to stumble upon the unexpected. You become open to whims which lead to real live altering experiences. When you are off course you really find out who you are and what you want.

Also noticing he spent a lot of time in the desert, it caused me to recall something a desert local had told us in Las Cruces, New Mexico…
“Here in the desert, most people are running from something, it may be a place, it may be a person, or it could be just the voices in ther own head, but make no mistake, they are running from something”

Another desert native shared with us their theory on why they seem a little off…
“Think about it, we live in 100+ degree heat most of our lives, that kind of heat has to eventually take a toll on the brain, it just has to. I mean our bodies were meant to stay at 98.5º.”

I just really connected with this movie, there were some great quotes in it, and some great characters. Much like in our trek. We are always amazed at all the people we met and really bonded with.

The quote that rang closest to me was the “Happiness is only real when shared”. This is something I have pretty always said. I told my friend Kevin one time that if I experience something wonderful, what good is it if there is noone there to share it with, I might as well have just dreamed it. It is not real.” Sharon asks me sometime why i always want someone to mountain bike or other things with and I tell her the same thing.

Sometimes I really miss those travels. I do miss the adventure 🙁 But we are still young, there are plenty left for us and little Noah I am sure. I can only pray he will have the same adventurous spirit I have, and then again. But I remember the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for, it just might come true”

This past weekend was University of West Florida’s Festival on the Green. And we participated in it with a booth for our One Shoe Diaries stuff. The first day was alright, it threatened to rain all day but it held off. I met many wonderful people. Names escape me, I apologize. The nice woman on my left with her hand made purses and other items, including a cool onesie, never thought I would know what a onesie is 🙂 She also had the most well behaved adorable little girl. And most admirable was the fact she was adopting a four year old boy from Africa into her family.
 
Others were the girls selling wind chimes, who bless their hearts had a rough inaugural festival experience. The people selling the soap with the boy who hated to hear “Fire in the Hole!” (explanation to come) A woman selling jellies and jams who makes a darn good peach salsa I hear, the tye-dye girls, the jewelry lady and last but not least the necklace girl on my right. Who I found out through the course of the day was a premie that was born weighing only a pound and a half. Amazing how tough a small baby can be.
 
Since Sharon could not be with me on friday I was on my own and had taken the puggles with me. They were great, I was impressed how well-behaved they can be in those situations. Although Jinny did get a little scared of the gunfire. A military history display a few booths away was complete with rifles and cannons which they repeatedly fired blanks from scaring the crap out of everyone. But sometimes they did give the now infamous yell “Fire in the Hole” before blasting off a round, but sometimes they forgot the warning. This was the first year they fired weapons and hopefully the last.
 
The next day Sharon and I woke up to huge thunderstorms rolling through. We tried to make a go of it and set up. We toughed it out for a bit. I thought for sure it was going to clear up. But it never did, so we packed back up and headed home. But not before hearing some really great news. Come to find out the night before they had an awards ceremony that we did not attend and we had won 1st Place in the best arts and crafts vendor category!! Even thought we did not sell a thing we still made our money back, and as most of you know, we need every penny we can get 🙂

Lately the One Shoe Diaries has really gotten attention. From media outlets to people’s personal blogs. The CNN segment featuring it even replayed this weekend! I just found a site this morning where a creative writing resources page posted this:

Creative Writing Assignment- Excellent to use an opening or closing activity!
“One Shoe Diary”

Visit: www.oneshoediaries.com .
Click on the CNN Headline News link: “News to Me” and view the brief video segment relating to the photography project.

After viewing the video, students will use their laptops to search the website. Students will select a shoe from the photo gallery. Based on the photograph, students will compose a creative story. Using Pages, students can easily drag the photographs from the website and drop the image onto a template.

It blew me away. I cannot believe that my little project born out of boredom on the highway has spawned into this. But for me it gets better with these stories that were shared with me as a result of being on CNN…

I live in El Paso, Texas and I was watching CNN when I saw the piece about the one shoe, so I went to the website.  Sad to say I have never been to any of the places that were featured in blog.  I have always wanted to go to White Sands and explore.  It made me realize after looking at your pictures that I need to take my kids and experience the sands.  So with that said, we are loading up today and heading that way.  Thanks for the beatiful pictures and inspiring to get off the couch and just GO

and this one which really touched me the most out of any so far…

“The Third World Shoe Tree”
My Daughter ( Joni) and I went to Roatan Honduras,  in 2002, She Started to notice all the lost flip flops on the beach, so she hung them on a tree by the ocean. Thinking someone would claim them. The island children thought it was so  neat, they all began to add to the tree. And spent many hours contributing to it.   It’s a very poor country, so every once in awhile they would find two similar shoes that might would fit. Even if they didn’t match. And would wear them home proudly. She keep this up for the entire time we were there. Thirty three days. After we returned home, my daughter was killed in a horrendous murder. Which to this day has remained unresolved. She was only forty two. I just wanted to thank you for helping a heart broken Mother remember happier times, by viewing your web site. Joni would have thought it was the neatest thing for someone to do..she too was a free spirit. And saw life as you see it through such artistic eyes! A mom, who’s heart is touched by your insight.

It was so hard to find the words to reply to this mother. I am so honored she shared her story with me, while making me sad and angry. It also has an uplifting spirit to it, which is what seems to carry on with me now. And now through me she has insured her daughters legacy be known and live on as I will always remember and retell her story.

This project has taken on such a life of its own now. So many people are touched and connected by these lost soles out there, I did not imagine the response we have gotten. Someone asked us the other day if we were making a fortune of the idea. I paused for a second… it depends on what you call wealth. If it is money and objects? Then no, i am not making a fortune by any means. If it is connecting with people and sharing life experiences that enrich our lives, then by all means YES! We have gained an immense wealth from this project. My wife and I gained a bond that will carry us with love and respect for each other the rest of our lives, we have been blessed with a son, who through our wisdom and experience gained will be raised to be a good soul. We are wealthy in ways money cannot buy.