New Beginnings

 In the fall of 2020 we wanted to get a way for a few days, but with the nonsense that came with covid19, flying was simply not an option we were interested in at that time. We talked about several destinations that we had on our list of places to visit and decided we were going to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota and it was going to be a road trip.  I didn't want to put the 2300 miles or so on Carol Ann's car so I redeemed some frequent flyer miles and rented an Infintiy Q80. It was a nice comfortable vehicle and bigger than her Grand Cherokee for the long drive. We head out early on the last day of October with plans to arrive the following day mid afternoon. We stop in Salina Kansas for lunch in a cute little 1950s styled cafe for their specialty which was obviously burgers and fries. When we leave Salina we make good time as we drive across the mid west. As we are coming into Grand Island Nebraska which is almost 600 miles from home, I see a large truck stop just off the highw...

We have taken a couple of trips to Branson, one with my son Brad and his wife Nichole and my Auntie Lanna. A few years later we decided to take another another trip, this time we meet my brother Danny and his wife Melissa for a few days. Again we had a good trip and a fun time while we were there and made lots of family memories. In 2017 we drove to Missouri with Brad and Nichole to meet Lanna and do some serious zip lining while we were there. We found a place just off the highway a little north of Branson so we pulled in to see what the opportunities were at this outfitter. We found an option where they caravan us up the mountain and zip line down through a series of connecting stations and this sounded more fun than just a single long ride. I think there were 9 stations. Lanna is terribly afraid of heights and it took a lot of courage for her to strap on that body harness and trust it to get her safely to the next landing spot. I have zip lined on several occasions so while I was en...

The year was 1978, I was 20 years old, I was the assistant manager at the Gainesville Firestone store,  and had the best car I ever owned, a 1970 Pontiac LeMans. I bought it the year before in the summer of 1977. It was originally sold at Brown Pontiac in Gainesville so it was a local car, I was the second owner and paid $850 for it. It was completely stock with a 350 engine, automatic transmission, 2 bbl carburetor and single exhaust, but it registered 140 mph on the speedometer, though I hadn't tested that, yet. I wish I would have never sold it but I was young and dumb and I did. I cannot believe I do not have a good picture of it but I have searched all my photo albums and this is the only one I could find. This picture was taken in April 1983. I was 25 years old and apparently forgot my shirt as I was putting together a swing set for my 3 year old son. A guy I worked with a few years earlier was going to paint it for me and we got the got the hood sanded and primed. That job e...

 After the awesome adventure trip up Mt. Whitney, Carol asked me what I was going to do next, I hadn't even thought about what may be next. I think on it for a few weeks and decide the only thing that could top that trip would be to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro Africa. After all it is 5000' higher in altitude, I already have a lot of the gear I would need and seems to be the logical next choice. I begin to research and tell her what I am thinking. Her only response was "I want to do whatever you want, but feel really uneasy about you being in that part of the world due to the civil unrest there right now". I wanted to honor her feelings about this and told her she was right. My thinking was too narrow, I was considering only mountain hiking adventures. A few months later Jacob says "Dad let's go see The Lord of the Rings last movie The Return of the King". The theatre was packed and I said that we should let the crowd get out, so we sat and listen to the sound...