Home for some Turkey

This adventure began like many do, in an airport. Not so much the departing airport but the arriving one. Tiffanie and I were flying into Grand Rapids on different carriers from different cities yet we were arriving within 3 minutes of each other. Tiffanie at the A terminal and me at the B terminal, So we met my parents who were there to pick us up in the middle.

After introductions we were off to see grandma.

Taking fun photos at the Fredrich Meijer Gardens

Where do you find a wreath that gigantic

Is the bear smiling because he's happy to see us or because he sees his next meal?





Desert Flowers

Riding the Merry-Go-Round at the Grand Rapids Public Museum

For those of us lucky enough to have seen some of Tiffanie's photos, most have wondered how she does it. Well here is a little insight as to how she captures some of those awe inspiring shots.

First step is to find you subject. Make sure the lighting is right.


Get right up close. Select your focal point.

Then laugh at the goofball your hiking with as he just points and shoots.

For those of you who haven't been lucky enough to see her work yet check out the link to her site at the top right of mine under Field Days

Tristen the Explorer and I

My cousin Tristen, Little sister Marya and I

Towards the end of our stay in Michigan we got about 2in of snow. Sadie talked Tiffanie and I get out and enjoying this snow for a few hours

The Most Beautiful Woman

Hiking the short trail from the parking lot we came to the beautiful Young's River Falls. As Baylee investigated the area for things that may be food, we picked our way over to the rocks. Finding a nice perch we sat a while and watched the small fish jump at the base of the fall.
As I had only know this wonderful woman a short time I could only speculate as to what was going on behind those deep blue eyes of hers.

What ever it was, I knew no I wanted to share more moments like this with her!

How to make squirrel soup

The first and hardest part is to get the little bastard in the pot

Then Add your veggies and cook 'till tender

The Beginning of the End and Start of a Beginning

One early July morning I loaded my Harley onto a south bound ferry out of Kodiak. Shortly there after I help my friend Chad load my truck loaded with our dogs and camping gear. This would be a five day trip on the ferry then up to nine on the road, and the start of a new adventure in life. And it was as close to a vacation as I had been afforded in a long while.

Five days of pulling in and out of sleepy little coastal Alaskan towns, catchin up on the latest in Hollywood garbage is just what I needed.

On our last leg of the trip we pulled into Ketchikan and drove to the end of the road to hike up one of the mountain trails. Along the way we crossed a few glaciers.

Seen here are two intrepid explorers trying to figure out why their human counter parts are blindly descending into a glacial cave. In the back ground is one of clearest and coldest mountain lakes in Alaska

Loaded back on the ferry we were off for Prince Rupert, BC, Canada. The short one day hop was just long enough to finish packing my saddle bags, double checkin my ride, and get some sleep before the long haul to Jasper. Stopping in Jasper NP long enough to rest and realize it was more of a tourist trap than Jellystone we headed south on Canada Route 93 also know as the Icefields Highway.

This was an awesome ride. Slowly climbing into the Columbia IceFields the mountains just growing larger all the time. Stopping for a late lunch we also decided to take the last tour to the heart of the ice fields that day. An interesting ride to put it mildly, you load up on a standard bus to take a sort ride to the tour loading station, where we jump on to these behemoth tour buses that could have been the parents to any monster truck. There are only 28 rigs like these in the world, 27 here in the Columbia Icefields and one in Antarctica.

In case your wondering Yes I asked, and No they wouldn't let me drive. First you have to have a Canadian commercial passenger licence, then get hired by Brewster Tours Inc. Then start your 3 month training on how to handle such a beast on ice. Oh did I mention this tour starts by riding that beast down the steepest passenger grade in continent, a mere 16% grade on ICE!

Finishing Dinner we continued south to Banff, Canada.

As we had plenty of time to knock out the rest of out trip, we chose to stay here for two days and hike some of the trails it had to offer. The first was down into a canyon that had some spectacular water falls.

After we returned to town and had a great meal at a great German restaurant then hit some shops in search of great deals on gear. Once the food settled we hiked up a switch back trail to the top on the mountain to the south of town

As you can see here hiking up was not your only option.

The ride up took 28mins and the hike took a bit more

Birds eye view of Banff

A local family enjoying a picnic lunch atop the mountain


So as in all great trips we saw plenty of wild life. Most at close range. We saw everything, beavers, moose, elk, brown bear, black bear, deer, whales (while on the boat), mountain goats, eagles and big horn sheep.

Shots from the Handle Bar Camera!

Are we there yet?

Welcome to our new home! You just got to love the west coast's sunny beaches

Updates and Additions to "Hikin the Ozarks"

Hello all,

Just note to all that my post "Hikin the Ozarks" has some new additions.