The 10 State Summer Tour

The Summer of George?  Quite the opposite Jerry.

I was fortunate enough to have a great summer.  I got to see many friends, relatives and ended up visiting 10 states: Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Washington and California(but not Fresno, next time).  Noticeably absent, Michigan, as I didn't make it back this year. And I certainly won't go back in the Winter, I moved to Arizona for a reason, so lets shoot for next summer Michiganders.  I also didn't visit Portland, no explanation needed for that.  Along the way I heard from many people clamoring for my next blog, wondering why it's been so long and literally begging for me to post something.  Anything.  Okay, it was two people and they didn't really do anything but mention it, but let me revel in the thought of anyone actually being interested enough to read my blog and hoping for new content.  But it was a great summer, so join me as I recap my journey and maybe you'll laugh along, cry, swear, yell, scream, smile, share in the memories, or just shrug your shoulders.  At any rate, if I saw you, talked to you, or in some cases even thought of you this summer, you're bound to be mentioned in one way shape or form(good luck to you) and get ready to waste a good 15 minutes of your life on the super-mega-summer-blog of 2015 complete with Easter eggs for everyone!

Studenka Brothers in Park City cooling down in front of the Mine shaft.

The best Mexican food ever and its in Salt Lake City, who knew?

I had a few options of places to go this summer and I ended up deciding to make a massive road trip to get it started.  First stop, Salt Lake City to see my brother Jeff and sister-in-law Rebecca.  My favorite sister-in-law, by they way, and not just because she's my only one, I've had others.  As I've mentioned before, I loved living in Salt Lake.  Even though I was only there a few years, the moderate weather, distinct beauty and friendly nature, made for a great experience.  It was a solid 10 hour drive from Phoenix and I passed through Las Vegas, but I have nothing (results-wise) to report about that. We were in the middle of our hot Phoenix summer so I was hopeful for some weather relief heading to the Salt Lake Valley but it was in the 100's while I was there, so no luck.  However, more importantly, Jeff and I had lunch at the Red Iguana in downtown Salt Lake; a hole in the wall joint that's been there forever and still has lines down the block every day.  Not known for it's décor or cleanliness, necessarily, they still serve phenomenal Mexican food and are certainly known as the best in Utah and they could lay claim beyond that as well.  We visited Park City, one of my favorite places in the world as it's such a beautiful mountain town, sitting at 7K+ feet. I'm sure I couldn't handle the winters, but the rest of the year, Park City is tough to beat.  I visited my old office and the campus at the University of Utah and then I had the chance to do one of my favorite things ever, hike up Mt. Timpanogos and go through the cave.

High atop Timpanogos looking over Provo.

You enter from the right of the diagram and proceed left.  You are literally inside a mountain.

The hike up Mt. Timpanogos is extreme elevation but it's made for tourists so it's not that bad.  However, it was 107 degrees that day and no matter what shape you are in, climbing up the 1.5 miles to the cave entrance is a workout.  But then you are led through the cave by a ranger where you see tons of stalactites and stalagmites, ponds, waterfalls, incredible rock formations and at one point complete darkness.  Led by a Ranger there is a lighted path but at one point they turn out the lights altogether and you are in complete darkness where your eyes will never adjust and you cannot see your hand in front of your face.  It's a weird feeling.  The tour takes about 45 minutes to an hour and you cool down from the hike up as it's only around 40 degrees inside the mountain.  You then come out the other side of Timpanogos and hike back down.  I did this many times when I lived in Utah and on most visits back.  I'm sure there are other similar caves across the country, but it would be hard to top this one for me.  It all made for another great trip to SLC.  Thank you Jeff and Rebecca for a great time once again.





Looking over Campus and Missoula, you can't miss The Block M.

After a fun few days in Utah, I then headed north to Idaho to visit my Phoenix friends, Doug and Kristin, at their summer lake house.  Along the way up to northern Idaho I stopped in Missoula, Montana and spent some time at the real UofM, the University of Montana.  When I was a teenager I had the good fortune of taking a few trips to Montana and Wyoming to fish and visit Yellowstone National Park.  At that time I became intrigued with Montana and considered going to college there, but alas I stayed in state.  However, Montana has a beautiful campus, nestled in the mountains, and is everything you'd think Montana would be from an outdoors perspective.  One of the landmarks of the University in the Block M that is high on Mount Sentinel overlooking campus and the town.  There is a trail that leads up to it and I had always wanted to make the climb.  So after driving from Salt Lake for 6 hours, I got out of the car and being in need of some exercise I proceeded to run up the trail to the Block M.  Not a great idea as it was very steep and difficult to run.  But I did it and the views were spectacular.  Most Colleges have their own unique landmarks and/or traditions and I was happy to have done this one. After running back down, much easier, I was sweating like a pig and hungry so on advice from Doug and former  UofM Grizzly Sean D., I went to the Missoula Club downtown for lunch.  I was told they serve the best burger you'll ever get and I have to say, its in the mix for sure, but more importantly this is an iconic bar that would be an awesome place to watch football and even more importantly hang out and celebrate after a Grizzly victory on as Saturday night.  Clearly they are the best UofM in the United States.  Suck it scUM.

When in Missoula, if you're lucky you'll get a seat at the M Club.  Go Grizz!

From Missoula, I then drove the last 3 hours into Idaho just north of Coeur d'Alene up to Lake Pend Oreille.  I've pretty much driven across every part of the United States in my life and I'll put the stretch from Missoula to CDA up against anything.  Just beautiful country and a great way to spend time in my Jeep with the top down, music blaring and incredible scenery.  Much of Idaho and Montana reminded me of Northern Michigan and Traverse City, my one-time hometown, and it was a great ride.  I'd never been to Cour d'Alene before and when when I told my Uncle Al that I was heading up there, we had the following exchange:



Me:  So I'm heading up to Couer d'Alene next week.
Uncle Al:  I always loved Couer d'Alene, thought it would be a good place to retire.
Me:  I didn't know you'd been there before, when was the last time?
Uncle Al:  1947.
Me:  Ummm, I think it might have changed since then, but I'll let you know.



Turns out that even though it may have grown in population since 1947, the scenic beauty is still the same as it was years ago.  It is a beautiful part of the United States, at least in the summer time.  Upon arriving in Bayview at Doug and Kristin's, it was a sizzling 99 degrees, so again no relief, but that didn't stop Doug and I from getting in a good run around part of the lake.  It was tough, but after being in the car all day, it was welcomed.

Lake Pend Oreille, just a snapshot of this monstrous lake. Awesome is the only way to describe it.

Bayview is a tiny hamlet of a town, as it sits on the South end of Lake Pend Oreille, one of the greatest inland lakes I've ever seen.  Having grown up in Michigan, I am certainly familiar with lakes and waterways but LPO is unlike anything else.  It is extremely deep, well over 1000' in spots and 400' feet at the shore, so it's definitely a boaters lake, and it stretches nearly 40 miles long and is mostly surrounded by state land, so for much of it there are no homes or cottages or people.  In many ways because of its massive nature, when out on the boat, its as though you have the whole thing to yourself.  Definitely not like Houghton Lake where skiing becomes a slalom test.  I had a great time with Doug and Kristin and then Sean D. and his family came over as well and we all boated all the way up to the North end to Sandpoint, Idaho, parked and walked around town, very similar to Traverse City, and then boated down to Beyond Hope to have dinner on the lake.  We went swimming, partied, relaxed and even took in a pure slice of Americana with the Bayview 4th of July Parade.  Small town America at its finest.  It was a great trip and then I took the long drive back home to Arizona.  Once again through Las Vegas, and once again, nothing (positive) to report.  However, football season is coming quick, if you know me, you know what that means.

From the deck of Beyond Hope.  Hard to not Love Life on a day like this.

After Idaho, I then had the chance to visit 3 states at once as I took a trip to Louisville, where I stayed across the river in Indiana and then drove through Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee to see Train in concert.  They put on a great show and I had a fantastic weekend and I never imagined I would think that was even possible visiting Kentucky or Tennessee.  However to start off the weekend, I did a run starting in Indiana, crossing the bridge into Kentucky and then back, so I ran in 2 states on one run.  Pretty cool until I realized I had lost my wallet.  Not cool.  After backtracking and not finding it, I canceled my credit cards and such and hoped nothing terrible would come of it.  Getting back on an airplane without a drivers license or any ID was not so simple.  To make it short, I basically had a prostate exam while they went through my bag before they thankfully let me on.  Hence, I don't recommend traveling without ID.  However when I got back home to Scottsdale, in the mail was a letter from a man named Harold in Indiana and he had my wallet.  I called him to describe it and he mailed it back, cash and all!  Just going to prove that there are good people in the world.  Although if I had lost it in Louisville, I'm not so sure I'd have gotten it back, but that's just my cynical nature.  Despite everything, it was a great trip overall and most importantly: Thank You Harold!

The note from Harold.  Thank you sir and feel free to visit me in AZ anytime!

Back in Arizona, I went to see Rush with my friend Dan P., who is an avid Rush fan.  If you are not familiar with Rush, well, you must not be familiar with music in general as they've been around forever.  This was their 40th year as a band and they put on a very long and fantastic show at the US Airways Arena in downtown Phoenix.  They still sound great, play great and know how to put on a show.  When they played Tom Sawyer, I thought the place might explode.

At the Rush concert with Dan.  I was not able to choose Freewill, but it was still fantastic!

Besides concerts, thanks to my friend Gregg, who is back from deployment in the Middle East, we spent a day on Lake Pleasant, which is just 20 miles north of Phoenix.  Gregg had rented a boat and a jet ski and with his kids and their friends, we spent a fantastic day out on the lake.  In Arizona!  It's not all desert out here.  This will surely displease Gregg, but I have to say Thank You once again for your service and for your willingness to go back to the Middle East to fight for our freedom.  He is far too modest, as he always states, "it was my mission, I just did what I had too", however, most people can't or won't and you do, as do thousands of other US soldiers and we should all be thankful for your sacrifice and service so that people like me could traipse around the United States all summer and basically do whatever we want, because soldiers like you will make the sacrifice for the rest of us. I promise I won't bring it up again, but Thank You!

Lake Pleasant in Arizona.  Strikingly similar to the picture of LPO in Idaho above.

After this, I headed back up to Idaho, although this time I flew, for Doug's birthday Party.  If you have read my blog, I had previously mentioned Doug's birthday last year, as he knows how to throw an epic bash.  So I was definitely looking forward to heading back up to LPO for another big party and this time Gregg joined in as well, as he was still on post-deployment down time.  Doug and Kristin were once again, as always, great hosts and many others made the trip to northern Idaho as well to join in the fun.  Doug had hired a local band, Three's a Crowd, and also flew in his favorite local(Phoenix) singer, Kristy Dee, to all perform at the Captain's Wheel in Bayview.  It was quite a weekend and the night of party was everything you might expect.  Again, if you read my previous blogs, last year at his birthday I sang with Kristy Dee, doing a Guns and Roses song.  Since she was going to be there this year, plans were being made for me to doing something again.  However unless you were there, it will remain a mystery.  Unless someone has footage on their camera that I am not allowing you to share.  And for anyone that was in the Captain's Wheel that night, if you happened to leave your camera laying around, now is the time to check for random photos/videos as it might be possible that a few cameras were briefly absconded and filled with some random shots.  Not that I know anything about it....One of the best parts of Bayview is that it is a lot like Mayberry, everyone knows each other and its relaxed and low key.  Gregg and I were staying at a cottage right on the Marina and each morning we walked over the Marina store, where the boaters come in to gas up and buy food and such, and we would get coffee and sit on the dock and watch the boats come in and out and just relax.  We got to the know the Owner of the Marina, Old Man McDonald, and one morning he asked us if we'd watch the store while he ran some errands.  Seriously.  We knew this guy all of 10 minutes and he left us in charge.  Very cool, but sadly not common in most places. Overall it was a fantastic weekend of more boating and swimming, partying and enjoying life.  If only work didn't get in the way of having such fun. Thank you Doug and Kristin for being such great friends, I look forward to seeing you back in the Valley this fall and to getting back to Idaho next summer!

On the boat with Gregg, Kristin and Doug in the middle of Lake Pend Oreille.

I'm now Assistant Manager at McDonald's Marina!

If you've never seen a unicorn, here's something even more rare. Happy Birthday Doug!

With all my travel and fun adventures this year, I was continually asked about my dating life.  Now if you read my blog, you know I almost never talk about this topic and when I do, I never mention any one's name.  I figure this is my blog, I can certainly say whatever I want about myself, but I would never put anyone else's name out there, unless they specifically said they were fine with it.  This is always such a fun topic, at least people think so.  I really have nothing to hide, but again, I try to be conscious of others and I guess I'm fairly private. But in being asked repeatedly, I really stopped to think about it.  I've dated a few woman this year and they have all been lovely people, or I would have never been interested in the first place or continued to go out with any of them.  I know I am very particular and maybe at times need to be a little more open.  However in reflecting back, I came to one realization, at least in my case; women are all nuts.  Now stay with me ladies, after thinking that and actually saying it out loud to someone when asked, I then realized, that even if that was true, there was one common denominator: Me.  So maybe I'm nuts, or at least horrible in my selection process.  Maybe horrible, is too strong a word, but certainly I am not doing a good job selecting the right people.  But don't expect my blog to ever talk much about my dating life. I like to keep it private in the blogosphere, after all I'm read in over 30 countries, including massive traction in the Ukraine(although that's likely based on the  Ukrainian model I dated in Seattle, she wasn't nuts, but, well......let's just move on) but feel free to ask me in person and you can judge the nuttiness for yourself.

I didn't date all of these women...I'm still single ladies!

Despite all the great things that transpired this summer, reality also hit as I lost my Aunt Carol to a very long battle with cancer.  My parents flew into to town, as did my cousin Matt, and we all drove over to California to see my Uncle Fred and cousins for the funeral.  These types of things are always very sobering and heartfelt.  Carol was probably the strongest person I've ever known as she battled various types of cancer for literally 15 years.  Most people would never have battled that hard.  She had a tremendous faith and when you're dealt a tough hand, it's often hard to understand why, but she never questioned it, just took it on and showed strength and courage to the rest of us.  As sad a time as it was, I'm glad she is no longer suffering and at the same time I got to see my Uncle Fred and my cousins and meet some of their spouses(for the first time) and we truly did celebrate her life.  God Bless you Carol!

Rest in Peace Carol!

I had one last summer adventure and that was climbing the highest peak in Arizona, Humphreys Peak. The San Francisco Mountains in Flagstaff, Arizona are as high a range as most of the Rockies and mountains elsewhere across the United States.  Humphreys Peak is well over 12K feet and it was a challenging hike.  The weather was not great that day at the base and as we got higher and higher, the winds picked up, some rain hit us and it got considerably colder, maybe in the 40's.  During the last stretch to the summit, the winds were easily 50-60 mph and at points you literally had to hold on to not get blown over.  But when you do reach the summit, it seems all worthwhile and it was except cloud cover made for limited views and pictures. On our way back down we got completely drenched by massive rains and then a hail storm swept through with pea-sized hail.  That may not seem that big, but let me tell you getting pelted by it repeatedly, was not pleasant.  Thankfully it happened on the way down and not up.  But it was another great adventure and I'd love to do it again in better weather.

About half way up Mt. Humprheys at the Saddle.  The ominous clouds were telling.

So the summer of 2015 ended up great overall and collectively it seems as though I did a lot and I suppose I did.  However, I didn't get to do everything I had hoped, like going back to Michigan or going to Yosemite as I had planned at one point, but I still had a tremendous summer and I hope you did as well.  There were ups and downs and mundane life and trying to run everyday in 110+ degrees heat.  But for now I am just grateful for my family and friends, new and old, and I look forward to what the rest of this year holds for me.  Who knows, take it as it comes and just try to embrace it I suppose.  Even if you are a little nuts like me. Now bring on the football season!

The wind was angry that day my friend...but ending my summer on top of a mountain seems fittingly perfect.
Fire Up!