THE GRAND CANYON

The Grand Canyon, From The South Rim
Same Shot, Different Lighting
More Grand Canyon
Into The Canyon
Looking All The Way Across
More Grand Canyon
The Canyon That Is Grand
Johnny B at The Grand Canyon
Johnny B
Johnny B Calling His Parents From The Grand Canyon
Rocky, As The UFO Was Beaming Him Up

We arrived at The Grand Canyon pretty late in the day so we took a quick look, snapped some pictures and decided to find a hotel. On the way out, we witnessed some guy getting out of his car to hand feed a coyote that had wandered into the road. Ironically, a sign that warned visitors not to feed the dangerous wildlife was posted right beside him. He got lucky. We checked in to a Holiday Inn Express. That was not a good decision. We paid for two nights and ended up checking out after the first night due to some pretty major plumbing problems. They even refunded our money for the first night. You'd think that Holiday Inn would put one of their best flagship hotels at The Grand Canyon but that was certainly wasn't the case.

DEATH VALLEY, CA

Into Death Valley
I Believe This Is An Old Steppe Pyramid
Gorillas were everywhere in Death Valley
Johnny B Doing Something
Rocky Driving Into Death Valley

Death Valley
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CARLSBAD CAVERNS, NM

Johnny B, Just North of Carlsbad Caverns
Johnny B
Rocky, Just North of Carlsbad Caverns

We arrived at Carlsbad Caverns after spending the afternoon in Roswell.
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HOOVER DAM, NEVADA

Far Shot of Hoover Dam
A Little Close
Closer Still
It's Actually a Very Peaceful Setting
The Road That Crosses Hoover Dam
A Closer Look
And Closer Still
The Colorado River at The Dam
Johnny B at Hoover Dam
Rocky at Hoover Dam

We arrived at Hoover Dam shortly after 9/11 so there was a military checkpoint at the crossing. When we approached the nervous, M-16 toting soldiers in our VW Microbus, tensions were high. The moment came. We rolled down the window. “Was this thing at Woodstock?” asked one of the soldiers, referring to the Microbus. We informed him that it was a 1975 model, so the answer was no. He glanced into the back of the jam packed vehicle and we were sent on our way. We were fully expecting an intensive and inconvenient search.

FLORIDA TO CALIFORNIA

(October to November, 2001) We decided to leave Florida behind and head for Northern California. Contrary to popular belief, San Francisco is not Northern California- it is Central California. We were heading for Crescent City, 350 miles north of San Francisco. Point St. George, near Crescent City, is the furthest south that the Jet Stream reaches along the West Coast of North America. It is also just a few miles from the Oregon Border. One of the reasons we decided on that particular area was that Michael was planning on moving to Ashland, Oregon. Rocky and I could offer a place for Michael, Natalie and Roxanne to stay before they headed into Oregon.

But this was more than just a trek to California, it was a Grand Tour. We drove straight through to Gail's house in Mississippi in 18 hours. We stayed for 3 days. Then we continued on through Alabama, Louisiana and skimmed a corner of Texas into Oklahoma. We became real interested in Lost Treasure while in Oklahoma, especially Belle Starr's Booty. We bought books on the subject and even located several landmarks that supposedly identified the cache that was hidden behind a train door in a local small mountain. As we headed in to try and locate the treasure, we discovered that Rattlesnakes were everywhere. I almost stepped on one and was lucky that it didn't strike me as I inadvertently stepped over it. We decided to return at a later date.

We headed across beautiful New Mexico, stopping in Roswell and visiting Carlsbad Caverns, where we watched 300,000 Mexican free-tailed bats rise from the cave at dusk, in a swirling updraft that they created themselves. The bats fly off to the Rio Grande to feed on insects and then return at dawn. However, on one day in late October or early November, the bats fail to return, having moved on to Mexico for the winter. They return in April or May, depending on the weather.

Then it was on to Arizona. While in Arizona, we visited Meteor Crater Arizona, Saguaro National Park and The Grand Canyon. We even "stood on a corner in Winslow Arizona" (the song "Take It Easy" by The Eagles in case you didn't get that) and called Michael. That was along Historic Route 66. This was just after 9/11, and when we crossed over Hoover Dam in Nevada, heavily armed soldiers were inspecting cars and drivers at length. They basically just waved us through, inquiring whether we were twins as we passed. We spent three days in Las Vegas, where we met up John and Ed, our Florida business partners that we just turned over our portion of the business to. We visited Death Valley, Yosemite National Park and other places before arriving in Northern California.

COLORADO

Rocky and Johnny B, Rocky Mountains, Colorado, 1997

Johnny B, Rocky Mountain National Park, 1996

Rocky and Johnny B, Florissant Fossil Beds, Colorado

Rocky at Pike's Peak, Colorado

Johnny B and Rocky, Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, November, 1997

Johnny B, Point Of No Return, Colorado

Mary and Rocky, Idaho Springs, Colorado, 1996

Mary and Johnny B, Continental Divide, Colorado, Fall, 1996

Johnny B, Garden of the Gods, Colorado, Winter, 1997

Mary, Castlewood Canyon, Colorado, Summer, 1996

Mary, Castlewood Canyon, Colorado, Summer, 1996

Mary, Near Top of the World, Colorado, 1996

Mary, Near Top of the World, Colorado, 1996

Rocky, Mary's boyfriend, Mary and Johnny B, Parker, Colorado, Summer, 1996

Rocky's Cousin Tiana, Mary, Rocky and Johnny B, Colorado

Johnny B and Mary, Near Top of the World- Just After it Burned Down to the Ground, Colorado

(July, 1995 to December, 1998?) When Rocky and first arrived in Colorado, we stayed with our friend, Mary. I first met Mary during High School, even though she went to Wheeling High School and I went to Hersey High School. My family lived on the border of the two High School bus routes so I had a choice of which one to attend. My two older brothers and two older sisters had attended Hersey so I chose it, even though nearly all of my friends and neighbors would be attending Wheeling. My brother had dated Mary for awhile and that's how I met her.

Rocky and I lived in several places around the Denver area. We lived right next to "Alfalfa's" Health Food Store where I got a job. It took me 30 seconds to walk to work. I brought home lots of food while I worked there, including a regular supply of Chicken Kiev's and Cordon Bleu's. There were two good bars within a half block of our apartment where we regularly met Mary for drinks. We also lived in "Aspen Towers" on the 12th floor. The Penthouses were on the 13th floor but we had been up there for a few parties and preferred our apartment to the penthouses. The penthouses had a wood burning stove in the center of the living room that took up too much space and provided a burn hazard. Our friend, Tony, moved in with us for awhile at Aspen Towers. Our balcony overlooked the Denver skyline and Rocky Mountains behind it. It was a great view. We chose that particular apartment so we could watch Comet Hale-Bopp as it passed near earth. Our view of the Comet was spectacular.

Rocky and I would literally place a random finger on a map of the mountains to select where we wanted to visit on the weekends. We ended up in some pretty cool places. On Thanksgiving 1997, we kept with tradition from the previous year and ate at Denny's. Then we headed for Crestone where UFO's had been reported only days earlier. We ended up traveling across a high road that was cut through the rock (the walls on both sides of us were 20 or 30 feet high). The road dead ended where a train tressel once was. It had gotten dark so we pitched our tent there. It got so cold that both Rocky and I were convinced that we were going to literally freeze to death overnight. We had a tiny propane heater that didn't help at all. When we woke up alive the next morning (to our surprise), we discovered that we had pitched the tent only a few feet away from a cliff that dropped at least 500 feet straight down. The town of Buena Vista was located in the valley beyond the bottom of the cliff.

We then proceeded to The Great Sand Dunes of the San Luis Valley. These 700 foot high dunes apparently contain more gold than has been extracted in the whole of human history. We pitched a tent in the Valley. Within an hour or two, 10 inches of snow fell. Then the winds kicked up. It became so windy that neither of us could leave the tent without the other blowing away. It finally dawned on us that these 700 foot high dunes were due to the wind and sand as it blew across the San Luis Valley (the largest valley in Colorado).

AMTRAK TRIP, COLORADO TO FLORIDA AND BACK

Johnny B and Mike in Orlando, FL

Johnny B in Orlando, FL

Rocky in Orlando, FL

Johnny B, Florida's West Coast

Johnny B on the train

Rocky on the train

Rocky on the train

Johnny B on the train

(November to December, 1997) Rocky and I took a 21 day trip on Amtrak while we were living in Colorado. The Amtrak special included 3 stops of our choosing. we chose Chicago Illinois, Orlando Florida and Carbondale Illinois. Our route took us to Chicago on The California Zephyr Train, then on to Philadelphia, down the East Coast to Orlando, over to New Orleans, up to Carbondale and then back to Denver.

Roxanne Trailer Park, Carbondale, IL

Rocky and I lived in Roxanne Trailer Park while attending SIUC.  This is where we met.

 Johnny B when he still had a full head of hair

 Rocky watching TV

I quit smoking cigarettes in 2009