My Top 10 Parks and Destinations

After the recent collapse of an arch in Utah's Arches National Park, I started thinking about the parks/destinations I want to take my wife, myself and my children to in the next few years.

After traveling out west and seeing some amazing places such as Yosemite, Zion, and Chugach in Alaska, I realized there are some absolutely amazing sites in this world, and I need to make the time to see them before they are (or I am) gone.

This list is limited solely to places in the continental U.S. I would very much like to get out of the country and see places across the globe, but that is for another post and most likely not going to happen until my kids are in college.

Here is my top 10, in order of preference:

  1. Yellowstone
  2. Grand Canyon
  3. Arches
  4. Petrified Forest
  5. Bryce Canyon
  6. Black Hills
  7. Painted Desert
  8. Grand Tetons
  9. Rocky Mountains
  10. Crater Lake

This is not necessarily my entire list, but that would be too long and most likely unattainable. This is my "realistic" list for now.

July Rocks

Rhonda and I just got back from her aunt's home on Lake Norris in Tennessee. It was a very good weekend. We got some serious relaxation in, and I did a ton of fishing. The fish weren't really biting for me, but I did catch a small bass this morning before leaving. Rhonda's aunt caught a channel catfish on Saturday and Jim and I filleted him and we had him for dinner--it was the freshest fish I've ever had! Normally, I don't enjoy fish, but this one was pretty good fried up and battered.

The lake was THE place to be this weekend. I've never seen so many boaters, skiers, jet skiers, kayakers, swimmers and tubers in my whole life. The highlight was a party at Flat Hollow Marina complete with a band and fireworks.

I forgot just how much I love summer. Winters around Dayton tend to do that to a person, I guess. There's nothing like a hot summer evening, just hanging out. These kind of days go by way too fast in my opinion...summer needs to be much longer than it is. Or, maybe I need to be somewhere that doesn't get so dang cold in the winter ;-)

Catch the photos and vids here.

Oshkosh, B’Gosh!

In a few weeks I'll be heading to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for a business trip. Our primary client, Oshkosh Corporation, is located there. No--it's not Oshkosh B'Gosh the clothing store--I just love that brand. Anyway, I've never been up that way before, so I have no idea what to expect.

If anyone out there has been to OSK before, drop me a line and let me know what's fun to do, what to see, where to go, etc. I'm not sure how much free time I'm going to have (if any), but from what I understand we're going to have at least one free evening. Apparently, this area is one affected by the major Midwest flooding, so I'm not sure what I'm in for.

Spring Break Conference 2008

I will be attending the Spring Break Conference again this year in Athens, OH. This one-day event is sponsored by SEOCats (A Southeastern Ohio Adobe user group). This has been a worthwhile event in the past, and I'm hoping it will be good again this year.

Things are quite different this year, though. The conference was pushed from March (hence "Spring Break") to June. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to attend since I'm hitting CFUnited in June also, but was able to pull some strings and my boss let me go. The conference is still sponsored by Adobe, but the keynote speaker hasn't been announced, yet (it has been Ben Forta the last few years). Apparently, Eric Meyer, the CSS master, will be doing the lunchtime keynote.

The biggest shocker this year is the price increase. It was originally free (just two years ago), then, last year, the price was $25. This year it shot up to $45 and $55 for hands-on sessions. For as long as it took them to get anything online about the conference this year, I was very hesitant to go or pay the fee this time around. We'll see if the higher fee is worth it this year. I will be blogging from the conference and posting to Twitter so be sure and stay tuned!

Best Invention Ever

I've decided that the Tomtom GPS unit is one of the coolest things ever. If you don't have one, get one NOW!

We were looking for a hotel the other night, and we were able to just touch "POI's" (Points of Interest) and search for "hotels". Then, we were able to look up and get phone numbers for all the hotels near us. We found a $60/night room when everything else was $90-$100+. How awesome is that?

Oh yeah--not to mention the really feature of keeping me from getting lost. Worth every penny.

Rhonda's Going to LA!

Rhonda just found out she is going with her friend to Los Angeles next month. She's very excited, and I'm excited for her. I wish I could go, but I just have way too much going on here for the next couple of months. She'll have a great time.

NC Bound

Rhonda and I head out for NC in a couple days...now just trying to get some of the last minute things done for school and around the house. I posted some pics to Flickr of the new Thule luggage carrier we put on the Vue. Hopefully, it will survive the trip!

Back from Vacation

We just got back from our trip to Gatlinburg. As we always do, we had a great time this year. The cabin was absolutely amazing. It was beautifully furnished and had a crazy view of the mountains. Waking up in the morning with that view is something I could get used to. Our friends Stephanie and Doug agreed that this place was amazing. The hot tub was awesome, and nothing beats smoking a Padron on the deck with the mountains in the background. We highly recommend these rentals (www.sunsetcottage.com).

On the way, we stopped at London, KY. I finally got to see where Rhonda's dad grew up. By the way, don't stay at Sleep Inn in London if you every head that way--it was a little scary! From there, we stopped at Cumberland Falls for a scenic view. The weather was beautiful, and the drive was great. Kentucky is such a beautiful state, and I never get tired of driving through it.

Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge was packed as always, and once again the weather was great. I have never seen so many bikes as I did this trip--this was due to an event at the local Harley dealer for the "world's biggest simultaneous burnout" Wish I would have seen that!!! I was really wanting to get on my own bike and take a ride up into the mountains, because the weather was perfect. I would love to take one ride up in the Smokies and go over to North Carolina.

Anyways, we got a chance to see and do some things we've never done before, like explore Cherokee, NC and see the new Harrah's Casino there, as well as Oconaluftee Indian Village, which was very cool. I learned so much about the Indian people that I never knew. I highly recommend visiting there. The Cherokee people are so respectable. We also got to stop at Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the Smokies. We walked up the incline to the observation tower for an incredible view. As many times as I've been up there, I never get tired of the view.

Well, hopefully we'll get to travel back that way again next year. I never get tired of the Smokies or Tennessee. Driving back through Knoxville reminded me of how much I want to live there. The city itself is actually a lot like Dayton with a huge technology corridor. Unlike Dayton, surrounding it are beautiful mountains, state and national parks, and lakes. Yeah, I could get used to it. My love for the outdoors and sense of adventure wants to come out whenever I'm there. I'd love to pitch a tent in the mountains and camp for about a week. Maybe next summer...

To see all the photos of our trip (there are a lot), go here .

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