I visited DC for the festival in 2023. The Cherry Blossoms were magnificent. 03/23/2023

Finally visited the Ice Cave with a friend on 05/14/2021.

I visited and the artifacts in the museum are great. I still don't believe in ghosts... 3/21/22

My first was the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster in Pigeon Forge, TN. I enjoyed it very much. 09/13/2021

Well done museum but very similar to the one in Branson, MO. You should definitely visit one but no need to visit both. 09/13/2021

This is one of the coolest Auto Museums I've ever visited. Lots of unique cars. 09/20/2021

I was very impress with this museum, though the Space Shuttle Pathfinder was off for refurbishment. Great place to visit. 09/10/2021

I've managed to keep my plant alive for five years. Still looking good.

Smaller than I expected, the museum has a bunch of displays, mostly of action figures. 12/5/19

The museum had lots of oddities and a pretty fair wax museum chamber of horrors. I can heartily recommend. 12/5/19

Finished this long after the 1001 days deadline. 16' or so of new trim to replace these rotted sections.

Went there to see and was duly impressed with the Superheroes/Batman exhibits. 10/16/2019

What an amazing place. I can absolutely recommend a visit. And I visited on Friday the 13th--and there was a full moon out as we rode the train back from the site. Life is good. 9/13/2019

We spent two days visiting Yosemite National Park and made it to Glacier Point for a great view of Half Dome. Strongly recommended. 6/3/2019

My very first view of giant sequoia trees was in Sequoia National Park on a trip with five friends and family. The park is well worth a trip. 6/1/2019

This morning I walked to the trailhead at the top of my street. Not sure why I didn't do this during the 1001 days of the 101 Things list.

I replaced most of the trim and repainted the entire exterior of the shed. Too late for the 101 Things in 1001 Days list.

Had a great day at Gatorland. Saw the three shows they offered and I skipped the zipline over the gators. Really cool place.

Visited the site as an excursion from Cozumel while on a Princess Cruise. Long day.

Went with a few friends on a Safari in South Africa and Zimbabwe. We saw the Big Five and as a special treat got to see a herd of elephants cross the Zambezi River. Best trip ever! September, 2018

As part of a trip to attend my 40th high school reunion in PA, I made it to the Henry Ford and did the Museum of Innovation. Needed more time to see Greenfield Village. Next time. 6/19/2018

The Mel Fisher Treasure Museum was the first place on my list for Key West Florida and it was fascinating. I even bought a small piece of jewelry made from silver brought up from the wreck of the Atocha. So cool. 3/7/2018

We stopped for a way-too-short visit to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial on a bus tour to Branson, MO with Sun Tours. 5/17/2018

While in southern Florida prior to going to Panama & Costa Rica, I drove down to Key West. Visited the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum, the Hemingway House, and the Southernmost Point of the US. 3/7/2018

Had a great visit to the Everglades and other south Florida parks before heading to Panama & Costa Rica for a great tour. 3/6/2019

Spent a nice day at Colonial Williamsburg with my east coast siblings. Very well done and a second day would have been nice. 6/26/2018

Inspired by a visit to our local Tinkertown Museum, the Abita Mystery House is a wonderful way to kill a few hours. So much to see. I enjoyed this museum on 2/18/2018 after disembarking from a New Orleans Mardi Gras cruise. Well done Abita!

Not an award winning effort by any means but it is a homemade costume.

Still have all my leathercraft tools from high school. Just not all the talent.

Started this wallet on Labor Day and finally stitched it together today. Not my finest work but it's been 10 years or so since I've done any leather work. Mr. Lehman, my leathercraft teacher in high school would likely have given me a B-minus at best.

The museum is so interesting that I'm going to go to the other location in New Orleans in February. No photography is allowed inside so I have only memories. Well done site that would take multiple visits to catch everything going on here. I'll go back sometime.

View of the Chapel at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in northern New Mexico. This park is one of the most deeply moving places I've ever visited. I'll go back again and spend more time here reflecting on the great sacrifices our brave troops made to buy my freedom.

Went on a guided tour of Independence Hall with a half dozen or so members of my family. So interesting.

The Mutter Museum's catch phrase "Disturbingly Informative" is right on. I enjoyed the Museum immensely and was just a bit freaked out at the same time. Visited with my dear sister-in-law Sharon.

Got to see the Liberty Bell with a large group of my family. Very well done.

Skillet Glacier on Mount Moran in the Grand Tetons range as seen from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Not quite as impressive as the Mendenhall Glacier I was supposed to see in Juneau (and missed due to a murder on our cruise ship), this still counts. I do want to see a bigger glacier from closer but can check this off the list for now.

A huge hillside containing over 1500 Dinosaur bones was excavated but most bone left in place. A huge building was built around the hillside so folks can view the boneyard in comfort. So well done.

Visited Crazy Horse Monument as part of a 13 day bus tour. Saw it on the same day as Mount Rushmore. Both are quite impressive and should they ever make real progress on this monument, it will be even cooler than the four presidents. Been working on it since 1948 and his face was complete in 1998. Not much progress since (in my opinion). Still amazing to see. I took the $4.00 school bus ride to get closer to the monument to get this picture. Otherwise you only see his face in full-on profile.

This is the 308' tall Lower Falls at Artist Point in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. Went to Yellowstone over two days after the Total Eclipse. Part of a 13 day National Parks of the Rockies tour with YMT Vacations. Well done and highly recommended.

On a 13 day tour of National Parks of the Rockies (and the Total Eclipse) we made it to Mount Rushmore and I was duly impressed.

I got to spend just over an hour here on a recent Alaskan Inside Passage Cruise and I needed about 10 hours. It is the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen.

The major draw to the Evergreen Aviation Museum is The Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes wooden flying boat built during WWII. You can't imagine how big this plane is. Was worth the 4 hour drive from Seattle just to see her.

It took two years and a month but I finally am able to check this one off. Woo hoo!

This is the final resting place of the original living Smokey Bear. Found clinging to a burnt tree in 1950, the small cub was rescued and nursed back to health. He lived for the next 25 years in the National Zoo in Washington, DC and upon his death, was transported back to the Smokey Bear National Historical Park in Capitan, NM where he was found. God Speed Smokey.

Took a trip that included three National Parks/Monuments, three state parks, and two museums over Memorial Day weekend 2017. Made it to Smokey Bear park on our way home to Albuquerque, 5/30/2017.

Up about 180 feet from the valley floor, this is the first look at the Gila Cliff Dwellings from the path to them. There are 40 rooms built into five natural caves that were occupied by Native Americans from about 1267 to 1300 AD. The trail to the top is well done but tiring. You can go into the large caves and see most of the rooms. Well done. Visited with my youngest son on 5/25/2017.

Arrived at the visitor center and got maps and info on the cliff dwellings.

I sold a few items for $77 at my Flea Market table at a local senior center. Picture is of everything that didn't sell that I had to drag home.

Spent a number of hours at the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'an China on 5/4/2017. Shown here is Pit 1, the largest of the excavations at the site. Absolutely the coolest things I've ever seen in my life. Highly recommended.

On the first day of my trip to China with Gate 1 Travel, 5/1/2017, we drove from our hotel in Beijing to the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall of China. I climbed only this piece that you can see, from guard tower 7 to Guard tower 8, maybe 400 steps, many of which are a foot tall. My legs hurt for the next four days. What a sight!

Pulled my new-but-two-year-old crock pot down from on top of the fridge and cooked a slightly modified Mississippi Roast. Left out the pepperoncini and added onion, mushrooms, and new potatoes. Had a friend over who confirmed that it was delicious. Woo Hoo!

Was flying through Denver to Iceland so planned an extra day before and after to hit the Mint and some Museums. Unfortunately, no photos allowed inside the Mint--and there were way cool things to photograph. I toured on 03/06/2017. Note that they no longer let you reserve tickets, strictly first come, first served.

Seven of us traveled to Iceland for a five day, four night trip which included a Northern Lights by Boat tour. I was lucky enough to get some shots of the Aurora Borealis which only happened for about 15 minutes of our three hour tour. This is looking north from a fjord outside Reykjavik on 03/09/2017. So cool.

While not fine furniture, I believe this 2x4 masterpiece counts as something made of wood. It is a step to allow my friend to get into her new shed more easily--the threshold is nearly a foot off the ground.

Made it to the Pioneer Telephone Museum in downtown Albuquerque today, 1/11/2017, with the seniors from Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center. Four floors in the original AT&T Operators center have been stuffed with amazing displays of all sorts of telephone equipment. Great museum.

After taking down the existing heat lamps I had a gaping 16" hole. The new exhaust fan is only around 9" square, thus the multiple pieces of drywall. After much mudding, sanding, texturing and painting I now have both extra light and an exhaust fan in my master bath. Woo Hoo!

Normally I donate to Goodwill but for my sixth monthly donation in 2016, I sent nine new model kits with glue to Operation Gratitude. This charity sends care packages to our troops and has sent over 1.5 million so far. Cheers to those who serve our country. See operationgratitude.com

Spent four full days with my son and daughter-in-law in San Antonio over Thanksgiving 2016. Had a great time.

Introduced to us by my brother and sister in law the family is fond of Qwirkle. Got to play three nights in a row with my son and daughter-in-law, as well as her parents. Won once, lost twice. Last played on 11/26/2016.

Here is the Natural Bridge that gives the Caverns its name. The tour of the caverns was wonderful. We visited on 11/23/2016.

Went to the caverns in San Antonio with my son Dan who lives there.

Added a side trip on 10/20/2016 to see the Space Shuttle Endeavor at the California Science Center in LA on my trip to the Fright Fests at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Universal Studios. Eventually, the Endeavor will be displayed vertically, attached to its external fuel tank and booster rockets. I'm glad I got a chance to see it while it was temporarily horizontal. Quite impressive.

Waiting for the taping of The Price is Right at CBS Television City in Los Angeles on 10/24/2016. Tune in on January 19, 2017 to see if I was asked to "Come on Down".

Made it back to Knott's Berry Farm after returning to LA from my first cruise. Snoopy was kind enough to meet me at the entrance of the park on 5/2/2016.

Took a comedian-led bus tour from the Las Vegas Strip to the Hoover Dam on 7/25/2016. This is me on top of the dam with the new bypass bridge in the background. I highly recommend "Comedy on Deck Tours" and visiting the Hoover Dam itself with the generator room tour.

This is my 10th of 10 classic movies I had never seen before now seen in a theater. Well done movie. Am able to mark this goal as complete but that won't stop me from continuing to go see other classic movies in theaters. I'm hooked.

Classic movie seen in a theater, #9 of 10. Amazing sets on this movie! Spoiler alert: The King dies at the end--what the freak?

Today, 8/20/2016, I joined about 40 other single folks to volunteer at the Roadrunner Food Bank. In addition to moving a ton or so of butternut squash (discarding rotten ones) we bagged 1100 pounds of french fries into 3 lb bags. Never seen so many fries in my life.

Sold my son's non-running car on Craigslist in one day. Craigslist scammers, of which there were many more than legitimate potential buyers, should be shot.

Had to go see if Gone With the Wind should have beat out The Wizard of Oz for 1940 Best Picture Oscar. It was pretty good but I would have voted for the Wizard. Scarlett was kind of a (rhymes with witch). Number eight of my ten classic movies seen, two to go before I can check this goal as complete.

Twice a year the Albuquerque Bio Park (Zoo and Aquarium) has a half price weekend for New Mexico residents. I took advantage of that and went to the zoo today, Sunday 7/17/2016, for the first time in over a dozen year. It was very, very well done though a good number of the animals were hiding from view trying to avoid the 95 degree heat.

I was in awe at just how good Singin' in the Rain was! Seven classic movies down, three to go.

We did the self-guided tour with the optional audio--which you must get. Visited on 6/24/2016. The place is amazing and you could easily spend a couple of days there. Highly recommended.

Me and my siblings in the professionally taken picture in front of the Winter Garden, the first room you see inside the Biltmore. Well done.

Visited Dollywood on 6/23/2016 and rode five new coasters raising my coaster total to 270. See http://samstoybox.com/cgi-bin/coasters.pl

Enjoyed the train, a few shows and the Dolly Parton Museum as well.

It's been a year since I received my plant and it's still alive. Woo hoo!

Steinbeck called Route 66 "The Mother Road" in his novel The Grapes of Wrath. I saw the film adaptation of the classic novel in the Kimo Theater that is not only on Route 66 but has been there since before the dustbowl in the 1930s. The Joads would have driven right past it on their trip from Oklahoma to California. Six of my 10 classic movies down, four to go. Thanks Kimo!

Billy the Kid's Tombstone has been stolen twice and heavily vandalized by souvenir hunters who chipped off pieces of it. It is now surrounded by this iron cage to keep this from happening again. Visited with two friends in Fort Sumner NM, a two and a half hour drive from Albuquerque, on 6/2/2016.

Headed to Belen, NM on 5/26/2016 with a couple of friends. After an amazing lunch across the street at Pete's Cafe, we made it to the Harvey House Museum to see lots of relics and photos of Fred Harvey and the famous Harvey Girls as well as the AT&SF Railroad itself. A nice way to spend part of an afternoon.

If you're brave enough, as I and three of the other "seniors" who rode the van from the Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center to Acoma Sky City on 5/25/2016 were, you can hike down the side of the 360 foot mesa using stone steps and hand holds cut into the rock 500-900 years ago. Well done.

On top of the mesa that makes up Acoma Sky City, the buildings and I are 360 feet above the bushes on the floor of the canyon you can see at the far left. Sky City is the longest inhabited city/village in North America having been continuously occupied since the 1100s.

Have now been in the Heights Book Club for over a year. Will be moving on to another club after we finish these selections.

I spent the day, Tuesday 5/24/2016, at Chaco Canyon on a trip with 18 or so other "seniors" from the Barelas Senior Center. This is the largest great kiva at the site. Have been hoping to make it here for decades.