Ziplineing!!!!

For those of you who know me well, you know when I saw in the USA today that there was a zip line tour in Hocking Hills, I said to myself "Heck Yeah!" So we signed up and on July 31 Rick, myself Micheal and my pal Renae all heading down to Hocking Hills Canopy Tours to do some zip lining.
We met up with our guide and got our harnesses,gloves and helmets. We did a little practice zip and then headed out in the jeeps to the course.
You hook in and do a series of zip lines and air bridges. The highest point is 67 ft and the fastest zip is 40mph.You zip through the canopy and along the hocking river. The guides were really great and very knowledgeable.Must of them were attending college at Hocking Hills getting degrees in ECO tourism. This was my guides summer job before he heads down to the Bahamas to spend the winter Scuba diving for college credits. I think I missed my calling. What an exhilarating experience. I thought it might be scary, but it wasn't at all! I cant wait to go back in the fall when the leaves change!

Michigan

For our trip this summer we went to Michigan. We spent three nights at Higgins Lake camping. It was the clearest lake Ive ever seen! We did some windsurfing and then rented a pontoon boat one day to just cruise around the lake. We cooked most of our meals over the campfire and after three days we were ready for some beds. We headed to Traverse City and beyond to Sleeping Bear dunes. The dunes are amazing! At one vantage point you can look down 450 ft to the shore line below. There is a trail down, but if you decide to go down, keep in mind you have to climb back up. With the incline it is a 1200 ft climb in loose sand at almost a () degree angle. People routinely hae to be rescued. If you decide to make the climb, be prepared for several hours of strenuous climbing and take plenty of water and sunscreen. Needless to say, we didn't do the climb.
After a day at the dunes we headed over to a river and rented some tubes. We spent 2 hours floating down the river on our rafts eventually ending up at loon lake. I think it was my favorite part of the trip! Unfortunately, we forgot the camera. :(
We spent the night in Traverse City and ate at a restaurant called Hanna's. The food and the atmosphere was just what I needed after 3 days of camping! We all took long showers and settled into our beds at the Hampton Inn. We headed up to SUST Marie the next day to check out the locks. Then we heaed home.

Mountain bikes

We love riding our mountain bikes at Alum Creek mountain bikes trails. They are very challenging, but totally fun. Make sure you wear a helmet!!!! Click to check out our video!

My Airplane my layovers

For those of you who have never seen my airplane, I fly on a Falcon Dalsault Jet. It seats 10people and can fly 8 hours nonstop. Here is a picture of the outside, and here is where I work and sit. This is the interior.
We end up all over the place. Right now I am in Bedford MA. Last week I had a couple of nice layovers. One night in Wilmington NC. I got up early and walked and had breakfast. There is a film studio in Wilmington and they were shooting a movie while I was eating. I walked around and did some shopping. Wilminton is located right along the Cape Fear river and has a really nice little river walk area with lots of nice restuarants and shops. It is really close to the ocean with some super beaches(so Im told), but I did not have the time to make it there this time.
The next day we ended up in Bar Harbour Maine. The weather was beautiful. We stayed right along the water at a holiday Inn. Once again got up early to have breakfast and take a walk. Unfortunately my camera was dying and I didnt get the pics I wanted. There were lots of loons out on the water and the veiw from the dock was amazing. I did get a couple of shots off. I didnt have much time, but then I hardly ever do>

red bull air races

So Ive really slacked on keeping my blog up to date, so this entry is from May. Rick Micheal and I attended the RedBull air races in Detroit. For those of you not associated with air shows ect., generally they are OK, but not the most thrilling of venues for me personally. This event however, blew me away! First of all, Ive always wanted to attend one of these races. If you not familiar, red bull sponsors these races all over the world. It consists of stunt planes flying around inflated pylons at speeds up to 250 miles an hour. The course is very small in scale so all of the maneuvers have to be done super quick and tight. The one we attend was held in Detroit, so at last I could get to one!!! We stayed at the gm building Renaissance, and had rooms on the 67th floor, overlooking right where the course would be flown on the Detroit river, between Detroit and Canada.
The first day of racing was cancelled due to high winds. It blew the pylons right off there mounts! But the 2nd day of racing was so exciting. We had great seats set up right down by the course and in front of one of the giant tv screens, which was very important because they would should the air speeds and the time for each plane as they flew. To win, you have to go through series of elimination rounds by improving your time, and being the fastest. If you ever have the opportunity to attend these races , I would go for it!!