travel-ography.com

'Back to Boston'

2011-05-10T16:23:00.002-05:00

Our favorite destination for the 4th of July is Boston.....and we're going back again this year!

We're going as a small group, but still have a few spots open if you'd like to join us. It is a wonderful patriotic and historical trip.

We will fly out of Grand Forks and Minneapolis on Saturday, July 2nd and return on Tuesday, July 5th.

Please let us know if you are interested in joining us. We would love to have you along.
Call 701-352-3466 or email stevelarsonstudio@yahoo.com

Steve and Linda
travel-ography.com

'Back from Boston...'

2008-07-11T09:59:00.006-05:00

We're 'Back from Boston'....and we had a 'Blast' over the 4th of July!

Fifteen travel-ography.com travelers celebrated the 4th of July in historic and beautiful Boston.

'Cheers'...Fenway Park...'Boston Pops' in the band shell on the banks of the Charles River...a lively Cruise in the bay...walking the Freedom Trail on the 4th...Unbelievable Fireworks...Cape Cod...the JFK Library...Shopping...and much more...WE HAD A BLAST !!!

It was a great group of adventurous travelers, doing exciting things, and I can't wait to see how the books and DVD videos turn out.

Until then, I'll share a few photographs of our trip.

Enjoy !

Steve
travel-ography.com

.......More Parks.

2008-05-13T23:07:00.003-05:00

These are two of my favorite ball parks....but for completely different reasons. I'll add a story about each park when time allows. For now, it's bedtime. (I have no idea why everything is underlined tonight.

Steve

'Coming up for Air....'

2008-05-12T11:48:00.007-05:00

Hi.

I know it's been a while since our last post and, while being busy is not a great excuse, we have been very busy.

Besides handling the usual rush as another school year comes to a close, I've lost my head and accepted jobs as a public speaker, serving as a motivational speaker to all the area educators a couple months ago and now, I'm preparing to deliver the Commencement Address at an area High School Graduation.

If that isn't enough, I've also resurrected a career I closed over 25 years ago, as I signed on to broadcast baseball games this spring for the local (KXPO) radio station. I'm a little rusty....but it sure has been fun. And, I can use my great seat at the ballgames to capture some nice action shots, while describing the action over the airwaves.

It's a pretty good 'gig' if you like baseball.

Enough said. Here are a few more ballparks Linda and I have traveled to and photographed these past couple of years.

Safeco Field in Seattle. An engineering marvel, as on those rainy Seattle days a roof slides over the top of the park ensuring the fans that the game will go on. The night we were there it was a beautiful Northwest evening.

What can you say about Yankee Stadium that hasn't already been said a thousand times. You could sense the history of the place as soon as you entered. We even saw a 'grand slam' on this sunny afternoon.

Miller Park in Milwaukee is another park where you are guaranteed a game because of the ability to close the roof. It was another nice night when we were there so it stayed open. We even tailgated with the locals. The 'sausage race' was a definite highlight!

We saw US Cellular Field the season the White Sox were to win the World Series. We could sense the excitement in the air!

As for travel-ography.com. We'll be in Boston with a great group of travelers over the 4th of July....and....we still have some seats available for our trip down to Minneapolis to see Beth Moore Living Proof Live on July 18th and 19th. Just call us at 701-352-1810 if you'd like to join us for this wonderful event.

Steve

Boston over the 4th...

2008-04-06T21:55:00.004-05:00

We have a great group going to Boston for a few days over the 4th of July. Plans have been finalized and details are being taken care of. We'll walk the Freedom Trail...see 'Old Ironsides' in the harbor...celebrate our nation's independence with half a million others while listening to the Boston Pops concert along the Charles River....travel to Cape Cod...see the Kennedy Center....tour Fenway Park...and much more.

travel-ography.com in Boston will be a blast.

This would be as good a time as any to share my ball park photograph I took when Linda and I were in Fenway Park.

Fenway Park in Boston

It's the only park that I couldn't take a photograph from behind home plate because all the seats back there were enclosed and very exclusive. So....we captured this park from the outfield. Still a pretty cool shot.

The night we were there, the Red Sox played the Atlanta Braves in what proved to be an exciting contest. We saw Rafael Furcal break his leg sliding into 2nd base....a home run sail over the 'green monster'....and a fan get escorted out of the stadium for trying to climb 'Pesky's Pole'.

Oh, by the way, the game even went extra innings....how's that for excitement.

Turner Field in Atlanta.

Might as well show you the shot I took of Turner Field in Atlanta, since we were talking about the Braves. This was another beautiful ball park...but what we remember most was the circus like atmosphere all around the field. There were bands playing and lots of games for both the young and old to engage in. It was like a real southern style family reunion. Lot's of fun.

Steve
travel-ography.com

Opening Day......

2008-03-30T22:06:00.003-06:00

One of the best days of the year for me has always been 'Opening Day'. And this is that day !

True, there were a couple of games in Japan this past week. And, last night they opened the 'new ball park' in Washington, DC. But today is really what I consider opening day, since most of major league's teams play their first game of the season today or tonight...including my Minnesota Twins.

What a great day ! As they say at the beginning of each season.....'Hope springs eternal.'

I continue to share a series of photographs I have taken over the past couple of years, as Linda and I have been on a quest to capture images of as many major league ball parks as we can.

The 'signature image' that I try to take at each park is the one from behind home plate and as far up as I can get, in order to afford the viewer a beautiful panoramic view of the whole stadium.

As always, simply click on the photograph to see a larger view.

Enjoy.

Today, being what I consider the real 'Opening Day', I'll share two of my favorite parks.

PNC Park in Pittsburgh

We were in this beautiful ball park on the 4th of July, 2006. It was truly one of the most comfortable and cozy parks I have seen, with a great view of the Pittsburgh skyline and Clemente Bridge beyond the outfield bleachers.

We enjoyed a dazzling fireworks display following the game and celebrated the 4th with several hundred thousand people on the point of the three rivers in Pittsburgh.

The Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Home of the Twins ! This much maligned stadium has been home to some of my best baseball memories, including two World Series Championships in 1987 and 1991 (Wow...I guess we're due for another one!)

We've driven to Minneapolis and attended at least a couple of games a year with family and friends for many years. One thing is certain....there will be a game, unaffected by weather. The 'purists' have won, however, and a brand new outdoor park is due to open in 2010.

I always enjoyed the 'dome'....especially the volume of noise the faithful could create at critical times in the game. I can't even begin to recall the many great memories we've shared at the Metrodome. It is with some sadness that I'll see it replaced, however, all reports are that the new park is going to be fantastic.

Enjoy 'Opening Day' !

Steve
travel-ography.com

Catching the Stars !

2008-03-27T18:18:00.008-06:00

As I continue to share photographs of some of the Major League Baseball Stadiums that Linda and I have seen the past few years, I must mention that both parks that are featured in this post were almost overshadowed by the legendary talent that was on the field the day of the game.

The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

We were immediately impressed with the fact that almost everyone in the crowd was dressed in 'red'. It was almost like walking into a major college football stadium on 'game day'. Obviously they were still enamoured by the success of their '70's teams, dubbed the 'Big Red Machine'.

It was a beautiful afternoon for a ball game in early July, 2006. Especially a game that was to feature two of the games premier players, both certain to be Hall of Famers, based on their storied on-field accomplishments. Ken Griffey, Jr. of the Reds and Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros would face each other three times this day, to the delight of those in attendance. Griffey with the smooth, powerful home run swing....and Clemens with the near 100 mph fastball.

Two of baseball's best, showcased for us on this beautiful July day in Cincinnati. There was even a peaceful river flowing along just beyond the outfield bleachers.....it should have been called 'the Red'.

Petco Park in San Diego.

It happened by accident, sort of.

Our West Coast baseball park swing in the summer of 2007 had been roughly planned for a couple of months when it suddenly became apparent that we might be involved in a bit of baseball history.

We flew into San Francisco, rented a car, and followed the coast all the way down to San Diego. We hadn't really planned it this way but we also followed Barry Bonds in his historic quest to become baseball's all-time home run king. After seeing 'Barry' fail to tie the record of 755 in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, we arrived in San Diego knowing that he needed one to tie and two to break the long standing home run record of Hank Aaron.

Never having been to San Diego before, I had asked Linda to find and book a hotel close to the ball park....thinking it would be exciting to be part of the frenzy surrounding Bond's controversial chase of immortality.

As we faithfully followed our directions and easily navigated downtown San Diego, we arrived at the hotel the evening before the big Giants-Padres game. The Padres were playing the Colorado Rockies on this night and we were listening to the game on the radio, as we pulled up in front of our hotel. Linda went in to register, while I stayed in the car with our luggage.

Suddenly, the radio announcer's voice raised, as one of the Padres had launched a deep fly ball, on it's way to becoming a home run. A mighty, deafening roar, filled the air and I immediately knew this wasn't just coming from the radio. Startled, I looked up and to my suprise, found that I was sitting less than 100 feet from the stadium. Not only could I hear...but I could see the fans cheering wildly. Linda had indeed booked us into a hotel 'close to the ball park' !

Barry Bonds again failed to tie the record the next night, while we were in attendance, so we decided to take a 'day off' from baseball and see the rest of San Diego. That night Bonds launched the historic home run that tied the hallowed record....while we were watching Shamu, the killer whale, at San Diego Sea World.

We made the right choice.

Steve
travel-ography.com

Basketb/......Baseball Season !

2008-03-24T20:37:00.005-06:00

The Grafton Spoilers won the North Dakota Class B State Boy's Basketball Tournament 10 days ago. It was the first BB title for Grafton since 1964.....44 years ! Wow !!

I was fortunate to have been asked to photograph the action from the 'front row' (court side) and also to share in the broadcasting of the games over the radio. I was in 'media heaven'.

I'm planning to post a slide show of 'Tournament Action' on this blog in the near future. It'll feature action shots from the games and several shots of the fantastic fans that followed the team. I'm also working on a show that will feature action shots of, not only the Spoiler boys, but several area athletes who just completed tournament play. Everyone should be proud of their accomplishments.

Now, with basketball behind us....oh, I know March Madness on the NCAA level is still capturing our attention....but, it's time to think about my favorite sport....baseball.

With the season about to begin at all levels, I thought I would post some of the big league stadium photographs I have taken the past few years to whet our appetite for 'baseball season'.

Linda and I are trying to photograph as many of the major league stadiums as we can. I'll try put a couple of photos up each day. Enjoy !

As always, just click on the photo to enlarge it.

We photographed Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California last summer (2007). It was a beautiful ballpark on a beautiful evening on the West Coast....but it had a 'dark secret'. The morning of the game, as we were getting ready to leave our hotel room, Linda saw a report on the television newscast that county health inspectors had discovered that the stadium had a 'rat infestation' problem. It seems that the concession workers were waiting until the next day to clean up the garbage, with the rats taking advantage of the situation and moving in for a banquet each evening following the game.

Although the news report indicated that the clean up was now required immediately following the game, and the problem had been solved....I noticed Linda sat with her feet up on her chair more than usual that night.

Jacob's Field in Cleveland, in spite of it's eye appeal, was probably the least 'fan friendly' park we have encountered thus far. We photographed this park in the summer of 2006 and found the ushers to be uncooperative and downright unfriendly....and that just never happens to us on this ballpark journey. In fact, one elderly usher chased us all around the outfield stands, which were mostly empty, while I fired off shot after shot while on the run. He never did catch us, but he did somewhat cramp our style, which is trying to capture each stadium from all angles.

We did get to see North Dakota native, Travis Hafner play. He's the most powerful guy on the Indians team...and one of the most powerful players in all of baseball. In fact, I could swear I felt the breeze way up in my seat when he struck out to end the game.

More baseball parks on my next post. It's almost 'Play Ball' time !

Steve
travel-ography.com

.....a few more 'shots'.

2008-03-10T11:18:00.006-06:00

I hope these images don't bore the non basketball fans....but going to the ND State Class B Tournament is a pretty big deal and the fans in Grafton are very excited. Here are a few more shots from the recently completed state qualifying action.

Steve

Tournament Time....

2008-03-09T16:48:00.007-06:00

The whole town is still talking about the Spoiler Boy's Basketball team that made it to the state tournament with a thrilling 71-68 win over a very persistent Park River team this past Thursday night.

This marks the first time a Grafton boy's team has qualified for state since 1987.....and that was in Class A. The Spoilers are now in Class B.

The 'B' Tournament is a 'blast'...in fact some call it the 'social event of the year in North Dakota'....while I've also heard it referred to as 'Mardi Gras in March'....basketballs and beads.

Here are a few more images from our 'Spoiler BB Art' series. These are action shots captured during the past couple of weeks of tournament play.

As always, just click on the photo to make it larger. Enjoy.

Steve
travel-ography.com

One Round Ball...

2008-03-07T20:20:00.002-06:00

'One Round Ball...'

How can 'one round ball' draw so much attention.....be the center of so much emotion and passion.....and create so much team unity and community pride.

Easy.

That 'one round ball' is what is used to determine the victors in North Dakota Class B Basketball games.

We've been spending a great deal of quality time in the gym lately, following the young men and women from this area, as they compete in the end of the season tournaments.

It sure has been fun. And, as a special bonus, our local boy's team won the Region 2 Tournament on Thursday night, thus qualifying for next weekend's State Class 'B' Tournament in Fargo.

All the teams and players represented their communities very well and parents and schools should be proud.

I'll post a few more photographs from a series I've titled 'Spoiler BB Art' in the next couple of days.

As always, just double click on the photograph to see it larger.

Enjoy !

Steve
travel-ography.com

Class of 2008

2008-02-08T12:17:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody....it's 'tournament time' !

Basketball (both Girls and Boys)...Hockey....and Wrestling post season Tournaments are about to begin. We wish all the teams and participants the very best of luck.

High school athletes put on a great show this time of the year, and as has been our tradition for the past many years, we take this time to salute all of the area students and thank them for coming to Steve Larson Studio for their senior pictures.

Please enjoy the 'Class of 2008' show and travel safely.

Steve

Boston on the 4th of July !!!!

2008-01-26T12:02:00.000-06:00

We're happy to announce travel-ography.com has finalized plans to be in Boston over the 4th of July this summer !

This will be a wonderful trip to probably the best place in the whole world to be on the day our nation celebrates its Independence. We'll walk the Freedom Trail on the 4th of July, join hundreds of boats and thousands of revelers in the Boston Harbor, as we follow along with 'Old Ironsides' when she sails out into the harbor and fires her cannons in a 21 gun salute to our nation, and top off the evening by attending the annual 'Boston Pops Concert' along the Charles River with over a half million other people proud to call this 'our country'.

This travel-ography adventure is set to take place July 2nd through July 6th this summer. We have accommodations in a beautiful hotel right in the heart of the action. Easy walking distance to all of the July 4th events.

We also plan to 'drop in' on the 'Boston Pops' practice on the evening of the 3rd. We have a 'day trip' planned to Cape Cod and we'll also spend some time at the Kennedy Library and Museum. Our hotel is located right in the middle of some of the best shopping in the city (in fact, we're attached to a mall !) and great dining opportunities are all around us. We'll tour legendary Fenway Park, home of the World Champion Boston Red Sox....(and we're even open to extending our trip two extra days, so we can see the Twins play the Red Sox.)

There is so much to do and see in Boston and the 4th of July is the perfect time to be there.

Cost of the trip is: $895 (per person based on double occupancy)
$795 ( " " " " triple " )
$735 ( " " " " quad " )

This does not include airfare (since some of our traveling companions choose to use frequent flyer miles).

At this time we are able to secure airfare for $600 from Grand Forks or $350 from Minneapolis.

We do have limitations to the number of travelers we can include on this trip, so if you are interested, please contact us as soon as possible. Either call us at 701-352-1810 or email us at stevelarsonstudio@yahoo.com .

We'd love to have you join us, as we celebrate the 4th of July in Boston !

Steve and Linda

PS...Here are a couple more images from our recent travels to Spain.

Above is the beautiful bridge in Logrono, Spain. When the water is calm the view is stunning, as a mirror image really creates a cool effect. Our daughter, Abby, lives only 5 minutes walking distance from this bridge.

Here is our family enjoying a tradition very popular in Spain. Every night about 8-10 pm a group of bars or pubs offer 'tapas' (cool bar food) to their patrons. These range from mini sandwiches to stuffed mushrooms to mini skewers of steak or chicken, etc. They are fabulous ! Abby lives two minutes from this area.

Our family.....wearing off the 'tapas'. We're a pretty excited bunch.

By the way, don't forget the Beth Moore 'Living Proof Live' trip we're offering to the Target Center in Minneapolis. There are still some seats available on the bus and I can assure you this will be a wonderful time. See more details on the previous post on our blog, travel-ography.com

Steve and Linda

Beth Moore Event !

2008-01-17T08:58:00.000-06:00

travel-ography.com is pleased to announce our offering of a weekend in Minneapolis to attend the Beth Moore 'Living Proof Live' Event !

This inspirational event will be held Friday, July 18th and Saturday, July 19th at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

We have secured 40 tickets to the event, a beautiful and comfortable motorcoach bus and hotel rooms less than a block away from the Target Center.

Cost of this package is $195 per person (4 in a room)...$205 (3 per room) or $225 (2 per room). $100 deposit needed to hold you a spot.

Please call 701-352-1810 to reserve a place with us for this wonderful event.
(Tickets are going fast..and we haven't even advertised this !)

Steve

Back Again !!!!

2008-01-16T20:45:00.000-06:00

Whew !!!!

I thought we were supposed to 'slow down' a bit as we get older. Definitely not the case here.

After spending the last two weeks of December in Spain, coming back to a photography studio needing our 'attention' to catch up, and trying to plan more travel-ography.com adventures, plus preparing a one hour motivational program I'm presenting to more than 200 teachers and administrators on Monday, the 21st of January, time has not been an ally.

I must post some photographs so you can see what a wonderful time we had in the beautiful country of Spain. Our daughter, Abby, is over in Logrono, Spain (the Northern region) teaching English for one year, and we gathered, as a family, to enjoy the country and the holidays.

Spain is so different from America in many ways and we found it so interesting.

Here we are eating 'lomo' (pork, I think) sandwiches on the fly.

It took awhile to develop a taste for some of the food, but believe me, our hosts (Abby and Ben), did not disappoint when they cooked up a fantastic Christmas meal for the family.

Shopping for the ingredients proved very interesting (note the weird mini shopping carts) and there is no way we could have enjoyed such a delicious meal without the knowledge and language help from our hosts.

We 'walked off' all the great food by visiting cathedrals, museums, castles, and lots of other points of interest our 'guides' wanted us to see.

Rob (above) with Spain's beloved 'Don Quixote'.

This proved to be an amazing shot...as I had moved all around this magnificent Cathedral, capturing photographs from several angles, when, unexpectedly, Jesus on the Cross lit up in a beautiful, warm glow....for ten seconds....then returned to darkness. I happened to be in the right place at the right time and was able to capture two exposures of this amazing sight.

The uniquely designed 'Guggenheim Museum' in Bilbao, Spain. One of only five Guggenheim's in the world. It was fabulous.

And we still had some energy...after seeing so much !

These are only twelve of 2,349 photographs Linda and I captured in Spain. I'll share more in future posts. (Don't worry, I won't post all of them!)

Tomorrow we're announcing details of a very exciting adventure we're offering to our travel-ography.com friends. We're going to Minneapolis to see Beth Moore speak and inspire at the Target Center. I've heard her program is wonderful and usually sells out quickly, so we feel fortunate to have secured 40 tickets, a comfortable motorcoach bus, and good hotel rooms, in order that a bunch of us (including you !) can be part of this inspirational event on July 18th and 19th.

More details in tomorrow's post. Until then....goodnight.

Steve and Linda

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !

2007-12-18T23:25:00.000-06:00

The New York City party was great.

We really enjoyed our traveling companions and I think they were very pleased with their books and videos. That's, after all, what travel-ography.com is all about.

I did miss my deadline I had promised for releasing our schedule of trips for next year. Too many loose ends and we were way too busy at the photography studio.

Adventures that are being planned include:

Las Vegas around the first week of April. Gamble if you like but we're betting that you'll enjoy what we're planning, which is a trip based on discovering the Las Vegas strip without spending time at the casinos. There is so much to do and so much to see. We've been there dozens of times and Las Vegas remains one of my absolute favorite destinations (and I don't gamble)!

Boston over the 4th of July. The 'Pops' on the 4th by the Charles River is fantastic. What an historic and beautiful city, and where better to be on our nation's birthday. This will be a wonderful adventure.

Many others are in the works including Washington D. C., Chicago, New York City, Minneapolis, Branson, Rocky Mountains, and others.

Time just ran out on us and now we'll be away from a computer for a few days...so, we hope to post more detailed info shortly after the first of the year.

Happy Holidays !

Steve and Linda

All are Welcome !!!

2007-12-16T00:44:00.000-06:00

We've been working feverishly to get everything ready for our travel-ography.com New York City Release Date Party, which is scheduled for this coming Monday afternoon (Dec. 17th) at 4 p.m., with the premier showing of the DVD video of our just completed trip to NYC at 4:30 p.m.

All are welcome to stop by Steve Larson Studio in Grafton for cider and cookies and to enjoy the show. Plus, the travelers that went to New York with us will be able to pick up their beautiful Coffee Table Books, Photo Albums and DVD Videos designed just for them.

These travel-ography.com keepsakes turned out amazing (if I do say so myself) and I think they will be much appreciated by our traveling companions.

The books are spectacular and really capture the 'feel' of our trip.

The custom made song, which defines our DVD's, was just completed tonight (Sat.) and I'm pretty proud of that, as well.

So here's hoping in the midst of this busy holiday season, you can take a few minutes and join us for this fun event. We also will be releasing info on some of our travels we have planned for this coming year.

Remember, a travel-ography.com adventure would make a wonderful Christmas gift to share with someone you love.

Steve

'Take a Deep Breath....'

2007-12-12T08:40:00.000-06:00

'Take a deep breath.....and then exhale slowly.'

I can't tell you how many times I've had to call on that thought the past few weeks.

Between photographing countless young athletes holding basketballs, hockey sticks or striking a wrestling pose (which we enjoy doing, but must do quickly so their parents, family and friends can proudly wear those little sports buttons at the games)...photographing families for Christmas cards (that deadline is also looming!)...still taking dozens of high school senior pictures (more 'creative' than ever !)...we are very busy at the studio.

Plus, we've been working feverishly to get everything ready for our travel-ography.com New York City Release Date Party, which is scheduled for this coming Monday afternoon (Dec. 17th) at 4 p.m., with the premier showing of the DVD video of our just completed trip to NYC at 4:30 p.m.

All are welcome to stop by for cider and cookies and to enjoy the show. Plus, the travelers that went to New York with us will be able to pick up their beautiful Coffee Table Books, Photo Albums and DVD Videos designed just for them.

One little 'confession'.....I'm still writing the song for the DVD Video. I know...but it will get done.

Each video we produce from our travel-ography.com adventures features a song (personalized about our trip) we write and record . It's pretty fun !

Excuse me....I had to take another 'deep breath...and exhale slowly'.

We hope to see you at our party, as not only will we be sharing the New York City excitement and memories...but we will be releasing our travel-ography schedule for upcoming trips. Something many of you have expressed an interest in for possible Christmas gifts (a great idea !).

Monday, December 17th, at 4:00 p.m. at Steve Larson Studio in Grafton with the New York City video (which is 'G' rated) being shown at 4:30.

Everyone is welcome !

Steve and Linda

Radio City Christmas Spectacular...

2007-12-01T09:01:00.000-06:00

As I sit gazing out the window at the beautiful 'snow globe' weather conditions, my thoughts turn to the wonderful time we shared with our travel-ography.com group in New York City just 3 short weeks ago.

Which reminds me...to remind you...about tonight's television program on NBC (Channel 11 for folks in our area) at 7:00 pm.

It's the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular and it is the very show that was taped while we were in the audience with 6,000 other amazed guests (we even practiced cheering before the show).

As one member of our group so perfectly summed up the show, "I have never seen anything, and doubt I will ever again see anything, quite so beautiful and spectacular."

It should be well worth watching...tonight (Sat. Dec. 1st) at 7:00 on NBC.

As I promised on my last post, here's a little story which really ties our group to the show. Two of the young stars of the show were young boys, one about 10 and the other about 14. After the show, our group went to the stage door at the side of Radio City Music Hall to meet with a Grafton girl, Lisa Blanchard, who has been in the show for about 10 years...(yes, that's the same Lisa, who for the past few years was in charge of those delicious 'Wagon Masters' at West Side Drive In in Grafton).

Anyway, while waiting for Lisa, out the door came a young man, who I recognized as the young star in the show. He was with a woman (his mother), who confirmed this to me and I asked if he'd pose for a quick picture with our group. He seemed surprised, and thrilled, that a group of North Dakotans would like to include him in their picture. His mom said that we really 'made his day'.

Minutes later, after Lisa had joined our group, out comes the 14 year old and he posed for a photo with us, as well.

A couple of very nice young men, who we'll always remember and who probably will remember us for some time. Two young stars in a city of 8 million.

And Lisa...she is as beautiful as ever, and really delighted the group by going out with us for hors d' oeuvres and dessert after the show and sharing several 'Radio City' and 'New York City' stories with us. Thank You Lisa ! It was great seeing you again.

Enjoy the show tonight !

We will be announcing, in just a few days, our 'release date' party time for the coffee table books, DVD video and photo albums for our New York group. As always, everyone is welcome.

At that time, we will also release our preliminary schedule for our 2008 travel-ography.com adventures. Many of you have recognized that one of these trips would make a perfect Christmas gift...and we certainly agree!

Happy Holidays !!

Steve and Linda

Program Reminders from NYC.....

2007-11-28T17:30:00.000-06:00

Here are two program reminders of special interest to the group that just traveled to New York City with us....programs that should be enjoyable for all of us, as we enter into the 'holiday season'.

Tonight, on NBC, Al Roker (pictured below giving us the 'thumbs up', as we were watching him at his weather desk in NY) hosts the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center.

We saw the tree just after it was brought into NYC and put in the place where it will stand proud and beautiful during the holiday season. We were told it is the tallest tree ever to grace Rockefeller Plaza at a majestic 80 feet.

And there also was quite a story surrounding its discovery and selection.

Apparently, a neighbor sent photos of the tree in to the selection committee without telling the owners of the property the tree was on in Connecticut, I believe. When the committee member showed up to tell the man that the tree had been selected, the man had to tell him it wasn't his tree and they both went over to the neighbors to deliver them the surprise news and see what would happen next.

Long story short...the neighbors were flattered and came to the conclusion that the tree probably was close to the end of it's life and, therefore, said 'yes, you can have the tree for New York City and the rest of the world to enjoy'.

The second program note also involves our recently completed trip to the 'Big Apple'.

We were fortunate enough to enjoy the 'Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular' on the night when it was taped to be shown on NBC at a later date as a special to honor the famed hall and the Rockettes 75th Anniversary.

Well, that 'later date' is this weekend, as the one hour special will be shown on Saturday night, December 1st, on NBC. It was a spectacular show and one that I'm sure will really put you in the 'holiday spirit'.

Matt and Meredith from the Today Show were even there the evening we saw the show. After the show, I was able to get photographs of several members of our group with 3 of the 'stars' of the 'Spectacular'. I'll include a couple of the photos and a little story about them on my next travel-ography.com post.

(All above photos were taken on our trip...click on them to see a larger version.)

Happy Holidays !!!

Steve

'Happy Thanksgiving'

2007-11-21T22:58:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving !

We're still catching up following our fun filled four days in New York City with the travel-ography.com group. What a city!

Cheryl V. took the two photographs below showing the 'Big Apple' looking in two different directions from the breathtaking perspective of the top of Rockefeller Center.

We were in New York City on Veteran's Day, so as an added bonus, we were able to see the spectacular parade honoring our nation's veterans. The following photograph was shot as the parade wound down famous 'Fifth Avenue' (the same route today's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will take).

Here's hoping you and yours can enjoy this very special day in America and be among family and friends.

God Bless America....and....Happy Thanksgiving !

Steve and Linda

The 'Big Potato' ? .....

2007-11-15T11:51:00.000-06:00

We're back ! From our travel-ography.com adventure in New York City !

We maybe didn't make quite enough of an impact to change NYC from being called the 'Big Apple'....to the 'Big Potato' ....but we did show a lot of New Yorkers just how kind and generous....and fun!...a group from North Dakota can be.

Oh, and did I mention.....resilient ?

With Broadway theater shows on our mind, we landed at LaGuardia Airport at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.....only to find out that at 11:00 a.m. the stage workers were all going on strike, thus shutting down all of Broadway's productions until further notice.

Did we flinch.....yes. Did we fold.....heck no !

After mentally going over our options, I asked my cousin Sheila, who lives in Manhattan, and had spent much of the day with us showing us around her city, if she had any suggestions for an 'off-Broadway' show, since the news had only reported the strike to affect Broadway shows. She suggested a show she had personally seen three times, and at 1:00 a.m. Linda and I had located and purchased 12 very difficult to find scalper's tickets to the 'off-Broadway' play/musical called 'Altar Boyz'.

This little known 'gem' was terrific, blending a perfect mix of harmonious songs, with sidesplitting humor. It was an extremely well written, well produced production performed in an intimate little theater seating 360 very appreciative people.

Plus, it was only 5 blocks from our hotel. Just another of life's little situations where you can sometimes make lemonade when handed a lemon. Everyone on the trip was a very good sport about it and I think really enjoyed the show.

I'll share more of what turned out to be a fabulous trip on future travel-ography.com blog posts.

By the way, the photo of our group was taken by cousin Sheila, as we strolled through beautiful Central Park, just a couple of hours after landing in New York City.

As always, click on the photo to enlarge it, and click on the 'X' if you are reading this on email or on the 'back arrow' if reading this on our blog and you will be returned to the blog.

More later,

Steve

A Terrific Turn out....

2007-11-08T18:59:00.000-06:00

What a great turn out we had yesterday for our Duluth and the North Shore Drive Release Date Party.

Just about everyone who went with us on the trip stopped by the studio and enjoyed some coffee, cider and cookies (my mother-in-laws 'famous' chocolate chip cookies !), as well as some fellowship with their newly made friends from the trip.

It was great to see everyone and, especially gratifying to Linda and I, to see how much everyone enjoyed the photo albums, the coffee table books and the DVD video. After all, new friendships and lasting memories, in the form of photographs, is what travel-ography.com is all about!

One thing I noticed is that some of the folks were interested in some of the other travel-ography products from the trip that they didn't sign up for (ie: maybe they had chosen the book and now would like either the photo album or the video DVD, as well.

So, I thought I'd mention that these items would make great Christmas gifts from family or friends...and maybe, just maybe, you should drop some hints. We'd be glad to accommodate any orders of the images of our trip in any form (book, photo album, DVD, enlarged prints, calendars, etc.) and would do so in a timely fashion.

Just thought I'd mention this since these are very cool items and are being offered at very reasonable prices. Pictured below are some of the items.

Now it's off to New York City on another travel-ography.com experience! We'll share some of the highlights on this blog site when we return.

Steve

Release Date Open House....

2007-11-07T00:08:00.000-06:00

Celebrate with us this afternoon (Wednesday, Nov.7th) from 4:00 to 5:30 at Steve Larson Studio.

It's our Release Date Open House, as we deliver our Coffee Table Books, Photo Albums and Video DVD's to those who traveled with us to Duluth and the North Shore Drive in late September.

The premier showing of the DVD Video 'Duluth and the North Shore Drive' will take place at 4:30.

Coffee, cider and cookies will be served.....and All are Welcome !

Come see what travel-ography.com is all about.....we think you'll be amazed.

Steve and Linda

Nike Logo....

2007-11-03T16:07:00.000-06:00

I'm outside the other day photographing a young man by his car for his senior pictures, when we hear this unmistakable honking sound and look to the sky.

There, in all of nature's glory, is a flock of geese apparently advertising for 'Nike'.

Speaking of advertising, there are some really catchy and comical commercials out right now. A few that I find particularly amusing include; one for Avis and Garmin GPS...where a guy driving his car is directed to 'turn right at the next intersection' by this soft, pleasant feminine voice. To which, after getting this 'longing' look on his face, he blurts out "I love you". There is a painful silence, where the driver has an almost chagrined look on his face. Suddenly the silence is broken when the female voice, once again, matter of factly, states something like 'In one mile take the I95 exit and head south'. To which the relieved male driver says, "You're right, let's just keep it professional." A very catchy advertisement in my opinion.

A more upbeat and highly visual commercial that I have to watch every time it comes on is the Arby's ad, where two lab scientists get exciting over an Arby's sandwich instead of an amazing display of Irish Riverdancing by a line of lab monkeys. Watching those monkeys dance absolutely amazes me every time. Just watch their faces and their feet. A scream.

Then there's the Sears battery commercial on the radio, where 'Positive' and 'Negative' are carrying on a conversation. Part of it finds 'Positive' saying "What a beautiful, brisk morning." with 'Negative' responding "It's so cold I'm freezing my 'bolts' off." I almost drove off the road I was laughing so hard. Reminded me of an old cheer we used to shout in high school...'Nuts and Bolts...Nuts and Bolts...We got Screwed !'

I better switch topics. Although humor is on my mind, as I'm watching 'Saturday Night Live' hosted tonight by my favorite news anchor Brian Williams. The show is excellent. I usually don't watch SNL because it's on pretty late but tonight I'm watching for two reasons. First, because we gain an hour tonight, as we leave daylight saving time....and second, because we're going to be on the 'Saturday Night Live' set next weekend, as our travel-ography.com group heads to New York City. It's pretty unreal just thinking about it.

Also, I'll be watching tomorrow's New York City Marathon, which will be on NBC at 2 p.m. The footage of the race should show a lot of the very spots we'll be walking next weekend. Wow ! Including the finish at Tavern on the Green in world famous Central Park...just two blocks from the hotel we are staying in!

A quick bit of info on the marathon. More than 38,000 runners are expected to try navigate their way over the 26.2 mile course, which winds through all five New York City boroughs and over five bridges, with more than two million spectators watching. Hopefully they are all finished by the time we get there.

A quick sight we'll see in the park that will actually look pretty familiar to us North Dakotans.

This skating rink is located in Central Park, again, just a couple blocks from where we are staying.

I'll end this blog post by steering you to another blog....the one our son, Rob, is authoring. Go to www.roamingrob.com and see the first picture Rob has been able to post from his adventure in Indonesia. The internet was not sufficient in Indonesia to get photographs on his blog, but now that he has moved to Malaysia...voila...our first picture we've seen of him in two months. We think he looks like a happy, and younger, version of Tom Hanks in the movie 'Castaway'.

Happy travels,

Steve

New York in November....

2007-11-01T07:22:00.000-06:00

Eight days....and counting.

It always seems when you plan something exciting it seems so far off in the future. Then, suddenly, it's here. The future is now...or at least almost now, as our trip to New York City is only a week and a day away.

From the tranquil scenes in Central Park.....

.....to the undeniable rapid 'pulse of the city' culminating at Times Square.....

We plan on putting ourselves right in the middle of the action !

The last couple of times we've been to the 'Big Apple', I've seen this sign in the subway. And I can tell you, Gene Kelly couldn't have said it any better.

New York City....Here we come !

As a special bonus, we just received confirmation today that my cousin Sheila (an actual local, who lives in Manhattan !) will be joining us for part of our stay to make sure us North Dakotans 'fit in'. You'll love Sheila.

As always, click on any of the photos I have taken, and you can view them much larger. Then, simply hit the little 'x' (if you're reading this as an email message) or hit the 'back arrow' (if you are reading this on the travel-ography.com blog) to return to the message.

By the way, New York in November isn't all that is on our minds these days. In fact, the Duluth group will again take 'center stage' this coming Wednesday, Nov. 7th.

We're having an open house for about an hour at Steve Larson Studio to celebrate the release date of our Coffee Table Books, Photo Albums and Video DVD's from our recently completed adventure in Duluth and along the North Shore Drive.

The books, albums and video turned out fantastic and I'm sure all will agree that they make for some wonderful memories of our time together. After all, that's what travel-ography.com is all about!

The Release Date Open House is from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. this coming Wednesday, the 7th. The premier showing of the video, 'Duluth and the North Shore Drive' will be at 4:30.

The folks that traveled with us received special invitations, but everyone is welcome to stop by the studio on this special afternoon and see what travel-ography.com is all about. We'd love to see you there.

Steve and Linda

The 'Unexpected' in Central Park....

2007-10-23T14:02:00.000-05:00

It's just a little more than two weeks until our group, travel-ography.com, travels to New York City.

We have some terrific travelers going with us and we hope to visit as many of the 'must see' sights as 4 days and 3 nights will allow. However, sometimes it's the 'unexpected' sight or event that really provides a treasured memory of one's travels.

A couple of 'blog posts' ago, I mentioned that we will walk to Strawberry Fields in Central Park and see the memorial tribute that celebrates the life of John Lennon. It is a very simple and peaceful memorial that you could almost walk by without noticing. But every day, hundreds of folks do stop by and spend some time in this small portion of the park, just across the street from the Dakota Hotel, where the former Beatle was gunned down more than 26 years ago.

On that blog post, I added a photograph I had taken of the 'Imagine' stonework, where so many have laid roses and other mementos in tribute to Lennon. In the background of the photograph was an elderly man sitting on a park bench, appearing to be deep in thought.

More on this man in a moment.

The last time Linda and I were in New York City, we were strolling through Central Park on a beautiful November afternoon, when we came upon an 'event' of which we had no prior knowledge.

There, before us, was a middle aged man with a guitar, performing for a diverse group of people, who had gathered on a small hillside overlooking a serene lake, which was dwarfed by a beautiful backdrop of the skyscrapers of Manhattan looming in the background.

We found the music of this troubadour in the park incredible....but it was his stories, between songs, that were quite captivating. One such story followed the request from a young girl to play a Beatles song. Before playing the song, he told the crowd that there was someone very special among us....then he pointed over toward me. He continued by saying that the gentleman seated on the park bench (I was seated on the bench) was an instrumental figure in the history of music in America. He then stated that this man, sitting right next to Linda and I, was the man who brought the Beatles to America....Sid Bernstein.

Mr. Bernstein, we found out, was a big time music industry concert promoter and had, indeed, been the man who contacted Beatles manager Brian Epstein in 1963 in Liverpool, England and won him over by promising to put the Beatles in Carnegie Hall. Ed Sullivan, the host of the popular TV talent hour bearing his own name, found out about Mr. Bernstein's deal and signed the Beatles to perform on his show on that historic Sunday evening, February 9th, 1964. Three days later, the Beatles performed to a frenzied American crowd at Carnegie Hall, and Mr. Bernstein looked like a genius.

Anyway, after exchanging smiles and a polite hello, we watched as several people came over to talk to the elderly, gentle man, who brought the Beatles to America.

The next day we walked back and again listened to the guitar man in Central Park for awhile, before walking a few hundred yards up a wooded trail that led us to Strawberry Fields. The mood was somber, as people of all ages paused to reflect on the life, and death, of a musician, whose songs and lyrics had meant so much to so many.

I was photographing a couple of roses, that had been placed on the memorial, when I looked up and noticed, none other than, Sid Bernstein, sitting in quiet contemplation on a park bench just to the side of the memorial. Choosing not to disturb him, I quietly took the photograph shown below of 'the man who brought the Beatles to America', undoubtedly reflecting on the senseless loss of one of the worlds most revered musicians, as the 25th anniversary of Lennon's death drew near.

'The man who brought the Beatles to America'

A little bit about that guitarist, who became one of our 'unexpected' highlights of our trip to the 'Big Apple'. It turns our that he has become quite famous. His name is David Ippolito, but he is known locally as, 'That Guitar Man from Central Park". In fact, he has a very good web site called www.thatguitarman.com.

Ippolito has been performing impromptu concerts on a hill along side the scenic little lake in Central Park for the past 15 years, mostly on weekends. He is a charismatic vocalist and storyteller, and although he specializes in Beatles music, he sings songs from a wide variety of genres, including some he has written and recorded himself. I also recently read, although I didn't see him on TV, that he had won $64,000 on 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'. Apparently, he's talented and smart.

Anyway, just a little story on how the 'unexpected' often turns out to be a travel highlight. I hope we get to see him this November with our travel-ography.com group. If not, we'll probably run into something else 'unexpected' that will add to the memories of our trip.

Steve

'Top of the Rock'...

2007-10-16T21:36:00.000-05:00

The energy on the streets of New York City is unbelievable....'action' everywhere. Being there is truly an 'eye opening' experience unlike any other. If you like constant commotion. We do.

However, we have also found a place where one can temporarily escape the hustle and bustle and enjoy a spectacular view from high above the Manhattan streets. That place is Rockefeller Center.....850 feet above ground.....'The Top of the Rock'.

There's a certain peace at 70 stories above New York City and Linda and I were among the first people to enjoy the breathtaking views of the city when 'The Top of the Rock' reopened two years ago.

The Observation Deck was first opened when the Center opened in 1933, but was closed to the public in 1986. Two decades and $75 million later, the Top of the Rock reopened on November 1st, 2005, as a three floor panoramic experience.

Linda and I were there, just days after it reopened, and the photographs I'm posting were taken at that time. In fact, the 'experience' was so new, that the 'ground rules' hadn't quite been set (or at least weren't enforced very strictly) and Linda went a little higher than we were supposed to be allowed and captured the following photograph of some of the people enjoying the great view.

We will be visiting 'The Top of the Rock' with our travel-ography.com group in just a couple of weeks (Nov. 10th-13th).

Steve

It's Contagious...

2007-10-14T23:18:00.000-05:00

Did you ever notice how a smile is contagious? Or a yawn? Or singing? Dancing?

I'm sure you get the picture.

Just being NICE is also contagious. And it certainly isn't very difficult or doesn't cost much to be NICE. I discovered this simple premise at a very young age and it has served me well through the years. I've steered clear of many confrontations just by being NICE and I know I've received a great many favors because I was NICE to someone. It really isn't that hard to be NICE and the world becomes a much happier and better place if you are NICE.

It's one of my favorite four letter words.

That being said, I would be remiss not to mention the great fortune we had on our recently completed Duluth trip, as every tour guide, hotel worker, waitress, etc. were all extremely friendly, helpful and nice. It's something I think all of us on the trip noticed and were very appreciative of.

Take this gentleman for example.

He served as our guide when we went inside and up the spiral stairs to the top of the famous Split Rock Lighthouse. He not only looked the part, but he seemed genuinely happy in what he was doing. As I mentioned before, everyone we came in contact with was very NICE.

This has all been leading up to a special 'thank you' to our extremely NICE (and very competent, I might add) bus driver.....Don.

I don't know if he reads this blog or not, but his patience, sense of humor, willingness to offer help and suggestions and cooperation did not go unnoticed. To the best bus driver we could have asked for, on our very first travel-ography.com excursion, a big and sincere THANK YOU, Don.

Less than a month away !

The group that is going with us to New York City has less than a month to wait for a very exciting adventure into the most exciting city on Earth.
The 'pulse' of the 'Big Apple' is undeniable. From Times Square, to the Theater District on Broadway, to Central Park, to Museums, Restaurants, the Statue of Liberty, and did I mention 'shopping'....we'll do and see as much as possible during our 4 day 3 night stay.

Bring it on !!!

Much more about New York in the following posts. You can subscribe to this blog absolutely free simply by signing up at the top of the page.

Steve

Lost Travelers.....

2007-10-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

Hello, again.

You probably thought you had a 'lost blog writer' since I haven't entered a post for almost a week.

Truth is, we've been crazy busy photographing about 1,000 children and students this past week and then following up by carefully preparing all of these wonderful images and sending them off to our professional photo lab. It's a pretty big job....but certainly worth it.

In fact, just today a mother called from another school we had photographed and told me how appreciative she is that we have documented, by virtue of priceless photographs, her children as they have grown through the years.

She said the pictures have not always been 'perfect'....but have always been 'precious' (bumps, bruises, missing teeth, blemishes, braces, oversized glasses, etc. included). Now there's a mom with a great attitude and perspective on what school photographs are really all about and her call really warmed my heart.

This is one of my favorite school pics we took this year. I figured that since this is a travel blog I just had to share this photo. Who knows, this young man just may be our pilot on some future travel-ography.com adventure.

Now that you know what we've been doing, let me get to the title of this particular post, which is not 'lost blogger'.....but 'lost travelers'.

We continue, every day since our return from our Duluth trip, to hear positive comments on what a great time everyone had on our very first travel-ography.com adventure. And I must say, Linda and I had just as good a time as everyone else apparently did.

However, there was one element to the process that I must confess I wasn't really prepared for....that being the prospect of having some of our party get 'lost'.

It happened on our first stop on the second day, as we all hopped off the bus to enjoy the sights and sounds of the beautiful and powerful Gooseberry Falls, along the North Shore of Lake Superior. It was a magnificent morning, made even more so by the fact that the forecast had called for inclement weather.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying the various stages of the falls, taking photographs and hiking on an assortment of paths that all gave different perspectives to this awesome display of Mother Nature. A time had been set to reboard the bus and everyone, after enjoying fresh air and falling water, walked back at their own pace and got on board. Almost everyone!

I was one of the last ones to board, since I had ambitiously hiked quite far back into the woods to photograph a part of the falls that I new would be beautiful. At that point, I had shared the great view with two of our more 'adventuresome travelers'....Linda and Phyllis. As I hoisted my camera and tripod to my shoulder, I started back, while noticing that they went just a bit higher for an even better view. Assuming they would be following, I made it back in pretty good time and even stopped for a couple of other good shots along the way.

Once back on the bus, we took a head count and noticed we were two short. I knew which two.
Linda (wife) and I walked back down the trail but didn't see them. We searched two or three alternate paths but still no sign of them. Finally, just as we were going to call in 'Search and Rescue' (kidding !), there they were, a bit tired and a bit out of breath, but with big smiles on their faces. They had become lost after making a couple of wrong turns (and asking the wrong person for directions on how to get back). I didn't let on at the time, but I sure was relieved that nothing had happened to either of them and that the worst thing to come out of this slight misstep would be the gentle ribbing they would take from their fellow travelers on the bus. All ended well.

Although, I might ask you to look back on the previous post and note that, while I said 33 people were with on our trip, there are only 31 on the group photo by the big ship. Guess which two are missing. Once again, their 'adventuresome spirit' had separated them from the group. I must say, however, that Linda and Phyllis were a delight to have with us and because of this, I'm going to try 'photoshop' them in to the group photo. They'll be the ones wearing the 'blaze orange' or 'hiway department green'. Ha Ha. The trip wouldn't have been as fun without them.

I think the above photo I captured, shows why the adventuresome ones were so adventurous. As always, click on the photo to see a larger version, then hit the 'back' button to return to the blog....or if you are reading this in email, hit the X to return to blog.

By the way, Bob was missing for a few minutes at the Split Rock Lighthouse later that day, to the point where we had him paged. I must admit, Laurie and I were a little concerned for him too, but, alas, he had ventured to a better vantage point to get a good photograph of the lighthouse and was found shortly thereafter. It was kind of 'cool' to hear the man's voice on the loudspeaker blare throughout the grounds: "Would Bob of the travel-ography.com tour group please report to the motorcoach."

Later that night, Bob and Laurie again had left the group and went down by the harbor to see if they could see a big ship come in. After waiting over an hour, they finally saw faint lights approaching in the distance. Thinking of the rest of us, Laurie called the hotel and reported to us that a '1,000 footer', one of the largest ships on the lake, would be entering the harbor within minutes. Most of our group had just retired for the evening, however, Linda and I literally ran the three blocks to the harbor and made it just in time to share the remarkable moment with Laurie and Bob. When a '1,000 footer' comes in, especially at night, it's a pretty special sight.

I'll share more stories from our Duluth adventure in future posts.

New York in November is only one month away! And we have a great group going with us on this exciting 4 day and 3 night journey to the 'Big Apple'.

Ironic, that today I had planned to start posting a series of photographs from the last time Linda and I were in New York City, and the first one was going to be of the Strawberry Fields Memorial to John Lennon in Central Park. It turns out that today would have been the former Beatle's 67th birthday and to commemorate the event, Yoko Ono unveiled the Lennon Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The tower is a beam of light, radiating from a wishing well bearing the words "imagine peace" in 24 languages. The plan is for it to be lit each year between his birthday, Oct. 9, and the anniversary of his death on Dec. 8.

To see the 'Peace Tower' will be a priority of travel-ography.com.

Anyway, here's the photograph I took a couple of years ago in Central Park and it has quite a story attached to it. The man in the background is, none other than, the man credited with bringing the Beatles to America. I'll tell the complete story in an upcoming post.

We'll be visiting this site when we travel to New York City this November 10, 11, 12 and 13.

I can't wait !!!

Steve

It was the People !!!

2007-10-03T22:47:00.001-05:00

Amazing !

Our first travel-ography.com trip is over.

Thirty three of us journeyed to Duluth and up the North Shore Drive this past weekend. It was an absolute blast! I think everyone had a great time. I know Linda and I did.

We had wondered before the trip what our favorite part of it might be.

Would it be the spectacular fall colors that were at their peak this time of year?

Or how about the enormous ships that generate much excitement when they enter or leave the harbor in Duluth.

Maybe it would be the mysterious mansion or the lighthouses or the waterfalls or the gondola ride or the dining experience in Canal Park (the 'happening place' in Duluth).

Truth is...it was none of the above.

Although all the things we did were interesting and exciting, my favorite part of the first ever travel-ography.com experience was........the people!

Thirty three of us got along great, made new friends and shared some wonderful memories that will last a long, long time.

Yes, my favorite part of our first trip was easily the people we were with....and because of that, Linda and I will be leading many more travel-ography.com journeys in the future.

Thank you so much to everyone who was along and made this experience very special.

Steve

PS...I'll share more stories and photographs in the next few days. We're sort of busy with the other side of our business right now, as we're photographing over 1,000 students this week.

Whew !!!

Magnificent Morning !

2007-09-26T22:53:00.000-05:00

Wow !

We started this morning off with a visual feast of some of the most breathtaking beauty I've ever seen.

As we journeyed toward Walhalla at about 6:30 this morning, the sight of an enlarged, glowing harvest moon softly setting in the west captured our attention. After turning and heading west, this spectacular sight of the 'moonset' was playing out right before our eyes...right over the center of the road.

As I took this fantastic photograph of one of nature's beautiful, but rare, displays...I turned to the east and clicked the shutter again to show the stunning contrast, and beauty, of the morning sky.
Linda and I agreed that we were truly fortunate to have witnessed such a 'magnificent morning'.

My emotions have already been running rampant this month, as September has been very busy, exciting, and yet, difficult.
Two of our three children left for far off lands earlier this month and I'm still trying to adjust to them being so far away. Rob, who has been working with us at our photography studio, decided it was time to 'see the world' and departed for Bali, Indonesia with just a backpack, a computer and a camera. He plans to write and share photographs of all the wonderful places he will see. So far we've followed his progress on www.roamingrob.com and his adventures have been fascinating....like reading a good novel, where you just can't wait for the next chapter to begin. Only words so far, as pictures have been difficult to upload with the limited Internet capabilities in the region he is in.

Meanwhile, Abby, our youngest, accepted an offer to move to Logrono, Spain for a year and teach English to the Spanish students. She and her boyfriend, Ben, who is in the same program, left from the Minneapolis airport 10 days ago and I must admit, I had a pretty big 'lump' in my throat. I think the opportunity to immerse themselves in another culture and, not only teach, but learn, will be wonderful for both of them.

Rob's cat, Otis (who, by the way, did not go with in the backpack) seems confused. We keep leaving the house with a family member and coming home without them. I think he understands that they will eventually return but I know he misses them.

Thank goodness our oldest, Tony, and his wife April are still in the area (if you can call Minneapolis the 'area'). If fact they will be joining us in Duluth this weekend for our first travel-ography.com adventure. Tony was the first to leave the 'nest' a few years back when he accepted a position in St. Louis. At the time, that seemed like such a far away place.

Actually, as we watched our three children grow, we always hoped they would turn out confident and independent young adults. I guess they all three did. Quite ironic coming from a dad whose favorite moments found the five of us packed in our minivan traveling the country. In fact, we encouraged them to travel and see the world.

Please feel free to follow both Rob and Abby's exploits in the coming months. The websites are abbyinspain.com and roamingrob.com .

A couple words about the Duluth and North Shore Drive trip this weekend....I can't wait !!!

I think we'll have a great time, get some fantastic photographs, and make some new friends.

And, besides colorful trees, big ships, waterfalls and lighthouses, if my memory serves me correctly, we'll see hundreds of sea gulls.

There are sea gulls everywhere, even immortalized in artistic statues.

It should be a 'cool' trip.

Steve

Keeping our fingers crossed....

2007-09-22T12:15:00.000-05:00

Next weekend...the 28th, 29th and 30th of September...our very first travel-ography.com expedition will find us in Duluth and along the North Shore of Lake Superior enjoying the magnificent fall colors.

At least that's what we hope ! I know we can't do anything about 'Mother Nature' and her 'fickle' ways, but we sure are praying for nice weather....even though the long range forecast predicts cloudy, cool and rainy weather for our visit.

We'll have a great time either way !

A week ago, I was concerned that the autumn colors weren't going to cooperate. Then, a few days ago, the colors magically appeared here in Grafton. I took this shot as I was driving through our beautiful park.

Fall really is my favorite season.

Steve

Difficult Days....

2007-09-14T21:10:00.000-05:00

I promised on my last post, 13 days ago, that I would mention the changes that were taking place in our lives. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to find the right words to explain our situation.

My emotions have run the full spectrum these past two weeks.....and here's why.

Our son, Rob, who after finishing college and pursuing brief careers in several of this countries larger cities, including Minneapolis, St. Louis, Nashville and New York City, decided to return to Grafton and help us bring our photography studio into the 'digital era'.

Not trained in either cameras or computers, Rob immersed himself into available information on both fields, attending seminars, reading books and manuals and spending countless hours on the Internet, digesting a virtual wealth of shared knowledge on both topics.

He helped transform Steve Larson Studio from the limitations of a film based business to the exciting, unconfined world of digital technology. Our clients have been the biggest benefactors of Rob's new found knowledge and creative talents. However, good things don't always last forever.

About a year ago, Rob let us know that he was planning on pursuing a dream of extensive travel to various parts of the world to 'see what's out there'.

After months of intense mental, physical and organizational preparation, Rob was ready to embark on his journey and we dropped him off at the Minneapolis airport on Tuesday, September 4th. His destination was Bali, Indonesia.

It was difficult to say goodbye, but our sadness was tempered with our happiness for Rob and for what he would be seeing and experiencing in his travels. His plans are to record his journey through photographs and writing on his blog site www.roamingrob.com .

He will also serve as a valuable resource, as we expand our travel-ography.com trips to destinations other than the US and Canada. Rob's first two weeks have already been filled with unexpected adventure, as he has encountered difficulty posting to his blog and even emailing in an area of Indonesia that is somewhat 'information challenged'.

In fact, after three days of deep concern for him, as we followed news reports of several serious earthquakes in Indonesia this week, we finally heard from him yesterday and were relieved to learn that, not only was he OK, but he wasn't even aware of the earthquakes that had taken place.

As if Rob's adventure isn't enough to occupy our minds and prayers, we now prepare to drive our daughter, Abby, to Minneapolis this weekend, as she leaves for Spain on Monday. After spending the past year working in Maple Grove, near Minneapolis, she applied for and was offered a position teaching English to Spanish speaking students in Logrono, Spain.

I'll have more on Abby's journey in a later post.

After all this, Duluth seems like a relaxing destination. We're looking forward to our first travel-ography.com adventure on the 28th, 29th and 30th of this month.

Steve

PS...We'll be able to keep up with both Rob and Abby's adventures by following their blogs. www.abbyinspain.com and www.roamingrob.com

Season's Change....

2007-09-01T19:45:00.000-05:00

Life moves on....seasons change.

Labor Day weekend has always sent a strong signal to me that things are about to change. Summer is ending as autumn moves in. Crisper air...cool evenings...schools in session...footballs fill the air...and gardens are on their last hurrah.

Oh, and Linda, just today, has taken my 'raspberry picture' off display in our home for another year. I would object, but it wouldn't do any good...and I do like the photograph of beautiful autumn leaves that she put up in its place.

I'll post the raspberry photograph here....so I can go back and look at it on my computer any time, any season, and dream of those beautiful summer evenings and my prolific berry patch.

Change is inevitable...and, mostly, change is good for all of us.

We're facing some big changes in our lives in the next few days. I'll share more on my next post on this blog. Until then, think travel-ography.com and enjoy all that life has to offer!

Have a wonderful and safe Labor Day weekend.

Steve

A Great Group of Travelers...

2007-08-28T21:40:00.000-05:00

We have a wonderful group going with us on our first official travel-ography.com adventure....and it's only about one month away! Duluth is our destination and the beautiful north shore of Lake Superior should be spectacular the last few days of September (28th, 29th and 30th to be exact).

We'll see waterfalls, lighthouses, rugged shoreline, a mysterious mansion, and nature's splendor revealed in breathtaking autumn colors. And I really hope we get to see a big ship or two enter or leave the harbor.

About 40 of us will embark on this journey...and if you'd like...we could probably take a couple more of you with us (although, as our wonderful and travel wise 'Aunt Shirley' advised us, we are not going to 'overcrowd' the bus).

If you'd still like to go, call 701-352-1810 as soon as you can. Amazingly, we've easily surpassed our goal of travel companions and we still haven't advertised the trip other than on this website and word of mouth.

The cost of the trip is only $299 per person (based on double occupancy). Included in this price is your choice of a Coffee Table Book, Deluxe Photo Album or DVD Video filled with images of our trip. That's what travel-ography.com is all about!

Steve

Rats ! .....

2007-08-26T22:06:00.000-05:00

There's something about rodents, more specifically...rats, that just doesn't sit too well with Linda. In fact, all, or at least most, females have the same reaction when the furry little sewer dwellers are brought up in a conversation. More on this later.

On our recently completed West Coast trip we stayed in wonderful accommodations, mostly. From the upscale Marriott in San Francisco (walking distance from the ballpark) to the luxurious and historic Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, we were able to get beautiful and comfortable rooms by going 'online' and making reservations just a day or two in advance, as we traveled.

And, as a special bonus, we were able to get most of these rooms at about half the price of their advertised rates, simply by using Internet tools, such as priceline.com etc.

Our good fortune ran out one evening, about half way through our trip, as we wandered along the coastal highway a little too long and ended up pulling into San Luis Obispo later than we would have liked. Most of the motels were full, due to the fact that the state fair was in town. We grew more tired with each passing 'no vacancy' sign, until we finally pulled into the lot of a nice small chain motel on the edge of town.

As luck would have it, two young ladies behind the front desk informed us that one room remained unoccupied. Realizing we were in no position to negotiate a deal, we gladly paid the going rate, got our keys and headed down the hall looking forward to a good night's sleep. After inserting the key and opening the door, we were in for quite a surprise (although not as much as the present occupants). Yes, the room was already rented and the German lady must have said something to that effect, as she jumped up from the bed and tried to shut the door. Her husband, or male companion, was equally intrigued by this late night intrusion, as he raised his voice from the shower wondering what the commotion was all about. We quickly apologized, in English, and hurried down the hallway back to the front desk.

There, an embarrassed young lady, who informed us this was her first week on the job, admitted to making a mistake and giving us a room already occupied. However, if we could tolerate a 'smoking' room, they did have one other room we could rent for the night. Our options were limited, so we decided to abandon or usual standards and accept the 'smoking' room.

As Linda prepared for bed in the bathroom, I dropped a quarter on the floor and it rolled underneath the bed. Upon dropping to my knees to retrieve it, I was shocked to see this little, fresh pile of mouse turds underneath my side of the bed. Quickly and quietly I did a thorough check of the mattress and box spring to see if there were any holes. I also checked under the covers, under the cushions of all the furniture, and along the walls and corners of the room. I even checked in the small fridge and microwave.

Convinced we were in a room without rodents, I decided that if we were to get some sleep, without having to continue our search for accommodations in the middle of the night, it would be better if I didn't tell Linda about my discovery under the bed. We both slept 'OK' but once on the road Linda did tell me that she felt the motel was rather 'dirty'.

In complete contrast, our rooms the rest of the trip were clean and beautiful ...including the most modern room we've ever stayed in at the Marriott 'Gaslamp Quarter' in San Diego...right across the street from the ballpark!

Speaking of ballparks, which were the focus of our trip, Angels Stadium in Anaheim was to be our final stop before returning home. Unbelievably, as we were getting ready in our hotel room in LA that morning, the first local news story on TV was about the 'rat infestation problem' at Angels Stadium. It seems that the food vendors were waiting until the morning after the games to clean up and rats were moving in during the night to take advantage of the situation.

This was rather disturbing to Linda, although she still consented to attend the game with me that evening. However I did notice that after wearing sandals to all the other games on the West Coast, this evening she wore heavy socks and tennis shoes. And, although we both said that we probably would go without any ballpark food after seeing the TV report, we couldn't resist a fresh strawberry malt from a unique vendor called Ruby's Diner.

Only after convincing ourselves that rats probably don't like ice cream.

Steve

Hollywood 'Beauties'...

2007-08-22T21:44:00.000-05:00

Hi again.

This week we've been sharing some of the highlights of our recently completed 10 day trip to the West Coast. The primary focus of our travels was to see 5 more big league baseball parks in our quest to see them all (We're at 21 and counting!)

Many people (mostly females) wonder how Linda enjoys using her vacations visiting ball parks. I think she loves it! First of all, we get to the games early and explore as much of the park as we can before taking our seats. Most of these ball parks are absolutely beautiful and are filled with a lot of cool and interesting things.

Me in front of a 'cool' oversized glove in San Francisco.

We always meet interesting people, who find what we're doing quite fascinating and want to hear about the other stadiums we've seen. In fact, just 'people watching' is a rather engaging hobby. And we also explore the area around the ball parks (sometimes not so safe...but we seem to survive).

And...to make our travels even more enjoyable for both of us, we are open minded and enjoy diversity during the day, seeing the sights of the cities we are in.

For example, while in LA, we took a tour of Hollywood and actually saw some 'stars'. While walking along 'Hollywood Boulevard', we stumbled upon a large crowd of very excited people in front of the world famous Kodak Theater (where the Academy Awards are held). Upon joining in the excitement, we found out Michelle Pfeiffer was receiving her 'star' on the prestigious 'walk of fame' right in front of us. We pressed closer and saw her graciously signing autographs for a 'mob' of fans. Suddenly she turned and headed for shelter, while waving to the throng of admirer's. My 'paparazzi instinct' took over and I fired off some shots with my camera, while being jostled about by others with the same idea.

I didn't get any real good 'face shots' (like the one above that somebody else must have taken)...but I did get a shot the tabloids might be interested in, because (as I was told by a young Asian girl, who was quite a Pfeiffer fan...'That guy with a hand on her butt is NOT her husband!). Ahh.... the life of a bodyguard.

We also saw Paris Hilton drive by....and Lou Ferigno (the Incredible Hulk).

But I gave my camera to a couple of young girls from France and was photographed with the most beautiful 'star' I saw in Hollywood......Lucky me !

Only 4 spots left for the Duluth trip....call 701-352-1810 if you'd like to join us.

Steve

'Splash Zone...'

2007-08-20T20:55:00.000-05:00

So you probably already heard, that while following the Giants and Barry Bonds down the coast from San Francisco to LA to San Diego in his quest to become the all time home run leader, we took a break from the games for one night and went to San Diego's Sea World.

Yes, that's the night Bonds tied the all time HR record. We were sitting in Sea World watching Shamu, while Barry hit the 'big one' less than 5 miles away. It didn't bother me a bit.

Shamu was sensational !

Actually, we saw the dolphin show first and the craziest thing happened. This nice young family was picked from the crowd to participate in the show.

First, the mom, while being introduced to the crowd, stumbled and fell backward off the rock she was sitting on and almost ended up in the water. How clumsy and....how embarrassing....and how comical for the crowd.

Then the little boy, at the coaxing of the trainer, almost jumped in with the dolphins with all his clothing on and no life jacket. The trainer was noticeably shaken, as he said most kids shy away or even run when told to jump in. Anyway, he caught the little fellow and all was well. Really, the trainer just wanted the youngster to feed the dolphin some dead fish...which he did without flinching.

However, the trainer then suggested the boy wipe his fish slimy hands on his own shirt and pants. Which the boy did...and which the mom and dad caught on their cameras. The mom, however, leaned off the rocks too far and suddenly fell into the water to the horror and amazement of her husband, the Sea World staff and the crowd of more than 3,000.

Worse yet, the dad shouted that she couldn't swim....which was quite obvious while watching her flail in the water. Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, a dolphin leaped out of the water right over the top of her. She looked horrified as the trainer and a couple of staff members tried to coax her to shore. Just when all appeared totally out of control and she was about to go under, a voice boomed from the PA system that she was a part of the show.

Linda and I, along with most of the crowd, had been completely fooled by this great performance.

Shamu Rocks ! was even more sensational...but I must tell you, when they tell you the first 13 rows are the 'Splash Zone', you should definitely believe them. Simply amazing how these huge whales can be trained to splash the spectators time and time again.

It sure was fun to watch from the 20th row !

(As always...to enlarge the photographs I've taken, simply double click on the image...then hit the back arrow at the top of the screen to get back into the blog. It's that easy.)

More on our West Coast travels in the next post.

By the way, there are still a few seats left on our travel-ography.com Duluth and North Shore Drive trip on September 28-29-30. Only $299 per person (based on double occ.). Quite a deal for the beautiful scenery we'll see from the comfort of a luxury motorcoach.

Steve

West Coast wonders....

2007-08-19T22:11:00.001-05:00

Hi,

This week I'd like to share some of the highlights of our recently completed West Coast trip.

From traveling down the California Coastal Highway #1 from San Francisco to LA to San Diego....photographing, by chance, Michelle Pfeiffer in Hollywood....and getting caught up in the wild world of Barry Bonds attempting to break the all-time homerun record...we had a blast !

As we traveled down the coast....we did so in a brand new Chrysler 300 (we were supposed to get a compact car but the rental company was all out of them so they 'upgraded' us, at no extra charge, to this very nice midsize Chrysler....which, by the way, came in pretty handy as we maneuvered our way through 8 lanes of traffic(on one side...16 lanes total !) in the metropolitan areas in safety and comfort.

We saw a lot of great sights along the coast, including the magnificent and rugged coastline of Pebble Beach and Carmel and Big Sur. As we took a break and strolled along the ocean we noticed this interesting sight down along the beach.

Must be some sort of 'visual social commentary' on the difference in interests between guys and girls. We thought it was comical.

As beautiful as the coastline and beaches were....one couldn't escape the 'smog' as we passed through Los Angeles.

By the way, I now have driven right through the heart of most of the countries largest cities, including New York City (downtown Manhattan in a green Jeep among all those crazy yellow cabs!)....Chicago (where we actually pulled our minivan over and asked a cop, who was sitting in his squad car eating a doughnut, directions to Wrigley Field.)....Washington, DC (which was probably the worst since the roads run in the shape of a pie rather than parallel.)....St. Louis, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Miami, Denver, Cleveland, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Minneapolis and many others...and now, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. Quite a contrast from the long drives through North Dakota, where you can sometimes go for miles without even seeing another car.

More on our wonderful adventure to the West Coast in my next post. By the way, Linda has been out in Seattle the past five days in a reunion with her three college roommates. One of her roommates is married to a coach of the Seattle SeaHawks football team and she invited the other girls out. At last report they are having a wonderful time. She's really becoming a 'West Coast Girl'.

Steve

Trying Times....

2007-08-16T21:52:00.001-05:00

This travel-ography.com blog is meant to be upbeat and positive...and to inspire all of us to travel together and see the sights of this wonderful country and world we live in.

With that thought in mind, it has been difficult to compose blog entries of late, since there seems to be an abundance of 'bad news' capturing the headlines. The tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis, the trapped miners in Utah, the powerful earthquake in Peru, the unstable housing and stock markets, and, of course, the war on terror affect all of us in one way or another. Through prayer, we hope we can ease the burdens of those who are especially troubled in these trying times.

On a positive note, I'm happy to report that the first two travel-ography.com trips are going forward, as scheduled. In fact, the November 10-11-12-13, New York City trip is full and final details are being worked on with an itinerary due to be released in about a week. This is one of our favorite places we have ever traveled to...and New York is very nice in November.

The Duluth and North Shore Drive trip on September 28-29-30, is just a little over a month away and we've got a great group going with, who are going to enjoy some beautiful fall foliage and other interesting sites in this wonderful area of Minnesota. There are still 6 spots open if you'd like to join us. The cost is only $299 ppd. (per person double occupancy). I think we'll have a great time !

Finally, I have to share with you an experience from my 'other job'....as photographer at Steve Larson Studio. We're right in the middle of high school senior season and I sometimes find myself in some rather interesting situations. Such was the case earlier this week, when I was called upon to photograph a young man in his work atmosphere. He wanted to be photographed at his brother's drive-in 'flipping a burger'. We got the shot...and then I ended up on the 'other end' of the camera, as I was bestowed the 'honor' of wearing the 'hamburger hat'.

Pretty cool, huh?

Here's hoping your days are filled with 'good things'.

Steve

Back from Vacation...

2007-08-09T08:42:00.000-05:00

Sorry....it's been a while since my last post on this site...but we just returned from a wonderful 10 day vacation.

Linda and I, in search of future travel-ography.com destinations, flew into San Francisco, rented a car, and traveled down the California coast.

Beautiful AT&T Park in San Francisco overlooking the bay.

Baseball parks were the primary focus of the trip, as we went to games in all five big league stadiums in California. An added, and somewhat unexpected, bonus was getting caught up in the wild and crazy world of Barry Bond's pursuit of baseball's immortal Home Run record. We were at games in San Francisco, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and San Diego where Bonds was only one HR short of tying Aaron's long standing record. He was revered in San Francisco and despised in LA and San Diego...and we were right in the middle of it, as impartial observers. It was pretty cool. Crazy scene as 'fans' wait for a chance to retrieve the 'historic ball'.

By the way, despite our 'opportunity'....we didn't witness baseball history, as we took a break from the games to go to San Diego SeaWorld one evening. Yes, we were watching Shamu, the whale, while Barry was hitting the record tying HR about 5 miles away. For the record...I'll take the Shamu performance.

I was set to capture 'history' through the lens...but Barry's bat broke.

We had a terrific time... but now it's back to work.

Steve

Phenomenal Performance !!!!

2007-07-26T22:31:00.000-05:00

Les Miserables (School Edition)

I know I've mentioned before that even though we love to travel, often times some of the best stuff is found right in your own 'backyard'. Such was the case last night when we traveled to Grand Forks to join good friends for dinner and a high school theater production.

Now, I'm kind of a 'theater nut' and I love to attend shows of all kinds in all places....and I've certainly had more than one 'goosebump experience', when the show captured my imagination and fueled my emotions to the point of creating a difficult to describe experience. From small dinner theaters to extravegant Broadway productions, we've enjoyed everything from 'grass roots' to highly acclaimed professional productions....

.....and last night's performance by a bunch of talented area high school students just might have topped them all !

Granted, Les Miserables is the most powerful musical theater on the planet. But this group of young people....the SPA, or Summer Performing Arts Company....took a difficult production and turned in a magical performance by any standards. They far exceeded expectations. They literally stirred the soul with their passion for what they were doing.

And voices....unbelievable ! Les Miserables is a profound musical, with wonderful, but challenging music. And......there are at least ten or twelve leads, both male and female, and several other smaller parts that also require the message to be sung. Every person on stage nailed their part....their character. All voices were good, some were great and some were fabulous !

I could go on and on...but I hope you get the point by now. Although we're planning on doing a lot of travel, hopefully with some of you, in the next few years....don't overlook the wonderful things to see and do right here in our own 'backyard'.

One final thought. There were a couple of defining moments for me at last night's production. At the dramatic conclusion of the show, I, along with everyone else in the intimate little theater in Red River High School, literally leapt to our feet, as one, to give this talented group of performers, by virtue of long and loud applause, the praise they so richly deserved.

The other defining moment. Earlier in the show, as Act 1 concluded, I almost jumped to my feet with applause...but caught myself. It was only intermission. A standing ovation at halftime ? I certainly felt like it and I could tell others did also....but in all the years I've attended theater productions....never has anyone received a standing ovation at intermission.

I should have done it.

Steve

Two Great Trips !

2007-07-24T22:35:00.000-05:00

A Progress Report....

We are very busy finalizing plans for the two upcoming travel-ography.com trips we're going on. While most of the key items, ( ie: hotel rooms, transportation, trip highlights ) are pretty well taken care of, there are always some 'loose ends' to tie up.

While a lot of really 'excited and fun' people are signed up to go with us, there are still some spots available for both the Duluth-North Shore Drive weekend and the New York City trip.

Amazingly, we haven't advertised either trip other than by 'word of mouth' or through this website. It would be so cool if we filled both trips without even having to advertise.

By the way, since this is just the beginning of our new venture, we are limiting the number of travelers going with us to a manageable size. After all, we want everyone to have a great time so they'll want to go with us on future trips.

We'll keep you updated and informed on all our travels and travel plans through this website. If you are not already getting the free subscription, please sign up in the box on the left side on our site travel-ography.com.

With all the travel destinations we are considering for next year....a new contender emerged this past weekend. Chicago !

Linda and her two sisters and brother spent the weekend in Chicago with their parents, helping them celebrate their anniversary. They had a wonderful time and suggested it would be a great place for a travel-ography.com adventure.

My excitement this weekend was trying to keep up with my raspberry patch. I think I've picked over 40 quarts this year. Mmmmmm.

Steve

New York, New York

2007-07-19T21:29:00.000-05:00

travel-ography.com is pleased to announce that we have set a date for our trip to New York !

We're going to 'the Big Apple' November 10-11-12 and 13 (Saturday through Tuesday). This is a limited number trip, since we are putting it together kind of quickly, so I would guess that the spots will go kind of fast.

We'd sure love to have you with us.

Cost is $1,275 plus airfare. If you need help getting a flight, we have secured some seats on Northwest out of Grand Forks for $485.

We're going to do all the cool things there are to do in New York City and have a great time. I'll publish more details this weekend, as I have a very big wedding, with special challenges, to photograph tomorrow, so I'll be out of town.

Stay tuned.

Steve

Duluth - Preliminary Itinerary

2007-07-16T20:33:00.000-05:00

I'm a poet and don't even know it.

Preliminary Itinerary sounds like a work of literary significance....well, at least a tongue twisting rap song title. But here it is, as promised, our first look at our Duluth and North Shore Drive trip day by day.

Friday, Sept. 28, 2007

8:00 a.m. Depart from Steve Larson Studio - Grafton (Plenty of free parking in the back).
(Possible other pick up points along the way.)

Noon Stop for lunch (on your own).

3:00 p.m. Tour of Historic Glensheen Mansion in Duluth.

5:00 p.m. Hotel Check In - The Suites at Waterfront Plaza (Our home for both nights.)

6:00 p.m. Walking Tour of Canal Park

7:00 p.m. Dinner (on your own) at Grandma's Saloon and Grill (Or wherever you choose.)

Evening Free Time (Movie theater....and IMax theater both within a short walk.)

Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007

A.M. Warm Breakfast at The Suites (included).
Walking Tour of Canal Park

10:00 a.m. Board Motorcoach and Depart for North Shore Drive up to Lutsen.

Noon Ride the Summit Chalet Tram and enjoy lunch (included) at the top.
This point near Lutsen should provide a spectacular view of the lake and the
fall colors.

3:00 p.m. Split Rock Lighthouse Tour

4:00 p.m. Gooseberry Falls State Park

Dinner On your own. (Several dining options in Canal Park area.)

Evening travel-ography.com 'Ice Cream Social' (Otherwise, on your own.)

Sunday, Sept. 30, 2007

A.M. Warm Breakfast at The Suites (included).

10:00 A.M. Tour of S.S. William A. Irvin Ore Boat Museum

Noon Lunch (on your own).

1:00 P.M. Load and depart from Duluth for ride home on luxury Motorcoach.

A Couple Weeks after our trip : Receive your choice of a Coffee Table Book, a Deluxe Photo Album, or a Video DVD....all filled with images of our recently completed trip.

All this for only $299 ppd (per person based on double occupancy).

We'd love to have you and your friends and family join us. All you need is a $50 deposit to reserve your spot, with full payment due by Monday, August 27th.

Steve

Autumn in Duluth....

2007-07-11T22:35:00.000-05:00

Plans have been finalized ! We're going to Duluth and the beautiful North Shore Drive !

We have a luxurious motorcoach bus...a top rated hotel in a great location...and three days of breathtaking beauty, as we head to Duluth and travel along the North Shore Drive.

This first travel-ography.com trip is scheduled for Friday-Saturday-Sunday, September 28-29 and 30 and we hope you'll be with us.

Cost of the trip is $299 ppd (per person based on double occupancy).

So far, almost half of the seats are spoken for. To reserve your spot, please email us at stevelarsonstudio@yahoo.com or call 701-352-1810. A $50 deposit per person will guarantee your reservation.

Departure time and location and a complete itinerary will be posted on this site soon. Everything is scheduled and confirmed but I haven't had time to write out a complete itinerary due to the fact that it's high 'berry season' in our backyard.

Please observe 'my assistant' and myself busy in our backyard raspberry patch trying to keep up with our 'bumper berry crop'.

This evening we harvested 12 quarts of delicious, fresh raspberries. That makes a total of 24 quarts since Sunday, which was the official start of this year's picking. That's a lot of berries for just a small garden. These are special imported bushes and they are very prolific. We are sharing the 'fruits of our labor' with neighbors and friends and so far everyone seems very happy...with the exception of a couple of squawking birds, who feel we've invaded 'their' berry patch. Oh well, there's certainly enough for everybody.

Steve

Wonderful Mid-week (end) !

2007-07-05T21:18:00.000-05:00

Here's hoping everyone had a wonderful 4th of July holiday. We sure did ! Although it was mid-week, it felt like a weekend to us, as we were able to travel down to the Twin Cities and celebrate our nation's Independence with all three of our children and our daughter-in-law.

We saw two great fireworks shows....in downtown St. Paul on the 4th, with what seemed like a couple hundred thousand people....and at Canterbury Park on the 3rd, where we took in the races and, along with about 12,000 others, saw a fireworks display unfold right before our eyes. It almost seemed like our own private show and it was awesome !

My betting wasn't so awesome, however. Guess which horse I had my money on in this photo finish I shot, while perched along the rail right at the finish line....right....I had the horse with the jockey with the red cap on....who, as you can see....lost by a nose (or was it a whisker). Oh, well, lucky I'm not a very big bettor ($2) so we still had money for things like food and gas.

The Twin Cities is a great destination and travel-ography.com will be putting together a couple of trips to Minneapolis-St.Paul sometime in the future.

In keeping with the theme of this beautiful country of ours, I received an email today from one of our travel-ography.com subscribers and it's so cool I just have to share it with you. Thank you Marilyn !

Click on this

....and make sure your volume is up on your computer, have a 'little bit' of patience, and sit back and enjoy the show. You'll see that one of the featured places in this beautiful show is where we are going September 28-29-30....the Split Rock Lighthouse on the North Shore of Lake Superior. We sure hope you can join us.

Steve

Happy 4th of July !

2007-07-03T08:43:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July !

The Duluth and North Shore Drive trip is set for September 28-29-30. Call us at 701-352-1810 or email us at stevelarsonstudio@yahoo.com and we'll save you a seat on the motorcoach.

Steve

'Aunt Shirley Syndrome'

2007-06-27T22:10:00.000-05:00

travel-ography.com continues to be a 'hot topic'. No matter where we go, people are commenting about this new direction we're taking our photography business. Everyone is so supportive.

One recurring question, besides where are we going and when, is how did you get so interested in travel? My response......'Aunt Shirley Syndrome'.

To explain: I have an aunt, who was born and raised in the very small town of Holt, Minnesota. 'Aunt Shirley' moved to Minneapolis as a young, independent woman and had a very successful business career with a major Minneapolis firm. Unmarried and having no immediate family of her own, she embraced her larger family, consisting of the families of her brothers and sisters, including nieces and nephews and their families and children. 'Aunt Shirley' has always been thought of as kind and generous and she is very well respected by everyone in the family.

'Aunt Shirley' also is a big time traveler. For as long as I can remember, we have been receiving postcards from exotic and far away places that one usually only reads about. We'll turn the card over and, sure enough, there will be a greeting and a brief description of the adventure followed by 'Aunt Shirley's' signature at the bottom. These unexpected messages always brought a sense of excitement and wonder and really 'made our day'.

To this day, her travels continue. Usually with a companion or two, sometimes a member of her 'extended family'. In fact, just this past year, at the age of 75, 'Aunt Shirley' and a family member traveled to India to see the Taj Mahal and other mystical sights. How do we know ? We have the postcard we received showing 'Aunt Shirley' perched high atop an elephant.

She's somewhat of a legend in our family...and I've always admired her adventurous spirit. So if we've been 'bitten by the travel bug' let's just call our malady...'Aunt Shirley Syndrome'.

We can only hope that 'Aunt Shirley' will be able to join us on some of our adventures, as we guide our business into this new direction we call travel-ography.com.

Sometimes, one doesn't have to travel very far from home to see some 'pretty cool' things. For example, we took in the Fargo, ND Air Show about 10 days ago and were 'wowed' by some fantastic flying. In the above photograph, I captured what was called the Heritage Flight...featuring a P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft, WWII vintage, and an A-10 Thunderbolt combat aircraft, Gulf War to present, flying side by side saluting all the heroes who have fought so bravely for our freedom. It was quite a sight.

Then the crowd was captivated by the world famous precision flight team, the Blue Angels,
who put on a terrific performance. We took the following shot, as four of the six F/A 18 Hornet fighter jets flew overhead in close formation.

As always, simply click on the photograph to enlarge it...then click on the 'back' arrow to get back to this site. This next photograph caught the 'team' breaking out of a tight formation and heading in separate directions.

Finally, one doesn't even have to travel to Fargo to find interesting sights. Last summer, while Linda and I were in Alaska, Rob was in Grafton managing the studio...and...making sure Linda's flowers had plenty of water during a very hot July. The following slide show features the flowers that Rob photographed and kept alive....and proves that sometimes there's plenty of beauty in your own backyard. Just press 'play' and enjoy.

North Shore in Autumn

2007-06-23T20:28:00.000-05:00

Fall colors....here we come !

The last couple of times we have been in Duluth and along the North Shore, it has been either spring or summer. I am really looking forward to this trip we have planned in September.

While this area was very nice in both spring and summer, in autumn, the beauty of nature should unfold in front of us in a spectacular way.

We went so far as to slightly alter Mother Nature the last time we were there, as Rob took the following scene we photographed of one of the popular waterfalls, and changed the color on the computer.

So the scene that looked like this....

Ended up looking like this......

Ahhh....the magic of computers.

Although you can never guarantee the weather conditions, I think we'll see the real deal this September 28, 29, and 30. Sure hope you can join us.

Steve

A couple more images....

2007-06-20T16:57:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple more images we captured in the Duluth and North Shore Drive areas. When we travel there this September, we'll see sights like these and much more, including the much talked about Glensheen Manor, former home of the Congdon family.

Below, is the world famous Aerial Lift Bridge that allows giant freighters and ships to pass through into and out of the harbor. There's always 'action' at the harbor.

This is one of the most beautful, and famous, landmarks of the North Shore Drive of Lake Superior....the Split Rock Lighthouse.

Simply click on the photograph to enlarge it on your screen....then hit the 'back' arrow on the upper left of your screen to get back into the 'blog'.

We're getting very excited about going back. We hope you can join us on September 28, 29 and 30.

Details to follow.

Steve

1st travel-ography.com trip - Duluth and the North Shore

2007-06-18T21:34:00.000-05:00

Duluth and the North Shore Drive

Marvel at the vivid autumn colors, as we travel to Duluth, Minnesota and take the scenic North Shore Drive the last three days of September...Friday, Saturday and Sunday the 28th, 29th and 30th.

We chose this, as our first travel-ography.com trip, because of the wonderful times we have had there the past couple of years, even though we weren't able to time our visits during the spectacular autumn season.

This should be the most beautiful time to visit this scenic and historic area and we'd certainly like you to join us.

We're finalizing details and in a couple of days we'll confirm the itinerary and cost of the trip.

In the spring of 2005, our son, Rob, and I attended the Minnesota Professional Photographers State Convention and Seminar in Duluth. During some free time we were able to catch many of the hilights of this very interesting city and area. We found the scenery to be wonderful, even though we weren't really there at the 'right time of the year'.

We took all of the photos in the above collage and I'll share some more of the images we captured in the following couple of posts.

I can't wait....here's one of a waterfall just a few miles north of Duluth on the North Shore Drive.

Remember, at travel-ography.com, we plan to document all of our travels through the lens of our cameras and provide you with either a beautiful coffee table book, a stylish photo album or a fun filled video....your choice....so you can share your experience with others shortly after you return home.

More Duluth and North Shore talk and photos on the next post.

Take care,

Steve

Breathtaking View in Vegas.

2007-06-13T19:43:00.001-05:00

Welcome back to travel-ography.com, where we are putting the finishing touches on a couple of upcoming trips that we encourage you to join us on. The last week of September we will be traveling in a plush motorcoach to the North Shore of Lake Superior to experience the fabulous fall colors that virtually become a visual feast for those fortunate enough to be there at the right time. Lighthouses, waterfalls, rugged shoreline and welcoming seashore communities are some of the other highlights of the trip.

Then, in early November, we're trying to put together a tour to New York City. The 'Big Apple' is bustling with energy this time of year, as they get ready for the upcoming holiday season. A guided tour of the city, Broadway Theater productions, Central Park and Radio City Music Hall are just some of the highlights of this trip.

We'll have details, as far as dates and costs, posted on this site within the next few days. We sure hope you can join us....and remember....shortly after we return, you'll receive a beautiful coffee table book, photo album or video of the trip so you'll be able to show others your exciting adventure.

Now, following up on the previous post where I promised to show you one of the spectacular sights of Las Vegas. We rode up the Eiffel Tower in front of Paris and from the observation deck captured the following photographs.

Now that's the 'Magic of Las Vegas'.

Until next time,

Steve

Vegas....Baby !

2007-06-12T22:51:00.000-05:00

Las Vegas......'much more than gambling'.

One of our favorite places in the country is the Las Vegas Strip... and we were somewhat surprised to see that on the returned surveys Vegas received a 'luke warm' reception as far as places you'd like to travel to.

We've been there dozens of times in the past few years, mostly because Vegas hosts the biggest and the best photography conferences in the world. Our favorite place to stay on the strip is Bally's. The price is reasonable but the main reason we stay there is location - location - location !

Located right in the heart of the action, Bally's is next door to the Paris Resort and Casino. In fact, because they are both owned by the same group, if you stay in one, you can take advantage of all the amenities of the other one, as well. Paris is a very upscale property and, as Bally's guests, it offers some special surprises. Not the least, is the Eiffel Tower replica...pictured above from our Bally's room window during the day...and below from our window at night.

Right across the street (Las Vegas Boulevard) is my favorite place in all of Vegas....the magnificent Bellagio, with a huge man made lake that features a spectacular water dancing show every half hour. It is so cool...and it's free ! I have to see it several times whenever I'm in Vegas.

For just a few dollars, you can ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower and get a truly 'breathtaking' view of Vegas...including the water show at the Bellagio.

I'll show you those unbelievable images on the next post....so stay tuned to this travel news letter called travel-ography.com ..... and if you haven't signed up for the free subscription at the upper left of the website, please do so now.

Until next time,

Steve

Don't forget the ( - ) dash !

2007-06-11T12:40:00.000-05:00

travel-ography.com Don't forget the ( - ) dash !

As positive and enthusiastic comments continue to come in, regarding our announcement just two weeks ago concerning the change in focus of our photography business, we encourage you to share this site with others who you think would love to travel.

When sharing the website name....please don't forget the ( - ) dash ! You can't get on the site unless the ( - ) dash is included.

Now I'm sure Webster has dozens of definitions of 'dash'....but the one I prefer, and find so profound, is the following: 'On headstones, that little, seemingly insignificant, line between the year of our birth and the year of our death that represents all the time that we were able to spend, and all the things we were able to do, in our lifetime here on earth.'

Pretty profound stuff ! I know it makes me want to spend at least part of my 'dash' sharing exciting times with family and friends, which is one of the motivating factors in creating travel-ography.com.

So please feel free to share this website with others and watch for further news on where we'll be going and what we'll be doing....hopefully with you and your family and friends.

It looks like our first travel-ography.com trip could be late September in Duluth and along the North Shore Drive of Lake Superior.

We are also working on trip to New York City this fall and a journey through Glacier National Park and up into the magnificent Canadian Rockies and the mountain villages of Banff and Jasper next summer (2008). Several other trips are also on the burner.

We'll publish details as soon as we have them.

Thanks for the enthusiasm and support.

Steve

Great Ideas and Suggestions !

2007-06-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

Unbelievable !!!!

The response we're getting to our travel-ography.com questionnaires we sent out two weeks ago is simply amazing. Everyone is offering great ideas and suggestions, some of which I'll share with you now.

Lobster-Fest in Maine....Ireland....Hollywood....Napa Valley....King's Canyon....National Parks....Ski Trips....Nova Scotia....San Antonio....New England in Autumn....Australia....Door County, WI....England....Branson....Medora....Spain....Hawaii....Hot Air Balloons in Albuquerque, NM....Niagara Falls....Gettysburg....'Birding' or bird watching in NE North Dakota ....

These are just some of the many suggestions people have been kind enough to offer. Wow ! Let's hope we can get to all of these places and many more.

One of my favorite suggestions....that I probably wouldn't have thought of myself....is to the big annual bike rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. Photography is going to be a big part of our travels, and I can just see some burly Harley rider catching me taking a picture of the tattoo on his "momma's" behind..... I may not come back alive ! Yikes !

Clearly, one of the most popular destinations, of the options we had listed on the survey, was New York in November (or for that matter, New York anytime).

Here's a shot Linda took a little over a year ago of lower Manhattan, as viewed from the top of Rockefeller Center. We were there the day the observation deck reopened for the first time since 9-11 and were among the first people to the top to capture the breathtaking views from all sides. In this particular shot, I think Linda went a little higher than she was supposed to, resulting in a unique photograph of other photographers taking pictures of the city below.

(As always, simply click on any photograph to view it larger.
Then hit 'back' on your computer to get back to this site.)

Due to the very positive response, we are organizing a trip to the 'Big Apple', with plans to go in early November. Details on this site when they are finalized.

I couldn't resist taking a photograph of this quote that we saw on a wall while traveling through the subway system.

It pretty much describes how I feel when in New York City.

Steve

PS....Encouraging words, hugs and 'virtual hugs' (through letters, emails and notes on the returned surveys) have really inspired us to go 'full speed ahead' on this project. Your excitement and enthusiasm is contagious.

Fascination with Whales..

2007-06-04T15:53:00.000-05:00

As humans, we certainly seem to have more than just a passing interest in whales. As demonstrated this past week, the entire country was captivated by the plight of a mother whale and her calf, who had taken a wrong turn into the Sacramento River and were in danger of losing their lives.

While hundreds of ordinary people lined the shores and bridges, experts tried several man made methods to coax the confused pair of humpback whales to turn around and get back into the Pacific Ocean.

Noting the outpouring of concern, the media got involved and kept all of us informed, almost hourly, even if we weren't West Coast residents. Dubbed 'Delta' and 'Dawn', the mother and daughter apparently slipped back into the Pacific sometime late last week and it appears that this story had a happy ending.

The route back to salt water safety was through the San Francisco Bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge....the very bridge Linda and I sailed under, with some friends, one winter afternoon a few years ago.

The country has breathed a sigh of relief and, as an additional bonus, it seems whale experts were able to gain some valuable data about the species during this ordeal. Win - win.

I can understand our fascination with whales, as this past summer, Linda and I spent some time on the Pacific Ocean watching these magnificent creatures.

It was quite a thrill visually scanning the horizon hoping to catch a glimpse of a whale swimming in its natural habitat....and when that first whale was spotted, off in the distance, the feeling was indescribable.

As we approached the pod of Orcas (or maybe they approached us...I'm not sure), the adrenaline was really pumping through the veins.

When they started surfacing right near our little rubber boat, the excitement was almost too much to take. I almost dropped my camera overboard and, as you can see, nearly missed the shot.

All told, we saw dozens of whales, who almost seemed to be performing for us. It was quite an experience and, hopefully, one we can realize again in the not so distant future.

Steve

PS....'Delta' and 'Dawn' were not among this group, as they are humpback whales, and this pod were Orca whales or probably better known as 'killer whales'. Although they didn't seem too threatening to us, I'm not really sure I wanted to 'jump in' and frolic with them. We did, by the way, also see several humpbacks, however they weren't close enough to get any really good photographs.

Enjoy the Show!

2007-05-30T10:53:00.000-05:00

We thought we'd share a short 5 minute slide show of some of the places we've been the past couple of years.

We would love to have you with us, as we travel to these and many other great places around the country and the world.

If you are reading this as an email, just click on travel-ography.com to get to our site and then click play on the slide show.

If you are already on our website, just click play and Enjoy the Show !

Response to the news of us launching this new adventure continues to be unbelievable. We sure appreciate your excitement and support.

Steve and Linda

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Memorial Day

2007-05-28T20:52:00.000-05:00

Here's hoping everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

It has always been thought of around this area as the unofficial start of summer. If so, we could be in for an interesting summer this year, as this weekend found us under cold, gray skies that wouldn't stop pouring rain for nearly 36 straight hours ( 3 to 6 inches reported) on Friday and Saturday. In complete contrast, Sunday was absolutely beautiful with clear blue skies, bright sunshine, calm and perfect 70 degree temperatures. While Monday (Memorial Day) was warm and humid, with temps in the 80's and all the flags hanging limp from lack of air movement. It was one of those days where, if one listened carefully, you could actually hear the flowers, trees, grass and gardens grow.

Suggestions keep coming in for upcoming travel-ography.com trips. We really appreciate the input as we prepare to research and then announce our first tours in this, our first season.

Again, thank you for your interest and your help....and once again, we hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend....and that we all take time to remember why this is such an important holiday.

Steve

Great Initial Response !

2007-05-25T22:27:00.000-05:00

Initial Response.....Positive !

With great relief, we report that the initial response to our announcement concerning travel-ography.com, the new direction our business is taking, has been nothing short of astonishing.

We've had supportive emails, phone calls, snail mail and in-person comments, all leading us to believe that we are heading in a very popular direction.

Survey sheets are being returned and a lot of great ideas are being offered to us. Thank You !

Please go to the website www.travel-ography.com and sign up your email in the box provided in the left hand column. You will then be included in updates....offered on-line surveys....can view beautiful travel slide shows....and see hundreds of photographs....all coming soon.

Thank You for your prompt and positive response.

Steve

Join Our Adventure !

2007-05-24T12:22:00.000-05:00

Subscribe FREE !!!!

Just enter your email address in the box on the left....click 'subscribe'....and you'll receive updates whenever new entries are made in this 'blog'.

We hope you'll be able to join us in our travel adventures.

Steve and Linda

'The Dream becomes Reality'

2007-05-23T20:31:00.000-05:00

Finally !

travel-ography.com is launched !

A quick history : For the past few years, while traveling the country, Linda and I have often thought - 'Wouldn't it be great if we could share these wonderful moments with family and friends.'

Then, about three years ago, I started visualizing a concept that I thought would be really 'cool'. Combine our love of travel with our passion for photography and take our business, Steve Larson Studio in that direction.

Could it get any better....doing what you love, sharing these good times with others, and making a living at it ?

One problem. These past three years, since the onset of digital photography, we have been so busy at the studio that we were unable to pursue this new adventure. But the dream persisted, and finally, encouraged by friends and family, we decided to limit the amount of studio photography we will do in the coming months and transfer some of our energy into steering our business in a new direction.

Travelography. I thought it was quite catchy. It was a word I made up to describe the two elements of our new business....travel and photography. But I really wanted a dash (-) ....(much more on the dash (-) in the next couple of posts). And, in keeping up with Internet technology, I wanted all letters to be lower case and the name to conclude with .com.

Thus, travel-ography.com is the name of our new venture and also the name of this website - blog.

We will be posting travel information, taking surveys to see where everyone wants to go, and sharing all kinds of photographs and info.

We encourage you to sign up (subscribe - it's free) at the upper left of this page and you'll receive info in your e-mail every time we update this site. It's a nice and easy way to keep track of what is going on.

And finally, we hope you'll feel free to share thoughts and ideas with us, either through our e-mail at stevelarsonstudio@yahoo.com or through the comments section in this blog.

Happy trails,

Steve

Dawn of travel-ography.com

2007-05-08T09:58:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the dawn of travel-ography.com .....

Please take the time to subscribe to this site by entering your email address in the box to the left of the photograph and click on subscribe.

Thank you ! We will now be able to share our travel stories, photographs and upcoming travel opportunities with you through email and this blog.

travel-ography.com is the new direction Steve Larson Studio, our photography business, is taking and hopefully you'll join us.

This venture will allow us to share our love of travel and our passion for photography with others. Linda and I will research and organize the trips, put the information on this site and welcome you to come along with us.

At journey's end, you'll receive a stylish coffee table book, a beautiful photo album or an exciting video of the just completed trip. These keepsakes, filled with wonderful images, should allow you to share the 'good times' of our travels with family and friends, while also enabling you to relive the highlights of the trip.

Hopefully, these travel-ography.com adventures will bring together a group of people interested in sharing a wonderful experience and bringing home lasting memories. If such a modest goal can be accomplished, our new venture will certainly be a complete success.

Please stay 'tuned' and plan on joining us.

Steve and Linda