Category: Travel

National Swimming Championships

Post author By TravisGood
Post date August 17, 2008
No Comments on National Swimming Championships

Long Course Nationals in Portland, Oregon — Long course pools are 50 meters and for my primary event I swam 30-laps ... and I came in sixth!

I was in Oregon during Nationals so why not attend? My instincts were to sign-up for a long distance event so the 1,500 meters it was. My team could use me in a few relays so I did that too. Little did I know that I’d enjoy it so much … I should have entered more events.

Amazingly, I came in sixth place in the 1,500 meters for men 45-49. The three relays didn’t do as well but regardless I sure enjoyed swimming with team mates and getting to know them better. Good people. Fun times.

Based on my 50-meter relay times I’ll do more short races in the future.

Travel

Oregon Air Show

Hillsboro Air Show — For 21 years this Air Show has taken place in Hillsboro, Oregon to the delight of legions of fans.

You want good weather for a flying exhibition and we had the best. Everything in the air was done in clear view yet the patchy clouds kept us cool. We sat back and soaked up a great show as the program moved from experimental craft, to sky diving, to stunt flying, to ultra lights, to army jets, and more.

As this was an “air” show, I’d guess there were two to three times as many people watching the show OUTSIDE of the airport and saving themselves the cost of entry. Far better to pay and support the cause; I’d like the show to continue forever and that only happens if it makes financial sense.

Military recruiting was everywhere and done rather well. There was lots of food, many planes on display, and a good turn out. People milled around the airport grounds for hours and hours. We had to leave after two hours and there was still much more to be seen. It’s a long event.

Even absent the Blue Angeles this year I still highly recommend the show. There’s a wide variety of very impressive acts and if you have the luck we did with weather, then you’ll really enjoy passing the afternoon looking up.

Check out some of the pictures I took:

Travel

Thirtieth High School Reunion

Post author By TravisGood
Post date August 10, 2008
No Comments on Thirtieth High School Reunion

Travis in High School — Class of 1978: 635 ... Reunion Attendees: 135 ... Conversations: 35 ... Good times!

Faces were older, hearts were still young, and the evening together was fun.

Thirty years later we were together again. Conversations often started with little clue of who I was talking with but it usually didn’t take long for some memory to flood my senses and fill me with recognition. It’s amazing how at their core people hadn’t changed much, except for the aging part that is. <grin>

I’m glad I attended; I’m happy I reconnected; I look forward to the 40th.

Tags reunion

Family Road Travel

Across the U.S. with Kelsey

Post author By TravisGood
Post date July 8, 2008
No Comments on Across the U.S. with Kelsey

Kelsey Jumps for Joy — That girl can jump! 🙂 At the border of Indiana and Michigan on Ohio 66 we paused for this excited moment of picture taking. It was one moment among many on this best trip ever down Route 66!

We drove from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles but it was certainly not a straight line. To begin with we headed north to Cleveland and Chicago, then south and west along Route 66 through eight states to Santa Monica. We took many detours along the way and among them was a trip to San Antonio to visit my brother’s family, a trip to Dallas to attend a Rascal Flatts/Taylor Swift concert and a jaunt to the Grand Canyon. Yes, we drove a lot but we had a GREAT time!

Kelsey flew home; I headed to SF, turned right, and drove home.

On her return, Kelsey built a photo album that you can see here. <fix>

Suffice to say, on this trip we had the time of our lives!

For the Record:
We drove 4,550 miles to Los Angeles and I drove another 3,460 home.

Hike Summary Train Travel

Summary: England by Train, Paris by Foot

Post author By TravisGood
Post date April 17, 2008
No Comments on Summary: England by Train, Paris by Foot

Train Aisle — Railroad began in England so it’s no wonder they have an extensive and very well run network. Towns and cities grew up around railway stations so I planned an adventure around this realization.

I’m about to embark on my latest good pursuits which will be accomplished by rail in England and by foot in Paris. Using a 22-day BritRail Pass and a book entitled “Britain by BritRail” I plan to visit 30-40 towns and get to know their stations and nearby sights. In Paris I’ll be using my box of 50 walking tour cards over the course of a week to familiarize myself with one of the world’s grandest old cities. If all goes well, I’ll be one tiny step closer to becoming a cosmopolitan man!

You can follow my adventures here.

Family Road Travel

Off the Coast down to Charleston

Post author By TravisGood
Post date March 26, 2008
No Comments on Off the Coast down to Charleston

Kelsey with the Fairchild Kids — Either you have “road trip” in you or your don’t. This trip was the test for Kelsey and she passed with flying colors. She was a great travel partner and can I see many road trips in our future. Yeah!

Our goal was to visit Reggie and Judy and their amazing progeny but drive directly to Charleston? No way! We chose to go down as far east as we could through Virginia, North Carolina, and North Carolina which meant driving down the wonderful Outer Banks. This 200-mile series of connected islands off the coast is the site of America’s first flight (by the Wright brothers at Kill Devil Hills) and the home of many, many vacation getaways. Check out the link above for a satellite view of the island and you can see why it’s so distinct.

How much can be accomplished in 48 hours? A lot! From their home in Mount Pleasant we walked to buy fresh shrimp at the fleet docks and ice cream sodas at the Old Town Rexall Drug Store. We drove to the Exchange and Waterfront Park in Charleston. We also managed a ferry ride to another of their homes on Dewees Island where the setting was so pristine, unpopulated, and natural that I almost felt I was on a secluded island in the middle of the ocean.

Feeling immensely satisfied and thankful we drove home after a great visit.

During our 9.5 hours on the road Kelsey grew a pair of “road trip” wings.

Family Travel

Traveling for Leisure

My Cayman Clan — Seven Mile Beach isn’t actually seven miles long. Per our taxi driver, it’s just short of six miles long. Why the name then? My guess is “seven” is often a lucky number so why not name it for good fortune?

Most of the time I’m traveling with a big agenda and trying desperately to squeeze as much as possible in to every day. For me that’s fun. I get a real sense of accomplishment from planning well and executing thoroughly. The pay offs are lots of great experiences, lots of learning and lots of pictures.

When I travel with my family the rules and goals are different. My ladies like the surf, the sand, the sun and relaxation. We focus on achieving very little and spend most of our time doing very little. Relaxing in the sun on the beach makes them happy which in turn makes me happy. They’re great company and we had a good time together in Grand Cayman where we had nothing short of perfect weather.

Hike Mountain Travel

This Rock Scramble Doesn’t Get Old

Post author By TravisGood
Post date March 4, 2008
No Comments on This Rock Scramble Doesn’t Get Old

Travis atop Old Rag — The climb takes 2 hours. The gradual decent takes 90 minutes. The base of Old Rag is 1:40 from my home. If leave by 7:30 AM then I’m home by 3:00 PM. Can you tell I’ve hiked this mountain a few times?

I did it again.

I hiked Old Rag Mountain.

Why?

Simple. The top third of the climb is a fun rock scramble that never seems to get old. When I saw the forecast for today I had no doubt what I’d do. I was going to hike to this rock playground-for-adults named Old Rag Mountain.

Curious about my favorite 8.8 mile circuit hike? Learn more here.

Bridge Hike Travel

Bridges of Manhattan

Manhattan Bridges — It all started a couple years ago when I was walking the Brooklyn Bridge and looked north: there stood the Manhattan Bridge and beyond it the Williamsburg Bridge and beyond it ….

It was an idea that had been percolating in the back of my mind. Ken Burns got it all going with a documentary of the Brooklyn Bridge that I once saw in-flight. I was really impressed and subsequently walked the Brooklyn Bridge whenever I found myself in downtown Manhattan. After a while I started thinking, “If one bridge was good then wouldn’t more bridges be even better?”

That was the core idea: have a fantastic time walking across every bridge that was open to pedestrian traffic. It turns out there are 17 that fit the bill and I crossed them all. In addition there were two rail-only bridges, two bridges that ban pedestrian traffic, and one ancient aqueduct/footpath which is now closed. Pictures of all of these are available below.

[Show as slideshow]

Manhattan is an island city that is a constant source of fascination for me.

I wonder what I’ll to next in the Big Apple?

Technology Travel

First Radio Broadcast

Most of my adult life I’ve been entertained through radio and more recently through podcasts. When I’m driving on road trips I almost always have a program playing from my iPod which is loaded with hundreds of programs. It’s an endless source of entertainment and it’s wonderful!

I’ve toyed with the idea of creating my own show and signed up for a course called Radio Production at our local Public Access Channel. They have two radio studios and my class commandeers one each Saturday morning. In only our second session today we were set free on “the board” to produce a five minute show. Five minutes doesn’t sound like much does it? Well, when you’re running the studio and it’s all about your performance, it feels big!

I’m working now on a radio show proposal which I will submit in a few weeks. My guess is I’ll propose a show called “Good Pursuits” and talk about the tools and techniques, planning and execution of themed travel. It’s something I do a lot, it’s something I enjoy and it’s something I’d like to share.

(Later Note: The archive of Good Pursuits Radio can be found here.)