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Trip Summary

I don't pretend to be a world traveler by any means, but I do consider myself someone who enjoys exploring new and interesting places. I count myself lucky that I have friends that are willing to join me in these adventures (usually only if I coordinate the details of the trip, but they do go!). There are other times where I simply enjoy exploring by myself. Sometimes I need that time to reset myself, and a nice long driving trip usually does the trick! Here are some highlights from trips and events over the past ten years or so.

Am I missing a good one? Let me know.

Piglowski Wedding - Maui, HI

September, 2002

My close friend Nick proposed to his wife Cari on a vacation to Maui, and they liked it so much there they decided to bring back their loved ones the next year for the wedding. What a fantastic trip! This was one of those trips that it was not only the location that made the trip, it was the company. It was mostly relatives and a few close friends, and we all had a great time together. Besides a picture perfect wedding in a small missionary chapel in the mountains, we had a chance to do a lot of other stuff. We traveled the Road to Hana, where I spent most of the ride hanging out of the top of a Jeep Cherokee with my digital camera taking shots while Nick tried to see how fast he could take the turns. We saw a great magic show, where part of our group had a chance to participate. We also went parasailing for the first time - I felt like a giant kite on a 1200ft cord...it was great, but not as much of a rush as skydiving. Best of all again was the company. The bride's parents were the most generous and fun couple I ever had the chance to meet. To give you an idea, they would invite the entire party (38 people) to their suite every morning for breakfast! All in all, I loved Maui. I would go again if given the opportunity, but I think first I would try to explore the other Hawaiian Islands.

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Thadani Wedding #2 - Los Angeles, CA

August, 2002

By no means my first trip to LA, but definitely one of the more enjoyable. I say this was wedding #2 since they had a ceremony months before in Mumbai, India. Anyways, I stayed there for almost a week so that I could spend some quality time with my close friend Vik and his wife Yasmin, tying tulle to little table decorations (there was a little still to do for the wedding still). They had a great wedding: the ceremony was in xxxx National Park - an outdoor wedding, and the reception was at this Old Californian-style home in Beverly Hills. The best part of all though was to see all of our friends come from all over the country for the event! After the wedding, we had a chance to get to know Johann and Annamique(sp), Yasmin's dad and his girlfriend from Holland, who were great fun on our hiking trip. Betty came on the hike too, and amazingly enough I escaped without any physical violation (friends of Bea know what I mean).

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Vegas Double Bachelor Party - Las Vegas, NV

March, 2002

Well, when you have two close friends getting married within a month of each other, and both of them live on the West Coast, the only logical course of action would be to have a Vegas Bachelor party! The bachelor party trip was actually part of a larger trip where I also had the chance to spend some time in LA, then in San Diego, then grabbed the two bachelors and met our friends in Vegas. So a group of us had a long weekend of drinking, gambling and...nothing else that you could prove. Truthfully, we were really a rather sedate group of bachelors, but we had a great time, especially since I don't get to see them nearly as often as I would like.

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Weekend trip - Seattle, WA

June, 2001

A small group (myself, Leslie, Dave Otte, and Colleen) decided to see a part of the country none of had seen before. Seattle was a perfect weekend trip, and I can't believe all the things that we packed in just four days. We started by exploring all of Seattle, from the Space Needle to the Experience Music Project museum to the Market (where I had to go every morning to get some fresh fruit for breakfast!). We also explored the countryside, visiting a vineyard and taking a tour of the facilities, where Dave kept hitting on the tour guide [wink]. Then we were off to explore Vancouver, Canada. We went to the top of Mount Rainier, traveled though their Chinatown (HUGE!), and even got to walk through a jazz festival on the way back to Seattle. Last but certainly not least, was our day spent at the Snoqualmie Falls Spa and Resort. We had a chance to traverse down the falls, and have one of the best meals of our lives! My travel companions were great; willing to explore and extremely patient with my occasional bad mood (which the spa cured of course).

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My 30th Birthday - LA/San Diego, CA

January, 2001

This was definitely a birthday to remember! We had a bunch of people come to LA for a week of fun. We had the chance to get to know Vik's girlfriend (now wife) Yasmin. But of course the highlight was the day of my birthday where I got a chance to do something I never did before - skydive! For those of you who know me well know I have a serious fear of heights, which ironically is why I really wanted to do this on a special day like my 30th. Vik, Nick, Dave and I set out to Orange County for our jump. It was also Dave's first jump and his 29th birthday! It turned out to be Dave and I in one small plane with about 20 Canadian Mountie's (they were doing maneuvers that day). For a while it looked like the weather was going to prevent us from jumping, but we did and it was great. I wouldn't make a sport of it like my friend Vik has done, but I would definitely do it again.

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Quebec Trip - Quebec City, CAN

July, 2000

Yes, I liked Quebec City so much that I went back a year later and took some friends with! It was great to be back in the city and at the music festival, now with other people to enjoy it with. We actually flew to upstate New York, then drove to Quebec City. One night we went out to this wonderful grotto for dinner - had one of the top five best meals of my life. In fact, we had such a great time there, we accidentally drank the wine of the table next to us! The family was thankfully very forgiving. I would definitely go back there again sometime, though not in the winter. The roads are SO steep and narrow there, and I heard that the winters are harsh.

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Kosla's Bachelor Party - Las Vegas, NV

??

My buddy was getting married and about a dozen of us decided to have a classic Vegas bachelor party. And because it was a bachelor party, there's not much I will write here. We gambled, had fun, then went home ;)

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Canadian Road Trip - Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, CAN

July, 1999

This trip began because I was just a bit stressed from work and needed an escape. So I just packed myself up in my car and headed toward Canada. Why Canada? Never been there before. It was a very memorable trip. I headed Northeast, through Detroit to Windsor, then to Toronto for a day or so, then through Montreal to Quebec City. I just happened to go during an enormous music festival there, one of the largest in North America. It was fantastic; every street corner had street performers from musicians to jugglers to dog acts...everything you could imagine. The city itself was beautiful. After spending a couple days there, I was anxious to move on. I drove North through the Canadian mountains, got lost, found my way again, then headed back the same way.

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Kristen's Friend's Wedding - Las Vegas, NV

??

My friend Kristen had a friend that was going to have a Vegas wedding, and she needed someone to go with her. Who was I to turn down a free trip to Vegas, and see a wedding there to boot? The group was a fun group; we got to really explore the town, do a little gambling, etc. We also went hiking to "Big Crack Canyon" (our name - I forgot what it really was called), and of course the infamous trip to Hoover Dam, where we were hunting carnivorous sheep (good story - ask me one time if you haven't heard it yet. We also went to see a Vegas show with David Cassidy and Sheena Easton based upon the Barry Manilow song "Copacabana".

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Mardi Gras - New Orleans, LA

1999

A bunch of us never went to Mardi Gras before, so we rented a van, piled in and went for an extended weekend. Mardi Gras was fun, and the company made it even more enjoyable. New Orleans was a fascinating city - a very unique subculture. It was almost hard to believe we were in the same country. The most interesting thing we did was to go on a Voodoo Tour, which among other places took us through a graveyard where Marie Laveau(sp), the Voodoo Queen, was buried. In fact, we even got inadvertently locked in the cemetery, and had to climb over the stone walls to get out. I had my fill of Mardi Gras, but I would definitely love to go back to New Orleans.

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Another Rafting Trip - Menominee, WI

Memorial Day Weekend, 1999

Well, we liked the rafting trip so much, we decided to go back. It was half of the group from the last time, plus some new people. This time, though, I decided not to go rafting...didn't want to push my luck. But they all had a great time, with the exception of poor Tiffany, who slipped on a rock and hurt her leg. Afterwards, we had another great weekend in the cabin. Brad decided that he was going to jump over the fire, but it was OK since we had "firefighter Jeff" there. We did take some time out to make fun of one of Terry's "club" shirts - a tight red lycra shirt that he always wore to show himself off. We all took pictures with it on (yeah, not the most exciting thing, but it was hysterical at the time). I especially like the last pic here, showing Ma and Pa Kettle as Poor White Trash.

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New Years '98 Blizzard - Wisconsin Dells, WI

New Year's, 1998

We decided to give our New Years Weekend in the Dells another try, since we had such a blast last time. This trip though was a very different one, though. First of all, we had a blast destroying one of the local bars with glitter, champagne and various alcoholic beverages...oh well. The next morning though began a big blizzard, which got us stuck for an extra day or so. We tried to venture back home, but only made it as far as a Day's Inn somewhere near Madison. But of course, our group made the most of it, bringing fun and board games wherever we go.

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Dallas Getaway - Dallas, TX

1998

This was a weekend escape with the guys. Five of us (Rob, Ray, Jeff and ???) flew out to Dallas for a weekend to explore. We had a blast, though it was not my first time in Dallas. I doubt I would go back there for a casual trip, though I would always like to see my cousin Maryjean and her family out there again.

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Cancun Trip #2 - Cancun, MX

New Year's, 1997

I was still excited about the last visit, and wanted to explore more. So, as is my style, I went back and dragged about ten people with me. We went again for New Years, and this time we really had a blast. Teresa was there with her family and they even met up with us a couple of times. We also went to explore Chintza Nitza (sp), an ancient Mexican ruins. There was so much there to explore that you literally tripped over stone ruins in the grass! This time around, though, I felt that prices really jumped, and felt that I explored all there is see. Who knows if I'll go back, but they were definitely worthwhile trips.

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Cancun Trip #1 - Cancun, MX

New Year's, 1996

I went with my friends Nick and Teresa along with Teresa's family. Since Nick and Teresa lived in San Diego, I didn't really get the chance to see them very often, so it was a great chance for us to hang out. Randy "Big R" Peifer had a suite at the Royal Caribbean, and we all stayed there. It was my first time in a tropical place, much less Mexico and it was very exciting. We spent a lot of time by the pool, but we also got to really explore the tourist traps as well as the downtown area. At night, we were exploring the bars, and had way too many tequila shots from the shot girls. We were there for New Years, though ironically we didn't do much beyond hanging out with some other people at the hotel, which was fun too. It was a nice week, and I was looking forward to going there again.

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West Coast Cross Country Road Trip

1995

I wanted to visit my friend Nick in San Diego, so I decided to make a road trip out of it. I actually stayed there about six weeks (didn't have a job to hold me back then), and we had a real chance to hang out, explore the city. We went to LA too, and had some fun out there. This trip was actually the first of many trips out to SoCal. It is now one of my second homes; a place I can go anytime I want, which is always a great feeling.

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Whitewater Rafting Trip #1 - Menominee River, WI

1995?

While this wasn't a very far locale, it was definitely an experience. We all (about 13 people) went up to Northern Wisconsin to stay in a log cabin, camp, get drunk and go Whitewater rafting. Mind you, I can't swim, so there was naturally some hesitation on my part. Luckily I wedged myself between the two biggest guys on the boat so that I wouldn't fall out. It was a blast! The cabin was even more fun though. It was a fantastic group of people who got way too drunk on Ron's "cabin juice". Even Chris "little Polish boy" Kosla almost lost it in the frothy wood. A fun time was had by all, making it a trip we all still talk about today.

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New Years '94 - Wisconsin Dells, WI

New Year's, 1994

A group of us decided to get away from the typical New Year's scene at some crowded bar and venture out to Wisconsin Dells and party in a hotel over there. We had a pretty big group of people there and had a great time. As you can see from the pics, our hotel had a pool, of which we took full advantage. New Years Day was a day for rest and relaxation, where people had the choice of either watching the Charlie's Angels marathon, or listening to every single Prince song on Ron's CD jukebox...both were quite enjoyable! That's about all I can remember from that trip!

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Jellystone Camping Trip - Jellystone Park, IL

Summer 1994

Not exactly the most exotic of camping spots, but this trip to Jellystone Camping Park was a memorable. I met some people on this trip who are now among my closest friends. We did a lot on this Memorial Day weekend; horseback riding, touring the Wonder Spot (not exactly living up to it's name), playing softball with Second Base (one of the kids at the camp, and of course our encounter with the "Yogi Police".

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