Thursday, December 31st, 2009 -

Well after about 25+ hours of traveling we finally made it to Mumbai India.We’ve been planning this trip for a long time. Stephanie and I have been wanting to go to India for sometime. So we are excited to finally have made it happen. Also our good friend Sandy who has a bunch of family in India joined us on the trip. So we should all have  a blast exploring India together.

Starting off at LAX

We made it on the plane

WE made it to Mumbai

This is one of our first sightings on in India. It looks like he needed a spare tire.

We’ve spent the first couple days getting settled into the city. We have a great journey ahead of us. We are going to be here just a little over 3 weeks. So much to see so little time.

We explored the city yesterday. So much to take in.

Our first stop was a house that Ghandi use to live in that has been turned into a memorial for him.

then we just roamed around, One thing about about India is there is a lot of poverty. It’s interesting though how everything here seems to work so well together. You will have regular city scapes then you go around the corner and you are looking at slums. But everybody just goes with the flow. THe city is so crowded but it seems to work in some crazy way. Just driving the streets is an adventure in itself. Nobody pays attention to lanes. It’s like a free for all. Everybody honking at each other but nobody getting upset. It’s controlled chaos. Also you never know when you will be driving down the street then all of a sudden there is a cow in the road. I love it.

The kids that live in the slums are so cute.

This is what they call the gateway to India. It’s right by the Taj Hotel that was bombed a few years ago.

I love the little work spaces people set up

Here is a shot from above some of the slums. hey have a large laundry operation going here. They do all this laundry by hand and somehow keep track of what laundry belongs to who.

The kids really work you for money. They say you shouldn’t give in to give them money. It’s so hard to resist wanting to do something for these kids.

They wouldn’t let up on me.

Just another way people live in the city

I love the egg delivery, don’t crash

There’s Sandy

Many more pictures to come. We have just been getting settled in. SO this is just the start.

Saturday, July 11th, 2009 -

Well it was time for a summer vacation. I actually took a summer vacation. That is really rare for me. I usually have every weekend booked with weddings. This year I decided to block out a weekend and take the kids on a summer vacation. I’m so happy I did. We had such a blast. I recently started mountain biking. I heard Moab Utah was the mecca of mountain biking. So I thought lets head to Moab. I love vacations that are very active. Moab was so amazing. So beautiful and the mountain biking was amazing. I’ll be headed back there very soon. 

It was a road trip. It’s an 11 hour drive to Moab from Huntington Beach. So we decided to break it up by stopping in Vegas. 

We made a few stops along the way. Beaver Utah is a very small town in Utah.

There is some beautiful country in Utah. In this shot that is Stephanie is in the background. That tiny blue dot in the background.

Stephanie and the kids working the camera

I love climbing the rocks

Matt what are you doing?

Matt loved climbing the rocks

After a long day of driving we made it to our Cabin. The Red Cliffs Lodge in Moab. I totally recommend to anybody staying at Red Cliffs. It is some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen.

They even had horses

We did some running on this vacation. Look at my wife go. I grab this shot with my iphone.

The very next day we headed out to get on the mountain bike trail. We had so much fun mountain biking. It’s my new favorite thing to do when I’m not shooting. 

Time for a break. Matt decided to climb this rock during break time. It was pretty hot out. It was around 100 degrees on most of our rides. 

Stephanie is running from a desert creature. I think.

I needed Matt to get this rock out of the way for us.

I just love all the red rock backdrops

So many amazing rocks to climb

The heat is getting to the kids

Everything is so grand here. We decided to really get off the beaten trail. We had this whole area all to ourselves.

everybody decided to break into yoga poses

Lets hit the road

We deciding to go down some random road. We came across these cave homes. People have actually blown holes in the redrock and made it their home. Crazy!

There is also this great place called Hole In The Rock. If you are ever in Moab you have to check it out. Check out this jeep.

Matt is having fun

Nothing like a steel bull to hang on 

 

I love a 2 story out house

Somebody actually use to live in this rock. They made a home in this big redrock. You have to do the tour. It’s so funny. They don’t allow pictures. I wish I could show you the inside. Your just going to have to check it out for yourself. 

Back to riding. All our amazing rides were made possible by a great mountain bike tour company. www.solfun.com

They were such a blast. They took us on some amazing rides. 

Can you believe this amazing backdrop for mountain biking.

Matt and I needed a rest.

we always ventured off when we weren’t biking, we came across a great flower field

every where we drove was beautiful

It was fun to get off the paved roads at times and take my car off roading

they were some rough roads

back to the bike trail, If it was up to me we would of been on the bike trail everyday

matt needed some discipline

Here are the kids with our amazing guide Heidi. She was so great. 

I got to ride 4 days of the vacation. The 4th day I went solo. Stephanie and the kids went for a horseback ride. I wanted to go to Slick Rock Park. I heard so much about it. Heidi said I had to do it before I left. I’m so happy I listened. It was so much fun. Some crazy steep hills but the climbs were worth it. It made for some fun downhills. Luckily I love to climb hills. I actually like it more than the downhill.

Here I go climbing 

This was a tough climb

Here I am with my Guide Heidi and Allan. Allan is the owner of Sol Fun. He cam out on a couple different days with us. I was so happy to see him out on the slick rock park day. He is a real inspiration. He is 67 years old and out there tearing up the hills. I love it. Age should never slow you down. I know it will never slow me down. 

Look at Allan go

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The views were amazing. Thats the Colorado river in the background

After a long day of riding it was nice to have a pool to jump in

You have to drive through Arches National Park. So beautiful.

We had so much fun in Moab. I really suggest that everybody should make Moab high on the list to visit. 

For sure check out The Red Cliffs Lodge. It’s about 20 minutes outside of town. But totally worth it. It is set in such a beautiful setting. Views to die for. They have great 2 bedroom cabins. So it’s great for the family. Just don’t eat at their restaurant. Not very good. It’s worth driving into town to eat. 

Then you have to call Solfun to set up some amazing mountain biking for you. They are a smaller more personal company. That’s why I picked them. I hate large groups. They keep it smaller and much more personal. If Heidi is available ask for her. Also hopefully Allan can come out for a few rides with you. You’ll love him.

A couple great places to eat are Miguels Mexican Restaurant. It’s a small hole in the wall. But well worth it. It’s on the Main st. in town. Also right down the street from Miguels is Pasta jays. They have great Pizza. We also ate at the Moab Brewery. You have to have the Jalapeno Cornbread. Amazing!

Another great bike shop to check out is Poison Spider. They have a great staff. You can pick their brain for all the bike info you need. 

Moab Rocks!!!!!!

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 -

I’ve been having fun making new slideshows. Egypt was such an amazing experience. I can’t wait to go back.
Check out the slideshow from my trip their last year.

Friday, January 9th, 2009 -

Well we made it back from Thailand this week. It was an amazing trip. It was great being able to experience Thailand with our kids. Being able to experience another culture is so important in life.
Thailand is an amzing country. The Thai people are so nice. They are always willing to help you. Always happy. I love it. e spent a month in Thailand. I wish we could of stayed longer. There is so much to do and see.
Another great thing to do when traveling is to not do to much planning before you get there. We always just book the first few nights and then see where things take us. You will always meet people in your travels that will give you suggestions on what to see next. You might like some places more than others an decide to spend a few extra days. You just never know. Plus it’s more of an adventure to travel this way. You just never know where you might end up/
This trip began and ended in Bangkok. We spent most of our trip in the south of Thailand. So many beautiful beaches and islands to see. We really enjoyed the island of Ko Lanta. We actually never heard of Ko Lanta before we left for Thailand. A couple that was part of our volunteer group had spent a few days and said that it was a great place. So we said ok lets check it out. And I’m glad we did. It was a great island.
We stayed at a great place http://narima-lanta.com/. Little huts over looking the ocean. If your headed to Thailand anytime soon you must check it out. From there we headed to Krabi. Krabi is on the mainland. It’s along the coast. So beautiful. Another must see. From there we headed to the Phi Phi islands. I knew that it was going to be very touristy. But I really wanted to see them. I heard they were beautiful and shouldn’t be missed. I’m so glad we made it to Phi Phi. It was one of our best times in Thailand. If you do it right you can avoid most of the tourist crowd.
After Phi Phi it was time to head back to Bangkok. We flew out of Phuket to get there. Most people I talked to said they could of lived without stopping in Phuket. I agree. We did stop for lunch there on the way to the airport. I’m glad we didn’t spend anymore time there than that. It is so touristy. I probably would of loved this place when I was 21 and looking for a party.
I really enjoy the city of Bangkok. It’s a great city just to walk around and experience the people. Great food around every corner. Great markets to visit. In fact on our last day in Thailand we went to the probably one of the largest weekend markets in the world. It’s called the Chatuchak weekend market. It is crazy big. They say around $15,000 stalls. We spent about 5 or 6 hours there and didn’t really even put a dent in all the stalls to see. So much to see and eat. I love eating at these markets. great food at crazy cheap prices. we ate lunch at the market for about 50 cents each.
The only thing I don’t like about Thailand is the traffic. It’s insane. Avoid getting in a car or tuk tuk at all costs. My biggest tip for Bangkok is to stay at a hotel that is near the sky train. When we arrived in Thailand we stayed along the river. It’s nice but if you want to explore the city you hav eto get in a car or tuk tuk. When we ended our trip we decided to get a hotel by the sky train. So happy we made that decision. We used the sky train a few times a day. It was great. It’s easy to figure out the trains and no traffic. We were zipping around town with no problem at all. We stayed at The Asia Hotel Bangkok. It was perfect it had a train station connected to the hotel. I highly recommend it.
The more time I spend in Thailand the more I love this country. This is my 2nd trip to Thailand. I can’t wait for my 3rd. I could even see myself retiring here someday.
I also recommend Thailand to my couples for their honeymoon. Fell free to email me with any questions about Thailand. I’m always happy to help.

Here are a few more images from a couple cards I never downloaded until I returned home.

This was during our scooter time in Ko Lanta. For future reference don’t try take on a muddy road on a scooter. They have no traction. I actually dumped my scooter trying to go through some mud. Then about 30 minutes later Travis did the same thing. SO we had to push it out.

Au Nang beach. Longtail boats waiting to take you over to Railay beach. Which is also a must see.

Another highlight was Travis getting his tatoo dome the old school way of Thailand. With these bamboo sticks. I still can’t believe the detail achieved with these sticks.

Matt loved his hat. He wore it most of the trip.

One of our days back in Bangkok we decided to jump on a longtail boat and cruise through some of the canals that run through the older parts of the city.

These kids are out playing

I love this series of shots. These kids were cracking me up.

This is a must see. The reclining Buddha So cool.

Another great meal at the street vendors.

Waiting for the sky train. A must mode of transportation for Bangkok

Anybody for an egg

This was a local artist that we bought a couple of her paintings. She was so excited that we loved her work.

A monk grabbing lunch before 12 noon. Monks can’t eat any food after noon.

You can always find some interesting entertainment at the street markets.

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 -

Well our last day of volunteering was xmas day. So after school we headed back to the island of Koh Lanta. My son Travis had some vacation time so he met up with us in Thailand. Thailand is a great place to spend Xmas.

We wanted to check out some more of the island. So we rented some scoters and cruised around the island. I wish I had some pictures of the first 30 minutes of our ride. it started dumping rain. We looked like we just got out of the ocean by the time we made it to Old Town.

We decided to get off the paved roads to see where they moght lead.

You make a wish when you let these go. They are really popular in Thailand.

The next day we headed to Krabi. It is so beautiful along the coast of Krabi.

These longtail boats are great. They will take you over to the beautiful beach of Railay.

Headed to Railay

I longtail boats are also great to set up a kitchen.

I love eating off the street carts. It’s great food for next to nothing.

We came across this tatoo shop in Aunang. They do the traditional Bamboo tatoo’s. So Travis had to get one.

It took a couple of sittings but came out amazing.

I had to put a picture of the tatoo artists car. A classic 68 SS Camaro. I never thought I’d see one of these in Thailand.

We decided we wanted to check out the Phi Phi Islands. We knew it would be real touristy. But we also knew it would be beautiful. So we headed there to spend New Years. You can jump on a ferry in Krabi that will get you to Phi Phi in about 90 minutes.

There was a school right next to our hotel. Here are the kids getting out of school.

All the hotels are on Phi Phi Don. But the best part to see is on Phi Phi Lei.Where the movie The Beach was filmed. So we jumped on a longtail boat and headed to Phi Phi Lei.

We found out the best time to check out this island is at the end of the day when all the tour boats have headed back. We rented our own private longtail. It was great. There was hardly anybody out there.

There were a couple people cliff jumping. So Travis had to go for it. It was very high.

Headed back to Phi Phi Don

Phi Phi was a blast.

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 -

Exploring the area around Trang

Here are some more images of the kids Stephanie has been working with.

This was one of Stephanie’s favorite kids.

One day the kids got all dressed up for a performance

They had some special guests

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 -

After our first week of volunteering they give you the weekend off. So we decided to head to the island of Koh Lanta. We heard about it from some of our volunteer friends. It’s a great island that isn’t as crowded as some of the more touristy islands.
It was about a 3 hour journey. You have to take a couple ferries to get to the island. We are almost there.

We finally made it to our bungalow. We stayed at The Narima Resort. It’s just 30 bungalows on a cliff right on the beach. No TV’s or telephones in the rooms. Which is perfect. They do have wifi though which I was very happy about.

Matt went right for the hammock.

They have there own small private beach. So we headed right for the beach just in time for sunset.

Not a bad view for our first night on the island.

You can get a Thai massage right on the beach for 300 Baht. Which is about $9. A 1 hour massage. I love Thailand.

This was our beach. The bungalows are up in the trees.

They have this great little bar right on the sand.

Headed back to the room.

A short walk around town.

Anther great lunch for under $8 for all four of us.

Matt getting his first Thai massage. He wants one every day now.

They have xmas trees in Thailand.

Our favorite restaurant on the island.

We decide to do some scuba diving. So we jumped on the boat and headed to some other islands about 1 hour from Koh Lanta.

This is Matt and Nadine’s 2nd time diving. They are really getting comfortable in the water.

As you can see Stephanie is is a pro under the water now.

Between dive the kids had some fun jumping off the boat. Check out Matts form.

Not a bad place to spend the day.

Stephanie grab a few pictures of some fish.

She even got a shot of this leopard shark. Sharks are cruising by and she is still calm enough to get a shot. Go Wife!!!

When we got back from diving we rented some scooters to cruise around town.

We had to eat here one more time before we had to head back to Trang.

Enough for now. Check back again soon.

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 -

We have the most fun just roaming around. We see the greatest things.

Anybody for some bugs? I actually have a video of Matt eating a bug. I hope to post some short video’s real soon.

They love the bugs here!

Running down one of the local streets near the house we are staying at.

It was funny Stephanie and I while running down the street were stopped b a local guy. He spoke a little english and invited us into his home. He was a retired police officer.

I love the families on the scooters.

Here we are in one of our classes. The kids get so excited that we are there. They crack me up all day. We are working on there english skills.The volunteer program teamed me and Nadine up. Stephanie and Matt are at a school for a disabled children.

The kids love the camera.They are never to shy to take a picture.

They really love when we hangout with them at lunch.

The kids are always smiling. This was so important for the kids to see. These kids have very little but area always all smiles.

I love these little food stands. This is right across the street from our school. She makes some amazing food. You can eat here real well for about $1 that includes a drink. Crazy!

The school is out of the city in a very rural area.

One day we got to go visit a Thai Kickboxing training camp.

Nadine had some skills in the ring.

A family of 5 on a scooter. Thats a record so far.

Nadine teaching the class.

Here are a few images from the kids at Stephanie’s school.

Back to my school. More of Stephanie’s school will be coming soon. It’s a little tougher for her to take pictures at her school.

This is a great game they play during lunch. You can’t let the ball hit the ground. I love playing with them during lunch.

We had a Monk come visit us at our house. It was great. He talked about life as a monk. We could ask him any questions.

Bedtime. This is our bedroom. We are all four sharing one room. Goodtimes!

This girl loved the camera. I was giving her some photo tips.

After school we went for a walk to check out the area by the school.

That’s enough for now. Check back son. Next stop is our weekend in Koh Lanta.

Sunday, December 21st, 2008 -

After Bangkok we headed to the Province of Trang. This is where we are going to be doing our volunteer work.

Back at the airport to Trang

Trang is such a small airport. We were the only plane in the whole airport when we landed.

We checked out the city of Trang a little when we first arrived.

This is the best way to get around town.

Familes get around on scooters. You will sometimes see 3 or 4 people on one scooter. It’s very common. The kid on the front of this bike is reading a book while cruising down the road.

Here is our home in Trang for the next 2 weeks.

Back into the city First stop a temple. It’s actually a Chinese temple. There is actually a large influence of Chinese in the Trang area.

Anybody hungry

We started to head out of town with our group of volunteers for the day. On the way we stopped by a local house to see how they made rubber. There are many rubber trees in the area. It’s actually a cool process to see.
The ladies hard at work making rubber.

Rubber Trees

Here is how they get the juice from the tree. A very slow process

We finally made it out to the ocean for the day. We were headed to a private beach. It was beautiful. We had to take longtail boats to get there.

Matt loved this beach. So much nature to play with.

We had a mean game of soccer on the beach.

Our volunteer team was all fired up

After the beach we were headed to plant mangroves. Mangroves are very good for the island. They help protect the shore.

You can tell by our faces we weren’t ready for what we just stepped in. It was like thick sludge sucking our feet up. Goodtimes!

Everybody was cracking up.

Saturday, December 20th, 2008 -

I’ve been taking lots of pictures. It’s just hard to blog. Many of the places I’ve been the internet is so slow. It takes forever to upload images.

The floating market. This is a very cool area outside of Bangkok. Everybody here is floating around on longtail boats selling their goods.

This was the stop to get the best soup at the market.

Nadine liked it

After the floating market we stopped by this place were the locals make these beautiful wood carvings.

The detail is amazing

They also make all this crazy furniture. How is this for a rocking chair.

Next stop Tiger Temple. Do you want to play with the tigers?

Matt made a friend

This tiger made Nadine a little nervous

There were even some water buffalo hanging out.

After the tigers we were headed to hangout with some elephants. Along the way we came across a bunch of monkey’s.

This monkey looks a little fired up. It’s actually a mother with her baby clinging on to her stomach.

Here is the mom a little more relaxed

Time for an elephant ride

We had a blast with the elephants. They were throwing us around in the water. I have some great video of this I’ll try to post at a letter date.

They loved nailing me with water.

I actually learned hot to mount an elephant

I ended up facing the wrong direction.

Nadine just relaxing with her elephant

After the elephants we headed back to Bangkok. The next day we were headed to Trang. SO check back soon. Much more to come.