goodfish's VirtualTourist Home Page

I really should change this Homepage picture as it's a few years old but I don't have the heart 'cause it's a tiny little capture of one of my most perfect vacation days EVER so a great memory. The outfitter in Springdale, who rented us the proper equipment, was in the graphic arts field like me until he did his first trip into the Narrows. Guess you could say he had an epiphany, right there between the majestic walls of this slot canyon, and his life hasn't been the same since; quit the job, sold the stuff, moved to Utah and became a champion of the experience for other adventurers. That's one lucky man.

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St. Paul Winter Carnival

I live in Minneapolis where it's really nice about 6 months of the year and really sort of not so nice the rest of the time. Our winters can be long (!) up here in the North but we're good at bundling up and having a little fun with them. Here we are at St. Paul Winter Carnival freezing our behinds off on one of the ice sculptures outside a favorite pub. It might have more to do with the several pints we'd just finished than the festival but never mind - we look happy, right? Whatever. Cabin fever does bizarre and frightening things to people... It really is great here most of the time and winter just makes us appreciate spring and summer that much more.

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Winter in our backyard

In the blue light of early morning,
after a wet, heavy snowfall that sticks to everything,
even winter can be a beautiful thing.

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My Canon gracefully bites the dust

I'm working on new tips from 2 trips and finding it slow going. There's so much about travel that's not about what you SAW that made a trip great, you know? It's the day that didn't start so well but turned into one of the best. Connections with interesting people. Fleeting moments of magic that you can't share as a "How to" with other VT'ers. Happy accidents. Speaking of happy accidents, here's a shot from a camera meltdown a few years ago. Ordinarily, having a camera go kaput on vacation would be kind of a bummer? My beloved Canon rescued a stressful weekend of over-scheduled events, a major city water problem and some high-maintenance travel companions by producing a few accidental pieces of art as its swan song. Fun stuff.

Happy trails, all!

2009 - Seattle and Olympic NP, and hopefully a TBD.