Monthly Archives: August 2009

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Goal 56 – Whitewater rafting.

Our day off from slogging up the mountains was far from relaxing. After a great night’s sleep at the Days Inn, and a fine breakfast we were on our way to Raven Rafting at the head of Royal Gorge on the Arkansas River, where we met Diane, Val’s cousin, who would be our fifth rafting […]

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7 Peaks – day 5.

Once again the keen local boys were up before I was, and once again I had to force myself out of my warm sleeping bag. The flatbed of the pick-up had been surprisingly comfortable, and it had been a clear, dry night. The early morning routine was becoming quite familiar, as people wandered around eating […]

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7 peaks – day 4.

5.30am seemed to come very quickly, and I was very comfortable in my sleeping bag, but it sounded like many of the others were up and about, so I dragged myself out of bed. It was still dark, and the sky was incredibly clear. Breakfast consisted of a handful of granola, and a breakfast bar, […]

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7 peaks – day 3.

We left the condo at Dillon at around 9am, and headed west towards Grand Junction. There were now only four in our group, myself, Val, Tim and Eric, the four who would be doing all of the peaks. We made a couple of stops, for fuel and to look at a pretty waterfall by the […]

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7 peaks – day 2.

Day Two of my attempt to climb seven of Colorado’s 14ers (peaks higher than 14,000 feet) began early with breakfast at the condo, and an early departure for the day’s start point about an hour’s drive away. There would be a group of eight of us climbing today, myself, Val and Tim, who are hoping […]

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7 peaks – day 1.

After my late arrival the night before, I had a fairly easy day around Colorado Springs, and was shown around some of the local sights by Val. We went to see Garden of the Gods, which has some spectacular rock formations, and met with a TV news reporter who wanted to do an article for […]

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More Birdman photos and video.

My Worthing host and official Birdman helper/photographer Michelle got chatting to Sara, wife of the flying crocodile, and they were stood together taking photos of our “flights”. Thanks to Sara, who forwarded these fantastic pictures:- And here are Worthing Town Council’s videos of the fun from both afternoons. (Note: Compared to many of the “flyers” […]

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Goal 55 – Fly like an ostrich!

I had to drop my “craft” off at the pier before 11am, and then had to be dressed in costume by noon for the judging of the Kingfisher class. The theatre on the pier where the mayor and others came to judge us was filled with a variety of entertaining costumes, including a guy in […]

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Worthing Birdman – day 1.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, and Michelle and I wandered down to the seafront for day one of the Worthing Birdman Competition. There are three classes of flyer, the most serious being the Condor class, who usually have hangliders, sometimes specially modified for the competition. The second group is the Leonardo Da Vinci class, […]

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Weekend in Worthing.

After writing my blog at 5 am yesterday morning I got up and had some breakfast, but as nobody else was up and about, I went back upstairs to read for a while, and wait for the rest of the household to catch up with me. The next thing I knew, it was about 12.30 […]

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Spooky Hotel.

Yvette had mentioned a nearby hotel to me that she thought I might like to visit, and when I found that it was the original inspiration for Stephen King’s book, and later movie and TV mini-series, “The Shining”, I insisted that we change plans, and go there for the tour. It would be cutting things […]

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I’ll take the high road…

After the exciting day at Utah’s Olympic Park we dropped in at local TV station KSL, who wanted to do an interview about goal number 54 being achieved in their state, and the interview appeared on the 10 o’clock news. You can see it online here by clicking on the picture below:- The next morning […]

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Goal 54 – Bobsleigh ride.

Tiffany offered to take us up to Park City, where Utah’s Olympic Park is located. She was running a little late in the morning, but all worked out well, as when we arrived the bobsled had not started running yet, as there was an aerial ski jump display just about to start. What great timing! […]

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Salt Lake City.

Tiffany contacted me back in September last year, prompted by a blog I wrote at the time about the guy who made a list of “100 Things To Do Before You Die”, and then unfortunately died when only about halfway through his list. (I am just over halfway myself now, so am being as careful […]

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Goal 53 – Bonneville Speed Week.

After he left school my friend Bruce travelled from England to travel around the States, and while driving across from the East Coast to the West, crossing Utah, he spotted several race cars on trailers travelling along Highway I-80. When he spotted a couple turning off and heading out onto the large expanse of salt […]

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Crossing Nevada.

On the way down out of the hills I passed a very enthusiastic group of girls shouting about car washes, and decided that it was time to give the outside of the RV a bit of a clean. The girls from Castro Valley High School cheerleader squad did a fantastic job! Fuel for the next […]

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On the road again.

The RV waste water tanks are repaired, my time in San Francisco is over, and it’s time to hit the road again. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in the city, and have made great use of the hills each day to toughen up my legs in preparation for forth-coming challenges. I have also […]

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