I always enjoy visiting the Grand Canyon. You can never truly grasp the enormity and vastness of the vistas before your eyes when you’re there, because you lose ALL sense of scale, nor can you truly   more...comprehend that the oldest rocks within the Inner Gorge at the bottom of Grand Canyon date back to almost two billion years ago.

The song for the video is Jimmy Buffett’s “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On”. I really like the life message within the lyrics:

“I bought a cheap watch from the crazy man
Floating down Canal
It doesn’t use numbers or moving hands
It always just says "now" . . .

“Now you may be thinking that I was had
But this watch is never wrong
And if I had trouble the warranty said:
Breathe in, breathe out, move on . . .

“According to my watch, the time is now
The past is dead and gone
Don't try to shake it, just nod your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on . . .

“Don’t try to explain it, just bow your head
Breathe in, Breathe Out, Move on....”  less

Here are some of the scenes I saw along Route 66 in Arizona and California, during my recent wonderful motorcycle ride around the Southwest.

The video also includes some examples of the Burma Shave ads.   more... Here are a few websites that talk about these famous, highly entertaining ads, which were seemingly EVERYWHERE on the highways “in the old days”:

http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/hpolscrv/mthomas.htm

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/burma.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma-Shave

http://www.signindustry.com/outdoor/articles/2000-02-15-giveusbackourburmashave.php3

The "Hollow Mountain" store and gas station is actually on a road that's north of Route 66, but it's funky nature fits right in with many of the quirky places on Route 66, so I included it in the video as well. There's an entire store carved into that mountain, with restrooms and storage rooms, etc. The store owner confirmed for me that the rock is a great natural insulator, so they never have to use heat during the winter, and only need air conditioning in the summer because of the heat that the refrigerator cooling units put out.

The song for the video is three different versions of “Route 66”, one by Depeche Mode, one by Chuck Berry, and the final version by the Rolling Stones.  less

This is the sequel to “Into The Desert”. After a few days in the heat of the deserts of Southern California and Nevada, I worked my way back towards San Diego, by motorcycling up into the mountains,   more...to ride by Lake Arrowhead, Silverwood Lake, Lake Gregory, and along the beautiful “Rim of the World Drive” to Big Bear Lake. Rim of the World Drive is the two lane Highway 18, located northeast of San Bernardino, and, as I found out, FILLED with OTHER motorcyclists on weekends! It was QUITE a change bein’ around so many other motorcyclists again, after bein’ in the solitude of the deserts on my own. And once I got FURTHER back into civilization, it was even MORE of a change, havin’ to be impacted by damned TRAFFIC LIGHTS again!!, after ridin’ for DAYS without seein’ even ONE of those truly annoying inventions from Hell! LOL I wonder how many YEARS are wasted out of people’s lives by havin’ to sit still at traffic lights? . . . . but I digress LOL . . .

On Memorial Day I head out from San Diego again on the motorcycle for a few weeks, and ride up the Pacific Coast Highway to the San Francisco Bay Area, then east through Yosemite National Park, then by Mono Lake and east on the wonderful two old U.S. 50 through Nevada, which is a GREAT motorcycling road that I’ve loved bein’ on many times over the decades. U.S. 50 was part of the old 3,400 mile long Lincoln Highway, which was a famed transcontinental highway, and the first practical automobile road to link the East and West coasts of the United States. The Nevada portion of U.S. 50 is rarely used any more, with most travelers opting to use 4 lane Interstate 80 to the north, which is fine by ME! since they leave U.S. 50 to the bikers and people in enclosed vehicles who have more time on their hands to enjoy the incredible vistas :) :)

Once out of Nevada, I’ll wander around Utah and Arizona for a while, then spend a few days in Las Vegas, before headin’ back to San Diego.

The song I used for this video is “Let It Ride” by Ryan Adams & The Cardinals.  less

I just got back from 5 days of motorcycling around the deserts and mountains of Southern California and Nevada, so here’s a video of some of the scenes along the way.

The song for the video is America’s   more...great desert song “A Horse With No Name”.  less

http://www.travelhip.tv Want jet set locations, hip boutique hotels, cool places to party like Nikki Beach? Get a free report of the top 10 places hip travelers spend new years eve.

Here are some of the photos I took Monday and Tuesday on a 540 mile motorcycle ride on the desert and mountain backroads in Southern California. The route generally circled Salton Sea, with side trips   more...to places like Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Indio, and Calexico. I’ve been motorcycling for almost 40 years, and it’s by far my favorite way to travel around the country, so shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that most of these photos include my current motorcycle LOL

At one of the places I stopped to take a break, I met a Sheriff Sergeant who told me about a REALLY unusual area known as “Slab City” (which includes something called “Salvation Mountain”). Slab City is an area outside Niland (at Salton Sea) and is frequented by land squatters and RV owners. The “City” gets it name from the concrete slabs and pylons that remain from an abandoned World War II base and Marine Barracks Camp Dunlap. The area is also near a live bombing range called Chocolate Mountain Impact Area. Some of the recent movie "Into the Wild" was filmed at Slab City. Here are a couple of websites about the place:

http://vagabonders-supreme.net/SlabCity.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City

The song I used for the video is “On The Road Again” by Canned Heat.  less

Walking to the beach on a lovely spring day.

A road trip video about east Texas water politics, Caddo Lake, Marshall, Texas and the steamboat bayou town of Uncertain, Texas.

Here is a slide show we put together with pictures we have taken in Iceland over the years..Feel free to pause to take a better look at the images :)

The city of Hong Kong march 2008. A collection of photos from the city of Hong Kong march 2008.

Not to be confused with nearby “Westminster Abbey” of the Church of England, “Westminster Cathedral” is the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in either England or Wales. Construction began in 1895, and   more...the Byzantine style architectural style is HIGHLY distinctive in London. The interior of the cathedral is quite dark, but you can still see in these video clips some of the beauty of the architecture and can see the elaborately carved marble columns.

One of the highlights of a visit to this cathedral is that you can go to the top of the 273 foot tall cathedral tower and see some great views of London.

The song I chose is “The Prayer” by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion.  less

The final episode of a 50-part series on being lured out to Hollywood from east Texas to do a documentary on homeless issues.

Main theme music by
Rextangle and his mystery woman
http://www.rextangle.net/
  more...
Clips of music from
Incompetech and Audioswap

http://www.thehahahatimes.com/  less

Everyone who comes to Chiang Mai Thailand visits Wat Prathat Doi Suthep temple located on top of the mountain overlooking the city. Join us for a video tour.

The second part of my video of my visit to York Minster, City of York, UK in July 2007

My visit to York Minster, City of York, UK in July 2007.

This video is dedicated to SURFCOTTAGE ( Nancy). Let us take a tour of Nancy's Birthplace Prince Edward Island. Nancy I did this video for you because I got the impression that you wish you still lived   more...on P E I. I really hope you enjoy it!!

Most of the images are from Google Earth, some are Nancy's own photos, and some of the video footage is Nancy's own first video she ever did!!
Music is Only Time by Enya  less

I pass through the outlying community of Nibley, Utah. Video set to music.

I wanted to share some video clips of Greenland, Hoover Dam near Las Vegas, and the hazy smoke from the Southern California fires.

Many thanks to my England friend Ren for her song suggestion of using   more...“Come Away With Me” by Norah Jones for this video.  less

This sculpture in Horsham, England, is technically called “Cosmic Cycle”, but none of my friends, who LIVE in Horsham, call it by that name . . . . they tend to call it MUCH less “complimentary” names!   more...LOL . . . I’ve always called it “The Flushing Earth”, and it’s one of the more bizarre sculptures I’ve ever seen! . . . . granted, it’s fun to WATCH! LOL, but still BIZARRE!!

The song is “How Bizarre”, by OMC, which I think is a PERFECT song choice!  less

Filming wild dolphins proved to be quite the challenge. Since they do not like the sound of scuba regulators it is necessary to skin dive with them. They can hold their breath for interminable periods   more...of time, are extremely agile and incredibly quick. I am none of these. Attempting to hold the housing steady and keep the subject in frame while holding my breath proved to be more than I had anticipated.  less

Views of Utah Idaho and Wyoming cut together to show the beauty of the plants and landscape, set to music.

This ALMOST pointless video was made to inform people about the name of a road that is listed LAST on any alphabetical listing of roads that includes the name of this road. The name of the road always   more...makes me laugh, so I hope other video viewers will be similarly entertained! My apologies in advance, if you’re NOT entertained by this almost pointless video! LOL

The name of the road, Zzyzx, was created in 1944 by an enterprising, albeit LAWBREAKING (LOL), entrepreneur named Curtis Howe Springer, who claimed the name had the lofty position of being the final word in the English language. Curtis decided to pronounce the newly created word as "Zai-zix", with the accent on the first syllable, rhyming the word with "Isaac's", not "physics".

Curtis then went about establishing the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa at the spot, which, coincidentally, happened to be on Federal land that he had no permission to USE!! . . . . . . a “minor” point that he conveniently decided to IGNORE!! during the ensuing decades!! LOL

He used the springs to bottle water and to provide drinks for travelers through the hot desert. Curtis also imported animals from around the country, in order to attract more families to visit his ranch. He used Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa until 1974, when he was finally arrested by the United States Marshals for (DUH!!!) misuse of the land, as well as alleged violations of food and drug laws.

Since 1976, the Bureau of Land Management has allowed California State University to manage the land in and around Zzyzx. A consortium of CSU campuses use it as their Desert Studies Center.

Almost NOBODY has ever heard this word, yet there are “about 281,000” entries on Google if you search under “Zzyzx”!!

The song choice for the video is “On the Road Again” by Canned Heat. The above information about Curtis was obtained via readin’ Wikipedia.org.  less

A few shots in and around the East Gate, with comments and music.

South of Cody, Wyoming is a road that goes into Grizzly country and some beautiful mountains. It's much more spectacular than these videos show but you'l enjoy the shots.