Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles

Today, in Kentucky an earthquake of over 10.0 on the Richter Scale happened in Georgetown, the crack ran all the way from Kentucky to Moab, Utah. The Pilgrim found another 4.85 pickle burger! Here is the back story, Scott Diussa stopped off for late night beer at the Ruby Tuesdays next to our hotel, in friendly conversation some folks at the bar he was told about a great place in Georgetown to get a burger. He asked all the right questions, about how they prepared them, and they gave him all the right answers. The man and woman he was speaking with were very familiar with the place, in fact the young lady was Sheri Gruchow who helps run Fava’s. Fava’s is one of the oldest continuously run family restaurants in America. This great place started serving in 1910. The latest owners are Jeni & Howard Gruchow, and they are doing any previous owners proud. Everyone at our table, Berrie Smith, Scott Diussa, and myself, all had great meals.

This 1/2 pound monster was pre-
pared to perfection, medium,
juicy, toasted bun, and real
mayonaise, and Homemade
chips too….. So now we have a
East Coast and a West Coast
Champion! I would walk a
country mile for either Fava’s or
Milt’s burgers. They are slightly
different, but both great. If any
of the other folks that purport to
make great burgers took a lesson
form these guys, the world would
have a lot more great Cheese-
burgers……..

Photo by Berrie Smith

A great burger is always a joy, but
when the people that run the place is
are as great as the Gruchows and
B.C. at Milt’s you enjoy the meal all
the more.

The original restaurant had a bar with
old time red top stools. When they
took it out a friend of the restaurant
offered to paint the scene at the top
of the page. It just makes the place
along with and extensive collection of Mickey Mouse memorabilia.

I would like to thank Jeni, Howard and Sheri for their commitment to running such a great restaurant. Equally, I always love dropping by Milt’s Stop and Eat in Moab, Utah to visit with B.C. My hat goes off to all of you for doing such a great job for your customers.

It’s just to much fun, being the pilgrim, thank you Lord, it is a great life………………….
And I’m home tomorrow!

the pilgrim

*Photo Notes: All images
with the Coolpix P300

NASCAR is great place for color for color sake, check out some of these paint jobs. If it ever clears up I’ll try to get some cars actually moving…. This is the a great thing to do if you can’t be at home on the lake with your sweetheart. Bless you guys, thanks for stopping by….. It’s great to know your out there…….

the pilgrim

The last shot dedicated to my great friend Jim Begley, shot hand held, three frames with D3s, learned that
from him!!!!!!!!! HDR, reduced saturation, Photomatix Pro, Painterly.

Couldn’t resist, funny local sign…..

*Photo Note: D3s, 24-120 AFs VR and Coolpix P300.

If you’ve ever watched a NASCAR race you’ve see the frantic pit stops where a team fuels the car and changes all four tires in less than 20 seconds. What you don’t see is the massive, behind the scenes, effort made by the tire sponsor, Goodyear, to have enough tires on hand for all the cars and teams in the race. The Goodyear trucks (yes trucks, plural) are parked right outside our Nikon office at the infield of of Kentucky Speedway. The importance of race car tires cannot be emphasized enough. It is the contact of that rubber on the track that can decide who wins, and loses, and even, who finishes the race. Traction is vital when you’re going through curves at over
150 mph.

In your spiritual life, the rubber that meets the road of life, is your relationship with Jesus. Everyday is filled with the curves of life, to maintain traction and keep it going straight you must keep in great contact with Him. Even the smallest percent of tire that does not grip the track can lead to a wreck, or an, out of control, spin. Even the smallest lack of contact between you and the Saviour, can lead to the same out of control sliding through life that happens to a race car without good tires. To walk in the path He has planned for you takes real contact with Him. Prayer reading the word, and meditation on His word will lead to the Holy Spirit’s deep involvement in your life. Don’t count on “luck”, remember, when mission control said good luck to one of the first astronauts in the Mercury Program, his response was, “Luck is not a factor….”

Don’t count on luck today, count on Jesus……….

the pilgrim

NASCAR Photo Gallery

*Photo note: Nikon D7000, 24-120 AFs VR.

This morning I will leave for a NASCAR race up in Sparta, Kentucky, I will be with good friends, but I won’t be at home for the next four days. When the image above was made above I was in Santa Domingo at the Pan Am games with three great Nikon buddies, Stanley Menscher, Mike Anskat, and Anne Cahill, but I wasn’t at home. Over 200 days a year I’m somewhere interesting, doing something fascinating, with great people, but I’m not at home.

Home is where your heart resides. “There’s no place like home!” the Wizard of Oz. I could go on, but it is senseless, I’m leaving home today and that is just how it is. Thankfully my heart is always at home with Him. If it were not for the presence of God in my life, I would spend a great deal of time alone. Don’t get me wrong, I love the people I work with, and for, it’s just not home. Through the years I’ve heard it thousands of times, “wow, I sure wish I had your job!” I tolerate it, and smile, but they really don’t know what they are asking for. Trust me, no place is as nice as your, bed, your kitchen, your home. I’ve been fortunate to stay in some very luxurious resorts, in beautiful places, but it’s not home. Last month when I was able to take Sherelene along on an assignment and add a vacation day to it to show her some of the places I went for years, without
her, it was my best trip to those places, ever. It was more fun showing her these great places than all the times I went there alone.

It would be torture to live a life with an empty heart, but mine is not, even when I feel alone, I’m not alone. I feel His presence in my life, He sends people to minister to me, and for me to minister to. He makes the loneliness go away. Walking with Him is always an adventure, a chance to not know what will happen next, but to be assured, it will be to His glory, and for my good.

I’m still madly in love with my wife, even after 42 years of marriage! Someone once asked my wife, having heard me say that, “How could you guys be so in love after 40 plus years of marriage?” Sherelene said, “ It’s simple, he’s only been home 15 of the 42 years…….”

Thank you Lord for helping us to live like this and thrive……..

the pilgrim

O.K. now on to NASCAR, hope to post some interesting stuff over the next few days……….

*Photo Note: Nikon D100, 80-200 f 2.8 lens. Santa Domingo street scene, altered in Photoshop.