This and that……

It’s been snowy and cold in Kentucky, but today has at least been warm in our hearts, Sherelene and I celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary today, Valentines Day!  We’ve had a good day and it’s not over!  I wanted to share a few blessings and says thanks to a few people, not the least of which is my Heavenly Father.

First up my friend and photo buddy Rick Samon.  On a couple of occasions I’ve taught at big event the year after Rick was the speaker, it has always made me little nervous, because  though I didn’t know Rick personally (and that is important to the rest of the story!),  I knew of his reputation as a good guy, really great shooter, and effective presenter, nobody likes to follow that!!!!

Anyway when I finally met Rick a couple of years ago at a Photoshop world he turned out to be all the things I hoped it would be, a truly nice guy!  So recently when i decided to drive the entire 3500 miles of my upcoming March events I wanted to drive down as much Route 66 as I could and I had seen some of Rick’s incredible work from Route 66!   I wanted to know some of his favorite spots, but honestly I’ve gotten mixed reactions over the years when I asked some other shooters to share their secrete spots, some have been nice and some have declined. I was pretty sure that Rick would be helpful.  When I called him and asked, he went way out of the way to give me lists of locations, describe where some of his favorite shots on his website were taken, along with tech tips on time of day, and other valuable scouting info!  He even had a student send me the actual day by day schedule of his workshop!  I was very impressed with his spirit of sharing the journey.    Here is a couple of his shots that I love!

I won’t copy his work, but I sure will try to do the subjects justice!!!!   Thanks Rick for being a such a nice guy!

Under the Heading of God cares about all the little things, whether you believe it or not!  I’ve been facing replacing my trusty old 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser with 244,000 miles.  I thought about keeping it but I felt as much travel cross country l do and plan to do more, it might be time.  I had finally settled on a 2015 Subaru Outback.  I think they make a nice car and they’re reliable. I wanted something sorta luxurious but really could’t swing it.  I went by the Toyota dealer to see if I could get  my oil changed before taking it to trade and I noticed they had a late model Lexus RX-350 on the lot.  I went over and looked at it,  it looked like a new one and was loaded, I figured it was way over what I could afford, so I drove back home.  Later I thought about it and called a guy I know the dealership and asked him what they were asking for it, he told me all about it which made things even worse, (this had been  my dream vehicle for years, but even though it was 2012 year model, it only had 26,000 mile on it,)  his price was still over my head.  He said bring your FJ in and let me see if I can make it affordable.  I did and I took it for test drive which made things even worse, now I was praying he would make a really good offer!

He did make me a very good offer!  So the next time you are looking for me somewhere don’t look for a silver FJ Cruiser, look for silver Lexus!  Now I really can’t wait for my 3,500 mile out west and back.  Thanks for the countless blessing Lord!

Under the heading;  it never ceases to amaze me how nice some people are.  A former student of Jack’s and mine, Justin Ruiz, reads my blog and will be joining in Arches/Canyonlands.  It turns out he has just driven some of the Route 66 parts I’m headed for next month.  He sent me and email with some great sample pictures and some of his favorite locations on that stretch of the Mother Road!!!  Wow, thanks Justin, I will definitely check them out!  Here is one of his shots that knocked my socks off!

 
The Painted Desert Rim

Well, I think I’ll go throw another log on the fire,  and cuddle up with my sweetheart of 45 years and watch the snow fall!

Blessings,

the pilgrim