forgot something!

Big shout out to the Riddle's and Gina for commenting on the blog. It sure is nice to get messages from home...

Rest Day!

Today is a well needed rest day for me. I have nothing to do until 7pm tonight and I am loving the break. I slept in till noon and been on the internet all afternoon. So yesterday was once again a busy day with a fair amount of traveling. I did have to leave the house until around noon though which was nice. I start the day with a lunch meeting that was pretty non-eventful. After that I headed over to the Martinique newspaper for a tour of how they do things. Once again me not speaking French was an issue. The girl tried her best but the tour was more or less just her pointing at something and saying what it was in French and me saying ahhh! lol.. SO after about thirty minutes I think she had enough of me and said "you go now?" lol. So I left and walked around the city of Fort of France for a few hours. Not much was happening though because it is a very business like city and everyone was working.

Later it was off to dinner and it was going to be Chinese food for dinner which was a nice change of pace for me.. I stayed away from the rum and red wine because I also needed a break from that as well. After dinner my host "papa bear" as I car him took me for a drive downtown at night. Papa Bear is a wild English man that is retired and wanted me to see what happens at night in Fort of France. I must say I was shocked. In a 4 block area there must have been around 50 or so hooker. lol Papa bear of course made a few funny comments as we drove by them. Yes these where really hookers and not just girls hanging out on the corner. You could tell by the spandex out fits that look like what you would see on an episode of Miami Vice in the 80's. After a good laugh we headed home. Papa bear was really disappoint when the bar he wanted to stop at on the way home was closed. I was so happy it was I just wanted to rest.

So to night I am going to a karaoke party this should be interesting...

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Yoo hoo hoo and a few bottles of rum!

Martinique has has been super busy for me and the post to this blog have been pretty poor so I not going to bed until I get you up to date wth what been going o down here. First off the cold I had has gone away. Thank god! I felt so bad it was not even funny. Boy I sure missed my couch and Gina when I was sick.. I just big baby when I dont feel well. So where to begin. Yesterday morning it was of course a 7am start for the day. Things are a little different here in MArtinique then Barbados because I as staying about 15 - 20 miles out of town on the west coast of the island. The house is crazy nice (maybe so photos of it for you tomorrow) Where was I, ok s I left yesterday around 7am and headed to town with my driver Cerial. Not sure what his name really is but this whole french thing is driving me nuts so I call him Cerial. We got to town about 8am and mad a stop at the non-seeing center. It a pretty cool place. There take book and newspapers read then and record it so people that cant see or have issues reading like me can enjoy these writing. The man who over sees the projestc name is Maurice. Super nice older man about 65 i would guess. After visiting the center I had sometime to kill before my next metting at 12:30 so Maurice suggest that we go back to his place to relax. IMPORTANT NOTE! When someone down here says lets go relax, handout or chat it is all code for lets go drink some rum. Maurice asked driver to take him home and I follow behind. Once at Maurice's house we sat outside and chat while his aid brought out 4 different types of rum. Here we go again I thought to myself. Lucky for me I did have to be somewhere in a few hours so I had a good reason to say no thank you after the second glass of the Martinique national drink. (which is a spoon full of sugar at the bottom of a glass then 50 proof rum and a twist of lime.. I will give you heart buurn like you have never felt before. Maurice had promissed not to send me away from his house "one legged" which is a french way of saying trashed and he was true to his word.

Oce on the road again it was off to a noon Rotary meeting for lunch. Traverls Note: There are two things ALWAYS on the dinning table in French countries 1) frecnh bread 2) red wine.. So i started off with the first course which was i pink looking gravy thing(i stopped asking what it was I was eatting before i eat it about a week ago) It was good but had a lot of pepper but i didnt mind so much. After finishing it I said ok what was that because it was so different. Well it was ground up octopus. It really was not so bad. So of course may table kept filling my wine glass everytime it got near the bottom. (hope you counting the number of drinks at home) but i was once again saved due the fact I was meeting another photographer after lunch.

After luch I spemt most of the day taking photos and trying to make up for not taking any in the early week due to being sick. It went ok, didn't get any shoots that i love but thats how it goes. I post some in the morning.

After that it was off to a dinner party down town. I was hot and tired but I was also hungry again so I was happy to get there. Once again the rum came out and this time I just gave up. I had more drinks then I care to remeber. It was however a great time and I will post some of those photos in the morning also. Well got to go it is raining on me now... Sorry rain means no time to spell check..

No time for love Dr. Jones

This is going to have to be quick because I have to get cleaned up to go. Martinique has not been kind to me so far. I spent the entire day monday in bed with a cold and yesterday I wanted to shoot myself in the head because of how bad I felt. Yesterday I was out the door at 7am to visit the local hospital (not for myself but to visit the children) not sure how smart it was to take a sick guy there but ooohh well. Then it was off to the food bank.. It was so warm and I felt so bad it was a nightmare. Everyone here speak french and with a cold I just gave up and wanted to climb and hide under a table..

A little after lunch I started to feel my cold break. Thank god. After that I headed to the jungle to chech it out.. Sorry to say I really didn't pick up the camera much due to hoe i felt. I promiss to have some for you tomorrow. For dinner it was off to a meeting to give a presentation about myself to people who only speak french. YEAH! lol.. I must admit I sure was not nervous since no one understood me. lol. By the time I got back home it was almost 11pm.. What a long day... I think today is going to be the same... Wish me luck..

I am sick!

Well I made it to Martinique yesterday and it been a pretty crappy time so far. The night before my flieght I could feel a cold coming on. By yesterday afternoon it hit me hard. I spent all most the entire day today in bed and still don't feel so well. Of course everyone went to the beach today and I missed it again. Starting to wonder if I am going to get to spend anytime one the beach at all. Well I dont much feel like typing so I am out of here..

Get your beach party on!

Sadly today was my last full day in Barbados because I fly out for Martinique at 7am tomorrow. I must say that I highly recommend this island to everyone. The people have been wonderful to me. Jerry and Dee (my host family) are just as laid back as i am and I could have asked for anything more from them.

Well today Dee took me out for a little last minute shopping. Town was crazy due to there being three cruise ships in port at the same time. The shops were wall to wall with people, but I didn't mind so much. I ended up getting something for Gina (sorry cant say she reads this), a t-shirt for my sister and some hot pepper sauce that I have grown to really like during my stay. After spending some cash I was finished shopping because I really don't want to run out of money before I get home. So it was then back to the house to get ready for a beach party.

About 2pm Jerry, Dee and I, made our way to one of there friend's house to have a few drinks, eat and do some real swimming for the first time. On the drive down my excitement turn to disappointment. Jerry pointed out that the red flags were still up which means no swimming. Crap! We I will live I thought to myself. Once at the party I grabbed a ice cold Banks (local beer) and walked out on the beach for a look myself. The waves had really went down since yesterday only about 6 foot high now. Not bad I thought to myself, but the super high seas must have crushed the reef because the beaches were cover with pieces of coral. In a lot of places you feet never touched the sand do to so much coral on shore. So i had another banks... Nice

So after three more banks and looking at the ocean for a bit longer I said to myself there is no way I can come to Barbados for a week and not do any swimming. So I decided to test the water. I have aways been some what of a rebel what can i say. As I walked out into the water it became clear that this was not going to be much fun. The waves with all the broken pieces of coral in it would hit you in the legs and break open the skin in the process... Not your normal relaxing day at the beach. I decided to press on. Once I got out belly button deep the softball size pieces of coral stop hitting me, but there was a new issue. I am guessing the red flags were not for the waves but for the under tow. Man you could really feel it pull you out. So after a few minutes I had enough. Maybe I will have better lucky in Martinique this week. All and all the party was a good time and it gave me sometime to say goodbye to the new friends i have now... Next stop the island of Martinique.. PS, I am so Dark already wonder what I will look like after a month?

Go fly a kite!

So yes I went to church on good Friday. At 7am yesterday I was sitting in the church in a suit coat sweat like a mad man. I figured no big deal I could handle it for an hour. Man was I wrong about the one hour. Two and a half hours later church was over and I looked like I had just gotten out of the swimming pool. After getting home from church I was crushed by the heat of sitting in the old stone building all dressed up so I had to take a nap.

I felt much better when I got up and was ready to do some site seeing with my host family (Jerry & Dee). They drove me all around the island to some of the best views so I could get some pictures. I must admit though standing on the side of the road was a little crazy do to the flying cars up and down the road. With it being good Friday everyone is off work here and it was like everyone was out flying kites. These kites were much different from the ones you see at home. They are the size of a dinner plate. I would have loved to take a photo of them but they are so small and they fly so high in the sky it would have been pointless. The crazy thing about the kites is that they sound just like a weedeater when they are flying in the air. WERID. About 10 stops later we got to the town of Bathsheba where Jerry's family has a reunion every Good Friday. The spot was unreal. The house that the reunion was held in was about 30 feet from the coolest looking beach on the island. (no could swim again because of the high surf) This beach had very large rock formations that had been carved out over thousands of years. I was like a kid in a candy store. I spent about 3 hours taking pictures, some good some not so good. As of right now the photo count is a little over 1,000. Boy I am going to have a lot of work when I get home in a month.

Today is my last day hear in Barbados so I have no clue how the Internet is going to be in Martinique. I hope it just as ez to update the blog, but if not I will do my best to get you the news. Well I was invited to a beach party today so wish me luck on getting to swim today.

Today's Pics

Will post an update in the morning...

Live on the air in Barbados.

Hey sorry about yesterday with no blogging but it was a long day and I passed out when I got home. Once again today it was out the door early for a 9am radio broadcast about my visited to Barbados. It was really cool to hang out with the DJ on the air for 30 minutes. She asked me pretty simple questions about what differences I have seen between the here and home, what I like the most and how may stay has been going. Thirty minutes sounds long but it was over before I even knew it. (I have attached a phone from the studio but sorry it was really dark in there and the photo is pretty bad). After that I had a few hours to kill before my 12:30 meeting so I to a walk to the waterfront to do a little shopping. I didn't buy much but I did get a new neckless and a t-shirt. Nothing to exciting. Still got to find Gina some good before I move on to the next island.

Once my 12:30 meeting was over it was going to be my first free afternoon to spent some good quality time at the beach. Did I ever tell there must be a black cloud following me every where I go? When I got to the beach all the red flags where out to show that swimming was closed. From what I here a storm about 200 miles away it really causing so big waves. Just my luck. After to talk to a few locals they told me that these were the biggest waves the island has seen in 20 years. I was also informed later that a boy had died on the other side of the island do to the big seas. I did think it was that bad but what does a boy from the mountains like me know about the oceans. Well here is some more bad news. I was invited to a beach party on Saturday, but the weather looks for the waves to get even bigger in the next few days. So it could be possible that I move on to the next island with out even spending much time in the water here. Bummer!

Last night the reason I got in so late was because I went to see a show in the city. It was like a Barbados version of a Vegas show. Big costumes, dancing and singing. There was a fire eater and that was kinda cool. All and all the show was fun, but 3 1/2 hours was a little long for my taste.

Tomorrow I am of to church for good friday at 7am so this evening I plan to sit back relax and watch some TV for the first time since friday.. Well I off till tomorrow..

I miss ya Gina, Anni Bug and the Lucky Dog!

More pics..

No time to write this morning due to a late evening last night and a early start this morning. I will give you a few photos to see. I will have time to write this evening so stay tuned..

Old government makes for good fun!

Today was a long one so I am sure this is going to be short. I got out of bed around 6:30 and got all dressed up to go to Parliament this morning. It took about three seconds for me to start sweating after putting on my dress coat, long pants and a tie. I was so happy to jump in the car and turn on the a/c. Once I got to downtown it was only a few blocks walk to get to the Parliament building but with the heat and my dress cloths it looked like I had just run a 5k. No worries though the Parliament building also had a/c. It was a pretty special treat to sit down and talk with the speaker before the start of Parliament. I was then taken to my seat on the floor right beside the members of Parliament. Not to bad for the son of a coal miner from West Virginia. To watch the government here is nothing like watching our own. It is actually entertaining to see. First you must understand that in January a whole new party took power in Parliament after the old party held power for 14 years. Let me tell you, the new party didn't have to many good things to say about the old governing body. It is also budget time of the year and the two party went at it like cat and dogs. I was laughing out loud constantly. They would call each other names and tell each other that their crazy. It was a blast.

After a few hours of that it was off to lunch with a 72 year old man named tony. Tony kept the laughs coming. This guys was super nice and very worried about my safety but he was also like a teenager at heart. Singing at the table, telling crazy stories Tony made it a very interesting lunch. I had a great lunch of fish once again. I hate fish at home but this fresh stuff is da bomb.

Then I took a tour of the local hospital and was shown the pediatric wing. It does not matter where you are West Virginia, Iran or Barbados seeing sick children is very unnerving. One child made an very big impact on me but maybe I should kept that story to myself. Well no real pictures from today but will get some for ya tomorrow and hopefully a better story but I need some sleep.

Seeing the island!

I woke up today to 80 degrees and a sunshine that just makes you feel alive. After a long winter in Davis the rays of the sun are very very welcome. My host family offered me a fresh cup of Jamaican coffee to start my day off with. WOW! That coffee has got some kick. It was so strong that I had to pour out 3/4 of the cup out and replace it with water before I got it just right. I was thinking about bring some home to remove grease from mountain bike parts or even a paint thinner lol.

After finishing my cup of java I was off. Today the schedule was a Land Rover tour of the entire island. I was dropped off at the check in for the tour soon after I was introduced to my driver for the day Deon (or as I would call him all day Neon Deon). Deon was about 28 years old I would say and a super cool cat. So after a little chat everyone going on the tour loaded into the back of the truck. The truck had no sides on the back so you almost had a 360 degree view from your seat. The Rover held only 8 people so the seating was very comfortable. Deon couldn't help but burn some rubber as we pulled away from the parking lot.

The tour was going to be 7 hours so it covered pretty much the whole 15 miles by 25 mile island. For the first few hours we drove though some different towns to see the sites, but not long afterwards it was time to go off roading. If you have ever driven to Blue Hole on the Cheat River picture that. These roads had the same big curves and drop offs as the famous swimming spot in Preston County. Just a few minutes later we made it to the north coast. WOW! It was beautiful. Coral reefs were visible all along coast just below the water. At on point we even saw a sea turtle come up to the surface for a bit of O2. I must have taken 50 or so pictures of the area. One of my favorites though had to be of my friend Melissa who brought her terrible towel with her just so she could have her picture taken with it on the beach.

After a little walking around it was back to the Land Rover for a drink. Neon Deon had a few choices for us like fruit punch, apple juice, coke or rum punch (aka as we know it in WV as jungle juice) Well I must admit I don't think Deon picked up any bottle except the rum punch. It was a nice treat since the temp was start to rise. OK back in the truck we went. We saw a ton of stuff and made two more rum stops and let me tell you everyone was feeling the rum. At one point I think we were so busy laughing and talking that we just stop looking at the sites. We did stop for lunch and had some chicken and rice with beans (quickly becoming my favorite) and let me tell you, when the rum buzz goes you get tired. Add on top of that my minor sunburn and I was ready for bed. After eating it was once more back to the truck for the return trip and I did mind that at all. By this time it was really getting warm out and sitting in the open back of the truck was nice and cooling from the wind. About an hour later I made it back to my host families house feeling whipped. The family went to the gym to workout so I had the place to myself and I went straight to my room and crashed.

I got up about 6:30 and no one was still home so I had a few free minutes on the Internet and was able to IM a friend to call Gina and have her sign onto MSN so we could chat for a bit.. It was nice to get a sec to talk to her. Just then the phone rang, it was Gary on the other end wanting to know if I wanted to go out with him and a member of his host family. Hell ya I told him.. About an hour later Gary his host brother Rus and his friend Alex pulled up to the house. Alex was kinda like the turn guide, Rus was also from Barbados but has been living in Boston for the last few years. Alex said he wanted to stop by one of the rum shops (bar) where the prime minister and all these other very important people have drinks after work. Right now you are probably thinking just as I was at the time, but we didn't end up at some super high class place. We drove down a back road to a dead end with a basic 4 wall building that was about the size of a UPS truck. Outside the building I think I counted 4 dogs looking like they had to much rum because they were crashed sleeping by the door. We enter the place and Alex introduced us to some super nice folk and of course we had a banks (local beer). I must admit I was very surprised when I saw a Steeler's flag hanging on the wall. After finishing our beer it was time to hit the road again.

The next stop was even more interesting then the first. As we walked into the shop Alex introduced us to the older gentleman working behind the counter. Alex explained that he has been a member of Parliament for over 20 and it is more then likely that he will be deputy prime mister in a few week! I was blown away. The man was working alone behind a counter of a place that was like a tiny mini-mart that had beers also. He was about to become what we would call vice president in the us.. Pretty cool! So we had one more beer and it was back home by 10:30. I have got a early start in the morning. Believe it or not little old me is going before Parliament in the morning at 8am.. Think i tell them to build some mountain biking trails.. Maybe I can get my 20 trail maintenance points in Barbados.. Night!

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Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

I made it! The flights yesterday went pretty much as planned with very little problem. The only time I was ever worried was when we loaded the plane in New Jersey. Gary and I had the very back seats in the plane. And boy it was a tight fit and the third seat in our row went to a women who was fly with her baby on her lap. Gary and I looked at each other and said this is going to be a long 5 hours. Someone must have been listening because right before take off one the flight attendance ask the lady to move up front to an empty seat. SCORE! With the extra leg room Gary and I both crashed. Because of the 4am wake up call I was dead tired and slept the entire flight to Trinidad.

It took all of 2 seconds after getting off the plane to realize that we were not in 35 degree West Virginia anymore. It was hot!! Did i mention it was hot! The airport had a few other international flights coming in at the same time so the lines at immigration were LONG! No worries though after spending most of the day on planes it was kinda nice to stand up and get some blood going to the old legs. Once past immigration and getting my first ever stamp in my passport (way cool) we were approach by a friendly looking man by the name of Conrad Ruiz. Conrad explained he was my host for the evening. Well being in the country for only 15 minutes I was lost already and was happy to follow anyone.

We ventured out and jumped in Conrad's Toyota pickup and headed for town. I have drove in D.C., Pittsburgh, Charlotte and most every other major city on the east coast and at most times feel OK about it. I WOULD NEVER DRIVE IN TRINIDAD! lol For one thing every one was on the wrong side of the road and I am not taking about how we drive on opposite sides of the road. They literally drive in both lanes all the time.. Thank goodness Conrad's had a ohh #*&%! bar for me to hold on to. I ask Conrad about it and he said "this is nothing, driving in Miami now that crazy!"

We did make it to his house safely and I kissed the ground once out of the car (not really). Once inside I was introduced to his lovely wife Judith and his two sons that lived with him. Super nice people. Before I even had a minute to sit down Conrad said what do you want for dinner. I had no idea what to say because I didn't know what was a usual food for folks in Trinidad.. I told him what ever you want is fine by me.. Judith stepped out to go get some take out and I coulded help but wonder what see was going to bring back. Would I like it? What if I didn't? I told myself no matter what I would eat it and like so not to be rued. Well Judith return and it was time to eat. Any guesses what we had? huh? Wrong! We had Chinese, yes Chinese. I had to laugh a little inside, but I will say it was some of the best I had ever had. With dinner I was offered a Coke in a glass with ice in it. Everyone said don't drink the water or have ice you will get sick. Well Conrad's business is ice manufacturing. You really can't say no ice please. That would have been supper rued in my book. So I had the ice and to this point no problem..

Not long after dinner it was off to bed because I had to get up around 6am for another flight to Barbados.. That's where I am at now.. I'll try to make a post at the end of the night tonight so I can let you know how the days goes but for now here is a picture.

Capitalism is alive and doing well!

Someone out there better be reading this blog. Not because I have to take the time to wright it. I enjoy that part. Because tonights post is costing me $9.95! What ever happened to free wi-fi in hotel rooms.. Here at the Hyatt next to the Pittsburgh International Airport they make you pay for internet access. There is also no free parking for people staying at the hotel. If you stay here you must use the extended stay airport parking lot that also cost $9.95 a day.. I not going to complain anymore about it because they will not change things just for little old me (big old me).

Today was not as crazy as yesterday was but it wasn't without it own stress and drama. Gina and I got a pretty good start. We got out of Davis around 9:30. We had to make a quick stop at East-West Priniting to pick up a few things (thanks ruthie for the goodies) but that only took a minute. So then we headed across route 50 towards Grafton to drop the dogs off at Gina's mom house for the evening. Anni bug loves the car rides. She is so use to going camping all the time with me she gets excited everytime we get in the car. Lucky dog is a whole nother story. Lucky didnt stop shaking the whole drive to grafton. For an entire 1 1/2 hour drive she sat in the back shaking like it was 10 below outside.. Got to get that dog some xanex.

So with the dogs dropped off we headed to Morgantown and picked up Shannon, who is a teammate of mine who is also going on the trip. About 20 miles out of Morgantown I realizied that the powerpoint presentation I had worked so hard on the last few days was still on my computer at home! $%*@#! Well lets just say I started to freak out a little. We made it to pittsburgh and did a little shopping at the very over priced REI store. Still not knowing what I was going to do about the powerpoint I had to get some food in me.. We desided to hit up Max & Erma's a few miles from the airport. When will pulled into the parking lot Gina had the great idea of calling Roger (of Blackwater Bikes) to she if he could help. So we sat down and after the waitor took our order I headed outside to call Roger. Being the great guy Roger is, he and Alex headed over to my house to see what they could do to help.. Alex worked the computer on the other end of the phone while I stood outside in the rain in pittsburgh. To make a long story short there where some issues trying to mail me the powerpoint and it took a good bit of time. By the time I made it back to the table Gina was already done with her dinner.. Crap! I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was upset. After questioning her a few times tears started to fall. Double Crap! I total understood way she was upset. It was our last dinner together for a month and I spent it talking on the cell phone to Roger and Alex. :( Befoe dinner was over (well my dinner) I told her I was sorry and things were ok before we made it to the car. :) Ohh and I did get the powerpoint! Thanks Roger and Alex!

Well got to get to bed got a 4am wakeup call... Wish me luck!

What a day..

Tonight's post will be short but I not sure about the sweet. What a day it has been. It is now 8:30 pm and I have been working since 8am trying to get all my work done before I head to Pittsburgh in the morning. I am SO ready to go because once I get on that plane what ever I didn't get finished will just have to wait until I get back in a month. I get get a sec to have Gina take this photo ofme and the puppies.. Boy I going to miss all 3 of them..

I am so smart..

While I am away on this trip my team and I will be doing a few presentations about West Virginia. Well I worked my butt off trying to make this power point look really nice. You know, something that will hold people attention even if they all don't speak the same language as me. We being the brilliant mind that I am, somehow I lost the file! AAAAHHHH! I looked on 3 different computers and 2 flash drives. Well I have one full work day left before I leave and I will be spending it redoing something that took me a week to do the first time.... I blame it one Bill Gates.. Well enough of that.

So I pretty much finished packing today.. (see photo) I fit as much as I could in my suitcase and it is stuffed. So now where do I put my Camera and lens? It wouldn't be such a big deal but since I have to take a lot of little planes there is a 44 pound weight limit.. Not good when you are trying to pack one of the biggest cameras on the market, 3 lens, 2 extra batteries, 4 memory cards, one speedlight flash, 3 sets of batteries for the flash and one portable hard drive.. All that and it has to be under 44 pounds... I had to throw out somethings that I really don't want to leave at home.. Can you say commando in the Caribbean! LOL

Lots to do, so little time!

T minus 2 days and counting until I am off for my adventure to the Caribbean and South America. It's been crazy trying to get everything done in time to go. Think about this for a second. If you had to leave your normal life for 30 days how much you would have to do to make it possible? The amount of stuff is unbelievable, but I wouldn't give this opportunity up for anything. For those of you who don't know, I am the director of West Virginia Mountain Bike Association. While I am gone the racing season gets kicked off. Trying to manage a racing series from 3000 miles away should prove to be fun. LOL! I am kinda hoping someone sends me the usual e-mail after a race wanting to know when the race results are going to be post on iPlayOutside, just so I can reply with "the jungle I am in or the beach I am on doesn't have Internet access". That brings up a good question. Why would someone who just did a race want to see the results on the internet so bad? They were there at the race and they know how they did! Get back to me on that one somebody! Well that's enough for tonight, I got to go figure out how to get my backpack that is stuffed with a months worth of stuff under 44 pounds!