Yangshou, China

Yangshou is unbelievable!

This is where much of the traditional Chinese Art, landscape paintings are set...

Limestone mountains rise strait from the ground, being carved by rivers, and littered with caves.

Yangshou, is a little backpacker heaven... Lots of affordable rooms and good food.

The whole town is surrounded by mountains.




We drove around the countryside on little electric bikes...



Mountians and ricefields!

Summer in Delavan

The best part about being back in Chicago, is Delavan...

Every weekend my family and friends go upto the lake, and play in the water. We wake up early for wakeboarding, and sail on Saturday afternoons.

Other than that, we spend our time on the pontoon boat, hangin out, or going to the local bar...



Matt and Vanda on the tube their first "Baby"... Reece...


Uncle Seth likes to torture Reece!

Boat Trips

I love the mountains, and I love the sea... 2005 had both for me...

My family got to see some amazing things this last year in the Ocean. Scuba diving, swimming and sailing.

Ben and Werner in the Mangroves.


We were feeding the ray, and actually PETTING the wild ray!

Exploring the Thurnderball Cave!


And just hangin in the sun...

Duanguan Travelers Unite

This year in Duanguan, China got a lot more exciting, when a group of Travelers decided to stay and teach English, while saving some money to go traveling.

Greg and Wayne are from South Africa, and of course love being outdoors, cooking, drinking beer, and most especially, eating!

Rachel, Emma, and Melanie are from Ireland. They also share pretty much the exact same interests, except between Melanie and Cassie, there was always enough motivation to go out drinking 5 nights a week!

R to L... Melanie, Cassie, Emma, Annie

Another pic from my Birthday...



We had some great times, and some great adventures.

Wayne is helping to clean the water buffalo? At Crater Lake, Jiang Jiang, China.



Wayne found some Beef in the Local Market... We BBQ and camped on the beach for 2 days...

We rented some tents... Greg is hiding from the Sun, while Melanie, of course is loving it!


The local fishermen use boat like this, and drag nets, or they just drop nets and have about 30 people on shore pull them in... This time, they got a lot of Jelly fish, which tastes... Interesting... and somewhat tolerable, with spicy sauce!

Chang Mai, Thailand

Early in the year, Cassie and I went for a weekend in Chang Mai. Located inland, northern Thailand. It is famous for being a starting point for backpackers interested in going to the mountains of northern Thailand. So, we met up with Tracy, who was studying Thai massage. Basically, I loved it! The food is amazing! So fresh and you can't say you've had Thai food, until you go to Thailand! That combined with it being extremely affordable, we spent most of the time eating and getting massages (for $4 an hour!)

We went to the country side for a day, some hiking, and beautiful monasteries... The only shock was to see the Monks SMOKING cigarettes! (sorry, no pics here :)





Cassie and Tracy at the massage place... Note: Thai massages are GREAT! Not for happy endings, but really, for the streching and movement during the massage, you walk away feeling great...

Durango Trip, Feb, 2005

The start of the year was great! Chinese New Year came, so I took a weak to head out skiing. And what a lucky boy I am! I decided to make the long haul, from China, to Chicago, to Wolfcreek. And the snowgods gave southwest colorado bountiful snow last year! I got down late night, not stopping for fear that there could be an unbelievable powderday at the creek... Well... I woke up to 13 inches, 24 in the last 2 days, and still snowing... Ed, Anders, and I had an unbelivable week, with many days in the backcountry, hiking, and snowmobile towing (a reminder, it is not wise to tie one's self to a snowmobile, while towing at high speeds!).

Snowing at the Creek...

Me ontop the mountian pass...

The run down from the top!

Ed and Anders!