The Force is strong with this one...

Star Wars Horoscope for Virgo

You show efficiency when working for a good cause. But you tend to be a bit fussy when it comes to doing something out of the ordinary. Like many Virgos, you want to stay out of the spotlight. You do well at picking up the smallest details. Star wars character you are most like: C3P0

What is Your Star Wars Horoscope?

Your Star Wars Name and Title

Your Star Wars Name: Phiba Bolan Your Star Wars Title: Selvan of Acinorev

Your Star Wars Name and Title

Your Star Wars Pickup Line

"Nice buns, Princess! On your head, that is."

What's Your Star Wars Pickup Line?

Bigfoot? Didn't see him -- Redwoods June 06

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting about our trip to Redwoods National Park. That's right, we took a trip up north to Bigfoot country to go camping with some of our good friends before they moved out of California to Texas (poor kids).

Anyway... we had an exciting time. The drive took about 6 hours, up windy mountain roads. I had a headache by the time we got to the camp site. But once we were there it was well worth it. The area was so amazing. I had never been to the Redwoods before and just seeing trees of that size was shocking to say the least.

The first picture here is in the Trees of Mystery. It cost a pretty penny to get in but was worth the cost. So many amazing sights were there. They had a tree called the Family Tree - it has 12 separate trees growing out of one main tree. It kind of looked like a candelabra, with individual trees growing from horizontal branches and stretching 40 feet up toward the sky. One thing I found out while there is that redwood trees do not have tap roots. Their root system only goes into the ground about 6 feet and spreads out to get the nutrients for the tree. It is amazing that such large trees do not have the support you would expect.

The second picture is from the top of the Trees of Mystery. They have a lift that takes you up to the top of the mountain and from there you can look out onto the Pacific. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

The third picture I took while we were driving along the Avenue of the Giants, north of Eureka, CA. My kids wanted to all climb up inside the tree, so I decided it would be the perfect photo op. I am still amazed at how large these trees are. My 7 year old son was able to stand up fully inside, without touching the top.

The final picture is from the Drive-thru tree at Myers Flat. It cost $1.50 for each adult and was free for kids 7 and under. $3 was a bargain to see this sight. If I had not been amazed at that point, this would have done it. It was a surreal experience driving through one of nature's amazing phenomena.

We all had an amazing trip up north. I would definitely recommend such a trip for anyone who loves nature or the outdoors. It is an experience that I will never forget, even if I didn't see the famous Sasquatch.

Rise of the Tusken Raiders

I am so sore right now! Ok, so you're asking yourself what does that have to do with the title here? Standby and I will tell you the story...

Last week a friend of mine called and conned me into participating as part of a 4 man team in a race here at Beale Air Force Base, as part of the Recce Challenge Adventure Series. The race was called a Run, Paddle, and Bike. I came to find out that I had been duped into something much more intense than I had initially thought.

The race would consist of a 2 mile bike ride, then the entire team had to paddle a raft around a bouy (which ended up being .25 miles in distance), followed by a 2.2 mile run, and finishing up with a 5.6 mile bike ride, including climbing some pretty rough hills. Yes this was all off-road as well! So about 10 miles distance for the whole race.

As I arrived at the starting area my friend told me what he had entered our team as... The Tusken Raiders. Now of course I was stoked! But I was sure once everyone else heard the name they would think I came up with it, and not my friend. Anyway, our team ended up being in the third heat, which meant we sat around for 40 minutes before we started (so glad I got up at 6:30am for this).

As we started off everything was going well, then right after the first turn my bike chain came off... I knew right then that I was in for a rough morning! The rest of the race went as expected; every other team kicked our tails from here to there and everywhere in between. Like I said, that was kind of expected. I mean, we were going up against teams with people preparing to run marathons, people who bike avidly, and the undisputed fastest man on base (seiously this guy runs 1.5 miles in 7:30 flat!).

Despite the fact that our team did not perform as well as we had hoped, it was still a great victory for all of us. When you have people at the start of the race saying, "You guys are doing this?", and yet you are still able to finish the entire race, it gives you the ability to hold your head high and know that you have accomplished something. Not for a trophy that will sit and collect dust beside numerous other trophies... Not for the glory of winning... But for the simple fact that you can look yourself in the mirror while you rub ointment into your throbbing joints and muscles, moaning in pain and misery, and say, "I did it! I finished! I succeeded!"

What have I gotten myself into?

Ok, so I'm not the usual one you would find writing blogs. I don't like talking about myself or my life. I just don't see myself as that interesting, although my wife would disagree and probably be ticked at me for saying so. So why in the world would I start a blog?

Good question. Does anyone have an answer for me? I guess the reason would probably be so that I have yet another place to discuss my increasingly overwhelming need... scratch that... compulsion to write. Currently it is all about writing Star Wars fanfic. That's right I am a Star Wars geek, completely and totally. I have been so addicted to it lately it seems to just want to take over my life, which I say wouldn't be a bad thing.

But I also have numerous other writing projects which I do and I just seem to get so much enjoyment out of bringing characters and stories to life. I honestly think I could be completely content with my life if I could write full time. However the truth of the matter is that I cannot afford to do that at the moment. And the sad part about it is I don't know if I'll ever have the time or resources to do it professionally.

See this is why I don't normally do this. I just have a hard time opening up. Maybe doing this will help.