The Journey

Headin' South... Some Place 80 Degrees!

Last weekend was it for the Minnesota Renaissance Festival for another year. It was a beautiful weekend to end with. The weather was great! Warm and sunny! Lots of people and now we are on the road again.

We left Monday and our first stop was just a short hop to Clear Lake, Iowa. We met up with a couple of friends of ours, Pat and Katie from MN, and spent a nice afternoon and evening with them. They were heading back from Branson, MO where they spent a week with Pat's sister and brother-in-law.

On Tuesday we headed out to see Denny and Mike, Pat's brothers, in Kansas City. Her sister was there with her husband Dave, so all the kids were together again. We had a nice dinner, drank some wine, ate Italion and got a good nights sleep.

Today we headed to St. Lewis, MO. Pat found a casino along the road with an RV park. She did the laundry, picked up $140 and we are hitting the hay early tonight.

I got a knock on the door while Pat was up at the casino and a lady was standing there. She said, "Do you know Charlie and Donna West?" That's my Dad in California and his wife. I told them that I was his son and she continued to tell me that she was his neighbor in the park where he lives and was heading from Minnesota with 20 other RVer's following the Mississippi River south.

It's a small world. She told me to say hi to Donna and him. So I called him and let him know that I ran into his buddies out here in the world. What are the chances of that... at least 3 to 1 I figure.

In the morning it is back on 70 and heading east... Not sure where we will land, but I'm sure we will find a great place and good people. Seems like the United States has a bunch of that stuff laying around.

We should be at Brad and Stacies on Friday or Saturday, on the beach with a coldie in hand. The plan is to head to Florida on the 16th of October. Then it gets crazy again.

I love this life. I love all the people that are in it. I am the luckiest man in the world. Thanks God!

Looking for a Break in the Weather

Well we've got three more weeks at the MN Renaissance Festival. Then its off to South Carolina to see the kids and grand kids before heading to Florida for our 3rd season there.

The weather here is in a weird pattern. Nice during the week and then rain on the weekends. Wish it was the other way around, but they need the rain and well we'll just be thankful for all that we have. BUT, I'm getting tired of working in the rain and next Monday is going to be in the high 40's with rain. Burrrrrrrr. Got to head south...

Looks like we have an apartment in Florida. Pat found a nice 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath with a garage. 1900 square feet. So we'll sell the trailer and move in on the 17th of October. Just like being kids again. No furniture, folding chairs and a TV. It will be another adventure.

Looks like the business is going to get up and started mid November. Everything is falling into place. Licenses, printing, web site and Magic Wind. Brad has done a great job on the web site. You can visit it at: http://www.SailMagicWind.com. If you are on high speed, take the 4 minute sail by clicking the link on the front page. It is a nice clip.

Well I have to set my rain show for tomorrow.

Boy, You'd Think I Couldn't Write...

I'm in Minnesota. I always get real busy here and since Colorado, it has been going as usual. So maybe, just maybe, I'll catch you up now by going in reverse. That way I can just think back and get it on pixels.

Pat and I are enjoying our work/visit here in the Twin Cities area. It's bee busy and we have been keeping two shows going. We are also showing the Garlic at the Michigan Renaissance Festival which runs the same time as this show in MN does. Besides gearing up for heading home and keeping all the shows going in the up coming months through the fall.

I'm also jumping through all the hoops to get, Magic Wind Adventure Sailing, (our other new business) up and going by mid November. Licenses, zoning, 800 numbers, web site, cards, print advertising, etc., etc... But it is all coming together and should be on schedule.

Before we got here, we spent the first part of the summer in Colorado at the CO Renaissance Festival. It was a good run and I survived the 7200 feet. Magic shows were great and I shared the stage with Terry Foy and Danny Lord. I had a ball. It's been a long time since I've seen Danny work, so it was good to watch the ol' pro in action again.

Pat's booth did well there. Seems like all the people in Colorado will be stinking up the home and staying healthy this winter. Benjamin is no longer with us, after close to 5 years. He seems to want to move on to outer space or something... We're not sure. But we wish him the best of luck in his new adventures.

Cricket and Danny... Well they are the newest "Garlic Folks" out there. They worked for us in Colorado and they are here in Minnesota too. They will head back and do several shows for us in the western part of the US and then they will head back to Florida for the Tampa Renaissance Festival this year. We will do our best to keep them busy and on the road. That'll keep them out of trouble. Yea right! Hasn't worked for me yet.

During the stay in Colorado, I had a chance to head over to the L.A. area and join a couple of magician buddies of mine for a 3 day trip out and around Catalina Island. Gene Urban and Pat Holcombe roped me into that sail. It was on a Catalina 36 and with Captain David, it was 3, 9 hour days of pure pleasure. All sun, 10 to 20 mph wind, 3 to 5 foot swells, dolphins and whales. Yep on the way back, we hit a pod of 3 to 6, 40 foot plus whales. I mean one came up 15 feet off our bow. Thought I was going to hit him, but we made a near miss. He was huge. I've never been close to a whale before, but all I could yell at the time is, "It's a Whale!"

We are looking forward to our 2nd annual trip. All we have to do is save up for the rum.

On October 3rd, we will be heading down to Kansas City to visit Pat's brothers and then over to St. Lewis to meet up with Dan. He's the guy that we have at the Michigan show. We will transfer product, tents, tables, etc. and then scoot over the South Carolina to see the Rush's on the way back home to Florida.

When we get there, Pat and I are selling the trailer and getting an apartment for a year. It will give us a chance to find a home/condo that we can buy and settle in. We love Florida and the water. Yea it has rough weather in the summer, but if you want to live in paradise, you have to pay the price. Well worth it, for us.

As far as I know, Magic Wind is doing fine. She is still on blocks and is scheduled for new bottom paint, a detailing and other minor upgrades and repairs the first part of October. We'll catch up with her about the 19th of October and sail her back home to Fort Myers Beach. Ahhhhh... A new auto pilot. Life is good.

So that catches us up, I'll get a gallery of photo's of this summer put together and give you the link in a future post.

Oh yea... Last but not least, Brad is putting together the web site for Magic Wind Adventure Sailing. You should check it out. It looks great and has good information. Just head up to: http://www.SailMagicWind.com. If you have the chance, come sailing with me. You know where I'll be.

Back in the Saddle Again...

Yee Haw! We are back in Colorado with the cowboys and pine trees. It is cold and beautiful. We came in last night and had to turn on the heater. What a gas. Air conditioning all day in the van and then a heater when we got here. It is 7200 feet here, so I guess we have to take the good weather with the bad.

When we came in there was a lot of rain and we didn't know if there was going to be snow or not. I'm sure there wasn't, but it was in the low 50's.

We spent the 4th of July in Fountain Hills, AZ with Judy and Jim and Rita. We had a nice BBQ and then out to the fort for the fireworks. A very nice night. Judy's daughter Sherrie and her fella John came over and all in all it was a very good evening. Boat drinks and guitar playing around the pool and chasin' the dog. Happy 4th.

Then on the 5th Pat and I came back home to Colorado. Today was a good day. We are fighting the altitude and feeling kind of crapy, but Pop and Donna passed through on the way home. We had lunch, got their cell phone working, he gave me a DVD that he made from the photo's of our recent trip to the keys and then they were off to Pueblo, CO for the night. Tomorrow they will be in Albuquerque and then to Phoenix and then home to Desert Hot Springs. They both seemed great and they both want to go home. Can't blame them.

We will stock up the show tomorrow and work it on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday early, I fly out from Colorado Springs to meet Gene Urban in LA. From there we take a quick cab ride to Marina Del Ray and sail out to Catalina Island for a few days. It will be nice to put some water under a keel at this point. I'll be back here in Colorado on Thursday to get ready for the next weekend of shows at the Renaissance Festival.

Just talked to Brad and Stacie. All is well there. The kids seem fine and the parents are surviving the trials of raising them. We are in hopes of seeing them in August sometime. Maybe just Pat this time. Lots of stuff going on and business is business.

That's about it for now, so you guys take care and if you need anything, drop me a line. Photo's will come... Sometime. At least the important ones.

On to Corning, CA

Wow! What a weekend. The Fair Oaks Renaissance Festival was 111 on Friday for set up, 108 on Saturday and 104 on Sunday. Today is Monday and we are melted into a pool of old sweat and memories of a good time.

The show was down about 30% in attendance but the garlic booth held it's own and was only down about 15%. A very good stand against the elements. Magic shows were interesting. The noon show was the money show and it progressed down hill after that. I think I made them happy, but by the 4 pm show all they could do is sit there and drip.

So today we are off to Corning to see Nadine and the grand kids. Can't wait. It's been a year. The kids are getting bigger and I need some new pictures of them all. I'll post them here as soon as I get to posting pictures again.

Pat and Magie are doing just fine. We are on the road a lot for the next week or so and then we will be back in Denver.

Gene Urban called me last week and had a great idea. Him and Patrick Holcomb were going sailing with a big honcho from Catalina boats on July 10th through the 13th. They are delivering something to Catalina Island and then the next day sailing to the back side of the Island and then on Wednesday of that week sailing back to Santa Monica, CA... Gene asked me to join them... I couldn't pass it up. So I'm off to the Island which I haven't sailed to since I took "Undine" my 27 foot sailboat in 1974. I'm really looking forward to seeing it again and spending time with a couple of my favorite magician friends. Looks to be a great get-a-way.

Well packing up and getting out of here where it's going to be 102 today... Of course in Corning it will be about 110. I guess it's summertime.

Sitting in Fair Oaks, CA

Well we got the first two weekends done at the Colorado Renaissance Festival and the went just fine. Still no Benjamin... We talked with him and he was supposed to call us last Wednesday to let us know when he would be up, but we haven't heard from him yet... He may be gone.

After the 2nd weekend of CRF, we headed west to do the Sparks Farmers Market. It went well as usual. We spent a couple of days at the Atlantis Hotel and then headed west again to Fair Oaks to do a two day renaissance festival. I've been doing this show for years. It's a good show and we always have a ball. BUT this year the weather is going to keep us toasty... 109 for Saturday and 112 for Sunday. Whew! What the hell am I doing here.

On Monday we will head up to see Nadine and her family. It will be good to see the grand kids and my daughter. They just moved to a little town just outside of Corning and seem to like it a lot. I'll be able to get some updated photo's of everyone. That will be great.

Then back to Sparks for next Thursday's market and the plan is to head to Phoenix to clear out a storage shed and make it a little smaller. BUT once again we are thinking of changing plans. With the price of gas, somewhere between $2.89 and $3.25 plus, we may just head back to Colorado and save ourselves about 1000 miles of travel time and a ton of money. It's kind of strange making decisions about where we go because of the price of gas. It ran us about $1300.00 to get from Florida to Colorado this year with the trailer.

So I'll do the best I can to keep this updated. I have some news that I'll ad to this blog tomorrow. I'm going sailing in the Pacific again...

Well off to bed and get ready to face the day...

Safe & Sound in Monument Colorado

Well it's Friday. We've put up the booth at the Renaissance Festival Grounds in Larkspur and we are going to go to work in the morning. It has been a fast few days and we sure feel the road as well as the altitude.

Cricket and Danny are staying with us tonight and Cricket is going to help Pat for a half day tomorrow because Benjamin didn't make it for the first weekend here. He should be here next weekend, but who really knows. He's in Texas trying to get his truck fixed. It's been down since December, so he thought he might get to it this week.

I've packed up some magic and still not sure what show will be performed at 11am tomorrow, but I'm sure it will be a good one. At least I'll have a good time as always. It will be good to pop a show or two and get my chops going again. Plus it will be good to dust off that hat of mine and put some money in the bank. It's time. I've been feeling a little retired lately.

Anyway, I've got to hit the sack and get a good nights sleep. Pat and I are well... Maggie is a puppy... Enough said. Really she is doing good and is enjoying her new life with us as we are with her. She makes us laugh and say "No" a lot... Good Dog!

Goodnight my friends. I'll catch you up the beginning of the week.

Traveling the Open Road...

The stay in South Carolina with the Rushes was wonderful. We had a chance to get in a little beach time and spend a lot of time with the grand kids, Riana and Mallory. They are like night and day. Riana is growing into a beautiful young lady and Mallory is her own person. Strong and full of life. We are blessed with 5 grand kids on both coasts. Looking forward to seeing Nadine and the kids at the end of June.

We left last Saturday and have been on the road for 2 days. We are just west of St. Louis, MO and heading west to Kansas City. We should be there tomorrow. We will visit Mike and Denny, Pat's brothers for a night then off to Manhattan, KS to stop and see my Dad. He is there visiting J.R. Donna's son for a couple of months. It will be good to see him again.

I'll get some photo's up here when I have time to be connected to the Internet and not driving. I've got some great shots of the kids and Maggie. (Our new dog) As well as just some road shots for you.

I'll keep you updated as we roll along. We should be in Colorado by Wednesday night.

In South Carolina...

Well we left Florida and headed to South Carolina on Friday. It was a great ride...

It seems that when Pat and I ride together that we talk a lot. We solve all the worlds problems and we plan the rest of our lives step by step. It's a good time. She sleeps well while I drive and when we awakes, she has insights that we share and cherish. It's a great time for both of us.

We did do something that we didn't expect to do the day before we left Florida. WELCOME MAGGIE! She is a wonderful little dog. Since we lost Sadie last January, we have been gently looking for a puppy that would make us happy and here she is. You can click on the picture and enlarge it in a new window.

She is a Schnauzer that is a salt and pepper color and will fit our lifestyle just fine. She loves to ride and loves kids and is a smart little girl. We will raise her as our own and she will make a wonderful part of our family. Magie, thank you for being there for us.

We will spend a week here in S.C. with the kids and family and then off to Colorado for the Ren. Fest. I look forward to doing some magic and doing what I do for a living. Lots of new stuff and lots of old stuff. But for the people that haven't seen my show... Lot's of new stuff.

I'll keep this blog up as we progress. It is a sad time for us as far as Magic Wind is concerned. She is sitting on the hard in Florida as the hurricane season passes, but I have to tell you that next year is going to be a very active season for her. I will be offering sailboat rides, sunset sails, charters, etc. for the people that want to go sailing on her. I can't think of anyone that knows about her that wouldn't want to do that.

You can look at her site at: http://www.SailMagicWind.com. Contact Captain Paul if you want to know more about her travels and your chance to join a leg to them, or I can plan something special for you.

In any case, take care my friends and stay in touch, we'll do the same.

Getting Ready to Hit the Road... Again

Well this week is a busy one. Pat and I are getting ready to leave on Saturday to head to South Carolina to visit with the Rush family. It will be good to see Brad and Stacie, Riana and Mallory. We will be there for a week and then set off to head west to Colorado for June and July.

Garlic to sell and Magic to do... Pat will have her Garlic Festival Shop at the Colorado Renaissance Festival again this year and I'll be performing a couple of stage shows and a lot of street shows per day.

It will be a great time and we will keep you updated as we progress through the summer. I'll try to keep everything up to date, but it hasn't happened in the past, so I wouldn't put any money on it.

Magic Wind is buttoned up for the summer and we are getting out of Florida for the hurricane season. You know if it get's to the "N's" the storm will be called, Nadine. (My daughter) and if it gets to the "P's" then the the storm will be called, Patty. (We all know who that is.) Let's hope it doesn't get that far up the ladder this year.