Blog History
I started writing my blogs for
several reasons.
#1 For
as long as I can remember, until my dad passed away in 2015, he would tell me
stories of his childhood during the depression and especially about his time in
the Navy during World War II. He was
a diesel mechanic on submarines in the Pacific against Japan and was on
8 war patrols based out of Perth, Australia. His war patrols were all over the
area around the Philippines and even Japan. I heard these stories so many times
they feel like I lived them. I’ll write some blogs about his war adventures
sometime in the future.
#2 I
have 4 kids that are although they are adults, probably have very little
memories of their fathers adventures (and mis-adventures). This is probably due
to the fact that most of my adventures happened after they were young adults
and moved on to start their own lives. This is my way to pass my stories on to
my kids.
#3 I
use my Blogs to share pictures and details of my adventures with my friends who
have similar interests.
You will find that my Blogs (stories)
jump around several different subjects; i.e. airplanes, sailing, white water
rafting, motorcycles, etc. I’ve lived a pretty interesting life and over the
years I would live through events that eventually became a story I would tell
to friends and family. In fact, I listed all of these events one day and they numbered
well over 100 stories. Most would not be very interesting to everyone but
surprisingly (to me anyway) many are entertaining to my blog readers. At last
count I’ve had over half a million blog views so maybe they’re not entirely
boring. BTW I have been accused of being too “wordy” so you have been warned.
My blogs are based on my real world
experiences and I have taken special care to provide details that are accurate
and truthful although my wife says I embellish my stories occasionally to make
them more entertaining. I do provide comments occasionally of what I was
thinking at the time or my interpretation of the events so that could be
considered embellishment I guess.
Blog Summary
I have at last count 24 blogs that
are listed below. As I add new blogs I will add to this list. I’ve also included
a short summary of what the blog is about so you can decide if it has any
interest to you. My blog address is the same for all the blogs with the only
difference being the 3 digit number; i.e. rvrrunner-000.blogspot.com.
Rvrrunner-001.blogspot.com – General information for all my blogs
Rvrrunner-002.blogspot.com – Greenland Story. I spent a year above the Arctic Circle in
Greenland while in the Air Force and this is some details about that
experience.
Rvrrunner-003.blogspot.com – Greenland Story 2. This describes a close call I had while
flying a private airplane in Greenland.
Rvrrunner-004.blogspot.com – Airplane Story 1. This describes a mid-air collision I
witnessed (no one got seriously injured). I’ve actually seen 2 mid-air
collisions and the 2nd one did not turn out well for the pilots. I wrote about this in Blog 016.
Rvrrunner-005.blogspot.com – Sailing Story 1. My experiences while sailing a 42 ft
sailboat to the Bahamas.
Rvrrunner-006.blogspot.com – Airplane Story 2. My experiences while flying a 1938 J-3
Cub airplane to the biggest airshow in the world; Oshkosh, WI.
Rvrrunner-007.blogspot.com – Airplane Story 3. The story of rebuilding my 1946 Cessna
120 that was damaged by a falling hanger during a tornado.
Rvrrunner-008.blogspot.com – Airplane Story 4. How I taught myself how to fly
aerobatics in my rebuilt Cessna 120. Flying a WWII Spitfire from Biggin Hill Airfield, UK 2025.
Rvrrunner-009.blogspot.com – Air Force 1. My interaction with Air Force 1 while flying
my Cessna 120.
Rvrrunner-010.blogspot.com – Alaska 2012 Motorcycle Trip (AK1). One of several blogs on
my trip (or attempted trip) to Alaska on a motorcycle.
Rvrrunner-011.blogspot.com – Alaska 2014 Motorcycle Trip (AK2)
Rvrrunner-012.blogspot.com – Middle Fork of the Salmon River Raft Trip. My adventures oar-rafting
one of the premier white water rivers in the world which is in Idaho, USA.
Rvrrunner-013.blogspot.com – Misc River Trips. Details on several other white water
river trips.
Rvrrunner-014.blogspot.com – Grand Canyon 2010 Trip Report. Details and lots of
pictures of our Grand Canyon rafting trip.
Rvrrunner-015.blogspot.com – Sailing Story 37 ft Ketch. My adventures helping shuttle a
37 ft sailboat in the Gulf of Mexico.
Rvrrunner-016.blogspot.com – Air Traffic Control Stories. Several stories about my time
as a USAF and FAA Air Traffic Controller. 2nd Mid-Air. ATC strike.
Rvrrunner-017.blogspot.com – AK2 Motorcycle Trip to Alaska 2014. Details on my finally successful
trip to Alaska and on to the Arctic Circle.
Rvrrunner-018.blogspot.com – C-130 Simulator. A short story about the flight simulators
I supported for over 30 years.
Rvrrunner-019.blogspot.com – Trans-America Trail (TAT) 2016. One of several blogs on my
coast to coast ride on a dual-sport dirt bike.
Rvrrunner-020.blogspot.com – TAT 2017
Rvrrunner-021.blogspot.com – TAT 2018
Rvrrunner-022.blogspot.com – TAT 2020
Rvrrunner-023.blogspot.com - Mike & Liz 2019 Adventures
Rvrrunner-024.blogspot.com - Flying stories.
Disclaimer – I’m sure this appears to
be stories all about me in my attempt to brag or appear like some great
adventurer. This is far from the fact, I’ve just always been drawn to the unusual
endeavors. I have no bucket list because I’ve always done everything I’ve found
interesting. Enjoy!
