Oh yeah! THAT "Summer Vacation"!

St. Petersburg, Russia. Yeah, really ...

Moscow Subway Painting

Saint Basil's Cathedral, Moscow. Simply amazing!

Chinese school students, yeah! We visited a school one day, you know, somewhere! Loved it!

Chinese actors after their wonderful performance ...

Peter the Great's "greatest" achievement! Ahh, his magical, estate outside St. Petersburg!

Russia. Hey! I just "Push the Button"! I have no clue ... But, THAT was Russia! Maybe some other, local, train actually stops here! Got me.

A Chinese play ...

The Summer Solstice, you know, up in Russia ... It's a "BIG DILL"! They OPEN all the bridges so ships can pass during the night! Or something like that ... Again, it's Russia, and yeah, I just "Push the Button"!

More Russian subway experiences ...

Oh, the people you meet! Like, out in the middle of Mongolia! Like, WAY OUT THERE!

Me and THE BOYS, out there around the Gobi Desert, ahh, somewhere!

My FACES of China! Ahh ... Sort of!

Beijing, China.

Lunch time, somewhere in China!

Lombard Street, San Francisco, CA. Yeah, THAT street! All the TURNS!

Down in one of the "Locks" in China.

Ahh, Lake Baikal, like, way over there in Russia! We stopped for the night! What a sunset! Like, what? Around 2am, or some such thing! CRAZY! And yeah, well worth it.

You know, THAT big, Russian instrument thingy! Pretty cool!

Remember these guys? Now you know what trip I was on when I "Pushed the Button"! Cool.

RED SQUARE. I waited a LONG time to be able to stand there, and, "Push the Button" for THIS one! Unreal.

Ahh, those young, romantic, Russian teenagers!

Hong Kong.

Got there a little "late" this time, but yeah, I wanted to get back to the same SPOT I stood YEARS before! Yeah, like back in 1977! What? Like up at VICTORIA POINT, I believe it was called (it is, I checked!)! I recommend it, you know, if you ever find yourself in the neighborhood!

LOVED IT!

Speaking of which ...

The Terracotta Warriors! Another "MUST SEE" place to visit! They are in XIAN, China.

Hawaii. She reminded me of "someone I used to know" ...

China Art Thingies!You know ... Painted Gourds.

The Golden Gate Bridge, from below! With the FOG rolling in! ,Perfect!

The Gobi Desert, while on the TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILROAD, ahh, for miles,and miles, and miles! Perfect.

A stop on the Trans-Siberian Railroad ... Somewhere in Russia (I can "READ" that sign)! Ha!

Another stop on that same train across ASIA! You know, beyond Russia! And Mongolia ...

Yeah, Chinese "BRICK ART" before I ever came up with such a term, or THING! Now you see where it started! Or, just ONE of the places, that is!

One of my favorite "STOPS" in China! XIAN, yeah, another "MUST STOP" place, for sure!

Speaking of which! Yeah, Russia offers up several "MUST STOP" places as well! Like the home of Catherine II, or, you know, CATHERINE THE GREAT! Yeah, her little, humble, abode, is well worth a visit!

That said, so is this little, rice patty, over there beyond Russia! Yeah, China! Like anywhere outside of the huge cities! Like anywhere, and everywhere! RICE, RICE, RICE!

Best "MOTEL ROOM" escort, like ever! Yeah, "MY ROOM", out there in Mongolia! Perfect. Really. I spent the night in there ... Can't make this stuff up!

St. Petersburg, Russia! The "Venice of Northern Russia"! With a "look-alike" church, like the one in Moscow! You know, "kinda, sorta" looks like it! Gotta love it!

Somewhere in China, along the river we were traveling on, while on my own "free-time"! Perfect.

I can't help myself! Remember, I was a real, middle school teacher at the time! I had to get THIS image! And I got to practice my "THANK YOU" afterwards! Perfect.

Recognize THIS guy? Yeah, scroll up a couple ... Remember? Yeah, his sister (I think) showed up once she saw my camera! Love it! Moments like this, is why I do what I do, where, and when, I do them!

THAT simple!

Yeah, I might have mentioned this TRIP before ... You know, that one that was all about, say it with me ...

"AROUND THE WORLD IN 64 DAYS"!

Yeah, my way of celebrating my FIFTY YEARS on earth, by, ahh, traveling around the earth!

On one, BIG, LONG, BEAUTIFUL adventure!

What a SUMMER VACATION that turned out to be!

Yeah, after an O.A.R.S. White-Water Rafting trip out West, yeah, I headed back home to Hudson, NC, and then boarded a flight to Munich,Germany, where I took a train (or two) to Moscow, Russia, where I enjoyed a VIKING RIVER CRUISE throughout Russia for two weeks ... Then, a little train ride across Asia, with a little "stop over" in Mongolia, before actually making it to Beijing, China, and another VIKING RIVER CRUISE through the varied waterways throughout China, again, on a two week journey ... Then after that, a couple of nights in Shanghai, China, before taking off to Hawaii, where I rented a motorcycle to, you know, complete my "FIFTY STATES ON A MOTORCYCLE" Adventure, that I had started back when I was 16 years old!

Yeah, that was fun! One day, and night (on the beach), around the little island of Oahu, among all those pineapple fields, and beautiful beaches, out there in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!

I just had to spend time "above" the U.S.S. Arizona, ahh, the main reason I stopped there in the first place!

Perfect!

Then, just because I could (and wanted to!), yeah, a couple of nights in San Francisco (remember, I was BORN in California!), before finally making the flight back home to North Carolina!

LOVED IT!

So yeah, when I came across all these images, yeah, I couldn't help myself!

Enjoy them, you know I did!

And now, all these years later, yeah ... GREAT MEMORIES!

Get out there, with your camera, or whatever, and MAKE/TAKE your own MEMORIES!

Go ahead, just "Push the Button", over, and over, and over, and over again!

That's all it takes!

Sort of.

Good luck with that other part!

The results will "Keep You Busy" for YEARS!

Fun!

Just GET OUT THERE!

50th Birthday Adventure, or not!