Here are some pics and links to my more memorable vacations and adventures



Daytona Rolex 24hr Race, TRG Porsche #68, January 2005 Costa Rica, June 2005

Mazda Star Series Team Testing, December 2004

STS 97 Night Launch

Interested in Recommendations? Here are some of the places I've visited and what I've thought...

CALIFORNIA
San Diego
Long Beach
Los Angeles
San Francisco

TEXAS
San Antonio
Houston
Dallas

COLORADO
Breckenridge
Keystone

FLORIDA
Orlando
Key West
Miami
Daytona

Other US
NY, NY
Stratton, VT
Danbury, CT
Charleston, SC
Chicago, IL

CARRIBEAN
Aruba
NOT RECOMMENDED. What a waste of time this was. If you like sailing or windsurfing you'll like the town, but otherwise it's a horrible tropical destination. This is a desert island with almost no natural foliage. Tradewinds blow 7-10 MPH 24/7, and this keeps the water stirred up and difficult to see anything farther than 10' away when diving. If you do go, stay at the Renaissance in town. It's walking distance to the casino's (reminds me of a bad Indian Reservation) but more importantly, because there's no beach, they built a small island off the coast where a 5 min boat ride takes you to your own semi-private Gilligan's Island. Wild flamingo's eat out our your hand (they have the standard room service menu available since the island is owned by the hotel) and they love the french fries! Small protected swimming area is still littered with sea urchins so you should be careful where you step. Right over the small rock wall, there's a sunken boat to the right worth exploring by snorkel.

Cancun


Cozumel
Slighlty more adult feeling than Cancun (where it seems everyone is under 21 and on spring break). Diving is right off the beach and a little rough getting started (not much of a beach, mostly larger rocks you need to climb/slide over). Current was a little on the strong side but offered plenty of sea life and a large variety of corals

Grand Caymen
Great Carribean destination, wish I would have spent more time on this island. The excursions to Sting Ray city shouldn't be missed. The females are the size of those big round plastic sleds you used to use as a kid and have the texture and firmness of a portabello mushroom. The guides will provide bits of squid to hold out underwater and they'll all swarm to you and eat out of your hand. Don't worry about safety, they're friendly and used to tourists feeding them all day. A short snorkel trip to the edge of the reef surrounding the sand bar will reveal florescent green eels almost 6' long (your guide should lure them out of their caves with bait for you) and at the shallower sections of the reef there are plenty of your typical fish and reef life.

Grand Bahama Island
Nowhere near as touristy as the neighboring (and more popular) island. The locals are friendly, but there's really not all that much to do in the town except for maybe the local bazaar. Rent a scooter and drive about 30 min east to the deserted national park beaches. The only beach I've been to that was truely deserted (not even a guy with a cooler selling bottled water in sight!). Be sure to bring a lunch and bottles of water. Entrance to walk through the caves (adjacent to the little parking lot) needs a $2 donation to get in and should take only 30 min to walk around.

EUROPE

Toulouse, France
A must go destination, if for nothing other than the food! The Magret de Canard (a duck breast that comes from a combo of ). In Toulouse, the people are friendly and mostly college students. There are some interesting historic sites in the area, but really you should just concentrate on where you're eating next. Carcason is a great stop on the way to the coast

Paris, France

London, UK

Rome, ITALY