Biography

My Dad was a race car driver, and participated in races all over the midwest and east coast all the way down to Daytona, Floria.  I got to go on many of those trips.  The first words I learned to spell were “Cleveland”, “Akron” from the highway signs I would study was we drove under them. Our family vacationed in Ontario, we camped our way up there and back via Niagra or Maine.
When I got my license and my first car, I drove to Toronto Canada to visit the Hard Rock Cafe.  After that, when I got another car, I would christen it by taking it on a road trip, and that has held true all these years later.  Until the 90s I would just take road trips to different places. In the early 90s I followed the Grateful Dead around selling imported goods from Guatemala.  I don’t even like the Dead, but I loved the nomadic lifestyle following them afforded me.
I traveled 9 states to see the band “The Residents” perform. I’ve traveled out of state to see other bands.
Late 90s I got a job at an outdoor gear shop in Austin Texas (where I lived for 25 years) who’s employees were all travelers, explorers, and adventurers.  Some of them worked in Alaska, Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, and Oregon in the summers.  That’s how I ended up in that part of the country.
I also lived in Colorado for 7 years.  Relatives in Montana.
At one point, I realized I only had 3 more states to go, and I would have been to them all.  Hawaii, and the Dakotas.  Friend from Cleveland married a Hawaiian woman, and they invited me to stay at their place in Honolulu.  Yes please.
In 2019 Mom wanted to go back to South Dakota to revisit the Black Hills, and Colorado to see the mountains again, so I took her.  That left North Dakota.
In 2020 when things started to open up, I needed to get out on the road.  Drove to Durango, Colorado.. up thru Rico, Glenwood Canyon, and to Estes Park where I used to live.  And from there the plan was to hit that last state, North Dakota via South Dakota.  After the visit there with Mom, I wanted to camp there near Custer, explore, and head to ND.  I had planned to overnight in ND, but plans were cut short, and I spend about 5 hours there at a Casino, and had Breakfast.
I’ve driven in all 50 states.  I have camped in all but 5.
My Video Podcast DRIVE HARD can be found on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtqU4ASa5pIPVRhdeZHM1Sw
And I have a TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@drive_hard_podcast