Halloween!

If you came to find out what zany character Ray came up with this year. Well..

Mr. Ray and the wife. Mr. Ray is telling the photographer how much he pities him.



Mr. Ray getting a strong right from his wife after he clearly dropped his hands (rookie mistake). Going to have to get more training in the ring.



Here is Mr. Ray doing a little shopping with his dog. "Hey Sucka! Where are the doggy bones?!"


Mr. Ray going home after a long day at the grocery store. (This is after a lady walked up behind him in line, and then promptly moved to a different line after seeing him)

Indian Creek, Utah

Gettin' high on crack. 3 days of blissfully painful crack climbing at Indian Creek just south of Moab.

Rex on Generic Crack

This was a super sustained, 35m climb with lots of blood, sweat and tears on it. When Rex came down we did a chest bump to celebrate.

Walls of Sandstone

Jay on Crack

The Lovely Couple

Brie: "Please, Please don't make me climb that."

Tara, Rock Star

Tara rocks.

Rex really needs a call

Rex just kept doing this the entire day. I found out later his hands were stuck in this position from all the tape.

Ernest P. Dogg

Ernie gets the cute award for the crag. Not that there is much competition from me.

Greg showing how it's done

I did this climb with lots of yelling and crying. Greg did it in style.

Jason on Way Rambo

Jason and I climbed this 5.12- rated climb. I take credit for the belay, not the climb.

Big Rocks

"Roadrunner.. That Coyote's after you. Roadrunner.. If he catches you, you're through."

Brie stylin

Both of Brie's arms came off in the crack about 15 feet later.

Brekkie with the Nuttlemen

Everyday we wake up and eat 13,000 calories. Mainly sausage, eggs and then french toast ("Health food").

Craggin'

Tara on the left in Chocolate Crack and Eric on the right.

The Photographer gets Photographed

Arin's camera weighs about 27 pounds so she has to carry it this way.

The Rocktober Gang

The Results

My hands are on the camera, bloody and tear stained.

Oslo, Norway

I love Norway. My people. Getting back to my roots (My Grandpa was Norwegian). Everywhere I went I'd tell people I was part Norwegian. They'd ask me, "Which part?"

With a population of 4.5 million - and something like over a million came to N. America - it is underpopulated at best. But the Norwegians live in some kind of strange bubble. It is the most expensive place in Europe. Check this out:

2nd highest GDP per-capita in the world (US is 9th)
cost of living is 30% higher than the US, 25% higher than the UK
58% of their exports are oil and gas related
less than 2% unemployment
women get 9 weeks minimum maternity leave (up to 32)
men get 4 weeks paternity leave

my beer at the local pub was 12 euro.



Typical Norwegian. They all look like this. Except for the men. The men have hats with horns and usually carry axes.



This is my 15th ship museum. I'm now up near 20. This is the famous (famous to me) Gokstad ship. It is 1157 years old. Happy birthday!



It's been 5 months since I last photographed a bird. Still got the touch!



Gustav Vigeland created hundreds of these amazing sculptures. The monolith in the back took 3 artists 14 years to create.



Train ride to the west coast of Norway. Most of the traditional houses have one of these 4 colors.


Bergen (West coast). Rain. We are now on our 7th umbrella. They keep breaking and getting lost.



In Bergen an ammunition ship blew up in 1944 which caused some of the buildings near the water to do this. Don't laugh, you'd do it too.



Yes that's whale meat and reindeer. Green peace and Santa are not pleased.



Norwegian paradise aka Aurland. Gateway to the Songefjord and a few days of nature.



The Fjords. It rained. and rained. oh well..

Copenhagen, Denmark

I really liked this town. It's tiny compared to most capital cities. Islands and canals abound and the skyline is fresh and innovative.

Most of the photos here are of Christiania. Interesting name considering that it is a den of ill repute. In 1971 junkies and shady characters took over the place and have run it ever since. Here the police look the other way as heroin addicts scratch a living. I don't have any photos of people (they frown upon this for some reason).


I love canals now. We've got to get some of these put into Colorado. So I can buy the water front property and sell food at rediculous prices.



If you think this is where Alice and her wonderland reside - you are not far off the mark. Christiania makes Amsterdam look like a lame shopping mall. It is full of dreadlocked men, dogs and dirty children running amuck.



This is a sign on Pusher Street. No joke they named the street Pusher street. As the sign says, you can buy your hash here.



Of course the graphitti is really very good in a town that allows free expression and drugs. Unfortunately I didn't see a good library or, say, gainfully employed people.



After visiting Pusher Street you go into this room and trip out. "Like wow man!"

Berlin, Germany

Now that I've been to Berlin I'm can vote for the greatest cities in Europe. Rome, Paris, London and Berlin. Berlin has more history in the last century than all the rest put together. We were here a fair amount (5 nights) and still there is tons more to see.

War is the unfortunate reason to come here. WWI, WWII and the cold war were all centered right here in all their ugliness. Today Berlin is super modern and quickly growing out of its roles from the past. Hitlers bunker where he commited suicide is now a parking lot.


This is one church we didn't bother going inside of. Bombed out in WWII, it was left as a reminder of the destruction of war. Something like 50,000 people died in Berlin from air raids.



The famous Berlin Wall. Now mostly torn down and only exists in a couple places. You can still buy little (fake) pieces of the wall.



The Battle for the Reichstag. The German symbol of power that the Russians wanted taken. During the battle for Berlin 305,000 Russians and 325,000 Germans (many civilian) died.



"Work makes free." Just north of Berlin is the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Over 100,000 people died by Nazi German hands. After the war the Soviets took control and continued using it as a prison for war criminals and political prisoners.



Germans love their beer (that guy on the right LOVES beer). It is legal to drink it everywhere. I bought a beer at the little stand there and then drank it on the metro. Refreshing!



The most famous spot in Berlin. On the third floor, on the corner and facing the Brandenburg gate is where Michael Jackson held his baby over the railing. I should draw some kind of cartoon of Michael on the balcony.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Ah Amsterdam...

"It breaks down like this; it's legal to buy it, it's legal to smoke it, if you're the proprietor of a hash farm it's legal to sell it, it's legal to carry it, but that don't matter anyway, because, get this, if the cops pull you over in Amsterdam, it is illegal for them to search you. " -Pulp Fiction

Now I don't know if that is right or not. But lets just say there were prodigious amounts of weed being smoked here.

And yes there are lots of prostitutes. They have little booths they rent by the hour and have a window to allow you to "window shop". They have unions, pay taxes and have better protection than street hookers. I don't have any photos (you perverts!).


Good luck getting a coffee in a coffee shop. It really means pot. Costs about 10 euro to get high. Which is about 5 times cheaper than beer (in a bar). This is a very sketchy thing. Legal to sell it. But who are they buying it from. Because it is only legal for citizens to grow it, and then only 3 plants. So it must come internationally - which is immediately and totally illegal.



So then along the same lines here. It is illegal to smoke it out in the open. But the cops don't mind unless you are causing trouble. And who has ever heard of a pothead causing trouble? "Hey man I said DOUBLE cheeseburger!"



EVERYONE in Amsterdam gets around on bikes. Every way you turn people are trying to run you over. I got really pissed at one point because I realized the bikes are worse than the cars.



This has to be the greatest invention. All other cities in Europe smell permanently of piss. These outdoor urinals - I'm peeing in a main square in front of a restaurant - have only one critic, women. Cause they want one.



I'm standing in the Anne Frank museum here. The locals will ride there bikes in the pouring rain. You can see Amsterdams famous canals in the background.

Brussel, Belgium

So we headed through london last. But I can't find my photos. So jumping ahead back to the mainland - Belgium. After London Brussels is a bit.. Boring. So instead I give a photo which sums up their single greatest contribution to the world. Beer.


Arguably one of the greatest beers in the world. Chimay.

Whine and moan

So I haven't updated the blog in ages. My excuses are varied but mainly it is laziness. This trip is really getting long and tiresome.

It is getting harder to find good computers to download the photos off my Ipod. Believe it or not, the more 'Westernized' you get the less sophisticated computer facilities are available. And more costly. This is due to everyone having broadband at home. So internet cafes become less necessary. Without question the best computers I've used this whole trip were in Sarajevo and the coast of Croatia. Everywhere else has these terrible 'dumb' terminals with bad or no USB connectivity.

Another problem I'm having is with my camera. The old Canon is giving me an error 99 which is driving me insane. Especially since it gave me troubles on the most incredible part of the trip - the Fjords in Norway. 17-85mm lens, can't use it below 24mm.

So here is where we've been since Portugal.

London, England
Brussels, Belgium
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Berlin, Germany
Copenhagen, Denmark
Olso, Bergen and the Fjords, Norway
and now off (today) to Stockholm, Sweden

If anyone out there (Bill, Shawn, Dipa, Katie) -camera people- have ever had this error 99 problem I'd appreciate suggestions.

Ray

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is fascinating city with lots of maritime history to be proud of. It rained most of the time - so no sweeping shots of the city.. instead I give you, Lisbon locals.


Man looking down at all the tourists trekking by in the rain.



This is a man and his wife at the local mall. Sort of like a multi-story department store only with no shirts required. "Honey, I need a shirt." "OK, grab some pants, let's go to the mall."



Just another local.



Local transportation that looks a lot like San Francisco.



So OK you can't just take photos of anyone you see. This lady gave me stink eye and then put some kind of Portuguese curse on me.



Sooner or later you will see the tag team street performers. Sometimes the dog is just perched in front of the hat waiting for money (sans accordian). And.. sometimes they offer you hash.