London

     I held the throttle wide open on my Jet Ski as I headed across Harlan County Reservoir, Labor Day of 1999. 60 mph was fast on the choppy water but I was on a mission. My brother had just told me that Keith Hawkins and some other guys from Axtell were at Cedar Point with their skis. I needed to talk to them. As I flew into the harbor, Keith recognized me and waved his arms above his head so I could pick him out on the crowded beach. I backed her down to idle and coasted as close as I could to the shore. I didn't have an anchor so I had to stay with my boat about a hundred feet out.

    "Hey Hawkins." I shouted "What are you doing for the Millennium?"

    "I'm not sure." he shouted back "But I aint stayin' around here!"

"I've got this trip to London scoped out and it's no more expensive than anywhere in the U.S."

"London! Cool!!" he said as he waded out to me "What's it cost?"

"$900.00 for airfare and four nights lodging"

"What's going on over there?"

"I heard there was a pub in town there somewhere that serves beer, I want to see if we can find it."

"That sounds really good. Who else is going?"

"You're the first one I've talked to but I think we should limit it to four guys and no girlfriends. See if Nate's interested."

"I'll probably go for sure and I bet Nate will too. We've been talking about doing something unusual."

"OK, let me know in a few days. We need to get this stuff booked before it's too late."

    I hopped on my ski and took off across the lake to get in a few more hours of riding before sundown. Nate and Keith talked to me a few days later and said they were in for sure. Cash (Matt Strolberg) joined the party a bit later and the die was cast. It would be Keith Hawkins, Nate Hardenbrook, Matt Strolberg and I on a trip across the ocean to ring in the new millennium.
    Many plans were made and things packed. We met at my house Dec. 29 at 10:30 AM and headed for the airport in Omaha.
    Mr. Little Wood at the North West Airlines desk was very helpful and I think he kind of liked Hawkins because he held him at the desk for a few extra minutes and didn't want him to leave the country. Nate looked suspicious so they took him in the back room for a full body cavity search. That really made Little Wood jealous.

At this point, I must apologize to the first few people whose pictures I took and told them that they would be able to see themselves on my website. I accidentally and stupidly erased my first disc of photos. Some of those were Phylis, David, Matthew, Tim, Cal, Paula, Nick, Jason, Christof, Andrew and Audra and her friend. Audra is a nice girl from Boston who entertained me on the 9 hour flight across the Atlantic.

Every guy that flies without a female companion hopes to be seated next to a beautiful young woman who is sociable and the girl of his dreams. That's exactly what happened to me as I was seated next to Terri. She immediately struck a pleasant conversation and spoke to me most of the way to Minneapolis. She even had a $100.00 bottle of wine. Keith was right behind me sitting next to a transvestite and I kept turning around making these faces at him like I was the big stud.

But alas, some relationships are so very short and I snapped this lovely photo of Terri at the airport and never saw her again except in my dreams.

One of the first bits of British culture we experienced was the sign on the floor at the train station that read "MIND THE GAP" meaning keep your distance from the train. There's signs all over the town telling you to mind everything from the gap, to your head, to the gap in your head. That gap saying kind of stayed with us throughout the trip, sort of like Little Wood, and we got some shirts that said 'MIND THE GAP'.

This is Piccadilly Circus at night. The Regent Palace hotel where we stayed is clear at the left.