Scott & Susan's Great Adventure

Shake Down Test #1 Passed

Scott — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:54:38 +0000

Well, the RV passed its first test of 3. Last night we stayed at the casino across town. That wasn’t the test, though.

The test was getting to the casino. After sitting there for so long, who knew if the RV tires would blow or if the slide-out would slide in or any myriad of other small obstacles that could keep us land-locked.

Fortunately, we made it with flying colors (or rather the RV did). We even went to the Ford dealer to have recall service done on the cruise control so it wouldn’t catch fire.

Next up: a 2 night trip to somewhere 2-3 hours highway driving away. We’ll let you know how stage 2 goes.

Guess What We Picked Today!

Scott — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:24:31 +0000

No, we didn’t pick our noses! Or, our pockets. (But we did have fun coming up with that title.)

Susan and I volunteered today for the Tucson Food Bank picking citrus fruit. We had a horrible time in the 60 degree March sun. Just kidding. Actually we had a lot of fun with about 20 other volunteers picking an estimated 7000 pounds of grapefruit and oranges.

Not only that. We did this as part of a program where you get a free day at a Disney Park once you volunteer a day at one of their approved volunteer opportunities. We’re planning to go to Disney World some time next winter. Check it out.

Give a Day. Get a Disney Day (Note: The program has now reached its goal of inspiring one million people to volunteer so the program has ended.)

Corner in Carefree

Scott — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:26:56 +0000

I photographed this sign while at a Non-Violent Communication training in Carefree, Arizona. The place is full of crazy street names. There is Nonchalant avenue and Lazy lane. There is even a corner of Ho and Hum.

Deep Thoughts by Susan Lee

Susan — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 03:25:49 +0000

“Be the change you want to see.” – Gandhi

This quote has been speaking to me a lot lately. Especially when I find myself having thoughts of “This isn’t working” or “I wish so & so would call me”. Ever have thoughts like these? Or, maybe thoughts of “If only we had a woman for President” or “If only there was recycling at this campground”. I have thoughts like these all the time. One example of this happened just the other day. My cell phone stopped working. It would ring, but hang up as soon as I picked up. My initial reaction was to say, “I’m pissed! I need my phone. How will I do my work?”

Then, I remembered Gandhi – “Be the change you want to see.” I realized that this reaction was way too familiar and that it hasn’t helped in the past except to cause me (and others) misery.

So, I got curious and asked myself what I could do to create the change I want? The answers started pouring out. Well, I can take this opportunity to partner with Scott and share time on his phone. I also thought that this could be an opportunity to enjoy how life used to be before we relied so heavily on our phones. Another option I tried on is “What would it be like to accept and allow these things to be in the world?” Sometimes it just is. My cell phone stopped working. There is no deeper meaning.

There is no one way or even two ways to be with this situation. There are always several ways that we can respond to life’s circumstances. Another favorite quote of mine is from Marianne Williamson – “Our internal state determines the experience of our lives. Our experiences do not determine our internal state.” For me this quote deepens my understanding of the quote from Gandhi – it is up to us to create our experiences in the world. To choose how we respond to life’s interesting plot twists.

How will you be the change you want to see, today?

Pics of our travels

Scott — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 20:04:45 +0000

Movin’ & Groovin’

Scott — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 20:01:45 +0000

When you last heard from us it was September and we were leaving Minnesota heading towards California. A lot has happened since then. We regret that it has been so long since we sent out a newsletter. What can we say?! Life is full. Last October we started a Leadership program. It has been an amazing experience! One of the highlights (we mean literally, we were high up in the trees!) was the adventure course. See the photo below of Scott hanging from a tree after swinging out from a 40-foot drop.Lake Tahoe – On our way out west last fall, we stopped at Lake Tahoe. Oh, what beautiful scenic drives. One of our favorite spots is Emerald bay (see photos above), which of course was a lovely emerald color. Another favorite experience was Susan’s coaching call from Inspiration point at the south end of the lake. And yes, it was inspiring!

Vegas – Ahhh, Vegas. City of magic, dazzling lights and cigarette smoke. We met Susan’s parents here and enjoyed full-filled days frolicking in this den of gambling and eating. We climbed the Eiffel tower, enjoyed fine dining and one of Vegas’ fabulous light & water shows. We also were flying high again on the roller coaster at New York, New York (photos below).

Minnesota – Susan flew back to Minnesota, twice! It was just a year ago January that Susan flew back to welcome her new nephew, Andrew. This year it was to welcome her new niece! Sydney Lauren Smith was born February 22, 2006. Congratulations to Julie and Tony and the rest of the Smith-Swedberg clan! Besides spending time with friends and family, Susan’s visit also included co-leading a workshop called, “Awakening the Leader Within” (find out more about other workshops from Susan below). As a part of our Leadership program we were assigned to co-lead a 4-hour workshop. Susan, her co-leader Suchitra and a group of fabulous women, experienced a Sunday afternoon of fun and learning in this workshop on leadership. A few weeks later, Susan returned to Minnesota to celebrate Sydney’s baptism with the family.

Malibu – Ahhh, the beach. Here we stayed in a campground overlooking a lovely beach (photo below). At night we could hear the waves crashing against the shore. While we were here we also offered our first workshop together! We decided to do a workshop on how to “Get what you want without stomping your feet.” It was a raving success and we will be bringing this workshop soon to a city near you!

Santa Rosa/Napa – Since we have a Leadership retreat in California every 3 months, we enjoy visiting Scott’s nephews (see below in the pumpkin patch) who live close to the retreat center. Oh. It’s nice to see Scott’s sister and brother-in-law, also.

On our way we also enjoy our favorite campground in Napa where we get to blend our love of wine and nature. The campground has many trails where we see deer (that’s them in the photo below), wild turkey and cute little rabbits.

Whew! There is lots more we could have shared including our leaky toilet adventures, juggling cell phones and the night of the never ending winding road (creepy).

See Scott and Susan in person: In June we will be visiting the national parks in southern Utah, the north rim of the Grand Canyon and then head back toward northern California for our last Leadership retreat in July. If you’re around them parts, give us a call and stop in.

Loving My Photography

Scott — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 20:00:49 +0000

Last year our friend, Meg, in Albany “discovered” Scott’s photos and encouraged us to share them with the world. We were inspired and ran with the idea. We bought a canopy, developed (pun intended) an inventory, and now sell at art fairs along our travels. Many of the photos are of our adventure over the past year and some are of travels in the pre-RV days.

Scott enjoys photographing water, pathways, animals & flowers. Click here to see more of Scott’s photography in addition to what is included in this newsletter. If you would like to support us in our adventure, we invite you to order a photo or greeting cards. Greeting cards are $5 each. Contact Scott for prices on other photos.

Throw out your “No”s

Scott — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 19:59:29 +0000

We’ve been having fun with our communication lately by replacing the word “no” with other phrases. Why would we want to do this? First of all, we are more likely to connect with each other. Second, we have found that people are more likely to hear what we have to say. And, we have more opportunities to learn something new since there is more openness in the conversation.

Here’s some ways to replace that ol’ pesky negative word:

I would rather…
A different way is…
Yes…. AND
I agree with (repeat their words) and I would add…
Another perspective is…
That’s interesting… (Get curious and ask, “What is that for you?”)

If you’re interested, try this out for a day and see how it feels.
What did you notice in others?
What did you notice in yourself?

If you benefited from the day, try it for a week.
If you want to incorporate this into your life and want support, coaching can be an effective option. We’d be happy to contribute to more connection and less negativity in your life.

Movin’ & Groovin’

Scott — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 19:57:55 +0000

Hello again from Scott and Susan. When you last heard from us we were just heading into the Twin Cities of Minnesota. We can’t believe the whole summer has gone by. We are sad to leave friends and family, and excited for our next big adventure. Beginning Labor Day we headed towards California. This week we begin a leadership program offered by the coaching school we received our training from. This program has a retreat in California every three months so we’ll be sticking around California and Arizona for most of the next year. Another compelling reason to decrease our travel is the price of gas these days.

Travel – For most of the summer we stayed in the same campground, more because of its central location than its wonderful view of the mobile homes next to us. The RV did venture out a few times. We traveled all the way to Apple Valley for a few weeks to experience a little more pleasing atmosphere that wasn’t so urban. (For those of you not from the Twin Cities, Apple Valley is really not much of a jaunt. It is suburb of St. Paul.) However, we did travel to Lanesboro, a lovely small town about 2 hours south of the Twin Cities. We biked and went shopping and bought some local wine (yumm…cranberry wine!) and got to enjoy the peacefulness of small city life.

Fun – We went to Valleyfair, an amusement park full of wet and wild rides. Susan loved it. Scott loved watching Susan love it. We also visited a labyrinth in the shape of a butterfly found in the backyard of our new friend, Jackie Levin. To find out more click here. August went so fast for us. Some of the reason for that is that it was our birthday month. With both of our birthdays occurring in the same week it seemed like one event after another. We enjoyed Michael Monroe’s stirring harmonies at the Lake Harriet band shell on a pleasant evening. With our family and friends we went to Buca’s for dinner and filled ourselves with scrumptious chicken cacciatore, garlic mashed potatoes, tasty pasta dishes and other delectables. We’re salivating just thinking about it. We sat at the infamous “pope’s table”, which has on it a bust of the pope on a lazy Susan (not to be confused with our Susan).

Whew! There is lots more we could have shared. We’ll tell you more next time about our travels from Minnesota to California. In the meantime, if you would like to know more, feel free to give us a call (hint, hint).

See Scott and Susan in person:
In the next month we are planning to be in Santa Rosa, CA and Sedona, AZ. If you’re around them parts, give us a call and stop in.

“Up Yours” Contest

Scott — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 18:18:03 +0000

One day Susan and I were talking and started being silly. Yes, we know you’re surprised. No, we don’t need a check UP. We just wanted to be UP front with you. One of us started using a gaggle of phrases that begin or end in “UP”, and the other one joined in.

We decided to set UP a contest as a fun way to exercise our brains and be UPbeat. See how many words you can think UP. Comments are welcome. Please don’t look UP your words on the Internet. The winner with the most phrases will be offered UP a can of 7 UP. Or, if you’re single, we’ll set you UP with one of our friends and then, meet UP for drinks afterwards. Now there’s an UPside.

Lastly, if you’re feeling held UP and fed UP with how many UPs we used here, UP yours. (Please don’t take that seriously. We don’t need a stick UP.) That reminds me of a t-shirt I got a long time ago when I worked on a fundraising campaign. The t-shirt said, “I upped my please. Now, up yours!”