Hal, if I was given a dollar for every story I have heard like yours I could have retired much earlier. Each and every story is special. Old cars... cars that we grew up with bring back great memories. '49 Plymouth Coupe, '56 Ford Crown Victoria, '50 Ford rag top, '69 Camaro Z-28, '59 Vette and yes the '34 each of these cars I have those same types of memories. First date was in the '56 Ford. That was a life time ago. First drag race was in the Camaro. Blew the guys doors off. I taught my youngest son how to drive in the '34 Plymouth. Excuse my for taking a trip down Memory Lane. But hey...those are GREAT MEMORIES of the past. Better yet, I continue to make memories. Or as Bob Hope use to say "Thanks For The Memories".

You are correct. I live in Happy Valley. Just a nice little drive to Canby.

You are right. There are a lot of people who end upside down with these things. It can be a endless money pit. It sounds like you might be into cars???

Thank you. Street Rods are my other hobby. I bought this as a project a few years ago. It was all but a frame off restoration. The engine froze up on the way home the day I bought it. Another Hot Rod horror story. Ended up putting a Corvette engine it. Engine, interior, front end clip paint and flames and more were all redone. I bought it as a investment. Well that's what told my wife.lol Actually it worked out that way. I sold it, paid the house off with the proceeds and retired. Now I'm looking for another project. Now I have all of time in the world to work on it.

Is it something you can view online? We did the same on Blurb. A 234 page coffee table book. You can go to Blurb on line and look up the book title (China). Not all that original. Click on it and it will take you through the book page by page.

Thank you everyone. It looks like UHH may interfere with my "honey do list". That is a good thing.

Yes there are 22 million people living in Shanghai and close to 18 million living in Beijing. 1.2 billion in all of China. That is something like 20% of the worlds population. I can't even imagine a rainstorm in China. Especially in some of the farm communities near the rivers. That could get real ugly. By the sounds of it you brought back some memories of your trip as well.

For the next several months I will be a kept husband until my wife calls it quits. She is a couple years younger then me. So golf, street rods and photography will have to keep me busy for the time being. It's a tough life but somebody has to do it. lol

It was their National Holiday when we were there. We were told it is the only holiday where all of China celebrates. At 9:00 in the morning visiting Tienanmen Square and Imperial Palace also know as "The forbidden City" we we two of 150,000 people. They estimated a crowd of 200,000 people by the end of the day.

Hi donrent, That is funny. We were the there for three weeks. In that time between my wife and I we took close to 1,700 pictures. It got to the point she told me "you are out of control". These are two pictures if the Great Wall. As you can see lots of people when we started out. But it thins out real fast. This old guy was sucking wind by the time we got to picture two. I am guessing about a mile from where we started. I was packing about thirty pounds of camera gear (bad idea). The Wall darn near did me in.

Thank you. The picture was taken on the Li River in Yangshuo. The area is known world wide for is landscape. It is a common subject for Chinese paintings. A side note...It was also the backdrop of Starwars episode #3.

We had a great time. Met a lot of nice people. This trip opened my eyes to the world around us.

OK you set the bar for me. These are nice pictures. Ironically my wife and I are going to Maine for vacation next September. Portland, Cape Cod and also Boston. Are you from that area. If so, any suggestions for taking some great pictures?

If you want a good lens and don't want to break the bank Tamron's 90mm AF 1:2.8 Macro does a nice job. Remember when using a macro lens a tripod is one of your best friends.

Hi everyone, forty years ago I was a film editor for our local news station. Did that for five years and then moved on to other things. Recently I retired and caught the camera bug. I am loving it and it is people like you that make it that more enjoyable. Thanks everyone.

The new kid on the block.