The HOV Lane Blog

Historic Roswell, Georgia.  Happy Valentine’s Day.

Flashback! from Duluth, Minnesota - Winter 2005. The winner of the 2005 John Beargrease Dog Sled Marathon, Mark Black.
Marathon Winner, Mark Black

I’d like to specially thank my good friend, Gail Hecko, for this post’s title. Thanks, Gail. Loved it! I hope your next Great Escape is a blast!

Flashback! … from Winter 2005. Minneapolis, Minnesota. A couple of great friends of mine, Lee Connerton and Fred Nordeen, made a timely suggestion to me over lunch.
Why don’t you swing by Duluth and catch the John Beargrease Dog Sled Marathon while you’re shooting in Northern Minnesota, they rhetorically asked. Needless to [...]

Lake Tahoe, California. With the dog teams pumped up, we took off!

Christie mushes the team onward. “Smokey, Gee. Gee, Smokey!”
“Gee” is the command to go right. Smokey was one of the lead dogs.

I am [...]

Lake Tahoe, California. Here are a few more shots from last week’s dog sled run. Our Mushers were twin sisters (Christie & Anna) who hail from the Lake Superior region of the great state of Wisconsin. They were both very nice and extremely knowledgeable. Christie and Anna seem to both be Master Mushers, if there [...]

Want a new car but only have a few hundred dollars? Replace your windshield.
An absolutely spotless windshield is often an experience we enjoy only when we hop into a brand new car. It is amazing. Once all those little, inevitable pesky pit-marks are gone… it is just like looking through the [...]

Decatur, Georgia. Michael Gibson, car-stylist extraordinaire, put his professional touch on the Element. The car is good-as-new, inside & out.

The engine has been over 85,000 miles… through deserts, snow storms, thunderstorms and the everglades. She loooks brand-spanking new. Thanks, Mike.
Ready to roll!

Decatur, Georgia. After 85,000 miles, the windshield has been taken out by slowly growing foot-long crack. No problem for the pit crew.  Micheal and Cameron of Action Glass got to work & had the windshield replaced in no time.

Decatur, Georgia.  Multiple pit stop crews have been getting the Element ready for the next road trip:

Oil Change
Tires have been filled with nitrogen - a lesson from NASCAR
Serpentine belt has been replaced
Outside has been washed and waxed
Inside compartment has been scrubbed clean, fumigated and sterilized
Windshield has been replaced (pictures posted soon)
Engine has been steam cleaned [...]

Lake Tahoe, California. Not far from the original Ponderosa Ranch of the television show, Bonanza, this mighty Ponderosa towers over the road less traveled.

Lake Tahoe, California
Reportedly, the original Ponderosa Ranch permanently closed to the public in the Fall of 2004 upon purchase by a local developer.
So, even the home of Pa, Adam, Hoss and [...]