Cotton Candy Road Trip Swag Store to Open SOON!!!

Cafe Press stores are easy to open.  But crazy-confusing to assemble.  Except when they're easy.  This easy/difficult teeter-totter keeps yanking me back and forth and I'm getting dizzy!

Pals, let me tell you - I've been working for hours and hours in the last few days on harvesting the best/oddest/most unique photos from my Road Trip, images that will be used on a variety of items you'll be able to purchase from my store.  But Cafe Press keeps being difficult.  But then simple.  And my brain is having a hard time wrapping itself around it all.  Until I get it and then I go, "Huh.  How 'bout that?  That was easy enough - a child of four could've figured THAT one out.  Dang."

Anywho, in about a week or so, all will be revealed.  Suffice it to say, I think you'll be pleased and intrigued with the outcome.  The item I'm most jazzed about is the 2013 calendar, which will feature some of my most prized images from the Road Trip, including a number from our beloved Kiddieland and Storybook Gardens parks, now a sad memory.

I'll keep you all posted.

Until then, here's a little something to make you go, "What the heck IS that thing?"

Well, I'll tell you he's from Arnolds Park.  I'll also let you in on the fact that he's part of the month of October ...

And so it began...

Last year in mid-April, I waited in line for Kiddieland to open for the season, without any knowledge of what would transpire in the months ahead. I snapped a few photos while enjoying my visit there, interviewing folks, sitting and sipping some free Pepsi under the shade of those retro-cool metal canopies.

This snap is from the tippy top of the Ferris wheel. I believe I heard the ride was bought by someone out in the Chicago suburbs and put in their backyard.

And so began my RoadTrip. A bittersweet beginning to be sure. I'd misplaced the opening day photos for months, but recently found them in an oddly-labelled file on my computer. I'll be sharing some in the months to come, and more than likely selling some items on Cafe Press utilizing them as well.

Hey! Get that Altruism Monkey off your back TODAY! One of THREE ways you can make me smile -- and get that warm, fuzzy feeling...

Today the dumpster was set out on our drive way. That's good because we can finally load in all our debris from the flood, the debris that was fermenting near our driveway, swiftly turning into a biohazard as the days progressed. The shiny green dumpster is here so the nice man who is working on our roof has a place to put the old crumpled roofing, some of which was damaged during the storm of 2010.

This morning when Ben attempted to make breakfast, he realized our stove does not work. Something went kaflooey with the electrical componenet which, upon closer researching online, I've learned may cost about $250 to replace, not counting the repairman.

So, if you're still reading this, could you please take some time to help me out because, yeah, things are a bit trying just now and money issues just keep cropping up. I'll definitely have your back later.

Here's what you can do:

Go to my Kickstarter site and pledge money toward my book:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/547218072/the-cotton-candy-road-trip-a-book-about-the-magic

Go to my Cafe Press shop and buy something cool:

http://www.cafepress.com/vintagepark

Go to the Pepsi Refresh Everything site and vote FOR FREE for Conneaut Lake Park's funding of the Blue Streak rollercoaster. If this park's coaster is put back into working order, this park has a chance of succeeding. If not, I'm not quite sure...

http://www.refresheverything.com/conneautlakeparkbluestreak

There are your options. Oh - you can also stop by our house on Sunday and help us paint. Contact me directly for further information.

Thank you for your attention. Oh -- and enjoy the nifty photo of the llama from the Conneaut Lake Park carousel. That's free, too, just for visiting my blog today!