What was the highlight of 2007 for you? (1 Viewer)

[Bryan X]

Now that we're at the end of 2007, I started to think about what would be my favorite memory from this year.

Mine is from July when my 12 year old son and I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and spent the night before hiking back out. It is something I have always wanted to do. We had a great time together.

Let's hear your favorite memory from 2007.

 

[brentl]

ME? Glad you asked;

Mine was a 6000KM 11 day journey to the East coast o my lovely Country of Canada EH!

19 and a half hours STRAIGHT on the way out, and I slept in my car at the Grand Manan ferry docks(South West end of New Brunswick at Maine, and 18 hours STRAIGHT on the way home, all the way from Perce(East coast of Quebec) to Uxbridge, Ontario.

You would have thought it was the worst trip EVER, but the 9 Days in between were FANTASTIC lots of nice people, and great sites!

Brent

 

[Clinton McClure]

Getting my A+ certification so I could get a better job.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Mine was two road trips that, due to scheduling conflicts, turned into one giant one. This summer was the first time I had a car that I considered dependable enough to go long distances with.

I picked up an old girl friend of mine in Malta, NY swung through Saratoga and headed west across the New York/Vermont line. From there we headed upstate, keeping west of Lake Champlain, to the Shelburne Museum (some place she, being familar with the area, had always wanted to go.) We spent a few hours checking everything out there, then drove southeast on a highway. I had to use the facilities, so we stopped in Montpelier. After I did my business I got some great shots of the state house. From there I hopped back on the road and continueed southeast to Quechee Gorge.

We stopped at the gorge, took some pictures, then grabbed a site at the nearby state campground. Just as we finished setting up the tent, it started to rain. I'd only brought one tarp, and that was in use keeping the floor of the tent dry, so we decided to pack it up and take off. We headed across the Vermont/New Hampshire border and grabbed dinner at a wannabe-upscale Italian place called the Three Tomatoes. From there we caught "The Invasion" at a six-screen strip mall multiplex just west of town. When we got back into Vermont, it was after midnight. I had her open the gate to the campground while I drove the car through, then we closed it behind us. Got back to the site around 12:30 and went right to bed. The next morning, I made coffee and scrambled eggs on my propane stove and then we got everything cleaned and packed to check out right at 11 am.

She had to work that evening, so we had to make it back by mid-afternoon, but rather than take the same highways back, I'd charted a more direct route using small local streets and villages that cut across Vermont. It was a perfect drive, because we were there just as the leaves were starting to change.

I got her home on time, got back to Albany slept in my own bed a night to recuperate, then was back on the road by 10 am the next morning. This time I picked up my Boston roommate who was staying with his parents at the time and we headed up the Northway to visit our friend who'd recently decided to go for his Bachelor's and had just moved into a new apartment in Plattsburgh. I did that drive in just over two hours. After getting the tour from him, we walked through town and hit up a Quizno's and later saw a late showing of "Superbad" at the local mall.

Bright and early the next morning, my roommate and I decided to head out. We'd kept a couple days free with nothing definite planned. He had his passport and I had my license and birth certificate. We decided on a whim to head up to Montréal, so that's what we did.

We knew we were in trouble as soon as we got through Customs. Whereas everything on the New York side was bilingual, Montréal made NO attempt at catering to English speakers. Everything was en français, which meant that with the exceptions of place and road names and number I had no idea what the hell was going on. Once we figured out Nord, Sud, Est and Ouest we were better off. I still drove around that god forsaken city in circles for about three hours. Whether an intersection would have any sort of traffic control was extraordinarily hit or miss. Finally, we pulled into a Couche Tard (which, despite the hilarious name, basically seemed to be a 7-Eleven) got out $20 Canadian and bought a map. I plotted out a route through the one way streets to one of the main bridges and it took us only about half an hour to get off the island. Somehow we ended up on the island where the '67 Expo was and had paid $10 each for parking before we knew what'd hit us. Having done that we decided we might as well hit up what was now a Six Flags. The lines were riddiculous, and we managed only three or four rides a person. The ticket price averaged out to $14 a ride, including the tram. We did have the priviledge of hearing a French Canadian country band perform "Sweet Home Alabama" in French. Some very good looking women in that park, although everyone smokes seemingly everywhere. In lines. In bathrooms. Everywhere.

Around dinner time we decided to head back to the United States to catch a bite in USD, but we never found the turn for I-90 S. (I did see a sign as we were leaving the city noting that "Virages à droite au feu rouge sont interdits sur l'île de Montréal." Of course, I had been taking rights on red the whole time, sometimes in front of police cars.) I ended up tracing the the border on 401 W all the way to Ontario, where the billingual signage was a refreshhing change of pace. Finally a waitress at a truck stop gave us directions to a border crossing at Cornwall.

A car cut us off just as we were pulling into the customs line. To this day I wonder if he cost us an hour of our lives by pushing us back into a random inspection slot. When we got up to the customs guy, he was very pleasant but directed us off to the side. We were induvidually and collectively interviewed by Homeland Security people for a half hour while my car was searched top to bottom. Fortunately I hadn't lied about what we were bringing into the country.

We made it to a McDonalds in Massena, NY about forty minutes past midnight. After a quick bite to eat, we headed south on Route 56 because there was a motel i was thinking of just outside Potsdam. What'd we'd failed to realize was that it was move-in day at ALL the SUNYs, not just Plattsburgh. There were two SUNYs in the area and every place was booked solid. I was exhausted but we finally found an Econo Lodge my roommate could afford too back up in Massena. I'd driven between 15 and 20 hours that day. I collapsed.

The next morning I called my elderly grandmother in Potsdam, and we all went out to a diner. After chatting her up for a bit back at her house, we set off.

If I thought Vermont was colorful, the Adirondacks were REALLY colorful. We drove through all of the little towns, stopping frequently so I could take pictures. When we reached Pottersville, with the Northway close by at last, I asked him if he was ready to head back. He wasn't ready either, so I turned toward Schroon Lake and we took a swim in the lake. It was a perfect day, capping one of the best trips of my life.

 

[Citizen87645]

It would have to be my month of vacation going to Philadelphia and Boston, followed by Las Vegas with HTF for EMA and finally San Diego Comic-Con. I'm not sure if I'll ever travel so much in a four week period again, but it sure was fun (even though I did get a little ill by the end).

 

[drobbins]

My highlight of 2007 was the completion of the 3,000sqft house we started to build in 20076. My family and I:

• Designed the house.
• Coordinated the contractors.
• Installed the central vacuum system.
• Installed the intercom system.
• Built the theater floor & riser.
• Hung the insulation in the walls and ceiling.
• Installed the theater wiring.
• Installed all the sheet-rock.
• Laid ceramic tile in the kitchen, mudroom, master bath & upstairs bath.
• Installed hardwood floors main hall & powder room.
• Poured the footings for the back deck.
• Built the back deck.
• Installed the low voltage lighting outside.
• Primered and painted the interior.
• Hung the interior doors.
• Cut and installed the baseboard and window trim.
• Built the railing for the upstairs steps.
• Installed the drop ceilings in the theater and garage.

This took every moment that we were not at our jobs for 6 months to complete. I always wanted to build a house and I am glad we did, but not again. We sill have a few little things left, but the house is now feeling like a home.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Living in the mountains you must pay attention to the weather forecasts.

Tuesday, 9 October 2007, was predicted to be the nicest day in the Stanley area until next spring. Quite often Stanley, Idaho, is the coldest spot in the US (Last weekend Stanley was the coldest spot in the lower 48 again at minus 18 degrees F). But this day it was expected to reach around 68-70 degrees F.

So I drove up there and ate an early lunch at my favorite lunch spot: the "scenic overlook" picnic ground at Stanley Lake. The lake is at 6500 feet elevation and Mount McGowan over it reaches 9600 feet.



There were only 3 other groups camping in the area, but I was the only human there at the lake picnic area. As you can see, the sky was clear except for high clouds. The silence was stunning. There was not a sound to be heard. My jaws made too much sound as I ate lunch. There weren't even any jet contrails high in the sky as the Sawtooth Nat. Recreational Area is off the major cross-country jet routes.

After lunch I moved the truck and hiked into the Sawtooth Wilderness to the east of Mount McGowan.



This is not to be believed. I was the only human being hiking up this trail this day. The log book that you sign into showed that only one person was there the previous day. I was the only human being hiking up that day. That afternoon I was the richest man in the world.

Can you imagine how John Muir felt hiking into Yosemite by himself?

Since I have a concealed weapon permit, I could feel my .357 magnum loaded literally "for bear" in my belly pack. The odds of running into a cougar or bear are tiny, but this really was the wilderness. Your cell phone indicates "NO signal" in this area. You are completely on your own. This is not how you feel in Yosemite or Sequoia National Parks with tour busses full of distracted urbanites chattering away snapping photos. This is how it feels to be in the wilderness with no other humans around for dozens of miles.

 

[DaveF]

The second highlight of my year will be borrowing drobbin's time machine in 20077, to return to 2007 and invest in Google and Apple.

The first highlight was celebrating my first anniversary!

 

[Philip Hamm]

Graduation.

 

[drobbins]

20077? I said 20076! Starting the house in 20077 and finishing the house 18,070 years earlier it is ridiculous. 18,069 years is more like it.

 

[Dave_Brown]

I guess I better say getting married Oct 13th or the wife will cut my balls off, which isn't how I want to end the year.

 

[zillion01]

Driving in the mountains, roads in Utah. Where I'm from I never see that, it's all flat

 

[Francois Caron]

On March 19, the CRTC approved my television license application. Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2007-90

 

[Zen Butler]

I'm watching it(my highlight) right now

 

[DaveF]

Exactly. I figured I'd borrow it the year after you were done with it (20077) After that, I'm coming over to play XBox 360^3.

 

[Joe S]

There was a highlight?

 

[Rick Wunder]

My first grandchild, Paige Elizabeth Conner was born on March 20, and I was there to meet her.

 

[eljr]

Upgraded my power amp from a Mac 252 to a pair of Mac 501's.

 

[Matt Butler]

Starting my Dj business and getting an permanent gig at a club

 

[Buzz Foster]

I had a few.

On December 6th, my Sam-e started working, eight days after I started taking it. I feel myself like I haven't in almost five years. This has been such a blessing. I never thought it would be such an elation to feel like myself. I had thought my depression was simply the new reality of who I was. That was the personal highlight of the year(s?).

It was also great to finish my family super-8 movie transfers and get them on DVD and sent to the family. The family loved them.

Another big highlight was seing all my family on the July 4th holiday. i sent them all an edited DVD of the trip, and copies of everyone's pictures, which I had collected at the end of the trip.