2014 Winter Newsletter

Bryce Canyon National Park is also spectacular to look at from its rim. Within the Canyon is a laby- rinth of tall, orange-looking rock formations. It was so much fun to hike at the bottom of the canyon be- cause, at that point, you are literally in a maze, and almost feel like you‟re on another planet. My favorite park was Zion. It is a relatively small but stunning canyon with waterfalls, light forests, and wonderful hiking opportunities to incredible vistas of the valley. A river runs through the canyon, which provides a refreshing swim from the 100 plus degree summer heat. We also went tubing on this river just outside the park. I‟ll never forget the scenery of this place and hope to return again someday. What are your hobbies? I love listening to classical music. Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn are among my favorites. It‟s remarkable that Beethoven composed some of the greatest music of all time as a deaf man – what perseverance. I like playing various sports, especially volleyball and surf-

ing. I always surf at Fort Pierce Inlet State Park. It‟s a great spot because it has ridable waves almost every day of the year. I also collect antique maps; I have some rare maps from the 1700‟s and maps of Florida from the late 1800‟s. Maps and geography have been my love since childhood, which is obviously why I‟m in the GIS field. I even remember, as a kid, drawing my own maps of imaginary places. As you can imagine, with my interest in geogra- phy, I love traveling. Finally, I follow FSU sports, especially foot- ball. What do you plan to do when you retire? Since I love working and my GIS job so much, I don‟t plan on re- tiring for a long, long time. But when I do finally retire, I‟ll keep busy, and, no doubt, there will be plenty of vacations and visiting of family and friends, along with church volunteer work.

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Winter 2014 Newsletter of the FCIAAO