Where in the world is Greg Kelley?

I’ve come to the conclusion that Greg has the most fun with the Gallo’s, or should I say the Gallo’s have more fun with Greg on their vacations. I’ve copied and pasted Gerry and Fran’s diary. I gave them several business cards and understand they came home with none. Way to go Gerry and Fran…thanks for spreading the word on colon cancer. This trip was to attend Gerry’s niece Nicole’s wedding and here’s the beginning of the trip.

Pre and Post Wedding

“I did not want to distract the wedding so I had limited pictures. Of course, he did hang out at the bar with the bartender Shannon and my brother’s neighbor, and master of all the wedding decorating, Robyn. Greg is in the wedding arch, top right … also, a view of the wedding setting in Oak Creek Canyon’s Indian gardens.”

New friend’s for Greg …

“Groom’s stepfather and mom, Moose and Liz, and step brother Josey, hanging with Greg ….. Moose was so impressed with Greg, while shopping the next day, he just had to add to Greg’s wardrobe………. Moose and I lived in Hillsboro, NH for the same 11 years, but had to go 2500 miles to meet.”

Greg Meets Jacob

Jacob is a Native American and devout Christian. His art was inspired by his mother’s Laguna-Pueblo ancestry; his father was Navaho.  Jacob found his way to Oak Creek Canyon’s Indian Gardens. Art and faith got him through difficult times and he is now providing the Garland family gift shop artworks in exchange for his humble home in a truly beautiful place. Jacob also is caretaker of the gardens, where the wedding was held. Some of Greg’s ashes were left on the river bank in hope of inspiring Jacob’s creativity.

Jerome Arizona

“Jerome, AZ bills itself as “America’s Most Vertical City” and “The largest Ghost Town in America”, and once known as the wickedest town in the west, it was a copper mining ghost, now turned tourist attraction, sitting on top of Cleopatra Hill, overlooking the Verde Valley. All the Jerome pictures are random around town.”

Prescott Arizona

“Greg pauses at the statue commenting war veterans in Prescott, and then heads for the Palace Saloon. Virgil Earp was Sheriff of Prescott, AZ before heading to join Morgan and Wyatt at the OK Corral in Tombstone, and was known to hang out at the Palace Saloon. After leaving he headed out to browse the Western memorabilia stores in Prescott.”

Seligman, Arizona

If Seligman, AZ was not the inspiration for the town of Radiator Springs in the Movie “Cars”, it should have been. A throwback 50’s and 60’s town located on historic Route 66, it literally is “the town the interstate passed by”

Grand Canyon Caverns

“Grand Canyon Caverns are 125 miles from the Grand Canyon, so until 1962, the connection between the caverns and the actual Grand Canyon went unrealized. Wanting to find the source of the fresh air constantly flowing though the caverns, men set off red smoke grenades in the ends of the cavern while teams of observers were sent out in all directions. After 2 days, no smoke was observed in the surrounding areas, so the effort ended. A week later, an Indian tribe on the rim of the Grand Canyon 125 miles away reported red smoke emerging from the rocks below. Some of Greg was left in the caverns.”

Larry’s Garden

A bit of Greg was left among the pottery in my brother Larry’s garden in Lake Montezuma, AZ.

Larry's Garden

Larry’s Garden ~ 2010  Tripled in size!  Notice the stalk coming out of the middle of the cactus; Greg’s left his mark.

Don Brennan has requested the presence of Greg to join him at the winter ice festival in Quebec City. 

Don is back from his Canadian journey. It was a chilling experience with temperatures falling below zero degrees. He expressed the difficulty in taking photographs of Greg without gloves on, they were too bulky to press buttons and his fingers froze.  Miraculously, he managed to take quite a few photo’s and they came out terrific. It’s not easy to bring a camera out in freezing temperatures without damaging it . “Greg” was introduced by Don as “my friend.” I can just imagine the look on strangers faces, “OK is this senior citizen with it?” I hope his passing out business cards puts everyone at ease! Thanks Don for spreading the word about colon cancer and special thanks to “Cookie” for knitting Greg a mini hat and scarf, they were quite fitting for the journey.

The Gallo’s (as usual) really had a good time with Greg. Their friends and family were very receptive and contributed to his wonderful vacation. My hope is that they may have become educated on colon cancer, talk about it and maybe schedule a colonoscopy or reach out to someone else. Thanks Gerry and Fran for your continuing support of my “colon cancer project”

and ensuring Greg had fun.

Shannon Ireland on October 10th; Mom made a special Irish bowtie. Greg’s new attire is quite fitting for Ireland right down to the cap!  Hit a hole in one spreading the word on colon cancer Greg!  Lyn and Mom are taking a side trip to London, hope they get some great shots. 

Cliffs of Mohr where the wind blew off Greg’s hat.

The Great Potato Famine Memorial in Shannon, Ireland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janet and Al went to New York City for the weekend and decided to bring Greg.

 Amongst the places they visited were Times Square, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero.  The highlight of Greg’s visit was sitting on the desk of NBC’s Today Show set.  Special thanks to the cameraman for allowing me this opportunity; I gave him one of Greg’s business cards.

The Kelley family traveled to Colorado to attend the wedding of Greg’s son Dylan.  The wedding was held at Crystal Reservoir, just below Pikes Peak.  Dylan and Merry had a beautiful wedding amongst the mountains, clouds and beautiful reservoir.

Greg was invited on a trip to England with my best friend Debbie and her daughter Amy. They hung out at Aunt Pat’s house on Lovelace Green in London and took a side trip to Amsterdam.  There they enjoyed walking around in the Kuhkenhof  Gardens and a stop in a coffee shop.

March  3 

 Galveston Texas ~ Newport Oregon

VIA the Panama Canal

Greg’s whirlwind 2006 travels haven’t stopped.  Captain Mark Bull of Fort Myers Florida brought along

Greg for his sea adventure and made him First Mate. Greg is taking this job very seriously, even

dressing the part and putting on more mature glasses. Captain Bull  has been hired to bring the Lady Law to Oregon by the owner.  The Lady Law is a  Pacific Dungeness Crab boat the catches those wonderful creatures for us to pay and arm and a leg for. It has been in Galveston being resized due to strict

Alaskan laws that pertain the the maximum size a king crab vessel can be. I can’t imagine any

trouble that Greg can get into with a small crew on the open sea. 

Greg and phone…ready to go!

There are some pictures of the Lady Law in December where it is being refitted in Galveston and then the trip through the Panama Canal.

Here are some pictures of the Lady Law in December where it is being refitted in Galveston.

Well, I missed the canal pictures.  It was extremely difficult to get an exact time on the trip

through the canals.  “Bumps ” and  other extenuating circumstances happen….. June (Mark’s other half)

“Mark and Greg left for their adventure on March 3^rd.  After an unexpected extra 23 days in the

 shipyard in Galveston, they were officially off the dock on March 27^th.  After some high seas and

heavy weather, they arrived in Panama on Monday April 4^th and were finally through the Canal on

Friday the 7^th!  Many tenacious individuals were actually able to see them go through the final –

Miraflores - lock on the internet!  As of Sunday, April 9^th they were even with Golfito, Costa Rica and

anticipate arrival in San Diego within two weeks.  The vessel so far is doing well.  Mark has taken

some pictures of Greg helping navigate on the bridge but it will be another month before the journey is complete,

so stay tuned! “  

May 1st :

“They made it!  The boat arrived in Newport Oregon around 7:00 this morning.  Apparently they had

quite the bumpy ride over the last week. Greg completed 2 months aboard the boat, traveled 5437

 nautical miles (approx 6000 statute miles), and went through 3 gales.  He passed through or by

Mexico, Cuba, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, Columbia, Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala.. June

Greg had the privilege of traveling with Carol and Arial Bohnet to Legaspi City to visit Kim (daughter/sister) where she’s working with the Peace Corps. They slept in Kim’s Nipa Hut which is 12×12 in size, you can see the Mount Mayon volcano in the background.  Carol passed out some of Greg’s business cards to curious onlookers who saw “Greg”.  Thanks Carol…..

Greg, Gerry and Fran had a great time in Mexico.  Colon Cancer was discussed with the

curious individuals who dared to ask the Gallo’s what “Greg” was.  Greg and the Gallo’s visited ik kil eco park, Chichen Iza and hung out at the Golden Crown pool. Thanks Gerry and Fran; you are the very best hosts that truly spread the word about colon cancer and have a blast doing it.