1

The White Desert
A visit to Thule, Greenland and the arctic icesheet.

Airman

Apr 80

2

Running Around the World
Jogging through Russia, Italy, Greece, Japan, England, Spain, and Hawaii.

Tribune

14 Aug 83

3

India By The Book
In India we drove an elephant, visited the Taj Mahal, and met a cobra.

Tribune

12 Feb 84

4

Russian Arctic Warms Heart of US Skier
Ten Americans and 4,000 Russians skied a 60-km cross-country race in the Russian arctic.

Tribune

17 Feb 85

5

Polar Express
Travel 1,000 miles from Murmansk to St. Petersburg, Russia aboard a steam train.

Boston Globe

14 Apr 85

6

Running Around Bermuda
Jogging is a good way to explore Bermuda’s quaint villages and beautiful countryside.

American Airlines

5 Oct 86

7

Earth Quake Fishing
The fish behaved mighty peculiar on the day of the 5.5 earthquake in Southern Illinois.

Sumner Press

15 Jun 87

8

Oxygen Tax
What if the oxygen producing nation (Brazil) decided to tax oxygen?

Sumner Press

6 Sep 90

9

Muskox Wool
While collecting wool of the bushes in Sondrestrom, Greenland, I met a mad bull muskox.

Call of the Wool

Dec 90

10

Day I Skunked My Dad Fishing
My dad always caught more fish than me except for our last fishing trip before he died.

Sumner Press

4 Apr 91

11

Nuts in the Brazilian Jungle
While visiting a Brazilian jungle, I encountered a very clever alligator.

Sumner Press

8 Jun 91

12

Canoeing The Wabash
My grandson and I canoed and fished the 500-mile length of the Wabash River.

Tribune

23 Jun 91

13

India by Elephant
Learning the drive an elephant through the streets of New Delhi was harder than it sounds.

Sumner Press

15 Aug 91

14

The Bear Story
While climbing Mount Washburn in Yellowstone Park, I had a close encounter with a bear.

Sumner Press

5 Sep 91

15

Strawberry Lady
While driving through Russia, we stopped to buy strawberries from a roadside stand.

Sumner Press

10 Oct 91

16

Polar Bear Alert at Saunders Island
While skiing across the Arctic Ocean, we encountered a dead seal and a hungry polar bear.

Sumner Press

14 Nov 91

17

Walking on Water in Bora Bora
While swimming in the South Pacific Ocean, I encountered a huge stingray.

Sumner Press

12 Dec 92

18

Rapi Nui Sheep
The sheep of Easter Island produce especially good wool.

Call of the Wool

Dec 91

19

Exploring Caves of Easter Island
After touring all the "heads" of Easter Island we spent the night in a cave.

Sumner Press

6 Feb 92

20

Bitter Canadian Winter
My grandfather was a lumberjack and spent several bitter winters cutting timber in Canada.

Sumner Press

5 Mar 92

21

Russian Surprise
While skiing in the Russian arctic, our guide pulled the best April Fool joke.

Sumner Press

2 Apr 92

22

Who Begot Whom
When my children ask "what nationality are we," I started exploring our genealogy.

Sumner Press

30 Apr92

23

Bishop's Ghost
Bishop Chandler’s ghost visited us during our stay in Malvern England.

Sumner Press

28 May 92

24

Biking Across the Devil's Backbone
Nine-year-old Tracy and her grandfather biked 600 miles across the Mid-West.

Sumner Press

25 Jun 92

25

The Rest of The Story
The trials, tribulations, pleasures, and pains of a 600 mile bike ride.

Sumner Press

20 Aug 92

26

Alligator Alert
While at Homestead AFB FL, a torrential rain washed the alligators our of the swamp.

Sumner Press

24 Sep 92

27

Australia - Home of the Bunyip
During our Australian visit, we saw Ayers Rock, the Great Barrier Reef, and opal mines.

Sumner Press

29 Oct 92

28

Bootleg Whiskey
At my Uncle’s resort in Wisconsin, I discovered bootleg whiskey from prohibition era.

Sumner Press

26 Nov 92

29

Exploring the Mysteries of Satellites
Satellites provide communications, navigation, and surveillance.

Sumner Press

31 Dec 92

30

Russian Interrogation
While visiting Russia, my wife and I were detained for 9 hours of questioning.

Sumner Press

4/11 Feb 93

31

White Desert
A visit to Thule Greenland and the arctic icesheet.

Sumner Press

18 Feb 93

32

Strange Encounter in Norwegian Woods
While hiking through a Norwegian woods, I encountered a troll.

Sumner Press

18 Mar 93

33

The Great Opal Adventure
We visited Coober Pedy, Australia, where 90% of the gem-quality opal is mined.

Sumner Press

29 Apr 93

34

Sunken Treasure
While visiting the Philippines, I discovered some of the silver peso coins dumped in the ocean.

Sumner Press

3 Jun 93

35

Victim of The Summer Heat
When I stopped to help an apparent heart-attack victim, I made the man mad.

Sumner Press

15 Jul 93

36

If It's 8:30 We Must Be In Belgium
We drove 2,000 miles from Copenhagen, Denmark to Lisbon, Portugal in two days.

Sumner Press

19 Aug 93

37

The Secret Of The Thermos Bottle
An explanation of how a thermos bottle keeps things hot or cold.

Sumner Press

30 Sep 93

38

Separated By a Common Language
In England, the pavement is the sidewalk, to table a topic is to put it bring it up for discussion.

Sumner Press

28 Oct 93

The Ghost Wore Red
The desert island of Ascension is home to many ghost, including one wearing a red uniform.

Sumner Press

9 Dec 93

40

The Chunnel
The English channel Tunnel was completed in 1994, 200 years after Napoleon started it.

Sumner Press

6 Jan 94

41

SO SMALL
My hometown is SO SMALL our only heavy industry is a 400-pound Avon lady.

Sumner Press

24 Feb 94

42

Eating Our Way Across Russia
We enjoyed some of the best and worst meals we’ve ever eaten while driving through Russia.

Sumner Press

14 Apr 94

43

Queen Opens Channel Tunnel
Queen Elizabeth is the first British sovereign to return safely from a foreign adventure by land!

Sumner Press

2 Jun 94

44

Argentina-Land of the Gaucho
Argentina is an immense country with great natural resources, busy cities, and classic charm.

Sumner Press

14/21 Jul 94

45

Wales-Land of Castles
The castles and landscape of Wales are breathtaking.

Sumner Press

11 Aug 94

46

Canoeing the Wabash With Grandpa
Grandson describes his version of canoeing down the Wabash.

Outdoor Indiana

May-Jun 94

47

Australia From the Back of a Camel
Seven-year-old Kelsey rode her camel 140 miles across the Australian Outback.

Sumner Press

22/29 Sep 94

48

Stranded in Frobisher Bay
Our visit at 65 degrees north was extended by an unexpected blizzard.

Sumner Press

27 Oct 94

49

The First Australians
The Aborigines have lived in the driest part of the dries continent for 80,000 years.

Sumner Press

5 Jan 95

50

The Great Wall of China
The high-point of our month-long visit to China was jogging along the Great Wall.

Sumner Press

23 Feb 95

51

Trapping
my youth I trapped muskrats during the winter to earn money.

Sumner Press

6/13 Apr 95

52

Uncle Donald Met An Angel
My Uncle Donald met Amiee McPherison when he studied at the Foursquare Bible College.

Sumner Press

22/29 Jun 95

53

The "Hole" Story
We rode the car-train through the English Channel Tunnel and visited the Chunnel museum.

Sumner Press

3/10 Aug 95

54

Legend of Bone Gap
Bone Gap was on the Indian’s hunting trails between Shawneetown and Vincennes.

Sumner Press

14 Sep 95

55

Grandpa’s Hawaiian Ultra Marathon
For my birthday, I planned to run around Oahu Hawaii pushing my 2-year-old granddaughters.

Sumner Press

21 Sep 95

56

Hawaii - The Start
We started running at 4 a.m. with my twin granddaughters snuggled down in a double jogger.

Sumner Press

28 Sep 95

57

Hawaii - The Finish
After 8 days we completed the 130 mile run around Oahu with my granddaughters smiling.

Sumner Press

5 Oct 95

58

Tea With The Queen
I took my granddaughter to England to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s birthday.

Sumner Press

2 Nov 95

59

The Great Canadian Fishing Trip
Grandson and I canoed into Canada’s Quentico Wilderness Park for 9 days of fishing.

Sumner Press

14 Dec 95

60

Kodiak - Alaska’s Emerald Island
Kodiak Island Alaska is know for its good fishing, huge bears, and beautiful scenery.

Sumner Press

25 Jan 96

61

The Ice Palace
We cross-country skied Tennessee Pass near Leadville CO, the home of the ice palace.

Sumner Press

7 Mar 96

62

Bermuda
Bermuda offers tourist sparkling-blue water, white sand beaches and a relaxed atmosphere.

Sumner Press

25 Apr 96

63

The End of the Earth
We flew to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southern-most town in the world, to explore history.

Sumner Press

23 May 96

64

A Night Atop The World’s Tallest Mountain
I spent a chilly night in the thin atmosphere atop Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano.

Sumner Press

18 Jul 96

65

Vermont Winter Vacation
The cross-country skiing around Craftsbury Vermont is world class.

Sumner Press

8 Aug 96

66

The African Queen
I took a ride on the African Queen, Humphrey Bogart’s boat from my favorite movie.

Sumner Press

17 Oct 96

67

The Russians Are Coming
Olga came to Dayton to teach lace knitting, her first-ever trip out of her native Russia.

Sumner Press

5 Dec 96

68

50 Miles! Are You crazy?
My daughter talked me into joining her for a 50-mile, one day run through the mountains.

Sumner Press

9 Jan 97

69

Yucatan Mysteries
We visited the Yucatan Peninsula and explored ancient Mayan ruins.

Sumner Press

20 Feb 97

70

Blackbird Fantasy
A whimsical story of flying the world’s fastest airplane, the SR-71.

Sumner Press

20 Mar 97

71

Ski Alaska
For our 40th wedding anniversary, my wife and I skied Alaska’s Mt. McKinley.

Sumner Press

1/8 May 97

72

The Citadel
We toured the Citadel in Charleston and learned of its long tradition of excellence.

Sumner Press

12 Jun 97

73

Barbados
Barbados offers the quiet beauty and warm charm of a tropical paradise.

Sumner Press

10 Jul 97

74

Kayaking the Bay of Fundy
My granddaughters and I kayaked the 40-foot high tides of the Bay Of Fundy.

Sumner Press

7 Aug 97

75

Biking the Evangeline Trail
We biked 600 miles across Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Sumner Press

4 Sep 97

76

NORAD - A City in a Mountain
NORAD Headquarters is built 1,500 deep in Cheyenne Mountain Colorado.

Sumner Press

9 Oct 97

77

Air Force Marathon
My daughter and I completed the first-ever Air Force marathon in Dayton Ohio.

Sumner Press

13 Nov 97

78

Looping a Waco
The pilot pulled back on the stick and we were upside-down in an open cockpit biplane.

Sumner Press

11 Dec 97

79

Charleston, South Carolina
The beautiful city of Charleston has more tours than anyplace I’ve been including a ghost tour.

Sumner Press

29 Jan/5 Feb 98

80

Dog Sledding
We drove 24 dogs pulling four sleds through the frozen Minnesota wilderness.

Sumner Press

12 Mar 98

81

Uncle Les’ Run-in With the Mob
Uncle Les was paid in illegal whiskey when he repaired the mob’s stalled car.

Sumner Press

2 Apr 98

82

Flying the Hump
One of the most dangerous placed to be during WWII was the China-Burma-India theater.

Sumner Press

14 May 98

83

What I learned From My Friend Bill
My friend Bill taught me patience, the value of friendship, and not to stereotype people.

Sumner Press

25 Jun 98

84

Robot Hunter
A British experiment uses robots to catch slugs in farm fields.

Sumner Press

30 Jul 98

85

Sleeping in a Maine Lighthouse
We spent a relaxing visit in a remote Maine lighthouse with no electricity or telephone.

Sumner Press

20 Aug 98

86

Rollerblading Across Holland
We rollerbladed 400 miles around flower-filled Holland wearing a backpack.

Sumner Press

17 Sep 98

87

The Buffalo Farm
We stayed at a B&B on a buffalo ranch in Indiana, hiking the woods and fishing the ponds.

Sumner Press

Oct 98

88

The Russian Space Bell
A bell given to me by a Russian schoolgirl flew in space aboard the Columbia shuttle.

Sumner Press

12 Nov 98

89

The Magnificent West Baden Springs Hotel
The gigantic domed atrium, 200-feet wide and 130-feet high is the jewel of the hotel.

Sumner Press

10/17 Dec 98

90

Tour of Scioto River Valley
My daughter and I biked the 210 mile, 2 day tour along with 4,000 other bikers.

Sumner Press

7 Jan 99

91

Skijoring the Boundary Waters
I flew through the snow-covered woods of Minnesota, skiing behind two powerful sled dogs.

Sumner Press

4 Feb 99

92

Toothpicks
Wood from the white birch log was veneered, split, ground and pointed to make toothpicks.

Sumner Press

18 Mar 99

93

Australia From the Back of a Camel
Nine-year-old Kelsey galloped her camel across the Australian Outback in search of Aboriginal caves, desert animals and adventure.

Sumner Press

13 May 99

94

Biking to the Arctic Circle
To celebrate his 65th birthday, Allen Johnson undertook a 4,000-mile bicycle trip from Ohio to the Arctic Circle. After pedaling 100-miles a day for seven weeks he passed through Fairbanks Alaska and ended up at the Arctic Circle.

Sumner Press

13 May 99

95

Walking on the Bottom of the Ocean
Allen and his grandchildren donned diving helmets and walked on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda to feed the fish and a moray eel named Franklin.

Sumner Press

16 Sep 99

96

The Alaskan Highway
This is the amazing story of how the US Army engineers build a 1,500-mile long highway through the Canadian wilderness to Alaska in nine months of 1942.

Sumner Press

21/28 Oct 99

97

Visit with a Wilderness family
The Carlsons lived in the wilderness north of Fairbanks Alaska and raised 23 children in a log cabin without running water, electricity or indoor toilets.

Sumner Press

16 Dec 99

98

Ski Colorado
We took our grandchildren to Leadville, Colorado during Christmas break to ski, sled and play in the snow.

Sumner Press

27 Jan 2000

99

Ski Maritime Canada
While most people head south for their winter holiday, Gloria and I fly to Nova Scotia, Canada to enjoy the pristine Canadian snow.

Sumner Press

24 Feb 00

100

Mysteries of the Aurora
Curtains of red, green blue and pink lights danced in the sky of Greenland as charged particles from the sun rained down on the earth’s atmosphere, generating the colorful Aurora Borealis.

Sumner Press

6 Apr 00

101

Flying the Northwest Staging Route
The US built a string of airfields through Canada to Alaska to ferry fighter aircraft to Russia during World War II.

Sumner Press

11 May 00

102

Swedish Bike Ride
Allen and his six-year-old twin granddaughters searched for Trolls and Tomtens in the forest as they biked 400 miles across Sweden.

Sumner Press

8 Jun 00

103

The Queen’s Wabash
For her coronation, Queen Mary of England wore a necklace made of freshwater pearls from the Wabash River near Mount Carmel, Illinois.

Sumner Press

6 Jul 00

104

Berlin
I explored East and West Berlin and found that 80 percent of the prewar building survived the World War II bombardment or were repaired. I saw no wartime damage.

Sumner Press

26 Oct/2 Nov 00

105

Grandpa in the Spanish American War
My grandfather charged up San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders during the Spanish American War.

Sumner Press

30 Nov/7Dec 00

106

What I learned from my granddaughters
“We can’t go too fast or we’ll miss something,” my six-year-old granddaughter told me as we biked across Sweden. I learned a lot on that trip.

Sumner Press

18 Jan 01

107

Visiting Merry Olde England
A trip through England is like stepping back in a time machine. The “New Forest” dates from the 1100s, milk is still delivered to your house in glass bottles and families spend the evening visiting in local pubs rather than watching “Survivors” on TV.

Sumner Press

1 Mar 01

108

Bahamas
My grandchildren and I swam in the warm, crystal-clear ocean, hunted seashells on the beach and rode the Mayan Temple waterslide at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau.

Sumner Press

12 Apr 01

109

Bomb Lit Up Hawaii
In 1962 I stood on the beach in Honolulu Hawaii and watched a one-megaton hydrogen bomb explode 200 miles above the island, lighting the sky with a greenish-white light that lasted five minutes.

Sumner Press

17 May 01

110

Newfoundland, Where the New World began
In the year 1,000 Viking explorers landed in Newfoundland and established the first European settlement in the New World. Five hundred years later the British rediscovered the island and claimed it for the Queen.

Sumner Press

5 July 01

111

Helfrid’s Amazing Bear Story
My Swedish cousin encountered a polar bear and her cub in Labrador and lived to write about it.

Sumner Press

2 Aug 01

112

Jewels of Southern Illinois
Million-year-old rock formations, a pirate’s cave, a slave house, the oldest hotel in the state and the tallest cross in North America are some to the spectacular sights Southern Illinois has to offer.

Sumner Press

20 Sep 01

113

Cousin Max-Hollywood Actor
My Swedish cousin came to Hollywood in the 1920 and acted with Lillian Gish, Greto Garbo, Carole Lombard and Loan Crawford.

Sumner Press

29 Nov 01

114

Nose-to-Nose With Polar Bears
The first morning I Churchill we encountered 14 polar bears and that was just on the way to breakfast!

Sumner Press

3 Jan 02

115

Ghost Towns
Blue Ball, Broken Sword, Dull, Henpeck, Mudsock, PeePee, Teacup and Utopia are a few of the colorful names of the hundreds of ghost towns in Ohio.

Sumner Press

31 Jan 02

116

Nova Scotia Revisited
My wife and I love to visit the rugged and independent people of Nova Scotia like the Boddys, a gold-mining couple who spend the summer camping out and prospecting on islands in the Bay of Fundy or Lillian Ward who runs a bed and breakfast that still has a wood stove in the kitchen.

Sumner Press

7 Mar 02

117

Turtle Rescue
During our visit to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic our crew rescued a 300-pound green sea turtle that fell into a crevasse near the beach while looking for a place to lay her eggs.

Sumner Press

25 Apr 02

118

Key West
The grandchildren and I fished, swam and parasailed over the turquoise waters of Key West Florida on our spring vacation.

Sumner Press

23 May 2002

119

Australia
We visited Brisbane Australia and the nearby Gold coast to sample kangaroo steaks, the crystal-clear ocean and golden sand beaches.

Sumner Press

4 Jul 2002

120

Kayaking Iceland
While kayaking the Arctic Ocean around Iceland with my 8-year-old granddaughters we got caught in a sudden squall that nearly blew us out to sea.

Sumner Press

15 Aug 2002

121

Heating your house with volcano
Iceland is the most volcanically active island in the world and the locals use the abundant geothermal water to heat 86 percent of the houses and building on the island.

Sumner Press

31 Oct 2002

122

Floating thru space
The International Space Station is currently being built 200 miles above the earth’s surface to conduct scientific experiments. You can look up just before sunrise and watch it zip overhead at 17,500 miles per hour.

Sumner Press

23 Jan 2003

123

Charleston thru eyes of 9-year-old
Our granddaughters relate their spring vacation to Charleston where they toured plantations, rode in a horse-drawn carriage and visited a World War II aircraft carrier,

Sumner Press

1 May 2003

124

Plowing with horses
I talked with Herbert Hutchinson who plows with two huge Percheron horses named Shadow and Reno.

Sumner Press

5 Jun 2003

125

Hawaii
I returned to my favorite destination, Hawaii, to snorkel among schools of brightly colored tropical fish.

Sumner Press

3 July 2003

126

Willmore Adventure
I took my nine-year-old granddaughters on a two-week horseback adventure in a Canadian wilderness park filled with spectacular mountains and wildlife.

Sumner Press

14 Aug 2003

127

Lost in the Canadian Rockies
While hiking through Willmore Wilderness Park my granddaughters and I got lost. Emily asked, “Will I ever see my mother again?”

Sumner Press

25 Sep 2003

128

Blue Spring Caverns - Mystery River Voyage
We took a trip down an underground river and encountered blind fish and bats.

Sumner Press

13 Nov 2003

129

Mosey
We met a lady who won the Mosey (I think I’ll mosey down to the barn) competition at the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

Sumner Press

11Dec 2003

134

Christmas Present
I visited Neiman Marcus’ famous department store in Dallas to see their special Christmas presents, a pair of his and her robots.

Sumner Press

1 Jan 04

131

Felicity
Felicity is the quality or state of being happy, like the feeling that comes from of wading in a cool stream.

Sumner Press

29 Jan 2004

132

North to Canada
Cross-country skiing in pristine Nova Scotia snow or hiking among the huge fractured icebergs on the shore of the Bay of Fundy is our idea of a great winter vacation.

Sumner Press

19 Feb 2004

133

The 10th Mountain Division
During World War II the 10,000 ski troops trained at Camp Hale, Colorado made a significant difference in the outcome of the war the Italian mountains.

Sumner Press

1 Apr 2004

134

Ski Tennessee Pass
Two-foot of soft, powdery snow lay in the woods as my wife and I skied the groomed trails of Tennessee Pass, Colorado.

Sumner Press

29 Apr 2004

135

Rough Riders
Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders made a daring charge up San Juan Hill against withering fire from the entrenched Spanish soldiers to end the Spanish American War.

Sumner Press

13 May 2004

136

Daytona Beach with Grandchildren
The smell of salt air, a cool ocean breeze, warm sand beneath my feet and the sound of surf breaking on the shore while I play with my grandchildren---it doesn’t get much better than this.

Sumner Press

27 May 2004

137

Ghan – Adelaide to Alice Springs
We rode the world-class 47-car Ghan train 1,000 miles from Adelaide Australia to Alice Springs.

Sumner Press

17 Jun 2004

138

Australia from the back of a camel - two
I took my three granddaughters to Australia to experience the camel safari across the Outback.

Sumner Press

24 Jun 2004

139

Swimming at the Great Barrier Reef
Hundreds of huge parrot fish, colorful rainbow fish and delicate angel fish swam by us as we snorkeled in the crystal-clear waters of the Great Barrier Reef.

Sumner Press

1 Jul 2004

140

Segway
I leaned forward and the two-wheeled Segway Human Transporter glided effortlessly ahead like a magical flying carpet.

Sumner Press

5 Aug 2004

141

Cord Museum
At the Cord Museum in Auburn, Indiana we saw the coffin-nose 1936 Cord automobile with a louvered grill, retractable headlights and pontoon fenders that made it the leader in streamline design.

Sumner Press

30 Sep 2004