Business Trips – 2005-2015

After having been laid off from my position as IT Manager for Sensient Technologies (formerly Universal Foods) in early 2002, I was basically out of work (except for a few part time jobs) until late 2004.  I was forced to reinvent myself at that time and I decided to concentrate my new job search on a job that included some of the things that I had most enjoyed throughout my previous career.  Those things mainly included my love of travel and also my desire to spend as little time as possible behind a desk.

In October of 2004, I accepted a position as a National Trainer with a small company named Automated Peripherals Inc,, located in Hartford Wisconsin.  The company was later renamed API Inc., and in 2014 it was sold to international corporation GE.  I retired from API/GE at the end of 2016.

During my twelve years with API, I had the opportunity to travel all around the United States, and also briefly to two, foreign countries – Canada and Bermuda.  My job as a trainer, was to travel to hospitals and train their users how to operate API’s Time and Attendance (TA) software system.  I also helped over 70 of API’s clients complete and balance their first live payroll from data collected by API’s TA system.  I can proudly state that none of my clients ever missed their payroll deadline when implementing our system.

The opportunity to travel around the country was something I enjoyed until the moment I retired.  Early on, it presented the opportunity to visit cities, both small and large, many of which I had never before seen.  I had a chance to see many iconic sites in our country.  Most especially during my first 5 or 6 years with API, and still, but to lesser extent, during my later years with API, I took many pictures from the different locations that I visited.

During my last few years with API, a period in which I primarily worked as a remote associate, as I visited different areas of the country, I also kept in mind the fact that we would be retiring soon, and I was looking for an area of the country which would most suit us.  In fact, after working remotely for 6-7 weeks at a time in Santa Fe, and also in two different locations near Albuquerque, we moved permanently to our current home in Rio Rancho New Mexico in August of 2014.

But back to my travels for API.  I have many of my most favorite pictures taken all around the country out on our Photobucket website.  The link to that location follows at the end of this post.  However, I will include here a few of my most favorite photos for each of the cities, in alphabetical order.

Cities Listed …

• Atlanta GA                                                  •   Napa Valley CA
• Boston MA                                                  •   New York City NY
• Dallas TX                                                     •   Niagara Falls, NY
• Detroit MI                                                   •   Oklahoma City OK
• Grand Canon AZ                                        •   Phoenix AZ
• Hamilton Bermuda                                    •   Providence RI
• Juneau AK                                                   •   San Diego CA
• Lexington KY                                              •   San Francisco CA
• Los Angeles CA                                          •   Seattle WA
• Miami FL                                                     •   Sedona AZ

 Atlanta GA …

• Olympic Park – 2006

• Stone Mountain Georgia

Boston MA …

• Bunker Hill Monument, Boston

Dallas TX …

• Downtown Big D

• The Mustangs of Las Colinas.  One of my can’t-miss sites whenever I am in the Dallas area.

• The cattle drive statues in Pioneer Park.  This is within easy walking distance of the infamous Texas School Book Depository, and the Sixth Floor Museum.

Detroit MI …

• Home of the Detroit Tigers

• Looking south toward downtown Deroit from Belle Isle Park

Grand Canyon AZ …

• South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  This is one of my all-time favorite photos.  Capturing that bird in the tree was a complete accident … but I think it separates this photo from just any other run-of-the-mill picture from the Grand Canyon.

Hamilton Bermuda …

• Hamilton

Juneau AK …

• Auke Lake, north of Juneau.  This photo doesn’t even look real, but the lake was perfectly still that day, making for a very memorable shot.

Lexington KY …

• Thoroughbred Park in downtown Lexington.  Very much like the Mustangs of Las Colinas near Dallas, these sculptures really convey the sensation of movement.

Los Angeles CA …

• Griffith Park (That’s Deborah looking out from the veranda.)

• Rose Bowl Parade, December 2007.  Attending this parade was a personal bucket list item – a minor one – but one nonetheless.

Miami FL …

• South Beach, 2009

Napa Valley CA …

• Mumm Winery

• Once again, that is Deborah looking out over the fog shrouded vineyard.

New York City NY …

• Macy’s Department Store – Christmas 2009.  NYC during the holidays is a magical time.

• Christmas decorations near Columbus Circle – 2009

• The High Line, Manhattan’s lower west side.  If you’ve never visited this, I recommend that you seek it out on your next trip to NYC.

Niagara Falls NY …

• Niagara Falls at night, illuminated by a changing light display.  I took these shots from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

Oklahoma City OK …

• Oklahoma City Memorial.  Next to Mount Rushmore, this is one of the locations that has most engendered personal feelings of history and solemnity.

Phoenix AZ …

• Desert Botanical Garden, Papago Park, Phoenix.  This is another one of my very favorite shots.

• Chihuly Exhibit in the Desert Botanical Garden, Papago Park, Phoenix.  Deborah and I have made a point to seek out the glass works of Dale Chihuly whenever we travel.  The juxtaposition of his sculptures, mixed in with the desert habitat of this botanical garden, made for a very special experience.

Providence RI …

• Rhode Island State Capitol Building.  I have always thought that it is the clouds in the sky that makes this picture stand out.

San Diego CA …

• San Diego.  This shot was taken from Centennial Park, which is located on the northeast side of North Island, which primarily houses the North Island Naval Air Station.  You cross over the Coronado Bridge to get there from downtown.

• San Diego

• Safari Park (previously known as the Wild Animal Park), northeast of San Diego.  The San Diego Zoo is certainly “world famous”, but this park, located about 30 miles to the northeast of downtown San Diego, is my favorite of all of the animal enclosures I have seen.  In my experience, it is the closest you can come to actually seeing animals in the wilds of Africa.  Where else in the U.S. can you see not only a few giraffe, but a whole herd of giraffe, interacting with many other animal species in a rather extensive savanna?

• Approach into San Diego Intl Airport.  I must have spent an hour or more waiting to try and capture a shot which makes it appear that a plane is landing right on top of those buildings.  The airport is somewhat infamous for this often perilous approach.

San Francisco CA …

• Looking back at San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point

• Chinatown, San Francisco.  One of my favorite pictures of Deborah.

Sarasota FL …

• Lido Key Beach, west of Sarasota

• Siesta Beach, south of Sarasota in Siesta Key FL.  The truly powder white sands of this beach are what makes it very special.  This picture was also the inspiration for one of Deborah’s paintings on silk.

Seattle WA …

• Looking southeast from the Kerry Park Viewpoint, Seattle.  There are a number of good viewpoints in the Seattle area, but this is one of my favorites – located just to the northwest, overlooking downtown.

• Looking west from West Seattle across Elliott Bay

• The Troll Under the Bridge, Seattle.  A very unique little site, which I stumbled upon completely by accident.  It is located in the Fremont neighborhood, northwest of downtown, and is under the Aurora Ave. bridge.

Sedona AZ …

• Sedona AZ

By the way, the picture in the header of this post is of downtown Seattle, taken I believe, from what is known as the Twelfth Avenue South Viewpoint, just to the south and slightly west of downtown.

Picture Locations on the Internet – Photobucket.com

Pictures from business trips – 2005 – 2015…

http://s937.photobucket.com/user/rwkoehler/slideshow/Business-Trips?sort=9

 

Tips when Using Photobucket

• The previous links will take you directly to a slideshow of pictures and collages, related to the locations, which reside on the internet on the Photobucket.com website.
• Once the slideshow begins, the display begins showing slides at a Medium speed.
  • Slow displays each slide for 10 seconds
  • Medium displays each slide for 6 seconds
  • Fast displays each slide for 3 seconds
• To change the display speed, click on the word Slow, Medium or Fast at the bottom right of the Photobucket screen.
• To non-display the bottom toolbar, and thereby maximize the picture on your screen, click on the     icon at the bottom right of the Photobucket screen.
• To display, or to redisplay a specific slide, you may click on the thumbnail at the bottom of the Photobucket screen.
• To Pause the display at a specific picture, click on the    icon at the lower left of the Photobucket screen.