In 2001, I retired as an school administrator from the local school system. Since then, I've been presenting workshops to teachers as an Acadiana Writing Project teacher consultant, observing new teachers for state certification as an external assessor, and starting a home/hobby business Nellmark Digital Photography. This past summer I took a 19 day bus tour to the Northwest Pacific with my sister. Each night I would write in my personal journal, but it developed into something more. I started reading my ramblings and historical tidbits to everyone on the bus each day. Afterwards, several people wanted a copy of my daily journals along with the 1,100 pictures I'd taken on the trip. That's when I decided to compile it into "coffee table" book and publish it.