Dave's Travel Log

Kentucky Town Demands Apology From A&E

By ROGER ALFORD, Associated Press Writer
Mon May 2, 6:54 AM ET

"Obviously, being labeled the town from hell can not be interpreted in any way as positive," City Manager Donovan Blackburn wrote in a letter to the network.

Blackburn said local residents cooperated in the production of the documentary show, which revolved around murders committed by a group of occultists, after a producer told them the town would be portrayed positively.

A&E acknowledged Wednesday that it received Blackburn's letter.

"It was not the intention of A&E Network to malign the town of Pikeville, but rather to examine it through the eyes of people who live in that community and who were affected by the particular case we were profiling," the network said in a statement last month. "We are deeply sorry that the mayor's office of the city of Pikeville was offended by the portrayal."

"City Confidential" is billed as a show that "goes inside a unique American city and explores its colorful characters, its peculiar history, and the truth behind its hidden mystery."

Blackburn said he watched the show when it aired on March 26 and was shocked that Pikeville was portrayed as a hillbilly haven, a stereotype people throughout the region have fought vigorously to overcome.

"You start the piece by showing a rebel flag on Julius Avenue, an overweight man without a shirt smoking a cigarette and an old pickup with a few women in the back," Blackburn said. "As I am sure you would agree, you can go to almost any city in America and find the same."

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Ummmm...sure. Yeah, you'll find rebel flags, shirtless, overweight men sitting outside smoking cigarettes and pickup trucks with women riding in the back almost everywhere.

In fact, I almost hit a fat shirtless guy who just happened to be sitting under a rebel flag on Geary the other day. Yeah, I was distracted by the pickup truck full of women in the back and I veered off the road. It was a close call.

April 29 - Santa Barbara

On my wayward travels back to SF, I stopped off in Santa Barbara to enjoy a little time on the beach. It's pretty sweet down here.

April 28 - Venice Beach

Wow, I'm actually back in California. Hmmm...not sure I'm ready to go home yet. :) I guess the plan is to meander up the coast for a bit until I hit home. This is Venice Beach. It's a little early in the season, so the beach wasn't too crowded. I can imagine what a zoo it must be during the peak of the summer!

April 27 - Flagstaff, AZ

One of the best Hostels I stayed in was the Grand Canyon International Hostel in Flagstaff, AZ. I highly recommend it (or its sister hostel around the corner, the Dubeau International Hostel...I stayed at both). Dallas works there...she's very cool.

April 26 - Navajo Bridge Over Grand Canyon

This is the Navajo Bridge in the Grand Canyon National Park. It's the only crossing over the Colorado River for a stretch of 600 miles.

The actual 'Grand Canyon' is 100+ miles away, but it's pretty friggin' grand here...the photos don't do any justice in showing the actual depth of the canyon, but it's almost 500 feet down to the river.

Kirk & Kelly...

This is Kirk and Kelly. They're were also staying at the hostel in Kanab, and finishing their last week of a year of world travel. They're a great couple and a lot of fun. Kirk and I stayed up until almost 3am playing Weed. (It's a card game)

April 25 - Kanab, UT

The hostel in Kanab has been fun. Here I met Stu and Kerry, who are traveling from England. They're very cool, and were fun to hang out with. They're planning to pass thru SF in 2 weeks, so we'll hopefully hook up there as well.

April 24 - Snow in Arizona???

Snow!? Yup...I left 94 degrees in Phoenix today, drove less than 2 hours to Flagstaff and ended up in 30 degrees and snow! Yuck.

I spent the night at a hostel in Flagstaff, and met some very cool people. Then I head North past the Grand Canyon, through the Kaibab Forest (8,000ft and blizzard conditions for a while) to Kanab, UT.

The snow-covered trees were beautiful!

April 15 - 21...

Not much doing right now. I'm in Scottsdale doing a whole bunch of learning abot the real estate and land markets out here. Dealing with the Bureau of Land Management, land surveyors, patents and easements, hydrologists and flood control surveys. Not much fun, but a good learning experience.

April 13 - International Lingerie Show, Las Vegas

Yup, seriously. A lingerie trade show.

"Why?" you ask.

"Uh, why not!?!?"

I heard about it when I was in town, and figured it'd be an interesting experience. It sure was. It was a show for lingerie store buyers, so it was mostly lingerie designers (not too many lingerie models, but a few), and a lot of sex toy manufacturers and distributors. Product samples sure were interesting. ;)

It was actually a very professional show. But interesting, nonetheless, to experience what retail buying is like at a trade show. And the product wasn't half bad. :)

A map of the states I've visited so far on this trip.

This is pretty cool! (thanks to Lorna Brown for unknowingly pointing me to the site to create this)

create your own personalized map of the USA

April 6 to April 12 - a vacation from my vacation

Ok, time for a little break from my break. I valet parked my car at Mandalay Bay and flew back to San Francisco for a few days. I need to take care of a few things, and get some papaerwork together for the mortgage on the property in AZ. And, of course, can't miss the San Francisco Beer Festival!

I'll be home for a few days and then head back to Vegas and then Arizona again.

April 3 - Las Vegas Triathlon

Heather and I returned to Vegas yesterday and she flew home. I hung around for a few days and went to cheer on my friend Joyce and her rommate Jason as they raced in the Las Vegas Triathlon.

Joyce is a stud...

A week ago, she ran a marathon, and the week prior she had another race.

At the end of the month, she's racing the Wildflower long course. That would be a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run.

Jason laughs (and cusses?) when Joyce passes him on the course...knowing that he started before her, and she's not only catching up, but finishing before him.

Fredonia Police

We were tipped off that there'd be a cop sitting right on Main Street in Fredonia (Arizona), and yup he was right there, as usual.

And yup, just as we were told...he's a total dummy.

Tomahawk Throwing

The 'Camp Host', Jackaho was a super cool guy. He's a "Mountain Man" (which means, as we later learned, that if necessary, he could live completely off the land, providing for his own food, shelter and clothing), and also happens to be the #3 ranked tomahawk thrower among Mountain Men in the US.

Jackaho challenged us (or himself?) that he could teach us to throw the tomahawk, and that we'd sink in the target by our second through.

Yup, he was right! I missed the first throw, but landed the second (and the third and forth!)

Heather landed hers too!

Then Jackaho started to show off a bit with a forehand throw from the side...

And a back hand throw from the side.

April 1 - Utah Trails Indian Village

So we're driving into Kanab, Utah, and decide to drive around town a bit and see if there's anything interesting going on before we decide on a place to stay. We pass this billboard:"Sleep in a TiPi", and figure we've got to explore...

The place was awesome! But question #1: Do TiPi's have stoved in them? Question #2: Are there HOT showers?

Tha answer is YES, some of the larger Tipi's do have fire pits and can be kept somewhat warm (although drafty)

And YES, the facility does have a modern bathroom with nice, clean showers and hot water.

Better yet though, they had two hogans...which were nice and toasty inside.

We stayed in one of the hogans. It was fantastic!

Nighttime was beautiful out there, with start everywhere.

And the tipi's looked really cool lit up at night.

This is Baby...she's the Indian Village mascot, and a totally sweet dog.

April 1 - Coral Pink Sand Dunes

Ok, enough of Zion...we decided that after freezing our asses off camping for 2 nights (34 degrees or so overnight), we needed a hotel with a hot shower. So we head towards Kanab Utah, and passed through Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.

This place was wild...7 miles of beautiful, fine sand dunes in the middle of nowhere.

The sand was awesome.

Although we weren't alone out there.

March 31 - Zion

After exploring the Valley of Fire, we drove to Zion National Park and arrived around dusk.

We did a few hikes the next day and explored some of the different areas of the park.

Luckily it was still 'off season', but the park was already pretty crowded. It's become so commercial, it's sad. You travel through most of the park on buses which run every 7 minutes or so. Cars aren't allowed anymore because the traffic volume is too high, and traffic jams were getting way too out of hand.

Nonetheless, the hiking was beautiful. Although after hiking a few areas in the park, I was beginning to feel like it was the 'same car wreck, different view'. It was all beuatiful and scenic...but just a lot of the same. Taking a different trail didn't really get you any different scenery or anything.

We did make a new friend there though...

He was not at all shy about introducing himself and joining for lunch.

Wait a minute...aren't we out in the wild? Shouldn't these guys be scared of us and scurry away? So much for not disturbing nature...

March 30 - Valley of Fire State Park

I left Arizona on Tues, 3/29 and head up to Vegas. Heather flew into Vegas on the 30th to meet up and head to explore Zion and some of the parks in Nevada and Utah. It's the first time I broke out any of the camping gear on the trip, and Heather brought a mess of borrowed gear from SF as well.