Chris' Travel Lounge: December 2011

'Cause yesterday's got nothin' for me
Old pictures that I'll always see
Time just fades the pages
In my book of memories
~Yesterdays, Guns N’ Roses

Each December, it’s time to wind down at the end of a busy year. The term, “Busy”, is relative. I like the adage, “if you want to get something done, give it to a busy person.” You’ll find in this year-end blog, that I was busy. At least I think so. I logged over 210,000 air miles in my travels in 2011 and it was an absolutely incredible year. I don’t blog as often as I should, so here’s my year in review beginning with that which is fresh in my mind – the GN’R show this week!

On December 27, 2011 my wife and I were in the pit for the Gun N’ Roses concert in Phoenix. Prior to arriving at the show, I have to admit that I was kind of “anti-Axl” biased. Maybe it was from what I had read about the band’s break-up or his feud with Slash. I’ve seen Slash in Velvet Revolver and Snakepit since, but regardless, I guess I missed the days of GN’R, the band I grew up with, the music of my high school and College days.

I hadn’t seen the band live since they opened for Aerosmith at Weedsport Speedway in New York in 1988. It was on that tour that Sweet Child O’ Mine went #1, and their album, Appetite for Destruction, also went #1. I remember that they stole the show from Aerosmith – as a matter of fact, Rolling Stone showed up to do a story on Aerosmith on that tour, but Guns N’ Roses ended up on the cover of the magazine.

Axl Rose’s voice was better than ever and despite the unfamiliarity of the new band members, the setlist and the music were sensational. Like many other fans, I’m hoping that the original band members can come together for a jam during their upcoming induction to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

For me, this was the entertainment event of the year. For my wife, she loved Sebastian Bach and the Skid Row tunes that he rocked as the opening act.

As we get ready to toast to 2012, here’s a look back at a fantastic 2011.

January 1, 2011 - Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix Tailgating with Dr. Chris Pierce. A gracious and generous man, Chris has the beers poured – literally on the tailgate – for everyone else and savors the last drop for himself in true Pierce style!

January 10, 2011 – BCS National Championship Game in Phoenix unfortunately sees the Oregon Ducks fall to Auburn.

January 14, 2011 – Our Impulse Adjusting Team Exhibits at the Las Vegas Parker Seminars.

We adjusted over 400 people at the conference with the Impulse iQ Adjusting Instruments.

With the Washington Redskins cheerleaders at Parker Las Vegas.

January 24, 2011 – Ozzy Osbourne concert in Phoenix – Slash opens the show.

January 29-30, 2011 – Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Pittsburgh, PA and our visit to Hydeholde (blogged on Jan 29, 2011)

February 6, 2011 – Super Bowl party at the Colloca residence with my favorite fans …

February 7, 2011 – Visit to the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort (blogged on February 9, 2011)

February 12, 2011 – Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Orlando, Florida. In striking distance to my favorite restaurant in the World, Bern’s. My brother, John flew in from New York just for dinner to join his soon to be wed son, John H, and I for a “mature bachelor party” Bern’s style = 5 hours for food and fine wine! Here were some of the courses …

Oysters two ways … paired a 1978 Mersault in honor of John H’s birth year.

Pan seared Foie Gras paired with Sauternes just may be my brother John’s favorite starter….

… and where else can you find these kind of vintages on a commercial wine list ??? We ordered a course of duck just to accompany the 1970 Hardy’s St. Thomas Burgandy.

As I’ve blogged before, Bern’s does everything over the top …Caesar salad is prepared tableside … and for the main course … the decision was easy … Chateaubriand… their specialty, paired with some a horizontal of 1993 Bordeaux… This, was an evening we’ll remember for a while!

February 19, 2011 – Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Charlotte, North Carolina

February 25, 2011 – My nephew John and Lauren’s wedding in West Palm Beach, Florida was a family celebration for the ages!

Mindy and I with my Dad – who turns 96 this year and still lives at home. I’m so proud of my Dad!

March 5, 2011 – My brother, Joe, and I attend the Fingerlakes Grape Growers Conference in Waterloo, NY to learn how to care for my vineyard in Fair Haven, NY. I took the opportunity to visit the vineyard … in March, there are some pretty winter scenes…

The property is known as West Bay Estate, and the vineyard is called the Lake Effect Vineyard® which I trademarked a couple of years ago. The name reflects the microclimate of the property, nestled on the shores of Little Sodus Bay, an inlet of the Great Lake Ontario, where the cool air of summer keeps the vines cool, and the lake-effect of winter blankets the vines with snow protecting them from winter injury.

March 12, 2011 – Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Orange County, California affords the opportunity to take our kids to Disneyland for the first time. This is one happy little Tinkerbell!

March 17-18, 2011 – Association of Chiropractic Colleges/Research Agenda Conference in Las Vegas.

March 19-20, 2011 – Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Columbus, Ohio.

March 26-27, 2011 – Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Boston, Massachusetts … and no visit to Boston is complete without seeking out some seafood. The Island Creek Oyster Bar was awesome!

April 2-3, 2011 – Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Seattle.

Those that know me know that when I’m in Seattle – I make it a point to visit Ray’s Boathouse.

Oysters, smoked salmon, and fresh Dungeness crab at Ray’s …. literally, “Off the hook!”

April 7-10, 2011 – The Impulse Adjusting Team travels to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the World Federation of Chiropractic Congress where we exhibited and I presented a scientific platform presentation.

Here are some pictures from the visit… Our booth was buzzing!

April 16-17, 2011 – Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Toronto, Canada.

April 24, 2011 – Easter celebration at the Farm at South Mountain, in Phoenix.

“Look, it’s the Easter Bunny!”

April 30-May 1, 2011 – Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Bournemouth, UK.

May 2-4, 2011 – Quick pop over to Antwerp, Belgium where white asparagus is in season.

This is the land of Belgian beer and chocolates.

I was an invited guest of the “Peace of Cake” Cooking club on the Tuesday evening. We made Sole Meuniere and Rack of Lamb … fantastic!

May 14-15, 2011 – Impulse Adjusting Seminar in San Francisco, California

May 18-21, 2011 – Visit to Beijing, China

The evening street market is wild … they are selling everything from snake to starfish, and scorpions on a stick.

May 27-29, 2011 – Our fifth (almost) annual Memorial Day weekend with the DMX gang in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.

The turquoise water at the sandbar allows for swimming with the stingrays ….

June 8-12, 2011 – Trip to Iceland (blogged on June 21, 2011).

June 14-17, 2011 – Trip to Gothenburg, Sweden (blogged on June 21, 2011) attending the orthopedic conference, International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine, where I presented a scientific paper on the effects of vector on vertebral motions.

June 27, 2011 – Thank goodness for upgrades … our last opportunity for Kai to fly for free as a lap … the seats are big enough for both kids to nap on the plane while Mom has a cup of coffee … with Baileys?

The sure sign that summer begins when we put the docks in at West Bay Estate.

July 1, 2011 – Nik and Dillon prepare the Colloca Wines float for the Fair Haven, NY July 4th Parade.

There she is, ready to set sail in the parade!

Melia and with her cousin, Ethan (in green grapes), [Left], and with her Aunt Anne [right] on the float in the parade.

Man, do I like a microphone and a crowd … We won the Dr. Hanford award in the parade for most original entry!

Summer fun in NY with my fishing companion and friends.

July 17, 2011 – Our third annual Paella on the Bay-a bash at West Bay Estate.

Serious Paella:
~22 lbs. of rice
~40 lbs. of chicken
~40 lbs. of lobster
~40 lbs. of shirmp
~20 lbs. of clams
~10 lbs. of mussels
~25 lbs. of onions and peppers
~Fresh saffron, etc and yumminesses to feed 150+.

August 15, 2011 – Summer fun continues at the vineyard. Our second year vines have reached the fruit wire and we began training them to a cordon for vertical shoot positioning. This means, perhaps, a 2012 harvest?

Setting the trusses on our new 3500 sq. ft. garage at West Bay Estate.

The final product.

Construction begins on our outdoor bathrooms on the property for events expansion.

August 17-21, 2011 – Quick trip to Shanghai to lecture at an international conference on spinal manipulation.

September 10-11, 2011 –Impulse Adjusting seminar in Islip, New York. A great excuse to visit my brother John and family and grab some Long Island Oysters.

September 17-18, 2011 –Impulse Adjusting seminar in Portland, Oregon and a visit with Drs. Chris and Huma Pierce to one of our favorites …. the Willamette Valley.

Argyle’s cellar door in Dundee …. as Chris Pierce says, “time to bubble-up.”

This is Pinot country and the vines are luscious in fall.

September 24-25, 2011 –Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Tampa, FL … and yes, another visit to Bern’s (blogged September 2, 2011).

September 30, 2011 – Visit to my alma mater, Life University, in Marietta, GA to honor Dr. William M. Harris’ “Red Hat Day” to support this scholarship program.

October 1-2, 2011 –Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

October 8-9, 2011 –Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Kansas City, Missouri.

October 15-16, 2011 –Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Chicago, Illinois.

October 22-23, 2011 –Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Louisville, Kentucky.

October 29-30, 2011 –Impulse Adjusting Seminar at the Ohio State Chiropractic Association.

November 1-4, 2011 –North American Spine Society Conference in Chicago, Illinois where I Karl Rove was a Keynote speaker.

I found oysters at the cool and trendy Publican Restaurant while in Chicago.

We visited the Michelin Star Restaurant, Everest, on the 40th floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange. The Alsatian chef, Joho, is highly acclaimed, however the consensus from our table was that it was vastly overpriced and over rated.

Another evening, we dined on big steaks and stone crab at Joe’s where you couldn’t possibly go wrong – and as upscale as Joe’s is, it was more than half the price of Everest.

IMG-20111102-00341

November 12-13, 2011 –Impulse Adjusting Seminar in Atlanta. The family accompanied me on this trip and we visited Stone Mountain and the Georgia Aquarium

November 17-19, 2011 – Traveled to Brussels, Belgium to speak at the Annual Brussels International Spine Symposium.

November 28-30, 2011 – Flew to Auckland, New Zealand and met with New Zealand College of Chiropractic president, Dr. Eric Russell.

December 5-11, 2011 – Traveled to Adelaide, Australia for our annual research collaboration.

We visited all of the Cellar Doors that have become known as my favorites and ate at the acclaimed Appellation Restaurant in the Barossa Valley.

We also visited our friend Karina’s new tasting room and restaurant, Taste Eden Valley, which is a must stop for anyone visiting the area.

There is nothing like a vineyard tasting …

Most exciting, however, was being able to taste my 2010 wines that I had arranged to be made in my own style.

About 250 cases each of Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux Blend, Old Vine Grenache, and Shiraz have been aging in barrel for nearly two years and await importation to the USA for us to carry on the Colloca label at our tasting room in Fair Haven.