Category: Hiking/Running/Caving/Zip Lining

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Jacque Miller, Matt Miller, Holly Miller, Shane Miller

Expedition Date: July 11, 2003

We camped at the Mt. Rushmore KOA at Palmer Gulch (rated the #1 KOA in the USA) not far from Mt. Rushmore National Historic Site where the KOA served a delicious pancake breakfast and had their own horse stable on site. I reserved six horses & at 8am we hopped on our horses and several cowboys led us and eight other adults for a 90-minute horseback ride up a steep, wooded trail (Photo#4) to the top of a nearby mountain in Black Hills National Forest. The cowboys built an aspen-wood campfire and using big dutch oven skillets cooked pancakes, French toast and sausage the old western chuckwagon chow line way (Photo#5). The food was delicious. After a short hike, we enjoyed the great views of the valley & hills. Holly had a crush on one of the cowboys. The cowboy could run up & hop onto his horse without using his stirrups which really impressed her. The highest point in South Dakota is the peak on the top right of photo#6. We descended the rugged, scenic trail and back to the campground. Our adopted western names were: Dead Eye Dad, Wild Bill Matt, Fast Trigger Shane, Calamity Jacque, Annie Oakley Holly and Kissing Kate Rosie.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Mike Earach, Cole Kiser

Date: August 26, 1984

My one and only skydive. It was at Waynesville Airport. Thirty-one men signed up but only three of us showed up. This wasn’t like modern day with a two-person tandem jump and the experienced skydiver instructor on top of you with an easy to land softly on the ground parachute. We used the old round parachutes and were jumping solo. We had classroom training and then practiced landing by climbing up various sized ladders that got higher and higher.  We had to hit just right & roll to the side so that we would not break an ankle.

In both photos below that is me in the center. Finally, it was time and we boarded the plane. Our three wives thought they would never see us again. When I jumped out of the plane I counted to five and pulled the cord although a static line opened the chute. Once the chute opened and I felt safe, I was in awe staring at the beautiful view of the countryside. I had a walkie talkie in my pocket and the airport staff on the ground talking to me to pull my chords right or left to guide me to land on the grass runway.  I was sightseeing to much and not listening and did not correct in time and landed in a field next to the airport safe and uninjured. Rosie captured some of my jump and descent on a super 8 camera.

Runners: Dave Miller, Holly Miller

Date: October 14, 2012

This was 19 year old Holly’s first half marathon and my 11^th half marathon. The race began on an overcast day at the University of Dayton Arena and followed the River Corridor Bikeway north through downtown Dayton, past Riverscape and eventually turning and heading back south again. We ran together and I was proud of Holly as she did great especially considering she was not able to run the seven days before the race because she was on a Disney cruise ship in the Caribbean with Jacque & Rosie. I started getting tired around mile 11. Holly was nice and slowed down and ran with me. Later she sprinted across the finish line just ahead of me with a time of 2 hours 11 minutes.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller

Date: Spring 1991

Rosie and I were training for the race but Rosie become pregnant with Matt and had to bow out.  Being a spring race it was horrible doing long training runs in the Ohio winter cold. I flew out to LA. The hotel was by the airport and I enjoyed filming the large planes coming in and landing. I had two days to kill before the race and drove 100 northwest to Victorville where I toured the Roy Rogers Western Museum. I just missed seeing Roy but he autographed and mailed a bunch of photos and comics to me. I drove to famous Forest Lawn Cemetery where many Hollywood celebrities are buried.  I drove through Beverly Hills and took photo of the homes of many past and present stars.

On race day I took a bus to the Los Angeles Basketball Arena where the LA Clippers play, the race starting point.  There were 20,000 runners in the race. LA Mayor Tom Bradley, TV star Karl Malden, Mohammed Ali (Photo#2) and other celebrities were at the starting area and fired the gun. I carried a camera with me and got photos of USA Olympic sprint star Flo-Jo Joyner (Photo#4) , Mann’s Chinese Theater with the Hollywood Walk of Stars, danced with the Simpson’s TV characters and other sights along the way. At mile 17 you could see the iconic “Hollywood” sign on Hollywood Hills leading to Burbank (Photo#8). The temperature climbed to 74 degrees and it became a tough run. I started to get calf cramps at mile 19.  I had to slow down the last seven miles and finished in 5hrs 19 minutes about 45 minutes longer than I wanted but it was worth it. The finish line was at the LA Coliseum where USC and the LA Rams play.  

Hiking Team:  Rosie Miller, Dave Miller

Hiking Date:  June 2012

To celebrate our 30^th anniversary, we spent a week at a Sandals resort near Fort Rodney, St. Lucia in the south Caribbean. Hiking the famous world heritage site Pitons was our #1 goal.

THE PITONS: The Pitons are two pyramid shaped volcanic plugs or large lava domes located by the small town of Soufriere on the western coast. The Gros Piton is 2,530 feet high (90 feet higher than the Petit Piton). Scientists have recorded 148 plant species, 27 bird species and 8 rare tree species on Gros Piton.

THE HIKE: The van ride through the winding St. Lucia roads took 1 hour 45 minutes to travel 32 miles. Rosie got car sick.  The driver stopped the van, took his machete and cut a green coconut from a tree in the rain forest. He made Rosie drink the “island recipe” juice (Photo#3) and she immediately got better.  Good native medicine. The small town of Soufriere was quaint and hundreds of grade school children were cute wearing their Catholic uniforms. A small village was at the base of the Pitons. We waved and spoke to several families with cute small children (Photo#4) with big smiles. Our group consisted of two native guides and 12 hikers.

The strenuous trail up Gros Piton began at sea level and climbed all 2,600 feet. Hiking up the mountain side was very tough, steep and rocky going up. Half way up the large rocks (Photo#6) turned to a dirt trail. Hiking through the trail we were surrounded by rain forest conditions and 90 degree temperature. At 2,100 feet we saw a 300 year old mango tree. I carried a backpack with water and cliff bars. Rosie kept sharing our water and snacks with other hikers.  When we reached the top I didn’t have any water to drink as she had given mine away.  A large tarantula scampered across the trail in front of us. At the summit (Photo#7) the visibility was breathtaking. You could look east and see the island of Barbados. The two mile hike up took 2 hours and 10 minutes.  The descent was very treacherous and challenging decent along the trail but worth every ache and pain. It took 2 hours and 20 minutes to make it back down to the village. The whirlpool, the swimming pool and a few drinks back at the resort restored us.

Running Team: Dave Miller, Holly Miller, Rosie Miller

Race Date: March 4, 2012

This annual running race is part of the Arnold Sports Festival, which draws 22,000 participants from 80 countries who compete in over 80 sports including body building. The race began outside of the Expo Center and took us throughout downtown and along the Scioto River.  It was a chilly 45 degree morning but lots of fun. Arnold Schwarzenegger himself greeted everyone, did the countdown and shot the gun to begin the race. Arnold was standing in the middle of the road in front of the runners and did not move after he shot the gun.  Luckily, several race officials dragged him to the side just in time or he would have been run over by the runners. After the race, we enjoyed attending the huge sports expo, getting lots of free giveaways at the booths and meeting former Mr. Universe Lou “The Hulk” Ferrigno.

Expedition Team:  Rosie Miller, Dave Miller

Expedition Date:  May 28,  2018

One of our favorite trails is the 7.5 mile Orange Trail that goes around the outer perimeter of the park.  Since the spring foliage and leaves had grown it was a different view than hiking the trail in the winter months.  We saw a large turtle by Sunfish Pond and two pretty waterfalls.   

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Expedition Date: June 2018

On the road from Anchorage to Seward we stopped for a 4 mile hike to and from Bryon Glacier. We hiked a semi-wooded trail that opened to find a cold, glacier fed stream that paralleled the trail. Up ahead we could see the huge glacier in the distance.

We were able to climb up on the glacier but had to be careful for the occasional crevasse.  Dave found a glacial cave to explore in.  A colorful glacial stream, created by glacial melt, reflected the sun.  

We stopped fifteen miles south and hiked the two mile Blue Rainbow Trail. We took a break for lunch where I attempted to eat the worlds largest sandwich which was about 1/3 the size of my body. I failed.

Expedition Team: Jacque Kelly, Dave Miller

Expedition Date: April 2018

This was a hike of a different sort. We were on the island of Rhodes, Greece. We had just visited the Acropolis of Lindos. We stopped for lunch at Seven Springs Restaurant. We heard about this natural spring tunnel trail that went under a hill and was about two centuries old. Naturally we had to explore it. We took off our shoes and entered with only a small penlight.

In the distance we saw a speck of light (Photo#4). We slowly walked through the ankle deep water. It was exciting but also a little creepy. At times the tunnel was very tight and we had to walk bent over. The hike over and back was about a quarter mile. Several colorful ducks greeted us as we exited.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Jacque Kelly, Holly Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: June 11, 2016

This was a fun two days. On Friday we checked in and got our packets and watched the movie “Shawshank Redemption” in the large restored prison central guard room which is available for banquets, weddings and reunions.  Two actors that appeared in the movie spoke briefly. The next morning the race began and ended in front of the old historic prison.

The 4.5 mile race route went through town and past several movie scene locations such as the Bisman Building, the pawn shop window and Brook’s bench in Central Park downtown. The Saturday morning temperature was hot and I had only been in remission a little over one year and not in peak shape but Jacque and Holly slowed down and ran with me.  Photo#10 shows Holly & me nearing the finish line back at the prison. After the race we received beautiful race medals and visited booths. I met actor Scott Mann who appeared in Shawshank Redemptions opening scene. I bought a signed 20^th anniversary mosaic movie poster from him that he created using 20,636 tiles with scenes from the movie. Many race participants were dressed up for the costume contest. We met a lady (Photo#12) dressed up as the famous Shawshank movie tree.

After showering and changing clothes we returned to use our free pass into the prison. We enjoyed the tour during daylight which was different for me as I had ghost hunted here twice in the darkness of night. Jacque posed laying on the bed in a prisoners cell (Photo#2). We viewed many movie scene sights including the Prison Wardens office, Parole Board room and Andy Dufresne’s escape tunnel (Photo#7-#9). Later that day we drove downtown and rode an antique authentic carousel (Photo#16).