Orange County Business Journal Article

photo by Alison White

Earlier this year my company entered a contest with American Airlines.
Some of you were curious enough to follow us through the process,
and many of you were gracious enough to give us your time and effort,
and vote us up to the top five.

Again, thank you for that - it means more to me than you may know.

As you know, we didn't take the top prize, but the folks who did certainly were a great choice.

Through it all, I'd hoped that maybe we might see some additional press attention and here's a good example of that hope being realized.
Gondola Adventures, Inc. is the focus of an article in the Orange County Business Journal.
Go to this link
and flip through to page A16.
I've said it for the longest time:
"A gondola operation outside Venice is often the 'best kept secret' in it's city".
Thanks go out to the folks at American Airlines and Orange County Business Journal for helping us as we work to overcome that.

Happy Anniversary to the Gondola Blog!

Today, August 8th of 2009 marks a milestone for the Gondola Blog.

It was two years ago today that I launched the blog - back then it was simply viewed as an accessory for the Hudson River expedition in New York.

I would post whenever I could, eventually ramping up to publishing an average of one post per day.

During the expedition it was a great way to chronicle the daily events and photos as we rowed our way from Albany to Manhattan. Afterwards, I still had some stories up my sleeve so I decided to just keep posting until I ran out of things to say.

Well, two years later, with 658 posts uploaded, I'm happy to report that I haven't completely run out of material.

Yes, I am THAT fanatically obsessed.

To celebrate the Gondola Blog's "big 02",

I'll upload a different banner photo each day for the next three weeks. Most of them will be images we've seen up there in the past, but one or two new ones might creep in now and then as well.

There are many people to thank here:
First, I want to express my grattitude to each of you for reading and commenting.

I want to thank those of you, who know more than I do (on a particular subject, or overall) for your patience as I've navigated my way through sometimes unfamiliar waters.

Big thanks go out to my wife Elisa, for putting up with my addiction.

Thanks to the Gruppo Sportivo Voga Veneta in Mestre for their hospitality, both to me and my "Crazy American" friends.

And I'd like to say a special thanks to those of you who've contributed photos and/or content.
A big thanks is in order for Nereo Zane - one of my dearest friends, an amazing photographer, and the guy who convinced me to take up photography myself. In the past two years Nereo has contributed hundreds of incredible images, making my job as a blogger less of a chore, and more of an honor.

As we launch boldly into the "terrible two's", let's hope we have smooth sailing.

Thanks for reading the Gondola Blog fellow fanatics,
I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

In alto i remi,
Greg Mohr

Big thanks to Scott Keller

Early in my research, I found out that a bunch of kayakers paddle down the Hudson River each year and I knew that if anyone would have good advice for us, it would be those guys. After some research, I found the Hudson River Valley Greenway, a state agency charged with developing and preserving the Hudson River Greenway Water Trail and the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area. In short, their job is to keep the Hudson beautiful and healthy, so it’s there and in good condition for future generations. I learned early on that the guy to talk to was Scott Keller – he’s the Trails and Special Projects Coordinator and, among other things, in charge of the annual kayak trip. I found Scott to be incredibly helpful. His knowledge of the river was an extremely informative. He suggested some stops based on our needs and schedule and was able to tell me about each stop -- whether they had docks, campgrounds or launch ramp. It became clear to me that I had found the expert. I gained a new understanding of his commitment to paddling when he told me that he had commuted to work for a year by canoe! I think that if they hadn’t moved his office, he would still be doing it.
This expedition owes a great amount of thanks to the folks at the Hudson Valley Greenway, and especially Scott Keller.