a snowy mountain tops with a meteor in the sky

Rising into the Unknown

Life is a journey, let’s chase the summits and relish the adventure all along the way.

latest adventure posts

An Enjoyable Autumn EuroTrip

Traveling is one of my favorite hobbies. It allows me to reconnect with old friends and make new ones, all while immersing myself in different cultures and spaces. I had an incredible time on a recent trip abroad with my wife Jane, where we ventured to Venice, Italy, Croatia, and Montenegro. We had an enjoyable time in Venice, crossing bridges and watching the gondolas glide through the city’s waterways. You can’t go wrong with rich culture and even richer food! BOB - ANYTHING TO ADD ABOUT YOUR VENICE TRIP?

The Obama Presidential Center

Photo Credit: The Obama Presidential Center, Obama Foundation. Construction on the Obama Presidential Center is finally about to begin, and this is an incredible milestone for Chicago and the United States. Building on the great legacy of our nation’s first African American President and the First Lady, it’s going to be a beautiful public space and museum that will be invaluable to the fabric of South Side communities. I’m sure that its work will extend far beyond its new home in Jackson Park to inspire so many across our city, country, and around the world.

A Reimagined Convention Center for St. Louis

Over the years, St. Louis has missed a lot of great opportunities to revitalize its downtown neighborhoods. From losing out on railroads to Chicago to failing to merge the city with St. Louis County, so many things have happened throughout the city’s history that still prevent it from being as good as it can be. With renewed attention on reimagining the downtown convention center, I’m calling for a larger, more ambitious plan to be considered that would completely transform the city for the better. With additional funding opportunities coming from federal infrastructure spending, a potential settlement with the NFL, and additional state funds, we have a real chance to think bigger and put forth even better ideas for America’s Center, like my proposal to build a convention center that would boost business and better connect north city neighborhoods to downtown.

20 Years Since 9/11

It’s been 20 years since the terrorist attacks that took place in New York City on September 11th, 2001. On the anniversary of this unthinkable tragedy, we’re reminded of just how much everything has changed in the years since. We also set aside time to remember the heroes, victims, and their families whose lives were forever changed after that day. The events of 9/11 are some of the darkest in our country’s history, but they also showed us our resiliency, courage, and commitment to come together and help get each other through an incredibly difficult and uncertain time. Together with stories of loss, we saw and heard about acts of great bravery as first responders rushed into the falling buildings to save others. It was a life-changing event that also reminded us of the bold spirit of America that we each have a responsibility to support and uphold.

The Importance of Labor Day

Summer really flew by this year because we never stopped working at Clayco and were busy throughout the entire season. However, Labor Day is an important time for all of us to pause and recognize the hard work, commitment, and service of our team members and generations of American workers and tradespeople who built our country and continue to shape its future. In addition to marking the unofficial end of summer, Labor Day encourages us to show our appreciation and support for the hard work of those who get up each and every day to make an impact. It’s a holiday that celebrates the strength of our country’s labor movement and especially the men and women in the construction sector who fortify the foundation of our communities for all of us.

Blue Origin and Amoako Boafo

Blue Origin just launched some stunning artwork painted by Amoako Boafo into space! Painted directly on the now-iconic New Shephard Rocket capsule, Boafo’s art is literally going to reach new heights in orbit, and it’s exciting to see his work used in such a unique way. Thursday’s launch was a moon landing navigation experiment, and Boafo painted directly on three of the capsule’s parachute panels. The artwork includes a self-portrait, along with depictions of his mother and a friend’s mother, in order to communicate just how powerful the bonds of motherhood are.

ADVENTURE

Building Buttercup

a fence in a field with trees in the background

I can’t describe the powerful emotion I felt at this moment, for everything lost and gained in my whole life. It was a spiritual experience, from my heart.

ADVENTURE

Climbing Capitol Peak

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Adventure

Adventure is in my DNA

Ever since I read the stories of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, I’ve looked at all of my life as an adventure. Listening and learning from my father was amazing story in history over the course of 40 years taught me that adventure was in my DNA at conception.

I’ve always been able to keep calm and have a level head and every situation I can remember. The only exception of this rule is that I don’t believe a person should not panic if they’re drowning. I would definitely drown panicking.

Beyond that all of life’s twists and turns good and bad ecstatic or heartbroken all add up to the different color crayons in your crayon box. That was a quote from my dad upon hearing some shocking news about my own colorful life.