I'm sure a lot of you had the opportunity to review many of the things you did during 2001, maybe as part of writing your annual Holiday letter, or maybe just because we like to look back at the end of the year and think about what we accomplished, whether or not we kept our New Year s resolutions, and planning ahead for next year.

When Carol and I started recounting our 2001, we noticed that a huge part of our 2001 revolved around our favorite hobby, collecting insulators. Below is a summary of our insulator activities last year. See how it stacks up against the fun you had last year taking part in the insulator hobby.

On Jan. 4th, we left for a short in-between semester vacation to our favorite vacation spot (and soon to be retirement location), Sedona, AZ. We had an important insulator event to attend - Steve and Melanie Marks' baby shower. While we were in AZ, we stopped to see Roger Nagel and Terry Taylor and their insulator collection. Roger and Terry have a great general collection in addition to one of the definitive CD 162 signal collections in the hobby. What a treat!!.!! We also had an opportunity to have a wonderful dinner with Steve Kelly, Joe and Darla McFadden in addition to Steve, Melanie, Roger and Terry in Prescott, AZ. We flew home on Jan. 10th.

6 nights, 4 airline tickets, 700 rental miles

On Jan. 20th, we visited the Paul Rosenbergers, Sr. & Jr., at the home of Paul Sr. Both live in Elgin, IL, about 15 miles from us. They have been collecting since the late 60's, and have put together an incredible CD 145 HG Co. collection (see August, 2001 CJ article). We needed to go through the collection to select the pieces for the article. Paul and Paul were wonderful hosts, and we had a great time reminiscing about the early days in the hobby.

30 miles

On Feb. 9th, I flew to Jackson Hole, WY (too bad I'm not a skier; everybody else on the plane was) to price and hopefully purchase a collection just across the Idaho border. I had an interesting time explaining to the other passengers what I was doing. "You're flying to Idaho in January to buy what???" Two days later, I'd packed up six boxes of insulators for shipping and headed home. The insulators arrived about a week later in great shape. Thanks, Woody, for the great packing boxes. 

2 nights, 2 airline tickets, 300 rental miles

On Feb. 17th, Carol and I hosted an insulator swap at our house. Needless to say, February in Chicago requires an indoor swap, so we managed to squeeze about 15 sales tables into the basement, all of which were filled. We had a great turnout from the Chicago club, and after everyone had their fill of "buy, sell and swap", 35 of us sat down for a mid-afternoon meal. Rick Soller did a great presentation on dry spot insulators from around the world, and Roger Lucas brought a carload of insulator company glass products for us to photograph (an upcoming CJ article). What a great day!

YES! No nights or miles

On Feb. 26th, Carol left for the east coast. The first stop was at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. She spent three days there with Larry Novak, Rick Soller and Nance Briscoe (Curator at the Smithsonian) working on the project of cataloging the museum's insulator collection. What a wonderful opportunity to see a very special collection, in addition to contributing some much needed assistance to the Smithsonian. From there, Carol headed to the Maryland Line insulator show on Mar. 3rd. On the way home, she bought a small insulator collection in Unity, PA. Home on Mar. 6th. 

8 nights, 1950 miles

On Mar. 15th, Carol and I left for Ohio to visit our family. On the way, we decided to stop in an antique store in Medina, OH, that we hadn't visited in a couple of years. Hiding in the back of the store was an olive green insulator on a metal bracket. The way is was positioned in the booth, you could only see the dome of the insulator. I pointed to it (after Carol had walked past) and she said, "Oh, it's just a CD 133 Star." Oh, no it's not!! I picked up the bracket and stared in disbelief at a CD 160.7 American in light olive green. With our dealer discount, it cost $27. We returned home on Mar. 18th.

3 nights, 950 miles

On Mar. 24th, Carol flew to Hartford, CT for the Enfield, CT show. Carol had time to stop in an antique store and acquire some nice additions for my sheet music collection (she had her cell phone, and as she read off titles, I checked my collection). Doug MacGillvary had been kind enough to take Carol's sales stock from the Maryland Line show up to Enfield. Ross Baird took over after the show and hauled the remaining stock back to Illinois (see below). Carol flew home on Mar. 26th. 

2 nights, 2 airline tickets, 200 rental miles

While Carol was in CT, I headed for McChesney Park, IL, near Rockford to purchase an insulator collection. This lead had come from a collector in the same area who had sold us his collection last year. About 100 pieces came home with me on that day trip.

160 miles

On Mar. 29th, Ross Baird and Jack Roach arrived on their way back to Texas from the Enfield, CT show. Ross and Jack brought back our sales stock and stayed for dinner. Later in the evening, Paul Axman, Dave French and Ed Peters arrived for the upcoming Wheaton, IL show. We are only about 40 minutes from the show, so Paul, Dave and Ed spent the night. It was up early the next morning and off to the show. Since this is a Friday/Saturday show, we normally have a group dinner at a nearby pizza restaurant on Friday evening. We were unable to make a reservation this year, and Larry and Phyllis Hutsell were kind enough to sponsor a pizza dinner at our house. We had 25 collectors back at the house thanks to the Hutsell's generosity.

180 miles

On Apr. 25th, Carol left for Texas. First stop was the home of Pat and Wade Howard to view another nice signal collection. Wade has also put up a neat outdoor display incorporating their back deck and taking advantage of the other items in the back yard. On to the show in Bedford, TX, followed by a visit to Ross Baird's house to check out another great collection and do a little wheeling and dealing. On the way home, Carol took a detour to Oklahoma City, OK to visit with Sandy Ellison, NIA Show Standards Chairman. After a nice visit and a review of a third collection on this trip, Carol headed for Wichita, KS and a short visit with Sherman Barr, where she was able to pick up a few nice pieces for resale. Finally, Carol heads for home, arriving on May 2nd. 

7 nights; 2350 miles

On May 10th, we left for a family visit in Ohio. We had a chance to look at the Jim and Donna Black insulator collection in Sandusky, OH. Donna was thinking about selling the collection, and we wanted to have a chance to help her evaluate it for possible sale. Returned on May 14th.

4 nights; 850 miles

On May 20th, we attended a Chicago Insulator Club swap at the home of Tom Nugent, in Sandwich, IL. We had the equivalent of about 15 sales tables (I say equivalent since we put insulators on every flat space available in the back yard. Our sales stock was on a trampoline.) and a great turnout of club members. Tom and his wife always put on a great spread, and club members come as much for the food and socializing as for the insulators. Tom also has a great insulator room for gawking at his very nice combined glass and porcelain collection.

90 miles

On May 24th, we left for a west coast swing. We flew into San Francisco and drove south to attend the Cayucos, CA show. It was a great local show where we had an opportunity to renew acquaintances with a number of west coast collectors we hadn't seen for several years. We headed back north with the ultimate objective of reaching the Medford, OR show the following weekend. On the way, we were able to visit the homes of the following California collectors: Dave Elliott, Tom Elliott, Fred Schlichting, Steve and Linda Viola, Larry Shumaker and Paul and Kathy Greaves. There were several other collectors we wanted to visit, but time was limited. We had a great time at the Medford, OR regional show and then headed back south. We had time to squeeze in one more collector visit on the way back to the San Francisco airport, and so we stopped to see Fred and Sue Padgett in Livermore, CA. Oh, I almost forgot. In my role on the NIA Museum Committee, we took the opportunity to visit the Roseville Telephone Museum in Roseville, CA. We got the grand tour and learned more about the ins and outs of establishing and running a first class museum facility. Home on June 6th.

13 nights; 4 airline tickets; 2150 rental miles

On June 15th, we headed to Tama, IA for a swap in the city park. It's one of the great "back yard" swaps in the Midwest, and it practically is in the back yard of Wayne Alexander. After the swap we looked at a collection in Iowa, bought the commemoratives but had to leave the insulators until another day, headed home and arrived close to midnight on June 16th.

1 night; 750 miles

On July 3rd, we left for the National Convention in Atlanta, GA. After a great show, we headed for the northeast to see some collections that we have been promising ourselves to visit for a long time. We spent time visiting the homes and collections of Alan Klapaska, Bill and Janice Rosato, Bob Fuqua, Joe Maurath, and a second visit to the home of Bill and Jill Meier. On the return trip, we bought a collection in Lima, OH. Back home on July 21st.

18 nights; 4450 miles

On July 28th, Carol bought a small collection in Schaumburg, IL.

70 miles

On July 28th, I left to bid on a collection in Springfield, MO. After agreeing on a price, I discovered that the collection was too big to take home in one trip, so I picked up about one third of it, I headed out. Believe it or not, I had some non-insulator business to conduct in Missouri, but on my way home, I put in a bid on an insulator collection in Beardstown, IL. Home on August 5th.

8 nights; 1220 miles

On August 17th, we left for a swap in Roseville, MN. On the way north, we stopped to visit with Fred Escher and had a chance to see his collection. After the swap, we visited with Connie and Ed Peters at their home, and on the way home, we stopped to visit with Bill Giese in Baraboo, WI, whom we hadn't seen in about 10 years. Home on August 19th.

2 nights; 880 miles

On August 25th, we attended a swap at the home of Randy Wesner in Racine, WI, another successful Chicago Insulator Club gathering. Home the same day.

220 miles

On September 6th, Carol left for the Central Regional Show in Sandusky, OH. Return on September 9th.

3 nights; 700 miles

On September 15th, we left to pick up the Beardstown, IL collection that I had bid on earlier in the summer. Back the same day.

600 miles

On September 23rd, Carol leaves for the Albuquerque, NM show. She stopped in Springfield to pick up the second third of the collection purchased in July. She picked up Sandy Ellison in Oklahoma City, OK and headed for Keyes, OK to visit with Ester and MJ Israel. Then on to Farmington, NM and the B Square ranch, home of Tommy Bolack. This stop included looking at the collections and the museums on the ranch, a visit to the aqua mound and then off to the show in Albuquerque. After dropping Sandy off on the way home, Carol made one more trip to Springfield to pick up the last third of the collection. Home on October 2nd.

9 nights; 3350 miles

On October 5th, we left for the Ann Arbor, MI show. We drove two cars since, I had to return home on Sunday to be back at work on Monday. We took a short side trip across the border into Canada to visit an insulator friend. Sunday, I headed home, and Carol drove on to Sandusky, OH to buy and pack up the Black collection that we visited earlier in the year. I got home on Oct. 7th. Carol returned on Oct. 9th.

4 nights; 1300 miles

On October 25th, Carol flew to Florida for a family visit. While she was there, she evaluated a small insulator collection. No purchase. 

No nights or miles attributed to the insulator hobby.

On November 1st, Carol leaves for the Springfield, OH show. After the show, she headed to Springfield, MO and swapped some insulators. Then on to Wichita, KS for another insulator purchase and home on Nov. 7th. 

6 nights; 1950 miles

On Jan. 2nd, we left for Schenectady, NY for the wedding of Kevin and Debbie Lawless. Stopped in Rochester, NY for an overnight stay with Dick and Ev Bowman. What a collection!!! Dick and Ev rode with us to the wedding. Home on Jan. 7th.

5 nights; 1900 miles

Attended 16 shows in 13 different states; bought 9 collections; traveled in 32 states, District of Columbia and 1 Canadian province; 101 nights away from our own bathroom and bed; 27,300 miles driven. 

Honey, I'm home!