• Welcome to the Framer's Corner Forum, hosted by the Professional Picture Framers Association. (PPFA)
    You will have to register a free account, before you can SEARCH or access the system. If you have already registered, please LOG IN
    If you have already registered, but can't remember your password, CLICK HERE to reset it.
Picture Framing Magazine

Road Trip... Burn Out Cure?

John Ranes II CPF GCF

John Ranes II CPF GCF

Frequent Poster
GCF Guild
Certified Picture Framer®
Messages
526
Location
Appleton, WI USA
Company
The Frame Workshop of App
Sarah and I are on a two week vacation heading towards Center Harbor, New Hampshire!

We're heading for a family gathering at my parent's old house (still in the family) that sits on Bean Road, just up the hill from Lake Winnipesaukee (where the Fonda's filmed Golden Pond) - They ran an antique business in their home in their retirement years, and this is our first visit back since my father passed away in 2003. It will be a great visit with other family members coming together for the 4th of July (Besides Independence Day, it was my parent's wedding anniversary). :)

Sorry for all the personal details above, but I had to set this up....

We've decided to make a busman's holiday out of the road trip and are visiting a mix of framing shops along the way as well as a few gift boutiques. Kind of a reflective visit to other picture framers and independent business owners that we know but have never visited them on their own stopping grounds - perhaps met at trade shows, but now get to see them on their home turf!

johnranespictureframer.com

Yes... I've started my own blog and its primary function at this stage is to chronicle our journey and share observations about other framers and retailers...how have they survived? What unique characteristics have helped them succeed?

Please feel free to hope onto the discussion either in your remarks on the blog...or in this thread.

John

P.S. Kinda funny, but this is my first attempt at creating a BLOG. I've had a fully functioning website with online shopping since 2001, but my first blog, so if anyone has suggestions...I'm all ears.
 
Hey John, have a great time. My mother will be on lake winnie for the 4th as well. She'll be at the opposite end of the lake on Barndoor Island. It's a small island about a mile from Wolfboro. Normally I would also be there except, this year, I will be in Fla. for the 4th. Good times!!
 
John and Sarah, have a great trip! What a fun endeavor. And a great way to see how others are making it in small business. I look forward to reading your blog.

You have often been very open in your support to our trade, you seem keenly interested in helping others with your own lessons, that make me like ya fine. Thank you for that!

Safe journey, and have a blast! Oh, it's always fun to find cool places you have dined along the way when road-tripping. Look for small business in that too, they run many parallels to our trade, I mean in survival techniques with a regional appeal. Would be great for the blog too.

Hope you come back super charged.
 
Moving onward....crossed into Pennsylvania early this evening. Too bad that tomorrow, our Sunday driving day will take us all the way to Connecticut, as I know many framers in PA that I would love to visit. :(

Just got the comments section active on the blog a few minutes ago...so it should work. If someone wants to test it out, please be my guest.

We hit two framers in Ohio today that I will add to the blog.

Cheers,

John
 
Evan Bertwell said:
Hey John, have a great time. My mother will be on lake winnie for the 4th as well. She'll be at the opposite end of the lake on Barndoor Island. It's a small island about a mile from Wolfboro. Normally I would also be there except, this year, I will be in Fla. for the 4th. Good times!!
Click to expand...

Almost connected! :) When we would visit my Dad on the 4th weekend, we would often make a day journey and head around the north side of the lake and end up at the Wright's Museum in Wolfboro. :thumb: Have a great time in Flordia!

John Barlowe said:
John & Sarah just left an hour ago and it was a very nice visit. Too bad you didn't have time to stay and go to the Art Festival. Thank you and Sarah so much for the thoughtful gift.
Click to expand...

We had a very nice visit with John Barlowe and Randy in Ann Arbor the day before. We were overly impressed by the number of nice restaurants with outdoor seating in Ann Arbor... Remember that this is still the NORTH folks!

Randy Parrish said:
John and Sarah were here yesterday, great visit, always nice to have fellow framers in.
Click to expand...

Thanks for opening your doors and sharing your thoughts everyone. It is always enlightening to visit a framer's home turf.


John
 
John and Sarah it was an absolute pleasure to visit with you both today. I can't thank you enough for the wonderful gift ( I have always wanted one), the cold beer and the truly enjoyable conversation. Safe travels on the rest of your trip.

You have me considering a Framer's Pilgrimage of sorts of my own.
 
Hi Les,

No videos for Sunday morning CBS broadcasts - Our industry doesn't have that kind of clout, I'm afraid. I would have loved to have visited your shop along the way, but our path took us a a more Northern track....so next time we head to Delaware to visit my sister, we will have to stop by! :thumb:

We did stop by four shops in Massachusetts and now are enjoying a wet weekend in New Hampshire, thanks to Arnold going up the coast. :( Heading towards Maine next.

John
 
Cliff Wilson said:
John, were you anywhere near the water spout on the Lake yesterday?
Click to expand...

Hi Cliff,

We missed it...in fact this is the first I've heard about it. With all the rain and wind, most of the towns in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire canceled fireworks until last night. My son and I hit the local pub and watched the Germany-France World Cup match. Yesterday we actually did go out on the lake with kayaks, and despite the heavy traffic on Winnipesaukee, I saw a Loon about 40 yards in front of us! :thumb:

Cheers,

John
 
John Ranes II said:
Hi Cliff,

We missed it...in fact this is the first I've heard about it. With all the rain and wind, most of the towns in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire canceled fireworks until last night. My son and I hit the local pub and watched the Germany-France World Cup match. Yesterday we actually did go out on the lake with kayaks, and despite the heavy traffic on Winnipesaukee, I saw a Loon about 40 yards in front of us! :thumb:

Cheers,

John
Click to expand...
Well, I'm glad you missed it! The pictures looked like it was rough up there. We got a lot of rain, but it started in the evening and ended late the next morning, so we didn't even miss a beach day! ;)
 
Rick Granick said:
You are doing a great job with the blog. Keep it up... and have FUN.
:cool: Rick
Click to expand...

Rick,

Thanks for your compliment...and sorry that our journey did not take us South enough to drop in on you this time. :( You were definitely on my radar screen. I made another posting to the blog early this morning before leaving Pennsylvania about framers we visited in Maine, and you will see yet another posting over the weekend. Our journey home took us further North than originally planned so we did a surprise visit on another Ohio framer along the way.

Road Trip - Busman's Holiday 2014

If you're not already subscribed to follow this blog...please do.

We just got home about an hour and a half ago....3,179 miles round trip.... 14 days and 16+ retail shops visited in 5 states. Honestly this has been a great trip and very enlightening.

I will share more after a good night's sleep in my own bed and a long weekend home to acclimate. :smile:

John
 
Get Framing Advice
Back
Top