I started this website last July, 06 and it was no surprise that Misko played a large part in helping me get it started. Due to his promting and persuasion I finally clicked the "start button" and got this thing on it's way.
Misko has supplied a great deal of his work for me to present to you without reservation on his part. Little did I know what was to come.
As I write this Misko is here in the United States, an honory presenter at the annual CRPA conference in Chicago. On March 19th 2007 my dream came true when Misko was making good on his promise to "come here and visit me one day".
Arrangements had been made to pick him up in Pittsburgh after his visit with Kevin Scanlon. Ed Portzline came down from Cleveland after lunch and we packed our camera gear in the car and set out to Pittsburgh at 3pm. The weather was typical for March in Ohio, cold wet and snow. As we got closer to Pittsburgh the weather got worse and major rain storms hit the area.
We finally made it to the designated pick up spot and waited for the moment when I would finally meet my mentor .................
At 6:15pm a car pulled into the parking lot .................... I looked at Ed and said "Here he is!" ............. We all jumped out of the 2 cars and rain or no rain greeted with great joy. It was a special moment for us and etiquette went out the window as we hugged each other like two long lost brothers. After a too brief moment meeting and talking to Kevin it was time to load up my car with Misko's luggage and say goodbye to Kevin.
The trip home was full of talk, of all things. Misko was telling us of his exploits so far in the U.S.A. and how much he enjoyed visiting with John Fasulo and Kevin.
We got back to Canton right on schedule at 8 pm. The weather had cleared and promised to stay bright for a couple days. Earlier that morning I had prepared one of my "beef stews" and it was just about perfect after 10 hours in the pot, and we all jumped in and got a bowl together with some fresh hunks of good crusty bread and a beer ............ and talked the evening away.
The following morning we got up around 7:15am and and loaded up the car for our planned trip up to Willard. The skies were bright and clear, temps were low and we had to de-ice the car! I promised Misko we would see 100 trains that day ........... he will never let me live this one down ............ Willard was dead .......... haha. We saw 3 or 4 trains all day! As arranged, Chris Crook met us there and we all had a good time despite the lack of trains. (side note to Misko: We're keeping them on ice for your next visit haha)
We left Willard at 3:30 - 4pm and headed back to Canton as Misko was due to depart that night from Alliance on the Capitol Limited, bound for Chicago, and we wanted to process our shots from the day and make CD's.
As is always the case ......... the hands on the clock were moving way too fast and time was short as midnight approached. The time had come to pack the bags in preparation for our drive to Alliance. Misko hopped in my car and Ed drove his car as he planned to drive home from Alliance.
The Capitol Limited was 30 minutes late into Alliance (surprised?) and we said our goodbye's .................
It was over ................ my visit with Misko had come to an end. Somehow my drive home seemed quite somber, but my life was so much richer because "A Dream Came True"....................
