Julie and I, along with our plushies, shortly after entering Castles and Coasters.
Since discovering the Rescue Ranger community online, I've had the opportunity to meet a few of my other fellow Rangerphiles in person. I even married one, my sweet wife, Stacey! Below you'll find a few pictures from my various meetings.
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1999-01-07 - Julie 1999-12 / 2000-01 - Stacey 2000-01-06 - Roy Neal 2000-05-25 - Julie 2000-06-19 - Dr. Indy) 2000-12-12 - Matt P. 2002-05-19 / 20 - Patrick and Annette 2003-04-13 - Roy Neal |
I met Julie while on my glorious 2 week trip to Disneyland in January of 1999. I took a round-about way of getting to Disneyland so that I could see some of the sights along the way, such as Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, and the Grand Canyon. But of course, one of the main reasons for the big detour was to meet Julie, since she would be the very first Rangerphile that I would have a chance to meet in person.
Neither one of us really knew what to expect, but things went pretty well. She picked a big public place to meet that she was comfortable with, Castles and Coasters, a small amusement park/arcade next to a mall near her home, and we had a good time together. We talked, exchanged gifts, played miniature golf, and tried a few of the video games. (She kicked my behind in the fighting games.) ;) She also brought along a friend, who although camera shy herself, helped us take most of the pictures we got, so many thanks go to her. Below are a few pictures taken while we were at Castles and Coasters.
Julie and I, along with our plushies, shortly after entering Castles and Coasters.
A closeup of our plushies, both well loved.
We gave each other a few gifts, and this is what Julie gave me. It's a yarn Chip she made herself, and it's very nicely done. I think she had one of Gadget that she made for herself, but I don't have a picture of that one.
Gadget came prepared for this meeting, and took an opportunity to show off her suction cup shoes.
Chip and Gadget outside the love shack! ;) Just kidding. One of the holes in the miniature golf course we played at Castles and Coasters was so colorful that we thought it would be an interesting place to take a picture of our plushies. It is interesting how Gadget is sitting in the light, while Chip ended up masked in shadow.
We ended up spending most of the day together, so we all decided to have dinner at a nearby restaurant, and then took some more pictures outside to use up the rest of the roll of film.
Another shot of our plushies outside the restaurant.
The plushies and their owners.
One of the gifts I gave Julie was her very own "Magic Sword", a lightsaber in which I had installed a filter that changed the blade to purple, although you can't see the color in the picture because of the flash.
To help use up film, I thought it would be fun to trade plushies for one picture. I don't think Julie was amused.
Done with the picture, Julie then threatened to cut off Chip's head with her magic sword unless I gave Gadget back. ;)
A battle ensued. She beat me handily, by the way. And no, I was not going easy on her! She's watched too much Kenshin for me to beat her. ;)
One final shot of us next to my car to show off my RSQRNGR license plate. She thought it was pretty cool.
Originally having met each other online at the Acorn Cafe, Stacey and I became close friends in the latter part of 1999. What started out as an online relationship blossomed into long, expensive phone calls, this first real life meeting at her home in Tennessee, a meeting a few months later at my home in Idaho, and finally our wedding in June of 2000. During this first meeting we shared our first kiss, met the legendary Roy Neal, (see photos above), baptized Stacey into the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints, and became engaged.
Shortly after I arrived on the 30th of December 1999, Stacey took me on a quick tour of her town, including the high school she used to go to, which is where we took these two pictures.
Together at last!
One of our most anticipated events of my visit was our first kiss. We already knew we were destined for each other before I arrived, so we wanted it to be really special by sharing our first kiss exactly at midnight as the year changed from 1999 to 2000. We arranged it so that I would arrive in Tennessee the day before to be sure that we'd be together when the time came. When it did, we set up my camera on a tripod, set the timer, and took the picture you see here. Definitely one of our favorites. :)
While the main reason I came to Tennessee was to see Stacey, I also met many of the people closest to her, such as her parents, her best friends, and her dog, Barney. Now past away, Barney was an old Dauchund who'd been with Stacey for a good deal of her life. They'd been through a lot together, so he was very dear to her. My family in Boise had never had a dog, so I wasn't quite used to being around Barney, but he was pretty sweet, so I didn't mind adjusting.
Stacey and Barney tuckered out on the floor after playing together.
With time running out on my visit, and film still left over in my instant camera, we decided to make the best of things and take a few pictures just for fun.
Stacey poses with my Gadget plush. Arg! Double cuteness! :)
Stacey poses with all the Rangers. Um, well... Zipper is just being shy. ;)
We met with Roy Neal on Thursday, January 6th of 2000, in a place in Tennessee called Cookville, just off of I-40. We met at a Cracker Barrel, but then decided that none of us wanted to eat there, so we went to KFC instead. There Roy Neal and his sister, who was kind enough to drive him such a long distance and deserves many thanks, ate lunch after we took some pictures and exchanged gifts.
Here's a group shot of Roy Neal, Stacey, and myself shortly after we met, just outside the restaurant, taken graciously by Roy Neal's sister.
Once inside the resturant, Stacey and I exchanged gifts with Roy Neal, including a large set of Pokemon videos which many of Roy Neal's online friends in the Rangerphile community had helped to buy for him by pitching in together and pooling their money. Originally the videos were supposed to be the only gift we gave him, but everyone was very generous, so we had some money left over with which we got him a few other things, too.
Pikachu skateboard.
Pikachu keychain.
Pikachu plushie.
The videos! Does he look excited, or what? ;)
A letter from Julie.
A letter from Fidessa.
Ash and Misty Drawn by Charity.
Misty - By Charity.
Team Rocket - By Charity.
After we gave our gifts to Roy Neal, he gave us a gift of his own; a Hebrew Bible. He showed us how to read it, but I'm not quite sure I caught on. Maybe next time. ;)
After lunch, I just had to let Roy Neal see my Gadget plushie.
Stacey and I aren't really big fans of KFC, so when Roy Neal and his sister were done eating there, we all went across the parking lot to a Pizza Hut where Stacey and I had lunch. Afterwards we all had desert at a Baskin Robin's next door. Then it was almost time to say goodbye, so Stacey decided to show off a little of her talent by putting on a twirling demonstration in the parking lot.
Finally it really was time to go, but before we left, Stacey made sure to give Roy Neal a big ol' kiss on the cheek! :D
The aftermath. ;)
Stacey and I met Julie while driving on our way from my old home in Idaho to Stacey's home in Tennessee about a month before we got married. Ok, so it wasn't really "on our way", but we knew we'd probably never get another chance like this again, so we swung down into Arizona so we could stop by and say hello. We didn't get many pictures, (I know, my fault.) but we did spend the better part of a day together browsing through her local mall, riding a roller coaster at a nearby amusement center, and even raiding a comic book store after eating dinner together. All in all we had a good time and we're very glad we went.
At the time of our trip, Stacey was a really big Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan, so when she saw this on a fence at the amusement center she just had to have a picture of it.
She had to have one with her in it next, just to prove that she was really there. :)
Julie and Stacey standing just outside of the Disney store in Julie's local mall. No Rescue Ranger display there, but it was still kind of neat to have 3 Rangerphiles in the same Disney store at the same time.
All three of us together at the mall! I had to use the timer and set my camera on a bench opposite us, so the picture didn't turn out all that great, but at least I got it.
Finally, Julie and I got a picture of both of our Gadget plushies together. Mine is obviously in better condition, since it's new, but hers is better loved.
Stacey and I got married on June 19th of 2000, and Dr. Indy from the Acorn Cafe was kind enough to come to our wedding. This isn't the best scan, but my scanner is down at the moment so it will have to do for now.
Stacey and I were able to meet Matt as he was moving from California back to his old home in Wisconsin on the 12th of December, 2000. He had already swung by and visited Roy Neal, and was on his way to meet Rachel after us. We had a lot of fun talking RR stuff, about his old job in Disneyland, and sharing each other's drawings. If you think the stuff he has online is cool, you should see the originals! As Dale would say, "Zowie!" :) He also showed us a couple of his own home made RR music videos, which were a lot of fun, too.
Even our dog, Chewy, got into the act. He loves meeting new people. :)
Patrick and Annette, (Patrick better known as Galant to old time Rangerphiles), were passing through Tennessee on their way home from a vacation in Florida, and since we'd all become good friends recently, they decided to stop by our place for a visit. We had a great time talking, sharing drawings and stories, and watching cartoons together. We'll definitely have to get together again sometime.
A group shot of the two lovely couples!
Just one more.
Before we moved from Tennessee back to Idaho, Stacey and I decided we'd better make a trip to see Roy Neal at his home before it was too late, since after the move it would be nearly impossible. So, after visiting Stacey's grandparents in Alabama, we stopped by his house and spent the day together. We talked, had a small tour of the local area, and watched a lot of anime together on a laptop we borrowed from Stacey's brother. His favorite of the ones we watched was One Piece.
Roy Neal had a few pets at his house, 3 cats, Blue, Samson, and Pouncer, and three dogs, Susie, Daisy, and Iggy. Blue is 13 1/2 years old and still going strong. Samson is 10 1/2, and Daisy is eleven.
Here's a picture is of Blue, the only one of the cats we could get a picture of.
One of his dogs, Susie. A pretty friendly, laid back dog.
This one is of Daisy. She was a sweetie, but didn't do well around new people and barked quite a bit until she settled down. For some reason, I didn't think to get a picture of Iggy.
Roy Neal with his Foxglove plusie, made by Shao.
A close-up of the plushie. Shao really did a fantastic job on it!
Roy Neal's "Computer of Death" Just kidding. ;) But it is pretty old, and that really was the largest we could make the picture on the monitor, which he'd been using for many years. He's since purchased another monitor when the old one finally gave out, and says it's far superior to the old one. Now if we could just do something about the computer! :)
Roy Neal at his computer.
One of the things I found impressive about Roy Neal's house was his small collection of autographed pictures that he had hanging on the wall of his bedroom, so I took some pictures of them.
Captain Kangaroo. (Bob Keeshan.)
Christina Cavanaugh
Deborah Walley
A letter from Foxglove.
Finally, a picture of me and Roy Neal together. Stacey was being camera shy that day, so we let her take the picture.
This page was last modified on 2006-06-18
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