Retired BJ photographer Don Roese, who knows every rock on every side road in Alaska, traded in his Jeep for this new red truck. His Facebook post was simple: “Goodbye, red Jeep. Hello, red truck.”

He’s taking it camping for a few days not far from his Cuyahoga Falls home. The photo was taken at Bloody Corners, Ohio, which got its name because three people were gunned down at E 110th and Woodland. The killings were just a few of the Mafia related murders in the 1920s and 1930s.

But that’s just a tuneup for next summer, when Don and Mary Ann plan to return to their (well, his) favorite stomping grounds, Alaska, where Don has traveled more times than he can count on the fingers of one hand.

Don's previous camper took such a beating on the out-of-way Alaskan byways that his insurance company coughed up about 4K for the repairs.

Don’s strategy is simple: Stop at a local bar or restaurant and find out from the locals where the best places are to roam, and go there.

Don’s the guy who met Paula and I when we landed at Aukland, New Zealand airport in 2013. Don and Mary Ann were getting ready to depart after visiting 1970s State Desk reporter Cathy Strong, on the Massey University faculty in Wellington, for a week. 

Paula and I met up with Cathy in Aukland later, when she flew from Wellington to greet us farther up the North Island (Kiwis either live on the North Island or the South Island, thanks to volcanic activity eons ago).

Paula and I also had another reunion with Don and Mary Ann, when we spent a week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida earlier this year. The Roeses have a place in nearby Hollywood.

You might call Don a ramblin’ Roese. Sorry, but puns are my lifeblood.