After HS Graduation, Before Air Force

We graduated from Middletown High School in June of 1980. There were just a few short months after graduation and before I would head off to Air Force basic training in September 1980. My good friend Joe Filip took this photo, apparently on one of our many backpacking trips to the mountains of the Shawangunk Ridge and the VerKeederkill Falls. The bright yellow line you can see in this picture is undoubtedly the roof of my 1972 bright-yellow Chevy Vega station wagon which hauled us all over kingdom come. My mother had purchased this car from her boss at PFW some years earlier, and my parents gave it to me as a graduation present in my senior year of high school. You can also see the ever-present 35 mm camera - we never went anywhere without the cameras. The difference is - Joe managed to somehow save or salvage most of his shots, and mine are all pretty much lost. Anyway, at this time life was all about hanging out with friends, partying our asses off, having a great time, and working when we had to.