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Galveston, Summer 2021 ~ Travel
Galveston Island truly does have lots to offer, whether one just wants to hang by the beach, explore the beautiful historic downtown, take in the bayou living, enjoy colorful southern architecture, or simply load up on delicious seafood for the rest of times. We did all of it, in less than 3 days! One of Galveston’s most important roles in America’s history was being the site of Juneteenth, or June 19th, the day in 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln, when Union Army general Gordon Granger announced General Order No. 3, proclaiming and enforcing freedom of enslaved people of Texas. You see, enforcing is the key…
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SE Utah, Spring 2021 ~ Travel
We broke free! This was our first major family trip after over a year of pandemic isolation, and we were quite thrilled. Of course we picked a camper trailer trip for a reason, still trying to stay fairly isolated from hotels and crowds, avoid air travel and spend time outdoors. We had done a fairly extensive canyon trip 7 or 8 years prior, visiting Zion, Bryce, Antelope and Grand Canyon parks in a great loop that started and ended in Las Vegas, with a rented RV. This time we returned to the red rock country by driving over 18 hours through eastern Oregon and Idaho, by way of Salt Lake…
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Tucson, Spring 2020 ~ Travel
With limited time, we only explored the Saguaro National Park – West. The sheer amount of these tall cacti blows your mind, once you start driving through the protected land of the national park, where they grow every few feet for as far as the eyes can see. There are multiple points of interest and hikes, including some ancient rock carvings, and some awesome viewpoints overlooking the valleys surrounding the park. All the travel guides recommend this park over its eastern counterpart because of the density of the cacti. We visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, but were not as impressed. This is a small zoo and landscape/flora display mostly appropriate…
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New York City, Holidays 2019 ~ Travel
Holidays in NYC are on the bucket list for many people, and there are certainly BIG reasons to experience it at least once. We squeezed in our trip right between Christmas and New Years Eve, and we certainly made the most of it. We stayed in Harlem, in a very spacious (by NY standards) studio apartment on 125th St, very close the subway, and a walking distance from the historic part of Harlem, the Apollo theater, and many churches. Our welcome dinner was at the famous Red Rooster restaurant, and we even managed a subway ride that night to the Times Square to see the famous walls of lit up…
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New Mexico, Winter 2019 ~ Travel
My friend Kelly and I picked an odd time to visit New Mexico, some might say, but we usually get restless right around February, when the grey skies and constant rain in Western Washington can be tolerated no more. New Mexico offered a wide variety of weather upon our arrival, with upper 60s and sunny skies on day one, and a snowstorm that gave us plenty of jitters on the way to the airport at the end of the trip. On our first day we enjoyed the old town in Albuquerque and spent some time guessing all sorts of nonsense when looking at the ancient rock carvings at the Petroglyph…
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Maui, Spring 2018 ~ Travel
This was our first trip to Hawaii. We loved the near constant mid 80s temperature, meeting a huge turtle on our beach during the first 15 minutes in the water, snorkeling, zip-lining in East Maui, attending the world-famous Old Lahaina Luau, visiting a lavender farm, traveling the Road to Hana, with a stopover at one of the black sand beaches, and attempting to see the Haleakala crater. Our not-so-successful trip to view the Haleakala crater did yield a lunch stop at the Kula Lodge, which is an absolute treasure in upcountry Maui. Individual outdoor gazebos are nestled among a lush tropical forest, with smells of wood-burning stove nearby, sounds of…
