Desert Adventures for Thanksgiving
Julie and I spent about a week away from Napa for Thanksgiving, with our destination Las Vegas and family time. We did things a bit differently this time aro...
#travel
Birthday Weekend in Monterey
After arriving in Napa we regrouped for a long weekend in Monterey to celebrate Jacob’s birthday. Sunset evening landscape in Monterey
Revisiting Bandon Dunes
I incorporated a short stopover at Bandon Dunes as we completed our nearly 4 week journey from Keuka Lake to Napa.
Pacific Coast Wanderings
After leaving Olympic National Park we slowly made our way south, exploring the wild and winding Washington coast towards Astoria.
Olympic National Park
After an overnight in the fairgrounds in Port Townshend, we drove across the peninsula to park at the Ozette Triangle trailhead. This would be the start of a...
A Drive Through North Cascades National Park
A plan to backpack in North Cascades followed by another overnight to explore some short hikes fell to the wayside as we encountered significant smoke and ve...
Glacier National Park
We left Keuka early largely to allow a visit to Glacier before the weather turns wintery. Still, we underestimated how crowded the park would be.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
We spent two nights and days wandering around the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Golf at Sand Valley
Our first big stop on our journey out west was at the Sand Valley golf resort in central Wisconsin.
On the Road, Again
We left Keuka Lake yesterday on time, departing about noon so that we could arrive in Erie on time for a golf lesson with Erik.
Scotland 2025 Trip Summary
We spent two weeks in Scotland in June/July of 2025 with fourteen other family members and friends.
Hickory Golf at Kingarrock
Our last Scotland golfing adventure was an amazing experience hitting hickory clubs at the National Trust offering at Kingarrock.
Edinburgh
Thursday was our city day! I took a break from golf and we all moseyed into Edinburgh in our own fashion. Some took the train from Ladybank station, others d...
Golf at Balcomie Links, Hiking Maspie Den
Thursday was another big walking day, with 18 holes at Crail Golfing Society’s Balcomie Links followed by a 2 mile hike here in Falkland Village to the Maspi...
Golf: New Course at St. Andrews
Our Tuesday adventure was to explore and golf St. Andrews. Our group of five was unable to book anything in advance (I started 6 months ago) but was assured ...
Castles and Engineering Marvels
We had a non-golf day where we enjoyed a collection of Outlander-themed castles and modern engineering wonders.
Inverness to Fife: Golf at Pitlochry and Falkland
Our final transition day, skirting the Cairngorms and stopping for some golf along the way.
A Day Around Inverness with Julie
I took a break from golf to spend a magical day wandering east of Inverness.
Inverness: Two Days of Intense Golf
I’m packing two days into this post because day 1 had a very late night. We’ve experienced three courses in the Inverness area plus some fun touring of the c...
Isle of Skye to Inverness
Wednesday was another transit day as we left the Broadford area on the Isle of Skye to move to the Inverness area where we will be settled for four nights.
Isle of Skye: Quiraing, Fairy Glen, Golf
A perfect weather day with a great mix of hiking, natural beauty, and of course golf.
Travel Day: Oban to Isle of Skye
The early part of our trip has shorter stays - two nights in Oban then two nights in Skye. And sadly for our delayed cohort that meant less then 24 ours in t...
Oban, Whisky, and More Golf
Our first full day in Scotland had a beautiful small harbor town, our entire travel group finally coming together, and a bonus 9 holes of golf (on top of the...
First Day in Scotland
It was a great day for us. Sadly 5 of our travel companions haven’t made it yet because of the terrible storms in the SE USA. They will arrive a day late to...
Scotland Golf Itinerary
Julie and I head to Scotland in a week, joining 14 other family and friends for two weeks of adventures. I shall play golf.
Let’s Go Rory
Julie and I had a prime spot to watch Rory win the 2025 Masters Tournament.
Chile and Patagonia Trip Summary
I took a trip in March of 2025 to Chile and Patagonia to enjoy some South American magic with friends.
Animals and Plants in Chile
Karen and I did a bit of birding and general animal and plant spotting and identification while in Chile.
More Santiago
I took another run at Santiago today. Glad I had the time, and glad to move on.
Chileno to Torres to the End
Our last day on the O circuit at Torres del Paine was glorious.
Los Cuernos to Chileno
I feel like we are at the hub of Torres del Paine, camped at our final destination of Chileno.
Paine Grande to Los Cuernos
Let’s begin with the end.
Grey to Paine Grande
I’m in my tent at 7:44pm with moderate rain falling and ready to talk about another awesome day.
Los Perros to Grey via Gardner Pass
What a day! We are worn out, but in that great way where you’ve worked so hard to see so much.
Dickson to Los Perros
Not the most scenic hike, but still incredible for the payoff at the end.
About the Refugios at Torres del Paine
We’ve stayed at three refugios now so I can share some insights.
Serón to Dickson
I’m in my tent on Sunday night at Camp Dickson, listening to the medium heavy rain falling down.
O Circuit - Start to Serón
We finished our first day on the Torres del Paine O-Circuit, starting from the bus drop and hiking along the Paine River to Serón camp.
In Puerto Natales
We’ve arrived, I’m waiting for Karen’s plane to get here in the terminal.
Santiago Fun
With just over 24 hours of total time in Santiago I had to make the most of it.
Santiago, 16 hours late
I’m finally in Santiago Chile and sipping some coffee after a brief night of sleep. At least it was in a bed!
Africa Trip Summary
Here’s a rundown of our five weeks in Africa, September - October 2024. 1. South Africa - Mukaleke in Pafuri After flying to Johannesburg SA from Newark, w...
Camping while Self Driving in Botswana
You might be wondering: what was it like camping in Botswana during the self driving experience? Let’s dive into it.
On the Road
After a quick turnaround to close things down at Keuka, we are on the road again. Heading west to Napa via Oregon.
Safari Wildlife Highlights
We captured a lot of video footage that didn’t fit into my other videos from our safari adventures in South Africa and Botswana. Here’s a compilation of the ...
Self Driving in Botswana
We had an amazing adventure driving ourselves around the northeast corner of Botswana in two 4x4 Land Cruisers.
Self-Drive in Botswana Part 3: Moremi
This will be my last update-as-I-go post as we are done with our African safari adventures and will begin the long journey home tomorrow.
Self-Drive in Botswana Part 2: the Wet Part
We have moved up to the northeast corner of Botswana for our exploration of the Chobe National Park over five days and four nights.
Self-Drive in Botswana Part 1: the Dry Part
We are well into our self-drive part of the Africa trip, so here’s an update on the first portion.
Elephants in Action
I haven’t talked much about the elephants because… well, they are everywhere and almost start to blend into the background.
Luxury at Camp Okavango
We concluded our time with Kalahari Breeze Safaris with a luxury stay at Camp Okavango.
Birds of Botswana
What do you do when you are driving around looking for the “big stuff” on game drives and bush walks? You find, identify, and photograph birds!
Wild Camping in Moremi Game Reserve
We concluded our wild camping experience with Kalahari Breeze Safaris with four incredible nights in the Moremi Game Reserve. Our Moremi wild camp crew fro...
Three Lionesses, Eight Cubs, and One Cape Buffalo
Our story ends with a tranquil scene of three lionesses with their eight (!) cubs (two of the lioness sisters are the mothers of the cubs) drinking from a sm...
Cheetah Relaxing in Moremi Game Reserve
I had all but written off hope of seeing the solitary, elusive cheetah on this trip when we pulled up to one resting in the shade beside a grassy knoll in th...
Mating Leopard Couple in Okavango Delta
On all but one day while in the NG-32 concession of the Okavango Delta, we were able to visit a mating leopard couple. Leopard laying on tree bough
Wild Camping in the Okavango Delta, NG-32 Concession
Upon arrival in Maun, Botswana we began nine nights of mixed camping and lodging in the Okavango Delta with Kalahari Breeze Safaris.
The Wild Dogs Cry Out In The Night
Not exactly at night, but in the early evening as we approached our camp in the NG-32 concession of the Okavango Delta, we encountered a pack of wild dogs an...
A Love Letter to Warthogs
Dear warthogs: we didn’t get off to a great start. I judged you early, and I judged you wrongly.
Ivory Wilderness
Our travel companion, booking agent, and tour guide Ken did a great job of selecting our second safari stop.
Leopards at Ivory Wilderness
Completing our trifecta of predator fun, I now present to you leopards finishing their antelope meals at Ivory Wilderness.
Hyenas at Ivory Wilderness
We had small glimpses of spotted hyenas while up at Makuleke but we craved more. We got that in the Ivory Wilderness.
Lions on the Giraffe at Ivory Wilderness
We had an amazing experience immediately upon arrival at Ivory Wilderness in the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve: witnessing the aftermath of a lion pride ki...
Mammals and Reptiles of Makuleke
And now for some mammals and reptiles! Stay tuned because I have even better ones coming from our stay in Ivory Wilderness.
Birds of Makuleke
Despite my struggles I’m getting a few decent wildlife shots.
Bush Walk Through Lanner Gorge
What is a bush walk? Going hiking with rifles!
Baobob Hill House
We are just two days from completing our stay at Baobob Hill House and I have so much to say!
A New York Minute
We had some spare time in Jersey City today before having to report to Newark airport for our flight to Johannesburg, and Karen hadn’t spent much time in the...
Africa Prep
Julie and I drive to Newark on Sunday, and on Monday we fly non-stop to Johannesburg SA with three close friends for an African safari adventure.
Thank you Rick Steves
I’d like to share some gratitude to Rick Steves. The man has been a virtual travel companion for me throughout a lifetime of international adventures.
Sand Dunes and Alpacas
We returned to Oregon from southern Utah using our now-normal route up through Salt Lake City, across Idaho, then into the Columbia Gorge.
Capitol Reef
We last made a real visit to Capitol Reef National Park in 2018. I say “real” because it is easy to drive through on highway 24 and claim you went there, but...
Return to Goblin Valley
We returned to Goblin Valley State Park for more adventures, our last visit being in 2021.
Arches National Park - Devils Garden
About six months ago we booked the only night we could find in Arches National Park. The campground is in the Devils Garden area, deep into the park (about 1...
Dead Horse Point State Park
Julie and I returned to one of our favorite state parks, Dead Horse Point State Park.
Offroading in Black Dragon Canyon
Julie and I are intentionally doing more offroading to gain experience points with our van.
Desert Camping and Hiking
We are loving being back in our van, finding remote dispersed camping spots and hiking new trails.
Farewell Spain
Julie and I keep getting asked: are we glad we spent 3 months abroad? What was our favorite part? Would we do it again?
Madrid and Toledo with Jennifer
For our final week in Spain we were reunited with Madrid as we played host for my sister Jennifer.
Barcelona with Jennifer
Our final stint in Spain is a tour de force of Barcelona and Madrid with my sister Jennifer. Her first trip to Spain ever, and first return to the European c...
Barcelona Redux
Julie and I took the train(s) from Sevilla to Barcelona, getting settled with three days of buffer before my sister Jennifer joins us.
Bird Watching in Doñana Natural Park
Julie and I spent a day with a private guide exploring the natural beauty of Doñana Natural Park, nestled between Cádiz and Sevilla in southern Spain.
Sevilla
My opinion of Sevilla is probably lower than it should be as I’m growing weary of visiting highly touristed sites. Julie ranks Sevilla in her top 2 Spanish c...
Cádiz
A bit on Cádiz, mostly independent of the Carnaval action I already talked about.
Carnaval in Cádiz
We timed our stay in Cádiz to coincide with Carnaval, having no idea what to expect.
We’re Holding
Coffee, that is.
Ronda
Ronda seems to be on everyone’s small-town-must-see list in Andalucía, and we can see why.
Marbella
Our return to the European continent was on a flight from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria back to Málaga, and from there we caught an Avanza bus (pre-booked, a re...
Las Palmas and Gran Canaria
We enjoyed a respite from museums (mostly) and our normal tourist routine in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Moto Scooter on Gran Canaria
I rented a three-wheel scooter for a grand island adventure on Gran Canaria, with spectacular stops and mild regrets.
Carnaval in Las Palmas
It is carnaval season in Spain, and we had our first encounter in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Marrakech Meh
Oh Marrakech. I’m glad we visited, but I doubt we’ll return.
Morocco Atlas Mountains Adventure
Our second excursion took us to the Atlas mountains south of Morocco. We joined our guide Ismail and five other guests for some hiking and exploration of fiv...
Marrakech Quad Excursion
With five full days in Marrakech Morocco we wanted to get out into the country a bit. Our first excursion was a three hour adventure riding quads in the loca...
El Torcal and Antequera
On our last day in Málaga we rented a car and explored the hills north of town.
Málaga
Málaga has a reputation as the place you fly into and then escape to get to the resorts along the Costa del Sol. I’m glad we stayed here for several days!
Hiking the Caminito del Rey
Before we left for Spain I put together a loose framework for our transitions as we roamed Andalucía. Knowing that we’d get plenty of old Europe culture in t...
Cooking in Spain
I’ve been doing some cooking and meal preparation here in Spain, attempting to learn some local dishes.
Hiking around Granada
Julie and I did some hiking in the hills and valleys near Granada.
Granada and the Alhambra
It is hard to imagine the beauty and sheer imposition the Alhambra has on Granada without seeing it in person.
Out and About in Córdoba
With so much time in Córdoba we roamed quite a bit. The Jewish quarter is a maze of twisting passages, all alike, but with surprises around every corner.
Córdoba: Mosque-Cathedral and Madinat al-Zahra
Córdoba was our first stop in our tour of Andalucía, where Muslim, Christian, and Jewish history collide in ways that we are still trying to understand.
El Escorial
Our final adventure to the outskirts of Madrid was to visit El Escorial, the historic residence of the king of Spain.
Dining in Madrid - Some Redemption
Two weeks ago a wrote about the mediocre state of dining in Madrid. I’m happy to report that after getting recommendations and then booking some innovative r...
My Madrid Haircut
Barber was friendly and from Marrakech so we chatted a bit about our upcoming trip there.
Dining in Madrid
The summary so far: pretty meh. Julie and I don’t think this is a great place for non meat-eaters.
The Madrid Santa Run
Known here as La carrera solidaria de Papá Noel (and hosted by mega department store El Corte Ingles), once Julie and I heard about this event we had to ente...
Padel in Madrid
Julie and I took a pádel lesson last week in a neighborhood about 2 miles south of us.
Intensive Spanish Class in Madrid
Julie and I are taking four weeks of intensive Spanish class during our stay in Madrid.
Christmas in Madrid
While Julie and I were excited to spend the holiday season in Madrid, we didn’t truly comprehend how much this city embraces the Christmas spirit.
Europe Trip Summary Spring 2023
In the spring of 2023 we spent about seven weeks in Europe. The first two weeks were with family, then just Julie and I for the final five weeks. Spain ...
Rucking Madrid
I do about 140-150 push-ups six days a week, but knew coming into our extended Spain stay that I would need a better routine for full body workouts. My solut...
Oregon Coast Adventure Begins
Our two weeks in the Portland area is over and we now start our Thanksgiving week on the southern Oregon coast.
Final Drive to Oregon
It was a pleasant change of pace for our final drive from western Oregon to Portland, limiting our drives to under four hours each on Saturday and Sunday.
Van Trek West
We are wrapping up our first big test of our new-ish camper van, overnighting at the deserted Castle Rocks State Park in remote southeastern Idaho as we make...
Our Bike Tour Equipment
This is as much for my own memory and research purposes. What kind of bikes did we have? How much do they cost?
Brussels, aka The End
Our last stop before flying home to the states was Brussels, chosen primarily because that’s where I could get a good point redemption on a nonstop flight to...
In Bruges
That had to be the title, right? We watched the movie twice: once before arriving, then again as we were leaving.
Bike Trip Day 7 - Middelburg to Bruges
Not a lot to say about this day as it was a bit of a race to arrive in Bruges before thunderstorms arrived. Not much time to stop and smell the tulips.
Bike Tour Day 6 - Zierikzee to Middelburg
This was our day to cross over one of the Netherlands’ impressive storm surge barriers and enjoy seascapes and shore birds.
Bike Tour Day 5 - Willemstad to Zierikzee
We diverted as we left the fortified town of Willemstad to visit… a fort!
Dutch Ponies
Julie commented over dinner last night that I don’t post enough photos showing me. I think I post exactly the right amount (rounding to zero) but these cute ...
Bike Tour Day 4 - Dordrecht to Willemstad
We are creeping our way out to Zeeland and the westernmost Dutch islands.
Bike Tour Day 3 - Gouda to Dordrecht
Our day 3 theme would be windmills as we crossed through the Kinderdijk UNESCO region enroute to Dordrecht (home of Cuyp).
Bike Tour Day 2 - Leiden to Gouda
The theme for day 2 was polder as we spent most of the day meandering along dykes surrounded by canals, beautiful homes with nurseries, polder fields with li...
Bike Tour Day 1 - Haarlem to Leiden
We built our Europe adventure partly around our epic bike tour from Haarlem to Bruges via Holland Bike Tours. Our originally scheduled tour was supposed to s...
Three Days in Amsterdam
I allocated four nights and three full days for Amsterdam, which turned out to be plenty.
King’s Day in Amsterdam
So we didn’t know about this King’s Day thing in the Netherlands. Now we do!
Berlin Remembers
In my last post I spoke of my memories of Berlin history museums and installments: that, at least in 1990, perhaps they had still not fully come to grips wit...
Berlin After Nearly 33 Years
Every city we’ve visited on this trip except for Verona is one that I’ve visited before. Berlin felt like a new city to me, for reasons that should have been...
Prague Music and Architecture
Our Prague visit was quite different than prior cities: more walking and exploring, fewer museums.
Prague Jewish Quarter
Julie and I spent our first Prague morning touring the museum and memorial complex of the Jewish quarter.
Prague Arrivals
The train from Salzburg to Prague (change in Linz) was longish for us, so I upgraded to first class. Our seats in the first segment (Austrian intercity train...
The Sound of Salzburg
Julie and I made a brief stop in Salzburg (two nights) as a transition from Vienna to Prague. Long ago we’d booked The Sound of Music tour with Fräulein Mari...
Vienna Food and Drink
Eating looks to be easier for us as we work our way north! Easier in that we are finding more variety, and more vegetarian and vegan options.
Vienna - Art and Music
Sadly Vienna greeted us with cold, wind, and driving rain. We revised our schedule a bit and ducked indoors for most of the first 36 hours.
Venice Endings
We finished our Venice time on the main island, hitting some art museums and churches while enjoying our final Italian meals (and drinks) of the trip.
Venetian Lagoon - San Michele, Murano, Burano, and Torcello
We spent our second full day in Venice using our vaporetto pass to explore the islands north of the main island.
Venice - City of Nations
Julie and I spent our first full day in Venice with Michael Broderick, proprietor of Venicescapes, learning about Venice as a City of Nations.
Fair Verona
Julie and I spent three nights in Verona as an interim stop between Florence and Venice. So glad we did - romantic in ways that might surprise you.
Last Day in Florence, Last Day with Family
We filled our final day with tower climbs, legendary sculpture, and a grocery store meal that may have been our most memorable.
Florence - Walking around and FOOD
We are closing out our final full day here in Florence, having hit most of the major sites and continuing to enjoy Italian food.
Florence
I’ll post more soon, but we are in Firenze and enjoying our last three days with the group-of-six.
Cinque Terre - Corniglia to Riomaggiore and more
Julie and I completed our traverse of the five villages and we all enjoyed a magical lunch in Manarola.
Cinque Terre - Monterosso to Corniglia
Julie and I intend to hike all the inter-town segments of the Cinque Terre trail system, and day one was the Monterosso to Vernazza to Corniglia portions.
Vans, Planes, and Trains
Yesterday was a crazy travel day, starting with a 7:35 flight Barcelona to Milan, a train from Milan to Monterosso, and some bookend van rides.
La Sagrada Rainbow and Night
I mentioned in my last post that the opposing stained glass sides (nativity and passion) can be viewed as a rainbow.
Barcelona - A day of Gaudí
This was our day to explore the works of Antoni Gaudí, the modernista architecture master of Barcelona.
Barcelona - Rambla, Palau de la Música Catalana
A seamless transition to Barcelona from Madrid via train and we are excited for two more full days in this city.
Toledo Spain
We hopped on a train to take a brief day trip from Madrid to visit the medieval walled city of Toledo.
Madrid - El Rastro, El Prado, Parque del Retiro
Another magical and long day in Madrid. We are getting our 20,000 steps in each day.
Madrid - Palacio Real and the Gran Via
Another glorious day with spectacular weather in Madrid. Mostly everyone (sadly not Julie) appear to be sleep and time adjusted. Sticking to one big tourism ...
Madrid - walking around, Reina Sofia
We are settled in our AirBnB in Madrid, joined by Julie’s two brothers and their spouses. The train and metro from the airport was easy and we were able to d...
Lisbon
Made it to Lisbon, our layover stop on our journey to Madrid.
The Bitter End
Julie and I went to a concert last night at The Bitter End (Wikipedia) to see “Songwriters In The Round”.
Virginia to New Jersey
We wrapped up our slow journey north yesterday as we arrived in Jersey City to park the van for almost two months. Thursday we head to Europe.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Julie and I spent three cold and windy days at the Oregon Inlet campground, part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Goose Creek State Park
We are continuing our journey north, with parks getting emptier and weather getting colder. A few days ago we stopped by Goose Creek State Park in NC for a t...
Huntington Beach State Park
We are completing our second stay at Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina. The park is just down the Atlantic coast from Myrtle Beach.
Paddling Manatee Springs
We camped for two nights at Manatee Springs State Park, our final nights in Florida on this adventure.
Fishing Sebastian Inlet
Julie and I joined sister Jennifer and niece Grace for a morning of snook fishing in Sebastian Inlet with East Coast Fishing Charters.
Off-road Driving Training with Overland Experts
Julie and I did a 2 week van adventure from Florida up to North Carolina and back, with the primary destination an all-day private off-road driving class wit...
Camping and Paddling at Wekiwa Springs State Park
We are at Wekiwa Springs, just north and west of Orlando, for two nights of camping and exploration. This is our last Florida-bound trip as we start making o...
Galapagos Trip Summary
Back in 2011 we took a family trip to the Galapagos. It was so amazing that we vowed to return some day. I think that will happen in the next five years. I n...
Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park in Carlsbad
Julie and I are in SoCal for a wedding, hanging out mostly in Carlsbad. On a whim we spent a few hours at the Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park.
Beach Driving Near Daytona
We took the van out on the beach yesterday afternoon between Daytona and Ormond Beach. We could almost see the ghost of Glenn Curtiss racing by on the tide l...
Jekyll Island GA
Julie and I spent a night in transition on Jekyll Island as we worked our way back from the Carolinas to Florida.
My Five Favorite State Parks
Julie and I were recently camping at Sebastian Inlet State Park in Florida, our second time in less than a month, when I remarked that this might be one of m...
Camping Florida Style
We stayed in a classic, giant RV park to be with friends last weekend. Results were mixed.
Our Broadway Shows
Julie and I spent a magical weekend in NYC last weekend with my sister. We saw three shows in three nights; here are my mini reviews.
Crystal River
We are hanging out near Crystal River FL at Crystal Isles RV park, joining some old friends for fun and adventure.
Greetings from NYC
Spending a long birthday weekend in NYC celebrating a big milestone for my sister.
About the New Van
I was finally introduced to our new van when we arrived in Florida in early December.
Great Basin National Park
About a month ago Julie and I visited Great Basin National Park, a remote park in eastern Nevada that had been on our must-see list for a while.
Golf at Morro Bay Golf Course
What a gem of a town and a gem of a course. My partners called it the “poor man’s Pebble Beach.”
Hiking to Fern Lake in Mono County
Before the cold, snow, and high winds set in we trekked up to Fern Lake, a short but strenuous trail on the June Lake Loop. We avoided 2 of the 3 weather con...
Golf at Nakoma Resort
The end of season weather cooperated so we ventured up to Nakoma to play 18 on the final day of the local season.
Golf at Silver Oak in Carson City
I practiced and played the front nine at Silver Oak Golf Course in Carson City.
Golf at Wolf Creek, Mesquite NV
Many golfers have Wolf Creek Golf Club on their bucket list, largely due to the presence of the course in many computer golf games. I played it last week as ...
Mesa Verde
We spent two nights and two days hanging out at Mesa Verde National Park this week.
Golf at Green River GC Utah
My local find today was the welcoming Green River Golf Course in the eponymous town in Utah.
Golfing the South Forty
There’s a self service 9 hole golf course in Cortez CO called The South Forty.
Golf at White Pine Golf Course
Julie and I played at the surprisingly awesome White Pine Golf Course today.
Golf at Rochelle Ranch WY
Julie and I golfed at Rochelle Ranch Golf Club, an excellent muni in Rawlings WY.
Return to Wild Horse Golf Club
Julie and I returned to the amazing Wild Horse Golf Club in September. It was our first of three golf stops on our long drive out from NY to OR.
NY to OR Tesla Driving Report
We are in Salem Oregon, having nearly completed our 3,000 mile drive from NY in our Tesla Model Y.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
On our way from Miamisburg OH to NE OH we stopped for a first ever visit to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Park visitor center You can’t fairly compare th...
Revisiting the Grandview Trail, Grand Canyon
Grandview trailhead We used our short morning at the Grand Canyon to revisit the Grandview Trail, one of our highlights from three years ago.
Horseshoe Bend and Lake Powell National Golf Course
Sunset at Horseshoe Bend Why do I have such a hard time spelling horseshoe?
Spring Valley Hiking is Amazing
Our van parked at Ranch campground Yesterday we visited two more Nevada state parks: Spring Valley and Echo Canyon.
Cathedral Gorge - Juniper Draw Trail
Julie hikes into Juniper Draw We took it easy yesterday (at least I did – Julie worked most of the day) and hiked the Juniper Draw trail which meanders nor...
Cathedral Gorge NV - slots and vistas
Cathedral Gorge from vista We drove from Tonapah to the eastern edge of Nevada today to reach Cathedral Gorge state park. So far this is one of the best w...
Nevada has a lot of dirt roads
Dirt road driving to Berlin And not just back roads… state highways! We did some extra driving today to hit two spots that weren’t going to work out for l...
Links at Bodega Harbour
View into Bodega Bay from the course Before Julie and I returned from some Sonoma coast exploration, I played 18 at the Links.
Golf and Tufas
Golf at Bishop CC We wrapped up our visit to Lowell Valley with some golf at Bishop Country Club and a stop at Mono Lake.
Alabama Hills and Manzanar
Alabama Hills We made two stops as we work our way up the east side of the Sierras: Alabama Hills and the Manzanar concentration camp.
Death Valley Craters and Pupfish
Salt Creek boardwalk We just wrapped up our last day in Death Valley. It was time to go – the winds started raging and visibility was plummeting.
Death Valley Lows
Salt polygons at Bad Water Today we ventured into the depths of Death Valley.
Death Valley Highs
Moonrise from Dantes View Our first day in Death Valley was focused primarily on high points: Rainbow Canyon, Zabriskie Point, and Dante’s View.
Golf at Rustic Canyon in Moorpark CA
Looking out at Rustic Canyon I played 18 at Rustic Canyon yesterday, a course recommended by Kyle Howard back in September when we were paired up at Bandon...
Hummingbird Trail and the Crazy Hidden Swing Cave
Chris and Julie sitting in a cave Julie and I took an afternoon hike here in Simi Valley to hike the Hummingbird Creek trail.
Exploring San Diego
Hiking near the wall We pivoted to see some friends in San Diego and had a grand time exploring the area.
Canyon View Trail at Whitewater Preserve
Julie hiking Canyon View Trail Julie and I explored more up valley to the north today, starting with the Canyon View Trail outside of Palm Springs.
Golf at PGA West - Dunes
Water hole Played 18 today at the Pete Dye design near ala Quinta. Well worth the expense, which wasn’t even that high. The folks I played with said the M...
Pushawalla Palms Hike
Julie hiking in the wind We did a late afternoon hike near Palm Desert. It was windy! The Pushawalla Palms hike is deceptive. The hills and terrain are mo...
Farewell Valley of Fire
Julie framed at Valley of Fire We are making dinner in our van right now on the last night of our stay. Three days is more than enough to explore the Valle...
Recent Critters
Greater roadrunner on our dash We are having fun slowly exploring Valley of Fire State Park. I’ll have more to report on the trip tomorrow, but for now I l...
Three Days in the Valley of Fire
Julie hiking Fire Wave We are back in one of our favorite state parks, Valley of Fire, near Las Vegas.
Germany Trip Summary, 2005
Back in 2005 we took our first big trip with the boys, heading to Germany for a mix of tourism and attending the Essen game fair.
Golf at Laughlin Ranch
Green with AZ mountains Played great new-to-me course on the border between NV and AZ today.
Southern Utah 2018
Our Campsite Near Arches Delicate Arch Tower Arch And Marching Men Devil’s Garden At Arches Bonus Find: Dinosaur Tracks! Sunrise At Dead Horse P...
Four Corners Trip Summary, Spring 2019
We had an epic adventure in the spring of 2019, starting in southern Utah and working through the four corners area (southwest CO, northwest NM, and northeas...
Alaska 2019 Trip Summary
Back in June 2019 we took a trip to Alaska to celebrate Matthew’s graduation from West Point. Here’s a summary:
Southern Utah 2021 Trip summary
During the spring of 2021 we rented a camper van and spent three weeks roaming through southern Utah.
Loreto, Mexico Trip summary
Here’s a summary of our Mexico adventure in January 2022:
Backpacking the Superstitions, Day 3
Breakfast at camp Back to the real world. After a windy breakfast we broke camp and finished our baby-rattle shaped trip with a new route back along the Du...
Backpacking the Superstitions, Day 2
Camp in the morning Today we left our camp setup and tidy and embarked on a 10+ mile hike around Bluff Spring Mountain.
Backpacking the Superstitions, Day 1
View of peaks near our campsite We are in the Tonto wilderness for a while east of Phoenix, returning to an area we enjoyed hiking to get a deeper look whi...
Signal Peak at Kofa NWR
Chollas at sunset Today we trekked about 13 miles and climbed 3000 feet to the top of Signal Peak in the Kofa NWR. It was hard but amazing.
Imperial National Wildlife Refuge
Cholla on desert trail We are working our way north from Yuma, roughly following the Colorado River as we work our way to the Kofa wilderness.
Victoria Mine Trail at Organ Pipe Cactus NM
Shaft at Victoria Mine We started our final day at OPCNM with a fun morning hike to Victoria Mine, getting a surprise look at a certain wall we’ve all hear...
Arch Canyon Trail in Organ Pipe
We hiked the Arch Canyon Trail today, squeezing it in between a heavier than usual work day for me.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Just arrived and camping here for two nights.
Pack Out from the Islands
We are packed out from our kayaking adventure.
Hiking and Kayaking Around Isla Danzante
An easy final full day on our tour, we did a slow paddle south to the tip of the island. It was almost like snorkeling with such flat water and high visibi...
Magical Day in Honeymoon Beach
We kept our camp in place this morning and after a tasty chilaquiles breakfast we embarked for a northern trek to Honeymoon Beach.
First Night on Isla Carmen
Our lunch stop turned into our camping spot.
Kayak Trip is Underway
We are on the Sea of Cortez for about five days, touring in kayaks around the local islands. High winds today as we made about a 2+ hour crossing.
Chill Day in Loreto
Today was mostly a day of hanging out and enjoying my space.
Water Fun at Loreto Bay
While three of our group went fishing, three of us loaded up the truck with two kayaks and a paddle board and drove down to Loreto Bay.
Loreto Mexico
We are in Loreto. First time to Baja for either of us. Spending time with our ooold close friend Karen and a tangled network of her friends. Going kayaking...
Golfing at Quail Crossing in Green Valley
Got to play a round of golf with my uncle John today - maybe the first time we’ve ever played 18 together.
Exploring Madera Canyon
We took a few hours today with uncle John and aunt Ann today to explore nearby Madera Canyon.
Exploring Tucson
We are nearly done with about four days in Tucson while we get more (!) work done on the van. Not getting a car creates some intentional constraints that k...
Hiking Boulder Canyon Trail
Today we enjoyed the short Boulder Canyon Trail, a fairly easy but rewarding hike in the Superstition Wilderness.
Hiking Siphon Draw
Quick post tonight – wanted to share a hike we started but couldn’t quite finish.
Hieroglyphic Trail in Gold Canyon
Julie and got an early start and drove back into the neighborhood of Gold Canyon for the trailhead to the Hieroglyphic Trail. Parking lot was about half fu...
Hiking the Treasure Loop Trail in the Superstition Mountains
Julie and I left the cold mountain climate of Flagstaff this morning to our new temporary home outside of Phoenix in the town of Apache Junction. We made i...
Visiting the Meteor Crater
On a whim Julie pulled off I-40 after passing Winslow AZ to visit the Meteor Crater, a privately run National Landmark. She remembered the site being menti...
One Very Large Array
Our route from Bosque to Flagstaff took us along US Route 60. We had started seeing signs for a Very Large Array back on I-25 south of Albuquerque and had...
Cranes at Bosque
Julie and I finally made a winter visit to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge to see the winter homes of a number of water birds, most importantly ...
Storyteller Spotting in Santa Rosa NM
We are cruising west in our “temporary” van home, an Airstream Interstate 19. We have a Storyteller Overland Classic Mode on order but have never seen one ...
Hiking Old Rag in Shenandoah National Park
Julie and I started our winding drive from Keuka Lake, NY to Melbourne, FL with a long hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the top of Old Rag. This was a c...
Critters of Southern Utah
I think this will be my last post on our southern Utah adventures of early 2021. I don’t carry my Canon gear and long lenses with me as much as I used to; ...
So How Was Van Life?
In a word: amazing. Better than expected with surprise ancillary benefits.
Bryce: Fairyland Trail to Tower Bridge
My one demand as we concluded our trip with the drive from Escalante to Las Vegas was a brief stop at Bryce Canyon National Park. Julie’s was a Diet Dr. Pe...
Escalante: Backpacking Coyote Gulch
We are in love with Coyote Gulch. This hike earned a “top 5 ever” list for us, and we were actually hard pressed to list four hikes we’ve done that were be...
Escalante: Peek-A-Boo, Spooky, and Dry Gulch
We moved further out on Hole-in-the-Rock Road and positioned ourselves for an early start for this trifecta of slot canyons. Peek-A-Boo and Spooky are prob...
Escalante: Zebra and Tunnel Slot Canyons
Today was an easier but no less magical day in Escalante canyon country. We camped overnight out on Hole-in-the-Rock road not far from the Zebra slot canyo...
Escalante: Bighorn Canyon Adventures
We had a plan: pick up a slot canyon or two near Escalante off Hole-in-the-Rock Road as we would be spending Sunday through Wednesday venturing deeper on t...
Goblin Valley Adventures
Three years ago we landed on Goblin Valley State Park when it was very busy, and when a rainstorm hit that was going to last a while. Ever since we’ve regr...
Canyonlands: Hiking the Murphy Trail
We loved hiking the Syncline trail in the Canyonlands and thought it would rise to level of favorite hike in the park, but after hiking the Murphy Trail we...
Canyonlands: Hiking the Syncline Loop
We’ve explored quite a bit of the Canyonlands National Park over the past four years but there were still some longer trails to check off our list. Plus we...
Zion: Hiking the Virgin River Narrows
Our last day near Zion had us checking off our final want-to-do item: hiking the Virgin River narrows. For context, Zion Canyon is sort-of the opposite of ...
Zion: Angels Landing and West Rim
We got an early start into Zion this morning and were thankful for it. My fears about a busy Easter Sunday proved true, and I feel so sorry for the folks t...
Backpacking the Three Sisters
One reason I stopped coaching football this year was to open up some fall Oregon outdoor adventures that I've had to skip for the past 12 years or so. Th...
Fly Fishing and Floating the Deschutes
My good friend Ken offered me the trip of a lifetime: a week of floating and fly fishing the Deschutes River in north central Oregon. Many fish caught, adve...
Lake O’Hara and the Canadian Rockies
Julie and I took a small detour on our way back to Oregon from Keuka Lake. An old friend from high school invited us to join him at a very special place:...
Alaska Photos
We had an amazing time cruising with Alaskan Dream Cruises in early June 2019. We were on the Misty Fjord, a small 10-passenger boat that was perfect for...
Alaska
We are cruising in Alaska to celebrate the graduation from college for both of the young men in this photo. This shot was taken by a glacier very close to t...
Grand Canyon Backpacking - Days 4 and 5
Our concluding days in the canyon were some of the most relaxing we've ever had. It was a short, mostly flat 7 mile hike from Cottonwood camp to Bright Ang...
Grand Canyon Backpacking - Day 3
Day 3 was our planned "big day": a day hike from Cottonwood Camp up to the north rim, then to the vacated Lodge, then back down to camp. By day hike I mean ...
Grand Canyon Backpacking - Days 1 & 2
Our five day Grand Canyon backpacking adventure began on the South Kaibab trail. We caught the 8am hiker express shuttle at the Backcountry Office where we ...
Grand Canyon Rim Trail and Grandview Trail
We made it to our final hiking and camping destination - Grand Canyon. We spent day one setting up camp and being tourists around the south rim trail. I've...
Chaco Culture National Historical Park
I won't give enough words for the awesomeness that is Chaco in this post. A few highlights and photos will have to suffice. Chaco is a unique national park....
Sand Canyon Hiking (near Cortez CO)
Day two in the Cortez CO area took us to Sand Canyon southwest of town, a beautiful hike that also contains a large amount of Puebloan ruins. We improvise...
Camping with Chris and Julie
We made a lot of changes to our camping rig this year. On these extended trips we do a mix of car camping (setting up camp adjacent to or a short walk from ...
Backpacking Fish and Owl Canyons
Our first true backpacking trip on this long journey was at Fish and Owl Canyons in Cedar Mesa. We chose this because (1) new to us and (2) it is known to h...
Arches National Park
I've been remote for the past 5-6 days without signal. Time for more updates. I've got about five more to go. Our focus this trip isn't the big national par...
Mountain Biking Near Moab
Today was our first mountain biking adventure in Moab and, frankly, the first mountain biking we've done in 20+ years. We chose an intermediate adventure w...
Grandstaff Trail, Moab
Good warmup hike today near Moab on the Grandstaff Canyon trail. Back to camp for a nap then late day hike planned for Arches or Dead Horse State Park.
Hiking Palo Duro Canyon Lighthouse Trail
We did a 6 mile roundtrip hike in Palo Duro canyon, about 20 miles southeast of Amarillo. I first (and last) visited this canyon when I was in college, abou...
Zion: East Rim to Observation Point
We covered about 15 miles early yesterday morning, starting with a private shuttle drop at the East entrance and finishing at Observation Point. It took us...
Backpacking Halls Creek Narrows
Tuesday through Thursday this week we dropped into Halls Creek canyon along the Capitol Reef Waterpocket Fold. We hiked in the first day to setup camp, the...
Hitting the Road
Julie and I are off on our next big adventure. I’m hanging out in a McDonald’s in Grants Pass, Oregon while Julie visits and plays games with an old friend. ...
Games for Keuka Lake and Ireland
Now that I've talked about what's coming up next, it's time to talk about how I'll manage to keep playing games while being away from my collection for nearl...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 12 - Summary and Final Notes
This is the end of the road for my Greece trip log! Just like many (Europe 2008) of my previous (Galapagos travel) trip (Galapagos wildlife) logs, it has ta...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 11 - Poros, Aigina, and return to Alimos
This is part 11 of my sailing in Greece series. You can find part 10 here. Our July 4th started very early as we prepared for our 55nm journey to the island...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 10 - Rineia, Syros, and Kythnos
This is part 10 of my sailing in Greece series. You can find part 9 here. After a long but productive day exploring the treasures of Delos, we set sail fro...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 9 - Mykonos and Delos
This is part 9 of my sailing in Greece series. You can find part 8 here. Mykonos has a reputation: Mykonos is the great glamour island of the Cyclades and ...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 8 - Antiparos and Naxos
This is part 8 of my sailing in Greece series. You can find part 7 here. Early Friday evening, June 28 2013, we left Ios to set sail for a an anchored bay v...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 7 - Ios
This is part 7 of my sailing in Greece series. You can find part 6 here. On June 27 we set sail for Ios, an island I last visited in 1990 during the World ...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 6 - Folegandros
This is part 6 of my sailing in Greece series. You can find part 5 here. Are you following along on a map? Might be worth your while as the place names can ...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 5 - Serifos to Milos
This is part 5 of my sailing in Greece series. You can find part 4 here. Our day started early in Serifos with Julie and I strolling into town for coffee an...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 4 - Kythnos to Serifos
This is part 4 of my sailing in Greece series. You can find part 3 here. Our first day of sailing brought us to Apokriosis Bay on the island of Kythnos, and...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 3: Athens to Kythnos
This is part 3 of my sailing in Greece series. You can find part 2 here. Sunday was our day with Demetra, our private tour guide for the Acropolis and surro...
Two Days in New York
I take business trips to NYC periodically and have a routine conversation with Julie before each trip: Me: Hey Julie, you should come to New York with me th...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 2: Athens and meeting our boat and skipper
This is part 2 of my Sailing in Greece series. You can find part 1 here. We had converged in NYC at JFK airport and after a mad dash to the duty free shop t...
Sailing Charter in Greece - Part 1: The Planning
This is the first of several posts I'll write about our trip to Greece last summer. Julie and I (mostly Julie) put in a lot of time planning this trip so we ...
A Day at Elitch Gardens
We spent the day at Elitch Gardens, a decent mid-sized amusement and water park in downtown Denver. Knowing the heat would bear down on us in the afternoon ...
Spring Break in DC, NYC, and college visits
We took a family trip to the east coast -- Washington DC and New York City -- for a mix of tourism and college visits. The weather started off ideal - 70s ...
Headed to St. Louis
Tonight after Jacob's football game Julie, Jacob, and I will dash off to the airport to catch a red-eye to St. Louis. We are visiting our alma mater, Washi...
Galapagos - what’s in the photography bag
My preparation for photography in Galapagos began in earnest in about September 2010. My starting point for equipment (body, lenses, accessories) was as fo...
Planning for Galapagos
This is the first in a series of posts relating the Galapagos experience from March 2011. The planning for Galapagos started as a plan for a trip to Greece ...
Quito and Galapagos Travel Photos
I posted two more photo sets today - the last two from the Galapagos and Quito trip last month. Quito photos Galapagos Landscape and Travel photos
Galapagos Wildlife Photos
I've posted my first batch of photos covering our recent trip to the Galapagos - Galapagos Wildlife. I've done my best to properly identify the various spec...
Galapagos Photo Processing
The really enjoyable part of Galapagos and taking photos is over. Now I'm faced with the daunting task of processing these photos: That's about 120GB total...
To Galapagos
Soon we depart for our first big family trip since our Europe trip almost exactly three years ago. A year ago we were set on heading to Greece for spring bre...
Return to Keuka Lake
After missing a trip to lake in 2009, we returned for a full week in early August. I posted a full set of photos on Flickr - still to come are some portraits...
Portland Pub Crawl
My niece Meaghan and her husband Nick are in town for the weekend, up from Monterey CA where they are both attending the Defense Language Institute for a ser...
Vancouver Island
For over a year Julie and I discussed various ideas for a special trip to celebrate her 40th birthday (coming up in early August). Our original plan was Ital...
Keuka Lake 2008, Week 4
Week 4 at Keuka Lake is a wrap, and I’m sitting here in the grey cottage watching heavy rains over the lake as we do final prep for summer camp at Camp Gorton.
Europe 2008 - Summary
Given the, er, spread out nature of my Europe posts, I figured it would make sense to post a summary.
Europe 2008, Paris Days 4 and 5
We began the day at the Rodin museum, an impressive display of sculptures and other artifacts of his life (the museum is housed in his former residence). N.B...
Europe 2008, Paris Day 3
Day 3 in France started with an early morning trip to Île de la Cité for a visit to Notre Dame de Paris, famous for gargoyles, gypsies, and hunchbacks. We sa...
Europe 2008, France Day 1 and 2
My goal is to finish my posts on Europe before my next trip to Europe. Nothing like setting the bar high.
Keuka Lake 2008, Week 3
We are half-way through our stay in NY, having spent week 3 with our guests the Ginns. The weather is warming up here with most days sunny, humid, and in the...
Keuka Lake 2008, Week 2
Another great week at Keuka. We had our usual mix of weather but managed to get in a good range of activities, including some hardcore track work down in Ham...
Europe 2008 - Bulge Tour, Day 3
This is my final post on our tour of Battle of the Bulge sites.
Keuka Lake, Week 1
We are a week into our 6-week stay at Keuka Lake, and the pace is intoxicating. Rather than trying to squeeze in every possible activity over a 7-10 day spri...
Europe 2008 - Bulge Tour, Day 2
Day 2 of our Bulge tour was geared more to accommodating our tourists stops, so there was not much rhyme or reason to the sites we visited.
Europe 2008 - Bulge Tour, Day 1
Apologies for turning these Europe posts into a drawn out series of publications not unlike a pulp serial series.
Europe 2008 - Tourism in Belgium, Days 3 and 4
The weather in Belgium was very thematic for Bulge historical site visits, but not so nice for some of the activities we were hoping to do. Matthew helped pl...
Europe 2008 - Tourism in Belgium, Days 1 and 2
I’m going to break my Belgium report into two sections - tourism and Bulge military sites. This is the tourism section! Our day started very early with a wal...
Europe 2008 Trip - London, Day 3
Day 3 (Saturday) was our last full day in London
Europe 2008 Trip - London, Day 2
Where can you get a cup of coffee at 6am in London?
Europe 2008 Trip - London, Day 1
Time to start the steady flow of photo-journal posts for our Europe trip! I’ll break this into a day-by-day journal and will include plenty of photos. If you...
Off to Europe
You won’t believe the list of backlog posts I have, but it looks like they will have to wait for a while. We are off to Europe tomorrow, approximate itinerar...
Fun at Keuka Lake
I’m sitting here at a coffee shop in downtown Hammondsport, NY uploading some photographs for an online photography course I’m taking over at BetterPhoto.com...
Off to New York
Blogging from the iphone here… Still not too used to typing on this gadget. We are off to NY to visit Keuka lake for a week. Stay tuned - maybe you’ll see so...
Spring Break in Bandon
It had been far too long since we had been family camping, so back in January Julie and I decided to book some time in a Yurt in one of the Oregon State Park...
Disney World and Kennedy Space Center
Here’s a quick wrap-up on our trip to Florida last week. After our visit to Homasassa Springs, we drove down near Disney World to stay in a timeshare for tw...
Homosassa Springs, Florida
We all flew down to Florida Saturday morning and are currently staying with my parents near Leesburg, just northwest of Orlando. The boys have been hankerin...
Israel, November 2006
The Monday after Thanksgiving weekend (Nov 27) I traveled to Israel for the second time this year on Corillian business. Scary thing is, I’m growing used to...
We’re Back
Sorry about the extended outage - had some problems with the ISP (server outage). I’ll actually post a few things this weekend too!
Made the Frankfurt-Portland Flight
Barely… Again. Last year it was the crazy drive from Essen to Franfurt with five of us in a small car with bags stacked to our noses. This year it was a dela...
At the Dusseldorf Airport
Bags checked in fine - no weight issues but all three bags I checked were about 24 kilos each. I guess I fit within the 1-2 kilo grace range. We had some goo...
Fair is Over
I’m sitting here in Carey’s bathroom while Carey, Linda, Lorna, and Erik work on packing our various leftovers (not many!) and acquisitions into our return l...
Day 4 Begins
I managed to be just inside the main entrance in hall 12 (I forgot the cash box key in the hotel room) when the fair opened today - wow, what a crazy scene. ...
Day 4 Begins
I managed to be just inside the main entrance in hall 12 (I forgot the cash box key in the hotel room) when the fair opened today - wow, what a crazy scene. ...
Saturday Night in Essen
We are in the home stretch. We had a great dinner at one of the nicer places I’ve seen around here - the name escapes me, but the food was on the gourmet si...
Sitting Down for Dinner at the Manda
We have our crew plus Matthias and Ina Catrain - Matthias is our artist for Incan Gold. I’m sipping a Paulaner Weissbier and we are having some great convers...
Day 1 Is Almost Over
I’m here in the Messe hanging out in smoke-filled hall 4A between 4 and 5. Sorry for the lack of posts, but it is such a non-stop craze that it is hard to fi...
Arrived at the Arosa
We made it safe and sound to the Arosa in two taxis. It is almost fortunate that three of our bags didn’t make it (they are held up in Frankfurt and will arr...
Made it
Customs and security didn’t slow us down too much and we are sitting on a B737 for our flight to Dusseldorf. Carey, Linda, KC, Marty (KC’s dad), and Lorna Wo...
Landed in Frankfurt
Racing to catch our flight to Dusseldorf. Hopefully they’ll hold the flight or we may arrive in Essen much later than palnned!
Essen 2006
The time is quickly approaching where I’ll board a Lufthansa flight here in Portland to join a bunch of my partners and friends for the trek to Essen. Sunri...
Memorials and Reunion in Burlington, Iowa
Not much about gaming in this post… all personal stuff. About 2 weeks ago I took the family out to the midwest to attend memorial services for my two grandm...
Israel, 1 Year Later
Or just about… I abandoned Julie in St. Louis (I have a habit of doing that) and flew to Israel via Washington DC and Frankfurt on Sunday, arriving at Ben Gu...
Thurtene 2006 - A Tribute to Coach
Julie and I spent the weekend in St. Louis visiting our alma mater, Washington University. The last time I visited was in 1995 at a five year class reunion,...
Trip to Brussels and Amsterdam
I had a business trip to Brussels last week, with meetings scheduled for Tuesday-Thursday. Erich and I arrived around 6:30am on Tuesday morning, and knowing...
Off to Mt Hood Meadows
We are going to head up to Mt Hood Meadows tomorrow early for our first ski of the season. We missed all of last year, probably for the first time since Jul...
Essen 2005 Report - In and Around the Sunriver Games Booth
For my first Essen Spiel report I thought I’d focus on the Sunriver Games booth. This was such a learning experience for us rank amateurs, but I think we pu...
Germany Day 6 - Koln and Essen Arrival
The transition from Koblenz into Koln is pretty dramatic – it became clear that we were leaving the hills and forest of southern / central Germany and headin...
Germany Day 5 - Up the Rhine to Koblenz
While we knew that day 5 would end in Koblenz, we weren’t sure until the day before what route we would take to get there. We thought seriously about headin...
Germany Day 4 - Heidelberg
The old part of Heidelberg is striking – an old ruined castle looms over a beautiful German village. We were fortunate enough to have a hotel room in the Pa...
Germany Day 3 - Ludwigsburg Palace, Maulbronn
Day 3 begin with our departure from Tubingen and a drive back north toward Heidelberg. We planned for two stops along the way – Ludwigsburg Palace and the m...
Germany Day 2 - Burg Hohenzollern, Hechingen
Our second day in Germany began with a serious over-sleep – we didn’t get out of bed until at least 9:45am. This meant we missed our free breakfast but the ...
Germany Day 1 - Sinsheim, Tubingen
Our flight from Portland to Frankfurt was uneventful and everyone managed to get at least a few hours of sleep. We picked up our huge luggage stash in Frankf...
We’re Back
Sorry for no posts while we are in Germany. I took tons of photos but had a terrible time (or, in some cases, I was just too cheap) getting internet access....
Jacob and Matthew Will Blog Their Germany Trip
Check it out here: Brooks Brothers in Germany.
Walking in Memphis
I’m heading to Memphis early tomorrow morning, spending two nights there with Thursday night opening. So far my queries on BGG and Spielfrieks have been met...
Sturgeon Fishing on the Willamette River
No, that’s not the name of a new boardgame; that’s what Jacob and I did today for the better part of a beautiful Sunday day. My friend Scott Finney took us ...
Keuka Lake 2005
Here are some snapshots from this year’s visit to Keuka Lake in western NY (we do this every year - read more here). Julie’s college roomate Deb join...
Trip to Israel, Part 3: Jerusalem
Saturday was our one day off and a chance to see some interesting sites in Israel. Jerusalem was on the top of my list, plus I contacted Yehuda Berlinger of...
Trip to Israel, Part 2: Tel Aviv and Herzliya
Erich and I arrived early Thursday morning at about 4am local time. We weren’t terribly well rested but got to the Hotel Sharon in short order and managed a...
Trip to Israel, Part 1: Frankfurt
I had hoped to post some of this trip content while on the road, but generally poor internet connectivity in my rooms in Israel combined with an extremely he...
My Travel Profile, Heading to Israel
I’m finishing packing and other prep for a business trip to Israel, departing tomorrow afternoon. I noticed that Scott just posted his “travel profile” (ahe...
Cruise on the Voyager of the Seas
It’s Christmas Eve and I finally have a few spare moments to post some pictures and a narrative of our recent Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Voyager o...
Pre-Sail in Miami
I’ve got free broadband access in my hotel room here in downtown Miami. We head over to the ship in about an hour, so hey, why not squeeze in one more post ...
Nashville
I spent last weekend in Nashville at my good friend Russ Waitman’s wedding. Russ and I were roommates in college, sharing an engineering suite our sophomore...
Melbourne on Saturday
I arrived in Melbourne about 10am Saturday morning after about 18 hours total flying time. Things sure have changed since the last time I was here: I had to...
Off to Australia
I’m sitting in the Red Carpet lounge at PDX, doing some demo work for Corillian and waiting for my flight to SFO. I’ll end my journey in Melbourne, Australi...
Fish Stories Part 2
I just had to post this photoshop edit Bob sent over. If fish could talk.
Fish Stories
I’m not a big-time fisherman; you won’t find me watching many fishing shows on TV and I rarely purchase my own fishing tackle. The sport has always facinate...
Keuka Lake
Greetings from Keuka Lake, NY! We took the red-eye from Portland last Thursday night, arriving at the lake cottage around 11am on Friday morning. The weath...
Weekend in La Pine
Julie, Jacob, Matthew and I spent the weekend in La Pine, Oregon, located in central Oregon just south of Sun River. Jacob had a busy weekend of baseball sc...
Back to the Sun River Area Today
Later today (it is Friday early morning right now), the four of us will pack up the car and head back to central Oregon (La Pine, to be specific), this time ...
Sun River, Day 3
This will be my last entry on the Sun River gaming extravaganza. Sunday was a shortened day - George and I left together around 3:30pm to get home in time t...
Sun River, Day 2
Moving on to day 2, Saturday, at Sun River. This was my heaviest day of gaming, both in terms of the number of games played and the style of games.
Sun River, Day 1
Twice a year the RipCity Gamers group journeys to Sun River for 3-5 days of gaming goodness. Doug and his family are kind enough to offer up their vacation ...
Photos from KL and Beijing
I finally got around to posting some photos from my recent trip to Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.
Back Home
Made it back home safely yesterday, flying from Beijing to Tokyo to Seattle to Portland.
In Beijing
We safely made it to Beijing today
In Transit to Beijing
I am sitting in the Singapore Air lounge in Singapore right now
Day 1 in KL
After a breakfast here in the hotel this morning, I went for a stroll to see what is near the hotel. I wandered into the KLCC shopping complex, a very mode...
Portland to KL
Yesterday (2 days ago?) I made the long journey from Portland to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I departed PDX about 9:45am on Friday morning, flying to SFO. Thank...
Northstar Ski Trip
I’m back after one my longer absences from posting.
Christmas in Las Vegas
Yes, I'm very lucky that my beautiful wife Julie is originally from Las Vegas and that her wonderful mother and step-father (Jan and David) still live ther...
Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program - Thanksgiving in Seattle
Time to flush the backlog of photos and other content. As I mentioned before, Julie, Jacob, Matthew and I took the train to Seattle over Thanksgiving weeken...
Train Gaming
Took the family to Seattle for Thanksgiving weekend ‘
A Day at The Coast
I had to work, but Julie, Jacob, and Matthew spent most of Friday in Lincoln City
Keuka Lake Wrap-up
We had a great but too-short time at Keuka Lake this year. ‘
Summer at Keuka Lake
We will make our annual trek to Keuka Lake in western New York in July. Julie and the boys usually take the train, but since we have a shorter time window...
Spring Camping at Devils Lake
We took the short trip to Lincoln City, OR this weekend for some yurt camping at Devils Lake. Tent camping in the spring in Oregon is always a risk (unles...
Weekend in Newport, OR
We spent a great weekend in Newport, OR.