Saturday, May 13, 2006 – The next morning we ate our breakfast and then headed out of the desert from Rancho Mirage. We drove through the Inland Empire of San Bernardino County, before cutting over to 210 near San Dimas. I don’t know why, but it occurred to […]
Friday, May 12, 2006 – After the end of the school year at my university, I had a break between the spring and summer terms. My Dad had a conference in California, so he invited me out to join him and Mom. I’ve been to California many times, […]
Saturday, August 20, 2005 – Today we have to drive about 700 miles from Jasper back to Helena, Montana. It was a long 12-hour drive without stops, so we left at about 7 a.m. We stopped a couple of times on the Icefield Parkway, including at Big Bend, […]
Friday, August, 19, 2005 – This morning we toured the town of Jasper. We particularly enjoyed seeing the railroad museum with its vintage trains like the Canadian National 6015 locomotive. After looking around town, we headed back into Jasper National Park, the largest national park in the Canadian […]
Thursday, August 18, 2005 – This morning we headed south back down to see the Athabasca Glacier, an accessible part of the Columbia Icefield. The massive icefield rests over almost 195 square miles and ranges from 325 to 1200 feet deep in some places. It feeds eight glaciers, […]
Wednesday, August 17, 2005 – This morning after breakfast, we headed north on the Icefields Parkway towards Jasper National Park. The Icefields Parkway (Highway 93) runs 140 miles northwest to Jasper mostly parallel to the Continental Divide. It was completed in 1940. After leaving Lake Louise, we headed […]
Tuesday, August 16, 2005 – This morning we woke up and had a late breakfast before driving out to Moraine Lake, located about 9 miles from Lake Louise. We hiked to some overlooks of the beautiful blue lake, one of the most beautiful bodies of water I have […]
Monday, August 15, 2005 – This morning we drove through Waterton Lakes National Park and admired the views from our car. It looked very similar to Glacier with its glacially carved valleys. Then we headed north towards Banff, the crown jewel of Canada’s national park system. We traveled to one […]
Sunday, August 14, 2005 – The next morning, we headed to the East Glacier to see the other side of the park. We traveled east on Highway 2 to Browning before taking Highway 89 north. We passed Lower Saint Mary Lake to Babb, where we took Route 3 […]
Saturday, August 13, 2005 – The next morning, we woke up and ate breakfast before heading out for a tour of Glacier National Park. Dad and my grandfather took a “man trip” to Glacier and the Canadian Rockies several years earlier. They raved about the beauty, so we […]
Friday, August 12, 2005 – Since I have gone back to school, I had a break between my summer and fall sessions. I decided to use some of my Delta miles to go on a trip with my brother to Montana and the Canadian Rockies. Jeff and I […]
Saturday, August 21, 2004 – Today was our last day in Alaska, so we wanted to make it count. Mom slept in while Dad, Jeff and I decided to wake up early to go cycling. We went downtown and rented some bikes. I rented a road bike, while […]
Friday, August 20, 2004 – The next morning we checked out of the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. We had to head back south towards on Highway 3 toward Anchorage, but we had a number of interesting sights to see along the way. At Willow, we exited Highway 3 on […]
Thursday, August 19, 2004 – On Thursday morning, we had to say goodbye to Denali National Park. We drove south on the George Parks Highway, also know as Highway 3, through Cantwell. Then we headed to the adventure town of Talkeetna. Talkeetna is a colorful little town that […]
Wednesday, August 18, 2004 – The next morning, Dad and Jeff woke up early to go tour the park. Believe it or not, I talked mom into white water rafting on the Nenana River near the park entrance. This would be her first time ever rafting … and […]
Tuesday, August 17, 2004 – In the morning after breakfast, we grabbed our boxed lunches and headed into Denali National Park. For an early morning guided bus departure that would take us on a tour of the park. Denali is quite different than most national parks in the […]
Monday, August 16, 2004 – The next morning, we decided to visit the Ice Museum in downtown Fairbanks before leaving the city. The museum preserved the ice sculptures created for the previous winter’s ice festival. The sculptures represented everything from miners to bears to eagles. The artistic work […]
Sunday, August 15, 2004 – This morning, Dad dropped Jeff and me off at the Fairbanks airport. Jeff and I took an Alaska Airlines 737 cargo/passenger flight on a one-day tour to the northernmost city in the world – Barrow, Alaska. It was expensive, but we thought this […]
Saturday, August 14, 2004 – The next morning after breakfast, we toured the Fairbanks visitor center. It had a grass layered roof with plants grow outside on top of it! Then we headed south back to the town of North Pole. We saw Santa inside and one of […]
Friday, August 13, 2004 – Friday morning we woke up and walked around Valdez. We visited the earthquake museum, which was really interesting. It told the story of how the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake changed the city. A huge underwater landslide caused a section of the city’s shoreline […]
Thursday, August 12, 2004 – After checking out of our hotel, we packed up the Durango and drove north back on Highway 1 and later interstate A-1 through Anchorage. North of Anchorage the A-1 becomes the Glenn Highway along the drive to Palmer. We stopped in Palmer, home […]
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 – The next morning we woke up and headed down to the waterfront in Seward. We booked a cruises with Major Marine Tours on the boat, Kenai Star. The boat would took us on a four-hour journey into Kenai Fjords National Park. As we […]
Tuesday, August 10, 2004 – The next morning we headed back up Highway 1. We stopped at Anchor Point, North America’s most westerly highway point for photos. We saw beautiful, but also dangerous, Mt. Redoubt in distance. The 10,197 foot is the highest summit in the Aleutian Range, […]
Monday, August 9, 2004 – The next morning, Jeff and I woke up and ate breakfast before walking down to the piers. We decided to go sea kayaking for the first time. Our guide, Allison, took us on her small motorboat called the Harloquin, to a point across […]
Sunday, August 8, 2004 – This morning we got in our Dodge Durango and headed down the A-3 south. As we crossed on to the Kenai peninsula, we headed south and west. In the town of Cooper’s Landing, we stopped for lunch at Sal’s for some fish sandwiches. […]
Saturday, August 7, 2004 – When we woke up, we had brunch at the Sunrise Grill & Pancake House off Highway 1, also known as Interstate A-3. After driving south, we approached Turnagain Arm, an eastern arm branching off the Cook Inlet. It is one of two branches […]
Friday, August 6, 2004 – I always dreamt of traveling up to Alaska. This year, it was time to make it happen. What better way than to travel not only with Jeff, but also Mom and Dad? After reading up quite a bit for weeks about the 49th […]
Friday, September 19 – Today was our last day in Hawaii, so we got up early to head to Pearl Harbor. We took a morning boat to the USS Arizona memorial. Before boarding the boat, we watched a powerful documentary about that day that explained both the American […]
Thursday, September 18 – In the morning, we had breakfast before leaving for the Kona Airport, which is completely open air! I bought me a 2003 Ironman World Championship T-shirt at the airport before our Aloha flight left around 11:30 a.m. We arrived in the state capital of […]
Wednesday, September 17 – Today we ate breakfast before heading north to explore the Kohala Coast. We stopped for some snorkeling at Mauna Kea Beach at Kaunaoa Bay. Then we headed around the north tip and enjoyed the dramatic Pacific views. Later we stopped by the Tex Drive […]
Tuesday, September 16 – This morning we ate breakfast before driving back to the Park. We took the Crater Rim Drive, 10-and-a-half-mile drive that circles Kilauea Caldera. The loop will took us to the park’s main attractions: the Kilauea overlook, the Jaggar Museum, Halemaumau Crater, the Devastation Trail, the […]
Monday, September 15 – Today we had to wake up early for our flight to the Big Island of Hawaii – so named because it is the largest of the Hawaiian Islands. With an area of 4,028 square miles, the Big Island is larger than all of the […]
Sunday, September 14 – The next morning we woke up at the ungodly hour of 3:30 a.m. to get ready for an epic adventure. A bus picked us up around 4 a.m. and we picked up others from nearby resorts. We drove up to Mount Haleakala, the largest […]
Saturday, September 13 – This morning we went out and enjoyed perhaps the most beautiful beach I have ever seen, with white sand, swing hammocks under palm trees and crystal-blue waters. We could see Molokini crater out in the waters in front of us, Kaho’Olawe further ahead and […]
Friday, September 12 – The next morning we woke up and went to breakfast. Jeff, Dad and I decided to go on horse rides along the beaches from a nearby ranch. My horse, Josh, was a beautiful stallion who really wanted to hit the ocean a couple of […]
Thursday, September 11 – Today was the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks, but flying in Hawaii on this day didn’t have the same feeling it did on the mainland. We left from Lihue airport at 9:30 on our flight to Kahului, the largest town on Maui, with […]
Wednesday, September 10 – Today we decided to go check out the Wailua River Park with its Fern Grotto. We weren’t sure about this decision to visit because some people said they thought it was a little hokey. The whole tour lasted about an hour and half. The family […]
Tuesday, September 9 – The next mid-morning, Jeff, Mom and I decided to take a sailing/motorized catamaran boat to see the Na’ Pali Coast. Our Blue Dolphin Charters left from Port Allen, west of Poipu. The four-hour tour included snorkeling or snuba (a form of scuba without needing […]
Monday, September 8 – Monday morning we woke up wondering how we could possibly top Sunday. We drove east on Highway 50, the Kaumualii Highway, before passing through Lihue on Highway 56, the Kuhio Highway. We crossed the Wailua River in the Kapaa Community (largest town) to the […]
Sunday, September 7 – Today we woke up excited about our helicopter tour of the island of Kauai. When I was a kid, we toured the Grand Canyon via helicopter, but that was the only time I had ever previously traveled in one. We arrived at the private […]
Saturday, September 6 – I had never ventured into the Pacific region, nor had I been to America’s 50th state. My brother, Dad, Mom and I decided to visit Hawaii to get a first taste of the Aloha spirit. From Atlanta, we took a Delta flight at around […]
Friday, August 23 – After taking a break from triathlon for a couple of years while going to graduate school, I was hungry to get back into the sport. Previously I had competed in only short distance (spring) triathlons, but I wanted to step it up to Olympic […]
Saturday, August 17 – This morning Jeff and I walked down the 16th Street Mall, a pedestrian mall that is 1.25 miles long in downtown Denver. It is the city’s 16-block hub of shopping, dining and entertainment with a free shuttle service that stops at each block along […]
Friday, August 16 – Today we headed to the northern part of Yellowstone. One thing we noticed was that the fire damage that we witnessed in 1992 had really given life to new forests. That year we noticed how badly the park was burned from the 1988 fire, […]
Thursday, August 15 – After a good night’s sleep, we packed up from the Day’s Inn and left for Yellowstone. We drove back through Jackson Hole north towards Yellowstone. The name “hole” comes from early trappers who entered the valley from the north along relatively steep slopes, which […]
Wednesday, August 14 – Early this morning, my Dad drove my brother and me to Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park. We caught the earliest small pedestrian boat shuttle across from the south shore to the western side of the lake and to the Cascade Canyon trailhead. Dad […]
Tuesday, August 13 – This morning we drove around the Grand Tetons to take in the beautiful range from several different viewpoints. We passed the National Elk Refuge, home to an average of 7,500 elk each winter. Shortly afterwards, the Teton Range rose up dramatically from the valley […]
Monday, August 12 – After breakfast, we were impressed at the beauty of Cheyenne, the state’s capital. Although the largest city in the state, less than 90,000 people live in the metro area. I began thinking about if there truly were beaches in Cheyenne, as in Garth Brooks’ song. […]
On Sunday, August 11 – After breakfast, we drove by the famous Stanley hotel in Estes Park before beginning our tour of Rocky Mountain National Park. We entered the national park at the east side Fall River park entrance. Like many visitors, we spent most of our park […]
Saturday, August 10 – Sometimes in life you are in sore need of a vacation. It seems today I had reached that point! Going to graduate school year round, four nights a week and on Saturdays during some terms, has been challenging. Working full time, commuting up I-85 […]
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