Friday – February 17, 2012 – Today was going to be my first visit to New Mexico, the land of enchantment. In fact, New Mexico is the last western state I have never visited. Today around 17:00 p.m., I flew to Houston Hobby airport. After arriving in Houston, I grabbed […]
Saturday – January 9, 2010 – This morning we decided to head to Hollywood to visit Universal Studios. It was definitely a touristy thing to do, but it was actually a lot of fun. We saw the Shrek 4-D film, rode the Lost World rafting adventure and enjoyed […]
Friday – January 8, 2010 – Following a long night after the Rose Bowl victory, Dad and I decided to sleep as late as we wanted. After stopping at an In-N-Out burger in Long Beach for lunch, we drove through Hollywood to the valley on our way to […]
Thursday – January 7, 2010 – As college football and University of Alabama fans, it didn’t get any better than today. We were Alabama fans going to the national championship game in Pasadena where Alabama’s championship tradition began. Alabama ruled the Rose Bowl in the past and it’s […]
Wednesday – Jan. 6, 2010 – My Dad and I are lifelong, diehard fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide. I grew up going to University of Alabama football and basketball games and most of relatives are big fans. Coach Bear Bryant was like a saint in my family […]
Saturday – February 14, 2009 – Mom and I had decided to take a short trip to northern California to watch the Tour of California cycling race and go to Lake Tahoe. We flew from Birmingham to Sacramento arriving this afternoon. The prologue stage was a short time […]
Sunday – October 26, 2008 – After an enjoyable Saturday football victory over Tennessee and strolling the streets of Gatlinburg the previous evening, Dad and I woke up feeling great We learned the bear warning sign on our dumpster outside was no joke. A bear had been through our […]
Saturday – October 25, 2008 – This morning Dad and I woke up excited about watching Alabama football. We slept well at our cabin, the Stargazer, overlooking Gatlinburg. Before heading to the game, we first drove up to the Ober Gatlinburg resort to look around. The leaves were truly […]
Friday – October 24, 2008 – It’s fall and that means football in the Deep South. I reckon instead of calling the South the Bible Belt, they should call it the College Football Belt because football is THE religion in these parts. And this wasn’t just any weekend: […]
Monday – May 19, 2008 – After yesterday’s lronman race, I slept well. I was sore this morning, but I felt pretty good. After eating some breakfast, we drove to Walt Disney World and decided to tour part of the Magic Kingdom. I hadn’t been to Disney World […]
Sunday – May 18, 2008 – When I woke up this morning, I felt like a walking zombie, but I knew I had to race. I only slept a few hours because of nerves, but I had trained for years to get to the Ironman series races, so […]
Saturday – May 17, 2008 – Last night after work, I flew to Orlando on Southwest. Mom and Dad picked me up at the Orlando airport and to our cabin at Fort Wilderness in Walt Disney World. I slept pretty well and I woke up excited about competing in […]
Thursday, August 24, 2006 – We slept late today just because we could! Dad and I went to the pool one last time before we checked out of our hotel in Lahaina. We went shopping and had lunch at Whaler’s Village, before we stopped to buy some unique postcards to […]
Wednesday, August 23, 2006 – Today was our last full day in Hawaii. This morning, I had a reservations to learn something I have always wanted to try: surfing! And what better place to learn than Hawaii? From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., I took lessons at the […]
Tuesday, August 22, 2006 – We woke up at the ResortQuest Papakea and decided to do whatever we wanted during the morning. After all, we are on vacation at the beach in Maui! I went to the beach and snorkeled for a while. After lunch, Dad, Mom and […]
Monday, August 21, 2006 – After the long trip from eastern Maui on Sunday, we decided to have a relaxing day at the ResortQuest Papakea. Dad and I enjoyed the beach in the morning and snorkeled for a while. We came back to the condo for sandwiches. That […]
Sunday, August 20, 2006 – We checked out of our hotel this morning and decided to drive around the southeast tip of the island. In the past, this road was washed out and not paved in a few sections. Rental cars strongly discouraged tourists from taking it. This […]
Saturday, August 19, 2006 – This morning, we all had flights to catch from the airport at 12:30 p.m. Jeff had to take a flight to Honolulu, where he would leave for Atlanta on Sunday. Mom, Dad and I had a flight to Kahului, Maui on Aloha Airlines. […]
Friday, August 18, 2006 – Today was our last full day on the Big Island. We enjoyed another low-key day by heading to the Kings Shops in Waikoloa to look around. We ate the food court where I had some unusual Hawaiian pork barbecue sandwich at Subway. For […]
Thursday, August 17, 2006 – Today we decided to have a free day. I went out to our beach on the Kona Coast to lay in a hammock between two coconut trees for a while. Then, I lounged on the beach for a little tan. Afterwards, Jeff and […]
Wednesday, August 16, 2006 – This morning we decided to head up to the north side of the Big Island. We were about to do something really special: kayak through old irrigation ditches! It’s not really as bizarre as it sounds. Our adventure with Kohala Ditch Adventures was called […]
Tuesday, August 15, 2006 – This morning we began our first full day of this trip to Hawaii. We slept late before driving a little north to Kawaihae harbor for brunch at Café Pesto. Then we drove Highway 19 over to the other side of the Island. Along […]
Monday, August 14, 2006 – Sometimes there is nothing like a vacation to celebrate a key milestone and close out a transitional period in life. The previous Friday I finished my final exams and Dad came to the University of Alabama to help me move the big things […]
Friday, May 19, 2006 – Today was our last full day in northern California. We first visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which I have to say, is the best aquarium I have ever visited. Monterey was the capital of Alta California under both Spain and Mexico. Then we […]
Thursday, May 18, 2006 – We have had another fantastic trip to San Francisco. However, today it’s time to enjoy the beauty of the Pacific coast. Or to quote the song, “Californication” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers: “it’s the edge of the world and all of Western […]
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 – This morning Dad and I decided to rent some bikes from Blazing Saddles cycle shop. I brought my cycling clothes (except cycling shoes), so I decided to rent a proper road bike to go on a long tour. Dad rented a hybrid, but we […]
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 – This morning we packed up and said goodbye to the Tenaya Lodge. As we left the Yosemite area, we stopped to visit the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad. The narrow gauge railroad was a former logging train, but today is one-hour narrated passenger […]
Monday, May 15, 2006 – This morning, Mom decided to take it easy at the Tenaya Lodge. Dad and I decided to go into Yosemite National Park to bike and hike. We started the day by driving to the Happy Isles trailhead in Yosemite Valley. We chose the […]
Sunday, May 14, 2006 – After a great night’s sleep at the Tenaya Lodge, I woke up excited this morning for our trip into Yosemite National Park. The park is definitely one of America’s crown jewels of the National Park System. Dad was nice enough to bring breakfast […]
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, […]
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 […]
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