We arrived in Nice on Monday afternoon and spent Monday and Tuesday in the city before taking a train to Monaco for the day on Wednesday morning. A number of sites recommend taking the #82 bus for the beautiful views but the train only takes 20 minutes and the Nice train station was close and convenient. We caught the 0821 train and were in Monaco before 0900. Leaving the train station, it took us a few minutes to get oriented. I had printed some…
WI’ve visited Paris twice, once when I was living in West Germany in the 80s and my daughter and I visited London and Paris for about two weeks in 2001. We flew into London and took the Eurostar to Paris. We visited Versailles for a day, but I’ve not been to any other part of France until this trip. After deciding to visit Cinque Terre, Kelly and I discussed “where else?” There was talk of some time in Tuscany or other…
I’ve been to Italy several times. My daughter and I spent a week in Florence and Venice in the late 90s. We returned in 2001 for a week in Rome. Rome needs more time, there is so much to see in this amazing, ancient city. I definitely hope to visit again. I did returned to Venice a few years ago with my friend, Kelly. We visited at the end of a trip to Croatia and Slovenia in 2014. We stayed in Venice for 3 nights before flying home…
I was thinking about and planning for my retirement for months. Well, planning for years, of course, like you should when it comes to saving and investing. But ever since attending my friend Judy’s retirement reception last October I was counting the days, too. So March 28th, 2019, I walked out the door at work for the last time, and went to my own retirement reception. I had a great night with lots of friends I’ve made in the past…
From Bellingham, I drove south on I-5, then took Highway 20 at Burlington to Whidbey Island to get on the ferry at Coupeville. It really shortens the trip not having to drive south of Seattle then back to the Olympic peninsula. The ferry lands at Port Townsend and it’s an easy hour drive to Port Angeles and the main visitor center at the park. I visited with my daughter and son-in-law. After arriving at the park, we got some trail…
After leaving Seattle, I spent the night in Everett, as it was getting late and the weather was turning bad. Then after a lazy, rainy morning, I drove to the North Cascades. I don’t recall if I had been here with my family as a kid but thought I should visit. I was not really feeling excited about the visit, but I was so close, I felt obligated. Fortunately, after a mostly overcast, rainy drive, it cleared off to beautifully…
I only spent a rainy afternoon in Mount Rainer, pretty much driving through, so don’t have a lot to say about it. It deserves more time, but I was driving north from Oregon to Bellingham, Washington, and it was essentially a short detour. I got there a bit after noon, paid $30 to enter, then stopped at the Nisqually Ranger Station to get a map of the trails and talk with a ranger. There are no trails for pets in…
I thought Redwood was “just” another park in the National Park System, but was surprised to find it’s a combination of 3 California State Parks and a National Park. California created their protection for the redwoods in the 1920s but it took until 1969 for the federal government to create a National Park. California fortunately acted “early” to protect these forests saving some of these trees, but outside the state parks, 95%, NINETY-FIVE PERCENT, of the trees were logged before…
I was here many, many years ago with my parents and sisters. I know that from family pictures but really didn’t remember visiting. I’ve been wanting to return to Crater Lake and Oregon for several years. I made reservations at Mazama Campground on the park grounds before leaving but unfortunately they were cancelled when I was en route. They were performing hazardous tree removal and it was taking longer than expected. I found another campground just south of Klamath Falls….
I returned to Denver in late September 2018 to visit my friends Elizabeth and Lauren. We decided to go to the Great American Beer Festival again. We had attended in 2016 and had a great time. So I drove out to Denver a day early and spent the night with them. We did the member session from 12-4 at the convention center and stayed downtown for the night. After all our day-drinking, we returned to Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs. I…