Redwood National Park

Redwood National Park

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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…

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Crater Lake National Park

Crater Lake National Park

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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….

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Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

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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…

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Scotland

Scotland

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Now that my daughter is married, it’s harder to drag her away for a trip. My friend Kelly can only plan one trip a year with me as she goes to lots of horse clinics (she’s quite the equestrian) plus feels like she has to save SOME vacation time for her husband. So, I travel solo sometimes. I’ve been to Canada on my own, visiting Montana and North Dakota on the way home from Banff and Jasper. And I’ve been…

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Morocco

Morocco

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Morocco has been on my must-see list for ages. Kelly and I planned this for a few weeks after my daughter’s wedding, September of 2017. It took us a while to finalize our plans. There is so much to see in this gorgeous country. And all the travel sites and blogs I read about Morocco and lists of “top things to see and do” made it difficult as I wanted to see it all. We both earn a decent amount…

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Myanmar

Myanmar

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“I’m in Burma.” “Burma?” “You most likely know it as Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to me.” – Seinfeld, Mr. Peterman to Elaine Burma. The Golden Land. Kelly and I went to Myanmar in late February 2017 for fifteen days. We planned our trip using trip.me, a travel consolidator that works with local travel companies in dozens of countries. As we usually do when planning a trip, Kelly and I did plenty of research on our own, determining…

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Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park

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I planned a busy two weeks in Colorado. I was going to attend the Great American Beer Festival with my friends, Elizabeth and Lauren, who lived in Longmont. I wasn’t going to go all that way just for a day of drinking, however, so planned time in Denver and Rocky Mountain National Park, too. I left Thursday, September 29th, for the Quad Cities and had dinner with my daughter, Alex, and her boyfriend, Mike. I spent the night there then…

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Wild About Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe

Wild About Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe

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An African “Safari”! One of many items on my travel wish list. My friend, Kelly, her husband, Manny, my daughter, Alex, her boyfriend, now husband, Mike, and my friend Leslie all went to Africa in October 2015. Kelly, Leslie, and I all worked together and did our research and planning over lunches in the breakroom. After comparing many companies, reading reviews, and comparing routes, we decided to use Wild About Africa. The specific itinerary we booked is no longer available, but…

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Banff, Yoho, and Jasper National Parks

Banff, Yoho, and Jasper National Parks

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Mike, my daughter’s boyfriend, now her husband, was talking about racing in the Tour Divide when they visited, Christmas 2014. This is a self-supporting bike race from Banff, Alberta, Canada along the Rockies to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, 2745 miles. He was talking about flying up and wondering how to pack his bike and his supplies. I, mostly joking at that point, said, I’ve never been to Banff so if you need someone to drive you there, I will. He…

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Switzerland

Switzerland

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I invited Alex on a short holiday trip with me, over Thanksgiving week. She was able to get a few days off work. I booked a 3-city Switzerland tour with Go-Today. We left Saturday, November 22, from Peoria, via Chicago to Zurich.     Zurich We arrived about 1100 on Sunday. After getting through customs we took the train to town and walked to our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Arlette Beim, a nice old-fashioned place very close to…

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