I was watching an extremely large man from one of the five (yes, five) cruise ships that were in port in Juneau, Alaska. The man was having trouble fitting through the door on a floatplane and two young workers were using their shoulders to gently aid his boarding. The man was wearing black shorts that […]
To get to Half Moon Bay, we had driven up U.S. 101 through crawling traffic in San Jose, dodged the pushy Porsches and Tesla jockeys of Silicon Valley, and finally twisted and turned our way over a busy road through the Santa Cruz Mountains. At the end, though, waited a quiet little farm town called […]
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I think after midnight I gave up on those stiff, piercing, westerly winds lying down. It was blowing 50 mph and the temps were in the mid-20s on Wildrose Peak, but the views were easily worth every frigid gust the Mojave Desert had to offer. I decided not to bring a tent to Death Valley […]
Walking off the plane and onto the icy runway, the message from Icelandair’s screen came to mind; the most amazing thing about Iceland is not the fact that it’s the third windiest place in the world, it’s the fact that hardly anyone lives in the first and second places. Don’t worry, Iceland is worth the […]
Many of us have New Year’s resolutions for 2019. It’s common to shoot for the stars and find out that two weeks into January our resolutions are more difficult to keep up than we thought. Not to worry! Here’s an easy resolution to stick with all year: saving wild lives. The finches at our feeders, […]
It was ten at night, and two weary travelers stood at Track 17 at Toronto’s Union Station, waiting to board The Canadian. The brochure for this flagship of Canada’s VIA Rail system had promised “comfortable accommodations” in “superior sleeper cabins,” and we were filled with the anticipation of looking out our window as the train […]
The Wilderness Hiking Speaker Series hosted by the SB Public Library on September 20, was with renowned wilderness animal tracker, interpreter, and teacher James Lowery, along with his wife, Mary E. Brooks, to more than 45 attendees. The presentation titled “Animal Tracking Secrets” is part of an ongoing series to teach all range of wilderness […]
Six-hundred miles due west of Ecuador lie the Galapagos Islands. Born of volcanic fire and lava that broke through faults in the earth’s crust on the ocean floor, the magma rose to form underwater mountains and some of the mountain tips emerged forming islands, which continues to this day. It is estimated that this archipelago […]
I think I was suffering from anxiety. Wracking my brain trying to figure out where to position myself for that rare event of a super moon, blue/blood moon and lunar eclipse, a simultaneous solar systematical natural wonder that hadn’t occurred since 1866, I had to force myself to choose. I finally settled on the Carrizo […]
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An Abbreviated Guide to the Holiday Coast of Maine (In our first thrilling installment, we took a family vacation to Maine. Today we look at popular vacation spots along the state’s coast, from north to south.) Bar Harbor Where: In what Maine folks call “Down East” (which is actually up, toward Canada). Bar Harbor lies […]
Advice from a tree: Stand tall and proud, remember you roots, reflect the light of your true nature, drink plenty of water, enjoy the view! My son Dane and daughter-in-law Alli live in Three Rivers, California. Where is that, you ask? Head for Bakersfield and Visalia, turning toward the right following the signs to get […]
“There’s No Such Thing as ‘Fun for the Whole Family’.” – Jerry Seinfeld Funny! … and true? Recently, I had the chance to run a field test. When I turned (a boyish) 70, my wife gave me a remarkable present: I could choose a trip anywhere in the world. My mind flooded with ideas: seeing […]
Salsa and cigars, rum and mojitos, music and the Tropicana nightclub, 1950s cars. Icons of Cuba. Christopher Columbus is touted to be the first tourist in 1492, but I don’t think he found a nightclub or cigars. My husband, Don, and I went to Cuba on our honeymoon in 2002 with the Museum of Art […]
The trip was called “Cruise the Face of Europe” and, in fact, it was a 15-day river trip from Amsterdam to Budapest that did just that. Not surprisingly, early outposts, ports, and villages at strategic locations along the Rhine, Main, and Danube rivers provided early opportunities of commerce and control for centuries, from Roman times […]
