Hiking Posts
Great hike in Redwoods – Tall Trees Grove, CA
The Tall Trees Grove trail is a great, shorter hike near Orick, California with access to some amazing Redwoods. The Tall Trees Grove is in a valley around Redwood Creek, so the trees there are surrounded by 4-5 foot tall ferns and a variety of smaller trees. The...
Incredible Oregon Scenery – Columbia River Gorge
We drove up the Columbia River Gorge to do some hiking and take photos of the amazing scenery. The Columbia River Gorge has the greatest concentration of high waterfalls in North America. We were able to visit three of them in a short day's drive, and still had time...
Rail Trails – Banks-Vernonia State Trail
Banks-Vernonia State Trail is a 21 mile easy-grade, linear rail trail from Banks, Oregon to Vernonia, Oregon. The Banks-Vernonia State Trail is the first rail trail in Oregon, and repurposes a route that was once used to haul lumber from old-growth forests to...
Unbelievable natural scenery – Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park is home to the world's largest grouping of hoodoos. Hoodoos are the distinctive rock formations found throughout Bryce Canyon. The hoodoos are are pillars of sandstone and other fine-grained sedimentary rock created by the processes of...
Incredible scenery and outdoor adventures – Zion National Park, Utah
Zion National Park is Utah's first national park. It was granted national park status in 1919, after starting out as Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. “Mukuntuweap” is the Paiute Indian word for “straight canyon” or “straight river” . The main focus of Zion...
Amazing scenery and Northern Lights – Winter trip to Fairbanks, AK
October proved to be a great time to visit Fairbanks, Alaska. Fairbanks is located approximately 350 miles North of Anchorage and 500 miles South of Prudhoe Bay, on the Northern Coast of Alaska. Fairbanks is also located approximately 200 road miles (140 air miles)...
Amazing trip to the Scottish Isles – Scotland Bike and Schooner
We've done four bike and barge trips now, and they just keep getting better and better! If you aren't familiar, bike and barges are trips where you live on a boat for the duration of trip but then the boat takes you to several different locations for you to bicycle...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 2 – Crinan to Island of Jura
Our second day of biking was a short circular ride from Crinan to several fascinating historical sites on the peninsula North of Crinan. We started out down the canal path and quickly passes the first of several locks we'd see along the canal. We were lucky enough to...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 1 – Oban to Toberonochy
This was the first full day of our bike and barge trip to the Islays of Scotland, after a terrible travel experience the day prior. We had a nice combination of bikes provided by the tour company, I think it was about a 60/40 ratio of e-bikes to conventional bikes. We...
Steep Hike to Scenic Overlook – Seneca Rocks, WV
Seneca Rocks are a very recognizable formation that juts more than 900 feet above the North Fork River in the Monongahela National Forest. There is a very nice visitor center at the base of the rocks that features a gift shop, rest rooms, and viewing deck. The hike to...
Biking Posts
US National Whitewater Center – Charlotte NC
The US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte NC has 1,300 acres of protected land offering 40 miles of mountain bike and hiking trails; the world’s largest man made, recirculating whitewater river; a large ropes course and zip...
Rail Trails – Banks-Vernonia State Trail
Banks-Vernonia State Trail is a 21 mile easy-grade, linear rail trail from Banks, Oregon to Vernonia, Oregon. The Banks-Vernonia State Trail is the first rail trail in Oregon, and repurposes a route that was once used to haul lumber from old-growth forests to...
Incredible scenery and outdoor adventures – Zion National Park, Utah
Zion National Park is Utah's first national park. It was granted national park status in 1919, after starting out as Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. “Mukuntuweap” is the Paiute Indian word for “straight canyon” or “straight river” . The main focus of Zion...
Amazing trip to the Scottish Isles – Scotland Bike and Schooner
We've done four bike and barge trips now, and they just keep getting better and better! If you aren't familiar, bike and barges are trips where you live on a boat for the duration of trip but then the boat takes you to several different locations for you to bicycle...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 6 – Tobermory to Glengorm Castle
Our last day on the bikes unfortunately started out as another wet one. Because of the weather forecast and steady morning rain, only about half of the riders made the revised ride to Glengorm Castle and back. The revised ride was only about 12 miles (19 km) round...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 5 – Salen to Tobermory
Bike day 5 was our first rainy day of the trip. Because of the rain we waved off the side trip (10 miles round trip) to the brilliant white beach of Calgary Bay and continued directly back to Tobermory. The Flying Dutchman made the short trip in the morning to drop us...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 4 – Mull Island: Duart Castle to Salen and to Tobermory
Our bike ride for the fourth day started with a drop off at the Inverlussa Mussel Farm in Loch Spelve on the Isle of Mull. The Mussel Farm was only one of the farming operations on the Loch with several other mussel and salmon farms apparent across the bay. This was...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 3 – Isle of Jura to Isle of Mull
Our third biking day we cycled from the South end of Jura at Craighouse, nearly to the North end in Ardlussa, for a ride of 17 miles (27 km). The word, 'isolated' was made for Jura, it can only be reached by ferry. George Orwell, who stayed here while he wrote 1984,...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 2 – Crinan to Island of Jura
Our second day of biking was a short circular ride from Crinan to several fascinating historical sites on the peninsula North of Crinan. We started out down the canal path and quickly passes the first of several locks we'd see along the canal. We were lucky enough to...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 1 – Oban to Toberonochy
This was the first full day of our bike and barge trip to the Islays of Scotland, after a terrible travel experience the day prior. We had a nice combination of bikes provided by the tour company, I think it was about a 60/40 ratio of e-bikes to conventional bikes. We...
Skiing Posts
Ski trip to Sierra Nevada, Southern Europe’s Highest Peak
We recently spent several days snow skiing at Spain's Sierra Nevada Ski Resort. What an incredible experience! There are at least five reasons we think Sierra Nevada is one of the ski world's best kept secrets, and wouldn't be surprised to see it experience huge...
Sightseeing Posts
Great hike in Redwoods – Tall Trees Grove, CA
The Tall Trees Grove trail is a great, shorter hike near Orick, California with access to some amazing Redwoods. The Tall Trees Grove is in a valley around Redwood Creek, so the trees there are surrounded by 4-5 foot tall ferns and a variety of smaller trees. The...
Incredible Oregon Scenery – Columbia River Gorge
We drove up the Columbia River Gorge to do some hiking and take photos of the amazing scenery. The Columbia River Gorge has the greatest concentration of high waterfalls in North America. We were able to visit three of them in a short day's drive, and still had time...
Total Solar Eclipse 24 – Lake Wappapello MO
Here are some photos and thoughts from capturing Total Solar Eclipse 24 on April 8, from Lake Wappapello State Park, MO. This was my second try at photographing an eclipse. The first one was the Annular Eclipse on Oct 14, 2023, which I captured at Zion National Park,...
Unbelievable natural scenery – Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park is home to the world's largest grouping of hoodoos. Hoodoos are the distinctive rock formations found throughout Bryce Canyon. The hoodoos are are pillars of sandstone and other fine-grained sedimentary rock created by the processes of...
Incredible scenery and outdoor adventures – Zion National Park, Utah
Zion National Park is Utah's first national park. It was granted national park status in 1919, after starting out as Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. “Mukuntuweap” is the Paiute Indian word for “straight canyon” or “straight river” . The main focus of Zion...
Visit to Gatorland – Best Florida Bird Rookery
Gatorland is a 110-acre theme park, wildlife preserve, and bird rookery in Florida, located south of Orlando. Gatorland is billed as the "Alligator Capital of the World," and features thousands of alligators (including rare leucistic alligators), crocodiles, and many...
Amazing scenery and Northern Lights – Winter trip to Fairbanks, AK
October proved to be a great time to visit Fairbanks, Alaska. Fairbanks is located approximately 350 miles North of Anchorage and 500 miles South of Prudhoe Bay, on the Northern Coast of Alaska. Fairbanks is also located approximately 200 road miles (140 air miles)...
Amazing trip to the Scottish Isles – Scotland Bike and Schooner
We've done four bike and barge trips now, and they just keep getting better and better! If you aren't familiar, bike and barges are trips where you live on a boat for the duration of trip but then the boat takes you to several different locations for you to bicycle...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 7 – Edinburgh
On the 7th day we departed early from the ship and traveled by bus to our hotel in South Queensferry, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Queensferry is known for it's three bridges that all cross the Firth of Forth to North Queensferry. On the way into Queensferry, we...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 6 – Tobermory to Glengorm Castle
Our last day on the bikes unfortunately started out as another wet one. Because of the weather forecast and steady morning rain, only about half of the riders made the revised ride to Glengorm Castle and back. The revised ride was only about 12 miles (19 km) round...
