2023 – Late April – Carlsbad Caverns NP, Guadalupe Mountains NP

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Carlsbad Caverns

Wildflowers, along the backroads to our next destination, announce that spring is in full swing.  Here in Texas it has been on display for a while.  Bluebonnets, the Texas state flower, are on their way out, replaced by paintbrush, primrose, and blanket flowers.  There are more, but I only see them as blankets of buttery yellows, through oranges on the color palette.  Other places have pinks, whites and reds.  Our first hour’s drive is full of exciting colors.

2023 – Early February – Grand Canyon NP

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Image captions note the locations where the images were taken.

Maricopa Point

After a several hour drive from Kingman, AZ, we stop in Ash Fork, AZ to stretch our legs.  The first place we see is the Ash Fork Historical Society Museum.  We enjoy visiting museums, so we stopped.  A volunteer welcomes us, “This is a hands-on museum.”  “Feel free to sit with the characters playing cards, try on the fire fighting gear, and sit in the old car.”  I can’t remember if it was a model T or A.  We have a great time doing ‘hands-on’  We spend an hour looking, then another half hour listening to our docent tell stories of the area.  It’s a great little local museum to visit.

2023 – Early February – Death Valley NP

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Mesquite Flat Dunes

Our destination is Death Valley National Park.  Last year, we spotted openings for Gary Hart’s Death Valley photography workshop, it fills fast, within a couple days of it opening.   We jump on it immediately.  A couple years ago we attended his Yosemite Valley workshop.  We enjoy attending his workshops, in our eyes, he is an outstanding landscape photographer.  Gary shares his knowledge, teaching us to plan our shots then, applying it to our own photography.  Between shooting sessions, we have group image critiques, we see everybody’s selected image, then learn ways to look at them differently, possibly improving them.

2022 Early December - Chile, Antarctica

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Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas

Our flight arrives in Punta Arenas at 800 AM.  We were able to doze a bit during the flight, but no real sleep.  It is cool, 50’s, and windy as we arrive, coat time.  There is no traffic on our 20-minute taxi ride to the hotel.  Punta Arenas has a population of 127,000, very small in comparison to the multi millions we’ve experienced in the big cities.  We arrive at the hotel at 830, the room is not ready.  We sit for a while searching the internet for a nearby restaurant.  We find a coffee shop/restaurant three blocks away. 
We pass the time, coffee for Nicida, hot chocolate for me, breakfast for both.  Returning to our hotel, we find our room is ready.  We settle in, relaxing a bit, before heading out for groceries.  It is convenient being in a small town, almost everything we need is within a three-block radius of the hotel.  After shopping we stroll down to the water, the Straits of Magellan.  The wind is still blowing, the deep blue water is covered with marching whitecaps.  Tomorrow, we learn about our Antarctic Expedition.

2022 Late November - Brazil

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Foz do Iguazú , Brazil

Iguazú Falls

Our trip starts with a 330 alarm.  It’s a 2-hour flight to Foz do Iguazú, the city on the Brazilian side of the Iguazú falls.  The Iguazú River in this area forms the border between Brazil and Argentina.  We are touring both sides of the falls, adding another country to our trip.

Sitting in the window seat I study the passing terrain.  Once away from Sao Paulo the land opens into forests and rolling ranch land.  Approaching Foz do Iguazú the land flattens out.  It is so green, and flat, I feel I am looking down on an huge empty pool table. 

We are staying in a home/hotel with two independent rooms.  It is in a quiet residential neighborhood, within walking distance of restaurants and shops.

2022 Late November - Brazil

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Keeping a Promise

Sao Paulo Metropolitan
Cathedral

The idea of our trip starts with Nicida fulfilling a promise she made to herself six years ago.  She mentioned it to me when we first met.

Six years ago she was recovering from major surgery, staying home for a month.  It happened during the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.  She couldn’t do anything during that month, so she watched the Olympics; eight to ten hours a day.  During breaks in the action, NBC filled in with special interest pieces; people, foods, places to go.  A hike up a trail ending on the top of a 2,769’ monolith overlooking Rio de Janeiro caught her attention.

2022 – Late May – Exploring Greece – Athens

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On the road

Acropolis

Our ride to Piraeus is smooth and uneventful.  We meet a friend of the family, and former taxi driver, he knows the best way to get across town.  We arrive at our apartment in less than hour.  Glyfada, a suburb of Athens is filled with shops, restaurants and cafes.  Locals are out enjoying their evening.  After emptying our bags and getting familiar with the apartment we head out to see what’s in the area.  Walking several blocks, we see the restaurants are full and curiously we see everything but Greek cuisine.  We start our search for a market.  After getting directions we find a mini market for water and a few basics to eat.  In addition to the mini market, we keep an eye out for pharmacies.  Pharmacies in Greece do Covid tests, which we will need within a day of our flight back to the States.

2022 – Late May – Exploring Greece – The Islands: Santorini, Mykonos

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Sunset on Santorini

We wake early for our Sea Jet ride to Santorini. The port is only a few blocks away, but we decide to use a taxi, the driver will know where to take us.  The line of people is long, and we get directed to another, shorter line, then are directed on to the ship.  We scramble with the other passengers finding a spot for our luggage.  We find the cabin quite spacious, with comfortable chairs.  We sit close to the ticket desk watching all the activity.  These somewhat smaller boats did not sail the past two days due to the high winds and turbulent water so lots of people are boarding.  Keep in mind ‘smaller ship’ is a relative term, it still has room for a few dozen vehicles.  The boat serves food, so we pick up a couple spinach pies for breakfast.  The ride is quite smooth given the water conditions the past two days.  We arrive in Santorini in two hours.

2022 – Mid May – Exploring Greece – The Islands: Crete

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Koules Fortress

Our flight to Heraklion, Crete leaves at 1130 AM from the Athens international airport.  We start our drive from Corinth, about 50 miles away.  Personally, I am concerned of having to drive through Athens, the airport is literally on the opposite side of town.  The only thing we have going for us is that it is Sunday, hopefully Athenians will still be in bed, or at least not on the road.

2022 – Early/Mid May – Exploring Greece – The Peloponnese: Olympia, Monemvasia, Nafplio, Epidaurus, Corinth

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On the road

Temple of Zeus

Passing over the Patras Bridge we enter the Peloponnese, a separate peninsula of land in the south of Greece.  The land quickly flattens out with many ranches, orchards and farms.  We see the Ionian Sea off to the west before turning east climbing back into the mountains approaching Olympia.