Travel
There is so much to see and enjoy in the world. Janis loves to take advantage of the flying privileges she has as a flight attendant. I, on the other hand, am not a fan of long distant flights and prefer to do road trips. We do what we can to resolve these sometimes conflicting priorities and really enjoy traveling together.
Janis in New Zealand
The first of December 2009 Janis went to New Zealand with her friend Kay Heaton. They spent two weeks touring Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown. They took a scenic trainride from Christchurch to Greymouth, toured wineries and botanical gardens, and enjoyed the beautiful country.
The photo is taken during a boat ride in Doubtful Sound out to the Tasman Sea.
New Zealand 09 Photo Album
Summer Road Trip 2009
After my Cycle Montana adventure, Janis joined me and we spent two weeks on the road in the north west. We visited Glacier National Park, Seattle, and then made our way down the coast. The photos to the left were taken while at Sunset Beach State Park in Oregon.
We visited a rose garden, climbed Humbug Mountain and hiked Fern Canyon on the way south.
We stopped in Santa Cruz to see Eric and Karen and went with them house shopping and saw the house they eventually purchased in October.
As usual, even though we saw really beautiful places, we loved coming home. San Luis Obispo is a great home base.
Road Trip Summer 09 Photo Album
Spring in the Desert: Anza Borrego
Over the years Janis and I have traveled to the desert during the spring to enjoy the wildflowers and start the summer with some warm dry days.
This year we returned to Anza Borrego in southern California for about the 4th time. As usual we took some of our favorite hikes to the park's palm groves as shown to the left but added a new trip to the Borrego Badlands and a hike down a slot canyon.
On our way home we drove through Joshua Tree National Park and hiked the Ryan Mountain Trail. Joshua Tree was beautiful and we plan on returning the in the future.
The photos in the album are from past trips to Anza Borrego in addition to the ones we took this year.
Anza Borrego 2009 Photo Album
Janis & William in Hawaii
In January Janis and I took a trip to the big island – Hawaii. We rented a car and stayed in Kona, Volcano Village, Waimea and Captain Cook as we explored the whole island. It was a great first trip and we want to go back to revisit some of our favorite places and see some of the places we missed.
The two images are from our visit to the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden just north of Hilo. It includes a really spectacular array of flowers.
Hawaii Trip 2008 Photo Album
Summer Road Trip 2008
Janis and I did an extended road trip through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana to Utah where Janis got on a plane and went to work. I continued to Colorado to see the Kids and grandchildren and then back home. The images are from this trip and if you go to the 2008-Summer Road Trip album you can see more images.
Castle Crags
Our first stop was Castle Crags State Park in northern California to stay the night and hike the crags (first two photos).
The hike climbs about 2000 feet in 3 miles. It just keeps going up. We stopped about 1/4 mile short of the top to make sure that I could make it back because of my hip.
The decision turned out to be a good one because I just barely made it back. However, the hike was is really beautiful and spectacular.
Stub Stewart
We headed north to the Portland area where we stayed in Stub Stewart Sate Park and rode the Banks-Vernonia Sate Trail and excellent rail- trail. The park is new and the trail is really beautiful as it passes through lush forest.
Tacoma
The next stop was Gig Harbor near Tacoma where we camped and spent time with Julie before she left for the middle east as part of the course she was taking at Evergreen College. We had a great visit with Julie and spend two delightful evenings with Katie and Mike Hammond in their beautiful home overlooking the sound. Janis and I spent a day riding the Chehalis Western Trail rails-trail and a day in downtown Tacoma that included a great visit to the Museum of Glass.
When we left Tacoma we headed west with stops at Palouse Falls and Steptoe Butte as we made our way to Coeur d'Alene.
Coeur d'Alene
Janis and I met Ralph & Kathy at Heyburn State Park in Idaho to ride the Coeur d'Alene Rails-To-Trails trail (last three photos). This was one of the goals of our trip.
We rode two 40 mile sections of the trail on two successive days. The sections we rode were predominantly along the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene, over the pedestrian/bike bridge across the lake shown in the photo and along the Coeur d'Alene river. This is a really beautiful rail-trail for cycling. If you go, plan to stop in Harrison for lunch or dinner.
Salt Lake City
From there we headed south to Sal Lake City where we saw Shane at the outdoor trade show and Janis and I rode the Provo Canyon portion of the Provo River Parkway rail-trail. Our trip together ended when I put Janis on the plane to work and continued to Colorado for a visit with Peter, Misty and the grand kids.
Colorado & Home
We all camped north of Aspen for a week and rode the trails around Aspen each day. After that I headed home followed by the Groves-Benedict's who ended up camping near the beach in Grover Beach. After a great extended visit Peter, Misty and kids left for their extended Sabbatical trip. A link to their travel site is on the Home page.
Janis in Austria
In September, Janis and her friend Jeannie spent two weeks hiking in the mountains of Seefeld, Austria and Castlerotto, Italy on a trip organized by Elderhostel. There were hikes almost every day and stays in nice, local inns. Each hike had a local guide who provided information on the geography, history and culture of the area. In addition, Janis and Jeannie visited Munich, Germany, Innsbruck, Austria and Bergamo, Italy. Train travel in Europe is easy and wonderful.
This photo was taken on one of our hikes in the Dolomite region of Northern Italy and is typical of the views, clear weather and brisk temperatures. You can see more photos from the trip at the Janis in Austria 2008 photo album.