After a spring and summer of almost monthly 4-5 day RV trips, the opportunity to take a longer tour kicked off with Liz’s “Class of 70 Turns 70” COVID-delayed reunion. Camping at Dad’s gave us the opportunity to check out his organic garden and do our traditional morning hike on the beach. On Sunday morning, we waved goodbye and headed east to explore the national parks and monuments of Southwestern Utah we’d missed on previous trips. We learned that every national park in the region has its own distinct flavor of awesome that really must be seen in person to be appreciated fully. That said, here are the photo albums attempting to share our experience.
Archive for the ‘Liz’s Journal’ Category
Southwest Utah RV Tour, 2022
Friday, September 30th, 2022COVID Summer Road Trip 2020
Thursday, August 27th, 2020
Glacier Lake in the Beartooth Mountains
The natives were restless after spending 6 months in home quarantine against the COVID-19 pandemic. When Zephyr Adventures announced their safety-adjusted Beartooth Hiking Adventure based in Red Lodge, Montana in August, we immediately signed up, and started planning a road trip to and from the location. Dan mapped out outbound and return routes that included two days in Yellowstone National Park and a first-time look at the incredible Leslie Gulch in Oregon. We wore masks around other people for the entire 2 weeks.
Japan Photo Albums 2020
Saturday, February 15th, 2020
Dan had a dream, to ski the famous bottomless dry powder of northern Japan, known as “JaPow”! So he signed us up with a company called “Savour the Journey,” specializing in both skiing and food.
Liz dreamed of being able to communicate with the natives, so she immediately started working through the Duolingo Japanese lessons in order to master the basics: “Hello, thank you, where are the toilets? English menu please.”
Iceland Photo Albums 2019
Tuesday, August 27th, 2019
Storurdh, formed by volcanic activity in eastern Iceland
Dan and Liz spent two weeks in Iceland, the first with Kim and Rich (daughter and son-in-law), and the second week with Zephyr Adventures. The large number of albums below reflects how much gorgeous scenery we saw there! Iceland is truly a nature lover’s paradise.
Happy Holidays 2018!
Monday, December 10th, 2018Happy Holidays to You, Happy Retirement to Us!
From Liz, Dan and Don
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2018 Events and Travels
Ode to Fall in Danville, CA
Friday, November 16th, 2018
Art by Nature
As a new retiree, I have time to take long walks with eyes wide open. Here are the word pictures Mother Nature shared with me this Fall:
Neighborhood sycamore trees shamelessly flaunt their Autumn glory like can-can dancers flashing gold and red skirts. A single glorious specimen hosts clusters of yellow, green, orange and magenta leaves, blending into the graduated shades of a Neapolitan popsicle. Later in the season they prolonged the show with an elegant starburst of tenacious orange clingers on near-bare branches.
Stepping Into Routines
Friday, August 24th, 2018
our Santiago gym
We have joined a gym, go out daily for long walks and groceries, go up and down the apartment stairwell to warm up, sit with our Kindles in a nearby coffee shop, and still we have too much spare time here. Like real retirement? 😉
Dan and I are sometimes “hermited” in our bedroom. When Julia occasionally hosts a lady friend in the living room, we are looking at our phones, catching up on news, politics and Facebook. That said, she spends most of her time in the guest bedroom, into which she has moved so that we could have the master for ourselves.
We take turns using the miniscule kitchen, and sometimes we three share dinner cooked by Dan. Ella es muy simpatica, pero no habla Ingles. Sometimes we are all at our phones taking Duolingo lessons, Julia included.
Reality Check
Friday, August 17th, 2018
We arrived in Santiago, Chile yesterday morning but our skis and luggage didn’t make it due to a tight connection in Dallas. However we were welcomed with open arms by our kind hostess Julia Romero, who is charging us a modest amount to use her spare bedroom for 5 weeks. Now that we’re here, I realize we are using her own master bedroom, which she totally cleared out to accommodate us! This isn’t something she does regularly, but it happened because of a connection involving one of my co-workers’ parents.
Holiday Greetings
Sunday, December 24th, 2017Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
From Liz, Dan and Don
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2017 Events and Travels
Win Some Lose Some
Friday, November 3rd, 2017
Dan and Liz at the top of Mt. Diablo — PHEW!
Soon after the New York terrorist mowed down and killed several people on a bike path, a CNN story, Why we’ll never stop biking, caught my eye. As I read it, I found a resonating quote:
“A bicycle is a human-powered machine weighing next to nothing that can travel easily at 10-15 mph, needs only a surface on which to move, is not limited to transit schedules or beholden to fuel prices, does not pollute the environment or require large parking spaces, has demonstrable benefits to the health of individuals and the strength of economies, is easily repaired, costs nothing to operate, and is, above all, really, really fun to use.”