the Get Rolling Orbit Biking ~ Fitness ~ Adventures ~ Inline Skating

September 16, 2026

Bolivia Adventures and a Taste of Panama

Filed under: Adventures,Photos — Tags: , , , , , — Liz Miller @ 4:36 pm
Liz & Dan in Aymaran traditional clothes

Liz & Dan in Aymaran traditional clothes

Zephyr Adventures’ Exploratory Multi-sport Adventure in Bolivia in 2026 sounded about right to us, so we signed up and brushed up on our Spanish skills.  True to form, Dan tacked on a fun visit to Panama after the group tour ended.

Bolivia’s capital city La Paz is gorgeous, the high-elevation adventures were thrilling, and getting close to the Aymaran indigenous people was precious. Our visit to Panama was the perfect way to end.

 

Enjoy our memories in chronological order here:

1. Introducing La Paz, Bolivia

2. Lake Titicaca Ruins, Tuni, Tiwanaku

3. Bolivia Extreme Sports!

4. A Taste of Panama

December 5, 2025

Holiday Greetings in 2025!

Filed under: Adventures,Photos — Tags: — Liz Miller @ 12:50 pm

XmasCard2025This was the year we finally bought an electric ski car, skied powder in Winter Park CO, marched 4 times for democracy, signed up for a number of Danville Senior Center activities, explored Baja CA in the RV, flew east to meet our new great-grandson Francis, and reunited with classmates and family on both sides of the USA. It was scary when Liz was smashed on her bike by an inattentive motorist, but she bounced back from a broken pelvis in time for the upcoming ski season. Meanwhile, Dan has taken up chess and bridge.

Our photo album mementos from 2025 are below.

X Yes, we’re still ski addicts even in our 70’s!
X Dan’s Class Reunion was a perfect excuse to see east coast family.
X We enjoyed several long and short RV vacations.
X We’re lucky to have a nice (paid off!) house and community in Danville.
We are learning Senior social skills!

December 4, 2024

Merry Christmas 2024

Filed under: Adventures,Photos — Tags: , — Liz Miller @ 10:04 am

Season’s Greetings to our friends and family!

After skiing in California and Oregon, in May we joined a bicycle tour of Austria’s Danube River paths, then split off on our own. We explored Budapest’s and Prague’s ancient centers, then savored 2 weeks on Spain’s beaches.

Summer makeovers kept us busy: both bathrooms now gleam with the latest styles and “smart” features; all interior doors were upgraded; and the exterior is freshly painted. Even our backyard pond got a full refresh and new plants. So much change! Hopefully we’re ready for life in the USA in 2025 (oy vey)!

Enjoy our year in photo albums from 2024, highlights below.

Lake Tahoe vista from atop Summit Ski lift at Alpine Meadows X We enjoyed our usual California and Oregon skiing
Historic Castle in Altea, Spain X See our Danube Bike Tour and More  albums about:

  • Eight days along the Danube, and three days in Vienna
  • A sightseeing week in Budapest, Hungary
  • A sightseeing week in Prague, Czech Republic
  • Two weeks on the Spanish Mediterranean
Relaxing under umbrellas on the Russian River X We took a few short RV trips
Daffodils X We made major improvements to the homestead
In other news

July 16, 2024

Danube Bike Tour and More

Filed under: Adventures,Biking,Photos — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — Liz Miller @ 11:36 am
Biking the Danube, a 50-mile day

Biking the Danube, resting on a 50-mile day

Dan was inspired to sign up for the  Zephyr Adventures Austria Danube River bike tour because it also gave us a chance to explore the historic city centers of Vienna, Budapest and Prague. We finished with two beach weeks in southern Spain.

After saying farewell to our fellow Zephyr cyclists (most of whom, unlike us, were on e-bikes!), we spent a couple of days getting to know the historic center of Vienna, Austria. We also met up with a boyfriend (and his wife) from Liz’s travels 48 years ago.

By train, we followed the Danube east through green fields with grids of solar panels to spend several days in beautiful Budapest, Hungary. The thermal bath visit, Hungarian Parliament and bustling street life are among our most enchanting memories here. We watched the river rise almost to flood stage due to recent deluges.

Next up, another train ride northeast through the countryside to visit Prague, Czech Republic, which turns out to be the capital city of roving British bachelor parties–due to its history as a city dedicated to beer. A sunset tour on the Vltava River and a walking tour of Prague Castle are must-do activities here!

Time for some R&R on the southeast Mediterranean beaches of Spain: We flew to Malaga, rented a car, and drove to our Airbnb in Almuñécar, a cute town with a picturesque city center.

Our final Airbnb was five hours drive up the coast, and down a dusty lane, right on the beach! In this town, we discovered another cathedral with a view, reached by climbing a series of stairs and delightful narrow streets. We enjoyed lunches at beachside cafes and sleeping with the ocean breezes and lapping waves. What a relaxing end to our vacation!

December 2, 2023

Holiday Cheer and Happy New Year!

Filed under: Adventures,Photos — Tags: , — Liz Miller @ 10:36 am

From Liz, Dan and Don

2023 Christmas card

You may have heard about last winter’s epic snow in California, allowing us a record 40+ midweek days on the slopes. We are grateful to still be aging gracefully — so far!
 
We continue to share the good life on our lovely Danville plot. To our never-ending delight, our agile little camper-van was the perfect solution for lots of California adventures in 2023. During a relatively calm travel year, our out-of-state excursions included an RV camping vacation to ski in Oregon and visit Liz’s nephew in Portland;  a mid-Summer week to New Jersey to catch up with Dan’s daughter’s family and two great-granddaughters; and a Fall RV road trip to and from Texas to attend Dan’s nephew’s wedding and commune with all the Kiblers.

See my annual holiday letter and enjoy our year in photo albums from 2023, all listed here.

November 28, 2023

New Mexico, Arizona and Texas by Campervan

Filed under: Adventures,Photos — Tags: , , , — Liz Miller @ 7:01 pm

Dan and Liz in Monument Valley

Dan and Liz in Monument Valley

Knowing we needed to be in Plano, Texas for a Kibler wedding (and big family reunion), Dan got busy plotting our route down California, across Arizona and New Mexico and way out to Plano, Texas. His itinerary was stellar as usual — we saw great scenery, and reconnected with family and friends heading east.

On the more northern return trip we spent days getting acquainted with native American landscapes, cultures, history, and ancient dwellings. Our final week was spent celebrating Thanksgiving and a birthday with Jerry Miller, the Dad in a million, who turned 95.

November 5, 2022

Seasons Greetings, 2022!

Filed under: Photos — Tags: , , — Liz Miller @ 2:09 pm

From Liz, Dan and Don

Dan outdid himself in creating fun adventures after finally retiring in January. We started by flying to Canada for a four-resort ski trip in February. Then we RV’d our way up and down California to ski, hike, bike and/or paddle-board, stopping at Rancho Miller whenever we were in Dad’s area. The summer highlight was our exploration of three epic parks in Utah’s vast canyon lands. We wrapped up with a fall road trip to the wine country in Baja California (Mexico). Between trips, Liz whispered to all the new front yard native plants. Meanwhile, and thank goodness, Don managed the homestead, blessing us with a flower garden and pet lizards.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (Christmas Card 2022)

See my annual holiday letter and enjoy our year in photo albums from 2022, all listed here. Oh, and have we bragged to you lately about the world’s two cutest great-granddaughters, Rosie and Ryan?

September 30, 2022

Southwest Utah RV Tour, 2022

Filed under: Adventures,Liz's Journal,Photos — Tags: — Liz Miller @ 3:03 pm

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.

December 28, 2021

Holiday Cheers 2021

Filed under: Photos — Liz Miller @ 12:00 pm

From Liz, Dan and Don

Despite lockdowns and pandemic surges, 2021 turned out to be a year of reconnecting to family and friends, thanks to having an RV. In addition to two multi-week road trips, we regularly used Sally (salir in Spanish means to go out) to transport our bikes or paddleboards to fun locations in the Bay Area and as our own portable bistro. In early December, we spent two weeks in Baja California for adventures on and in the Sea of Cortez. And on the home front, we finally installed a beautifully designed front yard with California native (drought tolerant) plants, just in time for the rainy (fingers crossed!) season.

Christmas card 2021

See my annual holiday letter and enjoy our year in photo albums from 2021, all listed here.

December 1, 2020

Happy (and safe) Holidays to you! (2020)

Filed under: Photos — Liz Miller @ 12:48 pm

From Liz, Dan and Don

Boy, do we all need to celebrate making it through 2020! We felt very fortunate to have skied through mid-March in 2020, including a trip to Japan — before the pandemic lockdowns sent us home for the rest of the year. Like everyone else, we adapted: biking, doing a lot of hiking, and exploring new places to go stand-up paddle boarding. In November, after months of research, we found and purchased a barely-used 2020 Winnebago Revel (Mercedes Benz) campervan! Our plans to visit Dad four hours south fell through due to high coronavirus numbers, but with vaccinations on the horizon, we expect to have plenty of RV adventures to share by this time next year.

Click here to jump below our card.

2020 Events and Travels


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Skiing in Hokkaido, Japan

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. Truly an excellent adventure for January, and just in time!
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August Road Trip to Hike in Montana

We grew restless after sheltering in place the second half of ski season and all spring at home. When Zephyr Adventures announced a safety-adjusted Beartooth Hiking Adventure in Red Lodge, Montana, we jumped at the chance to plan a camping road trip to and from the location, including two days in Yellowstone National Park. Of course, we followed strict safety protocols for our two weeks among the Sturgis motorcycle rally folks passing through the region.
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Local Recreation in Covid Times

Dan worked successfully from home with only a brief layoff, and solidly retired Liz did Fitbit online workouts, Zoom Yoga classes and local hikes with a pal. We prioritized local weekend adventures outdoors, feeling grateful to live in such an outdoors-friendly climate.
X

Home and Hometown

The Wembly habitat is a wonderful place to spend a pandemic shutdown. Don was like the Energizer Bunny over summer, planting a stupendous display of flowers, helping us with the pandemic garden experiment, keeping up with the raking and managing the swimming pool. A few home improvement projects kept us all busy off and on.
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