Category: Travels

Ghost Town

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Bodie was a thriving gold and silver mining boomtown in the late 1800’s, home to many thousands (and many dozens of saloons) before falling into decline in the 1900’s.  It was eventually completely abandoned in the 1950’s and became a state historic park in 1962.  Many buildings remain standing and still contain the furniture, appliances, equipment, stores and even personal items left behind.

I’ve visited Bodie a number of times before, including in the winter, but this time was with Darlene on our way over to see the fall colors in the Eastern Sierra.  My first visit was with my family back in 1979 so I managed to dig up and scan in a few old photos of me and my brother Glenn from 35 years ago.

Click through for the full gallery:

   

Twelve Days of Croatia

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Darlene and I recently enjoyed a twelve day trip to Croatia, booked through REI Adventures.  (June 27th to July 9th)

Our trip started in Zagreb and we worked our way south through Dalmatia and down to Dubrovnik, with a side excursion through Bosnia-Herzegovina.  As an active, multi-sport trip, we enjoyed lots of hiking, biking, river and sea kayaking, as well as just seeing and exploring various sites along the way.

Here’s a video montage I put together covering much of our trip:

I’ve organized the pictures into four different galleries:

Days 1 -4:  Zagreb, Plitvice Lakes National Park, Zrmanja and Krupa Rivers, and Novigrad

  

Days 5-7:  Paklenica National Park, Vrgada Island, Skradin, Krka National Park, and Trogir

  

Days 8-9:  Split, Trebižat River, Mostar, and Ston

  

Days 9-12:  Dubrovnik, Zaton and the Elafiti Islands

  

 

Eastern Sierra Cycling Weekend

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Here are some pictures and video from a few days of cycling and camping in the Eastern Sierra in and around the Mono Lake Basin, Mammoth and June lakes, Long Valley and Rock Creek Canyon over May 24th-27th.  It was Darlene’s first time seeing the area.  We came over by way of highway 108 and Sonora Pass and down through Bridgeport and Lee Vining to camp out on national forest land near highway 395 and June Lake on Saturday night.

Mono Lake (click for full gallery)
Mono Lake (click for full gallery)

Sunday we set out for a bike ride to the South Tufa area at Mono Lake via the June Lake loop.  That worked out to about 38 miles.  Afterward, we stopped in for groceries at Mammoth Lakes and then set out on Benton Crossing Road to find a nice spot in the rocky hills east of Crowley Lake to use as our base camp Sunday and Monday nights.  That night I was up late exploring the wonderfully dark (and moonless) skies with my telescope.

Long Valley looking towards Mammoth
Long Valley looking towards Mammoth (click for full gallery)

Monday morning we left our camp standing and drove into Tom’s Place at the base of Rock Creek Canyon to set off on our bikes to climb the 2600 ft. up to Rock Creek Lake (at 9682 ft).  Alas, there was to be no Pie in the Sky today at the Rock Creek Lodge so lunch was back down at Tom’s Place.

After breaking camp on Tuesday we stopped in at Mammoth Lakes again for breakfast and a bit of shopping before heading home, this time via Yosemite and Tioga Pass/Road.

Norwegian Road Trip

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After our week in Scotland, we were off to see a bit of Norway! (September 19th-30th, 2013)   Our first day was just an air travel day from Edinburgh through Heathrow and on to Oslo, with some extra time lost having to return to the airport to pick up our delayed baggage.  But the next day we would travel from Oslo to Bergen on one of the “Norway in a Nutshell” tours with Jane, Janie, Darlene’s sister Shel and her extended family before picking up a rental car to explore more of Norway on our own.

I’ve organized these pictures and videos into five separate galleries:

Days 1-2: “Norway in a Nutshell” Tour

Days 3-4: Aurlandsfjord

Days 5-7: Jostedalsbreen and Sognefjord

Days 8-9: Geirangerfjord and Trollstigen

Day 10: Oslo

A Week in Scotland

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These are pictures from a week-long trip touring central Scotland (September 12th-18th, 2013) with Darlene and her friends, Jane and Janie, before continuing on to Norway. I’ve organized the Scotland portion of the trip into three separate galleries:

Days 1-3: Kingdom of Fife and Stirling

Days 4-6: Loch Ness and the Highlands

Days 6-7: Edinburgh

On the Mississippi

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Pictures and video from a week of visiting with Darlene’s family along the Mississippi River on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. We also visited an eagle rehabilitation center in Wabasha, a limestone cave near Harmony (Niagara Cave), enjoyed a dinner cruise on a paddle wheel boat out of La Crosse, went riding some all terrain vehicles through the mud and visited some llamas.