2023 – Mid September – Ouray, CO; Black Canyon NP

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Molas Pass

Ouray

Waking to a cool clear morning, we head back into Durango for gas for the next part of our journey.  We stop at a farmer’s market for ‘Palisades’ peaches.  We happened across these a few years ago and are hooked.  We also find plums, crenshaw melons, and coffee; we are set to go.  The ride to Silverton turns into an adventure, first heavy rain, then sleet, enough to accumulate on the road.  The weather changes between rain and clear for the next 30 minutes before finally clearing, giving us dry pavement.  The road winds up and over mountain passes, dropping into valleys.  Passing Silverton, the mountains take on hues of gold, copper and cream.

2023 – Early September – Cinnamon Pass; Handies Peak; Durango, CO

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Molas Pass

Our 6 AM alarm wakes us, we are ready.  Opening the garage door, heat and humidity slaps our faces, yet another reminder of why we are leaving.  We will be gone only two weeks but will enjoy every minute.  As of September 6th, we have enjoyed/endured 62 days, 29 of them consecutive, 100°+ temperatures.

After breakfast we pack our essentials; clothing, laptops, and camera gear.  Food goes in last.  We stuck with our regular plan of cooking everything at home, only having to thaw, then heat our meals each evening.  Unfortunately, our camper doesn’t have a freezer big enough for all our meals, so some of our prepared meals stay home.  Don’t worry we won’t starve.

2023 – Late May – Miami, Everglades NP, Biscayne NP, Dry Tortugas NP

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Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas

We are heading to Miami, FL on this trip.  To our delight we find out the Everglades, Biscayne and Dry Tortugas National Parks are within a few hours of Miami.  Our trip is twofold.  We are seeing Nicida’s family, we also extended our trip by a few days to take in the national parks of southern Florida.

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.