Utah's High Uinta Mountains
In the summer of 2004, Warren and I went on a weekend trip in the High Uintas with my parents. Here are some photos:
Ahhh....Alaska!
In July of 2004, Warren had some photo shoots in Alaska, so we made a
vacation out of it. Wow...Alaska is so beautiful. We did a lot of
driving and a lot of hiking in the week that we were there, and were
continually speechless by the beauty of the landscape.
Landing on the roof of the continent
The highlight of the trip was definitely our scenic flight over Denali National Park to catch a close up of Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. It was a bit expensive, but we decided to go ahead and splurge since it was our last day in Alaska. Below are some images from the flight.
To top it off...our airplane was ski-equipped so we had the once in a
lifetime experience of landing on a glacier! It was amazing to stand
among the great peaks; the immense scale was astounding!
Landing on the roof of the continent
The highlight of the trip was definitely our scenic flight over Denali National Park to catch a close up of Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. It was a bit expensive, but we decided to go ahead and splurge since it was our last day in Alaska. Below are some images from the flight.
Big Southeast Trip
In the late spring of 2004, Warren and I headed to the southeastern part of the United States. Warren had some photo shoots for a client, and I tagged along. :) Maybe someday I will add more pictures and write journal entries (probably not), but for now, here's a little:
Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
Florida's Apalachicola National Forest
Snorkeling with the Manatees in Florida
And lastly, here's some paparazzi photos I took of Warren while walking along Daytona Beach, Florida (including him showing me how to correctly hold the camera...ha ha).
Louisiana
Beautiful Savannah, Georgia
Georgia's Okefenokee swamp
Florida's Apalachicola National Forest
Snorkeling with the Manatees in Florida
Additional Florida collages to be loaded soon---St Augustine, Ponce Inlet, and Clearwater area.
And lastly, here's some paparazzi photos I took of Warren while walking along Daytona Beach, Florida (including him showing me how to correctly hold the camera...ha ha).
Spring Trip on the Plateau
During the spring of 2004, we had to go to Colorado for work so we packed in a lot of adventures on the way there and back. Don't have many pictures to show for this trip...just lots of great memories. :)
The Little Painted Desert (AZ)
Quaint little towns in the Colorado Rockies
Mesa Verde National Monument (CO) -- photo to come
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (CO)
El Moro National Park (NM)
The Little Painted Desert (AZ)
Quaint little towns in the Colorado Rockies
Mesa Verde National Monument (CO) -- photo to come
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (CO)
El Moro National Park (NM)
Washington Adventures
In January 2004, Warren and I headed to Seattle, where Warren had a photo shoot. After business was all taken care of...
we spent time with Warren's friend Martha, traveled with her to a coastal town in Southern Washington to see her boyfriend play give a cello concert (at a B&B right on the coast...beautiful).
Then, we headed up the coast for a visit Olympic National Park's Hoh Rain Forest...
...as well as Olympic's coastal beaches, which we had virtually to ourselves.
we spent time with Warren's friend Martha, traveled with her to a coastal town in Southern Washington to see her boyfriend play give a cello concert (at a B&B right on the coast...beautiful).
Then, we headed up the coast for a visit Olympic National Park's Hoh Rain Forest...
...as well as Olympic's coastal beaches, which we had virtually to ourselves.
Fall and Thanksgiving in Southern Arizona
In October 2003, Warren and I spent a weekend hiking in Tucson, including hiking in Saguaro National
Park, popping down to Mexico for a day of shopping, and visiting all our
usual haunts in town. (We went to Tucson a lot when we lived in Arizona!)
Then, since we had so much fun on the previous trip to Tucson, we headed there for our five day Thanksgiving break in 2003. We hiked in Chiricahua National Monument...
visited the gimicky old West town of Tombstone and the old mining town of Bisbee (shown below), and several other spots along the way.
Then, since we had so much fun on the previous trip to Tucson, we headed there for our five day Thanksgiving break in 2003. We hiked in Chiricahua National Monument...
visited the gimicky old West town of Tombstone and the old mining town of Bisbee (shown below), and several other spots along the way.
Four Corners Get-away
In October 2003, Warren and I spent a long weekend exploring the Four Corners area, spending a day hiking Monument Valley...
...and a day hiking the rim of Canyon de Chelly, home of centuries old cliff dwellings.
En route between Natural Bridges and Canyon de Chelly, we checked out
Valley of the Gods State Park, a 'little Monument Valley.' Anywhere
else in the world this would be a major attraction, but such are the
riches of the Four Corners area that here it is merely a
BLM-administered area.
...a day hiking in Natural Bridges National Monument and nearby Butler Wash...
...and a day hiking the rim of Canyon de Chelly, home of centuries old cliff dwellings.
Northern Arizona Adventures
In September 2003, Warren and I spent yet another
weekend in Flagstaff, hiking from Locket Meadow to "the Inner
Basin"--the inside of the ancient San Francisco volcano (which came to a
fiery end millions of years ago.) Flagstaff is so beautiful -- a perfect hiking destination.
We also checked out Petrified Forest National Park -- home to a collection of broken, fossilized logs dating from the Triassic Period (225 m.y.a.) It's an interesting place to visit, but not necessarily a place to visit twice (unless you are a nice guy like Warren, and your wife hasn't been there yet).
We also checked out Petrified Forest National Park -- home to a collection of broken, fossilized logs dating from the Triassic Period (225 m.y.a.) It's an interesting place to visit, but not necessarily a place to visit twice (unless you are a nice guy like Warren, and your wife hasn't been there yet).
Long Weekend in Wisconsin, Michigan, and then some
In the summer of 2003, Warren's father was flying his new (self-built!) airplane to Wisconsin
to attend the Osh Kosh Air Show, so Warren and I hitched a ride and
spent five days exploring Wisconsin and Michigan (...and actually a bit
of Minnesota too, since while in northern Wisconsin, we absolutely could
NOT find a hotel with vacancies, and ended up driving hours into the
neighboring state of Minnesota before finally finding 'room at the inn'
at 2am!)
These first few pictures are (1) Warren and his dad at the controls of the airplane, and (2) a very air-sick me, post vomiting, cherishing a few moments on solid ground while Tom refueled. I usually didn't get air sick, but flying over the Rockies on a hot day in a little airplane was just too much for me.
We both absolutely loved the lush landscape, especially on our hike out to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (MI)...
...and our kayaking trip to the Apostle Island sea caves (Apostle Island National Lakeshore, WI).
These first few pictures are (1) Warren and his dad at the controls of the airplane, and (2) a very air-sick me, post vomiting, cherishing a few moments on solid ground while Tom refueled. I usually didn't get air sick, but flying over the Rockies on a hot day in a little airplane was just too much for me.
We both absolutely loved the lush landscape, especially on our hike out to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (MI)...
...and our kayaking trip to the Apostle Island sea caves (Apostle Island National Lakeshore, WI).
Eloping to Zion National Park, Utah
In April 2003, Warren and I eloped to Zion National Park in order to exchange vows at the spot where he proposed. We made a week of it, exploring many parts of Zion, as well as the surrounding areas.
We went on hikes in Zion's western section...
...and spent a memorable day at nearby Snow Canyon State Park.
We also hiked out to see some dinosaur tracks, followed very vague directions to visit a picturesque little ghost town called Grafton, and even visited the nearby polygamous community of Colorado City. (Granted that's not what people normally do on their honeymoon, but we were in the area after visiting Grafton, and I was curious!)
Zion was always our special place. It's heaven on earth, a place that gave both Warren and I a sense of peace, a sense that we were 'home'. It was the perfect place for a perfect honeymoon.
If you haven't been there, you need to go.
On the way home, we drove through Grand Staircase National Monument and stumbled across a truly great slot canyon, which we spent hours exploring. Several months later, while flying over the area, we circled around and found the exact canyon from the air. So cool!
Ecuador Travels
I
went to Ecuador one summer in my 20s. I didn't keep a travel
journal and only took pictures of one of the regions we visited (gasp!) Here they are:
Scenes from the weekly market in Otavalo, Ecuador:
The people of Ecuador's Otavalo region wear distinctive traditional attire and headwear of blue and black:
Otavalo's weekly cattle market---fantastically chaotic:
The women of Otavalo are so elegant in their fantastic jewelry and traditional attire:
More chaotic scenes at Otavalo's cattle market:
Otavalo portrait:
While in the Otavalo area, Dani and I took a fantastic tour of the villages conducted by a local gentleman, and the residents were so gracious in demonstrating their traditional crafts.
Scenes from the weekly market in Otavalo, Ecuador:
The people of Ecuador's Otavalo region wear distinctive traditional attire and headwear of blue and black:
Otavalo's weekly cattle market---fantastically chaotic:
The women of Otavalo are so elegant in their fantastic jewelry and traditional attire:
More chaotic scenes at Otavalo's cattle market:
Otavalo portrait:
While in the Otavalo area, Dani and I took a fantastic tour of the villages conducted by a local gentleman, and the residents were so gracious in demonstrating their traditional crafts.
Travels in Peru
Didn't do much journal writing while traveling in Peru, so I pretty much only have the photos to share. Somewhere along the line, I did turn them into these little collages though. :)
--
Scenes from Cusco, the old capital of the Incan Empire. What an amazing place!
With our base in Cusco, we visited many other sites and small communities that are remnants of the great Incan Empire -- like Ollyantambo and Saqsayhuaman, and of course Machu Picchu. Here's some pictures from those stops:
(You'd think I would have taken more pictures of Machu Picchu. Sheesh!
As usual, I loved the human component, and you can't beat a rural market for loads of culture!
One memorable stop was staying on little Taquile Island, on Lake Titicaca. We did a 2 day homestay and while it wasn't exactly comfortable (no electricity, rodents, etc...), it was very fascinating!
We also visited the Uros Islands, which are really quite amazing. They entirely manmade out of reeds, and were originally made by small groups seeking to flee the conquering Incan empire. Sadly, today it's really little more than a tourist attraction, with locals continuing to inhabit the islands just to sell tourist garb. But still...pretty cool to see an island made out of reeds!!!
We also spent a few days in Arequipa, a beautiful coastal city in the south of the country. One of my favorite sites in the city is the historic Santa Catalina Monastery, home to hundreds of nuns in it's heyday, but is now quiet and more populated by visiting tourists than resident nuns.
And I vividly remember visiting Colca Canyon! Our bus broke down three times, and this was especially unpleasant for me because I had very bad altitude sickness since arriving in South America, and on this ride I was having a really hard time breathing with the thin air of the high Andean passes. It was scary. I admit it -- I cried. Breathing is kind of important.
Here are some scenes en route to Peru's Colca Canyon, reputed to be the deepest canyon in the world. (Top right): One highlight was watching the condors ride the thermals up the canyon early in the morning. (Middle right): (Bottom right): Flocks of alpacas were everywhere in this high altitude landscape.
Later in the trip, we traveled to Nazca, and flew over the famed Nazca Lines--a series of enormous drawings etched into the landscape and only visible from far above. No one is really sure who created these large figures, how they did it, or even why they did it.
It
was a truly unique experience, but after 45 minutes of non-stop
circling, I was feeling mighty queasy and could focus on little more
than WHEN ARE WE GOING TO LAND!
While in Nazca, we make a little day trip out to see the Nazca Graves. What a creepy place to visit. These tombs have been heavily raided by robbers, so bones are strewn all across the landscape and many tombs have been fully opened, exposing the fascinating and gruesome remains of these ancient peoples. Yeeek!
One of the least memorable things we did was to visit the Ballestros Islands. That was a lot of uncomfortable traveling for not a lot to see. It's often called “the poor man's Galapagos”, and that's even a stretch. We went to see the seals and birdlife, which was cool, I guess, but I think it's better to just fork out the money and go to the real Galapagos (which are off the coast of Ecuador). En route, we passed this large and mysterious carving in the side of the hard sand dune. Several centuries old, the carving baffles archeologists, who think it perhaps was an ancient navigational aid.
And of course we spent some time in the capital city of Lima:
Lastly -- midway through our itinerary (sorry, but this is all out of order -- can't remember what we did when), we took a two day beach break at some small town along Peru's northern coastline. To this day, I have no idea where we really were---what the name of the town was---but I guess that's the point of this type of 'getaway', eh?
--
Scenes from Cusco, the old capital of the Incan Empire. What an amazing place!
With our base in Cusco, we visited many other sites and small communities that are remnants of the great Incan Empire -- like Ollyantambo and Saqsayhuaman, and of course Machu Picchu. Here's some pictures from those stops:
(You'd think I would have taken more pictures of Machu Picchu. Sheesh!
As usual, I loved the human component, and you can't beat a rural market for loads of culture!
One memorable stop was staying on little Taquile Island, on Lake Titicaca. We did a 2 day homestay and while it wasn't exactly comfortable (no electricity, rodents, etc...), it was very fascinating!
We also visited the Uros Islands, which are really quite amazing. They entirely manmade out of reeds, and were originally made by small groups seeking to flee the conquering Incan empire. Sadly, today it's really little more than a tourist attraction, with locals continuing to inhabit the islands just to sell tourist garb. But still...pretty cool to see an island made out of reeds!!!
We also spent a few days in Arequipa, a beautiful coastal city in the south of the country. One of my favorite sites in the city is the historic Santa Catalina Monastery, home to hundreds of nuns in it's heyday, but is now quiet and more populated by visiting tourists than resident nuns.
And I vividly remember visiting Colca Canyon! Our bus broke down three times, and this was especially unpleasant for me because I had very bad altitude sickness since arriving in South America, and on this ride I was having a really hard time breathing with the thin air of the high Andean passes. It was scary. I admit it -- I cried. Breathing is kind of important.
Here are some scenes en route to Peru's Colca Canyon, reputed to be the deepest canyon in the world. (Top right): One highlight was watching the condors ride the thermals up the canyon early in the morning. (Middle right): (Bottom right): Flocks of alpacas were everywhere in this high altitude landscape.
Later in the trip, we traveled to Nazca, and flew over the famed Nazca Lines--a series of enormous drawings etched into the landscape and only visible from far above. No one is really sure who created these large figures, how they did it, or even why they did it.
It
was a truly unique experience, but after 45 minutes of non-stop
circling, I was feeling mighty queasy and could focus on little more
than WHEN ARE WE GOING TO LAND! While in Nazca, we make a little day trip out to see the Nazca Graves. What a creepy place to visit. These tombs have been heavily raided by robbers, so bones are strewn all across the landscape and many tombs have been fully opened, exposing the fascinating and gruesome remains of these ancient peoples. Yeeek!
One of the least memorable things we did was to visit the Ballestros Islands. That was a lot of uncomfortable traveling for not a lot to see. It's often called “the poor man's Galapagos”, and that's even a stretch. We went to see the seals and birdlife, which was cool, I guess, but I think it's better to just fork out the money and go to the real Galapagos (which are off the coast of Ecuador). En route, we passed this large and mysterious carving in the side of the hard sand dune. Several centuries old, the carving baffles archeologists, who think it perhaps was an ancient navigational aid.
And of course we spent some time in the capital city of Lima:
Lastly -- midway through our itinerary (sorry, but this is all out of order -- can't remember what we did when), we took a two day beach break at some small town along Peru's northern coastline. To this day, I have no idea where we really were---what the name of the town was---but I guess that's the point of this type of 'getaway', eh?
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