"There's a view there, but I'm not too sure how good it will be." View? I was all about the view. That was the reward for a difficult hike. That was the explanation I gave to my mother who could not understand "why anyone would want to walk up a mountain" - how else would I get to see wonderful vistas? How else could I stand in awe at my own puniness in the face of nature's grandness? And this hike had promised three vistas, at least one of them … [Read more...]
Wadi Mujib, Jordan – August 2011
Wadi Mujib, Jordan is located in a steep canyon that contains a very "wet and wild" river hiking experience. This wadi or canyon is in the lowest reserve on the planet as its water empties into the Dead Sea (almost 400 meters below sea level). A hike up the canyon is not for the faint of heart, rather it is an adrenaline producing experience. Sign the waiver at the main entrance, pay the admission fee and collect a life jacket. The entire hike is … [Read more...]
Kotor Montenegro
We are chilling high above the scenic town of Kotor (rhymes with Motor) situated in this amazing, southern most Fjord in all of Europe. We are staying with a family in their home in the hills above the main part of town. The city is lit up, the breeze warm, and the musty earthy smell of the surrounding fig trees all around us. We are also enjoying a late harvest dessert wine from Oremus, one of Hungary's finest wineries in the Tokaj region. Not … [Read more...]
Puffins in Pembrokeshire, West Wales
As an international holiday destination, Wales is a little way off the beaten track. All the great cities of the UK- London, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Glasgow- are far away. While Wales has a rich culture and history of its own, they are much less well known than those of England or Scotland. Pembrokeshire lies in the extreme south-western corner of Wales- it's a quiet and sparsely populated even for a part of Wales, but those visitors who … [Read more...]
Squid on the Floor
At sunrise the buzz of motorbike traffic has not yet begun, and the street is oddly quiet. We come out of the alley and onto the sidewalk where shop owners are opening up and iced coffee vendors await their first customers. We're out here at this hour waiting for a van, which soon arrives. The four of us shove our bags in the back and groggily climb in. The previous afternoon we booked a Halong Bay tour from one of the hundreds of vendors in … [Read more...]
A Local’s Guide to Vancouver’s Top Ten Free Attractions
I grew up in Toronto, Canada. While Toronto is a tremendous city - boasting eclectic neighbourhoods, lush city parks and a vibrant cultural scene - it's also a place people get really practiced at leaving. Every Friday night in summer, the 400-series highways leading out of town are jammed with cars crawling towards the promise of fresher air and a lakeside cottage up north. I've left Hogtown for good and for the past six years have called … [Read more...]
Linger Longer at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
Hawai'i, the Big Island (June 22, 2011) -You know what breaks our heart? Hearing about visitors to Hawai'i Island who are staying in Kona, and who drive two or three hours over to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, then drive around the park for a couple of hours, dashing through the visitors center, taking a snapshot of the steaming summit crater, maybe a quick walk through Nāhuku Lava Tube, then off they go again all the way back to Kona. This … [Read more...]
Harvest time in Brentwood
Every year we make the annual trek out to Brentwood (no, not that Brentwood), but the Brentwood on the edge of the San Francisco Bay Area (California) that is home to lot of agri-tourism, including the U-Pick Cherry Orchards. From around Memorial Day weekend through the mid to the end of June is cherry season. These orchards are extremely popular with folks who come over from the Oakland and San Jose areas to pick. Cherry picking makes a great … [Read more...]
The Artist and the Tinker
Some couples are as different as night and day. That's the way it was with my husband Bill and myself. There were a legion of differences, but probably the biggest was that I considered myself the artist and the only one of us that had any truly creative spirit. I would consider the things I did as a crafting of ideas with the fine and incisive beam of a laser mind and would think of Bill (who had worked as a general contractor in the … [Read more...]
Three Days in Apimsu – Ghana, West Africa
The brilliant sunlight stings my eyes as we make our way out of the airport in Accra, Ghana, but it's the view ahead that has me fighting tears. Our son Casey has been waiting at the entrance gate. Since he entered the Peace Corps in West Africa his father and I have been separated from him for many months and 7,000 miles. Now, just fifty feet across the courtyard, I see that his pale northwest skin is shades darker, his brown hair cropped close … [Read more...]
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