The Delights of Joshua Tree National Park

One of our priorities when we visited Palm Springs, California over Christmas was a trip down to Joshua Tree National Park. With the nearest entrance only about an hour away, it makes for a great day trip to get you out in nature, nature that is quite unusual. Joshua Tree National Park is a large park in the desert. It actually covers two desert environments which have distinctive flora in them. The Joshua trees are not all over the park…

Continue Reading “The Delights of Joshua Tree National Park”

Palm Springs Impressions

This past Christmas our family decided we wanted to do something different to celebrate the holidays. Hawaii was at the top of the list, but it is so expensive to go there at Christmas time. After some discussion we settled on Palm Springs, California. None of us had spent any time there, and we thought we would enjoy some warm, sunny weather over Christmas rather than the typical cold, wet, gray skies of Seattle. While we did stay in Palm…

Continue Reading “Palm Springs Impressions”

What are You Taking Pictures Of?

With the cameras in phone becoming so powerful, the number of pictures taken on a regular basis around the world has increased to an amazing number. In April the WordStream Blog reported that 95 million photos and videos were shared on Instagram per day. That just boggles the imagination. So what are these photos about? Anyone interested in traveling has likely taken numerous pictures, but what do our pictures say about us and our understanding about the world? In recent…

Continue Reading “What are You Taking Pictures Of?”

Two Interesting Day Trips Beyond Las Vegas, Nevada

Most people go to Las Vegas, Nevada for gambling, drinking and partying. However, if you grow tired of these activities or are just not into that sort of thing, it doesn’t mean you have to sit in your hotel room. Here are two options of things you can easily do in a day or even in an afternoon. However, they are on opposite sides of the city so it is probably not the best to try to do them on…

Continue Reading “Two Interesting Day Trips Beyond Las Vegas, Nevada”

Autumn in Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles National Park is a newer national park. It only became a national park in 2013. Perhaps because it is newer explains the reason why many people aren’t even aware of it. While it is located just 80 miles south of San Jose, it is the 13th least visited national park in the United States. Only a little over 233 thousand people visit in a year. Compare that to the 4 million who visit the popular Yosemite National Park just…

Continue Reading “Autumn in Pinnacles National Park”

The First Christmas Journey

The tag line for this blog is Life’s a journey. Travel often. Learn much. In our day and age travel is fairly convenient. We may fuss about the crowded planes, uncomfortable hotel rooms, or expensive meals, but truly we have it so much better than those who came before us. Consider Mary and Joseph. They went on a journey, but not one they chose. They were commanded to go to their ancestral home for a census, and the timing couldn’t…

Continue Reading “The First Christmas Journey”

Writing a Helpful Hotel Review

Do you have plans to travel this coming Christmas or New Years? If you do travel and book a hotel through one of the travel websites, you will probably receive an email following your trip asking you to review the hotel or activities. Writing a hotel review can be helpful to other travelers, but writing a review can be a challenge. That is why many reviewers write a one or two sentence review which is not very helpful. However reviews…

Continue Reading “Writing a Helpful Hotel Review”

Exploring Angel Island

While visiting my daughter in San Jose, she decided we needed to explore Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. She and a friend had ridden bikes around the island and enjoyed it. She thought it would be fun for my wife and me to explore it as well. To get to the island was a journey in itself. We had to drive about a half hour north to catch the BART light rail system. After a half hour ride, we…

Continue Reading “Exploring Angel Island”

Nativities Around the World

It’s Christmas season once more. The signs are everywhere. A visit to a store or mall and all the decor will tell you that the Christmas season is here. Christmas themes of late seem to revolve mostly around snow and winter scenes. Snowmen and Christmas trees along with Santa have come to dominate the holiday decor. However, it is important not to ignore the reason there’s a Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. One way to celebrate that is to…

Continue Reading “Nativities Around the World”

Thanksgiving Through Fire

In 2019 we were invited to go to my wife’s sister’s home in Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving. Since I am retired, our schedule was more flexible. On Saturday we planned to fly to San Jose where my daughter lives, drive down to Santa Barbara on Monday, and return to San Jose on Saturday. My wife’s sister Sylvia and her husband Jonathan live in a home up in the hills of Santa Barbara. They built it a number of years ago…

Continue Reading “Thanksgiving Through Fire”