One of the things I am missing out on as I get close to my Balkan adventure is the planning. It’s liberating in a way, but I also feel like I’m missing out on part of the experience by leaving the planning in the hands of JayWay Travel. So I’m really digging into the few…
I bought this book today. I hope I will get some value out of it. And perhaps you are hoping I get some value out of it even more than I am!
So here’s the thing: three weeks, which seems like a lot of time to travel in a geographically compact area, is not nearly enough time. But I have accepted that truth. I have settled on an itinerary I not only can live with, but am excited about.
I’m in the Tampa airport, my 44th US airport. Had a good week in training, passed my three exams, and earned my MCSA (Microsoft Certified Software Associate) in SQL Server 2012.
In preparation for my upcoming trip, I bought the Kindle edition of Rick Steves’ Croatia & Slovenia guide book today. It’s coauthored by Cameron Hewitt, who led the travel session I attended in Edmonds last spring, and I suspect it’s more authored than coauthored by Hewitt.
I’ve been home a few days now, unpacking, organizing photos, resuming my regular life, and thinking about how to sum up the trip. The drive home offered a few nice views. Rather than drive west to Portland and then up I‑5, I decided to head east a ways, then north through the Yakima Valley until I…
I just got back to Hood River after a drive around Mt. Hood on what the state of Oregon has designated the Mt. Hood Scenic Byway and the Historic Columbia River Highway Scenic Byway. I stopped in the Passport Pub & Café enjoying a beer and using their wifi. But I didn’t bring the cable that connects…
I want to start this post with a few random observations.
John Day was a member of the Astor Expedition of 1810–1812. The John Day River was named for him. And the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument was named for the river. Today, after a huge and delicious farm-style breakfast of eggs, ham, potatoes, oatmeal, and biscuits & gravy, I explored this area.
Today was a day for feeling peevish and then getting over it.
Yesterday might have been the most gloriously varied day of my trip so far. I hiked in two lava fields, one of which consisted largely of obsidian, went on a two-mile round-trip hike in an underground lava tube, saw two waterfalls and a caldera. There was sun and there were clouds, there was snow on the ground and…