Janet and Mark's Retirement Trips

  Again, I'll add the disclaimer that all these pictures were taken with my iPhone 2nd generaiion SE, with absolutely no Photoshopping...and there are some awesome shots here! And again, we have to call out how lucky we were with this trip, as with the quick trip we took to Crater Lake National Park and Lodge.  I'm just sayin' that there ain't nothing as beautiful as Yosemite with a fresh blanket of snow...but, I'm getting ahead of myself again... We decided to take things a bit differently this trip.  First of all, the genesis of the trip came when Janet's Magic Laptop scored a less-than-insane price for two nights' lodging at the Ahwahnee, definitely at the top of our National Park Lodge Bucket List.  Then, being Northern Californians, we always came in to Yosemite via CA120, so we decided to travel south along CA49 through the "Gold Country" which we had never done, then go in through the southern entrance via CA41.  We stopped at the interestin...

Lunch Stop on Day 2 on the Avenue of the Giants Again, I'll add the disclaimer that all these pictures were taken with my iPhone 2nd generaiion SE, with absolutely no Photoshopping...and there are some awesome shots here! Wouldn't you know it: the first time in my life I'm towing a trailer, we proceed to have a Biblical Downpour in late October, no less.  Janet's magic laptop scored us a 19' Airstream Bambi trailer on outdoorsy.com, and several campsites at private campgrounds as well as at the Redwood National and State Parks.  In the intervening years since we took family trips to state parks such as Patrick's Point, Humboldt Redwoods, and Prairie Creek as a kid, the Feds and State decided to pull all those state parks under the umbrella of the National Park Service.  And, Mr. Patrick did not treat the indigenous population very well way back when, so we now have Sue Meg State Park instead of He Who Shall Not Be Named Point SP. Sunday, October 24, 2021: We pic...

  Some obbservations from our latest trips (2020 - 2024) abroad: Cairo/Egypt is rated dead last in many magazines and travel blogs as places to visit, even lower than places like Kazakstan, and I kind of see why.  We were in our little UniWorld bubble, with an effective (and aggressive, and from the reactions of other guides, well respected among his peers) guide in Essam, sitting apart from the chaos of the Cairo traffic and the aggression of the ever present vendors at every sight.  It would have sucked had we been traveling on our own trying to navigate through the nightmare.  But, the trip was absolutely fantastic and I would highly recommend visiting Egypt, that is if you can afford a quality bubble like we did. From our trips to Paris, Bordeaux, and Donestia, and London: Everyone still smokes or vapes, but at least laws now prevent smoking indoors.  But, much of the Parisian cafe 'scene' involves sitting outside the cafe people-watching.  But then you...