Tag: travel

  • Monet exhibits leave an impression

      Today was the last day for our museum pass so we were up and out early. Eager to see what our guide book called “The best general collection of Impressionism anywhere,” we headed across the river to The Musée d'Orsay. This labyrinth of interconnecting galleries houses an amazing array of artwork – a few…

  • Paris: Let your feet take you to feasts for your eyes

    Via Iceland, we arrived in Paris exhausted last night but awoke today ready to walk. Our hotel is next to the River Seine and between the Louvre and Notre Dame, so no need for public transportation, which is plentiful. First stop was a tourist information office near the Louvre to buy a museum pass, a…

  • Our mission for the day

        Of the twenty-one missions that dot the coast of California, La Purisima Mission, in Lompoc, has always been a favorite of mine. As kids, my friends and I used to pack a picnic lunch and ride our bikes out to the mission grounds, eager to explore the gardens, pat the livestock and wander…

  • Bullard Beach Escape

    Escape is exactly what we did. The weather forecast warned that records would surely break as we packed up and fled the unseasonably warm temperatures of Southern Oregon. There is nothing quite like camping in Oregon State Parks. Campgrounds and facilities are clean, tidy and located in beautiful spots. Bullard Beach State Park offered us…

  • Castle Crags: A granite monument from Jurassic times

          We headed about 90 miles into California from Oregon for a training hike last weekend. As the challenge of an Alps trek next month nears, Castle Crags State Park gave us a chance to test our lungs and legs in the Shasta National Forest. The seven-mile walk took us up about 2,500…

  • Tall ships, tall trees grace northern California’s coast

      Our visit to Eureka, California, coincided with the arrival of tall ships Lady Washington, above left, and the Hawaiian Chieftan. The Lady Washington, as HMS Interceptor, was featured in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The ships offer educational tours and voyages as they travel up and down the Pacific Coast. The company…

  • Old Town Eureka shines like new

    We spent four years in Garberville, California soon after we were married. The population was about 1300 back then and Eureka was “the big city” we drove to for much of our shopping. It's always fun for us to revisit Old Town Eureka to see what has changed (and what hasn't) since we first wandered…

  • Spring brings the top of southern Oregon into focus

    We revisited Mount Ashland today after we aborted a recent summit attempt due to wind, cold and terrible visibility. What a difference two weeks make! Our snowshoes and encouragement from friends Judy and Chris got us to the top at about 7,500 feet, where more than 22 feet of snow fell this winter. The ski…

  • Santa Barbara is the place for us!

    Santa Barbara welcomed us back to our longtime home with brilliant weather. We walked around a relatively new area near West Beach that features wine bars, beer tasting and art galleries. It is aptly named the Funk Zone. As usual, food was a highlight of our travels. We had fresh fish with mountain and harbor…