Although we often group Australia and New Zealand together, they are certainly different in many ways.  While both belong to the wider British Commonwealth, and English is their primary language, the land itself is unique to each nation. Geographically, NZ is a small mountainous country of two long islands that features nearly 10,000 miles of shoreline. The climate ranges from warm subtropical in the far north to cool temperate in the…

Much of our Fall 2023 tour prior to Thanksgiving encompassed 4 different areas; Washington DC, Upstate South Carolina, Jekyll Island, and lastly an oldie-but-goodie, Myrtle Beach. We had not been to DC for several years after Jessie’s family moved to CT so was nice to be back and revisit some of our favorites as well as take in some new sites.  The newly remodeled Air and Space Museum was well…

We were fortunate to visit the Cuyahoga Valley and New River Gorge National Parks during peak leaf peeping time during mid-October.  Both parks featured beautiful foliage, hills/mountains, water, and interesting history. They are relatively new and unlike most National Parks in the West, they were formed around “existing civilization”. As a result, their borders are a bit serpentine and have a lot of roads, residences, and some businesses inside park…

Nova Scotia in Latin means New Scotland, and is reflective of the origins of the early settlers.  It is the second smallest province in Canada and includes a large island called Cape Breton northeast of the mainland.  It is often said that both the landscape and the climate are comparable to those of Scotland.  We spent two wonderful weeks touring this province of rolling hills, forests, countless rivers and lakes,…

The Canadian Maritimes have been on our travel list for a long time but it was always a casualty of lack of a “good weather window”.  We decided a year ago to take the plunge and PEI was our first stop because it starts shutting down in mid-September. The island is a couple hundred miles east of Maine and is actually in a time zone an hour earlier than Eastern….

We spent the second half of March traveling Spain with Marv & Laurie Baker and Sue & Dean Hereford.  The entire visit dramatically exceeded our expectations.  The landscapes are arid and beautiful, the cities immaculate, the food unusual and delicious, and the people warm and friendly.  To top it off, the wine was just outstanding. The country has a lot of history dating back thousands of years.  Like so much…

Our 2022-2023 road trip has probably been the best of our 6 years on the road.  We more or less circled the continental US, saw eleven National Parks, seven wine regions, basked for a month in the Arizona sun, and met up with the Herefords and the Bakers.  There were a couple of minor setbacks, but we’ve been incredibly fortunate to be able to do this. BOREDOM ALERT – There…

Lassen Volcanic National Park was established in 1916 yet seems to be relatively unfamiliar to many and not at the same level of destination as some of the other popular parks.  I was unsure of what to expect but like all of the national parks we have visited, it has something truly unique to offer its visitors.  It is home to 4 different types of volcanos; plug dome, shield, cinder…

For the longest time, it has been a personal desire to visit Eureka and the Redwoods in northern California.  They are not particularly easy places to get to, but this trip was our chance.  We left our rig in Redding and got a room mid-way between Eureka and Redwood NP. It turns out that Eureka really is cool.  Although a bit touristy, it has a funky tilt that you kind…

I had only seen photos of Crater Lake and was skeptical that any body of water could be that blue but my first siting of the lake dispelled any such notion.  Needless to say, it was a stunning, breathtaking, bluer than blue color that was unforgettable.  Our good weather goddess continued to follow us, with warm temperatures, clear, sunny skies, and no wind.  The lake was a nearly perfect mirror…