Sedona, Arizona

Schnebly Pools

Sedona was our first extended stay since returning from six months in Europe.  Driving across the country from the ship’s port in Fort Lauderdale to Northern California can wear a person down.  Clearly it is better than sitting in a cubical struggling with a company budget on a cold, windy Chicago day, but the travel can get a bit old.  We do our best to find fun places to visit along the way such as Graceland, but three weeks in Sedona, not having to move suitcases or learn new appliances and shower workings, was a welcome relief. Continue reading

Isle of Skye, Scotland

Old Man of Storr Sunrise

For some unknown reason we only scheduled four days in the beautiful Isle of Skye, yet an entire week was spent in Edinburgh and a week in York.  This planning was a bit backwards in hindsight.  Much more time could have been spent in this stunning island countryside.  The one day available to hike to the beautiful and unique Old Man of Storr provided only very dumpy light (photography speak), so I turned around and explored other parts of the island rather than devote an entire day to a single spot.  The Old Man of Storr is the monolith in the distant background of the lead photo above.
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Salmon Spawning in California

While walking the banks of the Sacramento River near Redding, California I heard a surprisingly loud racket sounding like loud drums beating.  I soon found the source of the noise were salmon spawning.  Here is a short video of a couple trying to make it upstream to their spawning grounds.