This is a photo compilation of my adventures (and misadventures) in the U.S.
Alaska, the land of the midnight, summer sun. Imagine trying to sleep at 10PM when there's about an hour more before the sun sets, and being awakened by the glare of the sun by 4AM. Well, that's Alaska in the summer. I was with Missy, Jem and Baban on that July 4 holiday trip (Jul 3-13, 1999).
Whoever said that everything is big in Texas, haven't been to Alaska. Everything in Alaska is bigger than what's in Texas. We've seen 50lb cabbages not quite ready for harvest, giant carrots, with leaves almost as tall as half-a-Baban, chrysanthemums in full bloom bigger than a basketball, Queen Anne's lace wildflowers taller than myself. Alaska gets a lot of sun in the summer, that's why these things grow to gigantic proportions. The locals get to showcase these at their annual state fair, where the biggest and heaviest and tallest of them all get top prize.
We had contemplated on taking a cruise at first as against doing a road trip on our own. But we decided on the latter since we didn't want to confine ourselves with the cruise's itinerary, plus, it was a lot more cost-effective (or so we thought.)
The only thing that almost marred our trip was that a week earlier, there were a series of forest fires across the continental U.S. that caused smog to hide most mountains, esp. Denali.
Itinerary:
tour Anchorage and vicinity: north to Eagle River, Eklutna
visit Denali National Park - took the 11hrs rt Wonderlake shuttle
drive to Valdez via Glenn Hiway (with stops @ Palmer & Matanuska Glacier), then
Richardson Hiway
MV Tustumena ferry ride to Seward
took the Kenai Fjords Tour (7.5hrs National Park cruise)
drive to Homer via Seward Hiway (with stop @ Exit Glacier), then Sterling Hiway
drive back to Anchorage (short stop at Portage
Glacier)
The presentation of the pictures are arranged such that it matches the itinerary above.
Arizona, home of the Grand Canyon.
Before the trip to Arizona (Memorial weekend 97), I have only been to big cities in the U.S. I was so awestruck by the Grand Canyon that it inspired me to see other national parks in the country.
We had a chance to hike a supposedly easy trail down the canyon. The mile hike down a sloping trail and back up took my breath away (figuratively and literally, that is.) The experience was both exhausting and exhilarating. Whoever coined the name Grand Canyon couldn't have thought of a more appropriate phrase to describe this landscape. True to its name, it is indeed a Grand Canyon!
The Golden State. One of my favorite destinations. It was in the spring of 98 when I first saw and fell in love with San Francisco, the city by the bay. It's one of the most picturesque city I've ever been to. I didn't realize until this visit that cityscapes could be interesting photography subjects.
5 hours away, to the east of the bay, is a must-see destination, Yosemite National Park. I particularly enjoyed the hikes to see beautiful waterfalls and giant sequoia trees.
Another must-see destination, 3 hours south from SF (towards the coast), is Monterey Peninsula.
Thanksgiving weekend 2002, I was with Daisy, Jem and Baban on another of our national park trips. We drove north to Rocky Mountains NP and south to Colorado Springs then further south to Great Sand Dunes NM.
Our initial plans didn't include a stop at the West end of Rocky Mts NP. The Trail Ridge Road, which traverses the park East to West was closed for the winter season. But then we decided at the last minute to go there via another route, a longer one - for a total of 8 hours of driving (to and from). We drove over, through, and around mountains. And passed by lakes, valleys, forests, and some winter wonderland. Absolutely gorgeous! The drive was the adventure itself. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take pictures - couldn't CLICK and DRIVE!
The visit to the dunes was some sort of a last minute decision also. Baban wanted to visit the Tetons during this trip. But that part of Wyoming is about 10 hours drive one way. So, we had to find some place 3-4 hours away, and thus, Great Sand Dunes, way down to the south, near the NM border.
For me, the highlight of the trip was the visit to the sand dunes! We got to hike 3/4 of the way to the High Dunes and seen one of our prettiest Colorado sunsets there. We had to wait for more than an hour at a deserted park road for that perfect sunset photograph: blazing orange dunes with the Sangre de Cristo mountains as the backdrop. It didn't turn out that way though. Some thick clouds decided to show up that day and covered our mountains.
Aloha Nui Loa!
Louisiana. New Orleans probably ranks second to New York as my most-frequented city (this is largely due to its proximity to my home city, Houston, TX.)
New Orleans is Bourbon St., Canal St., the French Quarter.
New Orleans is Mardi Gras and colorful gay parades.
New Orleans is caricaturers, face painters, and artists.
New Orleans is tarot card and palm readers, hotel and floating casinos.
But most especially, New Orleans is beignets and chickory coffee at Cafe' Du
Monde.
Michigan. 6 friends. from 5 states. met one summer at a pleasant peninsula.
Montana
Glacier NP
Spring break! My first real vacation in 2004! I went with the Jallorinas (Joemel, Merc and Jerel), the Calderons (Ed and Angel, Mackie, Maan and EJ) and Eisele and Daisy on a driving trip to Ruidoso. Nothing but fun, fun, fun - skiing, tubing and playing in the sand.
New York... my favorite destination... friends abound... fun unrivaled... memories linger...
Oregon. The land of the scenic Columbia River Gorge and the magnificent waterfalls that feed it. (Jan. 31, 1998)
Homer & Riza (who were my gracious hosts from Seattle) and myself drove to the home of Gil & Mikey in Lake Oswego, OR. Our Oregon hosts took us to hike and see the cascades near the gorge.
Utah, a hands down choice as the most picturesque state. Click here and see why.
I went with Baban, Daisy, Eisele and Jem to visit 4 National Parks: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, and Zion. We would have visited all had we have more vacation days. We were there for the Labor Day holidays, Sep 4 - 9, 1998.
Washington state reminds me of the beautiful summer (Jul98) wildflowers along the Hurricane Hill trail in Olympic National Park and of majestic Mt. Rainier in winter (Jan98).
Mt. Rainier NP in summer afforded an interesting macro photography subject: glacier lilies still soggy from the previous night's rain.
Washington, DC area. I cancelled a leaf-peeping trip (in Oct'98) to the northeast (ME, NH, VT) to see a friend in the DC area. Luckily, I still got to do some leaf-peeping at Shenandoah National Park in West Virginia. The magnificent reds and yellows and oranges of the foliage was a sight to behold. Even the Maryland suburbs near and around Upper Marlboro, where the breeze is cool and crisp and the sky blue, was picture perfect setting for the blazing foliage.
See some 2003 winter storm pics here...
Wyoming
I was with Baban, Missy, Daisy and Jem on our 1st multi-state/NP driving tour. We spent a full week mid-Sept of '97 driving from Colorado to Wyoming then north to Montana to see glaciers, geysers, mountains, fall colors and wildlife.
About the same time in 98, I embarked on a trip back to see the Tetons which were partially obscured by the clouds the 1st time around. Since it was my first venture alone, going to Oxbow Bend to get a picture of Mt. Moran in the wee hours of the morning, was the riskiest I've done on that trip. But I got what I came back for, better pictures of the Tetons.
Tetons take 3? Sure, why not? See some panned shots of the Tetons and Yellowstone Falls from my latest Wyoming trip.
Visit these other links:
My Simple Things
Bando & Me: A Summer '02 Adventure
