On our drive from Christchurch to Wanaka we passed a sign pointing toward the Clay Cliffs near the town of Omarama. We wrote a note to ourselves to remember them as a possible stopping point on our...
Blog posts from hiking
New Mexico 2014: Albuquerque to Santa Fe
Our main destination for Saturday night was Santa Fe. By interstate it would take about an hour; but taking scenic backroads and making stops at several spots turned it into an all day exploration....
Asia/Australia 2013: Yarra Valley hikes & sights
While the area around the Yarra Valley is well known for its wines there are also a number of nice nature spots in the neighboring hills too. We started out our first morning with a curvy drive to...
Asia/Australia 2013: Yarra Valley wine tasting
Our first winery stop was Innocent Bystander in Healesville, a bustling restaurant and shop with a wine tasting area near the front door. They offered a free tasting that was ok but not really...
Asheville 2012: views
Last weekend we packed up the Vue, put Riesling in the back seat, and drove out to Asheville to enjoy some hiking amongst the fall color. We hit six waterfalls between Dupont Forest, Pisgah Forest...
British Columbia 2012: waterfall hiking
In addition to the waterfalls in Strathcona Park we visited several other waterfals on our Vancouver trip. Our mileage varied... Ammonite Falls We had some time between the ferry arrival and showing...
British Columbia 2012: Paradise Meadows
Following our first excursion deep into Strathcona Provincial Park we next forayed onto the western facing Paradise Meadows atop the mountain ridge. This part of the park is linked to the...
British Columbia 2012: Strathcona Provincial Park
Strathcona Provincial Park was a primary objective on our Vancouver Island itinerary, and we spent our first full day exploring and hiking around the Buttle Lake part of the park. The drive from our...
Chile 2012: Exploring Santiago
We had an evening flight out of Santiago which gave us the whole day to explore the city. Our first stop was the sculpture park located just across the river from our hotel. I really enjoyed seeing...
Chile 2012: Daytrip from Santiago
For our first day in Santiago we wanted to get out of the city and eventually booked a trip with AndoAndes. They had very good reviews on TripAdvisor for their main hiking excursion to the nearby...
Chile 2012: Atacama Desert, Day 3
Altiplanic Lagoons For our third day we chose an all-day excursion to the Miscanti and Meñiques Lagoons. These two lakes are at an altitude of ~13,500 feet up in the Andes close to the border with...
Chile 2012: Atacama Desert, Day 2
Cornices As mentioned previously, we had a quick glimpse of the Valle de la Muerte on day 1 and were excited to hike into it on day 2. Once again we lucked out and had this tour to ourselves. We...
Chile 2012: Atacama Desert, Day 1
Valle de la Luna / Valle de la Muerte This excursion was recommended for our first day as it was beautiful but not too strenuous - the town is at ~7,900 ft, so oxygen is thin (for us). We lucked out...
Hanging Rock State Park
Leandra's brother Ryan and his girlfriend Emily came to visit us for Thanksgiving, and after all the turkey we were in need of some outdoor time. Hanging Rock State Park is only about 2 hours away,...
Anchorage and beyond
I put together a quick visual of the driving we did both north and south of Anchorage. The views were absolutely stunning and two full days of good weather were in our favor... click on the map...
Wallace Falls State Park
After a hearty breakfast at the Original Pancake House in Kirkland on Saturday morning, our first stop was the longest hike of the day—5.5 miles RT for four waterfalls at Wallace Falls State Park....
waterfalls in western NC
It's always nice to be able to get away to the NC (or VA) mountains for at least one weekend in the fall. Although the first day was very sunny - great for hiking but not so good for waterfall...
waterfall hiking with two dogs
Last weekend we had planned a drive up to Blowing Rock for a little waterfall hiking due to heavy rainfall in NC the week before. Due to extraordinary circumstances, we also brought our friend's...
Our Itinerary
2026 Trips
Parrish, FL (Jan)
Medellin, Colombia (Feb)
Wilmington, NC (Apr)
Madrid, Spain (May)
Asturias, Spain (May)
Galicia, Spain (June)
London/Cotswolds, UK (July)
Long Island, NY (July)
Western Ireland (Aug)
Vietnam (Nov)
Laos (Nov)
Cambodia (Dec)
Singapore (Dec)
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Doha, Qatar (May)
Bristol + London, UK (Jul)
Long Island, NY (Jul)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
day trips from Bologna (Oct)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
Greensboro, NC (Nov)