We went there in...2012
Oahu, Hawaii (November 12 - 19)
This was a trip that was not in the original plan for 2012…it was the result of a time share pitch invitation that seemed like too good of a deal to pass up (the invitation, not the time share). Anyway, we had a great time that included a lot of down time (one of Lynn’s requirements). Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head were the highlights plus we saw rainbows almost every day. For non-beach folks, we had a great time even if we never got in the water.
The details of the trip are in the Trip Report over on OhioHick Presents... (or on Trip Advisor). Here's a the link to all the photo galleries (these are linked in the TR but collected here for convenience). Of course the photobook has all the details and even more pictures.
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Utah Trip Advisor Meet-Up, Moab, Utah (October 3 - 10)
This is becoming a habit, and one I hope we do not break. The meet-up in Moab was another set of wonderful adventures with a growing group of outdoor enthusiasts made up of Trip Advisor regulars, family and friends. Even though a few folks from last year could not make the event, we actually had a larger group for the 2012 meet-up. Using Moab as a base provided lots of opportunities for hiking, off-road adventures, rafting and photography, plus some good restaurants for congregating in the evenings. We again rented a couple condos that were used as mustering points in the mornings and hang-outs in the evenings. Thanks to Donna for her legwork on finding a place that she, Oscar, Howie, Debbie, Lynn and I could share. The cook-outs the first two nights at the rental condos made for a great way to introduce the new folks to the veterans.
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Max and Rick did a lot of the work on the individual activities, but it turned into a group effort with all that was going on. Like last year, I set up a website to help “herd the cats” and we all became “doodle-heads” through the on-line polls used to help plan the activities. Lynn and I mostly stuck to hiking and I did go on the white water raft trip, but there were also mountain biking, rappelling and 4WD adventures during the week. For me, the highlight was the Fiery Furnace hike in Arches National Park. There were 20 of us on that hike and Ranger Mike made it a very memorable event.
I created the Trip Report on OhioHick Presents... and linked it back to Trip Advisor. There are links to photos, reviews and EveryTrail hike summaries in the Trip Report. I the photo galleries from the trip are linked here as well.
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Like last year, there is a set of photobooks. One was created for the group and contains highlights of all our activities with photos and input from the whole herd. Of course I did a book just to cover all the details of the time that Lynn and I spent in Moab.
Cold Harbor Battlefield, Richmond, Virginia (September 28)
This was just a quick add-on on the way to the Richmond airport following a business trip at NASA Langley. Here's the short report.
Road Trip Through Virginia (August 31 - September 3)
Mom and I took another little road trip into Virginia, but unlike last year this trip was strictly for fun. We made a tour through western Virginia along the Blue Ridge Parkway then the southern portion of the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. The weather was damp, but we still had a nice visit. On the way back to West Virginia, we stopped by the resting place of Little Berry Vest for a little family history. More details and links to the photos are found here.
California National Parks (June 20 - July 2)
Another year and another trip to the western National Parks. This year we covered some new ground at Sequoia and Kings Canyon and also returned to Yosemite for a more detailed visit. We used San Francisco as our entry point and added a couple of days at the end of the trip for some urban hiking in the city.
We saw many natural wonders in the parks, including scores of the Giant Sequoias. We also did well on critter sightings. Not the volume of animals we saw in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons last year, but still a lot of variety, including a bobcat and a few bears. This slideshow hits the highlights in the parks.
Here's the very long and detailed Trip Report; links to photos, reviews and EveryTrail maps are included. Links to the photobooks are listed below:
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Family Photography in West Virginia (May 3 - 6)
I don't usually list these trips back home, but this one was a special request. Mom (at Becky’s request) asked us to come down and take pictures of Savannah in her prom gown as well as Weston at a T-ball game. I told her that I don’t do portraits and that sports photography is not my thing either. But we went anyway and got some decent pictures, so everyone was happy. It was a bit of a whirlwind tour as I was coming back from travel at Langley on Thursday, then heading to DC the following Monday, but we squeezed in the West Virginia road-trip anyway. Here’s the rest of the story....