Going to Alaska - Part One

Mt McKinley/Denali, shot from the dome train

Alaska -- it was of course a long way to travel.  Starting from Durango we drove west, planning to spend two nights with friends Steve and Donna Bierut in Groveland near Yosemite.  Unfortunately they were not able to join us but Shannon and I still managed to enjoy Yosemite, hitting spots we had not been to previously.

Half Dome from Glacier Point

We drove north from Yosemite to Lassen Vocanic NP....

And on to Crater Lake NP.

Wizard Island way over there

That Amazing Color!

Then we visited my cousin Christine in Bandon OR.

Windy Beach at Bandon

Next we visited friends from the Ft Defiance days, Sean and Kaori Donohue, at their home in colorful Portland OR.

Fantastic Japanese Gardens in Portland

Zen Rocks.  I won't clutter up the blog with all my pics of stone lanterns.  Love stone lanterns!

Kaori, Sean, and Shannon at the historic Pittock Mansion

Multnomah Falls, east from Portland along the Columbia River

Then on to Vancouver BC.

In Vancouver we boarded the Holland America Noordam (above Shannon's head) for the cruise up the Inside Passage to Valdez AK.

                                     Click for Part Two

ALASKA

Tour canoe at Mendenhall Glacier

This past Monday Shannon and I returned from an adventure of almost six weeks and over six thousand miles of driving, visiting ten national parks in the US and Canada, with the highlight being Denali.

20,320 foot tall Denali "the high one" in Athabascan native tongue

The shot above is from 30 miles away.  I'm still culling through almost a thousand photographs we had taken along the long, long way.  More to come. 

Around Home

We spent the last few days camping and enjoying the scenery around our home region: the Molas Pass area, Ice Lakes Basin, Silverton and Andrews Lake.

Little Molas Lake

Sunset Contrasts

Population Explosion

Just north of Molas Pass, a scene my late sister Marie loved to paint

The Trail to Ice Lakes Basin continues above my left shoulder

Yes, that is a man there waist-deep in a half-thawed lake at 12,250 feet elevation

Shannon found a fixer-upper at an old mine

Above Andrews Lake, Mt Snowdon in the background

Viva México!

View of San Miguel de Allende from the Plaza de Toros

Visiting Shannon's father in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico.  Two weeks was not nearly enough time.

We toured the historic colonial city of Guanajuato, thanks to Bo's friend Ellen Snyder

Ellen also took us to see the town Dolores Hidalgo

We checked out the Botanical Gardens at San Miguel

Don't they grow huge asparagus!

Of course that is a giant agave plant.

We had a great visit with Abuelito.

For those with an interest in the beneficial effects of travel upon a person, check this:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/03/for-a-more-creative-brain-travel/388135/

Florida Getaway Recap

We love our Durango but we also love The Blues and a warm weather getaway in the wintertime, so we signed up for Joe Bonamassa's Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea cruise number 2, sailing out of Miami to Cozumel and back; only five nights, but nights crammed with blasting music.  Sometimes requiring ear plugs.

In Port at Cozumel

Then we hung around Florida for another while, hanging out with my nephew Dan and his family in Boynton Beach.

Strawberries were in season at the pick-yer-own farm

Then we straggled on down to Key West for a bit, filling up on seafood and the like.

And Mojitos

The Blue Marlin Motel, a retro-look, bare bones kind of hangout with a great location

Sunset beyond the Naval Air Station at the southernmost point in the USA

Inside the historic Fort Zachary Taylor

We worked our way back up the keys, staying on Marathon Key and Key Largo before flying home.

Crane Point Nature Preserve on Marathon

Dove Creek Lodge on Key Largo

Key West

Mojitos at Conch Republic

Cozumel

At Señor Frog. Couple turistas aqui.