Table of Contents

Washington National Parks -- July 2024

     1. Planning and first day in Mt. Rainier
     2. Hiking the Paradise area Skyline trail
     3. Mt. Rainier to Olympic
     4. Olympic Beaches and Beachcombing Museum
     5. North Olympic Exploration
     6. Ferry to Whidbey Island and North Cascades
     7. North Cascades Maple Pass Loop trail
     8. Last day in North Cascades and Seattle

Solar Eclipse Totality -- April 8, 2024

MSC Cruise, NYC, and the Bahamas -- March 2024

      1. Planning and Flight
      2. Natural History Museum and Central Park
      3. Embarkation Day
      4. Through the North Atlantic Sea Day
      5. Port Canaveral 
      6. Ocean Cay Marine Reserve, The Bahamas
      7. Nassau, The Bahamas
      8. Last Sea Days back to NYC
      9. MSC Meraviglia Review
     10. MSC Meraviglia Daily Planner
     11. Disembarkation and more NYC 
     12. Last day in NYC

Canyons Adventure - September 2023

      1. Canyons Adventure -- Drive and Petrified Forest National Park
      2. Grand Canyon
      3. Horseshoe Bend, Glen Canyon Dam, and Page, AZ
      4. Antelope Canyon X and more Glen Canyon Dam
      5. El Malpais in New Mexico
      6. Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Iceland and, sort of, Greenland Cruise on the NCL Star -- July 2023

      1. Flight and Reykjavik 
      2. South Coast Tour
      3. Embarkation NCL Star
      4. Djupivogur and Akureyri, Iceland
      5. Isafjordur, Iceland
      6. Sea day and Nanortalik
      7. Icebergs and more sea days
      8. Back to Reykjavik and returning home
      9. Summary review

Mexican Riviera Cruise on the Carnival Panorama -- January 2023

      1. Arriving in Long Beach
      2. Embarkation
      3. Sea Day
      4. Cabo San Lucas
      5. Mazatlan
      6. Puerto Vallarta  
      7. Sea Days and Disembarkation
      8. Summary Review

Philadelphia -- September 2022

  1. Independence Hall and Seaport Museum 
  2. Walking around and Rodin Museum
  3. Mutter Museum and Eastern State Penitentiary 
  4. Valley Forge
  5. Benjamin Franklin Bridge, Fed, Mint

Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks -- July 2022

Greece and Turkey – Family Cruise on the NCL Jade – June 2022

  1. Planning
  2. Flight and first night in Athens
  3. Acropolis and walking around Athens
  4. Embarkation Day
  5. Kusadasi and Ephesus, Turkey
  6. Istanbul, part 1
  7. Istanbul, part 2
  8. Volos, Greece
  9. Mykonos
  10. Rhodes
  11. Santorini
  12. NCL Jade Review

Death Valley and around Vegas – March 2022

  1. Death Valley
  2. Mt. Charleston, Red Rock Canyon, and Las Vegas

Welcome and intro
World Scratch and U.S. National Park Pin Maps
Interesting or Amusing Travel Stories
My 19 year old self, first blog, and first international trip: London -- March 1996


Previous cruise reviews:

  • MSC Meraviglia - 03/2024 (Son's HS graduation) - NYC to Florida and the Bahamas 
  • NCL Star - 07/2023 (Reykjavik, Akureyri, and Isafjordur, Iceland and Nanortalik, Greenland)
  • Carnival Panorama - 01/2023 (Mexican Riviera -- Long Beach to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta) 
  • NCL Jade - 06/2022 (Greece and Turkey - Athens, Kusadasi, Istanbul, Volos, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini) 
  • Carnival Fascination - 03/2020 (Southern Caribbean cruise - Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Dominica, Barbado, back to Miami (covid-19 - not allowed back to PR))
  • Carnival Sensation - 11/2019 (Miami to Grand Turk, Princess Cays, Nassau) 
  • NCL Spirit - 01/2019 (Barcelona to Casablanca (Rabat), Las Palmas Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Madeira, Malaga Spain, Alicante Spain) 
  • Carnival Breeze - 11/2017 (Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, Cozumel from Galveston)
  • NCL Sun - 03/2017 (S. Amer - Valparaiso, Puerto Montt, Puerto Chacabuco, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, Cape Horn, Falkland Islands, Puerto Madryn, Montevideo, Buenos Aires)
  • NCL Sun - 09/2015 (Alaska - ISP, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan from Seward to Vancouver)
  • NCL Jewel - 03/2015 (Western Caribbean - Cozumel, Belize, Banana Coast from Houston)
  • NCL Spirit - 11/2010 (Exotic Western Caribbean - Costa Maya, Belize, Roatan, Cozumel from New Orleans)

North Cascades Maple Pass Loop trail

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