Place – Page 97 – Journeys 3.1

Happy place. A memory, situation, or activity that makes you feel happy.Cambridge Dictionary. November 2019. I’m on a nonstop Delta flight from Seoul ICN to Minneapolis MSP on a brand new Airbus A350. I’m contented, sipping wine, snacking on nuts, and anticipating the Korean dinner I’ve preordered. I look out the window and see only…… Continue reading Happy Places

Restarting a Paused Trip

Had we not returned from our trip to Hawaii Big Island two weeks early, we would’ve returned home today. Made plans to complete our Big Island trip in December. We’ll visit Volcanoes National Park and the Kailua-Kona area, as originally planned.

Waterfall Rainbow

Jogged past a rainbow.

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

In Paihia, in New Zealand’s Northland, local kids were having a grand time being blasted with pigment. This is a nod to India’s Holi Festival. Just over three weeks ago we flew from New Zealand’s South Island to the north of the North Island. With the subsequent rapid spread of COVID-19, three weeks seems like…… Continue reading Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Hasty Departure

Au revoir Hawaii Big Island. It was time to pause our stay in Hawaii: tomorrow, a stay-at-home order goes into effect for the whole of Hawaii. We’ll return in December (ultimately it was December 2021) to complete the journey when the island will be back in business and trails have been reopened.

Hiking Abandoned Roads

Hiked another barricaded, abandoned road in another lovely valley. With the closure of Volcanoes National Park, and state and county parks, we’re improvising with abandoned roads, back-country roads and former sugar cane haulage roads.

Canopy

On our hike: looked up at the canopy.

Balancing Coronavirus Risks

Every morning we read the New York Times, the Washington Post, and our local paper, the Star Tribune. We took out subscriptions to all three newspapers within days of the 2016 presidential election because we need to support good journalism to hold the US Administration accountable. Today, the news is uniquely disturbing. Most of us…… Continue reading Balancing Coronavirus Risks

An Abandoned Valley

View from an abandoned road in an abandoned valley. We clambered around a barrier then walked along the decaying road, down into the valley, past towering, lush vegetation, across a mossy bridge, and onwards towards the Pacific.