2015 Travels

Last year I was gone for the holidays and didn't send anyone a Christmas letter, and I'll be in Arizona again this year, so I wanted to get something out before I left.  Travel this year was a bit limited compared to previous years.  I will wind up spending 140 nights away from home...below the ten year average of 155 since I retired in 2006.  And I only visited three time zones this year...Pacific, Mountain, and Hawaiian.  That may be a ten year low.  Still, there are of course countless fine places in those three zones, and I saw a good many this year.  In March I went to Las Vegas and Tucson, and enjoyed some hiking in Sabino Canyon near Tucson.

In May I visited the Southwest again.  The day I went to Arches National Park, there were heavy thunderstorms...a bit unusual for that time of year.  The dramatic weather created unusual photo ops, such as this waterfall, which only flows for a few hours now and then...from the top to bottom of the pic is probably over 100 feet.

I visited my friends Chuck and Kathy in the Denver area, and this was the scene on May 10.  They had 5 1/2 inches of snow overnight...the most fresh snow I'd seen since I left Denver in 1990.  A beautiful novelty.

In August I visited the Canadian Rockies.  About a mile from my cabin I found one of the locals having dinner.  I actually visited or at least drove through ten national parks on this trip, ranging from Yosemite and Yellowstone to Banff and Jasper (where bruddah elk was chowing down).

On the parks trip, I made my first visit to Calgary in 43 years.  There have been, a few new buildings constructed since then.  There were robust thunderstorms while I was there, making for great light.  I also got my car washed very well...but not damaged...by an intense burst of pea sized hail.  

Sometimes the Canadian Rockies defy description.  You just take a deep breath and marvel at the splendour.  This is Peyto Lake, between Banff and Jasper.

Totally different but equally fine is Haleakala, on Maui.  Spent half of November on the island.

Surf's up on the coast between Kahului and Hana!

Stayed at a nice condo at Napili, between Lahaina and Kapalua.  This was the view from my lanai.  Fine spot for happy hour, enjoyed with my friends Suzanne, Dick, and Wilma.