Category Archives: Trip Reports

Wales Photos

by

Caernarfon CastleI just posted (lots of) photos from Wales as the first batch our trip to the UK in August/September. We had a great time and really enjoyed Wales. The weather was even pretty decent aside from one day. This was our first full day there so we were taking it easy and only visiting Caernarfon Castle anyway. We saw quite a bit during the week including Caernarfon, Conwy, Beaumaris, and Harlech castles, did some hiking, and visiting the Llechwald Slate Mine and Sygun Copper Mine. My dad and I also spent a morning at Llechwald doing an underground Outward Bound-ish/ziplining course which was very cool. All told, we (I) did about 700 miles of driving. Driving a stick on the left side of the road wasn’t too bad, but the roads were really narrow so it was pretty stressful until I started getting used to it (maybe Wednesday). The first day, driving several hours from Manchester after our overnight flight, was a bit tough. We rented the great Gilfach-Y-Nant cottage from Dioni in Beddgelert, a small village in southwest Snowdonia and were really happy with the cottage itself and the town.

View of Snowdon Horseshoe

I still have to prune and process London and the others but hope to have at least some up next week.

Washington, DC

by

National Mall and US Capitol from top of Washington MonumentWe took advantage of “Jersey Week”, when Kyle had a half day on Tuesday for Election Day and Thursday and Friday off for the NJ Teachers’ Convention, to visit Washington, DC. We had wanted to take Kyle to see the museums and monuments of DC for a while. Now that he was old enough to appreciate it, we decided to head down there for a week. It was a great time and we saw a ton including the Air & Space (both the part in DC and the Udvar-Hazy Center out at Dulles Airport), Natural History, and American History museums of the Smithsonian Institution. We also hit (at least) six memorials/monuments, Ford’s Theater, Arlington National Cemetery, the Library of Congress, and, as bonuses, Manassas Battlefield and Fort McHenry.

Of course, there are

Lincoln and WWII Memorials

Trip 2012 – Day 4 – Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon

by

Here are some photos from day four, our day to make the long drive from Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon. (I don’t have many good photos of Bryce from this day as we got into the park around sunset and it faces east. Sunrise is much better. Stay tuned for those.)

One last view of the Grand Canyon on our way out

Horseshoe Bend

Moon over Bryce Canyon Hoodoos

View from Bryce Canyon