Our trips

We walked around old San Juan's city walls and Castillo San Felipe del Morro in the morning, then took a short flight to the island of Vieques.
On Vieques, we dodged horses in the road on the way to our house. We went snorkeling off a pier and swimming in the clear turquoise water on the north and south coasts of the island. We found a tiny private beach on the south coast, and turtles and lots of fish off the west coast. We paddled clear-bottomed kayaks through the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world.
We picked up a rental car in San Juan, and drove into the steep forested Central Mountains. We stayed at a jungle cottage at the top of a steep road. We went swimming in their local swimming hole, climbed up a waterfall, and slid down a petroglyph-covered boulder. We hiked down to a river and floated through rapids and caves on tubes. Just down the road, we made a quick stop to see the ruins of Arecibo Observatory.
We drove back to San Juan for one night on the beach before heading home.

From the small town of Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley, we visited the mysterious concentric terraces of Moray and the millenia-old salt ponds of Maras. We walked along a high plateau with llamas and alpacas, and watched several colorful parades in the town.
We took the bus up to the Citadel of Machu Picchu right after we arrived, and followed Circuito 2 to the terraces and along the plaza. The next morning, we hiked up many steep stairs to the top of Wayna Picchu, the big mountain in the background of the standard Machu Picchu picture.
We went back to Cusco and met our guide for a rafting trip on the Apurimac River. Four guides led the three of us through beautiful steep canyon with nearly continuous rapids and very cold water.
In Cusco, we visited the Cathedral and climbed up to church of San Cristobal high above the city. We made chocolate drinks and molded chocolates in a chocolate workshop. We walked through Inca ruins just outside the city with a guide, and wandered through a monastery built alongside and on top of an Inca temple.

We rafted the lower Grand Canyon with CanX, the same outfitter we went with in 2001. From the South Rim, we hiked down Bright Angel Trail to meet our boats and at river mile 89. Over 9 days, we rafted through the constantly changing canyon. We traveled 136 river miles and through 60+ rapids before leaving the river at Diamond Creek, mile 225. Each day, our guides described the plan, which was pretty much "we'll do some boating, some hiking... we'll have lunch..." Along the way, we stopped to hike up side canyons, scramble over boulders, jump off rocks, and play in creeks and waterfalls. Each afternoon, we unloaded the boats and set up camp on a beach along the river. As the sun went down, the bats came out, and then the stars and Milky Way.

From Auckland, we drove (on the left) a couple hours east to the Corormandel Peninsula. We stayed right on Pauanui Beach, and went swimming at the beach, abseiled down waterfalls, and walked through a mine tunnel with glow worms. From Rotorua, we kayaked across a lake to hot pools, and then into a glow worm cave. We walked through steaming lakes and bubbling mud pools at Hell's Gate. We biked along the Old Coach Road and hiked to waterfalls in Tongariro National Park. We jetboated up the Whanghanui River, walked to the Bridge to Nowhere, and canoed and kayaked part of the way back.

We flew into Tokyo, and stayed three nights in a Airbnb overlooking Tokyo Bay. We went to an indoor amusement park, an onsen resort, a volcanic area, and a garden, then took the shinkansen to Kyoto. In Kyoto we visited a cat cafe and rode bikes to a monkey park and bamboo grove. We hiked between mountain temples and across the Imperial Palace park. We took the train to Kinosaki Onsen and stayed in a traditional Japanese inn. We went to public baths in town and the walked on the beach and rocky coast of the Sea of Japan. On our way to Osaka, we rode a wooden boat through a canyon with rapids. We walked Osaka's neon-lit Dotonbori district and around Osaka Castle, then stopped at Spa World before our flight back home.

We hiked to the top of sandstone bluffs, around weird rock formations, through grass covered ancient sand dunes, and to waterfalls. We saw bison, antelope, prairie dogs, bald eagles, and fossils of bison and mammoths. We went tubing and tanking, played in a river, and swam in a lake with an empty white sand beach. On the day of the eclipse, we drove west to Wyoming to escape the clouds, and watched the sun go out for over two minutes.

We started our trip spending the day in LA, since the flight time to Miami was better from LAX than SFO. The next morning, we flew to Manaus, state of Amazonas, Brazil. We visited a park, swam in our hotel pool, and went to a churrascaria for dinner. Early the next morning we set out for Tupana Lodge, 180km away. We stayed at the lodge for 4 nights. Every day, we walked around, went in the boat, and lounged around in hammocks. Our last afternoon, we walked around historic Manaus before our late flight home.

We walked all around the walls of Québec City and took the ferry across the river to Lévis. The next day, we biked to Montmorency Falls and climbed to the top. We drove to the Lac Saint-Jean area and went canyoning and rafting. The next day, we set off in canoes for two days on the Ashuapmushuan River. After leaving the river, we drove to Sacre-Coeur on the Saguenay Fjord. We climbed a sand hill, went whale watching in a Zodiac, and hiked the hills around the town of Tadoussac.

We flew into Panama City, and visited Fort San Lorenzo, the Gatun and Miraflores Locks, and the original site of Panama City. Then we flew to Bocas del Toro and stayed on Isla Carnero. We went to different beaches each day. We flew to San Jose, Costa Rica from Bocas, and drove up into the cloud forest. We visited Arenal for a day of zip lining and hot springs. We also drove through some back roads to get to a waterfall.

We stayed in a shack near Clarksdale, canoed down the Mississippi River, visited at Lake Chicot, visited the site of a 1600s trading post (now home to armadillos), stayed at DeGray Lake, took mineral baths in Hot Springs, went tubing on the Caddo River, and stopped by the Arkansas state capitol in Little Rock. Arkansas to DeGray Lake, and took mineral baths in Hot Springs.

We went horseback riding and rafting at Marble Mountain Ranch, near the California/Oregon border.

We stayed a week in Albuquerque, with an overnight visit to Santa Fe.

We went to Charleston for a weeklong vacation.

We went to Thailand & Malaysia on our honeymoon.

In October 2006 we visited Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah for a long weekend.

We went sea kayaking and snorkeling on Belize's barrier reef, visited a small Mayan ruin in Belize, swam into a cave containing Mayan relics, went canoeing on a jungle river, explored the Mayan city of Tikal, and visited the town of Flores, Guatamala.

In August, we spent a week in a huge 10 bedroom house near the beach with Paul's family.

The week before Brown Commencement, we drove Kevin's car from Seattle to Providence, so he could give it to his little brother. We took a picture every hour.

We went to South Dakota for 4th of July weekend. We saw fireworks over Mt. Rushmore, and then spent a few days each in the Black Hills and Badlands.

We spent a week on Maui. We stayed at the end of the Hana road, and at Wailea on the southwest part of the island.

We spent a few days in Sydney, then went to Kangaroo Island to see lots of wildlife. We went to Kuranda, outside of Cairns, the day before we flew to Lizard Island to start 3 days of diving on the Great Barrier Reef. We finished our trip by staying a few nights on Hinchinbrook Island.

In late May, we hiked down Bright Angel Trail, then loaded our stuff into rafts for 9 days of rapids, side canyons, and hanging out on the river bank.

From Athens, we drove to Nafplion on the Peloponnese peninsula. We went to lots of ancient ruins before returning to Athens to get on a cruise. Our ship stopped in Rhodes, Santorini, and Ephesus, and ended in Istanbul.

In July, we flew to Juneau, then spent 5 days kayaking, hiking, and whale watching in Glacier Bay. Next, we flew to Anchorage, drove to Denali, and spent several nights at a lodge deep inside the park. Finally, we explored Seward for a few days.

We started our trip by driving to the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. Our next stop was a lodge in Matobo National Park, where we saw cave paintings, strange rock formations, and lots of wildlife. From there we went on a walking safari in Chizarira, one of the most remote parks in the country. After several days at a lodge in Hwange National Park, we went to Victoria Falls. Finally, we canoed down the Zambezi River for several days, camping on islands at night.