I’ve recently uploaded albums from two cities I visited which could not be further apart, geographically and in many other ways. One is San Diego, visited in the Before Time(tm) during autumn (or as close to an approximation of autumn as you can get in sunny Southern California).

The other is Washington, D.C., which I visited earlier this year during spring cherry blossom season. While the alternating freezing cold and sweltering heat made this year’s cherry blossom season a bit unpredictable, I was happy to arrive just after peak bloom had arrived.

One thing they had in common: both cities and both trips were spectacular. In San Diego, I ate my fill of perfectly-cooked fish tacos while admiring the beautiful Pacific coast. In Washington, D.C., I spent countless hours browsing through the numerous museums on the National Mall or walking under cherry blossom snow along the Tidal Basin. Whichever side of the country I was on, I experienced the true joys of traveling.

One of the trips I managed to take last year was to Death Valley National Park. Winter is a great time to visit to avoid scorching temperatures, and if you’re lucky, the surrounding mountains will still be snowcapped. Just don’t mistake the salt flats at your feet for snow!

On the way to Death Valley, I spent a night in Lone Pine, CA. The "Gateway to Mount Whitney," it’s a popular destination for summiting Mt. Whitney and a resupply point for hikers on the John Muir Trail. I took the opportunity to visit the nearby Alabama Hills:

That’s Lone Pine Peak framed in the rock. It’s amazing to think that the lowest point in the contiguous United States (Badwater Basin in Death Valley, pictured above) and the highest point (Mt. Whitney, pictured below) are so close together!

Happy New Year! While I haven’t done much traveling in the past two years, I’ve started to work through my immense backlog of previous trips, starting with a trip to Olympic National Park back in September 2019. It’s one of my favorite places, full of dramatic and varied landscapes, from dense rainforests…​

…​to rocky shorelines:

This is my second trip to Olympic National Park, the first time being all the way back in 2007:

I certainly won’t be waiting as long to go back again!

Happy New Year! I did quite a bit of cooking over the holidays, and wanted to share recipes for three dishes that I cooked multiple times and enjoyed:

It’s been a while since the last post! I’ve been lax about updating here when I add new content. In 2019, my travels took me to the fascinating city of Barcelona:

As well as Switzerland and the Berner Oberland:

Closer to home, I took a road trip to the American Southwest, and was able to see the Grand Canyon in its snowy splendor, as well as explore beautiful slot canyons:

While I haven’t been able to do any traveling in 2020, I have been doing more cooking and expanding my repertoire of dishes and techniques. And yes, like many others, that includes baking bread:

I wanted to start publishing some of my favorite and most frequently made recipes, so I’ve started a Cooking section on my website. Check it out if you’re interested!