“Disconnected Connectedness” (Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Tetons – August 5, 2017 to August 15, 2017)

About five minutes later, the large group caught up to me though I wasn’t sure if they rememered me or not because one of the ladies said to me, ‘You’re brave, dude!’…

“Inukshuk” (Cascade Range and Pacific Northwest – July 27, 2017 to August 4, 2017)

It wouldn’t be until around 9:35am when we finally got to the customs person, but when she asked what was in our cooler, we revealed that we had eggs, some bread, some kefir, as well as a bag of…

“Going Against The Grain” (Yosemite – June 15, 2017 to June 18, 2017)

I wasn’t sugar coating it telling them they had at least another hour or more just to even get up to the 3rd Chilnualna Falls, which would be the next opportunity to cool off…

“Unforeseen Family Day” (Soldier Creek Falls – June 10, 2017)

And so we were merrily driving up the Hwy 39 into San Gabriel Canyon en route to Crystal Lake. But we were doing this drive without much preparation as we didn’t bring Ann Marie Brown’s book…

“Elevate Us” (Salt Lake City – May 25, 2017 to May 29, 2017)

By about 2:20pm, we only made it to Jean, which was the next town on the way to State Line. And it wouldn’t be until about 3:20pm when we finally made it to Primm. By this time, lots of people…

“Ladybugs of the Heart” (Heart Rock Falls – May 20, 2017)

I eventually scrambled up to rejoin Julie and Tahia where they were snacking on broccoli chips. As we were snacking up here, we were suddenly inundated in an insect swarm. It was quite a surreal…

“Corner Places” (The Four Corner States – April 13, 2017 to April 23, 2017)

As I was speeding along the NP-101 on the way out, I was suddenly tailed by someone in a truck. I thought that it wanted to pass me or something, but I didn’t see a place to pull over and let him…

“Rite of Passage” (Death Valley – April 7, 2017 to April 9, 2017)

As we were making our way over, Mom was telling me that Joshua had gotten carsick and threw up in a plastic bag. At first, she blamed Dad’s driving…

“Creating Models” (Santa Barbara – March 31, 2017 to April 2, 2017)

And as I was making this apparently unnecessary crossing to get back to the original side, I made a misstep and next thing I knew, both boots were wet as well as my wool socks! So much for hiking…

“United We Pay” (Colorado Springs – March 22, 2017 to March 24, 2017)

Once I got connected with an agent, I was told that my reservation was cancelled because I was a “no show” for my earlier flight from LAX to Denver on Wednesday, which clearly wasn’t true…

“Itchy, Scratchy, and Crawly” (Potrero John Falls and Rose Valley Falls – March 19, 2017)

With the time being 2:50pm, I figured that it would probably be another 40-50 minutes before we’d finally be back at the trailhead. But at least now, we knew that we’d be hiking on trail again…

“Double Whammy” (Tahquitz Falls – February 25, 2017)

That said, Tahquitz Creek and Tahquitz Falls had quite the healthy flow. In fact, its flow was so strong that the creek flowed right over the connecting trail leading to the other side of the loop…

“Double-Edged Sword” (Millard Falls – February 19, 2017)

It wasn’t long before we saw a large group of hikers gathered near the mouth of Millard Canyon and the concrete ford. There was definitely a lot of water rushing across that concrete ford though…

“Just The Two Of Us” (Palm Springs – February 10, 2017 to February 12, 2017)

As Julie and I got closer to the creek amongst those palm trees, we saw some people with wet shoes. One guy told us that you’re gonna get wet on this hike, and that we would be better off giving…

“Chasing Ghosts” (Bailey Canyon Falls and Dana Point Waterfall – January 21, 2017 to January 22, 2017)

It wasn’t until about 3:45pm when we finally got home, but we definitely had to be careful driving up the I-5 as there were a few moments of standing water even on the fast and car pool lanes…

“Hiking or Legoland” (Cedar Creek Falls and Legoland – January 6, 2017 to January 8, 2017)

For just two hours in the park, I didn’t want to spend this kind of money. But Julie was insistent on us going in to park. Our verbal disagreement made the parking attendant uncomfortable and then…

“New Year, New Waterfall (sort of…)” (Aliso Viejo Waterfall – January 2, 2017)

Speaking of unpleasant, the water definitely had an unpleasant smell so we knew very well that this water was polluted. But that didn’t stop Tahia from running towards the foaming plunge pool where…

“Second Wave” (Eaton Canyon Falls – December 10, 2016)

Near the base of the Eaton Canyon Falls were some roses as well as another ledge where there was another bouquet of dried up flowers. I’m betting that these were to commemorate lost loved ones…

“Cortisol Levels” (Monrovia Canyon Falls – November 13, 2016)

We stared and watched as one guy was squared off against another with a third guy nearby either going to join in or just watch. But one of the guys looked like he wanted to get something from the…

“Yin Yang Traveling” (Taiwan – October 26, 2016 to November 6, 2016)

…we had trouble entering… the accommodation that Mom had booked on Friday night, and when she finally started getting a handle on the location of the accommodation…, that was when I realized…