"Today is the right day to love, believe, do, and mostly live." Dalai Lama
This week, John and I made a trip to the US Virgin Islands to visit #62 of 63 National Parks – on St John Island. Getting to Virgin Islands National Park is not for the faint of heart – two planes, two taxis, a ferry, and a rental car each way, but it was absolutely …
This year was a milestone anniversary – 35 years. Hard to believe as time goes by so fast. Our first date was my high school prom, believe it or not. I moved to town right before my senior year, wasn’t dating anyone, and a guy I was friends with, Ray, asked me if I would …
Read more “A Celebration of the Union of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen”
I just completed my bucket list trip of a lifetime with my bestie of 47 years, Stephanie Key Espinoza We hiked the Inca trail, the Salkantay Pass trek to Machu Picchu, ending the trip climbing to the top of Machu Picchu mountain. It was approximately 50 miles over 8 days, gaining 8000 Ft of elevation, …
Over 14 months ago, I started my journey in culinary school. It is so hard to believe it is almost over! Over the past year, I have learned so much. In the beginning, it was all about technique – knife skills, braising, stewing, puréeing, poaching, simmering, boiling, blanching, shocking, steaming, soups, salads, stocks, sauces, dressings, sweating, caramelizing, dredging, …
I’m on Spring Break from school, so John and I planned ad adventure to visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park – one of the last three remaining for us to see that are only visitable by plane. Getting to the Big Island is no joke from Ohio – 18 hours door to door with a 6 …
My life lately has been a lot more veggie than traveler! School has kept me busy – learning techniques, concept development, menu design, readings, video lectures, quizzes, exams, and lots and lots of cooking! I’ve done a ton of work in these first three months – knife skills, braising, stewing, puréeing, poaching, simmering, …
When my daughter Delaney asked me to go on a wilderness backpacking adventure with her, I said “yes” right away. If you are a parent, you know that time with your children is precious and you take anything they have to give. And I have always told my kids about my desire to not only spend time …
We left Bellingham with a plan to take a windy, spontaneous route back home. There was ONE National Park on our list that we could hit by driving, Hot Springs, which was the only “must do”. From there, we decided to revisit places on the route we wanted to see again and check out some …
Alaska was a trip John and I kept talking about, but I was a little intimidated with all the planning that would be required. We knew we wanted to do it with the adventure van. We knew we wanted to drive up and ferry back, and we also knew we wanted to try to make …
We had a little shy of 48 hours in Vietnam, and we truly just scratched the surface. Vietnam has a population around 100 million, with an official language of Vietnamese and most people practicing no religion. They originally declared independence from China, only to be split into two areas (north and south) with the south colonialized by …