farlands | traveling near and far

The first time Jeff and I vacationed in San Francisco, we took the tour to Alcatraz.  It was an excellent tour, so we decided to go back again on our summer of 2014 trip.  John was with us, and we opted for the night tour this time around. To prepare him, and to entertain ourselves, we watched Escape from Alcatraz .  I had never seen it before, and I really enjoyed it. Actually, I hadn't seen a Clint Eastwood film before this....! It was still light as we crossed the bay on the ferry.  It was a pretty overcast afternoon so the city skyline wasn't as visible as we had hoped, but the ride was still enjoyable. The fun way to go to Alcatraz Dusk, then night came as we wove our way in and out of cell blocks, offices and dining halls. Improbable escape An audio tour is provided for everyone in multiple languages, so everyone wanders around at slightly different speeds but it seems to work.  The fact that the narrative features former inmates and...

It's interesting how sometimes you put something out into the universe, the ether, the.. whatever , and things start to happen. In August I started some definitive travel planning - for Scotland and England.  We've had plans to go there for the past few years, but summers have been jam packed with visiting family or John's camps. So, I decided 2017 would be different and we would get this trip off the ground.  I put together an itinerary, a rough budget, and then, three days later, we got this message from Jeff's aunt: ....and because we really want to share our lives here with you, we would like to invite you to come to Kenya this year for Christmas.  We would hope that Carolyn would come at the same time.  If it is possible for you to come, it would be best if you could plan at least a two week trip including travel days.  That would leave you about 10 days in country.  The time would be short, but possibly all that you could manage with school ...

Five months and so much travel - most of it fun, some of it maddening.  Here is my catchup recap of it all and an iconic photo for each: May 2016/Atlanta/Work trip: Stopped by the Margaret Mitchell House in downtown Atlanta.   Walked by the Adult Swim murals by their office - fun and quirky. Strolled in lovely urban Piedmont Park. Missed the Chihuly exhibit at the botanical gardens.  Drat. June 2016/Jackson Hole/Jeff and Jen trip: Jeff won a trip from work to Jackson Hole. Learned that I could really get into fly fishing. On the horseback ride my steed insisted on snacking the whole way. I love staying at the Four Seasons - especially when someone else is paying for it! Met Ross, the roadie trucker guy with a million stories who dropped us back at the Four Seasons with a blast of his horn.  Intermission:  6 performances of Mary Poppins in our local community theater.  Got my fill of red Twizzlers backstage. July 2016/Mu...