Wisetrips Travel Blog

Dad, or as I affectionately like to call him - Grandpa Neal - first learned of his lung cancer in October 2014, when he was only 72 years old. He had a cough that would not go away, so he went to see his Kaiser Permanente doctor. After doing a chest X-ray, he discovered that he had a tumor in one of his lungs. He was shocked to hear this, as he had only smoked for one year in his early youth and was in excellent shape (having run…

Wow, this has been a month of many changes. In short, I sold my lovely 2009 Mini Cooper "S" convertible , affectionately named "Chili," my trusty Canon 5D Mark III camera, my MSI GTX 970 graphics card, and my GoPro Hero 3 Black action cam. After a few weeks of trying to sell my 2009 Mini Cooper "S" on Craigslist , I tried the  Cars.com website. Previously, I tried sell…

It's been a while since I visited Manresa State Beach - one of my favorite beaches near Santa Cruz. Unlike most beaches, it's relatively close (within a 60-minute drive) and has beautiful white sand. I hoped for a beautiful family beach day, and the weather did not disappoint. Although cloudy initially, the weather cleared up, and the warm summer sun emerged. We tested the cold Pacific O…

Having seen Phantom of the Opera multiple times before (the first time in Houston in 1993), I was not initially excited about seeing it again at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco. However, this new  Phantom of the Opera production impressed me, and I was thrilled to see it. It was staged differently from the Phantom productions I've seen in Houston and Las Vegas. Phantom of the Oper…

" Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty ", sings Matilda in her second song. It's one of those memorable lines that are not easily forgotten. Inna and I finally got to see Matilda the Musical at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco on July 23, 2015.  I frankly wasn't sure that I was going to be able to attend the performance, as I had a colonoscopy in the morning. Luckily, my procedure went well, an…

The drive from Montreal to Mont-Tremblant took about two hours. Mont-Tremblant is one of the major ski resorts near Montreal, and we wanted to see what it looks like and what activities it offers in the summer. When we arrived in the afternoon, we did not realize that Mont-Tremblant had a Blues Festival . I was surprised that a small ski town could host such an event. We really liked the look of Mont-Tremblant village an…

We were not originally planning to visit the Botanical Gardens in Montreal on July 4, 2015. However, having finished exploring the nearby Biodome , we decided to take a closer look at the beautiful gardens. It was around 5:00 p.m. when we arrived, and the indoor garden exhibit would close at 6:00 p.m. We decided to go in anyway. I am thankful that I went because the next day, I came down with a severe case …