A digital travel diary. · WP v1.22 · Updated
. . It was time for our Spring Break trip to Puerto Vallarta! . . . I initially considered canceling our trip because Alex and Inna had come down with the flu, but they convinced me to continue since they were feeling much better. I contacted Costco Travel to double-check the severity of my penalties. If I canceled the trip, I would lose 60% of…
Read More: Vacationing in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico
Sunday, July 2, 2017 . . . On July 2, 2017, I flew from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) aboard a Virgin Atlantic VS20 Airbus jet. Although the flight was delayed by 30 minutes (from 5:30pm to 6:00pm), I still arrived in London at 11:50 am BST the following day, on schedule. I got a little sleep on the plane…
Read More: Sightseeing Vienna
One of Alex's reasons for wanting to join the Symphonic Band at Dartmouth Middle School was to participate in the annual Disneyland trip. He worked hard during 7th grade to prepare for his Symphonic Band audition and was finally admitted into the Symphonic Band in June of 2016.. . . During the Disneyland trip, the Symphonic Band got to play at Disneyland and California Adventure…
Read More: Dartmouth Symphonic Band’s Disneyland Trip
After many changes in travel arrangements, we settled on our Whistler Ski vacation for February 18 to 22. Since we could not book our favorite Pan Pacific Whistler Mountainside hotel for Alex's annual ski week (at Dartmouth Middle School), we made reservations at the Crystal Lodge. Pan Pacific usually offers attractive packages for skiers, such as the included 2 adult Whistler/Blackcomb lift tickets for each…
Read More: Snowboarding Whistler
I was returning to New York City for the first time since the summer of 1982, when my Mom, Dad, and I visited the Empire State Building and other famous landmarks. I have never been to NYC in the winter, so I was apprehensive about the conditions there. What has changed? What has stayed the same?. . . . We were scheduled to fly out…
Read More: Christmas in New York City
To avoid parking at the expensive San Francisco (or De Anza) parking lot, we ordered UberX from our home to the San Francisco Airport (SFO). The UberX ride was fast and efficient, and we arrived with plenty of time to spare (since I had already checked in online using United's iPhone app). The final cost was $55 - high - but cheaper and more convenient…
Read More: Relaxing in Cancun
Since it was still September (the red-sticker riding season had not yet started), I decided to refresh my off-road motorcycling skills with Brian Garrahan. I enrolled for a two-day seminar in his Intro to Dirt class with Garrahan Off-Road Training.. . The two-day class takes place in Hollister SVRA, CA and Brian Garrahan provides all of the dirt bikes. He mostly uses Honda CRF150F and…
Read More: Intro to Dirt in Hollister SVRA (with Riding Notes)
Friday, July 1, 2016 . . . It was finally time for our dream vacation to Bora-Bora in French Polynesia. We had heard many stories about it being the "most beautiful" place on Earth, and we wanted to see it ourselves.. . . . Our journey began with a flight from San Jose to Los Angeles. We had landed at Los Angeles (LAX) the previous…
Read More: Breathtaking Bora-Bora, French Polynesia
Thursday, June 30, 2016 . . . . . . We returned to Universal Studios Hollywood for a day on our way to Bora Bora, eager to explore the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.. . . Our Southwest WN2235 flight was initially scheduled to depart at 6:20 pm from San Jose airport (We hoped to have some extra time in Los Angeles to visit Beverly…
Read More: Universal Studios Hollywood
Saturday, April 9, 2016 . . . Our drive from Zahara to Ronda, Spain, covering the beautiful Spanish countryside, was short and uneventful.. . . . . We arrived at Parador de Ronda Hotel in our little Opel Meriva rental car around 1:00 pm.. . . . . . After checking in and dropping off our bags, we decided to stroll through Ronda to find…
Read More: Exploring Ronda
Monday, April 4, 2016 . . . . . We arrived at Seville's San Bernardo train station at around 8:45pm from Granada, Spain (where Alex and I started our Spain trip). We took a taxi from San Bernardo train station to our Airbnb apartment rental in downtown Seville.. . . . . Our Airbnb apartment was on the main Calle Francos street, with many boutiques…
Read More: Splendid Seville
Friday, April 1, 2016 . . . . Today Alex and I set off on a family vacation to southern Spain, where we would meet Inna in Granada before continuing to Seville, Ronda, and Malaga.. . Since Inna had more time and flexibility, she would depart earlier to see Barcelona and Madrid. In contrast, Alex and I, who have more limitations due to school and…
Read More: The Long Road to Granada
Back to Maui! We returned for a stay at Grand Wailea, arriving on an early flight from San Jose.. . Having scheduled a very early 7:20 a.m. departure from San Jose (SJC) airport (bound for Kahului, Maui), we woke up groggy at 4:30 a.m. We decided to try using Uber to avoid parking at the airport, and I had a driver at my house in…
Read More: Relaxing in Grand Wailea, Maui
We have always enjoyed dining at the fabulous Solbar Restaurant in Calistoga, especially when we spent time at the Indian Springs Resort. We have never stayed at the Solage Spa, but Inna wanted to try it, so we booked the "Just the Two of Us" promotion for the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.. . We arrived on Friday afternoon and checked in. The drive from San Jose…
Read More: Relaxing at Solage Spa in Calistoga
I became interested in learning to ride a dirt bike in August and enrolled in the Intro to Dirt class at Garrahan Off-Road Training.. . The two-day class takes place in Hollister, CA, and Brian Garrahan provides all the dirt bikes.. . Day 1 - Saturday, October 24, 2015 . . . I got up early, around 6:30am, to prepare for the drive to Hollister.…
Read More: Intro to Dirt at Hollister Hills SVRA
Our drive from Gananoque (Thousand Islands) to Montreal took a little over two and a half hours. We experienced periods of heavy rain but made it safely to our rented Airbnb apartment.. . . We were staying on Rue Towers Street in downtown Montreal. Our Airbnb host, Tyler, met us and showed us where to park our car and the many amenities of the rented…
Read More: Montreal, Quebec
We headed to South Lake Tahoe for a weekend stay at the 968 Park Hotel, with time to try local restaurants. . We started our drive to South Lake Tahoe on Friday evening to get an early start on the activities at Lake Tahoe (which can get rather crowded later in the day). Although there was some traffic on US-50, the drive was uneventful. We…
Read More: Fun at South Lake Tahoe
We arrived at Venice's Santa Lucia train station (on the island) from Bologna at around 1:10 p.m. Once there, we purchased a 3-day Waterbus ticket for each of us ($40/ticket) to use public transportation in Venice, Murano, and Burano.. . I did not realize it at the time, but a machine sold those tickets next to the agent, and I could have purchased the exact…
Read More: Venice, Italy
"Buongiorno, do you have any warm jackets for sale?" All I had was my red raincoat, and I was freezing. Italy was not supposed to be this cold! I was in the little town of Bellagio on the beautiful Lake Como, and all I could think about was finding a place to warm up.. . I packed enough for my Italian trip but forgot to…
Read More: Lake Como, Italy
We began our Italian vacation in Milan after flying from Oakland via Stockholm and Copenhagen. . We flew out on Norwegian Airlines flight DY7068 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time from Oakland Airport to Stockholm, Sweden, as the first part of our Italian vacation.. . Norwegian Airlines used the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and it was a pleasure to fly on a modern jetliner with comfortable seats…
Read More: Milan, Italy