July 15 After the Bastille Day carousing, we got a late start on this, essentially a travel day down to the Pyrenees. I was excited to drive some of the famous Tour de France mountains (called "cols" down here) just to get a taste of how they truly were by way of the little town called Foix. Holy crap. They … [Read more...]
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Day 5, Sête, France
July 14 (Bastille Day) I'd guess that anywhere in France on Bastille Day is fun. But spending it in the charming completely non-touristy little seaside village of Sête was simply awesome. THIS is the way to spend a holiday in France; in La Petite Venise du Languedoc. Sête, like Venice, has an extensive network of … [Read more...]
Orlando, Florida
Orlando BOOM Orlando, Florida July 2005 We went to Orlando over July 4th weekend with Hoang's family, including her brother and his kids. It was hot and Epcot was weak, but we had fun and even spent 12 hours driving to the Florida highpoint and back (in lieu of the Magic Kingdom. We win.) In retrospect, Epcot … [Read more...]
US National Parks
Since I seem to keep track of everything, why not keep track of the National Parks I've been to (and remember)? No stories here, just a list. Tallies as of 7/1/2018 Steve: 23 Hoang: 7 (All with me!) Visited Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (Family vacation, mid-80's) Petrified Forest National … [Read more...]
Day 4: Aix-en-Provence, France
July 13 As if Nice hadn't already done so, Aix was the town that convinced us we wouldn't mind living in Provence. It's a young vibrant university town with the most beautiful people in the world who have the pleasure of eating some of the best food on the planet. We walked up and down the The Cours Mirabeau and … [Read more...]
Days 2 & 3: Monaco & Nice, France
July 11 We hopped on a train in Nice that took us over to Monte Carlo so we could do some cheap shopping. Ha. In reality, we hoofed it up the steep hill overlooking town to the Monaco exotic garden and cave. While this isn't on most Monte Carlo itineraries, it should be as it was awesome. Here's a video of the … [Read more...]
Day 1: Nice, France
July 10 After flying overnight from JFK to Nice, we settled into our hotel and spent the rest of the day walking around the city. For all the incredible things about Nice, the beach is terrible - all rocks, no sand and lots of dudes in Speedos. We enjoyed the first of what would become an endless parade of … [Read more...]
France/Monaco/Switzerland: 2004
July 9 - 26, 2004 Having just watched the Tour de France again this year (and dusted off my old racing bike!), Hoang and I have been wistfully reminiscing about our two week adventure around France. We followed the Tour a bit here and there and of course did as much - and ate as much - as possible. It was a … [Read more...]
Southernmost Point in the US
Bonus! Ka Lae Big Island of Hawaii (Right here!) June 1, 2003 [Note: The pictures are fuzzy because I pulled them off my old blog and had to enlarge them. Sorry.] If you consider yourself a "Parrot Head" and you've spent too much time, "Nibblin' on sponge cake, watchin' the sun bake... wasted away again in … [Read more...]
Why State Highpointing?
"Why?" "What the heck?" "What's the purpose of that?" "I don't get it." These are but a few of the comments I've heard since I became aware of highpointing and decided it was a goal I'd like to pursue. And that was just from my (at the time of this writing) fiancee, the … [Read more...]