Over the holiday break Denise, Liat and myself decided to take a bit of a road-trip. You see, our fellas decided to bugger off to Kenya and we figured that as long as they where off exploring together so should we. So, on the 2nd of January we packed up the golf and made our way down to Santa Barbara where we jumped on a boat to the Channel Islands. We were pretty lucky, not only did we see dolphins in the first 5 minutes of the boat ride, but we saw whales. We did see them breaching, but I didn't manage to get a shot, though I did get a tail shot. We hiked around the island and took in the beautiful view. The day was absolutely perfect for it. We ended our stay on the island with a little fox viewing. What a day!

Here are a few images from our adventure...

Next adventure: Driving through the Desert

A somewhat last minute trip to Yosemite, our travel companions came from all corners of the globe. Taiwan, Iceland, South Africa (obviously), Argentina, Peru, Israel, and Dominica.  We piled into the golf, typical road-trip snacks stuffed in every available nook. It was a pretty tight fit. I don't think any of us were quite prepared for how cold it was. Not even the Icelander. Our first full day in the park and the biggest snowflakes I have ever seen started falling out of the sky: no hike to glacier point. We quickly rearranged our plans and decided to do a shorter hike up to Yosemite falls. We all snapped photos as we went along. I thought I would try my hand at HDR on this trip. The second day we did manage a hike up to Glacier point. The image above is the view from the top. The rest of the images below are a few of my favorites. We live in such an amazing part of the world. But after our trip, it sounds like I have a few more countries to visit.
  

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It seems like ages ago that Charlie and I went on our  Scandinavian getaway. I suppose it has been about a month and so much has happened since then. Now, finally, I have a moment to sit down and think about our trip. Our first stop was Bergen, a beautiful little fishing town. We explored the market, and went for walks. We hiked to the top of a nearby mountain and got a beautiful view of the city. While in Bergen we went on a train/boat fjord tour called 'Norway in a Nutshell'.  Highlights: Passing through the town of Evanger (my families namesake) and trying real Norwegian Kumla (a staple at all holidays in my family). One of the funniest things about Bergen was finding a place to eat. Not only was it truly expensive, but figuring out where to eat was hilarious. In most countries we try to avoid other tourists. We figure the only way to find good food is to eat where the people that live there eat. Well, in Bergen it seems that only the tourists eat in the 'Traditional Norwegian' establishments. The people of Bergen all seem to eat at Fridays. The same Fridays restaurant that we have here in the US with the same menu, only it is about triple the price.

Here are some photographs from the trip, enjoy!

Yosemite. Just the thought of this place is magical. The towering granite rocks and ever flowing waterfalls. It is simply one of those places that is good for the soul. Last weekend Charlie and I and our friends Matt and Cath (Matty is my South African brother) packed up our cute little golf and headed to the park. Our mission: hike Half Dome. Mission: accomplished.

17 miles (actually more like 20 when you adjust for the accidental detour)
4,800 feet in elevation gain
8,842 feet above sea level

Did I do the whole thing in Vibrams? Abso-flipping-lutely.