Monthly Archives: June 2016


Ping Yao Adventuriety

  Two and a half hours out of Beijing on a bullet train and there is still no sky visible.  It looks like June gloom in Central California but it is smog, laying on the ground.  Scott points outside and says to the kids, “See the pollution?”  Grant replies, “I thought it was fog…are you sure?” It took us three and half hours to finally...

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Beijing for Beginners…The Fun Stuff Adventuriety

For me, being in China was like being on another planet, but a vaguely familiar planet.  China is a very complicated place; a lot like an episode of Star Trek Voyager where past, present and future are all tangled together in some sort of Delta Quadrant wormhole.  For those of you who are not Trekkies, suffice it to say that Beijing was our first taste...

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Beijing for Beginners…History 101 Adventuriety

China was a big deal for a lot of reasons.  It was our 6th continent, our 18th country and our last destination for the year and above all, it was China and the thought of China intimidated me. Of all of the countries we have visited in the past year, China seemed the most foreign to me with its language, history, size, government and current...

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To Thine Own Self Be True…Kyoto Adventuriety

I’m just going to start by saying that this blog drove me crazy and took forever to write and rewrite and rewrite. We chose Kyoto for five days because the overwhelming advice from both friends and guidebooks was to spend our time in Kyoto!  There seems to be a consensus that Kyoto is  the place to visit and when Japan is the topic, the questions range from, “Have...

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Nikko Adventuriety / Inspirietry

After the sensory overload of Tokyo, we were all looking forward to a little nature and a slower pace.  The charming town of Nikko was recommended both by friends and guidebooks.  It is located a little more than two hours north of Tokyo and offers both the UNESCO World Heritage that includes 103 buildings or structures belonging to two Shinto shrines and one Buddhist temple...

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The Evil Tokyo Tourist Adventuriety

Traveling can help you get to know yourself for sure.  This  “last trip” on our year long adventure was a point of contention. I wanted Iceland, Norway and Ireland, places that sounded good in the hot summer months and all places I had been looking forward to visiting.  Besides, I am Norwegian on my father’s side and I wanted to visit Norway.  Conversely, my family...

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The Grand Canyon Adventuriety

I have been behind on my blogging more than usual after this past South America jaunt and have spent days at home catching up on Peru, Galapagos Islands and Aruba.  It’s not unusual for me to lag behind, but it has been much worse lately and when I finally caught up to our latest adventure I happily reported to Scott who had been asking me on...

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