This was a short trip to the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, WA, and a run around a subdivision. While the run was in a location that was not really conducive to high adventure, it ended up being a pretty nice run for me. And I always like fairs!
Every year in mid September Port Townsend hosts a Wooden Boat Festival. I believe it is one of the biggest such events in the country. Port Townsend is a center of wooden boat construction and restoration in this country, and many of the trades necessary to that industry are represented here, so for me it ends up being a very interesting event. Besides the technical piece, there is the artistry of the folks involved which I generally think is amazing.
So this video includes a slide show of the things I saw that I like and appreciate, as well as some views of the run I did at Twanoh State Park.
In July of 2022 I spent a week camping at South Beach State Park, outside of Newport, Oregon, with my daughter and her family. We mostly camped out and took their boat on the bay for crabs. But I also did a little sightseeing and got in a couple of runs which form the basis of this video.
The culmination of my summer spent in Europe was a two week trip via canal boat in The Netherlands. This trip turned out to be everything I had hoped it would be. I saw lots of windmills. I used almost every mode of transportation, but particularly getting intimate with bicycling in the country. The restaurants and food shopping were very good. The architecture and old buildings were very cool. Most of all, I enjoyed the challenge of negotiating the locks and bridges and navigating throughout the canal system, it was quite rewarding.
In the summer of 2022 I traveled with my sister and her daughter, who is also my niece, of course. We went to Nice, France. It was nice to travel to Nice with my niece! I have always wanted to say that!
The trip itself was very good, seeing many of the sights in Monaco and Paris that I have heard about for years. I managed to get in a little exercise with a bike ride, even if there was almost no video about it.
We also saw Monaco and the Monte Carlo Casino, and spent more than a day in Paris seeing the sights and sites there.
One of the places my sister and I went during our travels in Italy the summer of 2022 was the Amalfi coast, in the South West of Italy. Our primary goal was to hike a trail known as Sentiero degli Dei, The Path of the Gods. The scenery was kind of amazing, and the hike wasn’t nearly as demanding as the other trails we did in Italy. Overall, it ended up being a very cool experience.
The Oregon Zoo in Portland Oregon has a fun and unique Christmastime display of lights. In the snow, with their trains, it is quite fun. In addition Washington Park and the Hoyt Arboretum has a huge amount of running trails. So I combined them in my tribute to the holidays, sort of a video Christmas Card.
In August of 2022 my sister and I spent three days and hiked across Italy. This was a very tough hike and my sister was a trooper!
The first leg from Soverato is an 8 mile hike. This hike was very demanding. The hike is a very long, very hot climb up a paved road. The middle portion of the hike is the longest segment of the Calabria/Kalabria Coast to Coast hike at 15 miles. This portion of the trail was mostly paved roads with absolutely no traffic. The last segment of the trip, ending in Pizzo, was the nicest of the three hikes that make up the Calabria/Kalabria Coast to Coast trail.
I spent two weeks with my sister in Italy this summer, with our main activity being hikes in some pretty spectacular places. One of them was in the Northwest coast of Italy called Cinque Terre. This was a demanding hike, with steep grades. While not a huge challenge, it was a great introduction to hiking in Italy, and enough work that I am comfortable calling it exercise! Here is the video:During the summer of 2022 I spent five days in Barcelona. The city is glorious, and there were people everywhere! It also has a ton of nice beaches and I swam in the Med (technically the Balearic Sea?) four of the days I was there. It was sunny and warm, with the water the perfect temperature. It just doesn’t get any better than that!
During the summer of 2022 I spent five days in Barcelona. The city is glorious, and there were people everywhere! It also has a ton of nice beaches and I swam in the Med (technically the Balearic Sea?) four of the days I was there. It was sunny and warm, with the water the perfect temperature. It just doesn’t get any better than that!
In the summer of 2022 I visited Marrakesh Morrocco. I am not really sure if it is spelled Marrakesh or Marrakech.
Marrakesh is an interesting place, and appears to sit a little uncomfortably between the third world and the first world. But I think that is part of its appeal.
It was hot while I was there, usually 112 or so by evening. There was little public water available, so I ended up buying water. I took a water bottle, but quit carrying it because it only lasted a short time and then I had to carry the empty bottle around. I saw folks ask restaurant owners and city workers for water and they appeared willing to oblige, but I never tried that.
The food was generally a dissappointment for me, so I ate in quite a bit. But I think much of that was due to the difficulties of the language. They speak French and Arabic, and many will tell you they speak English. But my experience was that their English was insufficient, I only met a couple of people who were fluent, which were primarily my landlord and the guide I hired for the Atlas Mountains. I feel fortunate in that, but I was never able to get good help when dining out, and I would suggest going to Morrocco would be a much better experience if you speak French.
Depite the difficulties, this was a very enjoyable trip for me. It was such an unusual location that it was quite a bit out of my usual experience, and the better for it.
The town of Toledo is about 45 miles South of Madrid and I did a day trip by train to go take a look. The town is a UNESCO world heritage site, and has an old walled city with lots of history. It was conquered by the Romans in 193 BC. That is old! I also used this video as an opportunity to more fully document my runs in the Casa de Campo in Madrid. I am sure you will be thrilled!
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