Week 33: BANFF-F-F-F: Canadian Rockies Bound

We’re going further North this week. We’re headed to the province on Alberta on a (car) camping trip to Banff.

This trip was probably my first time camping overseas, and it was for two weeks. I did not know what quite to expect. Where would we shower? How will we cook meals? What about wildlife? Fortunately, my friends were experienced campers so I had a lot of mentors. Plus, we’re going car camping, so it was not that drastic. It’s not like I needed to pack all my stuff in one big backpack (but I did).

It was also my first time in Canada. I almost made it through in during my weekend in Seattle, but did not have time. Also, this is in the Canadian Rockies. I’ve never seen huge mountains like what is on the t-shirt – well, except for Mt. Shasta.

Banff is actually the first Canadian National Park. It is also a UNESCO’s Canadian Rockies World Heritage Site. I can imagine why it was selected.  The scenery is magnificent: snow-capped mountain ranges, Lake Louise and Lake Louise Lodge, Bow Falls downtown, and abundant wildlife. In fact, featured in this t-shirt actually looks more like the equally beautiful Lake Moraine in the Valley of the Ten Peaks which provides a majestic view. This is actually at the back of the Canadian twenty-dollar bill.

The trip was actually quite adventurous, but not as traumatic. Traveling in a group made it comfortable. We did sleep in tents and in sleeping bags through the trip. The campgrounds were very nice – they have a cookhouse, some more rustic than others, where you can have meals away from the cold Canadian nights. Showers were in the malls and took Canadian quarters (Bring your Tevas or Keens to wear in the showers though, more hygienic).

More adventures in Canada to come in the next few weeks… For more information about Banff National Park, check out the National Geographic section on this wonderful park.

Week 32: Sleepy in Seattle

We’re going a bit further north and going to SEA-TAC or Seattle-Tacoma. This trip was way back, when I first moved to California. I suspect that this was my second road trip, and I did it on my own (I was much braver and more stupid back then). The first was to Los Angeles to visit my aunt.

I had an urge to visit Seattle because this is where Microsoft is. Back then, Microsoft was one of the hot companies to work for. I wanted to see where the campus was and see if it was as cool as they said it was.

I got my directions from an office mate who used to live in Seattle. He said take Highway 5 from Highway 80 and take it straight to Seattle. He did miss mentioning a couple more freeways, but after getting lost (I found myself in Sacramento) and consulting a map (yes, those paper things with landmarks), I was on my way.

I visited the usual tourist spots: the Space Needle and Pike’s Place Market. I found Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, which was actually about a half an hour outside of town. I took a lot of walks to get a feel of downtown. I did not see the famous Bubblegum Wall (since I was not aware of it yet).

This was actually a fun three-day road trip for me – albeit the drive was a bit too long. I stopped once at a rest stop in Red Bluff, CA to rest my eyes and at Mt. Shasta, CA to have breakfast (at the McDonald’s overlooking Black Butte). I even contemplated to go to Victoria Island in British Columbia in Canada. But I figured I did not have time to squeeze all that in one day.

I did have time to buy a t-shirt, and that was one of the highlights of my trip. 

Not sure about the dolphin reference though.... Isn't their football team The Seahawks?

Week 31: On the road again… To Crater Lake

It is still summer (although the recent Northern California weather does not reflect it), and it is still vacation season. So, we’re going on another road trip, and this time were Northward-bound. Our first stop: Crater Lake in Oregon.

This stop was actually from our trip to Mt. Bachelor (during early spring - see my first post). We were on our way back from skiing and stopped at Crater Lake to enjoy the views. Crater Lake is lake formed on the caldera of a collapsed volcano. It is known for its deep blue color and water clarity. Crater Lake is probably one of the best-known views in Oregon. However, it was snowing very hard, and we could barely see the two islands on the lake. At least, I was able to get a T-shirt.

Summer is probably the best time to see Crater Lake. I would love to return to Crater Lake and spend some time hiking, taking photos, and just enjoying the scenery. It is a long road trip from San Francisco. Driving to Weed, CA (where you take the road to Crater Lake) is probably about five to six hours. It’s probably another two and a half hours to the lake. Maybe next year…

For more info, check out the Crater Lake National Park page or the Wikipedia article for the lake.

Week 30: Crabbing at Joe's

Since we’ve been traveling so much, I decided that for this week, we’re staying (virtually) closer to home, and going on a staycation… sort of. I’m featuring two t-shirts this week: one local to us in San Francisco, California, and the other from Houston, Texas. The t-shirts are from Joe’s Crab Shack.

Actually I’ve never been in either location. These shirts were brought home by my hubby, who has been to these locations, as a coming home present.  Back then he was travelling quite a bit. Of course, the white one is from his trip only about 40 minutes away.

  

I have not really worn the tie-dyed one. It was a size too small when my husband bought it for me. I am going to try to see if I can fit in it now.

If you haven’t been to a Joe’s Crab Shack, they actually have pretty good food for a chain restaurant. The only Joe’s Crab Shack I went to was in San Diego, and we shared one of the crab steam pots. Yummy! It was more than enough for two people.

We should have bought a T-shirt there too.

For more info on Joe's Crab Shack, check out their website at joescrabshack.com. 

Week 29: Diving in Kona

We’re still in Hawaii, but we’re moving on to The Big Island, my favorite island. This is probably the last stop in our Hawaiian adventure since I was not able to get a t-shirt during our trip to Kaua’i a couple of years ago.

As you probably know, my husband and I are avid divers. Our diving trip to Kona through Jack’s Diving Locker was probably one of our more enjoyable dives. The divemaster was very nice and took a really good (slow) pace in our dive tour. It gave us a chance to enjoy and explore. We dove at two spots in Kona: one of which was called Turtle Heaven where we saw three turtles, two of which were sleeping in their rocky shelter.

 

The dive shop staff was also very attentive. One person that stood out was the lady stamping our dive logs. Since they had a variety of stamps, she actually put an ocean scene on my book, complete with mermaids, turtles, and octopus: a fun time indeed.

Diving along the Kona Coast was fantastic. One of the dives in our list is the famous Manta Ray dive. We snorkeled that once and had a surreal experience.  Swimming with these beautiful graceful creatures was an out-of-this world experience. We can’t wait to return and hopefully, enjoy this dive.

 For more info on The Big Island, visit GoHawaii.com/big-island.

Week 28: Colorful Maui

I have one more shirt from Maui. This one was also from that first trip. I primarily bought it for the bright colors. It was so different from the natural beauty that we enjoyed, but a fun shirt, regardless. It reminded me of the psychedelic years during the 60’s (at least, what I saw of those years in Beatles albums or in movies– I was not even born then).

This t-shirt is also predominantly pink, which is Maui’s official color. I think the pink is derived from Maui’s official flower: the roselani.

I think this concludes our trip to Maui. Next week, we’ll move on to a different island. For more info on Maui, visit GoHawaii.com.

Week 27: Adventures in Paradise

This week, we’re staying in Maui. I bought this shirt on my very first trip to Hawaii. We picked Maui for our first trip since we thought it would be a good balance of nature and evening activities.

This trip was many years ago. My friends and I were young(er) and adventurous, so we went all over the island. This shirt represents the activities that we enjoyed.

The first panel represents our trip to Hana. We took the (in)famous Road to Hana. All the tourist brochures were correct; the road was quite narrow with a lot of one-lane bridges. We really did not encounter a lot of traffic, perhaps it was not as popular back then, so it is not too nerve-racking. I even drove part of the way. However, the locals drive really fast – they probably drive this road everyday. Obviously, we let them pass us.

We did not spend that much time in town, but did enjoy the natural beauty. Hana had a number of beautiful waterfalls and pools. We even tried to swim in the seven sacred pools (but we were too tired to even complete one pool).

The next panel represents our trip to Haleakala. Folks usually go to Haleakala for the sunrise or sunset, but we did not wake up early enough nor stayed late to do either of that. Once we reached the summit, we enjoyed the visitor center and some short walks. It was fairly challenging to hike at 10,000 feet, especially if you did not get acclimated.

Haleakala was like going to a different world. It was covered in red soil and there was almost no vegetation, quite different from the lushness of Hana. It was like being on the surface of Mars.

The last panel represents all the time in the water and rainbows we saw. It seemed that everyday we saw a beautiful rainbow; rainbows always make me smile. Although the last panel of the t-shirt has whales, we really did not go whale-watching. We did spend a lot of time snorkeling, enjoying the beach, and just hanging out. We are in Hawaii, after all!