We have visited the vast majority of American national parks; from Acadia NP in Maine to the National Park of American Samoa (where park rangers wear lava lava skirts), and from the Virgin Islands NP to Denali NP in Alaska; but we had never visited the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP here in our own state of Colorado. One reason is that this park has never been on our way to other parks, as we always took the northern route across Colorado to Arches and Canyonlands NPs in Utah, or the southern route to the Great Sand Dunes and Mesa Verde NPs. Secondly, the drive to Gunnison is at the furthest extent for a day trip...215 miles or four hours drive from our home and the same distance back; making for a long day. But ... read more

For my Planning My St. Olavsleden Pilgrimage blog which provides details on the history and the logistics involved, please go to . 4 - 5 July 2017 Tuesday and Wednesday. My daughter Tamara and Linda dropped me off at the Colorado Springs airport. Upon boarding the flight attendant advised due to high temperatures and altitude, the aircraft was too heavy to take off. She asked for five volunteers to take the next flight in return for a voucher. I couldn't due to tight connections, but five others immediately volunteered saving me from being dragged off the United flight. My flight left Colorado Springs at 11:25 AM and the rest of the schedule to Houston, Amsterdam, Oslo, and Trondheim went smoothly. The flight from Houston to Amsterdam was great as I had the whole row to myself. ... read more

Today was the kick off of my preparation for walking the S:t Olavsleden pilgrim trail from near the Swedish border to the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway (see ). After a long winter, where my average number of steps per day was about 5,000 (thanks to my Fitbit, a Christmas present) and where my walks for the few good days were about 1 mile (1.6 Km), I really need to be in shape to walk 21 Km...the maximum daily distance on the trail between accommodations...before departing on 4 July, which is only two months away. My hometown of Woodland Park has been fortunate to be the venue for some major events. In August 2014 we hosted the USA Pro Challenge, the US counterpart to the Tour de France (see ). Today we hosted the Broncos 7K ... read more

When I informed people that I was going to Kissimmee FL for a high school class reunion, they naturally assumed that I went to high school there. However, I went to Dalat School in Dalat, Vietnam. As the Vietnam War heated up, in April 1965 the U.S. Embassy sent four USAF C-123s to move the school to Bangkok, Thailand. I was on furlough in Nyack NY at the time so missed the excitement. After a year there, the school moved to the Cameron Highlands and then to Penang, Malaysia where it remains today. My Dalat experiences are recounted in , , and . My subsequent 1973 visit to the school in Penang is recounted in and my 2009 visit to Dalat, Vietnam is recounted in , , and . So we can pretty much have our ... read more

This is my last blog related to my walk along the Camino to Santiago. My previous blogs started with , followed by , , , and. This blog relates to my journey of 100 km from Lugo along the Camino Primitivo to Melide where I rejoined the Camino Frances, my arrival in Santiago, and my time in that area. I knew that this walk would be much different from the walk from Pamplona to Burgos, where I skipped sections of the Camino due to an ankle injury. By skipping ahead I was able to hop scotch fellow pilgrims with them catching up to me, although in highly improbable circumstances. For the final 100 km I would have to walk every step to receive my Compostela, the certificate of completion. This meant I wouldn't be meeting pilgrims ... read more