10/28/13

Fall Foliage


It's autumn, one of my favorite seasons (the other being spring). Cooling temperatures are here which heralds one of nature's most spectacular, if temporal, shows. I'm talking of course about fall foliage. The northeastern United States is thankfully teeming with these broad-leafed trees - sugar maple, white ash, sycamore, northern red oak, white poplar, to name a few - whose riot of colors become a dazzling display at its peak.

10/20/13

Kenai Fjords National Park


Sailing on Aialik Bay from Seward, on a sunny mid-September, I'm thrilled not only because of the perfect weather but because there are new things to see and learn at Kenai Fjords National Park. Carved eons ago by slow-moving glaciers and colliding tectonic plates, what used to be valleys are now filled with frigid ocean waters. Long steep-sided fjords are chiseled inland revealing quiet rugged coves and bays. Coastal peaks loom all over Kenai peninsula's southeastern edge while its emerald shores are dotted with solitary isles.

10/8/13

Slow Scenic Ride to Seward


On a train, it's always about the journey, not the destination. We're talking here of IMAX-worthy scenery. Lots of it. One where speed is almost irrelevant, one where time hardly matters. In the past, I've been on the PeruRail from Aguas Calientes to Cuzco, and the Golden Pass from Lucerne to Geneva: two train rides I vividly remember for the amount of time I looked outside my window.