For nearly two years Sunny and I have been taking advantage of the Seattle Art Museum’s free entrance on the first Thursday of the month. For us, the museum is a great getaway from the hassles of life. The rotating exhibits are usually pretty good – last year there was an exhibit of the great bronze doors from the Baptismal by the Duomo in Florence. The artwork is absorbing, transporting us to other worlds. The one in the photo below is a little odd, but fun…

On a whim, Sunny and I took a road trip to Tacoma. I was not ready for this city. Firstly, Tacoma’s downtown was completely deserted Sunday morning. Tacoma was actually a very beautiful city. The houses above the bay were very old and were gorgeous. Our trip was made special after paying the toll to cross the new Tacoma bridge. We couldn’t find a single open restaurant, so we drove to the Tacoma Mall and ate at Red Robin.

Sunny and I traveled to Leavenworth with Mike and Jill for the lighting ceremony. We had a great time, the city did not let us down. The condo we stayed in was not far from downtown so we walked. Within Leavenworth we ducked in little shops to look at Christmas ornaments. For the lighting ceremony we ended up on the balcony of our restaurant overlooking the festival. We’re already planning to return next year.

Click here to see more photos from Leavenworth…

Sunny had a class in Philladelphia which gave us an opportunity to tour the first Capitol city of the United States. The first day we toured the historic city center, where we saw the Liberty Bell. The next two days I toured the city on my own while Sunny attended her class. Philadelphia is not a large city, and it is not too difficult to tour on foot. The city center is organized in a grid pattern with long straight streets and wide boulevards. The hotel we stayed in was gorgeous, we had a great time.

Click here to see more photos from our vacation to Philadelphia…

Sunny and I camped overnight at Money Creek Campground off Highway 2. Money Creek is a beautiful campground situated along a bend in the Skykomish River. Sunny and I had visited the campground last year on our way to Leavenworth, so I knew the best spot to reserve for our trip. The campground did not disappoint us, it was gorgeous! We pitched our tent right above the river and went for a walk around the campground. The only negative thing about Money Creek is that the railroad passes alongside the campground. We heard two trains pass within a short period of time. Later that evening we started a roaring campfire and cooked our dinner over a propane burner.

We slept under a clear night filled with stars until it was so cold I had to put the rainfly up to keep in some heat. The roar of the river accompanied us into sleep.

That morning as we were preparing to cook breakfast, Sunny volunteered to cut kindling for the fire. As she was chopping wood, she cut her finger on the hatchet! The cut seemed pretty bad so I packed up the site and we drove to a walk-in-clinic. The cut turned out to be nothing more than a scratch! Aside from the war wound, Money Creek proved to be a wonderful and relaxing night out under the stars.

Click here to see more great photos from Money Creek… including a photo of Sunny at the walk-in-clinic with her bandaged finger!

Sunny and I attended a course at the Edmonds Theater, which taught us about current politics and trends in Europe. The comparison between American and European politics is enjoyable to study… I can’t type anything else because I’m so excited about what happened after the seminar! As Sunny and I walked to the front of the theater to exit out the back door we we saw Rick Steves! Rick Steves and his wife had also attended the class, and it was a complete surprise that we ran into them. I had Sunny take our photo with my iPhone, but it was really dark so it didn’t turn out. Then, after we had exited the theater – and I was still excited by the meeting – we ran into them again! There, in broad daylight, Sunny took the great photo you see below.

Rick Steves is a travel writer, an author of over 70 travel guides to Europe, including the book I used to backpack through Europe my first time over nine years ago, Europe Through the Back Door. I also love his shows on PBS.

Sunny and I found the perfect spot to spend our sunsets in Maui. Along the boardwalk that stretches the length of Ka’anapali beach there are a handful of hammocks strung between palm trees. I took quite a few lazy photos from those hammocks. We would rock ourselves to sleep above the beach. The waves lap methodically over the sand. Above us the sunset would bathe us in light. There is nothing like a sunset in Maui.

Read about our honeymoon and see more photos from Maui.

I went on vacation for three days to Lake Chelan with Sunny’s family. We stayed at a condo right on the beach. Sunny’s family has been vacationing at Lake Chelan for nearly 30 years, so Sunny really knew the lake! The weather was perfect, not too hot, and the water was cold. We laid on the beach, swam, and took the boat out for inter-tubing and waterskiing. My favorite was when we took the boat to Safety Harbor. We followed the river to a small pool where we swam in the cool water. The first night we barbecued thinly sliced flank steak marinated in teriyaki sauce – it was beautiful! I posted a few of the photos below. You can see many more photos on my Web Gallery.

I had so many great photos I added another page…

Sunny and I hiked to Monte Cristo, with our nephews Alex and Erik, on a washed out road. Along the way we traversed hills of snow, washed out bridges, and fallen logs. For lunch we tried to light a campfire, but Sunny and I were distracted when Erik lost both his shows in thick mud, which he referred to as quicksand. We had a great time. Since Erik had never hiked true wilderness trails before I made sure we took it easy. At the end of the hike Erik said he loved it and would come back. Our next planned hike is an overnighter to an alpine lake or river. Alex was enthralled by the scenery and took a lot of great photos. At the end of the trip we visited Alex’s Mom Tiffany and their very large rabbits. See more photos from our hike on my Web Gallery…

There were so many great photos that I had to add another page…

We returned safely from our vacation to Paris and we are engaged! Everyday on this trip was special, around every corner was something wonderful. Our hotel was very romantic – we stayed on the second floor of Hotel Prince, in the Rue Cler neighborhood, right next to the Eiffel Tower. We spent our evenings wandering streets bathed in the gold hue reflecting from the Eiffel Tower. It snowed the first day, and it was cold! On the second day Sunny and I took a walk from Les Invalides over Pont Alexander III to the Champs Elysees. That evening I proposed and Sunny said yes, yes, yes! Over the next few days we toured the Louvre, D’Orsay, Rodin, and the Orangerie museums. The Louvre was overwhelming, but fun. We were so tired in the Orsay that we kept our tour limited to Degas’ ballerinas and impressionism.

The food was great. For dinner Sunny often ate French Onion soup and I had the typical French dinner, steak and fries. We ate well. We walked from sight to sight, eating picnic lunches consisting of stinky cheese and herby breads along the way.

I’ve added some photos below, click here for my Web Gallery for the rest.