West Coast (California)

Two-third family picture at Big Sur.

National parks trip III (California)

Since Elliot was a fourth grader (soon to be fifth grade), we had to cash in on Every Kid Outdoors (free admission to all national parks) before it was too late.

I've always wanted to see the giant sequoia trees so off to California we went, where there are several national parks relatively close together.

For this trip though, it was only two-third of the family. Lynn and Andrew were on their own trip in Japan with the other families as a graduation gift.

Kings Canyon would be the first park we visited, then Sequoia National Park on the following day.

We then headed west to the coastal towns of Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur to avoid the weekend crowd at Yosemite (will post later).

Finally, we finished our trip at Yosemite National Park.

Arigatou gozaimasu (Japan)

Tokyo Station

F1 U.S. Grand Prix (Austin, TX)

Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix at COTA.

I ❤ NY (New York City, NY)

I do love New York. The people were surprisingly really nice. I don't remember specifics but during the trip I just thought, wow everyone here is so nice (unlike Boston). Actually, I got quite a few compliments... on my sleeve tattoo, on my shirt (Anti Pickleball Pickleball Club) and one guy on the subway went out of his way to tap me and said, "You look fly as hell." 😎

We spent five days in New York City, just Lynn and I. The main reason was to catch the US Open, a bucket list item. I actually bought two pairs of tickets (round 2 and round 3) but sold a pair of (round 2) tickets for triple the price so we essentially went to the US Open for free. And we made the most of it. We stayed at the tennis center for nearly 12 hours but had to call it a night (after Sabalenka won her first set) and there was still more tennis to be played (Taylor Fritz was playing after that match).

Konnichiwa (Japan)

Shibuya Crossing.

The City of Light (Paris, FR)

Last week, we took a getaway to Paris without the kids. I'd consider this as my first real international trip. The only other time I took an international flight was as a kid when I went to The Bahamas. I was a bit stressed. I was worried about the language barrier. I was worried about leaving the kids at home with the head of the household being only a junior from high school (Andrew). But in the end, everything worked out fine. My only regret was not staying a bit longer. Three nights in the City of Light was not enough.

Summer vacation (Silverthorne, CO)

Family floating down a creek.

I just can't get enough of Colorful Colorado. This was our 12th road trip to Colorado, which found us back in Silverthorne. We went rafting for the first time and did the usual outdoorsy stuff.

Cherry blossoms, museums, and monuments (Washington, D.C.)

After five years, I made the trip back to DC. This time, there would be no government shutdown. This time, the cherry blossoms would be in bloom. This time, I would bring the family. But not the whole family. 

The boys HS soccer team made it into the playoffs and advanced. Unfortunately, the second round game would be on Thursday night (the day we leave for our trip). And if they were to win and advance to the third round, they would play on Monday (and we would still be in DC).

I had let the big boys decide if they still wanted to go to DC or stay home and play with their team. Jacob decided to continue on with the trip as planned and Andrew decided to stay home and play in what he said was possibly "a once in a lifetime" opportunity. So with that, we took a family trip (five nights) without Andrew.

Big 4-OH trip (Silverthorne, CO)

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I ❤ Colorado. This was our seventh road trip to Colorado since 2018. We stayed in Silverthorne this time around, which was nearby Frisco and Dillon, and a short drive to Breckenridge... exploring more of Summit County.

"Free" 72 oz steak (Amarillo, TX)

What did I get myself into?

Houston Marathon

On January 19, 2020, I completed the Chevron Houston Marathon. Finishing a marathon has always been on my bucket list. Why? Because it sucks. It's a tough challenge. There's a statistic floating around the internet that said <1% of the US population has ever completed a marathon. I want to be in that rare group.

I was glad to have crossed this off my bucket list. It was brutal. It was the hardest thing I've done. But doing it with friends (and uncle) made it more enjoyable and memorable. We start together. We suffer together. We finish together.

New Order & Red River Rivalry (Dallas, TX)

Last weekend was memorable... but not the way I would've liked to remember it. It all started in July when I came across a random article that said "New Order to Tour North America for the First Time in Seven Years". New Order was one of my favorite groups when growing up and I've never seen them before. I must go! Coincidentally, it was the same weekend as the Red River Rivalry. We'll be without kids and this opportunity won't ever present itself again so yes, I must go to that too!