For our only full day in St. Martins, we went to Fundy National Park to do a couple of waterfall hikes and walked around a pond. Later, we drove through a pair of covered bridges in St. Martins.
Read MoreWe left Nova Scotia for now, taking a ferry across the Bay of Fundy to New Brunswick. Before doing that, we went over to the Gilbert's Cove lighthouse, then hung out in Digby while waiting for the ferry.
Read MoreFor our last full day in Annapolis Royal, we drove over to Cape Split Provincial Park to hike out to Cape Split. While the other hikes we've done on this trip have been short, this one was what would be a normal full-day hike for us.
Read MoreWe took it easy on our first full day in Annapolis Royal. We wandered around Fort Anne, went on a hike to a spectacular waterfall, and relaxed for the rest of the day.
Read MoreWhile practically all of the hiking trails in Nova Scotia were closed due to fires when we first arrived, the rain greatly helped the firefighting efforts, and the trails we were looking at were re-opened. Taking advantage of the situation, we did a couple of short hikes in Kejimkujik National Park on our way to spending the night in Annapolis Royal.
Read MoreOn our last full day in Halifax, we went up to the Halifax Citadel. The rest of the day was low-key, including a walk down to the waterfront.
Read MoreSince we knew the day would be rainy, we went to the Canadian Museum of Immigration, then had lunch at the nearby Farmers' Market. We then walked through the Halifax Central Library, then took it easy for the rest of the day.
Read MoreAfter our red-eye flight, we landed in Halifax and spent our first day getting our room and walking around the waterfront. We also made it to the Halifax Public Garden.
Read MoreSince we had an early evening flight from Seattle, we took our time finishing things at the house before heading to the airport. After we arrived, our first flight to Vancouver was delayed several times. It ended up leaving almost two hours late, but fortunately, that still left us with a layover of about an hour, so we weren’t too worried.
Read MoreMany things come to mind when I think about Aunt Aiko. Like many people, one of them is food. Almost 30 years ago, she contributed a couple of her prized sushi recipes to a family cookbook. I'm glad she did because both my dad and I have made her chirashi zushi several times. It may seem simple, but it's always popular. I always think of Auntie when making it. In broad strokes, this is how you make it, and why each step reminds me of her.
Read MoreAfter Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, the second half of our trip was to Los Angeles. Melody was at a conference for the American Translators Association, so I did a combination of playing tourist and seeing family.
Read MoreSince Melody had a conference in Los Angeles in the middle of October, and we decided to leave a few days early to have some time in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. I hadn't been there since elementary school, and this would be Melody's first time. We did quite a bit of hiking, as well as many of the tourist favorites.
Read MoreOur spring and summer hiking went in spurts, then we did several during a week-long road trip. We even made it to Idaho for the last hike.
Read MoreMelody’s sister Celeste was in town for about a week, and we took the opportunity to do a bit of travel. It was a whirlwind week, and we got a lot done. We started with a couple of nights in Packwood, WA so we could hike in Mt. Rainier National Park, then went to Yakima to visit Melody and Celeste’s mom, then to Spokane to visit their uncle.
Read MoreMy mom’s memorial service was this weekend. I have another page which contains parts of the service (a life history, a slideshow, my memories of my mom through letters, me playing her favorite piano piece, and images of the program), but I’ve included the slide show below. While I have a lot memories I could write about, there are certainly too many for here; I think the ones I shared during the service cover a good cross-section.
Read MoreOur last full day in Toronto was quiet, with me catching up on things and Melody going to her last conference day. Our travel day back to Seattle was pretty non-eventful, too.
Read MoreI ventured further away from our room than on previous days to look at bluffs on the lakeshore. Melody didn't have any extracurricular activities at her conference this day, but she did join people for dinner.
Read MoreAnother split day. Melody went to her conference and went on an art walk near the University of Toronto, while I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario. It was still hot.
Read MoreAnother full conference day for Melody, and I went to a castle. We both avoided the rain but not the heat.
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