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East of the Sierra
Part 1 of a six-part road trip photo travelogue, from the east side of the Sierra range up to Lassen and back down through Yosemite and the Lower Kern.
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Hanfu with Peach Blossoms
黃馨搖風魚滿載 紅桃沐雨牛耕春 It’s the new year–Year of the Ox. The water reflects peach blossoms as they spray skyward. Winter jasmine drapes into the water. Chinese narcissus breathes fragrance into the garden. Fish are becoming less bashful. We’re celebrating springtime by donning on hanfu for a stroll by the pond.
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Mesa Verde, Bisti, Albuquerque, and Taos
Puebloan Country We are now in Puebloan country. Leaving Durango, we snake up the highway to the top of Mesa Verde. From the road leading up to it, this place emphatically punches the clear blue sky. As I drive up, I wonder how there would be enough water to sustain a civilization. Because of the…
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Aspen, Crested Butte, and Durango
Leadville to Aspen Riding a train through the Rockies has been a much talked about highlight for this trip. Earlier in the summer, Vacation Bible School’s Rocky Railway theme song “Your Power Will Pull Us Through” echoed in our household. The opportunity was perfect to end our summer with a trip through these mountains. Leaving…
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Denver, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Avon
Traveling during the pandemic Plans might have to be cancelled, and with the pandemic surge over the summer, I started a list of each hotel’s latest date to cancel without paying for the first night. We stood ready to cancel this trip. Then five days before our departure, we decided to just stick with it.…
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Santa Monica
We had been locked down for too long. Going stir-crazy, we book a hotel in Santa Monica and head there to spend time at the beach. This is sort of a test trip for our upcoming vacation in Colorado and New Mexico. The wagon proved to be handy, since it was a walk down the…
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Camping by Big Bear Lake
After baking a sourdough boule for our lunch picnic, we drive up to Big Bear Lake’s Serrano Campground. We have several goals in mind: get the kids outdoors, escape the valley heat, and see Jupiter and Saturn while they are near opposition. The 130 mm reflector telescope had just arrived, and this makes it a…
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Comet NEOWISE
Here’s the comet taken from our rooftop, overlooking Loma Linda University Medical Center’s new towers.
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Spring and Summer Garden
It’s a sunny February. We’ve been talking about a vegetable and cut flower garden. Starting with seeds and peat starter trays, Daphney and I plant for our spring and vegetable garden. Soon, we watch our work pay off: Asian greens, cilantro, chives, basil, beets, dill, sage, poppies, nasturtiums, marigolds, and much more. Yan’s favorites are…
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Visiting Sequoia National Park
Last time we were up this way, an early winter storm thwarted our visit to the giant sequoia trees. The road was open up just beyond Sequoia National Park’s Foothill Visitor Center. This time, it’s the novel coronavirus that nearly caused this trip to be cancelled. We had originally scheduled it for earlier in the…
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Building a Playhouse
Two days after California’s statewide shelter-in-place order, I embark on a coronavirus home project. Little did I know that Lowe’s and Home Depot would see surges in their sales; everyone is doing the same thing. Earlier, Yan and I had perused many designs and plans. We settled on a design by Rogue Engineer, with modifications.…
