New York City - June 2026

We've been planning a trip to New York since the end of 2025. Our plan was to spend three nights at the Hyatt Centric Times Square and see two shows, "Maybe Happy Ending" and Sting's "The Last Ship." The Last Ship was first presented on Broadway in 2014 and we enjoyed this show but it wasn't as commercially successful as needed for a long runtime (it ended after about 100 shows). The Last Ship was reworked for 2026 for a special limited run at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center.

Thunderstorms and Flying

Our flight from Northern California to La Guardia (LGA) took all day. We started from San Francisco (SFO) at 10:30am and, with a very delayed connection at O'Hare, we arrived at LGA around 12:15am, the following day. When we left LGA to return to SFO, we had similar weather interruptions - but not quite as bad. Leaving New York at 8:30am, we were scheduled to arrive at our final destination airport at 2:30 pm (PDT). Our returning flight in Chicago (from LGA) was delayed by almost two hours and we sat 70 minutes on the tarmac waiting for the weather to clear. We finally arrived at our doorstep at 6pm. In all of our travels, we never experienced so many weather delays. At least with carry-on luggage we didn't have to worry about luggage that missed a connecting flight. We may reconsider planning future east coast flights during May through July, typically thunderstorm season.

Maybe Happy Ending

This show won several 2025 Tony awards, Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Performance by an Actor (Darren Criss), Best Scenic Design of a Musical, and Best Direction of a Musical. Originally a South Korean musical in 2015, the show opened on Broadway in 2024.

The story focuses on two robot human assistants in the 2060s. It explores relationships, sharing memories with loved ones and the ultimate pain of loss. We really enjoyed this show and might seek tickets to a local traveling tour,

Source: Playbill.com

The Last Ship

This story and score was inspired by Sting's childhood and experience wth the shipbuilding industry. It examines his relationship with his father, the local community and the collapse of the Wallsend shipbuilding industry. We noted significant changes from the version of the show we watched in 2014. We're still not sure if we thought the 2026 version was an improvement - it certainly was substantially changed in both storyline and included songs.

Source: Metopera.org

Theater District Dining

With only a short visit and show schedules, there wasn't much time to explore different restaurants. During past visits, we had dinner at Amarone Restaurant. We included dinner at Amarone on this trip, as well. The Mediterranean Branzino and Fettuccini Al Fungi were both delicious main courses. Amarone wasn't very busy and we had our choice of any table. However, we were dining at typical theater showtime and there was a Knicks-Spurs Final game in the evening. 

We also had lunch at Pera Mediterranean Brasserie. We met my wife's niece at Pera and shared a selection of mezes for our meal. All were delicious. Note that I checked for a dress policy before lunch and Pera reportedly prefers a "smart casual dress code" - so put away your cargo shorts if you're dining here.

 

 

Big Island - October 2024

My wife and I recently returned to the Big Island to relax for a few days. We stayed at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, which was a favorite hotel location of my parents. Despite being 30 years old, this 250 room resort is well maintained, has beautiful grounds and has direct access to Hapuna Beach. There are also cultural programs in which guests can participate.

During our visit, the Kona Ironman competition was underway. We weren't aware of this scheduling. We learned that the vehicle traffic along Kailua-Kona roads and Highway 19 would be severely restricted on race Saturday. Several locals told us that on race day, a typical 45 minute drive from our hotel to one of our favorite Kailua-Kona restaurants, Jackie Reys, could take over two hours. We pivoted to a Waimea restaurant in the opposite direction from race activities.  A lesson learned: check local event calendars when planning your travels.

 

Here's a short summary of a few trip highlights:

Mahai'ula Bay

We spent an early morning at Mahai'ula Bay. There is a parking lot for this location right off Highway 19, near the sign for Kekaha Kai State Park. There is yet another parking area closer to the Bay, but the road has a few very gnarly spots. We drove our Chevy sedan rental about half-way towards the more distant parking lot before deciding it would be best to park the car along the unimproved road and simply walk the rest of the way. When we left the bay to return to the highway, the sedan bottomed out in a couple of locations due to uneven and rocky areas - higher ground clearance was needed. I learned that this road was paved a very long time ago, but maintenance has been very limited. I was told that paving the original park dirt/lava road  may have led to unanticipated weather related drainage problems. This issue could have caused greater erosion in some spots. I later read reports of some sedan drivers poking a hole in their engine oil pan on this road. It is best to park at the lot near the highway unless you're driving a Jeep or SUV.

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

About 90 minutes from the Westin, along Highway 19, near the towns of Onomea and Pepeekeo, is the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. This 17 acre garden provides a wonderful opportunity to view lush tropical rainforest plants, waterfalls and ocean views. The garden is home to over 2,000 plant species. Garden preparation started in 1977 by the owners, Dan and Pauline Lutkenhouse. The garden is now operated by a non-profit trust.  

We wandered through the garden paths for a little over an hour. Much of our time was spent admiring the beautiful flowers, collected from throughout the world. It was challenging not to stop and take photos of every flower bloom we viewed. 

Note to those that are physically challenged, the garden planked/paved path is steep in some places. Walking sticks and canes are permitted. However, garden staff considers the path to be too steep for safe use by mobility devices, such as wheelchairs, scooters or crutches. The garden is exempt from ADA standards as reducing the steep areas would alter the natural Onomea valley topography.

Below are just a few photos from the garden.

Continuing our drive, we stopped for lunch at the Onomea Country Market (about ten minutes from the garden). The market has a gift store, fresh fruits and and food prepared by Piilani Kitchen. Note the smoothies and paninis here are especially delicious. The market is located on Old Mamalahoa Highway, in Pepeekeo.

If you enjoy shortbread cookies, the drive from the Westin to the garden goes through Paauilo, home of Donna's Cookies. We stopped at the bakery on our morning drive and purchased 2.5 gallons of cookies (for family) to bring back home. These cookies easily crumble, so we placed them in our carry-on luggage during our flight back to California. The bakery is closed on weekends and is open until 2pm on weekdays.

On the return drive from the garden, we stopped at Tex Drive-in, in Honokaa, for malasadas and coffee.

Donna's Cookies Bakery

Tex Drive-In

Pu'ulohola Heiau National Historia Site

This stone Hawaiian temple is a sacred structure built in 1790-91 by Kamehameha I. The stone structure, measuring 224 feet by 100 feet and a height of up to 20 feet, was built by thousands of men, using water-worn lava rock. This location was the site of the last confrontation between Kamehameha and Keoua Kuahu'ula, which ended with Keoua's death and the unification of the Island of Hawaii. By 1810, Kamahameha was the king of all the Hawaiian Islands. 

The historic site is about a ten-minute drive from the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort. It can be very warm while visiting the Heiau, so I suggest bringing a hat and water. The visitor center provides a video which describes the site's history. The walking path through the site is a little steep in some places and may not be sufficiently improved for mobility devices.

Dining Recommendations

Bamboo Restaurant, Hawi 

About 25 minutes from the Westin is the North Kohala town of Hawi. This small town has several art galleries, a few restaurants, boutiques and a small market. Our dinner destination in Hawi was the Bamboo Restaurant and Gallery. This restaurant only serves dinners on Thursdays and Fridays, so advance reservations are a must. Bamboo is known for its great dining atmosphere, delicious food, reasonable prices and helpful staff. The Pina colada was the best we had on the island.  

Forc, Waimea

This was our first visit to Forc Restaurant in Waimea. This location was about a 20 minute drive from the Westin. Advance reservations are advised. We had dinner here on a Friday night and it was very crowded at 5:45pm. We later learned there was a Jake Shimabukuro concert in Waimea at 7pm, hence the busy early dining. We recommend Forc be on your Big Island restaurant list.

Napua, Mauna Lani

Napua Restaurant offers terrific dinner selections, nice view of the nearby beach and friendly service. The meals rely on local farms, fresh seafood and ranches. We dined at this restaurant last year and, again, it was an enjoyable visit.

Sansei Restaurant,  Waikoloa

Sansei Seafood and Sushi Restaurant is our casual and unpretentious local dining stop on each Big Island visit. The menu offers a wide variety of dishes and each is done well.   

San Francisco to Vancouver - May 2024

Photo from Princess Cruises 

Seeking a spring outing, we booked a short cruise on the Grand Princess. We'll travel from San Francisco to Vancouver. During the cruise, we'll have a day visit in Victoria, British Columbia, before heading to Vancouver. Recently, we've been cruising with Viking Ocean and this was our first Princess trip since 2019, when we toured Japan.

The Grand Princess is now the oldest ship of the Princess Cruises line. Its inaugural cruise was back in May 1998, a mere 26 years ago. It was last refurbished in 2019. The Grand Princess carries about 2,600 guests. At 107,500 tons and a length of 857 feet, the Grand pales in size to the latest Sun Princess, which is rated at 175,000 gross tons, has a length of 1,133 feet and a guest capacity of 4,300. As a comparison, the Viking Ocean ships from our most recent cruises only have a guest capacity of about 930.  These Viking ships do not have features such as casinos or art auctions - which is fine with us. That said, the Viking Ocean ships have a wonderful sauna offering - complete with ice room and cold bucket rinse.

On a three day cruise, there's just enough time to reacquaint ourselves with the Grand Princess, relax in our cabin and enjoy a few dining venues - and maybe enjoy an ice cream or two. One dinner for us will be at the Crown Grill (extra $40 per person) and all other meals will be in one of the included dining rooms, Horizon Court (buffet area) or smaller cafe areas.  We have some on-board credit (OBC) from a Princess promotion and from ownership of Carnival Cruise Line stock. Between the Crown Grill and gratuities, we'll pretty much exhaust our OBC. I don't believe we'll have any other on-board expenses on this short duration cruise. 

While in Victoria, we'll have lunch with neighbors that have a second home near there. This is a nice  departure from our typical Victoria outing to Butchart Gardens.  

Upon docking at Canada Place, Vancouver, we'll disembark the Grand Princess and head over to a nearby Fairmont Hotel for a few days. Afterwards, we board a flight from Vancouver to San Francisco and will use a 24 hour Hertz rental car to return us to our Northern California home. 

 

Updated Travel Plans - February 2024

CCO Public Domain

Six months ago, our future travel schedule looked quite a bit different than today. Here is a brief update to our plans. A number of itineraries have become available for 2026. It seems unusual to be scheduling so far in advance but some of these itineraries are popular and booking may become difficult if we wait too long.

2024

Vancouver Cruise and Vancouver City Tour 

We're taking this short (and unplanned) trip to repurpose the travel insurance policy from our rescheduled 2024 Galapagos and Machu Picchu trip.

San Francisco Presidio

This has become somewhat of an annual visit for us. We enjoy the hiking trails in the Presidio. It is great to park your car and not having to use it until departing for home.

Kenya

This two week trip is still on schedule. We're hoping the drought ends and improves the living conditions for Kenyans and wildlife. 

Big Island 

We enjoyed our 2023 visit to the Big Island and a repeat trip for 2024 provides a brief fall break. This time, we'll stay at the Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel - a sister property of the next-door Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. The latter is undergoing a complete renovation in 2024 and we weren't sure if work noise and venue closures would be a problem.

Christmas Markets in France and Germany 

This trip is still on schedule. We'll spend a few days visiting the seasonal markets in Frankfurt, Braunfels, Nuremberg, Mainz, Wertheim, Bamberg, Miltenberg, Speyer, Strasbourg and Riquewihr. We might look for a Xmas themed German incense smoker/burner. These hand carved figurines are known as Rauchermanner, or "Smoking Men." 

2025

Australia

Our current plan is to spend about a month in Australia and a short visit to Indonesia. This trip is on a Viking Ocean ship.

Japan

We hope to to spend four to six weeks in Japan. Part of the trip will circumnavigate Japan by cruise ship. We'll also try to include time for personal land travel.

Galapagos and Machu Picchu

Due to the 2024 unrest, we rescheduled this trip to 2025.  The rescheduled date should bring us to Machu Picchu in a better - and less wet - season.

2026

Germany 

We've booked an Elbe River cruise with Viking. This will be our first time on this river and a good opportunity for exploring Berlin.

Morocco, Algiers and Spain 

We've booked a ocean cruise that will bring us to parts of the world that we have not yet traveled. 

San Francisco Presidio Visit - 2023

San Francisco Presidio

With a Central Valley weather forecast for 100F days, it was a perfect time to escape to San Francisco. The fog and wind were a pleasant change and we enjoyed wearing our "puffy" jackets. 

This was our second annual visit to the San Francisco Presidio, where 1,5000 acres offers a variety of walks, including one over the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Our first stop was the National Park Service Visitors Center. There are a variety of displays describing the military, historical and cultural importance of the Presidio to the United States, between 1776 to 1994. The presidio was an important military outpost for the Pacific Rim, including the Spanish-American War, Civil War, WWI, WWII and Vietnam War. 

The Letterman Army Medical Center was located on the grounds. This center served 72,000 patients in 1945. In 2002, the Letterman Center was demolished and was replaced by the Lucasfilm Letterman Digital Arts Center.

Where to Stay

There are two hotels on the Presidio grounds, the Lodge at the Presidio and the Inn at the Presidio.

Lodge at the Presidio: This restored red brick building served as the Montgomery Street Barracks, built by the US Army in 1895-1897. Located off the Main Post, 42 rooms are available, ranging from Queen bed rooms to Suites with King bedding. We prefer the "View King" rooms that overlook the Golden Gate Bridge. The lodge provides a wonderful complementary breakfast and an evening wine and cheese reception. There is also a gas fire-pit in the rear patio.

For those driving an EV, a Chargepoint charging station can be found at the rear of the Lodge.

Inn at the Presidio: We've never stayed at this location, but the accommodations appear similar to the Lodge. The building was previously known as Pershing Hall, a residence for bachelor officers. The Inn has 22 rooms, with 17 being suites with fireplaces. The Inn also includes complementary breakfast and an evening wine and cheese reception.

The Inn also offers a historic officer's house, the Funston House, as a four room standalone building. The rooms can be reserved individually or as a four-room rental. We were told that larger groups often reserve the entire Funston House.

Where to Eat 

When we visit the Presidio, we like to park the car upon arrival, walk to all of our destinations and return to the car only at the end of our stay. Thus, we seek nearby dining locations that are within walking distance from our lodging. 

Sessions at the Presidio: This restaurant is about a 15 minute walk from the Lodge at the Presidio. The menu offers a variety of dishes. We enjoyed the Nicoise Salad with Tuna and the baseball cut wagyu steak.

 

Colibri Mexican Bistro: This restaurant recently relocated from Union Square (18 years!) to the Presidio. If you like guacamole, you need to try it here. It is made fresh at your table, with the ingredients that you select. We enjoyed the Carnitas and Camarones con Rebozo (Shrimp stuffed with cheese and wrapped with bacon).

De'Grobak Indonesian Food Truck: The Main Post area (across from the Lodge) of the Presidio offers a variety of pop-up food trucks during the day. We stopped for lunch at the De'Grobak truck and tried its delicious Bakso soup - perfect for a cool day. We carried our soup to the dining area of the Lodge at the Presidio (the dining area is only used for breakfast and evening reception).

What to Do

There are 24 miles of walking trails in the Presidio area. Just about any walk provides a glimpse of the past use of the Presidio grounds - from residences, offices, gunnery bunkers, Calvary stables, beaches, National Cemetery and airfield. Several of the trails near the Fort Point area have beautiful flowers along the path. You can also walk over the Golden Gate Bridge from the Presidio. We did this walk for the first time during our visit this year. 

For children, the Tunnel Tops area provides many play structures to keep young folks entertained. There is also a free-entry Field Station for children to learn about the local Bay Area environment and try tools such as microscopes.

There is an 18 hole, 6,500 yards (Black Tee) to 5,700 yards (Blue Tee), golf course on the Presidio grounds. For non-San Francisco residents, the green fees range from $117 to $100, depending on cart use. 

Visitors Center

Pop-Up Food Trucks at Main Post

Former Bunkers

Golden Gate Bridge with Fort Point in Foreground

A Bridge Tower is named for PG&E. PG&E made the largest
single private donation to the bridge lighting project in 1987.

Looking Over Bridge Side

Field Station

Tunnel Tops Play Area

Darth Vader at LucasFilm Digital Arts Center

A Life Size Collectible!

Your Visit is Watched by Yoda

Colibri Mexican Bistro and Guacamole

 

Shingletown - May 2023

Right after returning from Chicago, we packed the car and headed up to a friend’s 5 bedroom house on 20 acres, near Shingletown. The house is about nine miles from Lassen Volcanic National Park.

This year’s visit, after the heavy 2022-23 winter snowfall, was very different from previous years. North Battle Creek runs through the 20 acres and is fast, and deep and wide in spots. What has historically been one creek, now splits into several smaller creeks. Some of this diversion appears to be an attempt to control the rising of North Battle Creek. While seeking to return to a past fishing spot on North Battle Creek, I had to search for paths to ford three smaller creeks.

Solar Panel Lake

Two Smaller Creeks Feeding Into North Battle Creek

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Highway 89 runs through Lassen Volcanic National Park. It remains closed due to heavy snowfall. A heavy winter snowfall can delay the highway opening until mid-July. This closure means that drivers from park’s north area are unable to easily reach the south area of the park without a long driving detour - as well as for drivers trying to go in the opposite direction.

While 89 remains closed, hikers and bikers can walk on the plowed section of 89 that has been closed off to vehicle traffic. One benefit from this hike is the view from the road. Typically, driving on 89 consumes most of a driver’s attention and you can’t really see as much from a car compared to a what you can see and hear as a walker.

Plowed Section of 89, From North Park Entry

Plowing on 89 Continues

Stream Flows are Running Fast

Post-Dixie Fire

Manzanita Lake