hiking Archives - Sandy Van Soye

It was a Friday afternoon and I was wondering if life could get any better than this. My husband, Darren, and I were sipping wine as the coastline sped by outside the train window. Trays of cheese and crackers lay near plastic cups containing several varieties of wine. As I reached for another sample, my eyes were dazzled by the ocean outside the window, glimmering in the late afternoon sun. The wine tasting was an afternoon event for sleeper compartment passengers on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train. We were traveling up the California coast, having left Los Angeles earlier that morning on the first leg of a trip across the United States entirely by train.

Observations

25 September 200922 October 2017 Sandy

And I’m Walking…

I have always liked walking. I find it to be a great way to experience a new place, such as an unfamiliar city the first time you visit. I also enjoy hiking and have done a wide range of trips, from backpacking in the California Sierra Nevada mountains, to completing the Milford Track in New Zealand, to trekking to a hut deep in the Swiss Alps and spending the night. I have gotten to know New York City, London and Paris by visiting several times and walking around different parts of the city each time.

Journeys Observations

30 June 200922 October 2017 Sandy

The Adventure of a Trip to Scotland

You may have noticed that it has been a few weeks since my last post. I took my oldest daughter, who just graduated from high school at the beginning of June, to Scotland as a graduation gift. When asked where she wanted to go on a mother-daughter trip, she replied “Scotland”. My husband wasn’t sure that it sounded like much of an ‘adventure’, compared to traveling to Africa or Asia, but I knew that even a country that is a close relative of ours in terms of culture and language could still turn out to be a great journey.