June 19, 2025 by anotherboldmove

Uncruise Alaska: The First Four Days

The last frontier

What a fantastic trip! Forget those huge cruise ships that hold thousands of people, Uncruise is the way to go. Our little ship had a total of 64 passengers. We were able to go places the big ships could never dream of going. It’s all inclusive, so you don’t feel like you’re getting nickel-and-dimed to death. Every day you pick a morning and afternoon activity. The choices were kayaking, bushwhacking/hiking, skiff ride, meandering along the shoreline, and one day they even had a snorkeling option. Depending on the activity it could be anywhere from one to three hours long. The food was excellent and the drinks always flowing at the bar. Yes it’s more expensive, but well worth it, and this is coming from a guy who’s frugal.

We saw so much wildlife, but my iPhone couldn’t capture them like the professional cameras on board.

Humpback whales
Dall’s porpoise
Sea lions
Harbor seals
Sea otters
Coastal brown bears, which are quite a bit bigger than the black bears we’ve seen in Mammoth and Tahoe.
Moose
Mountain goats
Marmot
One of the craziest things was two Sitka black-tailed deer swimming a long ways from one island to another. That was something none of us had ever seen, even our guide.
Bald eagles
Ravens
We also got four new birds: Pigeon Guillemot, Common Murre, Black Oystercatcher, and the super cool looking Tufted Puffin.

In the most enduring and loving way we were referring to the crew as a group of misfits. They were awesome! Every single one of them. It speaks volumes about the culture of Uncruise that all the employees were able to be themselves. Straight, gay, transgender, crazy hair color, piercings, whatever! Everyone was accepted and quite excellent at their jobs.

I knew it was going to be a special trip when on the first morning, while sipping coffee in our cabin, and looking out the open window I saw a whale spout, then watched it breach. I saw the fluke! Amazing!

A super geeked up Dianni and Tony.

Our first morning we took the skiff to Dawes Glacier. Wow! We saw multiple calving events. The sight of huge chunks of glacier falling was incredible and the sound was loud and distinct. The experience was something we will never forget.

Heading towards Dawes Glacier

Closer

As close as we could get and still be safe. The face of the glacier is 600 feet high and half mile wide.

A video of the waves after a calving.

Three very happy people

We lucked out big time on the weather. Days two and three were perfect.

The dinners were the fancy small portion style with a waiter. Breakfast and lunch were buffet style.

9pm and the sun was still setting!

Banana slug

Our first bushwhack was in an area that had been clear cut 40 years ago. It was a tough introduction to bushwhacking…

…but we made the most of it and the whole group laughed as we struggled up and down terrain that sunk and broke easily.

We came in early on an unguided kayak day and Amelia for the first time ever got on a stand up paddle board. The picture shows the fantail of the boat with rollers where the kayaks easily launch and dock.

Doug, the guy in charge of all the guides, paddled around the boat with Amelia.

The Widerness Discoverer and my wife

After dinner on day three they had a special secret treat for us. We went through that gap…

…into the Red Bluff Bay of Baranof Island…

… where the water was beautiful and calm.

Eventually we came upon a 700 foot waterfall. It was the first time all season that they were able to do it, prior to this the sea was too rough. We really lucked out with the weather.

Video!

It was amazing how close the captain got to the falls.

The sun was setting after 10pm and rising around 3:45am. So between dusk and dawn there was only about three hours of darkness.

One afternoon we opted for meandering the shoreline. It was quite enjoyable going slow and really looking at everything. It’s also one of Amelia’s favorite things to do.

We saw a huge pile of bear scat that our guide determined to be a couple hours old.

Chocolate Lillies

Alaskan Violet

Lapland Rosebay

Skunk Cabbage. Bears actually don’t hibernate like other mammals. They go into a state called torpor. They can wake up if they need to, but rarely do. While in torpor they develop a fecal plug, composed of feces, dead intestinal cells, hair, and bedding material, that acts as a natural plug to keep the den clean. When Spring comes and they start moving around they will eat the skunk cabbage. It works as a laxative so it blows out the fecal plug.

Lush temperate rain forest vegetation

Moss laden tree

Another day on the water

Reflections are so cool.

I kept hearing the first bushwhack was a dud compared to the other ones, so I tried it again with Tony. It was much more enjoyable. The girls had some time away from us and did a bushwhack lite.

Shooting Stars

Dwarf Dogwood

Tony and our awesome guide, McKenzie

Yellow Pond Lillies, a couple weeks away from blooming

The shoreline where the skiff dropped us off had a lot of starfish.

Our route the first four days.

The large window in our cabin was great.

Up next Glacier Bay National Park!

June 16, 2025 by anotherboldmove

Juneau, Alaska: June 6-8, 2025

Look at the water cascading down the steep mountains of Juneau. Everyone said to expect rain and everyone was correct.

So…we drove our truck down to Amelia’s dad’s house in Pacific Beach and he gave us a ride to the airport. As the three of us were driving through the heart of P.B. there was a homeless dude standing in the middle of the street, long dirty hair, wearing rags, and looking a lot older than his age. He was waving his arms and yelling at no one in particular.

Being the smart aleck I am, I said, “We must be in Pacific Beach. We won’t be seeing that in Juneau.” Wrong! The first thing I saw when the taxi dropped us off at 10pm at the Alaskan Hotel were homeless people. That was an inauspicious start to our big Alaska trip.

Juneau is unique among US state capitals because it has no roads connecting it to the rest of the state or to the contiguous United States. Cruise ship lines are one of the big economic drivers. They own all the tourist shops right in front of the terminal. It was out of place and bizarre to see so many jewelry shops. They all seemed to be selling tanzanite. The folks working in the shops also seemed out of place. If it wasn’t for the weather you’d think you were in Egypt. Once you got out of the terminal area all the shops had signs about being locally owned.

Lucky us! We traveled with another great couple again. This time it was our friends from Colorado, Tony and Dianni. More than a year ago we booked this trip with Uncruise Adventures. What a genius name for the company. It’s not anything like those huge cruise ships. Our ship only had 37 cabins! We all arrived on Friday night. Saturday the guys went fishing and the girls went to Mendenhall Glacier. The girls were smart. We didn’t catch anything. More on that later.

On Sunday, we had a lot of time to kill. Checkout was 11am and embarkment wasn’t until 5pm. We made the most of it walking in the rain all over town, through a neighborhood with incredible staircases until we stumbled upon a great restaurant with arcade games upstairs.

The Alaskan Hotel and Bar was centrally located, rustic, and interesting. Our little room had slanted floors. I had to put pillows between the mattress and box spring to feel level enough to sleep.

Back home on my morning walks I see coyote scat everywhere. In Juneau, it’s bear shit, right on the sidewalk in front of the tourist shops.

Amelia at the Mendenhall Glacier.

Temperate rainforest

We were chumps to use Chum Fun Charters! It’s not really their fault, but it was stupid. The salmon weren’t running and eight of us stood in the wind and rain for two hours, casting our Mepps lures, all for naught.

Tony and I acting like we had a great time. Here’s a beautiful quote from Tony in reference to all my wrinkles and his lack of them, “Asian don’t raisin.”

Steep staircases throughout the town leading up to residences and streets.

Great tip from Brent, my buddy’s kid, to visit Devil’s Club Brewing.

Immature Bald Eagle

First part of our killing time tour

That’s me sleeping on a couch at the Crystal Barcade. No, I wasn’t hungover! Those days are long gone. I had a GERD issue the night before and slept poorly. While I was napping, the other three were playing arcade games. On Sunday all the games are free. BTW, the food downstairs at the Crystal Saloon was excellent.

Our Uncruise ship waiting for us.

Bon voyage!

May 26, 2025 by anotherboldmove

Mt. Laguna: May 18-22, 2025

Big Laguna Lake

My mom recently passed away. She was my North Star. I feel lost and unmoored without her. We always had a very close relationship. There’s no doubt I’m her son, the two of us are similar in so many ways, just ask Amy or any of my friends.

The hardest thing I’ve ever done was to tell my mom in person that her son, Eric, had died in a paragliding accident. It shattered her world. After that, especially in her later years she often said to me, “Don’t pass before I do.”

Her first 90 years she was charging hard and very active. Then it got to a point where it wasn’t safe for her to drive anymore. Losing her independence was the beginning of the end. After a year of living on her own without a car it became apparent that an assisted living place was the next step. It saddens me that she wasn’t very happy her last couple years. She would not embrace the assisted living place. She became depressed and had anxiety issues. She constantly said, “Don’t ever get old if you can help it.”

Another thing she often said was, “If you fall and break your hip, that’s it.” She fell multiple times but only bruised herself. Then on April 14th, early in the morning she fell and shattered her hip. It was very painful, so that same day she had hip replacement surgery. She would only be with us for another three and a half weeks.

Amy and I were with her when she died. Each of us on one side of the bed, holding her hands.

I’d like to give a sincere heartfelt thanks to everyone who visited my mom while she was at her assisted living place and to all the wonderful folks that came by to see her while she was on hospice care. Thank you very much.

To begin absorbing life without my mom, we took a trip to our beautiful local mountains. Biking, flowers, relaxing, and reflecting on her life.

Laguna Campground, Meadow Loop, site 19

It looks like fake rocks from a movie set.

Velvety False Lupine

Our first day we biked with Pine Valley locals, Gretchen and Hans.

Straight down view of a Pine Paintbrush

Great job by San Diego Mountain Biking Association installing this much needed boardwalk over a marshy section of the meadow.

Three days of biking in absolute perfect weather!

Wild Flax

The most expansive field of Cream Cups we’ve ever seen 🙂.

It was surreal to bike through it.

Tidy Tips

Sweet Singletrack

Western Wallflower

We got up at the crack o’ dawn one morning and drove to the scenic overlook to watch the sunrise on Whale Peak.

Here are some wonderful pictures of my mom:

Look at my cool mom on a bike!

I was so proud of the fact that she was a Registered Nurse.

In 1957, her first time ever on a plane, she flew to California to live with her brother, Chuck. A year later she married my dad.

Look at us! All dressed up for Easter. Eric was actually born on Easter Sunday in 1962.

Christmas 1967, cards on the door. 😊 She always displayed them that way.

1984, her 52nd birthday.

My mom and I went up to Mammoth to visit Eric, circa 1991.

Ruth Harris

June 22, 1932 – May 7, 2025

Rest in Peace

April 15, 2025 by anotherboldmove

Shred the Red: April 6-11, 2025

Amelia shredding the red!

What a great trip to Sedona! Kathy and Mike, the couple we met last year at Gilbert Ray, rented an Airbnb home in Sedona for two months. They invited us to come out and stay with them. Truth be told I was a little leery. It’s one thing to go on a ride and socialize afterwards. But staying with someone we briefly met a year ago is pushing the envelope for me.

As usual, Amelia was correct, all my fretting was for naught. What an awesome couple. It was so easy and fun being with them for five nights and four days. The drive without the Airstream wasn’t as different as we thought it would be, driving is driving. It’s basically seven hours to get to Sedona.

This was hilarious…as we were leaving San Diego County, we saw a guy in a big lifted truck with probably a small you know what, and a Don’t Tread on Me sticker. He also had a big sticker on his back window that read: Go Woke Go Broke. Apparently he was oblivious to the fact his guy just tanked the financial markets and threw the global economy into turmoil. 😂

Sedona is stunning and a must do for mountain bikers and hikers. Everyone should visit it at least once, this is our fifth trip. A place this beautiful is always going to have crowds. Patience is key. If you want to beat the crowds get up early and avoid weekends. We were there Sunday to Friday.

Lucky us, Mike loves to research trails and plan rides. We didn’t have to worry about any of that. It really takes the stress and the potential for spousal squabbles out of the equation. We were so grateful!

One of the first things they dropped on us was they are selling their Airstream. They summer in Martha’s Vineyard, the rest of the time during the last three years they’ve been on the road in their Airstream. Seven plus months out of the year is a long time to be in a 25 foot Airstream. I don’t think we could do it.

It was truly amazing how we were so compatible. The routine was: breakfast, ride early, back for lunch, shower, nap, lounge in the afternoon, dinner and drinks, to bed early, repeat the next day. We ate all of our meals in and didn’t go out once. Perfect! And a perfect trip! We can’t wait for them to visit us in San Diego.

Airbnb house

Morning and evening, deer were wandering around the neighborhood. This is a view from the backyard.

What a beautiful site, the truck full of bikes.

The girls riding

Kathy & Amelia at Yavapi Vista

Kathy taking a picture of Amelia and Mike on an awesome stretch of trail.

Beautiful Sedona riding

Bell Rock

Rabbit Ears

Mike and the girls at Big Park Loop intersection.

Our dear friend and former yoga instructor, Karen and Amelia went for a hike one afternoon. Karen and her husband, Mark, have been living in Sedona for years. Amelia is still working on her selfie skills. For the record, I think gray hair is hot!

Amelia pointing to where her and Karen hiked to the previous day.

Secret Slick Rock, not so secret anymore.

Kathy’s artsy pic

A couple of handsome guys in their mid 60s

You don’t see many singlespeeds in Sedona, for that matter you don’t see too many singlespeeds anywhere.

¡Salud!

Postscript: On the drive home, we came across a tragic scene on the AZ Loop 303 Freeway. A horse trailer overturned, the driver was fine, but all five horses were killed. It was gnarly seeing the dead mangled horses scattered across the lanes.

March 24, 2025 by anotherboldmove

Serenity & Solitude in San Diego County: March 19-22, 2025

No rain means no flowers. No flowers, no crowds, no cash registers ringing. It’s a tough season this year in Borrego Springs.

Since April they have received just a little over an inch of rain, typically they would have over five inches. Not every spring is a super bloom, but this trip there was nary a flower. During a super bloom the town is jumping, the crowds are overwhelming, and for a few short weeks businesses are booming.

A multicolored carpet of flowers is an amazing thing to witness in the desert. The trade off for no flowers this year was no crowds. It was serenity and solitude. The weather was a perfect low 80s during the day. The evenings were heavenly, sitting in front of Opal with a sensual warm breeze watching the stars appear. A memorable trip indeed.

We’ve been at this spot a few times now. Free, flat as a pancake, no need to level, just drive a few yards off of the S-22 and park it. The S-22 is not a busy road. And it’s close to town! There was only one other camper in the area.

Stark beauty of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

Spring Equinox sunrise

We did two new hikes this trip, this is the start of Rattlesnake Canyon. A nice eight plus mile roundtrip. We ran into one like minded couple, other than them, not a single soul. He used an expression to describe the terrain that resonated with us: “You can feel time.”

A view of Clark Dry lake at the beginning of the hike

Quite a bit of climbing

Fascinating rocks

Harsh environment

The skull of a really young borrego

Big, beautiful, old Palo Verde

California Carpenter Bee mid-flight buzzing around a desert lavender

The turn around point, a 20 plus foot dry waterfall

The trek down

Our second hike we called mile marker 37 on the S-22. It was less than four miles and featured some impressive sandstone formations. Oh yeah, and we had it all to ourselves.

The hike ended here at this impassable formation.

A perspective shot while we were heading back

A great picture of some smoke trees

At the end we walked a culvert under the S-22.

If every wrinkle tells a story, then I’ve got a lot of stories!

March 19, 2025 by anotherboldmove

South Africa Recap: February 16 – March 3, 2025

We spent two weeks with this group, back row: Nolte, Chris, our guide, Monte, Dave, Chuck, myself, and Amelia. Front row: Rob, Marianne, Oscar, Dennis. Not pictured, Ray, he took the photo.

We got word on March 4th that the job is complete. The three 2 year old cub lions for one adult male lion trade is done! It took a while to dart the adult, but he’s now at Tembe Elephant Park. Unlike the cubs, who were kept in a boma so they could adjust to their new surroundings, this was a hot release. Check out the video below.

Hot release video

The new lion king of Tembe Elephant Park. He’s one handsome dude!

Here’s a good picture of one of the cubs that was in the trade. I hope he and his brothers are enjoying their new reserve.

Honestly, it’s still hard to believe we did this trip. Everyone said it would be amazing, and they were right. Dave and Ray from the Katie Adamson Conservation Fund did a terrific job organizing it and eliminating a lot of stress. And it was comforting having the Noltes with us, kind of like a security blanket.

About half way through the trip Amelia coined it a land cruise. There was a lot of sitting and confinement. Long plane rides, long van rides from one destination to the next, and staying seated on the game drives. I don’t think either of us have ever sat so much in a two week period. I guess that’s just part of the deal. It felt incredible when we finally got some exercise in and hiked on our next to last day.

Random thoughts and observations

Poverty is poverty, it pretty much looks the same whether you are in the Southern West Virginia, The Navajo Nation, parts of Mexico, or South Africa.

I’ll never complain about California drivers again!

They no doubt laughed at our accents, but every time a South African said “yes”, we got a chuckle out of it because of how nice it sounded. It was long and dragged out, “yyyess.” There was also the classic South African line, “I promise you.”

What’s with beds without a top sheet? It was just the bottom sheet and a duvet. We found it to be uncomfortable.

Sixteen hours on a plane is a long time. The flight out wasn’t too bad since we had a row of three seats to ourselves, it was quite the luxury having an empty seat between us. The flight home was a complete drag, starting with the experience at the Cape Town International Airport. The power went out, so they fired up the generators, but it wasn’t enough to operate the AC. It was hot and miserable. They had us go through three security check points! Then we were informed that our flight would be delayed because of the power outage. The company that supplied the food for the plane was late delivering it.

Sometimes, that’s how it is, if nothing else travel teaches you patience. When we finally boarded the flight it was full. Thanks to sleeping medication we managed, Amelia was a champ and didn’t complain at all about sitting between me and a hairy Russian looking guy. I told her multiple times we could take turns in the middle seat, but she declined. We will put some serious consideration into upgrading our seats on our next long flight. On the plus, side jet lag wasn’t a big deal for us.

We identified 51 new birds to add to our life list. The new highlights were the African Fish Eagle, Southern Red Bishop, Long-tailed Paradise Whydah, European Bee-eater, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Malachite Kingfisher, and all the Weavers.

When going to Africa everyone talks about the big five: lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and African buffalo. We didn’t see a leopard, but we are not in the least bit bummed. All the animals we did see were incredible.