Pandemic travel

We flew cross-country last month to visit family. Not only did the journey go smoothly, but Amber and Gus were even able to get in a power nap on the airplane.

It was interesting to see some of the ways travel has changed due to COVID-19 — and the role technology has played in that. My phone served as a digital room key at Hilton Oakland Airport as well as boarding passes for our Southwest flight. It even acted as our waiter at the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Baltimore.

Our itinerary included a trip to Hersheypark, where we rode roller coasters (with our masks on of course), as well as a pilgrimage of sorts to Scranton, Pennsylvania (home of “The Office” sitcom, a favorite of Amber and Ediza).

Happy New Year

Hope 2017 is off to a great start. Here’s some photos from our holiday season:

Ediza and Gus wearing matching pajamas on Christmas Eve

During the week of Thanksgiving, we returned to the East Coast and covered a lot of ground.

Outside of the Dobbin House Tavern, where you can dine by candlelight in historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Caught a ride with this whale on the beach at Ocean City, Maryland

We explored Baltimore’s Inner Harbor via water taxi for my birthday. Following lunch, we took a boat over to an outdoor ice rink and later rode back across to a historic tavern in Fells Point. Highly recommend checking out the city this way.

 

Pirate Derby

Amber kept up with her roller derby during our stay in Maryland. She hooked up with the Baltimore team, Charm City Roller Girls, for a practice. A few days later we discovered the Chesapeake Roller Derby league while at a local coffee shop. She practiced with them three nights in a row and was able to play in their bout on our last night in town.

What made this roller derby different than in California is that it's pirate themed as well as co-ed. Her team, the Rolling Plunder, was able to defeat the Land Hos by one point in sudden death overtime.

Amber will be playing with her regular team, the High Country Hellcats, this Saturday in Sonora (they won the season opener back in February) and at the end of the month in Fresno. Arrrghhh.

Peep Show

The local arts council where my parents live host a fundraiser each spring where different artists and community members make creative designs using Peeps — the brightly-colored marshmallow treats that show up around Easter.

Dubbed the "Peep Show," the exhibit features more than 200 entries with various themes. People purchase tickets to vote for their favorite display. There's even Peep-inspired short movies shown on a big screen and people can buy Peep-related merchandise, including temporary Peep tattoos and cards that say "Give Peeps a Chance" (a play off of "give peace a chance").

Here's some of the wacky entries:

Peepzilla (created by my third-grade teacher)...


Kung Fu Peep (instead of Panda, get it?)...


Several depicted the Lorax...


Would you like a slice of Peeporoni Peepza?


And lets not forget Little Bo Peep...


Oh, and there's one more — Ediza Peep!

East Coast Easter

We've been staying busy on the East Coast with lots of different outings, including dinner and folk music at Hickory Bridge Farm in Pennsylvania and playing at a children's museum called Port Discovery in Baltimore.

Ediza has gotten an early start on Easter by meeting a couple of different bunnies (including some real ones) and going on egg hunts.


One of the highlights was a trip to Harpers Ferry — the point where Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia meet. The Appalachian Trail goes right through this historic town.


After a short hike on the trail, we walked around the charming town and ate (for dessert I had homemade red velvet cake ice cream!) and shopped (our purchases included blackberry wine and a stuffed llama handmade in Peru). Ediza will be finding the latter gift in her Easter basket!

Cherry blossoms

We landed on the East Coast about midnight Monday evening and within hours were at the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. The weather was perfect (unlike when we were there two winters ago) and we ate at this great restaurant called Founding Farmers.

The day we were there was exactly 100 years to the day after the first two cherry trees were planted.

Check out a story I wrote for the L.A. Time's Travel Blog, "Washington: Cherry blossoms, gifts that keep on giving, turn 100."

Cities

We started the New Year off with a trip to Baltimore to visit my friend who lives in the Federal Hill area of the city (where the above photo was taken). We all walked down to the Inner Harbor for dinner and a trip to the Maryland Science Center.


The next day we headed back up to Pennsylvania so Ediza could have some fun in a ball pit. She's been in search for one of these since New Zealand.



And yesterday we braved freezing weather and stinging wind to walk around the National Mall in Washington D.C. Amber and Ediza had never been there before. I think it's important that they (and all Americans) see it. We did the best we could given the weather. All major attractions — the Washington Monument, White House and Lincoln Memorial — were visited. Ediza even got to witness her first official protest!

Surprise!

We have been on the East Coast for a week now. Our visit was a surprise so we didn't tell anyone we were coming. We flew from Oakland to Las Vegas, where we had a surreal layover (they have slot machines, oxygen bars and vending machines that sell iPods there). Once we arrived in Baltimore, we took a taxi all the way out to my parents house and trekked through the deep snow in their front yard to ring the doorbell at midnight — the official start of Christmas Eve.

It took my mom a few days to get over the shock. I've got to visit with lots of relatives I haven't seen in awhile (this includes checking out one of my uncles new Grinch tattoo — no joke). Ediza has gotten to play with her cousins who live in Pennsylvania, and last night my mom took Amber to get a pedicure.

We woke up this morning to a fresh dusting of snow and Ediza tried out her new bear-claw snowshoes that Santa brought her. A year ago, Ediza was on my back during a snowshoe trek to a cabin in Yosemite. Things were a little bit different this time around.


For New Year's we went to Gettysburg. The night found us meeting a man on stilts dressed as Abraham Lincoln, having coffee and dessert at a diner and sipping champagne in the streets while watching a fireworks display. We wish everyone a happy, healthy and adventure-filled new year!