Mid-January is smack in the middle of peak season for Chiang Mai. Not coincidentally, this is also dry season. It did not rain once during our two weeks here, and clouds were few and far between. The weather during our visit was sun all day every day. Temperatures ranged from 60°F to near 90° F…
Author: Garrett and Stephanie Estep
Retired early to travel the world.
Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand (January, 2025, Part II).
We could not visit northern Thailand without seeing elephants. After some deliberation, particularly trying to find an ethical park that does not treat elephants like circus animals, we settled on a trip to Elephant Nature Park. It wasn’t cheap, costing about $140 for both of us for a half day, but we figured it was…
Chiang Mai, Thailand (January, 2025, Part I).
After three flights over three days (from Miami, Florida via Istanbul, Türkiye and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) we arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We breezed through passport control and followed the signs to baggage claim. After picking up our two suitcases we walked through customs and headed for the exit. From Google Maps we knew that…
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, New Mexico (October, 2024).
Our six week road trip out west ends with a visit to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, a nine day event held each October. Balloon Fiesta has been on Stephanie’s bucket list for a long time. We first came to Balloon Fiesta in 2022, but on the one day we were in town bad weather…
Hiking to Phantom Ranch, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (January, 2020).
Four months after fleeing the south rim to escape hordes of tourists, I went right back to hike to Phantom Ranch, a campground at the bottom of the Grand Canyon on Bright Angel Creek near its confluence with the Colorado River. It still surprises me that Stephanie has no interest in hiking to the bottom…
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (October, 2019).
Our first trip to Grand Canyon National Park was on vacation in October, 2019. Then we decided to visit the north rim for two reasons. First, I wanted to go to Toroweap (a/k/a Tuweep), which is on the north rim. Second, we were trying to win the lottery and secure a permit to hike the…
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (October, 2024).
Sometimes screwups work in your favor. After leaving Sequoia National Park we were scheduled for two nights at the Thompson Hotel Palm Springs, a brand new Hyatt luxury resort, which cost us 40,000 Hyatt points. Stephanie wanted to relax in style for a few days after all of the national parks. Fortunately the resort was…
Sequoia National Park, California (October, 2024).
It’s hard not to draw comparisons between redwoods and sequoias, both the trees and the parks, having now seen both. The trees are often described as cousins to one other. Sequoias are not quite as tall as coastal redwoods, but are much more massive thanks to their wider trunks. I think it is easier to…
Kings Canyon National Park, California (September, 2024).
After leaving Yosemite National Park, we made a brief stop in Fresno for supplies and then headed to our Airbnb in Miramonte, California, just outside Kings Canyon National Park. We planned for two days of hiking in Kings Canyon but ended up compressing it into one day. Not because the park is not worth multiple…
Yosemite National Park, California (September, 2024, Part II).
After a punishing John Muir Trail hike the previous day, we decided to take it easy and confine our walks to the valley floor. Across from the Yosemite Valley Lodge is the Lower Yosemite Falls Trail, a 1.2 mile flat and paved loop. At this time of year Yosemite Falls is basically dry. There was…