Blog Posts

Here are all of my blog posts.

Greece: Mycenae, the Epidaurus Theatre, and Nafplio

At the end of the Liberty University trip retracing Paul, everyone said their farewells and headed in their different directions. Some went east, others north, and the majority headed…
Greece: Corinth and Cenchreae

Summary: We visited the remains of the city of ancient Corinth, which Paul visited twice, staying 18 months. And from where he wrote Romans. We visited Acrocorinth’s castle from…
Greece: Athens Part 2

Summary: We returned to Athens, and visited the ancient agora and Areopagus Hill, that Paul visited, and the Acropolis. Paul in Athens The current size and importance of Athens…
Books to help follow Paul’s Greek journeys

Before coming to Greece to follow in Paul’s footsteps, we were encouraged to read Luke’s account in Acts 16-18. I wanted to supplement that with additional resources. Below is…
Greece: A monastery on the slopes of Mount Olympus

Summary: A fine hike to a monastery dating from the 16th century that is partially restored after the Nazis destroyed it in 1943, followed by a visit to a…
Greece: Neapolis. Philippi, Thessaloniki, and the Via Egnatia

Summary: Our exploration of the sites where Paul first visited Europe brought the Acts narratives to life. We felt the sea breeze and watched seagulls at the port of…
Greece: Veria (aka Berea) and Vergina

TL;DR: We traveled to Berea (called Veria in modern Greek) where Paul visited in Acts 17:10. Close by was the underground museum of Philip II, father of Alexander the…
Greece: Meteora, and a bit of Thermopylae

TL;DR: An inspiring day visiting monasteries perched atop mountain peaks and surrounded by vertical cliffs. Their remoteness has helped their preservation through the centuries. On the way, we stopped…
Greece: Delphi plus plus

TL;DR: The Delphi Inscription helps date Paul’s time in Corinth at the end of AD51 during Gallio’s proconsulship. We got to see it in the Delphi museum where there…
Greece: Athens Part 1

TL;DR: We had a fantastic 19 hours in Athens as we transitioned from solo travel to joining our group. The combination of a fine self-guided walking tour, a comfortable…
Greece: Hydra Island

TL;DR We spent our first two days in Greece staying on Hydra, sampling Greek food, wandering around an old car-free port, and hiking into its dry rugged interior for…
Greece: A Prelude in DC

As our flight to Athens was via Dulles airport, we made the most of the stop and checked out Washington DC for a couple of days, visiting the Museum…
Hiking Golden’s Castle Rock

Castle Rock has been calling me since our first visit to Colorado School of Mines in Golden in Spring Break of 2021. That visit was to check out the…
Hadrian’s Wall Path: Summary and Reflections

This post is about our walk along Hadrian’s Wall Path. It might be helpful if you are planning a similar trip. Janet and I walked the path westerly over…
HWP: Epilogue

I thought we’d finished yesterday, but it doesn’t really sink in until the following morning when you don’t have to put on hiking gear nor get your bag ready…
HWP Day 8: Carlisle to Bowness-on-Solway

Today was the final leg of our trek across England following Hadrian’s Wall. It did not disappoint, remaining consistent with some of the highlights from previous days while adding…
HWP Day 7: Brampton to Carlisle

Today was different and not recommended for other HWP walkers. Our dilemma was how to return to the HWP from the Scotch Arms Mews in Brampton. We had walked…
HWP Day 6: Haltwhistle / Greenhead to Brampton

A rainy start was a bit of a dampener until we had a fine stop at Birdoswald, but not at the museum. The day had more pieces of wall…
HWP Day 5: Twice Brewed to Greenhead / Haltwhistle

Today was full of unexpected pleasures. The weather forecast had been a depressing amount of mist and heavy rain but the weather set a great mood. While there was…
HWP Day 4: Chollerford / Humshaugh to Twice Brewed

The guidebooks suggest that this day and the next are the best days, and today did not disappoint. There was plenty of wall, even more ditch, some fun with…
HWP Day 3: Heddon to Chollerford / Humshaugh

Today reminded us why we come back to England to go walking – the countryside. We loved the friendly sheep and the very friendly horse. We gave space to…
HWP Day 2: Newcastle to Heddon-on-Wall / Wylam

The lack of wall on today’s stretch is replaced by a journey through time. The Romans started building the wall in 122 and they left Britannia in about 410…
HWP Day 1: Segedunum to Newcastle

While our Hadrian’s Wall Path itinerary from Macs Adventures has us walking from Segedunum to Heddon in one long 17+ mile day, we arrived in Newcastle a day early…
Introduction to Hadrian’s Wall Path and Our Plan to Walk It

At the beginning of this year, Janet and I were hungry to complete another multiday hike in England, but it’s difficult to choose as there are many options. There…
Three Nights in Colorado’s Gore Range

Samuel and I were hungry for an adventurous backpacking trip. It had been a couple of years since we had completed Arkansas’s Eagle Rock Loop and three years since…
Hiking the Solamere Trail in Park City, Utah

As we were in Park City for a wedding, a hike was in order. One family member had some sore chest muscles which is a symptom of altitude sickness…
Golden’s Clear Creek Canyon Park

During our trip to help Samuel prepare his apartment for his second year at the Colorado School of Mines, we’ve finally been able to do some exploring! Earlier in…
A PhD in Bible Exposition at Liberty University

TL;DR: I completed a master’s in theological studies and a PhD in Bible Exposition over four years at Liberty University. The post below outlines the timeline, shares my experiences,…
Organizing A High School Theatre’s Wardrobe – Part 2

It’s almost a year since I penned “part 1” of our journey organizing “The Warehouse” for our high school’s theatre department. Now that we have completed the project as…
Samuel and Kylie’s Alaska Cruise

On this trip, I went on a cruise with Kylie and her family to Alaska on the Norwegian Bliss! Leaving port from Seattle and visiting the southeast portion of…
Remembering D Day

On 6th June 1944 when I was cycling along the Bath Road, near Hounslow, with a big field of cabbages on my left, little did I realise that in…
Tennessee – Summary and Reflection

Visiting Tennessee was on our list-to-visit as it’s a potential move-to destination. Bailey visited with some of her friends earlier in 2024 and her inspiration was the foundation for…
TN Days 10 & 11 – Good Bye Nashville Until Next Time

Our final day in Nashville was just some chill visiting. We went to a fine Farmer’s Market, which I forgot to photograph… The girls loved browsing the stalls, with…
TN Day 9 – Horses and a Sunset

Today was about riding horses at the Natchez Trace Trailrides, about an hour Southwest of our house, back toward Franklin. But first we grabbed a quick breakfast on the…
TN Day 8 – Goo Goo and The Grand Ole Opry

After some fine sausage and cream cheese bars for breakfast courtesy of Kylie and Samuel, it was off for our chocolate making experience with the Goo Goo Chocolate Company.…
TN Day 7 – Nashville Biscuits, Murals, and The Listening Room

We experienced a fine assortment of Nashville’s best, showcasing different types of artistry. While I write this, much of Houston is without power after a devastating storm last night…
TN Day 6 – The Grand Ole Opry and more

It all started in 1925 when the National Life and Accident Insurance Company started a radio station with country music for barn dances on Saturday nights. They called the…
TN Day 5 – Welcome to Nashville

The vibe in Nashville compared to Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg is so different. While the Tennessee accent still prevails and there are crowds of tourists, Nashville seems classier. There…
TN Day 4 – Another Waterfall and Dollywood

We could also do things separately, as we had two cars. So Bailey and Jett headed off to Dollywood because they wanted to (well, Bailey did…) and the rest…
TN Day 3 – Mother’s Day and More Bears

The first mission on Mother’s Day, as per Janet (with Bailey’s guidance) was breakfast at Gatlinburg’s Pancake Pantry. We had seen the long queue outside of it yesterday, so…
TN Day 2 – Birds, Anakeesta, and Bears

I spent a relaxed morning photographing birds while waiting for fine breakfast tacos from Bailey and Jett. Then the vulture swooped by, never landing as he soared circles continuously…
TN Day 1 – Gatlinburg and Dolly

The deck proves to be the perfect location for writing the blog! Yesterday’s Cardinal returned and joined me briefly on the deck, but was too shy for a photo.…
TN Day 0 – Driving to Gatlinburg

Who had suggested getting up at 2 am? It had made sense the night before with a 1000 mile drive ahead of us, but the logic was absent when…
Two Weeks in New Zealand

It’s time to reflect and ruminate on what we’ve done, both to help us remember this trip and to improve how we do other trips or even return. Planning…
NZ Day 13: Getting Home

This was not a day of interesting activities, but it’s a useful reference for the journey from NZ to TX. For a 3:40pm international departure from Auckland, we left…
NZ Day 12: The Finale

It was another chill day with little preplanned. We all enjoyed a lie-in after the late night, followed by a chill day. The slow start allowed me to catch…
NZ Day 11: Kiwis, Redwoods, and 2024!

We all enjoyed our lie-ins with nothing specific planned for the day. After the suggestions from Vicky yesterday and our own preferences, seeing some kiwis remained the highest priority…
NZ Day 10: SCUBA Diving in the Bay of Plenty

Our hectic schedule was making all of us pretty tired but Samuel and I had one more day of adventure booked: diving. I’d booked a day with Dive Zone…
NZ Day 9: New Plymouth to Rotorua

This was a really fun day with two very cool tours that we did en route to Rotorua. We woke up to somewhat wilder weather with heavy rain and…
NZ Day 8: Hiking the Pouaki Crossing

In summary, this was not a great day. It was a hiking day and the weather wasn’t great, but the hiking trail compounded the issue a lot! I need…
NZ Day 7: Wellington to New Plymouth

For what was mainly a travel day, we did lots of fun things too! The room was very comfortable, but the sounds of the city caused some restlessness. We…
NZ Day 6: Christchurch to Wellington

This was a travel day as we move from the South Island to the North. It was a welcome change of pace with a variety of modes of transportation…
NZ Day 5: Twizel to Christchurch

Merry Christmas! This post might reach some of you on this great day, and I wish you a blessed one. It has been for us. We had slept well,…
NZ Day 4: Queenstown to Twizel

It was a day with ups and downs, and up and down… After a brief stop on the edge of Queenstown at one of the many fine coffee shops…
NZ Day 3: Milford Sound to Queenstown

The title makes this sound like a reverse of yesterday. I guess it was, but it was still amazing. By the end of the day, we were somewhat overwhelmed.…
NZ Day 2: Queenstown to Milford Sound

We would not have believed that a seven-hour coach-ride could be so amazing, and that was just the day’s warmup! We slept very well in those comfy beds and…
NZ Day 1: Houston to Queenstown

Technically, this covers a couple of “Day 0s” as it goes from Tuesday to Thursday, though we lost Wednesday somewhere in the middle of the Pacific! After a fine…
New Zealand, Here We Come!

It’s time for our next trip, and this is a big one. For years, New Zealand has drawn Samuel to its far shores, and it has always been on…
Reflections on the Cotswold Way

After any adventure, it’s fun and constructive to reflect. The plan was not to write this up three months after we finished, but life got in the way. I…
The Cotswold Way Day 5: Painswick to Cooper’s Hill

Bus times caused us to try a section “backwards” which was fun over a great stretch of the trail. Getting back to Crickley Hill, where we left the Cotswold…