The Times and Travels of Nolan
Documenting trips I've taken and places I've seen.
This is my favorite time of year. Each August, as college football season approaches, I get a big burst of anticipation. It’s like some people looking forward to Christmas, or others looking forward to Spring Break. Me, I count down until college football is back. And when I’m doing that countdown, it’s a perfect time …
Continue reading “Counting Down My Undergrad OU Games: 20-18 – Blow Outs and a Bowl”
This year’s Beach Week, due to my chronic lack of annual leave, is more like a long beach weekend. Elizabeth and I flew in late Saturday (very late: I worked a full day on Saturday and we arrived at the condo at 2:30 in the morning) and we have until Tuesday afternoon (tomorrow already!) before …
Michael Scott and Rascal Flatts put it best: “Life is a Highway”. And if that’s true, then there’s no highway I want to ride more than the Pacific Coast Highway. The PCH runs for 656 miles across the state of California from Orange County up to the northern part of the state. It’s a famous …
27. That is the number of blog posts that I have written in 2023. In a way, it’s pretty impressive. My posts probably average 1,500 words or so, which means I’d be shocked if I had published less than 30,000 words. There have been several series to work on and a few weekend trips completed …
Continue reading “Blog Update: So Many Stories, So Little Time”
Below is the results of 15 minutes of dedicated writing each day (that I could manage to do so): Monday, July 17 We leave for Colorado in 2 days. I suppose I should have done more wedding-related packing today, because I did about… zero. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t gotten anything useful done, just …
It’s unbelievable to me that this is almost certainly the last blog post I will write before I become a married man. On Saturday, July 22, Elizabeth and I will finish our 2 long years of engagement in Estes Park, Colorado. I don’t know if I’ve even had time to unpack my thoughts and feelings …
Dawn light filtered into the cabin Elizabeth, Stephen and I shared. After a surprisingly decent sleep given how much I’d shivered, this morning felt like one to jump out of bed and greet the day with enthusiasm. I checked my phone and realized it was only 6:00 am. Now, you have two choices when it’s …
Continue reading “Pinnacles National Park: High Peaks Trail”
Every vacation has a few meals that go down in the books. Not every vacation features a restaurant with a name like “Wieners of Waterton”. I mean… come on! Wieners of Waterton! You kind of have to eat at a place with a name that bold. The restaurant promises to get you eating – what …
Continue reading “Waterton Lakes National Park: Wieners of Waterton, Cameron Falls”
If I asked 100 people to name a national park in California, I imagine a few responses would dominate. There would be a huge group of “Yosemites”, quite a few people mentioning “Death Valley”, and maybe a smattering of others would mention Sequoia, the Redwoods, or Joshua Tree. I’m pretty confident none of those 100 …
Continue reading “Pinnacles National Park: Flying to the Bay Area”
That is not a typo. International boat tour. I’m not sure how many places in the world let you take a boat tour on a freshwater lake between two different countries (Niagara Falls, I guess?). But the Waterton Shoreline Cruise Company has the unique ability to offer just that. They’re based out of the little …
Continue reading “Waterton Lakes National Park: International Boat Tour”
