Travel by Car

It is fun to travel by driving a car. We can see a lot places during travel and stop at any point we like. Sometimes, we have one day trip drive 200 mile or so. Once a year, we have a long trip which could last 2 weeks and drive 4,000 miles.

Back to 20 years ago, I just learnt how to drive and had my first long trip with one of friends. At that time, I drop from Austin to San Antonio(one way 70 miles) with him. In 1990 New Year, I drop a whole day from Austin to Amarillo, Texas(400 miles) and stopped by Lubbock with my old/slow car. In the summer of 1990, my wife and I brought our son drove from Amarillo to Chicago to see my parents(1,000 miles one way) through Oklahoma City and St. Loise. We spent two days on the road and several days in Chicago. It was our first time to visit Chicago. We visited the lake and some museums in Chicago and had good with my parents.
In New Year of 1991, we drove from Amarillo to Socorro, New Mexico to see our relative(350 miles one way) through state highway 60. In 1991, we drove from Amarillo to Dallas twice(350 miles one way) to visit friends and see Dallas. In late summer of 1991, we drove from Dallas to Austin to have our revisit. We went to see the Capital, LBJ Presidential Library and Mount Bonnell.
In summer of 1992, we drove to Tyler from Dallas and had our first visit(130 miles one way). We also drove to Little Rock to see our old friends in 1992(350 miles one way) and visited Hot Spring National Park - the first national park we visited.
In 1993, we drove from Dallas to Houston, Texas(350 miles one way) and swim in Galveston with our friends. I lost my glasses during swimming. In the same year, we drove from Dallas to San Antonio to see the Sea World(270 miles one way). We were excited to watch the shows and get wet in the park. In 1993, we drove from Dallas to Socorro, New Mexico again to see our relatives(600 miles one way) and spent few days there. We visited Albuquerque, New Mexico during that drip.
In 1994, we drove to Little Rock again to see our friends from Dallas and had fun together.
In 1995, we didn't have long drive instead to visit our relatives in Los Angeles by flight and had fun in Las Vegas. In 1995, we drove to Socorro again to see our relatives(600 miles one way) with a Ford brand new rental car.
In winter of 1996, we drove from Dallas to Austin to see that place and friends again. We really like this beautiful city.
In 1997, we drove from Dallas to Little Rock to see our friends(350 mile one way). We also drove to Socorro, New Mexico to see our relatives. In that trip, we visited Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
In 1998, we drove to San Antonio and revisited the Sea World(270 miles one way). In Thanksgiving, we drove to St. Louis to visit our relatives(500 miles one way).
In summer of 1999, we flew to Tampa, Florida and got a rental car. We swim in Clearwater in Tampa bay. The sand is white and so beautiful. Then, we drove to Orlando and visited four scheme parks of Disney World. We spent one day to drove from Orlando to Cape Canaveral and visited JFK Space Center and watched the launch of space shuttle Discovery. That was a great experience for us in our whole life. We spent 10 days for that summer trip.
In 2000 winter, we had our planned long trip(2 weeks) through southwest(total 2,000 miles). We started from Dallas to Amarillo, then Albuquerque for Christmas. After that, we drove to Arizona to visit Petrified Forest National Park. Then, we drove to Las Vegas and visited Hoover Dam on the way. We spent 3 days in Las Vegas and had good time with our relatives there. After that, we drove to Los Angels to see our other relatives. Our relatives brought us to Hollywood and had fun on beautiful Santa Barbara beach. Then, We visited San Diego and famous zoo; and stepped on aircraft carrier in the bay. Leaving San Diego, we drove to Arizona along I-10. One the way, we visited Carlsbad Cave National Park, White Sand National Park and Sandro National Monument. Then, we stopped by Phoenix to see our old friends. At that, we drove back Dallas through Midway.
In May 2001, we had our northwest trip by flying to New York City and joining a tour. We visited New York City, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC and Niagara Falls in that 10 days trip. On that Memorial Day, we visited these memorial in DC.
In Thanksgiving of 2002, we flew to San Francisco to see friends and spent five days there.
In summer of 2003, we visited Hawaii for 8 days on the way to Beijing with our friends. It is great to see that beautiful place and swim on Waikiki Beach. On that Memorial Day, we visited Pearl Harbor and paid the respect those those lost lifes there.
In the summer of 2004, we had our longest driving and visited several states around northwest(4,000 miles in two weeks). We started from Dallas and heading north, had our first stop in Soux Falls, South Dakota. We visited Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower National Monument and Badland National Park. Then, we drove to Yellowstone National and spent 3 days there. We also visited the nearby Grand Teton National Park. After that, we drove south and visited Salt Lake City, Capital Reaf National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and Arches National Park. We also visited four states corner connecting Texas, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.
In 2005, we flew to Taiwan and had our first visit there for 2 weeks.
In Thanksgiving of 2006, we took a cruise near Houston and had 7 days cruise in Gulf Mexico and visited Progreso, Cozumel and Belize City.
In 2007 summer, we flew to Portland to see friends. After that we rent a car drove to Mount St. Helens, Olympic National Park, Seattle, and Vancouver(Canada).
In 2008, we flew to Hong Kong and Beijing and had good time in those places.

JFK Space Center

About nice years ago, we visited this famous space center located in Cape Canaveral. We planned that trip because there was space shuttle Discovery launch on that day. We got up around 4 o'clock and got on road from Orlando heading east. We stuck on the toll road on the way to Cape Canaveral. While we were driving, we were listening the radio with news related to launch. When we have 20 miles away from the center, the count down almost start. Like many other people, we pull the car by the road and wait to watch the launch. The exciting moment came! Here is one of pictures I took on that moment. After that, we arrived the JFK Space Center and had our first visit. It was interesting to see the launch pad Discovery just used and other facilities. It was great experience to watch the launch and tour the space center. After visiting the center, we went to the beach and swim over there.

Travel Around the World

About 20 year ago, we start to travel. We enjoy to see places, people and things. Up to now, the most places we have visited are in US. We like to see more places in coming years. So far, we have been 20 national parks and many states in US. Here is the list:

Arches NP, Badlands NP, White Sands NP, Saguaro NP, Bryce Canyon NP,,Capitol Reef NP, Devils Tower NM, Grand Teton NP, Mount Rushmore NM, Carlsbad Caverns NP, Petrified Forest NP, Mesa Verde NP, Grand Canyon NP, Hawaii Volcanoes NP, Mount St Helens NM, Olympic NP, Rocky Mountain NP, Hot Springs NP.

Here is picture I took in Yellowstone National Park.