Lunar and Planetary Conference 2011 - Houston, Texas
A couple of long hair Shoemaker Award winners - Timmons Erickson and myself at LPSC 2011
Had a great time at my first Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Woodlands which is approximately 50 km north of Houston, Texas. Great conference which allowed my to get the chance to meet some of the people who have helped provide me with samples for my PhD research on terrestrial impact craters.
Astrobiology Winter School - Hawaii
The summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii checking out the telescopes
Spent two weeks bouncing around Hawaii for the NASA-Nordic astrobiology winter school hosted by the NAI Hawaii. Had a great time with an intense schedule of seminars and discussions with just enough lava play and snorkeling mixed in. Used the Faulkes telescope to take photographs of La Sagra main belt comet. Did some surfing in Waikiki at the end of the trip which was a great way to finish a great two weeks in Hawaii with some great new friends.
Astrobiology Graduate Confrence - Tallberg, Sweden
ABgradCon 2010 - Tallberg, Sweden
Had a great time presenting at ABgradCon 2010 in Sweden and had the oportunity to run a small workshop on catastrophes, such as impacts but many others as well. Tallberg is a beatiful little village on Siljan Lake approximatley 200 km north of Stockholm, which is the remnant of a 52km impact crater. Had the chance to see my brother and his beautiful family in Poland as well as a quick visit with my grandmother.
Australian Outback
At the discovery site of the Hadean Zircons - Jack Hills, Western Australia
So the third day of my PhD career my advisor comes into my office and asks me if I know how to drive a 4x4. Growing up owning both a 1973 Ford Bronco and a 1986 Jeep CJ7 I said of course. Three days later I found myself flying to Australia to collect the last shipment of Jack Hills zircons. These little grains are the oldest pieces of the Earth that currently have been found with some grains older than 4.4 billion years. Spent two weeks in Australia with one week at a station in the outback with a great family.
Drive Through Baja - CSL, Mexico
I have been very fortunate to take some amazing trips in the past few years. Recently I have driven through baja to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. This is a 1500mile journey from the border and requires a few days if you want to do it right. The road is two lanes (see below as a tanker truck is towed back up after sliding off the embankment) the whole way and don't expect to do more than 60mph as an average.
Mexico Highway 1 with a tanker truck off the highway on the right
There were many nice towns to stay in on the way and prices were usually very reasonable as these parts do not see the same amount of tourist traffic as other parts of baja. The greatest expense is gas and there are plenty of gas stations along the road. The gas is of lower quality and you will not get the same mpg as you do in the states. As a rule of thumb we always took gas if we were below half and there was a nearby gas station. There is a service that claims to pass by each part of the highway twice a day to offer assistance to broken down vehicles. We surfed a few spots north of Cabo where we found some great little waves and no people.
Beth in the Pathfinder on Mex 1
It took us about three days (each way) to do the drive and we never really had to drive for more than 6-8 hours each day. We eventually made it to Cabo and stayed at a timeshare that my parents have owned for many years. We had an amazing time and didn't have to spend a penny on the room.
My parents with Beth in the bay of CSL, Mexico
On our way back through baja we decided to stop at some of the towns we missed on the way down and found an amazing place to stay in Santa Rosalia. We had our own little apartment with no attached walls and private deck over looking the Sea of Cortez. Absolutely awsome!!!
Beth on our private patio in Santa Rosalia
We have since been back to Cabo for a close friends wedding and hope to go back for some fun in the sun soon.
Puerrto Vallarta, Mexico
On our last trip to Cabo we were moved from our room for the last night due to overflow from a hurricane in Cancun. Although this was somewhat of an inconvenience the hotel offered us voucher for four nights free. Since we had been to Cabo twice in the last few months we decided to use the voucher for the same resort in Puerto Vallarta.
View from our room in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
This area was very different than what we were used to in Mexico. Everything was green and lush, a sharp contrast from the desert of baja. Our resort was located on a small private beach and surrounded by rainforest. I was hoping to do some diving but since it was the rainy season visibility was very limited. We decided to do a canopy tour one day and found ourselves zipping between trees a few stories in the air surrounded by jungle. What an experience!!! If you are not afraid of heights I would recommend it to anyone.
Beth and I after our canopy tour
Europe - 2007
Since much of my family still lives in Poland, I decided it was time to go and visit them in the summer of 2007. We purchased three-country Eurorail tickets which allowed us to travel between Germany, France and Spain. We flew into Warsaw, Poland where we were picked up by my brother (who currently lives in Warsaw) and taken to my parents apartment where they were awaiting us. We spent the next ten days traveling around Poland with my parents and meeting relatives and seeing wonderful sites. I would love to spend a year in Krakow or Wroclaw and hope that I will have an opportunity to do so.
My parents, Beth and I in Krakow, Poland
After a wonderful time in Poland we continued our trip with a half day stop in Berlin. We were able to see some of the sights of Berlin and were off to Paris where we stayed for five days. We saw as much of Paris as we could in five days and spent one evening on a Fat Tire Bike Tour which was really great. They have these in a few cities in Europe and if you have the opportunity to take a tour with them do so.
Fat Tire Bike Tour at the Louve in Paris, France
Once we left Paris we headed to the south of France to get some sun and stayed two days in Nice. Although the beaches were full of cobbles and not sand it was still very beautiful. After achieving good sun burns we headed out to Barcelona, Spain for a few days. Barcelona is hands down one of the best cities in the world. Great food, great nightlife, great art and architecture and you are still near the beach. It is also home to one of the best soccer clubs in the world, FC Barcelona. In one day you can have tapas then go see where Picasso lived and then visit some of the famous architecture of Gaudi. What else can you ask for?
Segrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain
We finished our trip and flew out of Madrid which had much more to offer than we had heard. We only had two days in Madrid but hope to visit again to see all that we missed in our short stay.
NYC - Coming Soon
I will be spending the thanksgiving holiday in NYC where I will be visiting some potential PhD schools.
Geology Trips
Lanslide found while mapping in Tumey Hills, CA
Mapping Franciscan Melange at Sunol Regional Wilderness
Some of my other trips have been to Salt Lake City, UT to ski and snowboard some of the great areas of the Wasatch. I also went to Bryce and Zoin National Parks in the summer of 2006. I have traveled around California to such places as: South Lake Tahoe, SF, SD, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, etc. I love to travel and hope to have many more adventures throughout my life.
