I was running out of space in the Family Stuff page, so I figured I'd move our trips and holidays here and be able to go into some detail.

There are a lot more trips than listed below. You can see some more of them in the Mexico Trip 05, Bolivia Trip 06, San Francisco Trip 07, Mexico Trip 08, and Christmas '09 pages.

As for the rest, I've just been too lazy to scan in the pictures and list all our sorties. I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually…

This page was last updated on 08/22/10.

Some pics below are from Wisconsin Dells, a tourist spot just 4 hours away with lots of water parks for the kids - many indoors for winter. We usually stay at American World. It's clean, inexpensive, and has nice indoor pools and jacuzzis.

The winter pics were taken at a cabin near Minocqua, Wisconsin (not far from the Upper Michigan Peninsula). The area gets a lot of lake-effect snow in winter. In one day we: 1-went snow-mobiling; 2-cross-country skiing; 3-bob-sledding; 4-ice-skating; 5-ice fishing; 6-gambling at an Indian reservation casino; and 6-saw a movie; plus, there was time to bake and eat the best vegetarian lasagna I've ever had.

The camping pics were taken at a private lake in Morris, Illinois, where we've gone snorkeling, fishing, canoeing, and ATV-ing through the forest. The lake is full of large game fish, but they're too well-fed, so they only nibble at the bait (only the small fry actually swallow the hooks). When diving in the clear 30-foot-deep water, you can get to within one or two feet of the big fish; I'd love to buy a spear gun and try my luck…

We took a road trip to Mackinac Island in June 2002. The place was absolutely lovely, plus the kids swear they saw a ghost riding in the trolley with them.

Our trip to New York later that year did not go too well. The cloud cover was so low we couldn't see past the tenth story of any building. New York without skyscrapers just ain't New York. Nonetheless, we went to the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Times Square, and ate at the fabulous Carnegie Deli. All in one day. The trip was a last-minute thing prompted by a news report that the year's fall colors were going to be spectacular. They didn't lie.

That year was a big one for us trip-wise. Besides Wisconsin Dells, Washington DC, Williamsburg VA, New York, and Mackinac, we also drove to Springfield and St. Louis. We visited the Illinois State Capitol and Lincoln's home and tomb, then continued on to the Gateway Arch and Meramec Caverns (the real-life hideout of infamous bandit Jesse James and his gang, as well as a set for the 1970's TV show, The Adventure of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn).

We spent Christmas '04 & New Year at Silvia's brother Jose's home in Tampa, and visited her brother Fernando in Orlando. While in the neighborhood, we dropped in on Mickey Mouse and the gang. Fun was had by most. Highlights included the Salvador Dali Museum in Tampa and Universal Studios. On the drive over, we got caught in a major snowstorm, spending a total of 10 hours parked on the highway. Not off to the side; in the middle of the road. We kept warm by running the engine every 15-30 minutes and blasting hot air at max, then shutting down to avoid running out of gas.

Between December '05 and January '06, we went on a 2 1/2 week trip to Silvia's hometown of Tangancicuaro de Arista, Michoacan, Mexico, where we stayed with her parents, Juan Moreno and Angelina Moreno. I am in awe of Silvia's 40-hour non-stop drive from Chicago (10-min pauses for gas every 200+ miles). Granted she was manic and nearly incoherent towards the end, but we made it. We could have shaved about 2 hours from the trip, but Silvia could get lost in a map store with a Sherpa to guide her. I put only a couple of pics here; the rest are in a separate Mexico Trip page.

In May '06, Danny and I traveled to Bolivia (for my 20th high school reunion). The results are on the Bolivia Trip 06 page.

After years away, we finally went back to Wisconsin Dells this past Easter weekend. This time we tried out the Kalahari Resort - billed as the largest indoor waterpark in the US with 125,000 square feet of liquid entertainment. Although we had to fight through a snowstorm to get there, it was great to spend a few days alternately lying on a raft circling endlessly on a lazy river or screaming our heads off shooting down one insane waterslide after another. Ah, good times, good times.

My cousin Nancy and family came to Chicago for Christmas '09. We spent time with them Christmas Eve and Day, and with Silvia's family Christmas Eve. There were too many pictures to include here, so I put them in the Christmas '09 page.

Silvia and I went to visit my friend Federico and his family in Toronto in August '10. On the way we stopped at Niagara Falls for a day and night. I was there previously in '87, and I have to say it's gotten both bigger and better since then. Well, bigger at least -- the kitsch level has remained fairly steady. The Niagara Park complex on the American side is very fancy, but the electricity was out so we walked over the international Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian side and took the Maid of the Mist boat tour into the falls. Yes, the Canadian Niagara Park facilities are very primitive, but at least they worked.

We didn't get to spend much time in Toronto because Daisy broke Danny's car and we had to return early to drive him back to Urbana for his junior year. Nonetheless, at least we walked around Toronto a bit and had dinner in the magnificent rotating restaurant atop the CN Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere.