North America
Most of the Walleighs’ North American travels have been within the U.S., especially traveling to the East Coast since their children went to college and now live there. They have managed to spend time in almost all states except for a few in the middle of the U.S.—and only Rick has been to Alaska. They’ve vacationed in Canada for skiing, toured the Rockies, and spent a few days in Ontario Province. Then in Fall of 2013 they drove in Quebec Province from Quebec City to Niagara Falls as part of a road trip that also extended across New York State.
Rick’s Backpacking Adventures in California’s Sierra Nevada
Though Rick and Wendy have done two overnight backpacking trips together in about 2000, clearly Rick is the more dedicated backpacker. Luckily he has found a better match with their friends, the White Family—husband, wife, and adult daughter. They have now hiked...
Yosemite – the Walleighs Favorite Place on Earth
Starting in Summer 1972 when Rick and Wendy took their cross-U.S. trip in their red VW camper between each of their graduate schools, their first visit to Yosemite began their life-long love affair with this amazing place. On that trip, one of their first guided...
U. S. Cross-Country Road Trip
Starting May 31, 2008 in Los Altos, Calif. and ending almost 4,000 miles later on June 10, 2008 in Greenville, North Carolina, Wendy and Garner ventured across the southern U.S. to deliver Wendy's 2002 VW Beetle to Diana (so she could drive to/from her new pediatric...
Rick’s Heli-Skiing in Alaska: Once in a Lifetime!
In March 2006, Rick’s friends, the Burwens, persuaded him to join them Heli-Skiing in the Chugach Range near Valdez Alaska. In essence, instead of taking a chairlift or tram to the top of a mountain to find fresh powder, 6 or 7 times per day he rode in a helicopter,...
2011 Walleigh Travel Journal Part 2: East & West Coast of U.S.
JUNE 16 – 30, 2011 -- DR. DIANA BECAME A PEDIATRICIAN and MOVED TO PHILADELPHIA. The main reasons for this trip were: 1) to watch our daughter Diana officially become a Pediatrician and 2) to move her from NC to PA. Rick and I were delighted to find that Bryan, her...
2009 Walleigh Travel Journal: Our Nomadic Life in U.S. to See Friends & Family
Rick and I only had 2 breaks of 4+ weeks in a row at home in 2009. What would you do if you lived in California but both of your adult children along with many friends and the rest of your families lived Back East? Since returning from living in Africa in 2006 and...
2008 Walleigh Travel Journal Part 2: Time in & Traveling Across the U.S.
July 2008 – Random Thoughts: Reducing our Carbon Footprint-- Since returning to the U.S. at the end of 2007, Rick has been engaged or leading some TechnoServe projects, though it hasn’t interfered with his doing a lot of skiing. Rick’s operations projects require...