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Palm trees stand in the foreground with mountains and clouds in the background at Haleʻiwa Beach Park on the North Shore of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, as seen during our 2023 Hawaiʻi trip.

Camera settings: ISO-200, f/2, 1/350 second, 35mm We found our way to lush jungle foliage and tropical waterfalls. In Nashville, Tennessee, of all places. We spent the Easter Weekend in Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland Resort for the annual Lads to Leaders convention with several people from our church and around 10,000 other people. It was a great time, even if it did make us tired. We had been several times before when Jaylin was a participant, but we stopped when a certain pandemic came around and then Jaylin graduated from high school. So this was our first time to go to the convention in five years.

We visited Silver Springs State Park during our October 2023 Florida Trip. While we were there, we found a wonderful view of the water from The Sea Hunt Deck. The view of the crystal clear spring water and the Silver River from the Sea Hunt Deck is rather amazing. As with the rest of the park, this area was quiet and uncrowded. There was almost a lazy atmosphere, so that we did not feel like we had to rush from one place to the next. Occasionally, a kayaker or two would float by, breaking the stillness for a moment, but soon everything would return to what you see here.

Camera settings: ISO-1600, f/3.5, 1/90 second, 28mm Trains wait as passengers board at a Metro station in Washington, DC. During our 2023 Virginia trip, we spent a couple of days in our nation’s capital, which of course is Washington, DC. On one of those days, we parked at a Metro station at the end of the line in Virginia and rode the Metro train into town. It was a fun experience for those of us who like mass transit (me), and it was much less stressful than driving into DC and looking for a place to park.

A sun-soaked boardwalk leads over the dunes and to the sand at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach, Florida. I love these boardwalks at Cocoa Beach. If you have been around here much, you probably know that, as they have been featured many times before, especially in older posts that are now in the Burnsland Archives section. I like how the lines of the boardwalk lead your eyes to the beach, even in this one does have a sideways jog at the end. I like the excitement of knowing the beach is just up ahead. And I like hearing the sounds of the beach getting closer as you walk. A photo captures some of that, but not all of it, although it does help to bring back the memories.

Palm trees reach for the sky near Panama Bay at Panama City, Panama, during our Panama 2024 trip. Yes, there are a lot of Panamas in that previous sentence. And no, Panama does not pay me for every time I say Panama. But if they are interested in doing so, I am open to negotiation. Have your people call my people.

Trees along the trail to Mānoa Falls with a mountain in the distance on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi. During our 2023 Hawaiʻi trip, we took a hike through a rainforest to Mānoa Falls. The falls were nice (see part 5 of the trip report for more), but the scenery along the way was every bit as nice as the waterfall. I keep finding photos from our visit that I have not shared yet, and this was a good one. How did it not make it into the trip report?

Crosses top structures in a cemetery on the island of Cozumel in Quintana Roo, Mexico. I was recently sprucing up the pages of our 2022 Disney Cruise. During that cruise, the ship docked at Cozumel. And during our wanderings, we came across an interesting cemetery. You can read all about it and see more photos in the post 2022 Disney Cruise Report Day 3 - Cemetery in Cozumel.

Spring Creek flows past Sellers Farm State Archaeological Area in Lebanon, Tennessee. As you may recall from the earlier Sellers Farm post, I had gone there to see the native mound, but the path along Spring Creek turned out to be the bigger attraction to me. And it was a very photogenic creek, too.

Looking down on the coast of the Waikīkī area of the island of Oʻahu from the top of Diamond Head during our 2023 Hawaiʻi Trip. As you may know, we climbed up Diamond Head, or Lēʻahi, one day during our trip, and the views from the top were amazing. It was a steep climb in some places, but it was worth it for what we could see. There is so much to see in this view. Parts of the volcano ridge in the foreground. The houses beyond that. The hotels near the shore. The beautiful blue water with the white caps of the waves. The sailboats off in the distance. And all of those elements working together to create a wonderful scene.