Well, it has been a while... and lets face it, while we are pretending normal has returned, we are still not back to actual normal. Although, we are gearing up for a first flight in about 3 years... What a difference a virus makes. Here are some of our travels including tips, sights and other fun things. Lasson National Park - Volcanoes!! This really was one of our first trips after a full year of Covid-19. We decided to visit an old favorite and then some. Our trip to Lassen started in mid June, and to our surprise, some of the trails like Bumpass Hell were just about open. There was still quite a bit of snow on the paths and ground. So check ahead and don't miss out on these.  We stayed at Drakesbad Guest Ranch, which is in the south side of the park. Drakesbad is special to us and many people... check it out . We are just keeping our fingers crossed that it survived the wild fires that hit the area the same year we were there. A drink at Drakesbad If you stay at Drakesbad you ar...

Yes, you absolutely want to go to New Zealand in winter. Just make sure you understand the difference between the weather on the North Island and the South Island! If you go South Island in winter, bring your sub zero (centigrade) outfits and you may end up stuck in a blizzard. North Island was a lot more temperate, which is why most people live up there... Travel like Just Been There Twelve days on New Zealand's North Island can look like this: Day 1 through 4 - Wellington. Without World Cup games, spend 2-3 days in Wellington Day 5 - Drive up the North Island and stay around National Park Day 6 - Hike Tongariro National Park and drive to Hamilton (consider skiing if you are into that, stay an extra day or two)  Day 7 - Waitomo Caves Day 8 - Hobbiton and Hamilton Gardens Day 9 - Drive to Rotorua, walk the town Day 10 - Canopy Tour Day 11 - Spa time  Day 12 - Taupo and Wai-O-Tapu  Day 13 - Drive to Auckland Airport / Fly out Just Been There Art Look at or buy art ins...