Late season skiing
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Skiing has become one of my favorite sports since I moved to the U.S. I first learned how to ski back in prep school, and this year, we planned our very first skiing trip together. We chose Chestnut Mountain in Galena, a small town in Illinois. Surprisingly, the terrain there wasn’t as flat as most of the state. That’s where Poy had her first skiing experience—taught by me, a first-time coach! (That does sound scary.)
As shown in the picture above, we didn’t head straight to Chestnut but made a stop in Aurora, another city in Illinois, to watch one of the most famous musicals, Waitress. We’ve been regular visitors to the Paramount Theatre in Aurora since last year, after purchasing a season pass. The pass costs around $130–$140 and allows us to watch four plays throughout the year. This was our third play of the season, and we thoroughly enjoyed it—the performance was so moving that we almost teared up during the main actress’s heartfelt scenes!
The next day, we drove to Galena and started our ski lesson. I hadn’t skied in almost a year, so I was really excited to get back on the slopes. For Poy, however, this was his very first time skiing! We spent about two hours on the bunny hill to make sure he felt comfortable and wouldn’t risk injury on the actual green trail. He did fall a few times—well, quite a number of times to be honest—but thankfully none of the falls were serious. And despite that, he seemed to be having a lot of fun (at least, I hope so!).
After trying the Old Main Road trail, we discovered there was actually an easier one—long and gentle without too many curves. We ended up spending the rest of the day on that trail, which really helped boost his confidence! The food at the ski resort turned out to be surprisingly good, though we didn’t think to take any pictures of it.
For dinner, we headed to downtown Galena and dined at Vinny Vanucchi’s, a well-known Italian restaurant in the area. We don’t usually eat out at places that look this fancy, but since it was Poy’s birthday, we decided to go all out for the occasion! (Though, to be fair, the prices were actually quite reasonable.)
We ordered a lasagna and a fettuccine dish, and both were wonderfully comforting and delicious. But the highlight of the meal was their homemade tiramisu—it was incredibly light, custardy, and absolutely perfect. We savored every single bite!
And with that memorable meal, we wrapped up our weekend trip to Galena.
At the end of Summer 2025, we embarked on a grand tour of the northern United States. Our goal was to explore a mix of popular national parks and hidden gems across Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington. The journey took us through breathtaking mountain ranges and bountiful wilderness teeming with wildlife. Thanks to booking our flights more than six months in advance, we were lucky enough to fly directly out of Champaign, a perfect start to our adventure!
This past July, we embarked on a whirlwind three-day trip to visit some of California’s national parks that were still on our list, namely, Channel Islands, Pinnacles, and Kings Canyon. While they may be less famous than their neighbors, we found them to be refreshing, full of fun, and wonderfully family-friendly. The trip was a showcase of California’s diverse wildlife, giving us our first-ever sightings of whales, island foxes, scrub jays, and California quails, and that’s not even counting the school of dolphins that raced our ferry to and from the Channel Islands!
This trip was a triumphant redemption for our failed attempt last year, exactly one year prior, when Frontier Airlines unexpectedly canceled our flight just eight hours before departure, derailing our Fourth of July plans. This year’s adventure, thankfully, proved to be the best redemption ever! We successfully visited all the national parks in Colorado and even managed to include Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, which we’d missed last summer.
We had the chance to return to England for Poy’s graduation at Oxford University—a trip filled with celebration, friends, and family. It was such a joy to revisit familiar places and explore new ones, like Canterbury and Hampton Court Palace, which took us a bit outside the city. Accompanied by Poy’s family and my college bestie, Emma, the trip was packed with laughter, meaningful moments, and plenty of walking—over 15,000 steps a day!