I enjoy hiking, biking and kayaking. My favorite destinations include exploring our national and state parks, wildlife refuges, forests, mountains, deserts and ocean coastlines. I have visited all 50 of the U.S. states multiple times, 58 of our 63 national parks, and 11 foreign countries. In October 2022, I was able to take the trip of a lifetime to Madagascar which was #1 on my life's bucket list.  Aside from Madagascar, some of my favorite journeys outside the U.S. have included trips to the Galapagos Islands, Iceland, Costa Rica, Brazil, Borneo, Ethiopia and the Great Barrier Reef.

I am an amateur photographer who has taken a number of online photography classes to try to improve my skills.  In 2021, I participated in several photographic workshops including Yellowstone in winter,  Yellowstone in spring for baby animals and Costa Rica for rain and cloud forest wildlife. These experiences allowed me to work on improving my photography skills.  In 2022, I visited Death Valley for landscapes,  Alaska for brown bears, and Madagascar for lemurs.  In 2023, I went on a number of tours including Olympic National Park for landscapes, the inside passage of Alaska for the herring spawn, Katmai National Park for brown bears and the Pantanal of Brazil for jaguar. Most recently I traveled to the Arctic Circle of Norway for walrus and polar bears, and Ethiopia for wolves and gelada monkeys.

My other hobbies include training dogs, competing in dog agility, kayaking, hiking and doing genealogy. I am a NADAC agility judge and UKC obedience and rally judge. I am also completing a genealogical certificate in American records with the National Institute of Genealogical Studies.