You’re off to Great Places!

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I Love your Great Ideas!

You had some great trips for me to consider. Thank you for sharing your suggestions. I have a lot to consider.  “Diane” suggested Glacier National Park. I must say that National Parks are always a super choice. I’ve been to many. I even have the “passport” books and collect the stamps. I thought that Glacier National Park was primarily a hiking destination and I’m not sure I’m up for much hiking. Time for me to do a little research.

Glacier National Park

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The first thing I found out when I searched Glacier National Park was Going-to-the-Sun Road. This drive connects the east and west sides of the park as it cuts through the middle. Going-to-the-Sun road is 50 miles of scenic wonder. I’ll need to plan this vacation in the summer. The road is often closed by snow in the winter. It’s wild country out there. Wildlife may be present anywhere along Going-to-the-Sun Road. As you know if you’ve read many of my posts, I’m a sucker for Wildlife. I can watch for mountain goats and Big Horn sheep.  You can even see a glacier from the road at Jackson Glacier Overlook. A bonus for me is that Glacier National Park is in Montana. I haven’t been to Montana yet!

Yosemite National Park

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Sticking with the National Park theme, my boss at work got in on the suggestions. She lobbied for Yosemite National Park. She and her family recently vacationed there and she came away quite impressed. Yosemite National Park is in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. It’s famous for El Capitan and Half Dome, two iconic landmarks. Its also home to giant, ancient sequoia trees. When I think of Yosemite I think of waterfalls. I was concerned that this hiker’s paradise might be another place that would be beyond my skill set? I’m happy to report that many areas of the park can be reached by car and some places even have shuttle access! Sounds like a user friendly park to me!

Stay Tuned

There are more suggestions to come and they just keep getting better!

 

Oh the Places You’ll Go

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Maui flowersWhat Places need a visit?

I’ve been some great places and had some amazing adventures. But where do I want to go next. I haven’t made it to all 50 states but I’m finding that I’m not interested in seeing every state any more. I’ve developed some favorite places and I like returning. There’s Florida and Hawaii to name two. I’m pretty sure I’ll continue to visit both of those states.

Go West, Young Man, Go West

I’ll need to rephrase that famous line. How about go west old lady go west? I like Wyoming. I’m tentatively going back again to finish visiting Yellowstone. I’d prefer to get accomodations in Idaho as it’s closer to the West Entrance but if that doesn’t pan out I can go back to Jackson. That was a really good vacation.

Moulton Barn with Tetons in the background

Red Rocks of Sedona

Sedona was nice too. The red rocks are beautiful. I took my first helicopter ride there. Sedona was my base camp when I made both visits to the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is truly amazing. Everyone should see it at least once. The first time it’s almost overwhelming. My mind kept telling me it wasn’t real!

Mount Rushmore

What’s in South Dakota

What’s in South Dakota was the question I got and asked when my sister and I planned our trip. Everyone knows about Mount Rushmore but it turned out that there was a lot more to see and experience. We visited a real dinosaur dig, observed wild mustangs running free, were surrounded by bison in Custer State Park. 

 

Alaska, The Great Land

We cruised to Alaska. Unfortunately we did it in the rainy, cold spring. I want to go back. I want to see the bears at Brooks Camp during the salmon run. I’d like to cruise past the glaciers again and even experience the midnight sun. Maybe I need two trips because I’d like to see the Aurora Borealis, aka the Northern lights and those are in the fall and winter. Ugh…cold.

Magarie Glacier

Any Suggestions?

So my friends, family and loyal readers, where do you want me to go? What adventure would you like me to experience and write about? The only stipulation is that it must be in the USA. I’m not ready for international travel yet. Maybe someday.

 

What Does The Future Hold?

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Hula danceTime to consider Future plans

What trips are in my future? Where should I turn my attention next? Things have been moving fast but I suddenly find myself with no stories or trip updates. That’s quite unusual. Part of the reason was that I spent my last Hawaii vacation doing exactly that, vacationing. I relaxed and unwound. I didn’t seek out adventure and my trip was short.

 

Coming up next

I have another Hawaii vacation on the books but this time to the Big Island of Hawaii. The Big Island was the first island I visited in Hawaii. That was back in 2007. Since then I’ve been to Oahu and made numerous trips to Maui. I wonder what changes have taken place since my first visit! 11 years is a long time. We stayed at Sea Mountain on our first trip. Sea Mountain is located near Volcano National Park on the wet side of the island. This trip will be at the Royal Kona Resort. Its on the dry touristy side of the island. I won’t have a condo this trip. It’s a standard hotel room.

Some things I can try on the Big Island

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I’ve been looking into some of the activities I might be able to enjoy. Top on my list is an ocean cruise around the edge of the island to see the lava from Kilauea flowing into the ocean. As much as I’ve bee researching this I seem to get different information all the time. I may have to wait until I’m there to see if they are going out.

I’ve also heard that a night snorkel with sting rays is an awesome experience. It was a tour guide on Maui that told me about that. Speaking of Snorkeling, there are quite a few snorkel trips advertised as well as Snuba.

There are also helicopter tours and shark diving. Waipio Valley is listed as a “must see” but requires some hiking. I’m not sure I’ve recovered enough for any lengthy hiking so I’ll just mark that with a question mark. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Winter in New England

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Its still Winter

Winter doesn’t respect the calendar in New England.  The first day of spring (March 20) is right around the corner and yet we are in the path of another winter storm. February was quiet but since March 1st its been one storm after another. The worse damage is to our beaches. Beach erosion has destroyed homes, businesses and beaches. There are still homes without power which means without heat. Carbon monoxide from generators is a real risk. Just this morning the news carried a report of a death from this colorless, odorless gas.

snow covered trees

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Snow can make driving a challenge

We lost power at work last Friday. We were sent home to work in hopes that we’d have power at our homes. Getting home was the challenge. The roads were snowy and slippery but the real threat was from falling trees. I only live 12 miles from work but I wasn’t sure I’d get home. The first road I took was completely blocked by a down tree. The 2nd road was closed by the police. I finally found a side road that let me connect to the main street. Street lights weren’t working and it was easy to see where large branches and trees had been cleared to allow traffic to pass.

Home Safe and Sound

waves break over the sea wall

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I was very happy to see my condo complex and even happier to see that the parking area had been cleared. I grabbed my computer and dashed into my condo. It was warm and toasty and my power was on. I was able to get several hours of work in from home before I eventually joined the rest of New England in the dark. The crazy power outages and internet interruptions  are the reason my posts have been slightly off schedule. I thought about going out in the storm with the camera to get some fresh photos but it didn’t take much to make me change my mind and stay tucked inside, warm and safe.

 

Whale Watching in February

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Watch out for the Whales

February is the highpoint of the whale season in Maui. The whale season is said to run from Mid December to Mid May but I can vouch for February. You can even watch the whales from shore! I love the whales. I think they are amazing animals and here you get to see the tiny babies as well as the adults. Of course “tiny” is relative. A 2 ton baby isn’t tiny by human standards but next to its mama, its just a bit of a thing.

Whales

What’s a Little Motion Sickness?

My dinner cruise price included a whale watch trip. I hadn’t planned on going whale watching this visit because I forgot to pack my motion sickness patches. The whale watches can get a little rough and I am prone to sea sickness. How many people do you know that can get sea sick while scuba diving? I did!  But that’s a story for another day! Anyway I had a whale watch coming to me so I decided to cross my fingers and take a chance.

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Whale Watching with Hawaii Ocean Project

The Whale watch boat was berthed in Lahaina Harbor, a very popular starting point for many whale watching companies. To pull out of the harbor everyone has to be seated. This is true for all of the cruises. The crew of our ship made all the proper announcements but they didn’t enforce them. Adults and children were still wandering the decks as we cast off. They went on to announce that serious photographers should be seated on the lower deck in the bow. I found my seat in the bow and prepared my camera. I shouldn’t have bothered.

Were there Whales?

just missed but got the splash

We saw whales. There was a lot of breaching and tail slapping. I can’t criticize the trip for that. But I will say I won’t go on this trip again. Getting shots of whales is hard enough without playing a dodge game with people holding their cell phones up in front of everyone. I was competing with heads, elbows and children being lifted on shoulders. This is not a trip for a serious photographer. There are other whale watching boats that have stadium seating so no one has an obstructed view. Or I’ll take one of the smaller rafting tours. All the seats on those are good and its very exciting. Let the families go out on this trip. I’ll find a different one next time.

Tail Slapping