2011 - Year in Review

Looking back on 2011 I can honestly say that it has been a busy travel year.  I went on at least one trip every month - some for work, some for fun, some to visit friends and some as social calls... no matter how I look at it, it simply was an exhausting year.  All told, I visited 20 states and almost as many major cities.  In fact, I went on at least 2 trips each month* (I can't keep that pace up).   I hiked in several "new to me" national parks; meandered through art museums; took in several Broadway shows; cheered at  sporting events; danced, sang and shopped at several festivals, and learned about sea life at several "new" aquariums.  It was a year of unique experiences, beautiful vistas, new learnings ... and yes, a few new states.

• New States - I finished the "O" States by visiting Cleveland, Ohio and several places in Oklahoma (and I revisited Oregon this year too).
• New Cities - Fairbanks Alaska (the 2nd biggest city in Alaska, yet the smallest I will list); Tulsa and Oklahoma City; Cleveland; Pittsburgh
• Art Towns - NONE =-(  but I did get to quite a few arts festivals- West Palm Beach, Boulder, Alexandria
• New Aquariums - Pacific Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon offered me (and a friend) the most incredible one on one octopus experience; Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois was so big that I spent over 6 hours exploring its nooks; Oklahoma Aquarium in Tulsa offered fishing tips!
• New Parks - Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon - South Rim (finally), Cedar Breaks NM, Chickasaw NRA, Cuyahoga Valley; Valley of Fire (Nevada State Park)
• Funky Features - Whalebone Arch in Barrow; the official Arctic Circle line; Oklahoma Rt 66 Sites (POPS, Red Round Barn, Braums Ice Cream sign); Santa Claus's House in North Pole, AK; the Christmas Story House and Free Stamp in Ohio; Lincoln's Head looking south of I-80 in WY
• Iconic Structures - Grand Canyon, The Vegas Strip was visited several times in 2011, NYC Times Square and Yankee Stadium for the holidays; Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; Oklahoma City Memorial; Disney; Willis Tower (aka Sears Tower); Mount St Helens

Even some of my old favorites offered me new experiences.  I took my mom to New Orleans for her first visit and we danced and shopped our way through the French Quarter Festival.  I have always heard great things French Quarter Fest and I can tell you that they are all true.  It brings all the fun of the larger parties, but the ease of it being all in once location... there is endless music, art, parades, hundreds of booths of local food.  The streets are filled, the shops are open, and city pride is out in full force.

My sister got married in NYC this year - in Central Park.  Now, I have been there plenty of times, but never for a wedding.  In a city where you see everything and anything - groups walking around all dressed up in the park while people are sunbathing in bathing suits was quite the sight.  And contrary to popular belief, everyone was perfectly nice when asked to shift out of pictures.

Hoodoo You Think Hiked in Bryce???

What can you really say about one of the most breath-taking hikes you have ever taken?  I have struggled to write about to trip to Bryce because I am still in awe of what I was able to take in.   Granted, we only saw a portion of the park... you really need more than one day at Bryce, and I will have to make sure that I get that... but the priority was to see and experience.  To do that, my friend and I hiked from both rim and valley. It was the best way to marvel at the hoodoos, rims, fins and other geologic structures.  From above and below, they were a sight to see!!!



Hoodoos!!!

 Hoodoo became my new word of the trip... honestly, I do not remember that from geology class or lab.  I have never seen these types of structures on the east coast, but the park was smart to point out that you can see hoodoos in places all over the world - the difference is, nothing is this vast, colorful, deep and spectacular as Bryce.   If you look the right way, you can understand the native american story that woodoos are really people that have been turned to stone by the god/trickster - Coyote.  In reality, they are the result of constant weathering and erosion.  Hoodoos were rock mounds, sculpted into fins, that broke into individual pilliars.  In Bryce there are rows that look like a consistent series, cut from the same cloth; there are section upon section that look like that paper trick you do as a child - the one where you cut one  doll and create a series of linked ones.  It kinda boggles your mind to think that weathering processes created something so similiar.  And then, you turn your head, and you have another forest of hoodoos, that looks different and yet similar to each other.

Utah's South West Corner

Bryce Canyon

I owe you a post on the parks visited before Grand Canyon... Zion, Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks national monument.  Visiting all those parks so fast created lots of pictures...  and I am not done going through them... so hold on, it is coming... until then, here is one pic of each beautiful place... enjoy!

Zion

Cedar Breaks

Thought It Was Going To Be A Quiet Month

It has been a crazy few months.  In fact, I have been on the road quite a bit this first half of 2011.  After a particularly hectic summer, has had me on the road more than I have been home, I thought I had a quiet August coming.  Up until recently I only had a short National Park trip planned.  Now, I will be traveling 2 weeks in August.

Today I had to cancel my vacation tickets and tweak my trip.  My original plan had me flying to Vegas to meet a friend, from there we were headed to Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyons.  Last week a trip to Chicago was added to the back end.  The today, a short trip to Denver was added to the front end.  There was no way I was going to be able to make any part of my original plan.

United Airlines was able to credit me the cost of my cancelled ticket, minus $25 (yeah for frequent flyer status).  At first I had heart palpitations - they told me that it was a ridiculous $150 change fee... on a $400 ticket, that was insane.  When I asked, "even for super flyers", she found out that I qualified for a much cheaper change fee.  So glad I asked.  I then purchased a new ticket from Denver to Vegas; that was only $100.  Work will fly me from Vegas  to Chicago.  I can use that credit for a flight later this year...

I have not spent any quality time in Chicago.  I have only been there once for 2 days.  I will take an extra day to sight-see here... I really want to see the Bean (aka the Cloud).  I have already started making a list of the things I want to stuff into Chicago:

• Shedd Aquarium
• Art Institute
• Millennium Park
• Chicago Architecture Tour
• Sky Deck at Willis Tower
• Lakeshore Tour

I can sit back and not worry about the parks... my friend has planned that all out.  We have this crazy schedule of Zion to Bryce to the South Rim.

Not so relaxing, but that is okay.  I get to see some more new stuff.   More parks, more art, more sites... Bring It On!!!