End of Year 2016 - Lots of Wins and 1 Mission Failure

Let's start off immediately by saying that I did not make it to my final state this year.  It was a goal.  I had a plan... and plans change.  Needless to say, I am miffed about this, but that does not mean I did not do and see amazing things this year.
Year End Summary


States/Territories Visited: NJ, NY, PA, DE, VA, MD, AZ,  NC, SC, FL, LA, CO, KY, AR, WA & US Virgin Islands
Countries: USA, Canada, Dominican Republic, St Kitts, Dominica, British Virgin Islands (Tortola)
Key Cities: NYC, Philadelphia, Tucson, Phoenix, Scranton, Little Rock, Bowling Green, New Orleans, Denver, Victoria, Ottawa, Miami, Charleston
Art Towns – Cooperstown, Charleston, Hot Springs, Coral Gables, Charlotte Amalie




Parks: Mammoth Cave NP, Hot Springs NP, Wright Brothers Nat Memorial, Fort Raleigh NHS, Tumacacori NHP, Paterson Great Falls NHP, Saguaro NP, Coronado Nat Mem, Valley Forge NHP, Hopewell Furnace NHS, Steamtown NHS, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHP,  Lincoln Boyhood Home Nat Mem, Fort Sumter NM, Little Rock Central High School NHS, Wolf Trap NP for the Performing Arts, Great Falls Park, Shenandoah NP, Montezuma Castle NM and Canadian National Park 1000 Isles, Dominican Republic National Parks Sanoa Island and the Caves; The Baths, British Virgin Islands; Morne Trois Pitons NP, Dominica



Concerts:  Hall & Oats, Trombone Shorty, Santana, William Shatner, Tony Bennett, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson (THE Beach Boy), Elle King, Bryan Adams, Chic, Duran Duran, Ricky Martin,  Kristin Chenoweth,  NSO and New Kids on the Block plus a lots of amazing Broadway shows (Allegiance, Finding Neverland, Waitress, She Loves Me, Beautiful, American in Paris, Fully Committed, Disaster, Bright Star, On Your Feet, The Illusionists, Sweet Charity [off Bway] and Holiday Inn ), tours Bridges Of Madison County, Maks & Val Dance, Grinch Stole Christmas and regional shows Freaky Friday. (I love live music and theatre)


Aquariums: Virginia Marine Science Center, South Carolina

Ghost Tours: Ottawa, New Orleans

Iconic or Plain Ole’ Amazing Sites: Central Park in the snow storm, Philly Flower Show, Canadian Capital, Little Rock HS, Bathhouse Row,  Parliament in Victoria, Pineapple Fountain of Charleston, Grand Ave in Mammoth Caves, Coors Tour in Golden,  Baseball Hall of Fame, Columbus Museum in Santo Domingo, The Baths in Virgin Gorda, the Caribbean Reef
2016 was a full year.  It was a year filled with beauty, wonder and adventure, beginning with a crazy snowbound trip in NYC in the epic snowstorm and ending in the Caribbean visiting a few new islands. 

This year marked the 100^th birthday of the national park service, and everyone knows how passionate I am about visiting (and protecting) these amazing places.  I made a point of getting to some new national parks, as well as revisiting a few favorites along the way.  And with them, I made it to lots of other types of park units – monuments, historic sites, memorials and more.  With all my visits to national park elements, you would think I would be almost done, but I am not even close.  There is a lot to see out there, and visiting these places helps me connect to our environment just a tiny bit more.  I went out to cave country this year to visit Mammoth Caves in Kentucky  - we hiked by lamp light, we saw cave critters evolved to live in a lightless environment, and imagined rooms filled with gypsum flowers.  I revisited Saguaro National Park in Tucson Arizona to catch a sunset over these iconic cactus before I took off to hike to the Mexican border at Coronado National Memorial, visited a mission at Tumacacori and walked around an ancient Native American dwelling carved into the mountainside in Montezuma Castle.  John and I traveled to Arkansas to honor civil rights history at Little Rock Central High School and partake in a bit of history by taking a traditional bath at historic Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs National Park (I also got in an amazing hike to see the beautiful folded mountains).  I took many weekend trips, some solo some not, to explore area park sites – we rode an historic steam engine in Scranton, PA, at the Steamtown National Historic Site, we learned about theories for Croatian at Fort Raleigh and listened in awe to the stories of first flight at Wright Brothers, both in North Carolina; I learned about colonial iron forging at Hopewell Furnace; visited Hamilton’s designer city at Paterson Falls; and more…

This year finally marked the year I made it to things that have been on my list for what seems like ages– Charleston, SC & its pineapple fountain!  Cooperstown & the Baseball Hall of Fame.  John and I made these trips to celebrate our birthdays… on one, we hit the beach and burned our feet before a monstrous storm rolled in, we toured via foot, bike, boat and horse and buggy to see a Southern gem and soak in the history, and on the other, we wandered an amazing museum on baseball and another on cars, and took time to enjoy a beautiful lake before an amazing storm rolled in practically each day.  YEP, my weather luck is still rolling!

 My biggest trip by far for the year was a getaway to the Dominican Republic.  This was no ordinary “veg on the beach” trip – I took my brother Charles there to celebrate his college graduation and to mark his 21^st birthday, albeit one year late.  We stayed in Punta Cana, but explored this country while we were there – taking a day trip to Santo Domingo to see the capital and some countryside along the way.  We danced, ate and toured endless Christopher Columbus sites.   We took a boat to their national park at Sanoa Island – my intention was a hike through the forest, but the mosquitoes had other ideas, so we really swam around enjoying the stunning coastline.  And I could not let us leave without enjoying the natural state of the island, so we hiked through a nature preserve, swam in natural fresh water pools, and I left a token of appreciation at the bottom of a 65 foot pool when my cut amber broke off while I was diving…oops! 

I made more headway on my next travel bucket wish list, a bit early.  I took 2 trips to Canada with  friends – an Ontario capital adventure – Ottawa, Kingston and Perth, and a quick weekend to the capital of British Columbia -Victoria.  My trip through Ontario was filled with art, history, ghosts, giant spiders and scenery as I toured with my friend Laurie.  Ottawa is such a beautiful city – the capital lights up with a history of Canada tutorial that would make anyone prideful.  While in Kingston, we took a cruise through 1000 Isles National Park and I still “ahhh” when I think about it – it was one of the most beautiful things I saw this year.  My summer trip to Ontario was contrasted with my November trip to British Columbia (it’s not that cold there, trust me), and there Lesley and I interacted with insects at the zoo, starred into dioramas, were given a private tour at the art museum, interviewed people for her blog and drank the most expensive pot of tea ever!  I already know I am headed back to Canada to see more – it’s beautiful – I just need to figure out where we are headed next.

 It is hard to review everything that I did this year… I consider myself lucky that I have friends all over the place and we did incredible things, both locally and out of the area – yes, I visited Canada with Laurie and Lesley, and soaked up the sun with brother Charles in the DR, but I also helped build my first Day of the Dead alter with Sue at the Denver Botanical Gardens; saw a new side of New Orleans area when Sandi took me to a conservation habitat for grazers at Global Wildlife Center on the North Shore, and then hit the streets with me for some ghost stories and Halloween decorations in NOLA; finally did the Coors tour in Golden (and attended an epic soccer match) with Megan and her son Ben; Marie and I had the market corned on Broadway this year – she was my partner in crime seeing some amazing stuff that left us singing about ice cream, pie, peter pan, 70’s disaster films and the Miami Sound Machine; I went to my very first Renaissance Festival, and I did it in Arizona with Paige; I saw aquatic scorpions that have a scuba-like tube out of their butts in Montezuma with Tessa; finally got to see Dr Katie in Norwich while on a trip to Cooperstown;  revisited the 80’s with Lindsey and Ashley (and many other NKOTB friends) in Hershey; got back to Brooklyn with Marie and Enza; howled to the moon with Duran Duran and Michelle; smelled the stinkiest flower with Linus; took to Wolf Trap many times to see incredible shows with Michelle, Linus, John, Lindsey and Ashley at different times; wandered Alexandria with Sarah on her visits; saw amazing orchids and coral castles with Mom …

So what do I have on tap for next year?  I am not sure.  As always, a lot will depend on United sales.  I do know that I am headed back to San Jose California with friends for a girlsweekend with the New Kids in January, and maybe I can fit another to the Winchester Mystery House. My boyfriend and I will hit up Universal and Disney in Orlando while he is there for work.  I am headed to Vegas to see my friend in May and take in some New Kids concert time.  I will visit my Canadian friend for another adventure somewhere up there this summer (maybe Quebec City?) I have plans to visit mom in Florida and see Bruno Mars  in October.  I started planning my first park trip of the year (in May) to Lassen in Northern California and while there I hope to stop by Whiskeytown NRA.  My boyfriend and I will see the total solar eclipse in the Nashville area in August.  I will get back to Washington state to see my best friend, we will plan a tour at the San Juan Islands this year. And of course I will return to the City to take in as many shows as possible (its a never ending quest).   Beyond that, there is talk.  My friend I went to Iceland with in 2015 and I are talking about another trip to somewhere in Scandanavia.  My boyfriend and I are eying a trip in the Caribbean, Mexico or in Ireland.  I know some family wants to get back to Italy.  I would like to explore Toronto Canada - I can't believe I still haven't been there!  And there is Hawaii that is haunting me.  I have a few national parks on my radar - some are more pressing than others due to changes in their environment - Glacier, Grand Tetons, Dry Tortugas, Redwoods, Dinosaur NM, Point Reyes Nat Seashore, Cape Hatteras.  If I make it to the northern CA coast, I have my eye on Glass Beach and Eureka.  Those Smithsonian classes are torturing me and making my never-ending list grow ever longer...  I do love the adventure.

I can't do it all unless I hit the lotto.  So, I will keep calling out to Hermes and Tyche - the Greek Gods of travel and luck.