We can check one off…Lori and I took the California wine country trip this summer. It was an A+ vacation, worthy of several upcoming blogs.
So if the long weekend trips are the bread and butter, the vacations are the entre’, the main course. We’ve been fortunate to have been able to take some great vacations, like this past summer’s trip to Europe which I blogged about in great detail. But there’s always more on the list. Here’s my current list of want-to-do’s in the USA.
California Wine Tasting – a colleague of mine is a great wine lover and goes on a wine tasting and collecting trip every year. I thought it was a nice idea but didn’t put it on my list until Lori and I attended a wedding in Gilroy, California (the Garlic capital of the world!). The wedding was at the Fortino winery and before the ceremony we indulged in a wine tasting. Not only did we rediscover reisling, we got hooked on the wine tasting experience. So here it is at the top of the list. Next summer we’re planning to rent a big house in Napa valley with friends and family for a week. Just goes to show you how dynamic my lists are!
Yosemite – it’s been a perpetual entrant on my list, but it’s ridden the Napa Valley coattails to the top of my list. I guess I’m just enamored with California lately. Yosemite is the granddaddy of national parks and I imagine a week of taking thousands of pictures of waterfalls, mountains, and bears. Oh my.
Yellowstone – might as well go ahead and get all the big national parks out of the way. We actually had considered a trip to Yellowstone about 12 years ago, but for some reason it fell through. No American should go through life without seeing a certain list of places (now there’s another blog), and Old Faithful would be on the list. Nature pictures would of course be an objective of this trip, but I also have a fascination with volcanoes (what boy doesn’t?)–and Yellowstone being one of the largest volcanoes in the world, I have to go. One day.
Disneyland & Hollywood, CA – Earlier this year I went on a business trip to Orange, California and stayed in a Disneyland area hotel. It made be wonder why we’ve been to Disney World in Florida no less than 50 times (not an exaggeration) and I’ve never once been to Disneyland. I should think of Disneyland as the genesis of Disney parks (rightly so), and besides the fact that I’ve always lived within driving distance of WDW I should have visited Disneyland at least once in my 47 years. You’d think so, anyway. On the same trip I visited with a client in Hollywood and me being the movie fan I knew I’d have to return. Time in LA is certainly in my future.
Texas Hill Country – a company I worked with a while back did a two-day offsite retreat at a ranch in the Texas Hill Country. I don’t remember the name of the place, only that it was the former ranch of a 1920’s – 1930’s era movie actress. It was spring and it was beautiful, especially the “big sky” and stars. It’s been on my list for a return ever since.
Sedona, Arizona – on a family vacation in the southwest back in 2003 we spent a few days in Sedona. There was some sort of aura, some weird kaa going on there, a spiritual energy that infected me and keeps calling me back. Or maybe it was the clear air, pretty scenery, and the red meat. Either way, I’d like to go back and spend more time.
Kauai, Hawaii – we went to Hawaii for a week and a half in 2000. With only limited time we had to be picky about the islands we went to. Those of you who’ve been would be surprised to hear that we left Kauai off the list for that trip, but the simple reason is we knew it warranted it’s own trip. We just haven’t taken that trip yet.
Alaska – I worked for most of 2005 and early 2006 in the Seattle area and I kept thinking I’d make a weekend run up to Alaska. Anywhere in Alaska, it didn’t matter. Of course it didn’t seem like a great idea to go up there during the winter. Soon thereafter, summer Alaska cruises got wildly popular, and we have friends in Seattle who’ve been on two Alaska cruises and loved it. I think that will be the way to go–the Alaska cruise–at least for the first visit. Alaska might actually be on my list of potentially interesting places to live…for a summer (wow, two new blog ideas in a single blog).
Up next…my ski destination wish list, just in time for this year’s ski season to kick in!
