adventure

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February 23, 2012

Sleep, read, eat, repeat.

Posted by Grendel's Mother under adventure, Animals, holiday, states, travel | Tags: alligator, Bonita Springs, Corey Billie airboat ride, Everglades, Florida |
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I just got back from a fun, relaxing, anti-Washington, DC vacation and am feeling the Florida vibe. I haven’t done one of these mid-winter long-weekend trips down to Bonita Springs in awhile but after seven long months of having too many clients and too much to do, I decided I needed to decompress. And I think half my facebook friends were down there with me.

Southwest Florida is so nice this time of year. Perfect weather for being a complete sand bunny (or pool bunny—there was a choice—yes I’m so blessed). The order of the week was sleep, read, eat, repeat. That’s about it folks. That much-needed vitamin D (it seems in DC there is an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency) plus hours of snoring on the beach has given me a little energy boost. I finished two books, watched a couple of fun movies, caught up with my parents, took some nice walks among houses that are so, so, so out of my price range, and then came home to my gloriously comfortable bed and pets who really missed me—awwwww.

The highlight of the trip was an airboat ride through the Everglades with my parents. Now that was REALLY fun! My expectations were kind of on the low side to begin with, but it turned out to be completely worth every cent and minute spent away from my beach chair. The price of the tour from a company called Corey Billie’s Airboat Rides, was at least half of what the others were. As we were driving through the Everglades and passing various tour operations and national park land, my dad asked me what the name was again, so I told him to just look for the biggest rednecks he could find and make a right. As it turned out, Corey Billie is a Seminole Indian who owns the land and the tour company. I’m going to have to ask my neighbor John if a Seminole Indian can also be a redneck. Regardless, as our tour guide remarked, “It’s his private property, just like if you or I owned it.” (Hmmm, let’s not think too much on that—it was said with respect after all.)

Anyway, after our airboat driver opened up the throttle, away we went, speeding through the water at 40 mph. That may not seem like much, but it was just the right amount of “holy crap” for us. He did a donut at one point and moved around those random channels of water like a true pro. He was a totally awesome guide! He stopped the boat to let us get a close up view of one of the local alligators who hangs out in the area. I have to admit, I was impressed with how close he got (see photos of him holding the alligator’s mouth open) and how the alligator and the guides actually knew each other—like a pet-type relationship. There was one gator we did ignore because in the words of our guide, “He has an attitude and likes to bite, so we’ll leave him alone.” We also saw some beautiful birds—spoonbills and herons and more. So very cool! I totally recommend this tour to anyone visiting or living in Southwest Florida.

I also managed to have some yummy meals—including a wonderful (but expensive) meal at Coconut Jack’s Waterfront Grille on our last night and some mouth-watering white fish at the shrimp shack on another night. Both get the thumbs up from Mom and Dad (and me).

So now back to the diet, the yucky weather, the traffic, the fast-paced and too hurried business of northern Virginia. That’s why vacations are so great I guess!

: Mom and Dad on our airboat

: Birds flying at the sound of the boat coming, here is where we were flying across the water.

: The gorgeous canals of the Everglades

: Our tour guide holding Mr. alligator’s tail to show us how fast Mr. A can turn around.

: Tour guide has a trusting relationship with this gator as he shows us the gator’s throat flap.

: This is a 70 year old alligator who hung around our boat.

: A spoonbill bird is pink because he eats shrimp.

: This is Mr. cranky pants alligator.

: Violators will be shot. A sign on Corey Billie’s land. Ha ha

: Survivors will be shot again. Ha ha.

: Reflections of the sky on this strip of Everglades water.

September 25, 2011

My goal-less quest.

Posted by Grendel's Mother under adventure, travel | Tags: bucket list, dream, quest, travel |
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Many people these days are making up their own bucket lists. I’ve been thinking about it more and more these days. And not because my body is falling apart (it is) or that my life is a wreck (it’s not). Maybe I see others doing more with their time, maybe I’ve just stopped wanting to dream so much and to just do more. Maybe it was watching that series Planet Earth with the jaw dropping scenes of the wonders all around us. Maybe it’s just time to take my own kind of walkabout. My quest does not have a goal, such as saving someone’s life, destroying a ring, or killing a monster named Grendel. It’s more about just experiencing the world and the people in it.

But of course we have to address the obstacles to living out the carefree lifestyle that exists in our dreams.

Money—or whatever is needed for those pesky plane tickets, hotel rooms, etc. Doing the backpack thing and staying in dirt-encrusted hostels is not for me. Maybe when I was in my early 20’s—but even then I needed to know that there was a safe room for me to lay my head at the end of the day. I’m not saying I won’t camp out or need a four-star hotel. I just want my 40-year old back to not be in a knot in the morning.

Time—those sweet precious vacation days we work so hard for can be few and far between for the normal American. The Europeans have it great. Having said that, I’m grateful for having a life where I do have time off and don’t have to work three jobs or 90 hours a week.

Travel companions—getting someone else to come along with you to share the experience makes exploring this world so much more fun and meaningful. Whether the travel companions be friends or family, it’s really important for me to go with people I can have fun with.

For the most part, these obstacles can be overcome. You may not have the money or time to travel far and wide but you can make smaller and more budget-friendly trips and experiences wherever you live. For me, well I’m going for broke. I spent several years saving every penny I earned, putting them away for a time when I could start going on some trips. At the very moment I was about to start spending it all, I was laid off. That money ended up coming in handy while I was out of work. God definitely was looking out for me. If I hadn’t saved during those preceding years, I would have been in serious trouble. I am so blessed and grateful that I was able to save at all. God is good and He provides in mysterious ways.

But now I have a job again and my outlook on life has changed a bit. Am I still a saver, planner, and overall worrier? Yup. But I’m not going to let opportunities pass me by. I’m going to explore this beautiful world God created. I’m going to learn about other cultures and deepen my knowledge of history, anthropology, geology, languages, geography, and foodology. I’m going to meet people who will share their traditions, legends, historic landmarks, grandmother’s recipes, and beliefs. I’m going to marvel at the heaven-reaching mountains, the deep blue oceans, the colorful plants, the sand-swept deserts, and the luscious green forests. And in between I sure wouldn’t mind spending some time relaxing in Bora Bora (you know the place where the huts sit on the water and you can jump into the clear blue water right from your bedroom? (That’s where a sugar daddy would come in very handy.)

So here is my so-called bucket list of places to visit. (The whole “What I want to do before I die” thing includes a heck of lot more than travel.) Anyway, I’m tired of the phrase “bucket list” and feel that a new name is in order. One of these maybe?

Dawn’s Lambeth Walk. I did some research and the Lambeth Walk is a song from a musical about courage and acceptance that became a rallying cry for the Brits during the London bombing in World War II. It sounds kind of fun and cool. Look it up.
Tribal Wanderings. I’ll bring my culture and experiences to those around the world—and get a bit of other tribal customs in exchange.
Dawn to Dusk: Live the Path not Yet Taken. Ok, now I feel like I’m working on a brainstorm session for work—trying to come up with some random and witty theme.

Okay, let’s call it: Dawn’s Day-Tripping Dreams. Something exciting to think about and something to try to attain. If you’re in my circle of family and friends and are interested in planning a trip to one of these places, give me a shout! Or, if you own a travel magazine or run a travel business and want someone to visit these places and write about them for you, also give me a shout!

Dawn’s Day-Tripping Dreams (not in any specific order and subject to change)

Peru (Machu Pichu and the Nazca lines)
The Holy Land (Israel)
Alaska (cruise around the glaciers, see the wilderness inland, Denali, etc.)
Italy (Rome, Venice, Sienna, tour the countryside, visit the Vatican)
African (Kenya and Tanzania) safari
Napa Valley (wine tours)
Australia (the reef, Sydney, the Aborigine land, Uluru, etc.)
New Zealand (see the mountains and majestic scenery)
Galapagos Islands
Brazil (Rio but also cruise the Amazon)
China (the Great Wall, the Terracotta army, etc.)
Russia (The beautiful onion domes, red square, Moscow, St. Petersburg)
Normandy (tour the WW II sites, see Mont Saint Michel)
Paris (been there but would go back again and again and again…)
Greece (Ancient historical sites, cruise on the gorgeous waters, etc.)
India
Montana (maybe some kind of dude ranch experience)
Upstate New York and Maine (in the fall for the turning of the leaves)

I’ve been blessed to see so many places in my life and many of those places I’d love to visit again. France is a favorite and I would go back to see other parts of Egypt, Ireland, England, Canada, and various states in America. And of course I can’t go very long without visiting my Aunt and cousins in one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on earth—Walloon Lake, Michigan. There are some things you need to stick with and that’s one of them.

What’s on your dream list? Tell me and maybe we can talk about a little walk about.

August 15, 2011

Ice bars and warm hearts in Oslo.

Posted by Grendel's Mother under adventure, Norway, travel | Tags: Oslo, viking ship museum |
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This is the last post in the Iceland / Norway trip series. On this last day of the trip we had too much to do and too little time to do it. But it was a beautiful day and we took advantage of it and enjoyed a relaxing breakfast before heading out. The hotel was located right in the heart of the city and very close to the harbor, palace, and according to the various cab drivers and hotel clerks we talked to, “the place where the officials, you know, talk about things.” I’m pretty sure they meant the parliament building, but their description worked, so yet another cross cultural exchange had proved successful. We walked up to the palace to have a quick look-see. Amy asked the palace guard about when the changing of the guard was going to take place and he actually answered her. It’s not like in England where they stand stone-faced. This guy smiled and chatted but he did keep his eye on the grounds at all times. After a few photo ops we continued down to the wharf to catch a boat ride.

Amy and I took the hop on hop off boat over to the opera house while Butter and Jen took the ferry over to the island that hosted a number of museums. The opera house was an architectural wonder with numerous angles, windows, and other “cool” features making it quite interesting to explore. We walked up to the top where you can walk across the roof and back down again along the smooth slope of concrete.

Next stop was the island with all the museums. It turned out to be a pretty decent sized area and Amy and I huffed it quite a ways to the Viking museum where we met up with Butter and Jen for awhile. I loved the Viking ship museum. It held a couple of ancient boats as well as some beautiful carvings, an old carved wagon, and a funeral tent (can’t remember exactly what it was called). I honestly wasn’t sure before I went in that I would really like it but I did. It’s very worth it if you ever visit Oslo.

We then made our way over to the cultural museum. It was actually a very large site that had some collections inside a large building—my friends explored a photo exhibit there—as well as replicas of old Viking homes, churches, communities—you name it, scattered across many acres. They even had one section that was a replica of a more modern (but still colonial-type era) town. I fell in love with the Stave Church. It was truly magnificent. The shape and style was ornate, different, unusual, and filled with—of course—carvings. I can’t get enough of those, they are so beautifully done. There were some painted scenes inside the chapel and a number of crosses over the numerous gables and doors. A number of the houses throughout the museum site (as well as in other areas we explored) had grass growing on the roofs. I thought it interesting that we are now starting to go back to the days of the ancients. It’s considered very “green”—that is energy efficient and environmental friendly—to have grass growing on your roof. There are some corporations trying it out now. Must be something to it if the Vikings were doing it thousands of years ago. Along the paths I came across a group of young people in costume dancing some old jigs they used to do back in the day—that was a fun little treat. I ended the tour looking through some of the old houses they built. They were built up on foundations set at the corners (kind of like our beach houses on pilings but not that high). I guess the snow or floods made that necessary—who knows. But the homes were of course beautifully built. They didn’t just throw up some boards or mud, these people were architects.

My legs were giving out so it was time to hop on the cheap boat back to the wharf. My friends explored some more museums and we met back at the hotel to go to dinner. What to have for dinner in Norway? Why Chinese of course. Yup, went to a fancy Chinese restaurant—very nice indeed and the food was absolutely yummy. It was expensive and spicy too, but the service was excellent and it was a very nice way to wrap up a trip.

But we weren’t done yet. Nope. Amy and I had a mission. To visit the ice bar. The one in Iceland we were told was a dump, but this one was an offshoot of the famous ice hotel. They let people in every hour on the hour (the bartender needed a break to get out of the cold). So while we waited, we chatted up with Nikolas, my new favorite boyfriend who is now on top of the future ex Mr. Crowe list. He dressed us up in warm clothes and in we went. Lars—who also was making his way on to the favorite list—served us some quite yummy cocktails in glasses made entirely of ice. I would show you photos but it was so cold my camera froze and we only have fuzzy memories of that establishment. Seriously though, it’s an experience worth having if you get the chance. The entire place was made of ice—the booth, the bar, the glasses, the walls and floor—and it had fun etchings of things throughout. There were carvings in the walls and tables, handprints, and some things that got stuck in the ice. After last call was called, Amy and I were helped out of our jackets and boots by the darling Nikolas and headed back into the warm night of Oslo. We walked around a bit to get our last taste of the city, and headed back to the closet I called home for the night.

I recommend both Norway and Iceland to everyone. In fact, I’d probably recommend going in two different trips and taking longer in each country. But that’s me and I typically like to get more immersed into the cultures I visit while there. I’m blessed and grateful for the opportunity to travel to these places with three wonderful friends who made the trip really fun. It was a 40^th birthday trip for Jen and a 50^th for Butter and Amy and I went along for the ride! Thanks ladies!

If you have had your own adventures in these places and want to share, please do! Or if you are traveling there and want some more details or suggestions on things to do, not do, etc., just write a reply and I’ll get back to you. Again, my prayers go out to the victims of the attack on Oslo—just a week after our visit there. It was a shock to hear about that and having been through 9/11 in Washington, D.C. I can say it’s a scary, horrible thing to live through. God Bless you Norwegians and others who are healing from those wounds. Thanks for your hospitality and I hope to come visit you again.