The infamous cairns.  For those of you not familiar with cairns I’ll let you in on the secret.  Many hiking trails are marked with rock cairns as shown to the left.  These cairns are there to guide you along your hike.  In many places, without the cairns, you could get seriously lost.  I’ve done several hikes before where it’s like a game to try and find the next set of cairns and continue on your journey.  Cairns come in all shapes and sizes.  I’ve always wanted to build up my own cairns along the trail but according to the Capitol Reef trail guide it says, “Please do no build new cairns or destroy existing ones.”  So, I haven’t built my own…..yet. 

As a sidenote that has nothing to do with nothing but then again everything to do with this discussion on cairns, last year I did a hike in the Wasatch Mountains with a guy who is a serious hiker.  In fact, whenever I hiked with him I felt like I was hiking with a mountain goat.  He was serious.  He could make a very easy hike become very difficult.  Anyway, we did a hike together and as we got to an area where you lived and died by the cairns, he knocked them all over.  Ya I raised my eyebrows too as he was doing it.  I couldn’t believe it!!  Without those cairns marking the trail it would be very difficult to get to the top.  When I asked him why he was doing that he replied saying, “If you don’t know where to go you shouldn’t be on this hike.”  WOW!

But onto the topic at hand, hiking in Capitol Reef.  There are lots of hikes to be found.  Some easy.  Some harder.  Some really hard.  As in 10 miles RT with a 2,400 foot elevation gain.  Maybe we can work up to that one on our next trip.   Our second night we did the Goosenecks hike ( 1/10 mile each way with <50 feet elevation gain) and Sunset Point (1/3 mile each way with also <50 feet elevation gain).  Fun, easy, relaxing hiking.  The weather was perfect for any hike we wanted to do while we were there.  Southern Utah can get HOT in the summer and you want to make sure and ALWAYS have LOTS of water with you when you hike!  I can’t wait to go back and do more hiking in Capitol Reef.  There were so many hikes to choose from but we had limited time so we ended up doing the Hickman Bridge hike (1 mile each way with a 400 foot elevation gain).  It was a beautiful, fairly easy hike with a lookout down to the Fruita orchards.  Look closely to see the “bridge” in the picture?  Or is it really an arch?

Years ago I used to go on hiking adventures with my girlfriends.  The dad of one of my friends would take us on these adventures.  He would ride his Harley during the day while we hiked.  The trips were so much fun!!!  We always went to the local hangouts to eat and without fail we would stop at some greasy spoon in some small town at some point on our trip.  Pete loved to ask questions.  History type questions.  Questions that I could never answer.  Throughout southern Utah there are lots of hikes to bridges and arches.  One question that was asked numerous times by Pete was, “What is the difference between a natural arch and a natural bridge?”  So before I answer that (and no googling allowed), can you, my dear readers, tell me what the difference is between a natural bridge and a natural arch?

Along with all the hikes, scenery, etc., etc., etc. there were also the Fremont petroglyphs that we saw.  Utah might not be Europe with all the old ruins and cathedrals, but hey, we’ve got petroglyps that are reported to be over 1,000 years old.  So take that!

Oh so many hikes to do and so little time. Long weekends are great. Capitol Reef National Park was fabulous!   So much to explore.  So many things still to see.  I can’t wait to go back next year.  Until then……

Happy Travels!

After our adventures in Goblin Valley we spent the night in Hanksville, UT.  The pictures online made the motel look kind of like a dive.  And it kind of was.  But my thoughts on hotels/motels are “as long as it’s clean, it’s fine”.  I’m not on vacation to stay in my hotel.  Especially on a trip like this.  You get in late, take a shower, go to sleep, get up and leave.  The motel we stayed in was clean, the TV worked, there was hot water, really soft towels and decent beds.  Being the small town that Hanksville is I got a good laugh when we checked in and the owner of the motel told us that this is where “suspicious people” came to spend the night.  Guess that made us suspicious people.

For our second day we had planned to do the Cathedral Valley Loop Tour.  I was really looking forward to this.  When I travel anywhere I like to take the road less traveled.  I don’t want to be where everyone else is.  And with it being Easter weekend I knew everything would be crowded.  But as we planned for this trip, this day was what I was looking forward to the most.  The Cathedral Valley Loop is out in the back country.  So much so that the park website says, “Foot and vehicle travel in the Cathedral Valley area is light, so be prepared for the unexpected. If you have problems, help may not arrive for hours or even days, depending on the time of year.”  Ya and there’s no cell phone service in the area either.

The Cathedral Valley Loop Tour is also iffy because if it’s not good weather, or if there’s been recent rain/snow, it makes the backroads impassable.  Which means you can’t do it.  So I was praying for good weather and dry roads.  And we were in luck.  It was another fabulously beautiful day.  They recommend a high clearance, four wheel drive vechicle….which my good friend Angie has.  (Remember Angie?  Have you checked out her blog?)  Unfortunately the river was running too high for the first crossing so we had to start on the opposite side and therefore could not make a complete loop and ended up doing an out-and-back.  But that was ok.  It was worth it!

There are several things to stop and see while on this 59 mile loop.  All backcountry, dirt roads.  You can read the full tour at the Capitol Reef National Park website but I’m going to list and share some of my favorite spots.  We started out and stopped and looked and drove and stopped and looked and got out and drove and the landscape turned from grayish rock, to candy cane, red and white striped rock, to full on red rock…..my favorite.  The landscape on this loop was spectacular.  And to say we had it all to ourselves is an understatement.  The first half of the day we passed about two cars.  At lunchtime we rounded a corner and came upon the Temples of the Sun and Moon.  Just out of nowhere these huge monoliths appear.  For those of you that don’t know what a monolith is (’cause I didn’t, that’s why I travel with smart friends) I’ll tell you.  A monolith is a large stand of massive rock.  They can also be called Cathedrals.  And there are monoliths all over this area of the park.  Beautiful!!

OK so pictures never do the redrock justice but the picture above to the left is the Temple of the Sun.  You can see with me standing a distance away from it how massive it really is.  You had to strain your neck to look up to the top.  In fact, I’m surprised we could get me and the monolith in the same picture it was so big.  (I love acting smart and using words like “monolith.”)  And the picture to the right was taken a ways away from both the Temple of the Sun (the bigger one) and the Temple of the Moon (the smaller one that you can hardly see).  This was a fun area to get out and explore.  It amazed me how close things looked but when you got out to explore, they weren’t so close.

Right near the Temples of the Sun & Moon is Glass Mountain.  In fact, Glass Mountain is where the picture above and to the right is takenfrom and also where we ate lunch…..the lunch we packed with us.  Because there’s nothing anywhere nearby.  On first site Glass Mountain looked kind of, hhhmmm, well to be honest, not really worth stopping for.  But we made the obligatory stop because it was on the tour and it ended up being really cool.  I obvioulsy thought the “mountain” looked kind of hokey because I didn’t even take a far away picture of it but once I got up close and my smart friend explained it to me, it was really cool.

Glass Mountain is said to be a geological curiosity composed of large gypsum (selenite) crystals. The gypsum was deposited from evaporating seawater approximately 165 million years ago.  How cool is that!!  After lunch at Glass Mountain, consisting of P&B sandwhiches, chips and fruit, we continued on.  We went to the Gypsum Sinkhole which was really cool to see but I’m sure wouldn’t be cool in pictures.  Therefore, I didn’t take any.  But it is interesting to note that there are predictions that due to the gypsum at Glass Mountain that it too could one day become a sinkhole.

We made it almost the full way before we decided to turn around and head back to civilization.  Our last stop we are assuming was about to the Desert Overlook.  Since we were taking the loop backwards sometimes we had to guess at where we were.  I had forgotten to bring my little flip video camera.  It’s not like I didn’t have my phone or anything else to take videos with so I tried the video feature on my old camera.  It has no sound and the video isn’t the best, but it gives you an idea of how spectacular this overlook was.  Just to wet your appetite to want to go and see it for yourself.  We hiked up to the overlook and when we got to the top it was flat and this was the view:

If you are unable to view the video use this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdJMFsywFA8&feature=youtu.be

It was now time to head back to town, find our hotel, get something to eat and then go out for a sunset hike.  We stayed in a cute little place in Torrey, UT and ate dinner at the local greasy spoon.  In my opinion, no trip to a small town is complete without a trip to the local greasy spoon.  And this one didn’t disappoint.  After filling our bellies with nutritious burgers, fries and ice cream we headed back to Capitol Reef for a  little sunset hike.  It was beautiful!  (How many times have I said that this post?)  We were back to “civilization”.  If you could call it that.  The trails were marked and had all sorts of informative signs.  One sign on the panoramic sunset hike said that on a clear day you could see for something like 175 miles.  Amazing!  Here’s me at Sunset Point after an awesome day of exploring the backcountry of Capitol Reef National Park.  Heaven on Earth!

Happy Travels!

Did someone say road trip???  Over the Easter weekend my friend Angie (check out Angie’s blog, she’s a world traveler and an awesome photographer) asked if I wanted to do a road trip for the holiday weekend.  When you only have a weekend, plus one day in our case, you have to make the most of it.  And Utah is the place to do just that.  Especially if you like to do things outdoors.

We discussed some different places and decided on Goblin Valley State Park and Capitol Reef National Park.  Seriously, if you’ve never been to either of these places….get there!!!  It is like heaven on earth.  Capitol Reef is now my favorite spot in Utah.  The red rock country of southern Utah is just breathtaking!!  Especially on the days like we had with blue skies.  Not a cloud in sight.

This area of Utah is about 3 1/2 hours from Salt Lake City.  Give or take a little depending on if you start out in a snowstorm like we did.  It was lightly snowing as we traveled south and got worse as we entered Spanish Fork Canyon.  Just a little trivia to throw in here.  I once heard that Spanish Fork Canyon was the deadliest canyon in the US.  That made me feel good as we entered the canyon in a total snow storm….NOT!  Horrible roads.  A truck spun-out in front of us.

BUT, we did finally make it to the Goblin Valley area.  I’ve been to several different state parks and national parks in Utah and this was a bit different than the ones I’d been to before.  We started our adventures with a hike and the hike wasn’t actually inside Goblin Valley State Park.  But that’s really neither here, nor there.  We started our adventure with a hike called Little Wild Horse.  Little Wild Horse starts at the Little Wild Horse Trailhead.  Crazy, huh?   From this trailhead you can actually do two different hikes or you can loop from one to the other.  Due to some suggestions from people who had already done this hike, we chose to do an out and back on the Little Wild Horse trail.  And it was so worth it.

I’d never done a hike in a slot canyon before and I must admit that I was a little nervous because I tend to get clausterphobic.  You can see from the picture above (and below) that once you enter the slots it’s pretty narrow.  And some spots get even a little more narrow but it was so much fun!!!  If you’ve never done a slot canyone before, and if you love hiking, do it.  It’s so much fun!!

Our hike was about 5 miles out and back.  For the most part it was a fairly easy hike.  Nice and flat since you are in the dryfall.  Since it was a holiday weekend and a fairly popular hiking trail it was kind of crowded and there were spots where we had to wait for large groups to get to a spot that was wide enough to pass.  There were also a few spots where we had to do a bit of climbing.  These were rare but I did appreciate the helping hands of some teenage boys as I tried to get up on a rock that was a bit high for me.

After our hike we headed over to Goblin Valley State Park.  It was about a 10 minute drive and as I said a beautiful day, perfectly blue skies, temps in the high 50s, pure sun and red rock.  Did I mention it’s like being in heaven?  I’d seen pictures of Goblin Valley but I didn’t really know what to expect.  We paid our $7 entrance fee and drove to the parking lot and this is what we saw:

Goblin Valley is a paradise for families with young kids.  They can run and hide and play and run and hide and get out all their energy.  It’s hard to tell but Goblin Valley is made up of individual mushroomy looking rock formations like this:

Not having kids with us and not really wanting to play hide and seek with each other, Angie and I decided to take a hike.  As beautiful as Goblin Valley is, their trail system is pretty non-existent.  Although they have several “marked” trails on their literature, the trails are not marked at all.  You think you’re following something that looks like a trail only to look to your left or right and think that is the trail.  Between the two of us we were able to explore and not get lost even without following a marked trail.  Although getting lost would be very easy to to. 

But it’s just beautiful.  Around every corner there is a new site to see.  We ran into some people who had just explored a little cave.  It was small but we did a little exploring ourselves and that was fun.  Even without marked trails we had a good time.  When we had sufficiently tired ourselves out, we headed back to our car.  The majority of the people had left the park and we pulled out our dinner that we had packed with us and ate with the backdrop being this gorgeous state park.  What a fun way to end such a great day.

Has anyone reading this blog been to Goblin Valley?  What other nuggets of adventure are to be found in that area?  I’m already ready to go back.

Happy Travels!

Before you leave on your next big trip make sure and scan or copy all of your important documents including your passport, driver’s license, credit cards, insurance papers and anything else that may come in handy if lost while traveling.  I’ve always just made copies and left them with a family member at home.  If that’s not a possibility for you, or if you want to have faster access to them, you can scan the same documents and upload them to a web based email, file hosting service, etc. so that you are able to access them from any internet cafe.  I also make an extra copy of my passport and stuff it in my suitcase somewhere just to have a second copy on hand if needed.

Is this important or will this never happen to you?  It’s like reading a travel book and hearing all the horror stories and thinking, “This will never happen to me!”  That’s what I’ve thought.  And fortunately for me (knock on wood), it hasn’t happened to me.  And I haven’t needed copies of my important documents.  But unfortunately it did happen to my travel partner one time.  Classic pickpocketing.  And luckily for both of us my travel partner had copies of all important documents including copies of credit card numbers since that is what was stolen.  We spent most of the day calling back to the US from Europe to get credit cards canceled, etc.  It was a pain but was made a lot easier by having copies of the information back in the hotel room.

Funny how in life and in travel it’s the little things that can make the biggest differences.

Do you have any travel tips to share?

Happy Travels!

Get yourself back in your chair!  It’s true!  I’m back to posting on my blog.  Must mean I’m feeling better if I’m thinking about travel.  You know how life has its ups and downs.  Well, I’ve recently had my real downs but I’m on the upswing and I’ve been thinking a lot about travel.  You would think the blue skies and beautiful snowy mountains of Utah would make it so my mind doesn’t wander so much. But not so!

As I said, I’ve been thinking a lot about travel.  I haven’t given up on learning Italian or my trip to Italy.  In fact, I’ve got a stack of Italian courses about a foot high that I need to get back to.  But I’ve been reading a book on travel tips and it has stirred the juices.  Have you evered googled the term “travel tips”?  I just did.  About 127,000,000 results.  Ya, you read that right….127 million results.  As I’ve been reading this little travel tips book I got (and it doesn’t have nearly that many tips) its got me to thinking about the good, the bad and the ugly of travel.  I like to read books and get ideas and tips and everything but the most important tips I get are from people I know.  Tried and true travel tips.  So I figured Tuesday Travel Tips would be a good thing to discuss.  Let’s get the nitty-gritty on the do’s and don’t for us real travelers. 

I get a lot of people asking me for tips on travel.  As I was thinking about what I could put for my first travel tip I thought about not talking to strangers.  Now that’s just a catchy title for the blog because when I travel I LOVE to talk to strangers.  At least nice looking strangers.  Not strangers that I think are going to attack me.  What I really meant by this travel tip was don’t accept anything from strangers.  And I mean nothing!!!  Even if they look like nice people.  Don’t take anything, don’t let them put anything in your hands, don’t let them sell you on the idea that you are just looking at it by putting it in your hands.  DON’T DO IT!!! 

When I travel to foreign countries I keep my hands to myself.  What do I mean by this?  If I’m walking in some real touristy area and someone sticks a flower in my hand, I won’t accept it.  It can drop to the ground for all I care but I WILL NOT carry it in my hands.  Not even for a second.  If I’m walking through a park and someone tries to put a clipboard in my hands…nope!  Not going to happen.  And really, do you want to be signing something in a foreign country that you really don’t understand?  Not a good idea.  And I could go on and on about things people will try to put in your hands.

Why is this not a good idea?  It’s seems so harmless right?  No!  Not right!  The minute these people get anything in your hands they will expect you to pay for it.  It’s a scam!!  And that flower that was so innocently placed in your hands won’t be cheap.  And what if you don’t pay for it?  Then they’ll either make a scene or they’ll follow you until you pay up and it’s all happening in a foreign country in a language you don’t understand and you’ll usually just end up paying who knows what just to quite everyone up and get on your way.  Maybe I should have titled the blog, “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.”  Follow this advice and your trip will be a lot cheaper.

Has this happened to you?  Let us know.

Happy Travels!

One of the biggest dilemas I have when considering traveling is who to travel with.  I currently have the time and money to travel.  (Yes, I’m counting my blessings.)   But most of my friends (i.e. potential travel partners) either don’t have the time or the money or both to trave.  And on top of that, most of my friends are married and don’t want to do a big trip without their spouse.  Which I totally understand, but it doesn’t help me in my single situation and lack of travel partners.

I’ll be totally blunt…I like to travel with someone.  I’m perfectly independent and can do it all myself but I really enjoy having someone around.  Someone I can talk with.  Someone I can “ooh” and “ahh” to about the cool things we’re seeing.  Someone I can have dinner with.  I like that.  I know LOTS of single people that travel.  All the time.  All by themselves.  And they enjoy it.  Kudos to them!  Maybe one day I’ll be like that.  It’s just not today.  I want to share it all with someone.

So I’m always fretting about who I can go on a trip with.  I’m about to the point that I’m going to take my nieces and nephews to travel with me.  That sounds fun.  Footing their bill doesn’t really sound fun but it would give me someone to travel with.  But the downside to a travel partner is that it needs to be someone you can travel with.  And as we all know, that can be difficult.  Just because you’re best friends doesn’t mean you’ll travel well together.  When looking for a travel partner there are lots of things to consider.  Do they like to get up early or sleep in?  Do they like to stay out late or go to bed early?  Do they like to spend a lot of money when they travel or are they a frugal traveler?  Do they like to spend all day in museums?  Do they like to shop?  Etc., etc., etc.  So many things to take into consideration.

I’ve traveled with lots of different people.  Some I’ve definitely gotten along with better than others.  For the most part I’m looking for someone who likes to get out and see things, doesn’t want to spend their life savings on food and is willing to be adventurous.  I’m looking for a travel partner who wants to get to know the people and the culture and see the differences for what they are.

With that all being said, in my current state, and with my current plans to go to Italy, I’m really considering going by myself.  It’s something that I’ve never considered doing before.  I’ve actually taken lots of trips where I’ve gotten to the location by myself but had family or friends to actually travel with.  I’ve never actually even thought about a trip by myself.  Maybe I’m having an Eat, Pray, Love moment but I am really considering going by myself.  Doing exactly what I want to do, when I want to do it.  And having time to be by myself to ponder life.  Sounds good huh?  Oh unless I could travel with the Move – Eat – Learn guy.  (If you didn’t read that post you can read it here.  And yes, I’m still salivating over him!)

So what do you think?  Travel partner or not?  Are you a solo traveler or do you like to travel with someone?  What are you looking for in a travel partner?  I want to know!

Happy Travels!

Well, I completed Level I of the Pimsleur Italian series.  That’s a full 30 lessons.  I’m quite proud of myself.  OK, I’m not that proud because it did take me longer than 30 days to complete but come on, it’s summer.  Summer is a busy time.  I can’t do everything.  So here’s what I learned to finish off Level I.

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 28

• 90, 92, 95, 99, 100, 147, 150, 165, 170, 180, 190
• Nothing
• I want to leave
• I’m leaving
• We’re leaving together

• As you wish
• I’m alone
• Are you leaving
• We can leave

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 29

Lesson 29 is the start of more rapid conversation.  Which is a good thing because you can start tuning your ear to the way people really talk….and not talk in slow motion.  Lesson 29 also introduces you to the “tu” form, which is the informal form of “you”.

• A good idea
• One word
• What does that mean?
• Are you American (to a group)
• We are American (more than one person)
• We’ve been here for a few days
• For how long?
• How long are you staying?
• We’re staying for a few days
• Darn

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Day 30

• Bad
• Not too bad
• One week
• A few weeks
• I’m staying
• Yesterday
• I bought something
• What did you buy?
• Have you eaten something?
• Yes, I ate something
• Do you like wine?
• You like
• I like

I really like how Pimsleur builds on things you’ve already learned in previous lessons.  For example, in lesson 30 you learn “I like”.  In a previous lesson you learned “to eat”.  Now you can put those together and say “I like to eat”.  That happens a lot with Pimsleur and I really like it.

To celebrate finishing up Pimsleur Italian Level I (Lessons 1-30), I watched Letters to Juliet.  Don’t you just love that movie?  Honestly, I’m going to need at least a month in Italy just to do all I want to do.

If you didn’t see my blog from yesterday, read it now!  The videos I posted will get your travel glands salivating!!!

Happy Travels!

By now you all know that I’m a totall Yahoo junkie. So the other day there was an article about this video that had gone viral….and it was about travel. Of course I had to check it out. And not only is there just one video, but there are three. Three of the coolest videos I’ve ever seen. They are only about one minute each.  Take three minutes and watch them.  And dream about travel.

Apparently STA Travel Australia commissioned these three guys to go around the world and shoot the videos. Wish it had been me!!! In their own words:

“3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage… all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ….into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films…..= a trip of a lifetime.”

If this doesn’t get you salivating for travel I don’t know what will.  Enjoy!

If you can’t see the “Move” video, here’s the direct link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BrDlrytgm8

If you can’t see the “Eat” video, here’s the direct link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc0d510zTA4

If you can’t see the “Learn” video, here’s the direct link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcOgjrRWx_Q

OK, I’m totally salivating!  Which video is your favorite?  I’m deciding between Move and Learn.  I love Move but it’s so fast.  Learn gives me just a second more to enjoy what’s really going on.  And I have to be honest, I want to travel with that hottie.  Seriously!

Happy Travels!

Well, I don’t have any pictures to add to this post but I will when I get home.   I’m off for a short trip to Vancouver, B.C.  Yipee for trips!!  Long, short, it really doesn’t matter to me.  It’s just the thought of going someplace new and seeing new sights.  Vancouver is one place I’ve wanted to go but haven’t yet visited.  I’m come close…but not close enough.  And now’s the time.

So lucky me.  I have a friend with benefits.  NO!  Not that kind of benefits.  Benefits of traveling for work and I just tag along for the fun of it.  And we’re going to have lots of fun!

Years ago I was on the San Juan Island and the guy at the local bike shop said one day I needed to go to Victoria Island and bike.  He went on and on and on about how beautiful it is there.  That was about 5 years ago.  Ever since then I’ve thought about how I’d like to get up to Victoria Island if only for a day.  And now I’ve got my chance.  I’m so excited!!!  Seriously!  I’m excited!

Other destinations will hopefully include, Stanley Park, Granville Island, some big (best in the world…or so they say) fireworks shows in the English Bay and the suspension bridge in Lynn Canyon Park.  I’ll only be there a few days and there seems to be A LOT to due up in the Vancouver area, but I’m ready to go and see.  Just need to pull out my passport and pack my bags.

I’m an off the beaten path kind of a traveler so if anyone has any recommendations of cool, non-touristy things to do or any fun, different restaurants, PLEASE send them my way.  So until I get back….

Happy Travels!

Alright I’m single.  I’ll admit it.  It’s the biggest drawback for me and traveling because I don’t like to travel alone.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m very independent.  I’m also very social and I love to meet new people.  But part of the joy of traveling for me is to share it with someone else.  I don’t really care who that is as long as we get along and both enjoy traveling and exploring new places.  It could be a guy friend, a girl friend, a parent, or a sibling.  I’ve even gotten to the point that I’d take a niece or nephew.  (Too bad they can’t afford to pay for themselves.)  Point being, I like to travel with someone.  It’s much more fun for me.  But it’s often hard to find someone who either has the time, money or desire to travel.  (I know, seriously, who doesn’t have the desire to travel??? Such a foreign thought.)

So today I ran across an article that caught my eye.  Any article on travel catches my eye but this was called “Summer’s Top 10 Destinations for Singles”.  I was intrigued.  It said that 63% of singles on Match.com report that they love to travel.  I believe that!  What else do single people have to do?????  So the travel experts at Travelocity analyzed their summer bookings and came up with the top 10 US cities that the majority of singles were traveling to. 

My question is, “How did they know if the people booking the flights were single or not?”  But my real question to you, my readers, is what do you think the results were?  What are the top 10 US cities that singles want to visit?  I’ll reveal the answers in a couple of days.  I want to make sure and give you time to think about it and then respond.  And don’t cheat by googling the answer!

Happy Travels!

Check your email.  I just sent an email to the lucky winner of this week’s Free Friday Giveaway.  Was it you?  Thanks for all your comments.  Keep them coming.  On Monday I’ll announce the freebie for next week’s giveaway.  Stay tuned.

Happy Travels!

Do you ever have those weeks where you feel like you can hardly breath, let alone do anything else?  Well, this has been one of those weeks for me.  It has been a crazy summer week filled with lots of fun but not lots of Italian learning.  I completed Lesson 27 the other night and just felt like I really needed to go back and review a few of the lessons.  They are getting faster, I am learning more and I figure if I’m trying to learn this language I shouldn’t just rush through it. 

Besides, I was planning another trip.    Details to follow.

So Lesson 27 it is.  Here’s what I learned.

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 27

• Maybe/Perhaps
• Yes, I believe so
• No, I don’t believe so
• He works
• And to spend 2 days
• I believe I’ll spend…
• You are spending
• Are very expensive
• A beautiful hat
• I think I’ll take my car
• To take

As I’ve said before, it really helps to not takes breaks in my learning.  It’s harder to remember the things when I’ve gone a day or two in between.  But sometimes life happens and you have to deal with it.  I’m dealing with.

Happy Travels!

Another week, another giveaway.  This Friday (July 22nd) I’ll be giving away a free SpeakALanguage.com.

If you’re not familiar with the Free Friday Giveaways, here’s how it works.  It’s EASY!  All you have to do is comment on any MicahtheTravelGal blog posts and you’re entered.  Yep, that’s it.  SO easy!  Every comment made from today until Friday at 10am MDT (that’s UT time) will be entered to win.  On Friday at 10:01am I’ll choose one winner.  I hope it’s you!

Winners will be notified via the email address submitted with your comment.

Good Luck & Happy Travels!

Check your email.  I just sent an email to the lucky winner of this week’s Free Friday Giveaway.  Was it you?  Thanks for all your comments.  Keep them coming.  On Monday I’ll announce the freebie for next week’s giveaway.  Stay tuned.

Happy Travels!

I have to confess that every time I do an Italian lesson I think that I’m in the movie Only You.  You know the one with Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Dr.  It’s one of my favorite movies.  I love the setting of it.  I love seeing the sights of Italy that I’ve already seen.  I love the music.  I love the romance.  Ahhh….Italy.

But enough daydreaming.  I’ve been learning Italian and it’s so much fun.  The other day I was talking to my nieces and burst out into some Italian.  That sat their staring at me because they didn’t have any idea what I was saying but I know my accent sounded good. 

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 23

The first 8 minutes or so of this lesson were review….which is a good thing.

• Put in 10 liters
• Wait a minute
• We wait
• How many kilometers to Rome?
• It’s far
• 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 78
• Which road is it?
• Which is the road?
• It’s straight ahead
• Don’t go too fast

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 24

• Expensive
• Which is the road to go to Rome?
• It’s to the right / to the right
• The correct road
• To the left
• And then…
• You can’t miss it
• And don’t speak too fast
• 15 kilometers further on
• If you take the correct road

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 25

• Florence
• 80, 82
• Why?
• Because
• The stores
• A store
• A department store
• The stores are closed
• They are open

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Day 26

• Bring lots of money
• Taxi
• I’m taking the car
• I’m going to visit
• Some friends
• A friend
• A few
• I’m going to work
• My friends
• Where are…?
• I’m spending 3 days there

OK, so I’m still hung up on the whole thing of not adding an “s” to the end of the word to make it plural.  You actually have a totally different work.  OK, it’s not totally different.  I think they end their plural words with an “e” but still, it’s confusing to me.

The positive thing that I’ve learned and need to keep pounding into my head is that I am learning something and that I need to trust myself to respond correctly.  Sometimes I surprise myself that I’ve responded correctly.  It’s just like the particular word or phrase is laying dormant in the back of my mind ready to jump out when needed.  It’s kind of cool.

Happy Travels!

People often ask me what has been my favorite spot to visit.  I always respond with Prague.  The only way I can describe it is enchanting.  It is the most enchanting place I’ve ever been to.  I was only in Prague for about 2 1/2 days but that was plenty of time to get the feel of the city.  I went with my sister and I must admit that I really wished I’d been with the love of my life.  (Sorry sis, but it’s true).  It’s a beautiful city by day but at night when everything is lit up, it’s even more enchanting.

So why all this talk of Prague? Well, this morning I took my mom to a doctor’s appointment.  The PA at the doctor’s office had an accent and so I asked her where she was from.  She told me the Czech Repbulic.  Of course I couldn’t help going a bit deeper than that and so started our conversation on a trip to the countryside of the Czech Republic.  (A big apology to all the patients waiting in the waiting room)

I told her I’d been to Prague and that I wanted to go back and visit the countryside.  I know Prague is beautiful and enchanting but I’ve heard the countryside is even more so.  The first question I asked her was, “Is it safe?”.  That’s a pretty common question I ask before I travel.  I asked that question is because last time I checked, you couldn’t take a rental car into the Czech Republic.  In my mind, that makes the country unsafe.  But she assured me it was a safe place to travel.  That the people, even if they couldn’t speak English, were very friendly and helpful.  And she said no need to rent a car, public transportation was reliable and cheap.  OK, I like cheap.

Unfortunately with the guilt of all the waiting patients I withheld my number one question which would have been, “What is the typical food of the Czech Republic?”  Now I should know that since I’ve already been there but Prague was the end of a 2 week trip to Europe and by that time I was ready for umm….some Italian food???  OK, I’d lived on ham and cheese sandwhiches for 2 weeks and honestly, I just wanted something that tasted like home.  You know how it is.  I never eat at McDonalds but sometimes after a long trip abroad it just sounds so enticing.  But I have to say that I did have THE BEST Italian food in Prague.  It was gnocchi and I think I had it 2 or 3 times.  Maybe that’s why I never got around to any authentic cuisine.

Ramble, ramble, ramble.  Well to sum this all up, she ended by telling me that she’d like to go back soon and bike through the countryside.  She said there are lots of wineries in the countryside and therefore rolling hills to bike on.  Sounds fabulous!!  So, of course, I’m back to daydreaming about a trip.

If you’ve been to Prague or especially the countryside of the Czech Republic, let me know where you’ve been, what you liked, what I should do and see if I go.  Because it’s not too far from Italy.

Happy Travels!

A couple of weeks ago I was on Facebook and saw this list that said, “Which of These Famous Cities Have You Been To?”  Of course I had to take a look and see what cities were on the list and what cities I’d been to.  I wondered who came up with the list and what made the cities famous.  As far as my counting goes, I could only count 99 cities so I’m adding Salt Lake City, UT to the end of the list to round it out to an even 100.  Afterall, SLC did host the 2002 Winter Olympics.  That should make it famous….shouldn’t it?

So now I’m asking you, “Which of These 100 Famous Cities Have You Been To?”

London, United Kingdom * Paris, France * New York, New York * Orlando, Florida * Los Angeles, California * Rome, Italy * Venice, Italy * Las Vegas, Nevada * Munich, Germany * San Diego, California * Florence, Italy * Chicago, Illinois * Atlanta, Georgia * Amsterdam, Netherlands * San Francisco, California * Berlin, Germany * Washington, District of Columbia * Boston, Massachusetts  * Vienna, Austria  * Milan, Italy *  Zurich, Switzerland * Dallas, Texas * Houston, Texas * Brussels, Belgium * Toronto, Ontario * Prague, Czech Republic * Madrid, Spain * Edinburgh, United Kingdom * Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * Montreal, Quebec * Seattle, Washington * Dublin, Ireland * Athens, Greece * Barcelona, Spain * Sydney, Australia * Copenhagen, Denmark * Singapore, Singapore * Vancouver, British Columbia * Bangkok, Thailand * Stockholm, Sweden * Melbourne, Victoria, Australia *  Hong Kong * Budapest, Hungary * Oslo, Norway *  Honolulu, Hawaii * Lisbon, Portugal * Auckland, New Zealand * New Orleans, Louisiana * Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia * Istanbul, Turkey * Tokyo, Japan * Dubai, United Arab Emirates * Cairo, Egypt * Wellington, New Zealand * Beijing, China * Warsaw,  Poland * Phuket * Mexico City, Mexico * Antalya, Turkey * Cancun, Quintana Roo * Shanghai, China * Moscow, Russia * St. Petersburg, Russia * Jerusalem, Israel * Delhi, India * Luxor, Egypt * Seoul, Korea * Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro * Cape Town, Western Cape * Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam * Mumbai (Bombay), India * Manila, Philippines * Johannesburg, Gauteng  *  Buenos Aires, Argentina * Macau * Marrakesh, Morocco * Sharm el-Sheikh * Taipei, Taiwan * Sao Paulo, Brazil * Guangzhou, China * Jakarta, Indonesia * Ha Noi, Vietnam * Lima, Peru * Pattaya * Bucharest, Romania * Punta Cana * Santiago, Chile * Shenzhen, Guangdong * Agra, Uttar  * Pradesh * Kiev * Varna, Bulgaria * Phnom Pehn * Petra, Jordan * Bogota, Columbia * Chennai, Tamil Nadu * Riyadh, Saudi Arabia * Mecca * Edirne, Turkey * Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia * Salt Lake City, UT

OK, so the places I’ve been to are:

• London
• Paris
• New York
• Orlando
• Los Angeles
• Rome
• Venice
• Las Vegas
• Munich
• San Diego
• Florence
• Chicago
• Atlanta
• Amsterdam
• Washington DC
• Boston
• Dallas
• Houston
• Brussels
• Prague
• Madrid
• Seattle
• Lisbon
• Mexico City
• Mubai (Bombay)
• Buenos Aires
• Lima, Peru
• Santiago, Chile
• Salt Lake City, UT

So which of these 100 famous cities have you been to?

Happy Travels!

Another week, another giveaway.  This Friday (July 15th) I’ll be giving away a free download of any Pimsleur Level I Lessons 1-5 download.  That’s a $21.95 value.  Now’s your chance to learn the language of your dreams.  Check out SpeakALanguage.com to see what languages are available.

If you’re not familiar with the Free Friday Giveaways, here’s how it works.  It’s EASY!  All you have to do is comment on any MicahtheTravelGal blog posts and you’re entered.  Yep, that’s it.  SO easy!  Every comment made from today until Friday at 10am MDT (that’s UT time) will be entered to win.  On Friday at 10:01am I’ll choose one winner.  I hope it’s you!

Winners will be notified via the email address submitted with your comment.

Good Luck & Happy Travels!

I always have such grand and glorious plans to do all I want to do….and many times that just doesn’t happen.  Case in point, I went out of town over the weekend and was sure that I’d find time to do my Italian lessons while I was out playing.  Didn’t happen!  But not to worry, I’m back on track and almost done with the Pimsleur Italian Level I course.  I don’t know what it is but everytime I do a lesson I think about eating pasta on a sidewalk cafe somewhere in the countryside of Italy.  It’s hard to daydream and learn Italian at the same time.  So what have I been learning???

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 21

• To wait
• I’ll wait
• We can wait
• Little
• Really
• Where is your daughter?
• The oldest one
• The youngest one
• Where is the bathroom?
• Our oldest daughter
• One family
• Our family
• Our son
• With us
• We are going over there

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 21

Lesson 21 really starts the beginning of I’m assuming most instructions given in Italian.  It’s fun but sometimes I wonder if I’m responding to the correct question.

• That one over there
• How many people?
• How many people are there?
• In my car
• If
• My car is big enough
• For our family
• You (plural) have
• Gasoline
• Litre
• Is there gas?
• Kilometers
• I would like to go to Rome
• To go
• You (plural) would like
• We are going to Rome

In Italian they don’t just add an “s” at the end of a word to make it plural.  It is just a totally different word.  It’s kind of interesting.  It makes me wonder what it would mean if you added an “s” to an end of one of there words to make it plural.  Would it make any sense to them?

Happy Travels!

Check your email.  I just sent an email to the lucky winner of this week’s Free Friday Giveaway.  Was it you?  Thanks for all your comments.  Keep them coming.  On Monday I’ll announce the freebie for next week’s giveaway.  Stay tuned.

Happy Travels?

“Imagine you are in your hotel in Rome,” the Pimsleur narrator says.  I’m not sure that’s a good thing for him to say….especially when it’s said to me because I will think of the hotel I stayed in in Rome and it distracts me from my lesson.  Several years ago I stayed in Rome and we stayed in a Monastery.  Have any of you ever stayed in a Monestary?  It was awesome!!  Rick Steves said that entering this Monestary was like entering the Pearly Gates.  I have to agree with him.  It was such a peaceful place to go after the hustle and bustle of such a big city.  This picture is of the hallway right before my room.  As you can see, it’s beautiful.  And I had a beautiful view of the “piazza” down below.  And you could go up onto the roof and sit and read or think about like.  The flowers up on the roof were absolutely beautiful.  You can see why when the narrator says to imagine you’re in your hotel in Rome that I get a little distracted.

But what have I been learning?  Well….a lot!

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 17

• I’m going to buy something
• Some candy
• You are going to buy something
• I can give you
• 33, 44, 23, 45, 41, 21, 31, 51, 50, 60, 61
• You owe me
• That’s too expensive
• I speak Italian
• You speak too fast
• I don’t speak fast

As I finished lesson 17 I was thinking that it’s kind of fun when you can remember things from several lessons ago that haven’t been mentioned since.  You really feel like you can start conversing.  I was thinking to myself about having the actual conversation in my hotel in Rome.  Can’t wait!!

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 18

• She
• A hat
• I’m going right now
• More expensive
• Faster
• My husband
• My husband speaks
• My wife
• Water
• Your wife
• Your husband
• Where are you going?
• I’m going to….
• And there’s my husband

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 19

• She is speaking with the waiter
• 56
• He’s over there
• She’s over there
• Come in
• Please to meet you
• I’m Mrs. Jones
• Where do you live?
• We live here
• We want
• We would like

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 20

• To talk
• We can
• I don’t know where he is
• Do you have children?
• We have children
• 2 sons
• 1 daughter
• 1 son
• We have 4 daughters
• The boy is big/grown-up
• Very big
• The girl is big/grown-up
• They are here
• The boys are very big
• Right?

It’s kind of intimidating to type up these lists of what I’ve learned.  That’s a lot of stuff to keep inside my brain.  And I’ve got 80 lessons to go.  HOW FUN!!!

A very happy 4th of July weekend to everyone.  I’m getting ready for a little weekend getaway.  I’ll surprise you with where it’s at later.  Until then….

Happy Travels!

I someone just hints of a trip it’s almost as if I can’t concentrate on anything else.  Working in front of a computer certainly has its pros and cons and I’m starting to think it’s a real con when someone says “trip”.  I don’t care if it’s a long trip or just a weekend getaway.  The minute I hear the word “trip” I’m all over it.  And being in front of a computer gives me just the ammunition I need to look around and google any trip details.

For example, my friend just called and asked if I wanted to get away for the weeked.  OF COURSE I DO!!!  So within 10 minutes of talking to her I had a whole weekend of fun planned.  Now she just has to find out if she can really go or not.  Please, don’t temp me like that!

Is there anyone reading this blog who feels the same way as I?

Happy Travels and may your next trip be right around the corner!

OK all followers of mine.  Thanks to SpeakALanguage.com we’re going to have some fun.  Every Friday from now until the end of July we’re going to have “Free Friday Giveaways”.  “What is a Free Friday Giveaway”, you might ask?  Well, every Friday I’m going to offer up things from free language downloads, to t-shirts, to phrasebooks.  It all depends on the week.

So how do you participate and win?  It’s EASY!  All you have to do is comment on any MicahtheTravelGal blog posts and you’re entered.  Yep, that’s it.  SO easy!  Every comment made from today until Friday at 10am MDT (that’s UT time) will be entered to win.  On Friday at 10:01am I’ll choose one winner.  I hope it’s you!

This Friday I’ll be giving away a free download of any Pimsleur Level I Lessons 1-5 download.  That’s a $21.95 value.  Now’s your chance to learn the language of your dreams.  Check out SpeakALanguage.com to see what languages are available.

Winners will be notified via the email address submitted with your comment.

Good Luck & Happy Travels!

Note to self :  Don’t skip days of learning Italian.  It makes the learning that much harder. 

Have you ever had one of those weeks.  Ya, you know, those weeks that you just absolutely cannot fit one more thing into your schedule.  I won’t bore you with the details but I just had one of those weeks and I missed a day of my Italian learning.  I realize I only just finished lesson 16 but it’s picking up pace and missing just one day I felt like I couldn’t remember a thing.  Like my brain had totally forgotten I was learning Italian.  Wake-up brain!!!  I’M LEARNING ITALIAN!  And I can’t just go and forget it after one day. 

As I was going through my lesson tonight I was thinking about my trip to Italy when I’m done with this 100 days things and I thought, “I can’t put this much effort into the language just to stay for a week.  I really need a month.”  We’ll see if I can really get away with that.  Oh but just the thought.

So here’s what I’ve been learning.

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 15:

• I have enough
• For you, mam
• I can / I can’t
• You can
• I have some of it / I don’t have some of it
• I have many / I don’t have many
• I want some
• You want some

The lesson concluded with math  problems given in Italian.  It’s a good way to practice numbers.  And heaven knows I need practice with my numbers.

OK, so I’m going to divulge one more thing that I haven’t added in all of this.  At one point in my life (about 15 years ago), I was pretty fluent in Portuguese.  Since there aren’t many people around who speak Portuguese but there are LOTS of Spanish speakers around….including several family members, my Portuguese kind of morphed into Spanish.  Now I wouldn’t say that I’m fluent in Spanish but I can certainly get around and understand most of what is being said. 

So you would think Italian would be a little easier.  At least I thought Italian would be a little easier.  And maybe it is but boy it’s hard when you’re thinking of the response and you hear it in Italian, translate it to English so you know what they’re saying, from there translate it into Spanish and finally translate it into Italian and give your response out loud.  No wonder those half second breaks aren’t long enough for me.  My brain is on a serious translation kick.  It’s a wonder that I don’t blow a fuse during all that translation.

Well, well.  Here’s lesson 16.

Learn Italian in 100 Days – Lesson 16

• How’s it going?
• What is it?
• That’s a lot of money
• It’s too much
• It’s too much money
• I have 20, 24, 25, 28, 30 dollars
• No but it’s enough
• Give me 40, 48 euros

This lesson also concluded with more math lessons which are really good practice.  It helps you hear the numbers out loud and then have to listen to come up with the correct response and then use your numbers to respond. 

So after lesson 16 here’s my analysis of my learning.  It’s coming.  It’s certainly not easy.  I guess I thought with my Spanish and Portuguese it might be a bit easier but it’s testing me.  But I’m really enjoying it.  Maybe I’m just enjoying the thought of going to Italy and communicating with people in their own language.

Happy Travels!

Day 2 in Heber & Midway was for biking.  I woke up to a very unexpected surprise….sunshine.  Now if you don’t know me, I’ll let you in on a little secret….sunshine is my drug of choice.  We had gone to bed with wind and dark cloudy skies and a forecast of rain and lightening storms but woke up to sunshine.  Thank the heavens.  It was so beautiful!  We had breakfast, got the bikes loaded on the car and headed to Midway.

Our plan was to ride this paved trail we had seen from Heber into Midway.  From there, we were going to take the road and ride to Soldier Hollow and ride some of the cross country ski trails they have available to bikers in the summer.  Little did we know that we would run into this fabulous bike trail that is part of the Provo Parkway trail.  About 1 mile into our 26 mile ride we came across this very cute, quaint bridge.  It felt all the more like we had really gone somewhere far….not just a staycation in my backyard.

As we road through Midway and then onto Soldier Hollow we ran into the beautiful wildflowers you can see in the top picture.  SO beautiful!  We knew then that it was going to be a great day and a great ride!  As we headed towards Soldier Hollow we realized that the previous day this man had told us about this trail.  We didn’t quite catch what he was saying about it or exactly where it was but as we got closer to the “barn” he was talking about we found the trail.  And then it all came back to me.  “The snakes shouldn’t be out yet.”  SERIOUSLY?!?!?!  We need to be worried about snakes???  I HATE snakes.  They scare the living daylights out of me.  So you can imagine how I was feeling when we got to the trailhead and saw this sign:

No people, this is not a joke!  This is the sign that greeted us at the trailhead.  My only hope was that the man was right when he told us the snakes shouldn’t be out yet.  Cause that don’t look like a nice little gardner snake in the picture.  So with the thought of snakes fresh in my mind we headed out on the 8.2 miles of dirt trail that followed the shoreline of Deer Creek Reservoir.  From the get-go it looked like a steep trail, but as we got to what we thought would be steep hills, they weren’t too steep.  There were a lot of rollers and a couple of steep parts but overall, an awesome ride!!  It was a a beautiful, sunny day that luckily wasn’t too hot because there is not an ounce of shade on the trail.  But I love water so it was fun to look out over the reservoir.

Unfortunately since we weren’t really planning on doing this trail, we didn’t come prepared with enough food and water to do the whole thing.  We made it 6 miles before we turned back and returned to Midway.  It’s a trail that I’d for sure like to do again one day….and do the whole thing and maybe even find out how it connects to the Provo Parkway trail.  I just need to find out when the snakes are sleeping.

When I travel I love to find restaurants that the locals like.  As we were returning to Midway we stopped in at the local bike shop and asked them where they suggested eating.  The guy we asked didn’t even blink an eye before saying the Tarahumara.  Those of you that have read Born to Run will recognize this name.  So we hopped back on our bikes and headed to the Tarahumara.  A little Mexican restaurant tucked unassumingly into a strip mall.  And a restaurant that we were told is a destination spot.  A place that people will travel upwards of 1 1/2 hours to come to.  It was fun. They had great food, a great salsa bar and yummy tres leches.

We still had a couple of miles to go to get back to the car so we hopped back on the bikes, got to the car and headed out to Cascade Springs.  A little oasis of fresh water springs in the middle of nowhere.  It is about a 10 mile drive from Midway with 7 of those miles on dirt roads.  Once we got there we took the mile stroll around the springs and enjoyed the nice, cool, evening air.  Here’s a picture of a view of the drive to Cascade Springs.

And finally a picture of the actual Cascade Springs themselves.  So beautiful!

After our 26 mile bike ride and our hike around Cascade Springs it was time for a well deserved rest.  Back to the cabin in Heber and time to plan tomorrow’s adventures.  And we topped it off by watching a cute chick-flick.  Sweet dreams!

Happy Travels!