Where I'd Dive Again

So, although I enjoyed diving, I'm not turning into a big diving junkie anytime soon. A lady I run with is DEEP into diving and all their vacations revolve around it. It was cool and amazing, but it reminded me a bit of snow skiing. It's a lot of work (getting ready, hauling equipment, putting it all on, checking gauges), for a short reward. Although we'd spend a few hours from leaving our hotel room to returning to it, the actual underwater diving was 60-90 total minutes each day. We had to get up early (for vacation time) and it only allowed for the afternoons to explore or relax.

Also, we had the BEST possible setup for diving in Cozumel. Walk out to the dock and be picked up from the hotel, cruise out less than 10 min, a guide hands you all your equipment & your off! I can't imagine having to take an hour boat ride (I'd probably be barfing somewhere....) and then having to clean & haul all your equipment around. I'm just too lazy, especially on vacation...

However, I'm glad that it's something that H & I can do together now, and we'll certainly dive again in places that can't be missed.

Mauritius

We're planning on diving in Mauritius next month when we go. Although the photos depict sharks and schools of hundreds of barracuda, I'd much rather see more turtles or some sting ray. I just want to say I've dove in the Indian Ocean. We're only going 1 of our 3 full days on the island, and the only equipment I'm taking (and hauling all over Africa) is my mask.


Galapagos

The Galapagos Islands are on our travel list & that vacation is all about seeing the wildlife and exploring the islands. I've heard that the snorkeling is pretty amazing there too, so there may be no need to dive. There are some unusual rules about dive boats, so I'll have to investigate this more if (when ;) we get ready to head down there.


Belize

One of the most famous dive sites in the world is the Great Blue Hole in Belize. I've heard such wonderful things about Belize in general, that I'd love to go one year (maybe a long weekend anniversary trip).



Hawaii
Hawaii was one of those place that I'd shied away from for a long time- mostly because of the costs and flight time. The more I learn about the volcanoes and waterfalls and lush mountains, the more I'd love to go. And you can't go to Hawaii and not dive, so I'm sure we'd be up for a little bit of diving if we made the trek out there.



Great Barrier Reef Australia
Probably the most famous dive spot on the planet, we'd definitely dive at the Great Barrier Reef just to say that we had. Hopefully, there won't be any sharks around!


New Zealand
I know it's awful, but we're already planning our trip next year before we've done our trip this year! I'm 99% sure we're going to be headed to New Zealand, and I've never been more excited. Compared to our past trips, this will be no history, no museums, no big cities, just all nature. Everything bigger, better, more beautiful, and more stunning. It's the place to do everything from diving to mountain climbing to sailing to glacier hiking to camping to wineries!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Holy cow- I missed 10"+ of rain in Houston Monday night & Tuesday. Luckily, no flooding at our house!

Drama Queen

Last week, my sister made her acting debut at her junior high school. Although I've seen a great deal of drama and acting from her, this was her first official play. The gist of the storyline is that this talk show host was going to get to the "true" story of Little Red Riding Hood.



My sister is on the far left, and she is one of 3 birds talking to LRRH's grandma.



We're not going to talk about the drama where my sister forgot her beak at home, after dad had reminded her 25 times, and he had to make a panicky trip to the house to get it.



Back to the fake drama....



I really have no idea what they were saying or doing, I was too busy trying to catch a few good photos.



I do recall that they were trying to sell "Wolf Insurance" to protect against wolf attacks in the forest.



Unfortunately, I'll be missing her dance recital this year because we'll be on our vacation.



I thought this girl was a very cute "sassy squirel".



This was the 2nd version of LRRH, where grandma was playing poker & LRRH was a valley girl.



And of course the big, bad evil wolf had some bunnies tied up for dinner.



These were the 3 little pigs, who had each built their house of out straw, twigs and bricks.



And this was Mr. Cool Wolf, who was running for mayor of the forest (or something!)

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Got our Cozumel canvas hung on the wall in our bedroom.

Future Cultural Relic

We were in a bar the other night for a party & this beauty was sitting next to me. Since smoking has been banned in most restaurants and bars in the city limits of Houston, we've been out to smoking place much less in the last few years. It was quite a rude welcome to walk into this smoky, nasty bar the other night.

Also, the taxes on packs of cigarettes have recently increased a great deal & you can see that these are running $7.50/pack! It's so expensive that they had to add a dollar-bill collector seeing as nobody walks around with 30 quarters in their pocket. I remember growing up, you could find these machines everywhere- bowling allies, grocery stores and parks. I'm hoping they will soon be a relic of a culture long gone.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Off to Miami tonight for work tomorrow.

Life Travel Log

Sort of along the same vein as my wine bar compendium, I wanted to create a permanent list of my past travels and future travels that will sort of help me stay organized. I've blogged about some of these & this will be a good reminder to blog about the rest in the future. I'll keep it updated as we travel.

**All links are to blog entries**
**Updated May, 2010**

1987-1998 Colorado Skiing: Winter Park, Breckenridge, Steamboat, Vail, Wolf Creek

High School Summers (1995, 1996, 1997)- Kayak Boundary Waters in Minnesota, Hike Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, Canoe Delaware River between NY & PA with my church youth group

1999- Atlanta & Savannah, GA (college in Georgia)

2002- Cruise Alaska with Gram (Part 1 & Part 2)

2004- Lake Tahoe with Hubby (Part 1 & Part 2)
Ecuador Mission Trip

2005- Miami, Florida (H's law school)
Italy & Greece (Milan, Venice, Rome, Santorini, Mykonos, Athens)

2006- Puerto Vallarta for a Scouting Trip

October- California Coast, Santa Barbara & Big Sur

2007- Puerto Vallarta (Wedding) & Los Cabos (Honeymoon, Food, Entertainment)

Colorado Rocky Mountains (Red Rocks, Breckenridge, Winter Park, Rocky Mountain NP)

2008- Brazil & Argentina (Buenos Aires, Paraguay, Iguazu Falls, Parati, Rio de Janeiro)
Detroit, MI
Sarasota, FL
Manitou Springs,CO (hiked Pikes Peak & Railway)
Joshua Tree National Park

2009- Washington, DC for Inauguration
February- Cozumel Mexico
March- Walt Disney World (Epcot, MGM, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom)
April- Austin
April- San Antonio for Fiesta
May/June- South Africa Trip: Dubai, UAE, South Africa (Cape Town, Kruger National Park & Johannesburg), Mauritius
August- Chicago
October- Austin

2010
February/March- New Zealand
June- Seattle
July- Pittsburgh & Philadelphia
August- Columbia, South Carolina
October- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

STATES I'VE VISITED

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia

STATES TO VISIT

Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming

COUNTIRES I'VE VISTED

Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Italy, Greece

COUNTRIES TO VISIT
Peru, Ecuador (Galapagos), Chile, New Zealand, South Pacific Islands


GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I have a VERY serious travel problem, and that's FANTASTIC news ;)

Hermann Park

Last Sunday, after visiting the museum and before dinner at my mom's house, we walked through Hermann Park. It's a great area between our Natural Science Museum, the Medical Center and the Zoo. It includes the outdoor (free) amphitheater & a golf course. I loved this reflection pond, especially that one end was elevated and cascaded down in a nice waterfall fashion.



There are several "tranquil" areas around the park with benches or small sculpture (art) areas. I think I've seen many bridal photos taken under these pillars. There is also a rose garden and a Japanese garden in the park.



This tree had me puzzled. All of the normal leaves that would grow off the branches are gone, but it's still covered in some type of leaves.



Down by the zoo, there is a great big pond, where you can rent paddle boats.



There is also a neat little train that circles the park. I've got many fond memories of riding the Zoo Train when I was a kid.



I was even able to find this old photo of me in August of 1985, when I could fashionably pull of pink overalls :) And yes- I do HEART Texas!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Summer concert season is fast approaching at Miller Outdoor theater- hopefully we'll get some picnic nights planned soon.

Elida Egypt

Now is as good a time as any for a quick break for some more photos from MIL's Mediterranean Cruise. I *think* this post mostly features photos from Egypt, but I'm not certain. I loved this photo showing, what was supposed to be the focal point, some gorgeous building with traditional architecture, but partially blocked by the modern day eye-sore of a metal fence.



Of course the thing to see in Egypt is the Pyramids. I'm not sure which ones MIL saw, or if she was able to tour inside of them. H really wants to go, but it's not that appealing to me (in light of all the other fabulous places to travel).



I think some of the history behind it- the empires & kingdoms, along with the architecture is fairly fascinating, but I much prefer natural beauty- like mountains and waterfalls.



And of course, several totally cliche photos of the Sphinx.



Such an interesting culture that would build such elaborate structure for dying and burial. I'm shocked at our American burial traditions, so this is way over-the-top IMO.


She also did the traditional camel ride, which looks *interesting*, to say the least. We'll be doing a little desert adventure on our Africa trip (on the Dubai over-night lay-over), so we might ride some camels too!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Headed to Fiesta in San Antonio tonight!

Texas State Capitol

I somehow forgot to blog the photos from our Texas State Capitol tour when we were in Austin a few weekends ago. One of my favorite things is how beautiful the surrounding grounds are with some oak trees that must be over 100 years old.



Like everything it Texas, it is GIGANTIC! See those tiny little people over there on the left? It was also the tallest building in Austin for decades. According to wiki, it's the largest state capitol by square footage, 2nd tallest in the country, and taller than the National capitol building in DC.



Did you know that we didn't pay to have it built? We just traded 3 million acres of land to some businessmen who formed the largest cattle ranch in the world. The Lady Liberty on top is 16' tall & rumored to be quite ugly if you see her facial features.







I've visited it several times when living there, but it had been years since H had toured the capitol. I've seen at least a dozen other state capitols in all my travels, and I still think ours is the most beautiful! Isn't he a good hubby for carrying my camera bag?



The entrance is adorned with all the important battles that have taken place on Texas soil- some for the Texas Revolution, some for the Mexican War and some for the Civil War.



I love the feel of this old vault area, which was now being used as office space.



The capitol is just full of gorgeous details and intricate craftsmanship everywhere. I loved the walls and ceilings, all the etched glass doors, the beautiful banisters and stairs, and all the inlaid floors throughout the capital.



One of my favorite things is the rotunda and dome. The walls of the lower rotunda are filled with portraits of past Presidents of Texas and Governors.



We were able to visit both the Texas Senate Chambers and the Texas House of Representatives Chamber.



Everything here is all about Texas. From these lights....



to these lights... They were initially gas burning & we weren't too sure if this electricity things was going to be a permanent thing or just a passing fad ;)



Even all the chairs had a Lone Star theme.



The floor of the rotunda has a beautiful mosaic representing the 6 different "ruling" flags that have flown over Texas at various times.



It's neat that most of the furniture in these chambers are original. Our Congress only meets once every 2 years, as transportation across the state was a huge burden back in the horse days.



They happened to be having an Easter egg hunt out on the Capitol grounds the morning that we visited.



From the front of the Capitol, there is a spectacular view down Congress Avenue towards Town Lake.


GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Going to watch my sister in a play tonight.