Mt Saint Anne Cathedral is a BEAUTIFUL Cathedral about 30 minutes east of Quebec City along the St Lawrence River.  Inside, you will see columns with crutchs and other devices of people who were cured of their ailments.  There is usually some sort of event in this forecourt almost every weekend.

Inside St Anne Cathedral

 I snuck this picture inside the Cathedral to show the columns of crutches that you see just behind me.  

BIG Dog

On the road to Mt Saint Anne, there’s the place that has these huge dogs.  What they are doing there, I have no idea.  Here I’m taking the temperature of one of the dogs. 

Montmorency waterfall

You can’t miss Montmorency Falls when you drive up the Saint Lawrence River.  BEAUTIFUL falls with a wonderful hike and trails up to and down the falls.  And the views from the top is spectacular.

St. Lawrence River

Ile d'Orléans

Bonne Homme!

The Entrance to Old Quebec

Chateau Frontenac

Oldest House in QuebecThe Maison Jacquet is the oldest house in Quebec City and is the home of the Aux Anciens Canadiens Restaurant. Had lunch here of a meat pie consisting of Caribou, Bison, and Pheasant. YUMMMMMM!Funicular

Carnival Cruise's Elation

Carnival’s Elation is one of their newest boats.  And it’s a decent size!  I got there early and past experience with Carnival wasn’t very good for checking in.   I was surprised they let people board before noon but no one was allowed down in the cabins before 3… so off I went exploring.

Onboard the Elation

So I hopped on the ship after a REALLY quick checkin (less than 5 minutes) and hit the top deck for some lunch.  Everything was open ‘cept the cabin areas so it wasn’t that bad.  People were slowly coming on board and this gave me a chance to get totally orientated.

USS Midway Museum

Really close to the Elation was the USS Midway Museum.  If I had known it was there, I would have went over to explore that before boarding the ship… but I missed it.  Dangit.

Onboard Minigolf

Never before have I seen a mini-golf course onboard.  Here it was!  All the way on the top deck and forward.  Ok, so it wasn’t very challenging and no cool waterfalls or dog houses… but at least it was something.

Water Slide!

LOVED the waterslide into the pool.  Pretty tamed compared to the Baldi Slides in Costa Rica (see Costa Rica blog) but it was still fun.  Wasn’t open ALL the time and I didn’t bring a swimsuit… but it was still pretty cool.

Itsy Bitsy Staterooms

FINALLY got down to the cabin.  Of course it was small.  But it was clean and comfortable.  On the service, I’m used to having the room serviced all the time on cruise.  Whenever you go out, it’s serviced.  But on the day we got to Ensenada, I left my room pretty early and didn’t get back to the room until around 1pm.  And it still wasn’t serviced!  So that was pretty strange.  Even Motel 6 would have had it serviced by 1pm!  So it wasn’t until dinner that night that the room was finally cleaned and made.  Pretty bad for a cruise ship.

Lifeboat Drills SUCK!

One of the suckiest part of any cruise is the life boat drill.  You’re all comfortable and want to go out to have fun, and then everyone is herded like cattle to a briefing area, made to put on these horrible life fests that never fit, and then go find and stand by your life raft.  Take a huge chunk off the fun meter when this happens.

Won the $600 BINGO!

HIGHLIGHT of the cruise… with THOUSAND playing, I won the $600 BINGO!  Did the X!  That paid for the cruise AND the weekend! wooHOO!  Didn’t play any other bingo games on board…  was happy with that one.

Mexican Flag

Arrived to Ensenada at the cruise pier.  In back, there’s that huge-assed Mexican Flag that’s been there forever.

The Elation docked in Ensenada

Docked in Ensenada.  Wasn’t really planning on leaving the ship since I’ve been there many times.  But wanted to get a few things… like have cerviche at the fish market (below) and pick up some Amoxycillan.

Ensenada Seafood Market

BEST place to get seafood is the Seafood market.  Doesn’t seem that many tourists goes to this area.  This is where many locals and restaurants come for their seafood and there’s several little seafood counters up and down the ally with AMAZING shrimp and crab and stuff.

San Diego Skyline

Back in San Diego.  There are some great things to do here that I need to make a return trip for.  Mostly the San Diego Zoo.   Gotta do! Gotta do!

St George Airport

My trip into southern Utah started in this really small commercial aircraft.  Being a pilot, I’ve flown in a 2 seater Cessna but this is the smallest I’ve ever flown commercial.  We didn’t get above 22000 feet and it was actually nice.  St George Airport is a really cute municipal airport that’s really easy to fly into and out of.  And there’s even rental car companies open at the airport.  I think United and Delta are the only 2 airlines flying in and they share the same counter.  VERY cute place.

Utah HWY 12

Hwy 12 is classified as a “National Scenic Byway” and an “All-American Road.”  I drove thru the entire length of Hwy 12 and it IS an amazing road.  Almost every turn brought in new sites and places to explore.  A person could spend a week on or near this road and still not see everything.  A VERY cool place to spend a weekend on a motorcycle.

Red Canyon

At the beginning of Hwy 12 on the west end is Red Canyon.  Beautiful sandstone formations that signals the start of an amazing drive.

Red Canyon Drive-Thru

This is 1 of 2 natural bridges that spans hwy 12.  Not as cool as driving thru a redwood but still pretty cool.

Bryce Canyon National Park

The first of 3 National Parks, Bryce Canyon.  The drive to Bryce Canyon reminded me a LOT about the drive to the Grand Canyon.  Same kind of trees, pastures, and road.  And ya just gotta love the little tourist town that’s at the entrance to almost every national park.

Bryce Canyon Hoodoos

One of the main areas of Bryce Canyon are what they call hoodoos.   This picture doesn’t really show the pillars but the hoodoos are a striking formation that towers from the floor of the canyon.  There are some wonderful trails going down into the canyon but, alas, not enough time to take them.

Bryce Canyon Natural Bridge

Halfway down the road the runs the length of the park is this Natural Bridge.  I think this is one of the most photographed point in Bryce Canyon.

Capital Reef Twin Rocks

At the east end of hwy 12 is Capital Reef National Park.  Most sandstone mountains the runs miles and miles east to west.  Twin Rocks is one of the first cool formation you get to when you enter the canyon.  I took more pictures but it was near sunset so they didn’t come out ver well and there was a 4 hr drive back to the cabin.

Zion National Park

Zion National Park was the 3rd NP to visit and it’s on the way to the St George Airport.  Even at the entrance to the park, you can tell you’re in for a very special treat.  The canyon that runs north to south in Zion is off limits to private vehicles unless you’re staying in the lodge.  But there’s a very frequent and comfortable shuttle that takes you to all the view points and places of interest.

Court of the Patriarchs

The Court of the Patriarchs is a BEAUTIFUL set of 3 peaks: (from left to right) Abraham Peak, Isaac Peak, and Jacob Peak (barely seen behind Mount Moroni).

Great White Throne

One of the more beautiful view spots shows the Great White Throne in the background and you can you can see part of Angel’s Landing which offers the parks more challenging and popular hikes to the top.

Zion Canyon Panorama

One of the really cool features of my new Olympus Tough 8000 is the automated panorama mode.  You click the first frame then move the dot to a square 2 more times to have a 3 frame panorama picture created automatically.  With the high canyons, instead of going side to side, this went down to up.  Turned out GREAT!

This is the end of the road up Zion Canyon called River walk.  The canyon gets too narrow for the buses to continue but there is a trail that goes up the canyon that offers great views and areas.

Out of the 3 national parks that was visited, Zion is definitely my favorite because of the diversity of geographical formations, trees, wildlife, and things to do.  There’s a really cool lodge right in the middle of the canyon that would be a great base to spend a weekend or more to hike the trails that runs all over the park.  And this is exactly what I have planned.  Seems like Spring would be the perfect time to do this.

AIRMILES – TRIP: 694 TOTAL: 75,883

Gilroy Garlic Festival

At long last, something I’ve been wanting to do for YEARS is the Gilroy Garlic Festival!  The day was beautiful when I arrive and was intimidated by the huuuuuuuuuuuuuge parking lot.  Even tho’ it was only partially filled, I was fearful of the crowds.  But as you can see, the festival was so spread out, crowds wasn’t really an issue.

Pyro Chefs

The signature dish at the festival was the stir fried garlic chicken down Gourmet Row. And a long time tradition are the “Pyro Chefs.”  This is what they do!  They have these HUGE stir fry pans and to get it all going, and to get the crowd going, they have these flameups.  The crowd goes CRAZY!

Garlic Ice Cream

Garlic EVERYTHING.  Lots of food vendors and the garlic ice cream was one of the longest lines at the festival.  I tried the chocolate garlic ice cream… yummmmmmmmm.  One thing that was lacking was the condiments!  I really wanted to go shopping for unique garlic condiments but there was only a small sampling at the official festival tent.  This was the only disappointment I had all day.  Nothing to bring home but a lousy T-Shirt…. and my fridge magnant.

Celebrity Chef Stage

There were 3 music stages with great music but the Celebrity Chef stage had the largest crowd, by far!  I watch this guy, the head chef of The Franciscan on Fishermans Wharf.  He was the total stereotypical Italian Cook!  With accent and everything.  He was cracking everyone up and made clam dish that smelled AMAZING.  But too many people to have a tasting, dangit!

BIG pot of Paella

One of my most favorite dish is Paella.  And they had a Paella booth at the festival.  They were simmering this dish n these huge pans outside the booth.  The smell was to die for.

Olympus Stylus Tough 8000

One more thing I want to mention is that I got a new camera after mine broke in Costa Rica.  While in Costa Rica, I missed some great shots when it was raining, or at the Baldi Hot Springs, white water rafting, and even snorkling.  So I spent the $300 and got the Olympus Tough 8000.  Has some AWESOME features, can go up to 33 feet in the water, in the rain, and can stand dropping and sitting on it and all kinds of things.  I loooooooove my new cam!

AIRMILES – TRIP: 889 TOTAL: 75,189

Multhoma Falls

So after the Gilroy Garlic Festival, I headed up to Portland, OR to do some work.  I’ve always heard about Multnomah Falls so I got in early on Sunday and headed out.  Only about 20-30 minutes east of the airport.  The falls was AMAZING!  And the whole Columbia River Gorge was absolutely stunning.

Multhoma Falls view from bottom

This is at the very bottom of the falls.  The falls is actually 2 levels and you can see both from here.  See that pedestrian bridge on top?  There’s a trail that runs from where I’m standing all the way to the top of the falls.  The trailmap near me states that the bridge is .2 miles away and the top of the falls, 1.0 miles away…. so off  I went!

Switchback 9 of 11

So the falls is 600+ feet high.  And the trail is ALMOST all up hill with a total of 11 switchbacks and a marker at each turn.  This was a pretty grueling hike.  The funny thing was, remember how I said that the trailmap said the top of the falls was 1.0 miles long?  Well… they LIED!  Just before this marker, was the 1 mile post!  So people were seeing that and were CURSING because they were already exhausted from that 1 mile uphill hike.  Most turned back.  Not me!  The GOOD thing is that at the switchback 9 marker, it’s all down hill from here.

Switchback 11 of 11

Made it to the final switchback!  After going down hill from #9, it wasn’t nearly as exhausting at this point then when you reach #9.  Only a little bit to go before the top of the falls.

View from the top

FINALLY at the top.  Wonderful views and the platform is directly over the falls so you can look down.  Really cool.  And after 1.25 miles, a really fantastic hike.

Mt Hood

The falls is part of the Mt Hood Scenic Byway loop.  This is a 100+ mile loop around Mt Hood with amazing views and historical sites at every turn.  On the hwy 35 leg, you’ll find all kinds of produce farms.  I stopped and picked my own cherries at one of them.  They were goooooooooooooooood!

This is definately a return trip for me.  I could spend a LONG weekend there just seeing all the historical sites.  Not sure if I would want to do this in the winter unless I go specifically for skiing.

AIRMILES – TRIP: 834 TOTAL: 74,300

The Caribbean from the house

Right off the plane, it’s off to the Caribbean for some sun and fun in the clean warm waters of Puerto Viejo.  Instead of staying in the hotel, I found a great house right on the beach called Casa Fiesta.  This is the back yard of the house with the very private ocean in back and as I always do, the first thing is to jump in.  Wonderful house and AMAZING beach.  Nice to hang out after a long day.

Sloth Rescue Center

Sloth Rescue

Buttercup

One of the first places I went to was the Sloth Rescue.  New since I’ve been there last and it is such a wonderful place!  They have many orphans and adults for rehabilitation.  In the pictures about is Buttercup, the center’s first rescue and mascot.  I learned a LOT about sloths while there.  And learned they are VERY loving and social animals.  They just reach out to you and try to get you to pick them up.  VERY slowly.  This is a MUST SEE in Costa Rica.

Jungle Canoe

Banana with seeds

After the tour of the rescue, there’s a HUGE area behind where you can take a canoe cruise.  The guide and paddler was very friendly and showed all kinds of things, including a species of bananas that has black seeds.  He grabbed one from the tree to let me taste.  It was DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELISH!  But the seeds were pretty annoying.

Roberto

On to Cahuita, my favorite little town.  I hooked up with Roberto who runs Roberto Tours and set up a snorkeling tour and guided hike through Cahuita National Park.  Roberto does everything.  Set up tours, does fishing trips, and is even a cook at his restaurant.  Dunno how he does it.

Cahuita National Park

Didn’t have an underwater cam to take snorkling pics but this is where they dropped us off for a pineapple snack and the hike back to the town.   The snorkling was nice and saw some great tropical fish and wonderful coral formations.

Cahuita National Park Bridge

I’ve hiked Cahuita National Park many times before but this was the first time I took a guided hike back from the snorkling area.  Towards the end, the guide pointed out sloths and monkeys and inguana’s that I would have never spotted myself.  Those suckers take a trained eye to spot.

Fruit Brains

Upon returning to Roberto’s pace, he had lunch of Shrimp with these fruit brains that he grows with there on his property.  This are little fruits that has this brain-like meat inside.  WEIRD looking but it was YUMMY!

Bocas de Toro

Cosmic Crab

The Cosmic Crab was recommended by a local.  It’s located on the next island over so it was a $1 water taxi trip over.  Unfortunately, the Cosmic Crab didn’t have any crabs at all!  But their crabs cakes were AWESOME!

Arenal Lodge

Me and Parrot

Arenal Volcano

Butterfly Path

Baldi Hot Springs

Vieux To Do!

Ok, so I wanted to go to New Orleans FOREVERRRRRRRRR!  And I DID!  Booooooooooooooy it was AMAZING!  Not only that, but the weekend (June 13-14) that I went was the Vieux to Do Festival weekend that combines THREE festivals in ONE:  The Cajun Music Festival, the Cajun Tomato Festival, and the Louisiana Seafood Festival.  Each one would be worth the trip!

Le Pavillon

One of my favorite sites is Hotwire.com where you can get AMAZING deals at AMAZING hotels.  I saw a great deal ($75) for a 4.5 star hotel near the French Quarter and booked it.  Turned out to the the AMAZING Le Pavillon Hotel.  It was funny in that when taking the cab (LATE at night) from the airport, I saw this building and asked… WOW! What’s THAT?  And it turned out to be the hotel! COOL!  The rooms were BEAUTIFUL, the facilities AMAZING…. BUT… do NOT do the Sunday Brunch.  Totally overpriced and it really REALLY sucked!  There are way too many amazing places to have breakfast, lunch or dinner within walking distance to the hotel.

Cajun Music Festival

Everyone knows that New Orleans is known for music so when you add the Cajun Music Festival, well, it’s just totally amazing.  Out of the 3 festivals, this was the smallest.  2 stages but lots of music with people dancing on the streets. Some was slow and sounded like square dancing but most of the music was very fun and lively.  sweeeeeet.

Cajun Tomato Festival

The other end of the festival was the Cajun Tomato Festival.  As with the other festivals, there was a ton of food vendors all around you.  Alligator seemed to be a favorite and yeah, it was DEEEEEEELISH!  A Cajun Tomato looks like a beefsteak tomato but to be honest, doesn’t really have that great of a taste.  But, a fried green cajun tomato that I took a bite out of was really really good!  Just like mom used to make.

French Market Place

The whole festival is centered around the French Market Place, which is a destination in itself.  THIS is the place to buy your souvenirs, food, clothing, and just about anything you want.  Several blocks long, a not-to-miss visit in New Orleans any day of the year.

River Front

And there’s many other things to do in NO.  This is the famous river front area where you can stroll for MILES to see things from the HUGE Harrahs Casino to even MORE amazing restaurants.  Don’t miss the aquarium.

Bourbon Street

Of course, a visit to New Orleans isn’t complete without going to Bourbon Street.  Forget Mardis Gras, this is the place to be 365 nights out of the year!   The street is amazing but the whole French Quarter which extends for several blocks  on either side of Bourbon Street contains many many many amazing restaurants, museums, gift shops, clubs, bars, etc… etc.. etc…  Any night of the week is a wicked night out in the French Quarter.

New Orleans is one of those places I would visit over and over again.  I had such an amazing time there and didn’t even scratch the surface of things to do.  Even tho’ Le Pavillon was only a few blocks away from the French Quarter, next time I will definitely get a place IN the French Quarter, even if it’s only a 2 or 3 star hotel.  The area is just electrified.

New Orleans…. any day, any time, any way.

AIRMILES – TRIP: 3,340 TOTAL: 68,026

United's new international seats

The trip started out GREAT!  On my leg from LAX to NRT, I got to sit up in first on United’s new First Class pods/seats.  I tried to take a good picture but couldn’t find one that did it justice.    The pods turn into a comfie bed and the 19″ entertainment center has tons of movies, TV shows, and lots and lots of video games.  You can make out some of the controls on the right.  More info on UAL’s new seats can be found at http://suitedreams.united.com.  The NRT to BKK leg wasn’t so nice.  I ended up in Economy.  PAAAAAAAAAAAAAINFUL.  So I arrived at 11:10pm on April 10th and took a cab to the hotel.  NOTE:  **ALWAYS** insist that the cabbie use the meter.  If you get a quote from him, you’ll pay double, triple, or more.  If he won’t do it, move on… there are a million cabs in BKK.

Bangkok Airport

After leaving the plane, there was a looooooooooong walk to immigration.  But along the way, you find these statues that gives you a preview of what to expect throughout Thailand.  AMAZING work of arts.

FuramaXclusive Hotel

In Singapore, I ended up in a not-so-great hotel.  But, for a lot less, I had a REALLY create place in the Silom area of Bangkok.  The FuramaXclusive (http://furamaxclusive.com/sathorn).  WONDERFUL rooms, and thank goodness… an AWESOME AC unit.  Because of the combination of jetlag and the heat, I ended up sleeping from around 1pm to 7pm each day.  Worked out great!  Highly recommended place.

Bangkok BTS

The next morning, I headed out on my tour of the city.  A block away from my hotel was the Chong Nonsi BTS station that you can catch a train to take you to most places.  The BTS is fast, clean and dependable.  Here’s their website:  http://www.bts.co.th/en/index.asp

Bangkok Longboats

One part of the BTS ends at the Chao Praya River.  From there, you can catch these longboats to go up and down the river for a few bahts… about a US Dollar.  I took one up to the center area that has the Grand Palace and many temples.  Along the way, you can see some wonderful sites.

Thailand Tuk Tuk

When I got off the boat, a Tuk Tuk driver offered to show me several temples around the area for 50 bahts.  Around $1.50.  I took him up on it.  I’ve been told they will take you places, but some of the stops are tourist traps  where he would get a commission.  I did this anyways… I see it kind of like staying a weekend for free in a time share but you have to sit in on the sales pitch.  This wasn’t too painful… and I actually got a couple of custom tailored shirts for $25 each at one of his stops.  This was pretty fun.

Giant Swing

For some reason, this tall structure called the Ciant Swing is a tourist attraction.  Something to do with an ancient ceremony.  You can learn more about this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Swing.  I really don’t get the attraction.

Golden Buddha

The Golden Buddha was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen.  This is actually a 1700’s artifact that was recently discovered hidden under plaster to escape the ravages of war.  I was lucky enough to meet the grounds manager at the temple who gave me a really interesting tour.  It was funny how he kept saying he loved Bush and Condi Rice and Powell and “Papa” Bush because of the help we gave after the tsunami.  And I kept hearing the same thing from others too.  ANYWAYS, had a great tour of the temple and was even allowed to take a picture of this Buddha, which was hard to do since almost everywhere, photos aren’t allowed inside.

Burial Tombs

Around the temple where the Golden Buddha was held, you find these structures that house the cremated remains of prominent folks…. monks, dignitaries, etc.  This one was plaster but some were golden.  Nice.

Democracy Square

Another monument built for…. democracy, I would guess.

The Brown McDonalds

I saw this McDonalds and thought it was different for some reason…. Then I found out that it’s the only one int he world that’s brown, instead of red.  I haven’t confirmed this, but that’s what I’ve been told.

Thailand King Bhumibol Adulyadej

ALL around Thailand, you’ll see portraits of the Royal Family.  It’s EVERYWHERE!

The Grand Palace

After the Tuk Tuk tour, I finally got the The Grand Palace where you can also find the Emerald Buddha.  A funny thing about this place is that you HAVE to wear long pants and shirts with some sort of sleeves.  BUT, you can put 100 bahts as a deposit and they will lend you some crappy pullover pants like the brown ones you see on the guy behind me.  This is funny since, because of the weather… almost 100% of the tourists are wearing shorts and sandals.

The Emerald Buddha

You can’t really see it but through this door is the Emerald Buddha.  I had to take the picture out here because, like most places, pictures aren’t allowed inside.  There are watchful guards in there and while I was inside, a woman tried to sneak in a picture.  The guard ran up to her, grabbed her camera, and deleted all the pictures while screaming at her!  Really funny!  The Emerald Buddha itself was REALLY small.  Maybe a foot tall.  But it was still pretty impressive.

Palace Guard

Around the Palace itself you will find these English inspired guards.  Of course EVERYONE was taking pictures around them.  Nice uniforms…. but it’s HOT out there.  Can’t they do short sleeves?

Temple of the Dawn

On the OTHER side of the river was the Temple of the Dawn (War Arun) which was very impressive.  I took this picture from the longboat on the way back to the hotel.

Dinner with the BangkokChat gang!

Before my trip to Bangkok, I made some friends over at http://BangkokChat.org and met 3 of them for dinner.  Tallie, Chubs, and Sheer.  Tallie was my lifesaver in Bangkok…. what a woman!   Thai food in Thailand was AMAZING!  Almost every restaurant the dishes are served family style ala cart.  You just order a bunch of food and everyone shares.  But the BEST foods have to be the stuff you get from the sidewalk vendors.  YUMM!

Lychee

On the way to the Floating Market you find carts and carts of this fruit, the Lychee.  I never saw one before so I had to try it….

Inside the Lychee

You pull the outer shell apart and you get this sweet and sour grape-like inside.  Pretty tasty but I don’t see why everyone is so crazy about it.

King Rama II Memorial Park

Another stop before the Floating Market was the King Rama II Memorial Park.  This was a interesting park that had some really cool historical artifacts.

Ratchaburi Floating Market

The Ratchaburi Floating Market was a stop I HAD to make.  This is a huge series of canals where vendors sell good and food from small boats.  I’ve heard this floating market is the most photographed asian sites ever.  Maybe most photographed Thailand site?

Ratchaburi Floating Market Traffic Jam

For the best experience, you rent a boat to go through the miles and miles of floating market canals, about 400 bahts.  In some parts, you get into traffic jams.  This was a LOT of fun and I got 95% of my soveigners here.

Mango Tree

What was suppose to be my last night, I wanted to go to a “fancy” Thai restaurant.  This is the Mango Tree.  The prices were more then the other restaurants but the food just wasn’t as good.  Altho’ the service and atmosphere was great, I’d rather get the stuff from the street vendors.

Of course, when I got to Thailand, there were more protesters.  This time it was the Red Shirt.  Because of this, tourist were trying to leave Thailand earlier then planned.  And I didn’t get on my flight and stayed another day.  Unlike Singapore, this didn’t bother me at all!  There was a lot I wanted to do.  Visit the infamous Soi Cowboy or KSR.  And go to a Muay Boxing match.  And take pictures of this one vendor I saw that had all kinds of insects to eat.  And go to the Zoo.  BUT… the Prime Minister declared a State of Emergency and Chubs and Tallie (see above) said I really should stay in.  So I did.  The next morning I went to try to catch a flight out.  No chance on United but I took an ANA flight out instead to NRT and from NRT I was able to catch my UAL plane back to LAX.

Thailand is an AMAZING country and there’s SO MANY things left to do there.  Besides what I mentioned above, I want to leave the BKK area and go trekking up north.  Or see the Tiger Temple.  Or fly down to Phuket and Phi Phi Island.  See Pattaya Beach and spend a day or two snorkeling at Trangs.

So, this won’t be my only trip to Thailand… just my first.

AIRMILES – TRIP: 16,640 TOTAL: 64,686

Grand Canyon Entrance

First stop, the Grand Canyon.  I’ve always felt that winter is the best time to see the Gran Canyon.  This time there was a TON of snow!  And not the crowds you find in the summer.  If you want to go to the Grand Canyon, winter is the time to do it.

Grand Canyon

The beauty of the Grand Canyon always amazes me.  It was cold, windy, and people were freezing, but well worth it.

Lookout Tower

For one of the best views of the Grand Canyon, you really can’t beat Lookout Tower.  Amazing. Plus, the gift shop is the best one in the park.

Holly in Snow

Holly used to hate being in the snow.  But on this trip, she decided she LOVES the snow.  The deeper the better.

Dinosaur Footprints

On the way to Monument Valley on the Indian Reservation, you’ll find stops to view dinosaur footprints.  This place is also a little roadside stand and the natives are really friendly to show you all the major areas.

Monument Valley

I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go to Monument Valley.  This is my first time.  I must say, I was disappointed.  It’s a lot smaller then I thought.  I was imagining hundreds of miles of formations… but there’s only like… 5-6 total.  But…. I can say I was there.

Lake Powell

After a night in Page, AZ… time to head homeward.  First stop is to tour the dam at Lake Powell.  It was nice but nothing like the Hoover Dam tour.

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

As I was driving thru Kanab, I realized… HEY!  This is where the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is located!  I noticed this because Kanab is a Best Friends town.  You see sign of dog friendliness everywhere.  So Holly and I just HAD to go visit.  Couldn’t get in but at least we were at the entrance.

Colorado City, AZ

One of the stranger stops I wanted to do is the FLDS Polygamous community of Colorado City, AZ.  That was a STRANGE visit.  You see women and young girls in Poineer dress and hair.  And the houses are HUGE… but half the homes didn’t have a finished exterior.  Very strange.  Another weird thing… in this area, every town has an LDS church within about 3 blocks of each other.  But I didn’t see a SINGLE church in this FLDS community.  Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiierd.

St George LDS Temple

I love Mormon Temples… even if I can go into one.  And St George is one of my favorites.  There’s a pretty cool visitors center…. think it’s even more interesting then the one in SLC.

This was a fun road trip and Holly had a BLAST! Lots of driving and lots to see.  Can’t wait for the next one.

AIRMILES – TRIP: 472 TOTAL: 48,046

Arriving in the afternoon, it was time to lunch.  And EVERYONE recommends Mama’s Fish House.  And now I know why.  If you want to go to what seems to be a completely authentic Hawaiian restaurant, this place is a must go!  Kinda expensive but the food is AWESOME!  And, as I soon find out, is prolly the best beach in Maui.

Papaya Crossing

Heading down the Hana Hiway 360, I saw this really cool “Baby Papaya Crossing sign.  Prolly the only crossing of this kind in the whole world.  So I had to take a picture of it.

Lava Cave

Almost all the way to Hana, I come across this Lava Cave.  It was around 4 or 5pm and were aout to close, but the owners of the property let me go anyways.  Didn’t get to go far into it because they wanted to go home.  But it looked pretty fun!   I love Lava Cave.

Hana, Hawaii

Finally made it to Hana.  A really quaint town at the far east end of Maui.  Not touristy at all.  If I were to spend a few days of relaxing, THIS would be the place to go.  Even all the way here, Mama’s Fish House still had the best beach.

Hwy 31 Waterfall

Ok… so everyone said to not take the southern route back.. so that made me HAVE to take it.  And beside that, it was getting late in the day and pretty dark.  If I had listen to everyone’s advise, I would have missed this great waterfall and a lot of beautiful Maui country.

Haleakala Visitor Center

One of the more popular things to do in Maui is to wake up at 3AM and head up to the Haleakala Visitor Center to watch the sunrise at 10,000 feet over the volcano.  And so, here I am.  It was SOOOO cold.  I think around 20F!  about 75% of the people arriving wasn’t prepared at all.  The REALLY cool thing to do is to rent a bike and coast the 10,000 feet down the road back to town.  Unfortunately I had a plane to catch so I wasn’t able to do this.  SUCKS!

Haleakala Sunrise

Here’s the famous Haleakala Sunrise and some of the crazy people facing the FREEZING cold.  It was nice… but I think I would have rather stayed in a warm bed.  Still would have loved the bikeride back down.  Dangit.

Sugar Museum

On the way to the airport, I had a little time.  So I stopped at the Sugar Museum.  Pretty interesting stuff inside.  The history of the Island, how sugar is processed, etc.  A must see while in Maui.

Maui is… ok.  But compared to Kona, not much to do.  I drove around looking for a good snorkeling or cliff jumping spot but just couldn’t find anything.  Not sure if I would do a repeat trip back to Maui.  Maybe give another chance.  Not sure.

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