5 Places I'd Love to Return To

I have seen these posts floating around Blogland recently and I just couldn't pass by.   While there are still SO many places that I still want to visit, there are few I dream about going back to.  Some that I'd love to re-experience as an adult and some that I want to share with Josh.

I fell in love with Colorado during my visit in 2005 (I can't believe it's been almost 10 years!!).  I was only 16 at the time so I was at the mercy of my parents.  There were so many things I wanted to do but I couldn't because they were in charge.  We never really went into Boulder, we didn't see any sites in Denver and I would have loved to do more exploring in RMNP.  I planned on going to school at my Uncles Alma Mater, UC Boulder, but it was way too expensive for me.   I would love to take Josh out there and do some exploring with him, and do it our way.

This should come as no surprise.  I think about Costa Rica daily - it's such a beautiful country with such diverse wildlife and amazing people.  While I'd love to go back to Manuel Antonio NP and San Vito for a day or two, there are so many places in this beautiful country that I'd love to explore such as, Arenal and Monteverde Could Forest.   This is a place I'd definitely love to take Josh to.

Barcelona was one of my favorite cities that we visited in Europe.  While I had a great time there, we had very little free time to explore - most of our day was planned out.  I would love to explore on my own and see more of what Barcelona has to offer.  I would also love to fill up on Paella and Tapas!!  I am hoping to take a cruise out of here at some point - hopefully sooner than later! 

Josh and I both loved Savannah!  Unfortunately, we only had a short time to spend here at the end of our vacation.  We saw a pretty good amount in the short time that we had, but I'd love to go back and explore more of this beautiful southern city.  I am also dying for another Leopolds Ice Cream!  I also think it would be so neat to do a ghost tour!

I was fortunate enough to be able to see so much of Italy while I was there including Rome, Assisi, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Florence.   While I would love to return to each of those places, I would also love to see more of this beautiful country.  Top of my list is Venice, Milan, Verona, Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi, and Siena.  Honestly, I think I could spend a full month here and still not see everything that I want to.  I know I will return to Rome within the next few years because Josh is dying to go there.

A Travel Moment

I live for the little moments during my travels.  There are often moments when I am in awe of how beautiful nature is or how small I am in this world.

The first "moment" I remember having was in Colorado in 2005.  This trip was full of firsts for me.  It was my first time flying, my first time seeing real mountains, and my first time out west.

The reason for the trip was my Uncle Steve's wedding, but we headed out for a full week and made it our family vacation for the year.  I was so happy not to be spending another vacation in Ocean City, MD!   One of the days we decided to check out Rocky Mountain National Park.

I know I share this photo a lot but that's because it's so special to me.  This is where I remember having a moment where I felt so small.  In this moment, it really hit me how much there is too see in the world and how beautiful it is.  This is one of the most naturally beautiful spots I have ever had the pleasure of seeing and reminded me why I love nature.   We were the only people at this spot at that particular time and it was so peaceful, I was so in awe of this place.

I always say my trip to Canada started my love of travel, but really it's just what got me curious about all the places in the world.  This trip to Colorado and that moment standing in this spot was like adding fuel to the fire.  After seeing what Colorado offered, I made it my number one goal in life to travel as often as I could.

Standing in that spot, taking in that beautiful view was one of the best moments of my life and I will always remember it.

Travel Tuesday: My Favorite Photo(s)

This week for Travel Tuesday, Belinda and Bonnie have given us a topic to write about and will be doing so once per month!  This weeks topic: Show Us Your Favorite Photo From All Your Travels and Tell Us Why It Means So Much to You

For this one, I tried ... I really did!  But I could not just pick one!  I narrowed it down from about 10 to 3.  So I am going to share my 3 favorites with you. 

1. Estes Park, Colorado

I think that if the blogging police were going to come take me away for picking more than one photo, this would be the one photo I would chose.  I love everything about this photo.  I loved the natural beauty of Colorado and I think this picture captures that perfectly, I could have stayed in that spot for hours!!  To this day I still remember being in this spot and I remember being completely overwhelmed by nature.  I have always loved and appreciated the outdoors but seeing this really took that love to the next level.   I never get tired of sharing this picture!

2. Camp Campbell, California
This week was easily both the best and most frustrating week of my entire life.  These are the girls that were in my cabin at 5th grade science camp.  They are also the reason that I chose to continue doing ASB trips, and they may not know it but they taught me a lot about myself in that week.  They reminded me why I love volunteering my time to help others; they reminded me that even though it can be frustrating and infuriating at times, the good times totally overshadow those moments and those are the ones that you will always remember.   These girls really are great, I love each and every one of them and I am even friends with a few of them on Facebook and am so proud of who they've become!  Some of them come from families who unfortunately don't have the luxury of computers but I wish they did so I could keep up with them.  I love this picture of me and all of my girls, it is the only one I have with all of us in it.  I wish I had gotten more of the whole group.  This is my favorite picture from the trip.

3. San Vito, Costa Rica
I love this picture because it really shows how we connect with all kinds of people from all over.  We were playing a hand game (like Miss Mary Mack) with them, they were teaching us how to play.  We all managed to get the hang of it even though they didn't speak English and we didn't speak much Spanish.  For little girls, they were very patient with us when we didn't get it right away.  There was a lot of laughing and silliness involved and I would give anything to go back to that.   We had so much fun with these girls and it makes me smile every time I look at this picture. 

Travel Tuesday: Colorado Days 3&4

Colorado Part Two

July 8, 2005: Rocky Mountain National Park

I loved Rocky Mountain National Park!  Since I was only like, 15 years old my journal as not very detailed but I do remember that we made a bunch of stops to take pictures.  I also remember my brother cutting my Mom off, causing her to trip and hurt her ankle.

Amy, Dad and Jason

My Favorite Picture from the whole trip

These little guys would come right to your hand

Snow in July

Once we got to the top of the Mountain we had lunch at the Lodge and went shopping in the Lodge.  We then went to dinner (I didn't write the name of the place but I know that it had a pond and we fed the ducks in the pond.   After dinner we did some more shopping, then headed to bed to get some beauty rest before the wedding the next day.

July 9th, 2005: The Wedding

My Uncle Steve and Aunt Katie got married in Estes Park (sadly I didn't get the name of the place :( but the wedding was outdoors with an indoor reception.  Unfortunately it did rain but it blew over in about 40 minutes.  After that little glitch, it was great!   We had a great time dancing and having fun with family.  After the wedding we headed to the cabin for some rest before heading to Denver on the 10th for our flight home.

Uncle Steve and his groomsmen rode in on Mountain bikes!

The wedding pics are in no particular order.

I loved Colorado!  It was so beautiful and there was so much to do.  I plan to go back with Josh one day and do some exploring :)

Travel Tuesdays: Colorado Days 1 & 2

 
 ...totally didn't know that this was a link-up!  But I will def. be linking up every Tuesday now!!! :) I love link-ups!!! :)

Colorado

 

In July of 2005 my family took a trip out to Colorado for my Uncle Steve's Wedding.

July 6, 2005: It was everyone's first plane ride except for my Mom's (my Dad had his first plane ride on this trip at 43).  My Oma and her boyfriend Howard also rode with us, so Oma rented a limo for all of us to go to the airport where we met up with My Aunt Sandy and her family.  Our first plane ride went pretty well, but we thought my Dad and Uncle Frank were gonna miss the plane because they went to smoke.  They cut it really close.  Once we got on the plane me and Amy watched the movie Ice Princess and I worked on summer work for my AP classes.

Once we landed in Denver the adults picked up their rental cars and we headed towards Estes Park, but not before stopping for food.  The little ones had to get a picture with Ronald (the is purely for cuteness).

After some much needed food we continued on to Estes Park.  We arrived in Estes park around 4pm, we got some bad directions from some locals so it took a little longer than anticipated.  We stayed at a resort called Valhalla Resort.  My Oma and Howard stayed a few cabins up from us and my family got a cabin that joined with my Aunt Sandy's and when my Grandpop got there he stayed with my Aunt Sandy.  We got there, unpacked, cooked dinner and had a visited from my Uncle Steve.  I knocked out around 9 that night.

Top one is my Oma's - I took it from the bottom of our driveway

July 7, 2005:  First thing in the AM I tried to go running, that lasted about 5 mins because of the altitude difference. After that we headed to the pool to chill. Which was pretty much uneventful.

After the pool we went into the little town of Estes Park.  It was really cute.  We went into some shops and I bought a leather case for my cell phone.  After shopping around for a bit we went to eat at a restaurant called "Locals".

 

After we ate we headed up to my Uncles house in Ward, CO outside of Boulder. 

Uncle Steve's House (at the time)

 

View from the Porch

When we got there we hung out for a bit then Uncle Steve took some of us on a hike to a rock formation where he proposed to my Aunt Kate, the view was unbelievable.   When we got back we met Aunt Katie's family and I took a walk with my cousin Cassidy.  After that we headed back to the cabin for some sleep. 

 

That is all for today.  Next Tuesday I will talk about Rocky Mountain National Park and My Uncles Wedding.