Vacation

To go with my poll that is running right now, I want to hear from you about vacation.

My friend Megan and I walk together. She loves to travel and travels at every opportunity. She's been to some really cool places. Last summer we talked about how people who like to travel give up other things and economize so that they can vacation. I'm intrigued by the idea. I'm interested in it for myself and for my kids. There are things you can learn from seeing the world that you can never learn in school. For instance, Nathan swam with a manatee in Florida. Can you imagine how much more he thinks about protecting manatee populations? Can you imagine how much more he must admire and respect nature? Can you imagine how this might increase his hunger to learn and see more? Another example. I've never seen a third world country. In my Geography class in college, I learned a great deal and my eyes were opened to things I had never considered, by an excellent professor. Still, imagine how much more I would feel and understand by actually seeing it!

Here's a list of the places I'd like to go. These have been on my list for a very long time. I never imagined being able to visit them, but now that I've seen some things that I never thought I would (Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Florida) I'm seeing myself going other places as well:

1) Monterey, CA. This will always be #1, I believe.
2) Guatemala
3) Italy
4) Israel

Within the U.S., I still want to take my kids to Southern Utah, to Washington D.C., to upper New York state, to Boston, Maine, and Cape Cod.

My vacations in the works:

1) Upper peninsula of Michigan (as a family)
2) Houston, Texas (Elijah and I)
3) Guatemala (Joseph and I)

A list of where I've been:

1) Eastern & Southern Utah
2) Southern California (Disneyland, Sea World, etc.)
3) Central California (Monterey--lived there, Yosemite, Sequoia Nat'l Park, Pinnacles)
4) Cape Cod, Plymouth (lived there), Martha's Vineyard, Boston, Maine
5) New York City
6) Washington D.C.
7) Bethlehem, PA
8) Central Ohio (Cuyahoga River Valley--beautiful!)
9) Upper New York State (Niagra Falls and Palmyra, NY)
10) Kirtland, OH
11) Nauvoo, IL
12) Chicago, IL
13) South Dakota (Rushmore and Badlands)
14) Wyoming (Yellowstone, Devil's Tower, and Martin's Cove)
15) Northern Utah (lived there)
16) Several locations in the lower peninsula of MI (live here)
17) Mackinac Island, MI
18) Kentucky (Mammoth Caves & Shaker Village)
19) Cincinnati & Columbus, OH


I'd like to hear where you've been (what's your favorite?), where you want to go (realistically), and where you'd love to visit but probably won't.

Ok, I'm going to try to stop talking about vacation now.