Vermont

Took a road trip, to Vermont, with my friend Audra. It was fun to get out of the city and go see more of New England. We made Burlington our home base. Cute city, but it definitely shuts down a little early for me- around 8:30pm!

Even so the downtown definitely has character and the walkway at lake Champlain is gorgeous. Had a lot of fun exploring this area.

We even found a beach to do some sunbathing : )

And a playground...

We decided to go for a hike and found one called Camels Hump. Started off very nice, but the trail definitely got a bit sketchy the farther we went. I truly enjoyed being out in nature and completely away from civilization

The beginning of the hike.

a little more snow as we venture up the mountain

Yes, this is the trail!
Fortunately we both made it out with nothing more than a few bruises and cold feet which was quickly alleviated at the hotel hot tub.




We drove through many small towns. Here is one Randolph that we stopped in for a little bit.

Of course going to Vermont we had to go see the Ben and Jerry's factory. The tour was really quick, but fun. I found it funny that they did not want us taking photos. Yeah sorry guys I'm pretty sure the recipe for ice cream is not a secret.

I also found it funny that the flavor they had us sample and wanted feedback on was strawberry w/ chocolate. Really?! you don't have consensus yet on the publics opinion of strawberry icecream.

We also sampled cabot cheese, wine, and maple syrup. Especially loved the maple habenero wings in Burlington. I would go back there for those alone.



After all the delicious samples we went over to the Von Trap lodge. I had no idea they ended up in Vermont. There were some gorgeous views from the property.

There are several breweries in Vermont. We decided to go check out Magic Hat. They have a self guided tour and then a sampling of some beers.

During out adventures in Vermont we made our way over to Montpelier. The state capitol. I really liked this city. It reminded me a lot of my hometown with all the New Age stores.

Had a wonderful time! It was fun and definitely time to start exploring more of New England

New York City

Had a fun weekend touring around NYC and visiting family. My sisters and cousin Meg all flew in from AZ to run in a Central Park 5k. Morley's dominated! Unfortunately, I can't take any credit in this. I ended up meeting up with them later that day.

Thanks to Pam and her willingness to brave the Lincoln Tunnel and the streets of NYC we had a personal ride into "The City" We ventured down to site of the World Trade Center memorial. Although not completely finished I thought the memorial was very fitting. It's hard to get the true effect in the photos, but I did my best.

I personally liked how you can't see the bottom.

After the World Trade Center Memorial we made out way over to the Highline. I'd be here all the time if I lived in NYC

Old train tracks converted into greenspace : )

The views looking out onto the city from the Highline are gorgeous

After a delicious NYC lunch we made our way over towards the Village(East,West,Grenwich) Had fun, but swear we walked all of Manhattan : ). I really enjoy how every area feels completely different.

Always so much to do in NYC. Love that it's so convient for me to get down there to see the sights and course my family and friends.

Tucson, AZ

Took my first trip back to Tucson, after almost two years away. Had a wonderful time visiting old hangouts and seeing friends.

My friend of many years,Matt, got married. It was my first time to meet his wife Cynthia and even so she invited me to be one of her bridesmaids. The wedding was at Z mansion a beautiful location. Thought the ceremony and reception were all wonderful. Plus it was great to see old friends that I had not seen in years and of course meet new ones.

Saw some of the local color and interesting artwork on 4th Ave that makes Tucson unique. Definitely do not see these things in Boston!

Had fun traveling all over the state and visiting friends in Phx,Tucson,Prescott,Flag

Will make sure it's not two more years before I get back to Tucson.

Reykjavik, Iceland

Got my first stamp on my new passport! Spent 5 days in Iceland and absolutely loved it. Things did not go quite as planned, d/t weather, but we had an amazing time. According to locals it was the most snow they had seen in years.

It was pretty amusing trying to walk around on all the ice and snow. They definitely do not have the same clear your sidewalk regulations that we do. We were pros by the end of the trip

I loved how clean everything was. The people really pride themselves on being environmentally conscious.

Reykjavik is beautiful. Only 200,000 people live there. And only 300,000 in the entire country! We ended up having more time to tour around by ourselves then planned. The sun doesn't start to come up until after 10am and people don't really seem to start moving until 11. Sounds good to me

We tried some of the local brews- good and cuisine-yum. Really didn't have a bad eating experience while we were there. Were recommended to try a local hotdog, which was very tastey. Also ate seafood soup which was always delicious and even tried some Minke Whale and Reindeer.

One of the famous sites of Reykjavik is the Hallgrímskirkja- a church that is meant to look like a mountain. It stands about 244ft high, or for my European friends approx 75 meters. It really is quite impressive.

Inside the church

Snow!!! and to think we were contemplating whether we should bring our snow boots : )

During our tour of Reykjakik they took us over to the presidents house. We just walked right on the grounds. There are no guards or security that we could tell. Our guide even told us that he got a flat one day and the president gave him a ride. Coud you imagine Obama doing that?! I also thought it was great that 80% of their taxes go to healthcare and education.

Grounds of the President's house

This door reminds me of "Lord of the Rings" Found out that Icelanders have a strong belief in Elves and even have committees to make sure that Elf habitat is not destroyed during construction.

One of our tours that we did was caving and snorkeling in a glacier lake. We had a great time and it only ended up being 3 of us plus our guide. Because of the snow the entrance to the cave had to be dug out.

We slid on the snow into the entrance of the cave. There were times in the cave that we had to slither on our bellies to pass through narrow areas. It was interesting to learn about the volcanoes and formation of the caves

After the cave we went to a glacier lake where we spent some time snorkeling. The water was crystal clear and it was absolutely beautiful looking around the lake at the snow covered landscape. They had us bundled up in big snow bib type outfits which were covered by drysuits. It was freezing standing in the snow trying to get it all on.

We ended our trip with a stop off at the Blue Lagoon. A hotsprings. It was fun to sit in the warm water with snow all around us.

Had a wonderful time. Definitely want to go back!

NYC/Jersey

Finally, after a year and a half of living in the east coast made it to New Jersey to see family. Spent a day in NYC. An easy ride on the New Jersey Transit system and checked out some of "the city's" holiday spirit.

Rockefellar Center Xmas tree

There were a lot of people sightseeing, shopping, ice skating. Got a little overwhelming at times.

Made it over to Times Squate where the ball drop for New Years occurs. Saw the stage set up for the big event. I still can't get over that people choose to go stand in the cold for hours with no beverage just to count back from 10. Watching it on TV sounds much better to me.

The stage where they will do the countdown for the ball drop

Spent some time with family in New Jersey. My cousin Em lives in Hoboken;
a nice escape from the craziness of New York City. Loved checking out the shops/restaurants/bars of this area.

Hoboken-quite the contrast from Manhattan.

Cousins : )

The Cake Boss Bakery is in Hoboken. Personally have never seen this show, but people were lined up around the block to get in.

Great views of Manhattan from Hoboken.

Not sure why I hadn't bothered to head this way before. It's an easy, inexpensive trip. Definitely will have to make it back this year.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Viva! Las Vegas! Went to Sin City to celebrate my 33rd B-day and run in a half marathon. I definitely did not prepare like I should have for the half, but I managed to finish, jogging about 7miles and walk/jogging the last half. Kate, Kristall, and Jason were all nice or crazy (depending on how you look at it) enough to run with me.

(I really wanted to find a party hat for my b-day, but had to go with a St. Patty's day one)

The half marathon course started at Mandalay Bay went down Las Vegas Blvd, over to the Fremont District and back towards Mandalay. Running down the strip and seeing the lights of Vegas was a pretty neat course.

There were 45,000 people running which made it nearly impossible to run at times. Bands were set up along the course to play music for us "runners" I found that most of the time they weren't playing when I went by, which I found to be very frustrating.

Of course couldn't go to Vegas without doing a little gambling and having a some fun. Wish I could say that I won big, but no such luck. Thanks to my family, Kristall and Jason, Robbie and Nicole, Lela, Mark for all the fun.

It's Christmas time so a little holiday spirit Vegas style.

As always has a lot of fun! Next year I'll have to prepare better. Anyone interested in running next time?