Why I LOVE my husband!

You know what else I like about October travels? It's my bday!! AND  our anniversary.  So there has always been lots of surprises this month. It makes me a little anxious, to tell you the truth. But in a good way.

For our 15th anniversary, my sweet hubby planned a trip aboard the American Queen. It was an overnight paddle boat that went up the Mississippi, Ohio, and Cumberland rivers. We met while we were working on the Mississippi Queen, a sister boat, so he wanted to take us down memory lane, but sadly, the MQ wasn't running anymore so we were off to the AQ. Now Rick is pretty brilliant in that he had me fooled the entire time and I didn't suspect a thing! I said he likes to surprise me, right?

We had dear friends as company at our house that week, which probably helped me not to notice anything unusual, as we were busy with them. So the morning we are to leave for the AQ trip (that I knew nothing about), we were supposed to take our friends to the airport and then off to a business meeting so I am dressed in heels, skirt, the whole thing!  When we arrived at the airport, he parked instead of just dropping off our guests, so now, I knew something was up....when I asked him why we were parking he just smiled and out comes the suitcase!  Well, long story short,  he had it all planned, our oldest daughter who was 13 packed for me, and did a GREAT job! I was a bit surprised but I had everything I needed and more. He had thought of everything, he usually does. :)

Ummmm.......What the?????

SURPRISE!!!!!

Just a bit overwhelming by all my friends!

So why should THIS October be any different? I really didn't suspect anything as our anniversary had passed which is when he usually does a surprise. but of course, this being my 40th......

It wasn't a trip. It was better.  I got to spend it with all my family and friends that I love so dearly. It was a wonderful evening filled with lots of laughter!  I wouldn't trade it for anything! Thank you to my family for setting it up and my friends for making a GREAT memory! I love you all!

Leaves, Color, & Breezes

Ahhhh.... Fall. Don't ya just love it? Here in Colorado, the aspens are past their peak but there are few holding on to their bright golden color. We are supposed to get a little snow on Mon. so they will be completely gone after that.  I just love this time of year and most years, here, we are lucky to get two weekends of "fall". Today, we could smell the smoke from the neighbors fire, my daughter is baking cookies, and we had chili for dinner. What a perfect fall day!

We don't have any trips planned this month; although my sister is trying to get me to come visit her for our birthdays (we're twins).  We personally love to travel this time of year, so even though I am not going anywhere, I have been thinking of other October trips. The drive to Alaska was certainly memorable. My favorite fall day that trip was in Dawson City, the start of the AlCan highway. Our kids were young (just under 4, 2, & 1!) and we had stopped at a local playground park for lunch and to let the girls run around. There was tons of big, crunchy Maple leaves that they loved sliding down the slide into, and a brisk fall breeze. We played until their little noses were red and runny, then went across the street for hot soup! It was like a commercial for Cambell's Soup! :).  It started snowing about a week later, and we never saw the ground again while we were up North! It was covered in snow the rest of the trip!
Another trip was through the Parkway, the colors were magnificent! We drove the North Carolina section, and it was up beautifully kept up with nice pull offs for whatever.
Unfortunately, I have never been further north up the East Coast for Fall, than Pittsburg. So that is definitely on our list! I have to say, though, that being on the Mississippi River up to St. Paul, is so gorgeous, I'm sure it gives the Coast a run for it's money.
I have experienced Autumn in I think all the states I've been to which is something like 40! Including Hawaii, which didn't seem like fall at all! while we there. Hopefully you all are enjoying this season no matter where you are. "Traveling" or not. Get out there and LIVE it!

My Favorite Place

I must confess, my favorite place in the whole world is right beside my hubby, my best friend, the love of my life. Wherever he wants to lead me is fine by me!

Trust me, this can literally mean to the ends of the earth! What do I mean by that? Do I mean the far flung Orient? The wilds of Alaska or Timbuktu? While some of that may be true, I mean the end. The end. of. the. earth. As in no people (or precious few, anyway). I chose to follow this man to..... Antarctica! Yep! You read that right. "Why would I want to go there?", my family asked. I had never been anywhere but the Carribean. Simple, really, I had just gotten a taste of exploring a small part of this great world; also, Rick and his sister wanted to go to Antarctica, as this was the last continent for them. So! I asked what any sane person would, "Could I come too?"

Antarctica. Such understated beauty! Don't get me wrong, the penguins are great. But past all that, the sky is open, the land and sea, vast. The sound, like you are ease dropping on a private conversation between the Creator and His creation. You would think it is eerily quiet but actually, the ice is always creaking and groaning, breaking and calving. The penguins are making penguin noises, the walruses grunting and snorting, and the gulls and Albatross, squawking.

Do you know how my man confirmed that I would follow him anywhere?
After he got me to the end of this earth, on a cliff overlooking the ocean, he got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him. Of course, I told him he was lying! :) I really did. But when I regained my senses, I told him yes! See? I really do have a favorite place. It is in the arms of the one I love. And now, 17 years later, I would do it all again! Happy Anniversary, Honey. I Love You.

Favorite Places....Tell Me Yours and I'll Tell You Mine!

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to tell me your favorite place. What made it so special? Why is it different than any of your other travels? What are the memories you visit again, and again? Was it a trek in the rain forest? A hike in Nepal?
I would love to hear from you and hope you aren't too tired from too much travel to answer! :) If you haven't physically been there yet, then where do you want to go?

I have to say, Rick has been to so many more places than I have, that he asks me this from time to time. To each of us, it will always be different. Maybe your favorite place keeps changing. That's OK. Pick one. Tell me about it. And I promise next time to tell you mine.


So I have to add, that even though the first comment says it was written by me, it was my hubby Rick. We use the same computer so it comes up as me, but then it sounds like I am writing in third person! Too funny!

Flying Cheap. Is It an Oxymoron?

There is not much to say because I think no matter how average price the ticket, we all wish it was cheaper....
I, for one, am no expert. I only fly about twice a year domestically, the other travels being road trips. That said, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve. 
 
First - Air Miles
       If you are going to use a card that gets air miles, get one that can be used on any airline with NO restriction. Citibank has such card.

It came in VERY handy!

Second - Search! 
       Try all the majors, orbitz, travelocity, kayak, etc. Then if you are not on a time crunch going or coming, priceline.com can deliver the goods.
       Or, have you considered smaller airlines that don't participate in those big search aggregates? Southwest is great with the "Ding!" service for last minute bargains and Allegiant Air has great prices but has limited routes. 
      However, owning our own business, I am always on the lookout for the best bargains, as it is still ultimately MY dime.  I stumbled across lastminute.com
I don't recommend waiting till the last minute, but sometimes it is unavoidable! I got very reasonable tickets from Denver to Baltimore for around $225 RT with a stop in D.C. No deplaning and tickets on other sites were $400-600 because it was within 2 weeks from departure. Again, it may not always work out, but worth the look! They have a US version and a UK one.

Third - Buddy Passes
      Totally depends on the airlines. Some run certain price per leg, like United. If you are going non-stop, decent prices and especially last minute. Others are flat rate. Some end up being same as buying ticket ahead of time, like when I flew from Denver to New Orleans. However, the buddy pass ended up cheaper because it cost nothing to change flight out when otherwise was around $100!

When flying overseas, there is all sorts of other factors, namely the countries going to/from. My sis found great deals last minute (unlike USA) because they would rather fill a flight. I have heard of other small airlines in Europe that you can get a ticket from country to country for next to nothing! $45 vs. $225 on major airline.

As with anything, do your research, it pays! And trek responsibly