NaBloPoMo Day 11--Slovenia

I don't remember why we decided to go to Slovenia. My friend and I were planning a post-medical school graduation trip to visit my mom in Austria. I imagine we looked at a map of where my mom lived, picked the country we knew least about and decided to go there. And such a good decision it was.

A few fun facts about Slovenia:
-- It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria on the north, Croatia on the south and Hungary to the east
-- They declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991
-- Slovenia became a member of the EU in 2004 and introduced the Euro in 2007
-- There is one inch of sea coast for every inhabitant (I don't think you actually get to own your one inch of sea coast though)

I encourage anyone planning a trip to that part of the world to spend a few days in Slovenia (a few days is all you need). And to make your trip even easier, I shall provide you with 10 things to do when you visit Slovenia:
1. Visit Bled, a beautiful lake resort town.

2. Eat kremna rezina (cream cake). A Slovenia speciality and so yummy.

3. Walk to the Vintgar Gorge. It's about an hour long walk, but through beautiful countryside.

4. Rent a car. It's really the only way to see all there is to see in Slovenia as the trains are not going to get you to many places. And the roads are great.
5. Drive through the Julian Alps. This is where Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" was based.

6. Stay on a farm and make some Slovenian friends, like these guys who shared their beer and prosciutto with us.

7. Visit the Predjama castle, near Postonja. You can visit the torture chamber and re-create scenes where you put your friends on the stretcher.

8. The caves! The most amazing place I have ever been. Think Goonies, but without the pirate ship. There are two big cave systems: the Postonja caves, which repordedly have moving sidewalks and trams, and the Skocjan caves, which are a UNESCO world heritage site, and the ones we went to.

9. Eat seafood in Piran

10. Spend a day in Ljubljana, the capital. But skip the castle. Worst castle in all of Slovenia.

NaBloPoMo Day 10--My Favorite Place in the World

Now this was not a terribly competitive contest, as I have not traveled extensively outside the U.S., but this was one of the most beautiful, enjoyable, funnest trips I've been on. Today, just the pictures. Tomorrow, I will tell you the high points, so you too can visit this beautiful place.

NaBloPoMo Day 9--Glacier

My last stay in WWAMI-land was 6 weeks in Great Falls, MT. When it came time to head back to Seattle, it would have been easy to head south to I-90 and cruise along that all the way home, but no. After discovering my love of the road trip, I could not bring myself to take the direct route. Besides, the road through Glacier National Park had opened up a few weeks ago and this was my chance to check it out. So I drove north, and took a very leisurely drive through the park. Nothing much else to say about Glacier really, I didn't get out of the car and hike at all, just drove from viewpoint to viewpoint. It was all quite beautiful, like so much of the west is. Here are some photographic highlights to encourage you all to get out and explore the west.

NaBloPoMo Day 8--Road Trip to Julian

Since the honeymoon, Adam and I started a new blog to post about our joint adventures. It seemed silly for both of us to write about the same thing, and post the same pictures on seperate blogs (is this what marriage means these days? you combine blogs?)

Thus, our short adventure in Julian is on that blog. I think I will eventually migrate my personal blog over there as well, I just have to figure out how best to do that.

Tomorrow, there will be something else here. Glacier if I get around to blogging early enough. Something less time consuming if I don't get around to it until late.

NaBloPoMo Day 7--Too Tired for Glacier

Today's plan was to tell you about my final road trip of my WWAMI adventure, the drive through Glacier National Park. But I am le tired, so perhaps later this weekend?

Tomorrow Adam and I are taking a little road trip of our own to Julian, where we will go hiking and eat apple pie. Then some friends are coming over for a night of board games and cake. I had to bribe them all with cake. I can't say I blame them. If someone asked you if you wanted to spend your Saturday night playing board games, would you do it if there weren't any cake?

You may notice the latest addition to my blog, the widget to your right. Now I can spy on you all and tell who has been reading my blog. Kind of. It doesn't really tell me who you are, just where you came from. I had been using google analytics, but I always forget to check it. It's nice to know people love me.

So stay tuned for this weekends adventure. I'm hoping to find real fall in Julian, instead of this half-assed fall San Diego is trying to pull-off.

NaBloPoMo Day 6--Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park is an amazing place. It can be enjoyed by anyone, whether you are the type of person who wants to enjoy the views from your car, or you want to do some backcountry hiking. The animals are everywhere: buffalo, elk, bears. And it's all a little scary if you think about the fact that you are on top of a caldera.

I went to Yellowstone twice while living out in Wyoming/Montana. Once was just a drive through on my way from Buffalo to Great Falls. The other time was a weekend trip from Great Falls, which included a short hike into the backcountry. It's amazing how different the park is if you get off the roads and away from the parking lots. We didn't see a single other person during our hike, and came upon all kind of geysers and hot springs. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures during these adventures and the ones I did take aren't very good.

But take my word for it, Yellowstone is amazing. You should go.

NaBloPoMo Day 5--Wyoming

I think fall arrived today. How does one tell when fall arrives in So. California where the trees never lose their leaves and frost is unheard of? As best I can tell, three things herald the coming of fall: it is dark when I go running after work, the temperature does not get above 75, and Peet's has eggnog lattes. Based on those criteria, it is now fall.

So now we move on to the next stop on my tour of the west during the fall/winter/spring of 2003-2004. After Alaska, I spent 3 months living in Wyoming. A vast beautiful state, where I more fully developed the art of road tripping.

After spending the first 6 weeks in Sheridan, WY living in old officers' housing at the VA hospital, I moved on to Buffalo, WY. It was while in Buffalo that my friend, who was living in equally exciting Havre, MT at the time, came down for what I still think of as the ultimate road trip.

I must have had a 3-day weekend, because I seem to recall this being a 3-day event. But who knows, it all blurs together after this many years. Regardless, we started in Buffalo one lovely spring day, and decided to go to Mt. Rushmore--about 3 1/2 hours away. And I got to check a new state off my list.

On the way home, never ones to take the direct route, we swung by Deadwood, SD to partake in some blackjack and a prime rib buffet. Many hours (and miles) later we returned home.

The next day, we decided to drive over the mountains to a little town for lunch. Here is what we planned to do (60 miles each way):

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Here is what we actually did (nearly 400 miles round trip):

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It was a very lovely drive: It started off innocently enough."Thermopolis! That sounds funny, let's go." We had A&W root beer floats there (did I mention this friend was the enabler from Alaska?). Then we saw the sign for the Sierra Trading Post Outlet Store in Cody. "Let's go shopping!" Our final goal was to get to Sheridan before 9 pm so we could get ourselves a tasty steak dinner. Rather than go back the way we came, we chose to make a loop, crossing the mountains on Hwy 14. This pass is at 9000 ft. We got stuck in a snow storm--in May. But eventually we made it down, safely got our steak dinner and once again, back to Buffalo. The next day we had brunch at a local hotel. Because is was Easter and that is what people do on Easter. One of the best road trip weekends ever.

Tomorrow... Yellowstone. One of my favorite places in the whole country.