V is for Vacations

When I sat down to write a post for “V,” I thought it was going to be tough.  I came up blank.  Then I turned to my wonderful Facebook friends and asked for help, and ended up with too many choices!  The nice thing about it is that I can write all the posts I want and then use them later.

Today I’m going to write about one of my favorite things… vacations!  I don’t take as many as I’d like to, but then, who does?  I love to travel and see new things.  I’m not a sit-by-the-beach-with-a-cocktail-for-a-week kind of girl.  Although I do enjoy that for a day or so (okay, a couple hours), I get antsy if it goes on too long.  If I’m going to travel, it’s because I want to see and do things.  If I wanted to sit somewhere with a good book, I’ll just stay home.

So far, the places I’ve been on vacation: Atlantic City, San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Mexico, Germany, Sedona, The Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls (both sides), the Bahamas.  Still on the list of places I really, really want to see?  Alaska, Hawaii, Seattle (I want to see the rainforest!), Ireland, England… and many others, though those are my top picks.  I also would love to be in good enough shape to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon one day.  I do a four mile hike with a friend once a week until temperatures are well into the triple digits, but hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon is 7 miles one way.

I was only 13 when I got to go to Germany, and it was great, though I didn’t appreciate it as much as I would if I got to go tomorrow.  I got to see a ton of castles though, and back then, I was fascinated with castles, especially dungeons.  I had an idea that people got tortured in dungeons, and I really wanted to see the torture devices.  Of course, I didn’t get to see any dungeons at all, just pretty rooms and fancy antiques.  It was still pretty thrilling for me.  The other thing I remember about Germany was that it was COLD.  We went in February, and I was freezing.  The wind just about blew me over.

My favorite vacation was in the Bahamas.  I was sick the whole time with bronchitis, and survived on TheraFlu (I don’t recommend it, BTW).  I had to cancel swimming with the dolphins and snorkeling because I couldn’t breathe, but we did manage to find this tiny little zoo and we did quite a bit of exploring.  I was swimming outside our hotel one day, and my husband spotted stingrays in the water.  That was pretty thrilling!

I haven’t been on a vacation in a few years.  Life interferes, you know?  But I haven’t even vacationed at home, which can be pretty awesome too.  A week off, where you do little or nothing (resist… the urge… to clean… must… resist…).  A week off to sleep in, watch TV, read, play with the pets, order food… sounds pretty great to me!

What’s the best vacation you ever took?