It’s time for Friday Five linkup with DC area bloggers Courtney at Eat Pray Run DC, Cynthia at You Signed Up for What?!, and Mar at Mar on the Run! Be sure to stop by their blogs and say hello! While you’re there, be sure to check out other bloggers who are participating in the linkup, too. This week the DC Trifecta chose Five Trips To Take (or Trips I’ve Taken) as the theme…..
“People don’t take trips,
Trips take people”
~ John Steinbeck
I am not a exactly a world traveler, but the places I’ve visited have had a lasting impact on me, and make me want to return – again and again. I think it’s time Bill and I plan another trip!
Here are my most memorable trips, in no particular order…..
1. Three days after our son Joseph graduated from college, Bill and I took him and our other son Daniel to Italy for ten days. We spent the first five days in Rome, and the second five days in Florence. While in Italy, we also spent one day at the Vatican and one day in the Tuscan countryside. We took thousands of pictures, ate amazing food, and drank many bottles of wine. It was a fabulous family vacation!
View from our hotel in Florence
2. Three weeks after Bill and I were married, we honeymooned at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We spent our time hiking the Tetons and playing tourists in Yellowstone. We were wowed by the vastness of the mountains, and the size of the bull moose that wouldn’t move out of our way on our hike up to Lake Solitude.
Grand Tetons in Jackson, Wyoming
3. During our second year of grad school in Utah, Bill’s brother came to visit us for two weeks. Together we took a road-trip north from Utah to Idaho, and then headed counter-clockwise to Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, and back to Utah. We camped amongst the redwoods, hiked through Yosemite, and ate our weight in five cents per pound grapes straight from the vines.
Deb in Yosemite
4. When moving to and from Utah (and then later Colorado), we took our sweet time driving across our beautiful country and through states we had never visited before. One of our favorite spots was southern Utah, home to Arches, Zion, Bryce, and Canyonlands.
Dead Horse Point in Southern Utah
And apparently Dead Horse Point is the free range chicken’s favorite spot as well. Check out his selfie at 17 seconds.
5. Bill and I took our first vacation (without our sons) to Hawaii when the boys were about six and four years old. While in Maui we attended a luau, relaxed by the pool, snorkeled, biked down from the top of the inactive volcano, Mt. Haleakala, and in general enjoyed each others company without “little” interruptions.
Bill and Deb about to bike down Mt. Haleakala
Bonus: My most recent memorable “trip” happened at last Saturday’s =PR= Trail Run Series run at Algonkian Regional Park when I caught my toe on a rock and tripped and fell. Banged up and bruised, I’m going to be fine and my foot didn’t complain too much on my first run back this morning after jamming it against the rock on Saturday. I know – corny, but I couldn’t resist!
One of many bruises after the fall
- Questions:
- Where was your favorite trip?
- Do you like planning trips, or do you prefer for someone else to plan it for you?
- Are you racing this weekend?
Congratulations on your most recent PR. Italy is definitely on my bucket list of places to visit. Sounds like an amazing experience.
[email protected] recently posted…5 Place to Plan a Racecation
It took me a few seconds to realize why you were congratulating me on my recent PR, but then I realized that I referred to “=PR= Trail” which stands for Potomac River Trail! You weren’t the only one, and it brought a smile to my face!
Italy was amazing and I can’t wait to return. I highly recommend a trip there!
It’s been way too long since we’ve done a nice long road trip! I really want to go to Yellowstone. There’s a trail run in that area, I think in June…you got me thinking now!
Diane @runninrocker recently posted…Rockin’ Vacations!
When we lived in Utah, Yellowstone was only a four hour drive. Wish there had been a Yellowstone Half back then, but I’m sure it didn’t exist! I think it would be an absolutely beautiful race! Go for it so I can read your race recap and live vicariously through you!
So nice you were able to take your son to Italy following his graduation. Florence is one of my favorite cities and Tuscany is on the bucket list of course.
Reading “Under The Tuscan Sun” put Tuscany at the top of my bucket list! We were so happy to be able to spend a day touring three towns, and I would love to go back and spend a month there!
Jackson Hole is such a beautiful place for hiking and vacationing.Sorry you had that little incident with the rock last week but a PR was worth it! I love planning trips and this year we are taking a river cruise from Vienna to Basel in August for a couple weeks. My next trip is to Boston next week for the marathon!
Pam recently posted…5 Running Trips
HaHa – you’re the second person that thought I set a PR. It took me a few minutes to figure out why, but they I realized I’d written =PR= Trail run…… The PR stands for Potomac River!
Your river cruise sounds extremely cool! And Boston – it will be the best running weekend of your life! Have you run Boston before? Congrats on qualifying!
I love Italy and we talk about renting a villa there somewhere one summer. How great would that be?!
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner recently posted…5 Fitness Tests That You Can Pass
Renting a villa in Tuscany for the summer would be my ideal vacation!
Those trips sound so awesome. Love the common denominator – great food!! Ouch! Sorry you tripped on Saturday. I was really expecting to wipe out myself!
Courtney @ Eat Pray Run DC recently posted…Five Trips to Take
Thanks, Courtney! Of course I picked the flattest, totally non-technical section of the trail to trip and fall. Erin and I looked and couldn’t even find a rock sticking up that I might have tripped on.
I’ve always wanted to go to Italy. It sounds like a fabulous trip! All of them sounded fabulous. I’d love to road trip across the states some day.
Courtney @ Don’t Blink. Just Run. recently posted…Face The Music Friday #70
Italy was amazing, and we had such a wonderful time! Other than Florida, I’ve never visited the states along the Gulf of Mexico, and would love to do a road trip there sometime.
So many beautiful places to visit and so little time! We’ve have some great trips. One fairly recent trip was to St. John USVI. We snorkeled in different spots around the island for a week. Very relaxing.
HoHo Runs recently posted…Five Trips
Your trip to St. John sounds so relaxing. Our next door neighbors have a time-share there and go every January. They love it there, too!
Those all sound like amazing trips (well, I imagine the last one wasn’t that much fun!). Jackson Hole is right at the top of my family vacation wish list! We want to wait until Eli is a little older, but it’s a must do for me!
We loved Jackson Hole, and miss easily making a day trip there on the spur of the moment. It’s a lot farther from Virginia!
Great list! I’ve got Yellowstone on my list of places to go back to and spend more time because a one day drive through was not enough! I’d also love to spend some time around Arches and Zion as well.
Have a great weekend!
Leana recently posted…Five Trips to Take
Southern Utah is absolutely gorgeous! It’s definitely a place to add to your bucket list. I’ve got the bug to go back there for a week or two of hiking and running!
Great list!!
Italy-adding that to my list!
Where was your favorite trip?-Favorite trip thus far was my 40th bday trip with the girls to St. Martin. We rented a villa and we were there for 7 days!
Do you like planning trips, or do you prefer for someone else to plan it for you? I am such a planner. I have a great ravel agent who puts it all together for me but I do most of the research 🙂
Are you racing this weekend? Running Cherry Blossom! So excited!
Italy was definitely a trip of a lifetime. I’d go back there in a second! Your 40th birthday celebration sounds like a ton of fun!
Ouch – that bruise on your arm looks very painful!!!
Fun trips – loved the pictures!!!
Kim recently posted…14 Fun Facts for Hunter’s 14th Birthday
Thanks, Kim!
Oh no at your most recent “trip!” Ouch! I hope you are ok!
I have so many favorite trips: our honeymoon to Maui, SF and Napa, our European adventure to Paris, Rome and Venice… I just love traveling.
I love planning trips myself. I am kind of a control freak, so I like to have my hands in the details.
Yep, I am racing a 5K this weekend.
MrJenn recently posted…friday five: trips
Your vacations sound wonderful. I want to go back to Italy and visit the Amalfi coast and surrounding areas.
Good luck at your 5K!
Jackson Hole ranks as one of my all-time favorites, too! We went in the fall of 2013 and also hiked to Lake Solitude (and beyond to Amphitheater Lake). I blogged about it here: http://writethehappyending.com/2013/09/15/a-jackson-hole-half-marathon-and-60-miles-at-high-altitude-for-taylor/
Thanks for sharing these awesome memories! I’m not racing this weekend but am knocking out another state in May!
Laura recently posted…Running for Taylor in 50 States: Virginia
I loved revisiting your recap of your trip to Jackson Hole. I really want to go back!
It’s hard to say what would be my favorite trip. We go to Florida every year (the beach), but I loved my trip to Arizona about 10 years ago. We went to Tucson, and drove to the Grand Canyon. That was an amazing trip.
Wendy@Taking the Long Way Home recently posted…Taking the Long Way Home Book Club: Interview with Hal Higdon, author of 4:09:43 Boston Through the Eyes of the Runners
Florida sounds like a fun annual trip! I’ve been to Florida three times – once in the summer and twice during the late fall. The fall was delightful! Many of my friends want to retire there, but it would be way too hot for me in the summer!
Love all the road trips you guys have taken!
And italy sounds like such a memorable family vacation!
I used to have major wanderlust, and Thailand still ranks as one of my favourite places. However, I like road trips more and more! Our California coast trip last year was pretty amazing, especially since it was our last bit trip without a child!
Abby recently posted…Workouts and running through pregnancy – third trimester
Those road trips were way too long ago! We keep talking about flying to Colorado and taking a road trip from there to Utah and then north to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. Wouldn’t that be fun?
I love to travel and can’t really say I have a favorite trip. Each trip has a special meaning to me. My last trip to Nepal and Singapore, I did none of the planning and it was quite refreshing. I went with the flow and had someone else do the planning.
Daisy @ Fit Wanderlust Runner recently posted…Friday Five: 5 Places to Visit in California
Visiting Nepal and Singapore sounds fun. Did you do much hiking in Nepal? And if so, how was the altitude?
The scenery out west is so breathtaking! I would love to spend some more time out there, especially in the Wyoming area. The chicken in that free range chicken commercial looks exactly like Agnes and we always joke that she’s doing commercials on the side in secret.
I have a matching bruise to yours now, after taking a spill in yesterday’s trail race!
Oh no – I hope you weren’t hurt too badly in yesterday’s fall.
We could pose Agnes in front of the picture Bill took of Dead Horse Point to recreate the Geico commercial selfie! 🙂
I love to travel and one of my dreams is to go to Italy! If I like it, I will straight move there! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your adventures! Lovely post! 🙂
I’m sure you will love Italy!