When Do We Leave?

  
This week Beth wants to know what our top ten dream vacations are.  Sigh.  This year any vacation is a dream vacation thanks to lack of time and spare moola to fund such a thing.  So....I'll dream away.  Here's my list.

10.  I'd like to plan a trip to meet some of my blogging and Facebook friends.  Oklahoma, California and Illinois would be on the list for sure.  Add Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee and Georgia.  It could be a very long trip.

Ignore that head on Oregon/Washington boarder.  I have no idea who that guy is.  I did a search for road trip maps and this one came closest to capturing how crazy I think my own route would be.

9.  If  I can't do #10 then I want to go to Oklahoma.  For some reason I seem to have made a lot of connections there.  I could meet all of them and fulfill my long-time desire to drive from one end of Route 66 to the other.  Hmmm....and maybe we could play six degrees of separation.  Do any of you Okies know my man, Toby??

8.  I've always wanted to visit the Middle East...Israel, Egypt, Turkey, etc.  I harbor a love of architecture and history that would have me in hog heaven to be in such an ancient place.  I think of how we, here in America, are so proud of our history and get all amazed by things that are 200-300 years old.  My mind boggles at being surrounded by things that are 2000 or more years old.  Sadly, that part of the world is so unstable I doubt I will ever get there.

7.  England, Ireland & Scotland to see where my ancestors came from.  That's predominantly what you'll find in my DNA, though there were some Swiss Mennonites in my grandmother's family tree and seeing as how my family has been here since the time of the Pilgrims....I'm sure there's a ton of other genes muddying up the DNA pool.

6.  Italy would be amazing to see (and eat my way through).  I've wanted to see the Tuscan region ever since I watched Under the Tuscan Sun.

5.  Another ancient place I've always wanted to see and the desire has been fired in recent years by the movie My Life in Ruins, is Greece.

4.  Another entry in the "probably not the safest place to visit" catagory is Mexico....and I'm not talking about the shiny, overrun by tourists, destinations.  I want to see the real Mexico.  I just don't want to run into any druglords while I'm doing it.

3.  I've always wanted to head "down under" to Australia.  We sent our daughter there two years ago as a student ambassador with People to People.  She spent three weeks doing all the things I've dreamed of doing....snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, swimming with dolphins, exploring the rainforest, staying on a ranch (where she learned handy things like how to crack a bullwhip), standing on top of the Sydney bridge and touring the Opera House...just to name a few.  Someday I hope to make it there.

2.  Ever since I saw Lucy and Ricky do it, I've wanted to drive across the U.S. on Route 30 (which is conveniently only about 2 miles from my house).  At one time it was the thing to do and roadside attractions ruled.  Most of those are gone, but some remain and I'm sure there are new things to see.  There are a lot of guide books out there to help plan a trip.

1.  Anywhere in the Caribbean would do, but I admit that since I read Hemmingway's Cuba I am dying for Cuba to be opened to U.S. citizens.  It is a major destination for the rest of the world and it is gorgeous!

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Just for fun, here are some pictures from my trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo yesterday:

Our new friend.

Duck and koi.

Just beautiful!  And he/she (?) didn't mind us at all.

The aquarium was a huge hit.

This little guy LOVED the giant fish on the bottom of the tank and begged me to take his picture with it.  Unfortunately, you can barely see the fish...look very, very closely.

This big guy kept coming up to the surface.  We couldn't decide if he was hungry...

....or wanted a kiss!