The Silent "I"

The Accidental Tourists

On Monday, June 25, from 9-10 pm Eastern (6-7 Pacific), I'm participating in a Twitter Party with the wonderful women of Traveling Mom, sponsored by Travel Guard North America a leading travel insurance plan provider.  Travel Guard's Gold Plan covers kids 17 and under for free, and is definitely worth checking out for additional peace of mind for your summer and adventure travel plans. You can RSVP at Traveling Mom to register for prizes during the Twitter Party.  Join us on Monday night to share your adventure stories or your dreams of adventures-to-come!

We're generally not the rugged outdoorsy types who enjoy rock-climbing, mountain biking, and other dangerous activities.  To be honest, my idea of "roughing it" is a motel with no room service.  Some of our trips have led to some unexpected adventures, and this story about our trip to Greenland in 2007, is one of my favorite examples.

On our second day in Qaqortoq, Greenland, we got up early to catch a boat to the Norse ruins at Hvalsey. I had been reading Jane Smiley's historical novel, The Greenlanders, which is set during the 14th century and the waning years of the Norse colony in Greenland.  The book follows the fortunes and misfortunes of one family of Norse settlers, and the toll that disease, famine, and climate change take on them over the years. Most of the book takes place in the fjords near where we were staying, and I was curious to see how the modern scene compared to what was described in the book.  It's a terrific book, one that I highly recommend if you are interested in what might have happened to the Viking colonies that settled Greenland for 500 years, then just disappeared. 

We were supposed to meet our boat at the small dock at the bottom of the hill, and when we got there, there was a small cabin-cruiser waiting for us.  We waited to see if a guide would join us, but didn't see anyone, so we just boarded the boat on our own.  There was a thirty-ish Greenlandic woman on-board, a Danish man, and the captain, a handsome young Greenlandic man who looked a little like a weather-beaten Keanu Reeves. 

As we were getting ready to leave, two older men wearing painting overalls came aboard with buckets of paint and tools.  I wondered if they were doing some work at the ruins, or if we were dropping them off en route. No one except the captain spoke English.  The three men had an animated conversation in Danish, as cigarettes dangled from their lips.  I hoped none of the bottles of paint thinner they were carrying would burst into flames, but I tend to worry like that.

I asked Frank, "Are you sure this is the right boat?" just as the captain untied the boat from the dock. 

"I guess so.  It's 8 am, and this is the only boat here."  He showed me the e-mail confirmation of the time and the name of the boat landing.   We figured they would probably let us know if they weren't expecting us.

Captain Keanu invited us into the cabin and graciously offered us coffee.  It was cold and misty outside, so we welcomed the chance to be inside the warm cabin.  The Greenlandic woman stoically sat outside in the back for a while, but as we sped through the fjord, she got cold and came in.  She didn't speak to anyone on the boat the entire time, so I figured she was most definitely not the tour guide.

We were on the boat for about an hour and made a turn up another fjord, this one full of ice chunks and icebergs of varying sizes.  We could hear the ka-chunk ka-chunk ka-chunk of the boat hitting the ice.  This sound scared me during the first boat trip we took through the icy waters of Ilulissat.  By now, I was used to the sound and no longer feared that the ice was ripping the hull of the boat to shreds and that we were going to sink at any moment, like a mini-Titanic with no band.

As we got further into the ice-covered fjord, Frank noticed a town up ahead, so he asked the captain, "When do we get to Hvalsey?"

Captain Keanu looked at him blankly.  "Hvalsey?  This boat goes to Narsaq."

"Narsaq?  Do we go to Hvalsey Church after Narsaq?" Frank replied.

"No.  We never go to Hvalsey.  Only Narsaq.  I normally don't drive such a boat.  I work on the passenger ship," the captain offered.

"When do you go back?" Frank asked.

"July 11.  Next Tuesday," was the reply.  Frank turned beet red and I thought he was going to have a stroke or a coronary right on the spot.  Now I knew why we kept seeing ambulances parked at the docks. I started to worry.  We pulled into the dock and the workers, the Greenlandic woman, and the Danish man got off, along with all the painting supplies.

I decided to pipe up,"So, when will this boat go back to Qaqortoq?"

"I don't know.  You can get off if you want. Maybe the other captain will take you." 

"Who is the other captain?" I asked.

"The other man who was here," he gestured to the seat at the table where the portly Danish man had been sitting.  "Maybe he take you.  Are you sure you won't get off?" 

I said, "No, thanks." There was no way I was getting off that boat without finding someone to take us back to Qaqortoq.  I had a vision of Captain Keanu and the Danish captain each grabbing one of my legs and trying to pull me off the boat while I dug my nails into the starboard side.  At this point, hijacking the boat and ka-chunk-ing it back through the icebergs myself would not have been out of the question.  Frank looked worried and mopped his brow.

Annular Eclipse: May 20, 2012

 

Eclipse Watchers in Redding, California

 We traveled up to Redding, California last weekend to pursue one of our favorite family activities: viewing a solar eclipse.  This time, we didn't need a fancy cruise ship or a trip to the Sahara Desert or even an airplane to get to the site.  We just drove our trusty, dusty Lexus RX300 about four hours north.  

An Annular Eclipse is one in which the moon covers most, but not all, of the sun.  What's left is known as the "Ring of Fire".  You don't get the same twilight effect or the diamond ring of a total eclipse, but it is still a pretty spectacular sight.  The moon moves slowly over the sun, leaving only a golden ring shining through.  The center line of this particular annular eclipse ran through Oregon, Northern California, Nevada, New Mexico, and the Texas Panhandle. It's a once-in-every-forty-years sight at any given location, so it was worth the drive north to see it in all its glory.  The last annular we viewed was in Costa Rica when Alex was 18 months old.  

We headed out on our 2012 eclipse adventure on Saturday, May 19, after a rushed packing job that left us without sunscreen, lawn chairs, or hats.  As much as we travel, you'd think we wouldn't forget essentials, but it happens to the best of us. We made do with what we had, which included a golf umbrella in the car, and even a grocery bag that Frank fashioned into a hat so his head wouldn't roast.  Thankfully, I found an emergency supply of sunscreen in my purse.

Sundial Bridge

We met up with some local friends who are also eclipse buffs the night before for dinner.  We weren't quite sure where the best viewing spots would be, so we debated the various spots that were recommended by the local astronomy club as good bets.  We decided to play it by ear, waiting to see what the weather would be prior to making a decision. 

On Sunday, we woke up to cerulean skies and little cloud cover.  The news reported that it would be hot, so we thought that being near water would be a good bet.  We spent the morning touring Redding, which is a lovely little town with view of Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta off in the distance, surrounded by lakes made from the hydro-electric dam nearby.  The Sundial Bridge over the Sacramento River is something of an architectural marvel, with a tall spire swooping above the river like a tall-masted ship flowing in the wind.  We walked across the glass-tiled bridge and enjoyed the views of the river and hundreds of tiny birds swooping over and under the bridge.

Chukka Caribbean Adventures: The Ride of Your Life

Hope this isn't really the "final" Chukka

On my recent trip to Jamaica, I had the opportunity to check out Chukka Caribbean Adventures, an adventure sport company that offers horseback riding, dune buggies, ATVs, and ziplining for the adventurous types who don't want to spend their entire vacation vegging out in a lounge chair by (or in) a pool.  Whether or not I'm the "adventurous outdoorsy type" is open to some debate,and a great deal of raucous laughter by all who know me. Sign me up for the "Old Lady Beach Chair Tour," featuring hot cabana boys with an endless supply of frozen drinks with umbrellas in them, and I'll be your spokesmodel forever.

Mr. Ed's More Reticent Cousin, Mr. Fred

The night I arrived in Jamaica, our Jamaica Tourist Board guide and host, Jarron, told me with much delight, "We've arranged for a special horseback ride for the group, followed by going into the ocean on horseback! It's called a 'Ride and Swim'." 

"Great!" I replied, trying to muster up as much enthusiasm as I could, while thinking to myself that this was combining two things that I fear most in life in one neat little package.  I wanted to ask him if maybe we could add on a colonoscopy at the end, just to make it a little more exciting for me, but I held back. I didn't want to appear ungrateful for the opportunity, after all.

Part of my discomfort with horsebacking riding is that large animals tend to scare me.  Maybe it was some cow-tipping trauma in my rural Ohio youth. Maybe it was too many forced viewings of creepy Mister Ed during childhood. I never went through a horse phase like most girls I knew, with the repeated readings and viewings of Black Beauty and My Friend Flicka. Despite living in a farming community, I never participated in 4H livestock raising contests or had any desire to muck out a barn. It just wasn't my thing.

I thought long and hard about the prospect of riding a horse the night before the ride. People have ridden horses for centuries, I thought. They're gentle trail horses, not wild mustangs. I'm sure they don't bite...I'll let them know I'm a lawyer and show them who's boss. Don't mess with me, Seabiscuit, or you'll be on your way to the glue factory by dawn. Random thoughts of a clearly disturbed mind. 

It wasn't actually the horse I was afraid of, it was the fear of falling off and breaking my neck.  Even if I didn't break my neck, what if I fell off and was not able to hoist my ample backside back up on the horse?  What if my horse didn't like me, and was secretly judging me and wishing I'd actually used Weight Watchers for the past year rather than just paying for an online subscription and losing my password? There were a million what-ifs, not many of them good.

I decided that I wasn't going to make a big deal about it, that I would try it, but hope that the Chukka people would understand and let me off I couldn't hack it. I thought I should probably just do it, in the spirit of Nike commercials, bucket lists, and the "feel the fear and do it anyway" crowd. I thought about my son, who's not afraid of anything other than green, leafy vegetables and heard his voice urging me on to try something new.  I steeled my resolve and cheerfully boarded the bus to face my fears and live out some fantasy I didn't know I had to become Dale Evans and Xena Warrior Princess rolled into one.  

Top 5 Things to Do in Jamaica

Last week, I had the distinct honor of joining a dozen other travel and lifestyle bloggers on a tour of Jamaica, sponsored by the Jamaica Tourist Board.  I'm still processing everything we saw and did on the trip, and will write in more detail about it later.  I wanted to share some of the highlights of my trip in photos, and give you some ideas on what to do if you are lucky enough to visit Jamaica. 

My companions and new-found friends on this trip were Zippy of Champagne Living, Linda of Welcome to Linneyville, Tami of Talking with Tami, Jewel of Jewel's Fab Life, Stephanie of Trazzler, Tracey of Solo Traveler, Gayle of Hipster Travel Guide, Nancy of Lost Girls World, Brendan of Brendan's Adventures, and Reid of Dotting the Map.  Rounding out the group was JJ, the official blogger for the Jamaica Tourist Board's Island Buzz Jamaica.  Be sure to check out their blogs over the next few weeks for more tips and photos of our time there.

Here are my Top 5 Things to Do in Jamaica:

1. Shop in a Craft Market

A multitude of Jamaica craft vendors await you at the Old Fort Craft Market, Montego Bay Craft Market and similar markets around the island.  Featuring handmade crafts like hats, jewelry, and original carvings and paintings as well as the usual tourist souvenirs, each vendor has a booth filled to the top with items to remind you of your time in Jamaica.  I had heard that the vendors can be aggressive, but I found them to be friendly and not shy about bargaining.  If you want to exercise your negotiating muscle, you could walk away with some lovely items for a song.  One shopkeeper told me, "I'll tell you my price, and will not be offended by your price."

2. Take a Ride Through the Jungle

 

Chukka Caribbean Adventures offers you the chance to take a nature trail ride on a gentle horse followed by a dip in the ocean on horseback, zoom through the jungle on your own ATV, or take a thrilling ride on a dune buggy up a rocky path to the top of a mountain. If you opt for the dune buggy, like I did, prepare to get dirty as you ford a few streams and giant mud puddles along the way. No worries, though, since there is a shower and changing room at the end of the trail, along with a Jerk stand to get lunch and a bar for frozen refreshments.

Our Ultimate Family Vacation: A Southern Hemisphere Tour

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Cheerios® is giving you the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, your ultimate family vacation. As part of a paid promotion for their “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, Cheerios® is sponsoring my post today about what my ultimate family vacation would be. Read mine and Enter the Sweepstakes for a chance to actually win your own fantasy family trip or one of a bunch of other great prizes.

You may have already guessed this, but we're a family who loves to travel.  We've been around the world and our 10 year old has already been to 25 countries, so a "dream vacation" is not as easy to describe as you might think.  Hawaii?  Been there. Japan? Done that. Egypt? Have the hieroglyphic T-shirt to prove it. 

I have my ideas about what an "ultimate vacation" means, and Frank and Alex have theirs.  So, when I was asked to write about our family's ultimate vacation, I had to be fair and poll our family members to find out what their "ultimate vacation" would entail.  As long as there's good food, interesting sights to see, and a comfortable place to sleep, I'm game.

As for specific places, Alex chose snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef; for Frank, it was a family trip to see penguins in Antarctica, a place he visited when he was a lonely bachelor dude; for me, it was a trek to the ancient ruins of Macchu Pichu.  Since we couldn't decide on one, we decided our ultimate vcation would be month-long trip exploring all three places, a big "Around the Southern Hemisphere tour" of the best places we could think of that we haven't visited yet.

Our best vacations have been ones in which our extended family has come along with us, so of course, we'd invite Grandma Chris, Grandpa June, and Grandma Jeanie.  Aunt Ruth and Uncle Ralph have traveled to Alaska and Northern Canada with us, and they're fun to have around, so we would invite them, too.  I'd also love for my 9 year old niece and 13 year old nephew to come along, so Alex would have some kids along to go exploring with.

After we've assembled our dream travel team, we would fly everyone from San Francisco to Cairns, Australia.  We would start our journey at a nice beach resort near the Great Barrier Reef that would offer up opportunities for snorkeling.  Ever since "Finding Nemo", Alex has wanted to swim with the fishes and take in the coral reefs.  After snorkeling with sharks at age 4 in the Galapagos, I thought he was over it, be he says no.

Next, we would fly from Sydney to McMurdo Sound, for a tour of the Antarctic research stations.  Alex is prone to sea-sickness, so we would prefer to fly in rather than risk the rough seas crossing the South Pacific.  If that's not possible, we could hop aboard a cruise ship in Buenos Aires, and hope for fair seas. Maybe we could get Dramamine to sponsor this leg of the trip.

In Antarctica, we would hope to visit penguin rookeries, see some incredible icebergs, and experience a completely different climate from Australia. If we're lucky, we might run into the crew of the Bob Barker and the Steve Irwin of Whale Wars fame, so we can tell them to keep up the good work (and compelling tv). 

After we've had our fill of cold-weather, penguins, and whales, we would cruise back to South America, and hop a flight to Peru, where we would hike the ruins of Macchu Picchu.  This was my pick for dream destinations.  I love visiting ancient ruins, and Macchu Picchu has long been on my list of "must see before I die" dream vacations.  We've seen the pyramids and the statues of Easter Island, so this would round out the list nicely.

Our vacation would have to take place in the winter, so we would take advantage of the holiday break and extend it a bit, and probably have to roadschool the kids for a couple of weeks. What better education could they have than a trip to some amazing natural and man-made wonders?

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?

Don't forget to enter the “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, for a chance to win your own ultimate family vacation. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

PHOTO CREDIT (Macchu Picchu): Beth Stern, used with permission.  All Rights Reserved.

Edgar Mitchell: To the Moon and Back

During our trip to Alaska, we spent some time with Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar Mitchell.  Dr. Mitchell was invited to speak at the dinner banquet as part of the EIPBN conference, at my husband Frank's request. He is a fascinating person, and it's not every day you get to meet someone who actually walked on the moon.

The reason Dr. Mitchell was asked to speak is that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the invention of the laser.  The conference keynote speaker, Dr. Tony Siegman of Stanford, gave a retrospective on the history of the laser in the conference's opening session.  Dr. Siegman mentioned that one of the most unique scientific uses of the laser came in the early 1970's, when the Apollo astronauts placed laser retro-reflector arrays on the moon.  Because of this, scientists on earth can bounce a laser signal off the reflectors and measure the distance from the Earth to the moon, within a few centimeters of accuracy.  As Dr. Siegman got to this dramatic point, he invited Ed Mitchell up on stage with him, as a surprise to the audience. 

Dr. Mitchell related to the rapt audience that he actually didn't know much about the experiments that were planned with the lasers, but was under strict orders from NASA not to kick any dirt on the reflectors or he would be in trouble.  He showed a picture of one of the reflectors, with his footprints around it, and it looked like he accomplished his mission of keeping it clean.  He was told at the time that they would be in use for twenty years or so, so they needed to last.  That was in 1971, and the same retro-reflectors are still being used by NASA today, nearly forty years later.

It was Frank's idea to invite Ed Mitchell to speak at the conference.  As Conference Chair, Frank wanted to make it a memorable experience for the attendees.  As a boy, he admired the Apollo astronauts, and remembered the laser experiments as he grew up and became a laser scientist himself. He diligently researched which of the Apollo Astronauts were available for speaking engagements.  Sadly, many of them have passed away.  He was overjoyed when Dr. Mitchell agreed to speak. He was thrilled that our son would have the opportunity to meet someone who had actually traveled to the moon.

Our family had the pleasure of spending a little time with Ed Mitchell during our stay in Anchorage, at the official conference functions and by being his unofficial chauffeurs and guides.  He is a delightful, charming man, and was gracious in giving autographs and posing for pictures.  Alex got to meet him at the airport, and he signed one of Alex's stuffed animals for him, a little bear wearing a space suit that Frank bought at the National Air & Space Museum.  He even brought a photo of himself on the moon with him, and signed it "To Alex."

At the banquet, he spoke about the Apollo 14 mission, most of which is well documented in history and science books, in movies, and TV documentaries.  The part that interested me most was hearing about the profound personal and spiritual impact going into space had on him, the beauty of the earth from so far above, and the feeling of connection with the vastness of the universe.  Dr. Mitchell has written about his mystical experiences in his book, The Way of the Explorer.

Blogsherpa Blog Carnival: Kids Around the World

I'm hosting the Lonely Planet Blogsherpa Blog Carnival this time around, and our theme this week is Kids Around the World.  I asked my fellow Blogsherpas to write about taking their kids on trips or meeting kids while traveling.  I got some amazing stories from top bloggers and photographers from around the world.  Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, and take a little trip around the world with me now, and meet some great kids (and bloggers) along the way...

Planning a trip to Spain with your kids? Jennifer at the delightful Orange Polka Dot offers some sage advice on traveling with kids or teens. In Spain, don't be surprised if you spot kids drinking something that looks like wine, either a few sips from mom or dad's glass, or a finger of wine in a glass of La Casera (soda water). Jennifer speculates that maybe it is a bottle that is just their size that delights them.  Be forewarned that in Europe, wine does not carry the same taboo for youngsters that it does in the United States. 

Photito's Blog features gorgeous photographs of traveling with kids on the Iberian Peninsula, this time in Portugal. Portugal is definitely on my list of places to go now, especially after reading what Photito had to say.  Surfing, sun, sand...when can we leave?

Chugach National Forest: Ice, Ice, Baby

 On our final day in Alaska, we had the opportunity to take the 26 Glaciers Cruise out of Whittier.  This was a special excursion for the people attending Frank's EIPBN Conference, and there were some special buses chartered for the attendees to drive them down to Whittier.  We opted for the van, so for the second day in a row, we headed down to Whittier from Anchorage.  This time, there was a line of traffic waiting to go through the Whittier Tunnel, so the experience was quite different than being the sole car through the day, as we were on our fishing trip.

It was pouring rain in Whittier, and it didn't look good for our glacier viewing extravaganza. Nonetheless, we boarded the double-decker catamaran Klondike Express with high hopes of seeing some cool glaciers in action on our trip.  Since Frank was in charge of booking the tour, he scored the best seats in the house on the top floor in the front of the boat for our various family members. 

Whittier, Alaska: Fishing with Grandpa, Just for the Halibut

 
One of the highlights of our recent trip to Alaska was going fishing with my dad and son in Prince William Sound.  We chartered a boat through Bread n Butter Charters in Whittier, Alaska, based on a recommendation from an avid fisherman who lives next door to my friend, Susanne, in Anchorage.  He told Susanne that Bread n Butter would not disappoint us, and he was right. 

We got up at 3:45 am to drive down to Whittier so we wouldn't miss our 7 am launch.  Fortunately, it was light outside, so it didn't seem as early as it actually was.  When my dad says we're leaving at 4:15, by golly, we are leaving at 4:15.  We ended up driving Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar Mitchell to the airport on our way out.  Dr. Mitchell was a featured speaker at the conference, and asked if he could hitch a ride, so we obliged.  He is a lovely man, and it's not every day you get to hang out with a true American hero. Dr. Mitchell, my dad, Alex, Ralph, and I all bundled into the car at exactly 4:15 am and set out.

The reason for the early rise was that we had to catch the Whittier Tunnel opening by 6:30 am, or we might miss the boat.  The Whittier tunnel is a one lane tunnel through the mountains that is used by cars and the train.  You have to time your trips to and from Whittier to coincide with the tunnel's schedule, or be off by an hour. We made it to the tunnel at 5:45, and were the last car through before they opened for traffic going back the other way. 

The tunnel was carved out by the Army, to connect their former secret military installation there to the main road for supplies.  We heard that they managed to blast out the two and a half mile tunnel in 6 months, with two crews working on each side, meeting up within 6 inches of each other in the middle.  The crudely carved-out tunnel looked like John Henry himself had just used his pick axe all the way through it.  It was kind of dark and creepy inside, and we were the only cars passing through at 5:30 am.

Bread n Butter Charters is owned and operated by Mary & Jim Norris.  Jim is the captain of the boat, and Mary does the bookings.  We got to the Charter office at the marina before they opened, but there was already another group waiting.  They were going on a different boat.  Mary came to open the office, and sold us our fishing licenses and took our payments for the trip.  The trip was pricey ($280/per person), but we were going out with an expert guide and would be out all day long.  I figured that I probably wouldn't have the chance to fish in Alaska with my dad again, so it was well worth it.

Denali National Park: Where the Wild Things Are

It seemed as though it took days for us to finally arrive at Denali National Park from Anchorage, even though our excursions through Wasilla and Talkeetna only lasted a couple of hours.  It's about a 6 hour drive from Anchorage to Denali, but if you stop to stare at scenic beauty and have snacks in cute towns every few miles, it takes quite a bit longer. 

At any rate, we made it to the Denali Bluffs Hotel by 10:00 pm. Due to the far north setting, the sun was nowhere near setting, so we felt like we were right on time. Or maybe it was 8:00 pm. Or 1:00 am. Who the heck knows in this part of the world.  We met up with Grandma Chris when we arrived, and she instructed us that the bus through the park was leaving at 6 am, so we'd better get to bed.  Her traveling companions, her sister Ruth and brother-in-law Ralph, had already retired for the night.

The next morning or later that night, or whatever, we got up and boarded a converted school bus run by Tundra Wilderness Tours, to take a ride through Denali National Park. We were on the hunt for the Big Five in wildlife in the park:  Moose, Bears, Wolves, Dall Sheep, and Caribou.  By "hunt", I don't mean actually hunting them to kill them, just to take their photos and try not to bother them as much as is humanly possible for a busload of tourists armed with cameras. 

Our bus was half-filled with people staying in our hotel, who were all instructed to sit on the left side of the bus.  We picked up the right half at another hotel down the road.  I think about 75% of the bus were very chipper Australians. We were a little bleary-eyed, but the Australians seemed very excited. It seems like everywhere we have traveled in the world, we've met groups of Australians who are raring to go at any time, any place.