vacation

I wrote my cousin and asked if I could come visit her in about a month.
I should be getting my checks in from the IRS by then, and I’m out.

lol

I was going to take myself on a cruise (Icelandair tickets would be almost the whole amount I’m getting!), and besides, I don’t know what things can hold me back from getting a passport. I read somewhere not to long ago the words “apply for a passport”, and I have a warrant… or… two… and I don’t know if that will be a problem for me to get one.

I didn’t even know you had to apply.

I mean, it makes sense…

I just thought you went to Walgreens, took a picture, and they’d hand you a little blue book.

mmhmm!

Oooohhhh I can’t wait.

COME ON, SEPTEMBER!

Vegas then California, it’s been a long time comin’!
lol

I haven’t been on a vacation in almost three years, and the last one was for a two-day family reunion… only about ten members of our family showed up, nearly eight of them a couple generations behind me!
So I don’t really want to count that.
lol
I do love my family, though.
Very, very much.

Can’t wait!

isn’t a vacation—but as of early Friday morning I’ll be on the road with my kids, to an extended family get-together to celebrate my dad’s 80th birthday.

I racked my brain about an appropriate gift for him; he & his wife are downsizing as they consider moving into a retirement home, so Stuff is not really needed. Finally I realized that I can take my tabletop easel, a pad, & my mess of chalk pastels in various boxes, & do a portrait of him during a time when we’re all sitting around chatting. Should be fun.

I went to work early this morning to have extra time to get a project done before leaving for the long weekend, & I MADE IT. Then I got a few other essential tasks done as well, to my great relief. That means I will feel very relaxed this weekend as I hang out with my favorite people, my sibs & children.

So don’t weep for me, 43Things. I’ll be having a great time & will see you again soon, probably Monday evening! (I may have time to come back & click some cheers tonight, we’ll see.)

But they’re even more exciting now. :-)

There just isn’t time for a personal retreat this spring. Here are the trips I have coming up, all in different places:

1. weekend church retreat end of April
2. weekend family gathering to celebrate my dad’s 80th birthday end of May
3. poetry workshop 2nd half of June
4. niece’s wedding/family gathering last weekend of June

Meanwhile my husband has been watching for low fares to various Caribbean destinations. And we decided to go for VERY low fares to Cartagena, Colombia, for a week in mid-October! We’ll be renting the vacation home of a friend, really beautiful & ideally located. Now I’m trying to persuade my brother to travel with us! This is NOT my extremely troubled brother but my hyper-responsible brother who lives alone & is suffering a low-level depression. He’s a great travel companion, & this would be something happy to look forward to.

So exciting!

I don’t have dates yet, but I have a contact at a beautiful convent in northern Kentucky. Which is not far south, but it is warmer than here, & for years I’ve been wanting to go there.

One 18th-century preacher, when asked to describe Heaven, responded, “Oh, my honeys. Heaven is a Kentucky of a place.”

I want to vacate my responsibilities; I want to vacate winter weather & slippery sidewalks; I want to vacate work of all kinds & my long daily commute. I want to vacate pressures & reproaches & the need to explain. I want to vacate the computer.

I think this vacation will be just for me. It need not be long, maybe just a four-day weekend. Here are other desired characteristics:

• rural, or at least by water
• an inexpensive, quiet retreat setting
• a beautiful place
• either a kitchen so I can cook (which I find restful & nurturing) or meals provided (such as at a retreat center)
• warm weather

I will take a journal & art supplies, but this won’t even be a writing or art retreat, much as I love those. The point will be to sink deeply into rest, & to be refreshed by nature.

If I go nearby or north, it will be cheaper but I’ll have to wait till spring is well under way. If I go south, it could be quite soon, but finances may limit me.

Gotta mull this over.

I will just note the trips that I would like to take in the future, when I am out of school and I have some spending money.

1) Lazy Bear Lodge in Churchill, Manitoba.
2) Cape Cod
3) Mackinac Island, during the Lilac Festival
4) The Square Grouper Bar in Jupiter, FL – location of Alan Jackson’s “Five O’clock Somewhere” music video

The season opened with Donation day on 22nd November, 2006, when with a donation of $25 you could buy a ticket for skiing on the opening day. The regular season started on 23rd November, 2006 – Thanksgiving Day and will last longer than usual with closing day on Easter, 8th April, 2007.

Being surrounded by a large number of majestic 14,000 foot mountains puts Telluride at an advantage. There are hardly any big lift lines or crowded slopes to spoil your peaceful ski getaway. And, the mountains themselves offer varying levels of difficulty for the skiers. With an upgraded snow making equipment and competitive rates, the quaint town of Telluride is all geared up to attract vacationers for skiing vacations. Besides skiing, you can enjoy activities such as snowmobiling, sledding, snow shoeing, horseback riding, and other adventurous activities.

Telluride vacation rentals offer the best lodgings for a ski getaway, where you can enjoy the luxurious amenities of a hotel without burning a hole in your pocket. Save dining costs by utilizing the fully equipped kitchens that come with the vacation rentals. As most of the vacation rentals are located near the ski lifts, shops, restaurants, and other attractions, your stay is a more comfortable experience.

Some of the best places to list or find a vacation rental of your choice lie in the internet. Vacationers as well as vacation rental owners can check out sites like Vacationrentals.com, Resortquest.com, Alwaysonvacation.com, and Triphomes.com. While vacation rental property owners in Telluride and other ski areas can list their properties in these sites and enjoy great benefits such as enquiries that get converted into bookings, vacationers can easily find good bargains as well as last-minute deals.

All of you can too visit http://www.alwaysonvacation.com for your vacation rental listings… :)