Aztec Ruins are not from the Aztec civilization. They are from the Puebla tribe. It’s called Aztec Ruins because it is in the town of Aztec in New Mexico. It’s very confusing, but the Aztecs were located in Mexico, not the United States. Apparently early explorers thought that these ruins were by Aztecs and why no one ever changed the name, I don’t understand. It … Continue reading Aztec Ruins and Mesa Verde

The first train to Silverton occurred on the same day that we decided to drive there. We saw the train go by on our way. The road to Silverton is called the Million Dollar Highway and the views are certainly worth more than that. There was still snow on a lot of the mountain peaks on our drive. The above picture is the view of … Continue reading Silverton and Ouray, Colorado

My husband loves trains, specifically steam trains. One of the reasons that we came to Durango was for us to ride the train. We chose a trip to Cascade Canyon. It’s a five hour trip, which stops at a spot in between Durango and Silverton. We opted not to take the Silverton trip because it was an eight hour trip. (He knew I would not … Continue reading Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Train

We met up with a friend who wanted to check out the Pompeii exhibit in the Museum of Science and Industry. She picked us up and drove there and told us about different sights on the way. I think that is the best way to see a place, through the eyes of someone that lives there, but it’s not always an option. We bought our … Continue reading Chicago: Museum of Science and Industry and Art Institute of Chicago

We took a Lyft over to Willis Tower, which I didn’t know what it was until my husband said they renamed it from the Sears Tower. It is the third tallest building in the world. You have to go down two escalators to get to the entrance. There is a lovely eating area as you walk into the building, which was just opening when we … Continue reading Chicago: Willis (Sears) Tower and Lincoln Park Conservatory and Zoo

I visited Chicago a couple of weeks ago. There is a quick nonstop flight from Tampa and we arrived around noon. My husband used points from his credit card so we could stay at the Hyatt Regency, which is a perfect location. We could walk to a lot of different places easily, but it was not overly crowded (except when a conference started at our … Continue reading Chicago: Day 1 Architecture and Pizza

Yesterday we thought it was going to rain in the afternoon so we decided to try and summit Haleakala driving. The picture above is the volcano. As you can see there are some clouds sitting on the summit. Haleakala formed about 75% of Maui. Its peak is at 10.023 feet. In Hawaiian, Haleakala means “house of the sun”, which is what they named the general … Continue reading Maui: Haleakala National Park

We flew to Maui this morning on Hawaiian Airlines. The flight was only $39 and it took less than an hour. Our hotel was not going to be ready until 4, so my husband planned for us to take this road around a section of the island. I didn’t find out until this evening that we drove the very dangerous Kahekili Highway. Even though it … Continue reading Maui: Kahekili Highway

It is my opinion that if you go to Kauai, you need to make sure you have enough money to take a helicopter ride. My friend Tom describes Kauai this way, “Think of Kauai as a head and the Napoli Coast is the jaunty beret.” You can only see the Napoli Coast from flying over it. There are trails that you can hike, but they … Continue reading Kauai: Helicopter ride and North

We arrived on Friday around 1pm. We grabbed something to eat from one of the many food trucks on the island (Taco Libre, which had a tasty quesadilla) and headed to the south side. Our first stop was Poipu Beach. It is one of the most popular beaches on the island. We didn’t realize that it also has green turtles and monk seals that like … Continue reading Kauai: South and West