Hope's Travel Blog

We made it to Hawaii and back despite two airlines folding (not ours thankfully). Connor and I had a wonderful time. We spent a lot of time at Hapuna Beach swimming with the honu (green sea turtles). They like to swim right by people for some reason, so we would just swim along with them. We also went kayaking out of Keauhou Bay and went snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay by the Captain Cook monument. We saw spinner dolphins showing off for some kayakers at Kealakekua Bay. They were breaching the water and doing flips in the air. We decided that next year, we will rent kayaks on our own and kayak the bay and see if we can get the same response.

We were also able to visit Volcanoes National Park and see Halemu'u crater spewing clouds of ash. Most of the park was closed because of the potentially hazardous fumes, but we were able to see the crater from afar. After spending some time at the park, we drove to the other side of the mountain and hiked across a lava field to see the where the lava is actively flowing into the ocean. We didn't actually see the lava, but you could see the steam rising out of the water in big plumes. It was quite the adventure. We had to drive across the lava field that covered the road in order to get to the viewing area. Of course there were many signs telling us of the danger we could expect. There was also a stray dog living in the lava field. When we were there, it was sunning itself on the lava. The police officers at the park told us that they had been trying to catch it for a while, but couldn't. It seems to like living there.

We left Thursday and got home Friday, but Mom and Dad stayed another day. They met with a real estate agent that is somehow related to us. They have been wanting to move to Hawaii for a while and found out some interesting facts about living on the Big Island. The agent told them that the most expensive place to live on the island is Hawi, on the northern part of the island; the least expensive areas are near Kona and south of Hilo. It's entirely possible that they will buy a house on the Big Island. It sounded like there plan is to buy a house before they plan to actually move and then have a property management company rent it out for them. If that happens, I'm thinking I'm going to have to rent the place out for a month and start inviting friends out to visit. Wouldn't that be fun?

The picture below was taken off of Anaehoomalu Bay in Waikoloa. We weren't staying at the fancy resorts there, but just stopped by for a vist and this great picture.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 06:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pele got wind of me coming back to the Big Island and she's pissed. This is the first explosion in Halema`uma`u since 1924. No lava plumes, but spewing ash is still impressive. It's also the first time since 1982 that there has been any eruption in the Kilauea caldera.

Visiting the volcano should be interesting. There's toxic fumes and the potential for things to explode. How can I not go?

Live view of Halema`uma`u.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 05:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

It's settled, I'll be back to the Big Island this spring. We'll be there from March 28 to April 3. Not sure what our itinerary will be while we are there, other than getting a tan, swimming the ocean, and generally relaxing. Whatever we do, I'm posting updates here, so sign up, check back, and find out what fun things I'm doing in Hawaii.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 06:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blue Mounds State Park is not easy to get to from the Twin Cities. It's in the south-west corner of the state. Thankfully, it's near I90, but it still takes you 4+ hours to get there. It was worth it though. Most of the park is prairie, which is something you don't see in the cities. They also have a lovely heard of bison, so you get a brief sense of what it might have been like long ago. Below is a picture above the cliffs of Sioux Quartzite that make up the "blue mounds" (see the web link for the reason behind calling the pink cliffs blue) and two members of the bison herd. There was a barbed wire fence separating us that I got my camera around for the photo.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 04:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Here in the good old U.S.A. you can get everything drive through. You can get married, buy liquor, get coffee and food. But only in Luverne, MN can you stop by the wayside chapel to worship. While trying to worship, or get a picture of the place, a territorial bird dove at us. We were clearly intruding on it's space. So we peeked inside, snapped a few photos and were on our way. But such a curious little thing by the side of the road.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 03:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

New Ulm was really boring. We stopped by there on our way back from camping in SW Minnesota. I probably should have consulted a web site or two (such as www.newulm.com) before going, since I think we missed everything good. Except the Zen Franklib shown here.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 03:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The Twin Cities have the Peanuts statues, Red Wing has the big Red Wing Shoes. Virginia has fish statues. They aren't as large as the other two, but they are very cute. The picture below is of the Cat in the Hat fish. As with the statues in Minnesota, each fish was designed by an artist and the proceeds from the sale went to charity. Other fish include the Michelangelo, the Phantom of the Opera, and the Virgina Hoos (a college sports team) fishes.

BTW, I have no idea why they chose fish.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

we got lucky on our flight to dulles. we were bumped to first class. they were "full in the back" so they put us up front. it was fabulous to fly first class. the flight attendant brought me a glass of wine before we took off, we were served dinner, and got to leave the plane first. no waiting forever to get off the plane. it was so very nice. i would love to fly this way all the time.

our luck did not hold it seems. i got to the rental car counter and was told that my credit card was declined. i was afraid this was going to happen. two months ago i disputed a charge on my account. the disputed charge somehow escalated into a fraud case. about two week ago i got a letter from the credit card company telling me that the charge was reversed and that i should contact them. it turns out that they wanted to close my account and send me a new card. the disputed charge that was now considered fraud somewhere in their process prompted them to do so. this didn't make sense to me. it was also a problem for me and my travel plans since they couldn't get me a new card for 10 days. i talked to three people before they apologized for the error and told me that they wouldn't cancel cards or transfer accounts. fast forward to today at the rental counter and i'm standing there thinking that i know exactly what happened. i call the card company and talk to a person and find out that's exactly what they did. they canceled my card and transfered it to another, thus making the card in my hand useless. i'm not a complete idiot so i had another card, but now i'm pissed. will all my reservations be in jeopardy because they did this?

i had to call the hotel and make sure my reservation was still good. it was. i got to the hotel and got on the phone again with an account supervisor. i spent 30 minutes with her completely flabbergasted. it turns out that the note on not closing my account didn't stop them from doing so. she's tells me she's going to send me a new card in two days. first, it's friday, do they deliver on sunday? no. okay, so it's not two days, it three until monday. second, she wants to send it to my home. i told her numerous times that i was on vacation and not home. she said she could only send it to my home. huh? what's all that crap about getting your cards replaced when you are traveling? is that just a scam? i ask her about this, she just apologizes and says she can't do anything else. i complain and say i want to close my account, i want to know who her supervisor is, i want to know who i can write to and complain about the fact that this card is useless to me while traveling...then she asks if i'm staying at a hotel. i am. it turns out she can send me a new card to my hotel. but she couldn't tell me she could to that until her computer let her. wtf?

in the end, i had to thank her. she was polite, when i was angry, and was patiently working to fix the problem. she just couldn't tell me she was for some reason. how stupid is that?

connor and i are chillin' in the hotel watching cable tv and using free wireless. we bumped into rebecca - the bride to be - at the hotel and had a nice chat. so we are recovering from our amazing good luck and our crappy luck, all experienced in one day. can't wait for tomorrow!

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 03:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I was in Virginia last Memorial Day weekend to visit my friend Rebecca. We went hiking in Shenandoh National Park. This year, I am going there for her wedding and am taking my son. Rebecca hasn't seen my son for almost four years. She will be very surprised to see him since he is about two feet taller.

The wedding is in Fredericksburg, VA at the Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg on Saturday, with the reception to follow at TJ's Catering. We are staying at the Wyngate Inn, Fredericksburg. It should be a nice stay. We have a pool, fitness room and most importantly, free internet and free breakfast. Hooray! We plan to stay there two nights an then relocate to Chantilly, VA. We are flying in and out of Dulles Airport and leave for home on Tuesday morning at 6:15 am. Since Fredericksburg is about an hour away from Dulles, I thought staying close by the airport would be easiest. Chantilly is close and the hotel was reasonable. We are staying at a Courtyard by Marriot which also offers free internet and breakfast. I love free!

Now, what the heck are we gonna do for three whole days? Saturday, we have the wedding from noon to 6, so we won't have time for much sight seeing. But Sunday and Monday, we plan to visit Washington, DC. I've never been to our nation's capital, so it should be interesting. Connor is working on a project at school and has requested that we see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I'm hoping we will also be able to see the Vietnam Women's Memorial.

Another stop in DC, the Smithsonian. I'm sure we could spend the entire day there alone. A great resource I just found is Go Smithsonian, which has all sorts of information on traveling to DC, dining, etc. Maybe I won't be totally lost when we go there.

With all this free internet service while I'm traveling, I'm sure to post some pictures or other comments here. Maybe I'll even get to see King George.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 04:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Four days in London. I can't really decide if it was too short or too long. I do know that I should have gone to Bath or somewhere other than London for one day. Sometimes the trip was great, when I stood in the Golden Gallery of St. Paul's and could see the whole of London while walking around the dome. I forgot my camera that day so unfortunately I didn't get any photos. Sometimes the trip was lousy, when Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and St. Marten in the Field were all closed the day I went to see them. But, I did get to see some amazing things, such as the actual Rosetta Stone at the British Museum and, pictured below, Big Ben and Parliament.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 01:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I'm back again in the San Francisco Bay area of California. It's been two years since I was here last. Or at least two years. i don't think I have ever been so happy to see a place. It always feels like home when I visit here. Someday, I hope to really call it home. It's February and everything here is green. In Minnesota, everything is a variation of brown, while all vegetation hibernates, or white, where the snow has managed to cling to the ground.

I'm here in California on business, but I had about an hour an a half to myself today. I drove from the airport to Fisherman's Wharf. I knew if I went there I would see a lot of things all at one time. I had visited there nearly 12 years ago with my son, my friend Cathie and her son Jay. When the four of us visited, we saw the sea lions sunbathing on the docks, the double decker carousel, and ate at the Boudin sourdough bread place. This time around, Boudin was closed, so I ate fish and chips at a place on Pier 39. Even if it wasn't the best fish in chips in the world, it sorta was because I was in San Francisco. I did see - and hear - the sea lions and stopped by the carousel as we did so long ago. The pier was much more crowded than it was then, but so many things were still the same, or at least familiar. It was rather comforting.

The picture below is of the Bay Bridge as I was stopped at a traffic light along the Embarcadero. Notice the palm tree in the foreground? Don't see those in MN unless you are at the Como Park Conservatory.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 05:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Finally, I get to use my passport and travel abroad. I just purchased my tickets to London. I leave here on a Friday, arrive there Saturday, and then depart for home on a Wednesday in March.

I don't have a place to stay yet and I don't really know what I'm going to do there. I do have a ticket to the Ceremony of the Keys in London Tower, but other than that, I don't have much of a plan. I do have time to plan. Can't wait!

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 05:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Thankfully, the weather was beautiful on Sunday, so I was able to do some hiking. I spent about two hours hiking up, around, and on top of Barn Bluff. Barn Bluff is that gigantic geological formation that sits between the highway and the river when you drive through Red Wing. It rises about 350 feet above the river and town.

I hit all but one of the trails - the Midland trail. I went out on the North trail and saw three groups of rock climbers trying to scale the cliffs. I also saw a hawk, or some other bird of prey while hiking the trail.

The North trail gives you views of the river and of Wisconsin. Once you make it around to the west end of the bluff, you can see over the entire town of Red Wing. There used to be a set of stairs that ran up the bluff from Red Wing, but they were removed when the highway was constructed. Some of them are still there and some have been repurposed at the trail head.

Instead of taking the South trail back, I decided to walk the Prairie trail, which follows the ridge of the bluff. It's a wonderful trail. There are moments when you can see to either side of the bluff. The picture below was taken at the very end of the trail at the eastern scenic point. I imagine this trail is fantastic in late summer when the prairie is blooming.

One note about the trail, there are unmarked footpaths that should only be followed by the very brave, or by people in a group. I followed one for a while and had to turn back. It ran along a very narrow path along the bottom of the ridge, right before a big cliff. There is nothing to catch you if you stumble on a rock and fall. I made it up to the point where the trail descends down a rock face. Being by myself and not much of a dare-devil, I thought the better of it and went back to the marked trail. It's been a long time since a trail gave me the willies like that. The last time was in Utah, hiking in Canyonlands. We had packs on our backs and had to turn toward the rock face and shimmy across a slick rock face that was a sheer 30 foot drop to rocks below. Shiver!

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 06:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

St. Paul has it's statues of Peanuts characters. Red Wing has it's statues of Red Wing shoes. This one was inside the train depot in Red Wing, but there are several all around town. The shoes are to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the manufacturing company, which started in 2005.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Why do I love fancy hotels so much? I haven't been at many, but the ones I've been at are just fantastic. Maybe it's because I can pretend I'm another person, someone who doesn't have to vacuum up dog hair every other day and do laundry.

The St. James Hotel was build in 1875. All of the rooms are decorated with antique furniture. The picture below shows the bed in my room as well as the hand-made quilt, which was removed and put on a quilt rack after the turn-down service. That's right, turn-down service. They turned-down the bed, left me chocolates, and a little card with tomorrow's forcast. The front desk even called me and asked how I liked the room and if I needed anything. I, of course, mentioned that I needed dinner reservations, which she made. Magic.

I had some time before dinner, so I wandered around the shops in the hotel and around downtown Red Wing. (Fact: The name of the town comes from the dyed red feather that was the symbol of the Mdewankanton Sioux who were the first people to live in this region. Now it's the familiar symbol of Red Wing shoes.) The hotels shops had a gift shop where I bought some bath salts and a good, cheap mystery. It was dark when I started walking around downtown, so there wasn't much to see. There were several coffee shops, antique shops and other places to spend money at near the hotel. (Fact: Red Wing was the largest primary wheat market in the world around the time the St. James was built.) I imagine the town looks a lot different during the daylight.

Dinner was scrumptious. It had to be. It cost me $56. After dinner - dessert and coffee, of course - I stumbled up to my room. Well, not stumbled, just walked slowly up three flights of stairs. I guess two glasses of wine were too much for me.

Now, back in my room, I'm using my free WiFi and watching cable TV. Good Eats, no less. I don't have cable at home and one of the shows that I miss is Good Eats. It's like heaven here.

Posted by Hope L. Johnson at 04:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)