M&M's - Fall in the Midwest

There's nothing like the Midwest in the Fall. The colors are vibrant (if you can catch the timing right).  I was able to visit some M&M's - Minneapolis (the metropolitan side of the trip) and Menomonie (the out in the sticks side of the trip - yes, I had to google map it as well).  Sorry, no candy here.  Below are a few pictures from the trip with some of the fun things you can do with only a few hours to spare.

Minneapolis

The quickest and closest site seeing opportunity outside of the airport is Mall of America.  I'm not a big shopper (in fact I get physically sick if I shop too long!) but this place has personality!

This boot is too big even for Shaq! an LL Bean flagship store.

For my nephew, he LOVES legos.  And those life size robots are pretty cool!

Another close stop for either leaving town to the east or arriving into town from the east is the St. Paul cathedral.  This definitely rivals any cathedral in Europe with magnificent architecture and stained glass.

Menomonie

Going east a little over an hour you run into Menomonie Wisconsin.  This is the definition of a small quaint Midwest town out in the sticks.  It used to be a major center for lumber.  Now, its small town USA with a small branch of the University of Wisconsin.  Everybody walks from their homes to work and around town. It has lots of charm.

Who doesn't enjoy seeing a tractor drive up to the gas pump or better yet...the snowmobile route on the main thoroughfare through town?

The fall colors were spectacular.

Someone built a tall lookout structure so you could get above the trees (did I mention that mountains or even hills are non-existent?)  This was located at Hickman Hills (did I mention that they think small mounds of dirt are hills?)

It was worth all the stairs.

A couple of other significant features were the Devil's Bowl where a small stream dizzles down a ravine and the Red Cedar river - where I even saw a pair of bald eagles!  

These ying and yang versions of the Midwest might not be everyone's cup of tea but I found it fun to see the vast differences and meet some really nice people along the way.  If you are out that way....these things are some great diversions!

Yabba Dabba Doo: 1000's of years and 1000's of feet.

Many people have never heard of Vernal, Utah.  I don't blame them, for the most part.  Of course, most people haven't even heard of Utah!  Recently a friend introduced me to the Vernal area and I realized just how much of a hidden gem this location is.

Vernal Utah is over 3 hours drive east of Salt Lake City,  Utah. The drive is easy and uneventful.  There are several things to do in the area, more in fact, than I realized! We hit two main areas:  Dinosaur National Monument and Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

Dinosaur National Monument - 1000's of years
The actual monument area is one of a kind.  Not many people realize that Utah is one of the world's hotbeds for dinosaur bones and in prehistoric days Utah was the place to be - really!  I know it isn't now but things were different back then.  As a result, there are lots of fossil beds and areas with visible dinosaur bones.  I never imagined growing up that one day I could go somewhere and actually touch a real dinosaur bone which was just sticking out of the ground!

At the Quarry Exhibit Hall they have over 1500 bones visible and on display in their natural fossil bed area.  In addition they have lots of information on being an archaeologist and other types of scientists.  Its a ton of fun and makes Jurassic Park seem much closer to reality (well, okay, maybe not).  It didn't take longer than an hour to view this area but it was well worth it.

There are several hikes where you can see fossils as well as remnants of ancient civilizations in addition to settlers of the wild west.  I felt like the Flintstones were just around the corner, or at least the remains of Dino.  Doh!

The area is a wealth of history across literally eons of ages.

Flaming Gorge - 1000's of feet
North of Vernal, Utah about an hour is Flaming Gorge.  A dam was built in a deep ravine which created a beautiful 91 mile long lake in Utah and Wyoming.  The ledge of the canyon is 1400 feet above the water level at the Red Canyon overlook area.  There are several hikes which take off from this location which allow you to serpentine along the edge of the canyon peering down into the gorge just like you were a high soaring eagle.  It is an easy, level walk and you just go for as long as you want. We stopped along the way on a beautiful bend and just gazed down at the vista.  It is a spectacular vista.

All in all, this area has much more to see than anyone expects and in a way, that's great because there aren't any crowds and it really allows you to get away.  I just wish I had more time...I guess I saved some things for next time!

If you want to see additional pictures I've taken please visit my photo album at TrekkingTrego Public Gallery. All pictures are available for purchase.

Ice Ice Baby - Iceland Adventure plus an Iceland Travel Cheat Sheet

Yo, VIP, let's kick it!  Vanilla Ice said it best in the 90's.  Iceland, with all it's ice (and water and volcanoes and animals) was a fun adventure, with a little drama thanks to Delta Airlines thrown in just to make it exciting.

Iceland, way up north in the Atlantic, is a sparsely populated (less than 400K people) volcanic island filled with breathtaking scenery throughout the entire country.  It has waterfalls, lush green areas, arid lava flows, high tundras, unique animals and a few active volcanoes.  Here's some of the highlights of the trip.

Seljalandsfoss

Drama

Ya, let's get this one out of the way immediately.  Iceland is expensive.  A really lame toasted cheese sandwich, fries and a drink (btw, mostly pepsi products) costs $24US.  Ouch!  Being the smart traveler my friend and brought oatmeal for breakfasts and peanut butter and jam for lunch.  That's a great idea if your luggage, which as all the snacks and food, get there the same time you do.  When it comes 5 days later it makes it a little tougher to implement.  Yes, we went and bought some items at the grocery story but it wasn't the same!  Luckily (or not) I've had my luggage lost before so I always keep a spare pair of underwear and shirt with me.  It created some interesting times (like not having my winter coat) trying to find a store that was open that would actually have even a t shirt to buy as we were in remote areas after the first day.

Ring Road - the course

Our route was to take about 150 miles every day along the ring road and explore what there was to see.  And, there is lots to see!  Anytime you see a little "mac pretzel command sign" there might be something really spectacular that isn't even on a map or blog anywhere.  And, I think that every little home either sits at the base of a waterfall or has the backdrop of a magnificent mountain.  It is idyllic definitely!  The contrast of the land climate against mountains and sea were truly spectacular.

Most of the road is decent but it isn't paved all the way.  We took a few shortcuts and side roads which were mostly decent and probably totaled about 400km of dirt road on our trip.  That being said be careful as Iceland doesn't notify you about construction until you are at a construction area (sometimes 15km into a 20km one way road) and then they don't tell you what type of construction or have anyone out to help.  I had to drive on a one way lane against oncoming traffic for 6km...it wasn't the most fun but we did survive.

Construction sign

Here is the link to the google map of destinations we took:  Iceland Tour.  The only modification would be to stay at Egilsstaðir so you could visit the puffins late one evening or in the early morning.  You could still easily get up and get to Dettifoss before the tour groups started.

Water, Waterfalls and Waterfalls - a destination

The land is filled with water from glaciers running over large lava rock formations and spilling into the waters below.  It is definitely a beautiful sight to see in so many varied forms.   There were so many unnamed waterfalls too as you went along the ring road - some of them I think more spectacular than the "named" ones.

Gullfoss

Godafoss

Dettifoss

And, who can go to Iceland and not mention the Blue Lagoon?!  Its a crazy brilliant blue (thanks to the silica) hot springs that anyone can enjoy - it takes the chill out of the bones even when its 40F and rainy outside (like when we went).

Rifts, Glaciers and Ice - a destination

One of the crazy fun things I did was snorkel in Silfra to see parts of the continental rift of the North American and European continents.  The water is some of the clearest as well as some of the coldest on earth (about 35F year round).  Man, even with a dry suit when a little water leaked in it definitely took your breathe away...and your exposed lips took about 3 minutes to numb up before you could even think.

My lips had not yet gone numb but way thankful for the drysuit! 

You can see way down the crevices!

The guide said you could drink the water as well because it was all glacier water...ice cold glacier water! Obviously, I drank some.

On the west side of Iceland the main gig is glaciers.  The glaciers are huge and some quite accessible.  Jokulsarlon is a unique place where glacier chunks are breaking off and floating out to sea.  They are massive and huge (ya, those mean the same thing but think massively huge maybe!).  Along the beach they call it Diamond Beach as the crystal clear ice sparkles in the sun.  Its quite dramatic to see.

Ya...there's no way I'm trying to say that word.  

Volcanoes, Rocks and Geysers - a destination

Along the north the dominant feature includes jet black lava fields with snow capped volcanoes in the background.  One interesting area has a unique type of peat moss that grows several inches (sometimes feet) think on top of the older lava flows.  Its pretty interesting to see and really soft to walk on!

Seeing volcanoes and geyser areas is not new to me (I lived through Mt St Helen's and visit Yellowstone yearly) but it was still impressive to see.  And, some of the geyser areas had amazing mineral coloration that you could walk right up too (a lot fewer regulations!).

A seriously hot steam vent with no barriers.  Kind of fun...and dangerous!

At the same time, lots of geological features are found throughout the country - like this!:

Puffin, Reindeer, Terns and Icelandic Horses - a destination

There are 4 unique animals (okay, probably more but these are the main ticket items) which are in Iceland.  The puffin is a small bird which nests in Iceland during the spring and summer.  They are beautiful little creatures with bright bills during breeding season and only stand maybe a foot high or less.  We saw these birds out on the far northeast island called Borgarfjörður Eystri (dont get me to try to pronounce it). This is a 90 minute drive out on a dirt road (sketchy at times) but totally worth it as you are really close.  We also went on a boat tour out of Reykjavik but with all the waves (and rain) it wasn't nearly as good.

I was hoping to see Reindeer  while there as they are somewhat rare unless you go deep inland with a four wheel drive road.  We were lucky enough to not only see two small herds of reindeer but one stopped us on the road! Yay!  These aren't native to Iceland but the Vikings brought them over in like 800AD.

No, I didn't see Dancer, Prancer or Rudolph...on this trip

There are arctic tern nesting everywhere this time of year.  Buyer beware, these terns are pretty darn protective and will actually not just fake dive bomb you but brush against your head if you get too close.  I took my life in my hands to get a few shots!  They are beautiful creatures and very protective of their young which is admirable.

Finally, Icelandic horses are the hairy, stocky horses which remind me more of Fabio than anything.  I think the hair is useful in the cold damp climate.  Regardless, these horses are super friendly and dot the island.

Fabio

Iceland has scenery to rival none other and friendly people.  If everything wasn't so expensive it would be a top destination - and maybe is anyways.  I'd highly recommend it to anyone. If you want to see some additional pictures please visit my photo album at TrekkingTrego Public Gallery. All pictures are available for purchase.

CHEAT SHEET

Here's the nitty gritty on Iceland:
HOTEL LOCATION:  In Reykjavik stay down in the 101 area as you can easily walk around all the main attractions.  You can do the city in a day easily.  The rest of the country you need to stay in guest houses or camper it.

MONEY:  Everyone takes a credit card so no need to exchange any money.

FOOD:  Its just plain expensive.  Fish and Chips from a street vendor is 25$.  The only thing cheap are hot dogs.  The grocery stores have more reasonable prices for breakfast and lunch items but beware except for Reykjavik they can close at 6pm.

TRANSPORTATION:  Driving is easy with great signage (even if you don't know how to say the name of the places).  Wait, great signage EXCEPT for construction notification.  Check with like 6 people on road status because people's ideas of how good roads are a little skewed in my opinion!

DON'T MISS:  Get out past the Golden Circle area and enjoy areas with much smaller crowds.

Tazzy - Wild weather, wildlife

Tasmania, or Tazzy as the Aussie would say, is a quick flight away from Melbourne and I took advantage to do a quick 3 day jaunt.

Tasman Arch

The island state is situated such that the weather is wild.  One moment its sunny and warm, the next minute it is 40mph winds and snowing.  It makes packing a nightmare (don't just think layer, think wear ALL the layers you brought or should have brought).  At the end of the day, however, the small portion I was able to visit was beautiful and entertaining- definitely worth a visit.

Hobart

Hobart is a quaint little town that you can easily walk around in a day.  A few highlights of the town include:

Saturday's Salamanca Market is a fun market to taste your way through.  Most items are local made and all are local owned so it is a great place to see true Tasmanian goods.  I wish I had a bigger stomach as I walked through!

I don't know how this guy was in short sleeves and I had my parka on?!

Salamanca Market - fresh food section

From there you can walk along the waterfront.  I was lucky enough to see the research ice breaker vessel "Aurora Australis."  Apparently people come from all over and try to plan to see this...I just happen chanced upon it!  I didn't think anything of it till I was showing the picture to a local and they were like, "I got to get down to the waterfront!"  There are some great fish and chip places to eat along the waterfront as well - something I miss in landlocked Utah.

The botanical gardens are beautiful, not only from the standpoint of flora but also the setting and views over the waterway.

View across the harbour

Mt. Wellington

I'd love to say that I had an amazing vista from on top of Mt. Wellington.  Well, you know that wild weather I was talking about?  Ya, it struck me.  When I got up to the top it was about zero visibility with 60mph blowing sleet.  EEECK!  I had planned to hike up and around for the day but instead spent about 30 minutes freezing before heading back down.  My fingers were literally going numb.  I guess I'll have to save that experience for another time.

Freezing at the Top - the largest tower in Australia is actually just behind me.

About half way down it did clear a little and I got a cool picture through the clouds.

Peeking Through the Clouds to Hobart

Of course, about 4 hours later it was sunny and nice.

View to Mt Wellington from the Botanical Gardens - timed that one wrong!

One fun item is that you can drink the water in Tasmania so I stopped and filled my water bottle from a small waterfall - that was refreshingly tasty and cold!  If you go you have to do this novelty thing (at least novelty for us North Americans)

That water's fresh!

Hint:  The Hobart Shuttle Company which leaves from the tourism office goes up twice a day for cheap.  

Port Arthur Area

This is definitely worth a day trip to check out all the cool things that are out in the Port Arthur world heritage area.

Seacliffs along the drive to Port Arthur

Port Arthur is one of the first areas that Britain sent its prisoners to back in the day.  While the story isn't the most pleasant (8 year old boys were sent to Tasmania for punishment to give you a flavor of the salty history) the site is well kept and worth a 3 hour visit.  Some on my tour took the 4 hour options and most finished rather early.  

Instead of doing the extra hour at Port Arthur I opted to go to a reserve to see some wildlife.  I love wildlife.  And let's be honest, who goes to Tasmania and doesn't want to see a Tasmanian Devil?  Hello!  I didn't realize that devils are like the "hyena" of Australia.  They eat anything dead and will eat up to a fourth of their body weight in one sitting.  Man, on Thanksgiving I wish I could do that (or maybe not?!).  Besides devils, I got to pet kangaroos and see a few other native species.  It was definitely a great add on.  

These are the size of a toy poodle

No roo boxing with this joey

This is NOT an owl?!  It's a Tawny Frogmouth (glad that's not my last name!)

Additionally, on this tour, you get to see Australia's oldest church and oldest bridge (Tazzy has lots of "oldest in Australia" things).  If you can, opt to take the walk from the bakery to the bridge as it is a short but much prettier view of the bridge along the river. 

 Oldest Bridge

Oldest Church

At the end of the day we talked the tour guide into swinging by a beach so we could watch the sunset across the sea.

Tasmania has lots of beautiful sights and history to make it on your list of destinations to visit.  If you want to see additional pictures please visit my photo album at TrekkingTrego Public Gallery. All pictures are available for purchase.