travels, trips for 2015

my travel schedule is already filling up quite nicely for 2015 and i’m looking forward to each trip for different reasons.  it’s nice to get away from home for a few days; to experience different parts of the world you’ve never seen, to broaden your horizons, to reconnect with old friends & make new ones along the way.

on the docket for 2015:

port townsend, wa – long weekend getaway mother’s day weekend – nothing flashy by way of long distances from home, but it involves a few ferry rides (!!!), staying in a tiny house, and wandering around state parks & small coastal towns.  sounds like a great weekend to me.

spokane, wa – family member’s wedding mid-july – okay, so this doesn’t count as a vacation seeing as how it’s my hometown & all, but i’m going & i’m looking forward to it.  reconnecting with family & friends is always time well spent if you ask me.

chicago, il / milwaukee, wi – scratching off three major league baseball stadiums with my dad! – i’ve long had a bucket list item to see a baseball game at every mlb park.  so far, i’ve seen a game at five of the thirty stadiums.  after this midsummer trip, i will be able to scratch three more parks off of that list: miller park, u.s. cellular, and the timeless wrigley field.  to say that i cannot wait is an understatement.

new mexico – i’ve had many people ask me, “why?” when i tell them that lovely & i will be taking a trip to the land of enchantment this fall – my first reply?  “why not?”  i mean, seriously?  it looks amazing.  i’m drawn to the stillness and slower pace of life it must certainly must offer as compared to the busy northwest city i currently call “home”.  sure, i’ll see a breaking bad site or two, but for the most part, the trip will be about getting out on the open road and seeing where it takes us.  sounds pretty magical to me.

for now, it’s a matter of saving up my spending money so i can properly enjoy my time in each one of these locations.

where are you going this year? (big or small, it doesn’t matter)  would you be interested in a postcard exchange?

traveling mercies,
jdh

Five Things

A friend of mine recently answered these questions on her blog, and I thought that I would join in the fun.  I won’t tag anyone here, but if you feel like playing along, I’d love to read your answers as well.

Five Things I Have a Passion For

1. Discovering what other peoples’ passions are. (This is easily my #1 passion – tell me what you love, and why you love it)
2. Reading
3. Writing
4. Cycling
5. Baseball, Soccer & Hockey

Five Things I Would Like to do Before I Die

1. Attend a game at every MLB stadium (currently, I’ve been to 5 out of 30)
2. Visit every continent (I’ve been to 2 out of the 7 so far)
3. Drive the entire length of Interstate 90 (Seattle to Boston). Document my travels via words and photographs
4. Attend a match at Camp Nou
5. Complete a half marathon

Five Things I say A Lot

1. “Yeah yeah”
2. “Hey Babe” (when talking to my cat, Waffle)
3. “Hey Buddy” (when talking to my cat, Cooper)

Now you all must think that I’m crazy for talking to my cats.  Oh well, I don’t care. *grin* Beyond these three things, I really don’t know what I say a lot.  I’ll have to ask friends that I spend time with and hear their thoughts on this subject…

Five Books I Read Recently and Recommend

1. New and Selected Poems, Volume One – by Mary Oliver
2. The Ocean at the End of the Lane – by Neil Gaiman
3. The Gifts of Imperfection – by Brené Brown
4. Ready Player One – By Ernest Cline
5. Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis – by Lauren Winner

Five of My Favorite Films

1. Casablanca
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. Dead Poet’s Society
4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
5. Life is Beautiful

Five Places I would Love to Travel

1. Antarctica
2. India
3. Easter Island
4. Angel Falls, Venezuela
5. Giza Necropolis, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt

Traveling mercies,
jdh

Heading South

This Friday, my Lovely & I will be celebrating ten years together. Ten years. Wow.

How she’s ever been able to put up with yours truly for so long is beyond me.

To celebrate, we’re heading down to Portland, Oregon for the weekend.  There were plans for a larger trip, but life happened (as it usually does), so a larger trip is in the works for a later date.

There’s a lot of things I love about Portland (and one thing that I loathe, but that’s another post for another time). First on that list of loves is Powell’s Books (which claims to be the largest independent bookstore in the world – and I wouldn’t doubt that claim).

Powell’s City of Books
Image from Wikipedia

If you’ve never been, you absolutely must go. I cannot stress that enough. If you ever come visit me in Seattle, I will drive you down to Portland just so you can go.

I’ve begun to make my list of books that I want to consider while I’m there.  Sure, I may spend a dollar or two more for each book at Powell’s as opposed to buying them online, but the opportunity to support an independent store is priceless.

Other than hitting the bookstore, I’m looking forward to checking out various gardens, restaurants, and breweries (suggestions for things to do would be appreciated!)  I’m also hoping to introduce Lovely to Voodoo Doughnuts for one of their tasty treats, Ground Kontrol for a little bit of pinball, and Stepping Stone Cafe (you know, so I can feed my pancake obsession by trying their famous Man Cakes).

Needless to say, there will be photos.

Traveling mercies,
jdh

 

life (lately)

i find it hard to believe how neglected this blog has been recently (and it isn’t for lack of things to write about, but rather it is trying to find the time to accurately describe everything good & wonderful happening).

i crossed two artists’ off of my musical-bucket-list (artists’ that i want to see live at least once in my lifetime) – charlie daniels (photo below) & alanis morissette (both shows were amazing in their own right – wish you could have been there with me).

i crossed an item off of my main bucket list: ride a mechanical bull – here’s a photograph to prove that it actually went down and that i wasn’t just making it up:

 

would you believe that i managed to stay on for about thirty seconds?  you should have seen the smile on my face. i couldn’t remember the last time i smiled that much.

in between the bull riding, concert going, and other mischief making adventures, i’ve been able to sneak in a few soccer matches, outings with friends and family, and trips to new (to me, anyway) restaurants that i will definitely have to go back to.

really, i’m blessed.

sure, there’s a lot about life that is crazy/f-ed up/stressful/etc, but really, it is these glimpses of happy that keep me going.

traveling mercies,
jdh