"Family Travels" Florida999's Profile

Watzmann: the mountain that defeated us!

We like to travel and our goal is to visit all 50 U.S. States, plus some other places around the world. We love to ski in the winter.

Just returned from another great ski trip to Vermont. We went to Okemo this year and really had a great time. There was lots of snow this year.

We had a wonderful trip to Europe in summer 2012. We visited Germany, including Berchtesgaden which was very nice, Salzburg Austria, Belgium and Paris. I still have lots of new VT pages to make. I enjoyed Paris much more this time than the first time I visited about 15 years ago. No new mountain in 2012, we failed! The weather turned bad about an hour from the summit.

We visit Vermont for Christmas most years. This year we actually had a blizzard of sorts on one day, lots of snow. It snowed every day after Christmas.

In 2011, we went on a cruise to the Bahamas. I didn't think I liked being on a cruise, after the one to Mexico a few years ago, but we enjoyed this one a lot. I think it makes a lot of difference what ship you are on, and where your cabin is. Nassau was much better than we had expected also.

We still have 5 States left to visit: Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, Washington, Oregon. We also have visited many High Points in States and a few countries. On the trip we did a few years ago, we hiked up Guadaloupe Peak in Texas, which was a very nice hike. We have hike up mountains like Mount Katahdin in Maine which was the hardest one we have climbed so far, but also the most fun. Made it up Mount Rogers in Virginia a few years ago, easy but beautiful hike with lots of wild ponies around.

Most of the time we drive and camp somewhere. It is a lot more fun to camp than stay in a hotel. If you drive, you see more and can stop along the way anytime you like. Plus, you don't have airline problems like we had last year!!! ( do NOT fly Alitalia!!) I can get in my truck anytime I wish and drive anywhere I wish!!
Plus, you can take all of your camping equipment or ski stuff. We drove an amazing 8000 miles during our 3 week trip in July 2006 to Yellowstone, about 6000 miles in July 2007 all the way to Nova Scotia, and about 4000 to Vermont and back. In the winter, we like to rent cabins or houses. We drove about 5000 miles to New Mexico and back on last year's trip , and I think I have overcome my fear of bridges after driving through Louisiana...

So far my favorite States are:

Lol, I keep changing my mind:
Vermont:)
MAINE:-) AND North Carolina!!
Florida
Colorado/Wyoming AND New Mexico

My least favorite States I won't mention here, but there are a few I don't care for.

Favorite cities:
Large: I think would not like to live in any, but I had a nice time visiting Paris
Medium: Portland Maine, Colorado Springs, Orlando?! ( hmmm...getting tired of Orlando)
Small: Bar Harbor ( Maine), Jackson Hole (WY)
Really small: Stowe, Vermont, Beech Mountain ( NC) and Ormond Beach ( FL), Bethel (ME) , Bryson City (NC)

Outside the U.S. we have visited the U.K. (mostly Scotland), Canada ,Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Belgium. We went to Mexico on a cruise a few years ago.
I have been to most of Europe and would like to go to a new place, and I am pretty sure we will next year. We are debating between Turkey, Japan, Croatia, Hungary , Romania and Greece. Plus there is still Washington State and Oregon to drive too...

Other places we would like to visit: India, China, Australia.
I REALLY want to visit India!! It is probably on the top of my list. Problem with that is that the kids are not out of school when the weather is not too hot there.

My favorite thing to do on a trip: climb up mountains and be outside in nature somewhere doing something fun, like rock climbing or riding, skiing in the winter. We all like seeing new places also. We like visiting historical places also.

Canary Islands: My first ever trip !

First plane trip

I went to the Canary Islands with my parents. The islands are off the west coast off Africa. I don't remember much about that trip, but I have a few very old looking photos.

New puppy!

new family member Heidi

We got Heidi ( German Shepherd) when she was 8 weeks. She is now 4 months and weights 40 lbs. She is a great dog!

My truck

Yukon XL

I traded in my Sierra truck for a Yukon XL...the Sierra just did not have the comfort of the Suburban we used to take on trips. The Yukon XL is the GMC version of the Suburban. It has much more storage space in the back, more seats , more room, more everything.
Only a large SUV is comfortable and big enough for long trips.
This one actually gets decent gas mileage, it has some technology that shuts down some of the engine cylinders at cruising speed on the highway. We just took it on the first trip and I was surprised at how far we could drive without getting gas.

War Games

Historicon 2011 Valley Forge

Another thing we like to do besides travel is playing miniature war games. We have gone to the largest war game convention (Historicon) several times. This year it was at Valley Forge near Philladelphia.

The photo shows a game we played of Mongols attacking China around 1000 years or so ago. In reality , the Mongols won this battle, but we lost, since we couldn't seem to roll dice well:-)

Heidi's first camping trip

We camped at Juniper Springs in Ocala right before Easter. It was still very cold out for this time of year. Heidi had a blast , but she got tired hiking after 6 or so miles, and we had to carry her some of the way back!!

Intro Updated Apr 8, 2013
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Personal Pages (1)

Written Jul 27, 2010

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Meeting other people on VT

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Comments (137)

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Agraichen May 8, 2013 at 3:45 PM

Thx for the greetings. I spent it in Sedona AZ.. Incredible views. I'll be in Key West at the end of Oct.
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gwened Apr 7, 2013 at 11:23 AM

heeelloo long time no read around the new and improve VT. me planning my family summer vacation. I saw your post go to vermont.different...cheers
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  Florida999 Apr 7, 2013 at 11:25 AM
  
  Hi there! Yeah, no Paris trip for us this summer! Only a real estate shopping trip:) Plus we are taking the new dog , that should be interesting...
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  gwened Apr 7, 2013 at 11:27 AM
  
  aha new company good , will sniff a few new places...real estate should be good there now !!)
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gwened Jan 25, 2013 at 12:42 PM

great profile photo , I could be there tom or sunday freezing cold here...but then Indonesia by monday am 90F lol!!!
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  Florida999 Feb 4, 2013 at 11:04 AM
  
  I want to go back to Vermont:(
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  gwened Feb 4, 2013 at 11:11 AM
  
  that's colder like where i am now lol!
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goodfish Jan 22, 2013 at 5:00 PM

I'm so sorry about your poor, brand-new puppy!!! :O(
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  Florida999 Jan 24, 2013 at 10:10 AM
  
  hahahaha, DON"T count on that either!!! One of mine ( I won't even say which one) proceeded to poop on the livingroom floor once when we had company....no diaper on
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  goodfish Jan 24, 2013 at 10:29 AM
  
  Ew!
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Donna_in_India Jan 20, 2013 at 5:32 AM

Hi Sophia - Belated happy new year! How's everything down south?
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  Florida999 Jan 23, 2013 at 8:44 AM
  
  Thanks! Now that the puppy seems ok again, things are going well again:)
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Gillybob Jan 15, 2013 at 4:47 AM

Just seen your answer in TTS's Misc Forum - you could always make April your first VT Meet! I can highly recommend Ann and Kathy's meet - I came for the first one and I'm returning for this one! Gillybob greetings
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  Gillybob Jan 17, 2013 at 7:26 AM
  
  No worries - BTW - I love to travel too! LOL!
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  Florida999 Jan 23, 2013 at 8:45 AM
  
  LOL I am at the moment already planning a trip for Thanksgiving!! That's almost a year away
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akkipaa Jan 8, 2013 at 1:00 AM

Snow? Ah, you were in Vermont and had skiing holidays out there, right. Hope everything went ok without any ski brokes etc. We had a home Chrismas with twenty close relavives, 15 at the Christmas eve. I send you some photos of our dinner choices :) Mixed traditional and hmm... imaginational. Have a great day (we have some snow but not so much in our level, 10-15 inches)
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goodfish Jan 5, 2013 at 5:29 AM

Happy New Year, Sophia! Hope you had a terrific vacation and lots of snow? Enjoyed your New Year's resolutions: am trying to undo some holiday damage myself. OOF. Many happy travels in 2013!
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mehulraj Dec 25, 2012 at 6:28 AM

Merry Christmas and happy new year to you my friend
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mehulraj Dec 25, 2012 at 6:28 AM

Merry Christmas and happy new year to you my friend