WheninRome's VirtualTourist Home Page

For a relaxing week at the beginning of fall, my wife and I made our second trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We have grown to enjoy this area as a relaxing beach getaway. It's not too far of a drive for us, has a beautiful beach that my wife enjoys, has an abundance of nature, good fishing for me, a lot of eclectic shops, great seafood and generally friendly people. As much as I like my adventure vacations, it is also good to just turn off and unwind on occasion.

Last year we stayed at the southern end of Nags Head near the Nags Head Fishing Pier. That area was OK, but a little too commercial for us so we decided to stay farther south, toward the end of the Island at the small community of Frisco this year. Thank goodness for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which has kept this barrier island from being developed with vacation homes and condo communities from one end to the other. In fact, the southern parts of the Outer Banks (Frisco, Village of Hatteras, Avon, Rodanthe, Waves, etc...) are still very much undeveloped and a great place to get away - no McDonald's here.

In July of 2009 I took a 6-day backpacking trip in Wyoming's Bridger Teton National National Forest. It was a great week of hiking and flyfishing. A Travelogue documenting the trip is located in my Jackson Hole - Wyoming's Tourist Town page. I spent a couple days acclimitizing in Jackson Hole where I flew into. This was the first time I had been back in Jackson in over 10 years and was a little disappointed by the crowds and suburban sprawl. It just made getting out into the backcountry that much sweeter.

I'm looking forward to my next backpacking adventure in 2010 hopefully. My backpacking wish list currently includes:

Grand Canyon Rim to Rim (I would love to combine this with a 10-day float down the Colorado River)
Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area (Idaho)
Yosemite National Park
Grafton Loop (Maine)
Vermont Long Trail
Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado)
Aboraka-Beartooth Wilderness Area (Montana)
Himalayan Trekking (maybe when I'm retired if I'm lucky)

We spent a wonderful week in Rome between Christmas and New Year's 2008/2009. This was my first real taste of international travel and I am smitten. I cannot wait for our next international adventure: Ireland and Scotland, perhaps Germany, or maybe France???

See my Rome Page for the details of our trip.

This picture was taken from behind Lake of the Clouds Hut on New Hampshire's Mount Washinton. I overnighted here (about two thirds of the way up Mount Washington) while taking a short trek in the White Mountains in 2006.

Lake of the Clouds hut is an Appalachian Mountain Club hut and is one of several within the Presidential Range of the White Mountains. The huts are popular with hikers and Appalachian Trail through-hikers. Unlike the summit of Mount Washinton, the huts are only accessible via hiking trail.

I had summited the mountain before taking this picture and had returned to the hut for dinner and to settle in for the night. The views were breathtaking, the air clear and the weather fantastic.

I must admit that when I first stumbled across the VT website I was pretty cocky. I thought I knew it all about traveling and how to get the most out of a vacation. Well, after a few months here I must say that I am pretty humbled; I have a lot yet to learn from my fellow VT'ers. The good part is that unlike college Physics, this learning will actually be enjoyable.

Becoming a VT'er has opened my eyes to a lot of potential travel opportunities. Traveling does not just have to be once or twice a year vacations to some exotic locale. Everyday is now a travel opportunity; every trip to downtown Cleveland for work a chance to experience something new. Every weekend brings forth a new opportunity to set out on an adventure in this often tourist-overlooked state of Ohio or our neighbors Pennsylvania or West Virginia.

That doesn't mean I have overcome all of my old ways. I am still disgusted by the hordes of people that spend their vacations frying on a beach, guzzling bad beer or mixed drinks, and then at 6:00 pm piling into their car and sitting in vacationland gridlock while trying to get to a buffet. I never want to do that again.

This world has so much to offer, my wife and I want to experience as much of it as possible and to experience it in a way with the lowest environmental impact as possible. Hopefully, by sharing some of our experiences we can help others to do the same.

Thank you VT!

P.S. The adjacent picture is of our beloved Peety Dog. He passed away 9/7/09 and is dearly missed. He LOVED going for rides in the truck. He was our big baby.