HOW I SPENT MY WINTER VACATION, by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer

How do you picture your dream vacation? Fun in the sun? A writing retreat? Lots of great food? Maid service? No worries?

My recent trip to Cabo San Lucas was all those and more. Staying at an all-inclusive resort a ways out of Cabo, my husband and I had a suite right on the beach. From our room we could watch both the sunrise and the sunset. As an extra bonus, the Super Snow Moon made a showing during our stay as well.

Though Jim and I go to his timeshare in Mazatlán just about every year, this was my first experience with the all-inclusive plan. In Mazatlán, one of our favorite things to do is shop at the central market for fresh foods, then cook them in our room. Jim fishes on the beach and buys langoustines and shrimp from the fishermen. But the Cabo place was new to us, and a ways from town and shopping, so we decided to try something different.

It was fun not having to think about cooking (or cleaning up after) and one of the only times in my life I didn’t look at the prices. We enjoyed the many resort eateries. There was a bistro, a buffet, a Chinese and a Japanese restaurant. The Japanese outdoor place was my favorite, not only because of the great food, but it also had cats! A few friendly ferals popped in for a share of the bounty, and I was happy to give it to them. I didn’t see the sign saying not to feed the animals until after the deed was done.

We also enjoyed a fair share of room service, my guilty pleasure.  Getting breakfast delivered to our room facilitated the other favorite part of my holiday— working on my books. Ironically my story on takes place at the beach, but hundreds of miles north in the cold and rain of Washington state. Sitting on the warm, sunny balcony, it was sometimes difficult to put myself in the chill of those northern climes.

Writing, walking, smelling the flowers, eating way too much, sleeping in without having to feed and medicate cats— all those things made the past week a wonderful vacation. I’m glad to be back though. My cats missed me.

You can find more blogposts by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer on her blogsite: www.lecatts.wordpress.com

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@MollieHuntCats

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The Great Road Trip of 2019

For the last few weeks I have turned my back on all things writing-related to take an epic road trip with my husband. I didn't even take my laptop. The focus of this trip was to spend time together seeing new sights and just enjoying each other's company. And, in the interest of full disclosure, to see if we can spend that much time together without getting on each other's nerves. Except for a couple of bobbles (read arguments) we did pretty good. So, instead of talking about books and writing this month, I'm going to give you the highlights of our trip and share some of my favorite photos.

Stats:

17 days
6048.5 miles
Vehicle driven: 14 year old Toyota Highlander

Thirteen states:

Alabama
Mississippi
Tennessee
Arkansas
Kansas
Oklahoma
Iowa
Missouri
South Dakota
Wyoming
Idaho
Montana
Colorado

National parks/monuments visited:
 
Badlands
Mount Rushmore
Devil's Tower
Glacier
Yellowstone
Grand Tetons

I took dozens (maybe hundreds) of photos on our trip but this is hands-down my favorite. Someone left these shoes on this log at Yellowstone and this picture is stinkin' adorable even if I do say so myself.

Yellowstone National Park

I don't wear hats. Ever. Why? Apparently I have a huge head and it seems most women's head wear is "one size fits all." While that may be fine for most people, one-size-fits-all doesn't fit me. Yet, while we were in South Dakota, we visited Wall Drug Store - a must-see if you are in the area - and my hubby and I both bought western head wear. (It's amazing the difference actual sizes can make.) I love my new hat and wore it everywhere; it definitely helped protect this fair-skinned redhead from sunburn. Well, the hat and SPF 70 sunscreen.

We suck at selfies but we love our hats - and Badlands National Park

My husband gets a kick out of the facts that I love rocks. I was basically in heaven once we reached Montana and the multi-colored rocks there. These were located in Glacier National Park. So pretty!

We drove the Going-To-The-Sun Road at Glacier which was quite an experience and not for the faint of heart. The scenery was gorgeous but my fear of heights and anxiety worked together to make it an emotionally draining experience. This is another of my favorite photos from Glacier.

Glacier National Park

Visiting Devil's Tower was a big fan-girl moment for me since it was the primary location for one of my all-time favorite movies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Fan-girling at Devil's Tower

We learned several things from this trip. First, yes, we can spend an extended period together without the proximity resulting in homicide. Second, we're going to make a separate trip to Yellowstone at some point in the future and spend a week there. The two days we had allotted on this trip just weren't enough to see everything. Third, we need to build more "down days" into our schedule where we don't have to go anywhere or do anything. We only had a couple of those days this trip and we were both pretty well exhausted when we got home. Fourth, I LOVE the state of South Dakota. It is absolutely gorgeous and just gets prettier as you travel from east to west.

I returned from the trip refreshed (once the exhaustion wore off) and with inspiration for new stories. I can't wait to get started! So, until next month I'll leave you with one last photo - a hysterical panoramic photo fail from Grand Teton National Park.

Panorama Fail

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Life in the Slow Lane

I believe we all have that one special place that soothes our soul and fills us with peace. For me, it's the mountains. I've been to the mountains, in various locations, on countless occasions. On each trip, I eagerly await the appearance of the first peaks in the distance. As soon as they come into view, I sigh and peace flows through me, any worry and stress falling away.

My husband is a beach guy. His family spent a week at the same beach every summer. He's natural for the beach - he loves the water and tans easily. We've made several trips to the beach of his childhood many times since our marriage but it was always a bit of a struggle for me. I'm both a non-swimmer and a fair-skinned redhead. I practically burst into flames in direct sunlight, even when coated in SPF 50+ sunscreen. I also suffer from an irrational fear of sharks. Three days at the beach was about all I could handle. At that point, I was ready to go home even if it meant leaving the rest of the family behind, LOL.

 There is SO much truth in this image courtesy of How to be a Redhead

However, over the years, things have changed. My husband has learned to enjoy the peace and quiet of the mountains as much as I do. As for me, I have learned to enjoy the beach. I still can't swim and have to take extreme measures to avoid blistering sunburn. What changed? I discovered the joy of fossil hunting. The first shark's tooth I found ignited something in me. I guesstimate that I've found a few hundred shark's teeth over the years. I've found other items that I knew must be some sort of fossil but never knew what they were. On our last trip to the beach, one of our fellow campers was also a fossil enthusiast; he was able to identify a couple of my mystery fossils: puffer fish plates and pieces of a sting ray barb. I also found some sort of vertebrae that had him stumped. My biggest find (literally), was the large tooth in the picture below.

Fossilized Great White tooth

So, while you are reading this post, I will be scouring the waterline in search of more fossilized finds. I can't wait!

What is your favorite vacation location?

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