— 22 Comments

A return to Iceland

I felt like I needed to spice my blog up a bit.  Lately I’ve done an awful lot of posts on Minnesota and even have another one in the queue.  When I started this blog it was mostly for sharing my stories and photos from traveling somewhere else.  Yet I came to realize that many of my readers have never even been to Minnesota and perhaps don’t realize how incredibly beautiful it really is.  Hence my recent focus on places around the land of lakes (we do have over 13,000!).

This morning I wanted to share some photos I’ve reworked from my trip to Iceland back in the summer of 2008.  Iceland truly appealed to me.  It has all the nature you could ever desire, loads of hikes, and not many people.  I found a lot of peace and serenity in such a beautiful, magical place.  It is my hope that I can return someday as there is much to see in this gorgeous land.

Here are some photos that will help illustrate what I mean.  Hope you enjoy!

Adventure Travel Iceland TRAVEL BY REGION Trekking/Hiking
— 13 Comments

A springtime visit to the Bird Sanctuary and Trial Gardens

Last Friday, we finally had a sunny day!  As they love to say in Minnesota, April showers bring May flowers.  However, this year due to an extremely early arrival of Spring, things have played out a little bit differently. The flora that we would normally be seeing in mid-May has come about a month early and is peaking now.

Remember that post I did on the gorgeous Spring flowers I saw last month in Virginia?  Well, those same lovely flowers such as the crab apple and cherry trees, tulips, daffodils and irises are now blooming here.  Even the wonderfully, fragrant purple lilacs are in bloom sweeping a delicious, sweet smell into my house.  The only thing left to come are the peonies.

Minnesota TRAVEL BY REGION United States
— 21 Comments

Photography: From Minnesota with love

I couldn’t help myself. I am overwhelmed by the beauty of spring and the delightful array of colorful spring flowers.

I believe strongly that nature can heal you.  Enlighten you.  And brighten your soul.  I was drawn to visit the Minnesota Arboretum in the outlying suburbs for an afternoon of photo taking and embracing the beauty of mother nature’s rebirth and revival.

Hope you enjoy!  No worries, too.  After this post, I’m back to Guatemala with a visit to some of Antigua’s famous ruins!  

The tulips were so brilliant, they hurt my eyes. 

Minnesota TRAVEL BY REGION TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY United States
— 11 Comments

The Power of Flowers: Spring in Minnesota

When I was planning out my travel schedule this year, it never occurred to me that I would have the fortuitous opportunity of experiencing three Springs.  Spring is one of my favorite times of year.  After a long, cold, brutal, colorless winter suddenly there is a huge rebirth of color and everything comes to life.  This rebirth of life brings so much joy to me that at times I find myself engulfed in absolute spring fever madness.

I can’t concentrate.  I can’t stand to be indoors.  My heart and soul are bursting with energy to be outside and to be alive once again.  I want to run faster.  I want to breathe freer.  My soul is begging me to be outside, experiencing the thrill of mother nature at her finest.

Photo of tulip bursting with color and brightness and growing towards the sun…

Minnesota TRAVEL BY REGION TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY United States
— 14 Comments

The simple beauty of spring tulips

I have been in Virginia for less than 48 hours yet it has been enough time for me to go absolutely crazy enjoying the rebirth of nature and the flowers abound. I am concerned that I have become a tad bit obsessive but the spring flowers here are so spectacular that I can hardly stand it. So here it is. An entire post on the sensational flowers I saw today in a garden in Colonial Williamsburg. Hope you enjoy!

20120401-165602.jpg

20120401-165610.jpg

20120401-165619.jpg

TRAVEL BY REGION Virginia
— 7 Comments

An afternoon at Fuentes Georginas

It is not possible to wake up at 4:30 am, hike a volcano and not follow up with an immediate visit to most popular natural spa in all of Guatemala.  The plan to go immediately to Fuentes Georginas proceeding my volcano climb popped into my head during the knee-aching, slippery descent of Santa Maria.  I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the remainder of the day, rewarding my tired body and soul, and soaking in one of the four hot pools of Fuentes Georginas located in the mountains nearby.

Adventure Travel Guatemala TRAVEL BY REGION Trekking/Hiking
— 6 Comments

The long, slippery descent down Santa Maria

View from the Top: Xela lies thousands of feet below.

“Getting to the top is optional.   Getting down is mandatory.” -Ed Viesturs climber and author of “No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks”

After my surreal experience on top of Santa Maria volcano, witnessing my first live volcanic eruption just a few thousand feet below my perch on a jagged rock, it was time to say goodbye.  Heading back is always the anti-climax of a hike, especially a good one in which you reach your peak and for that moment in time you are on top of the world.  But as I always say, all good things must come to an end.  It was time to head back.

The start of our descent….you can see terraced farmland first, followed by the town of Xela far below. 

Adventure Travel Guatemala TRAVEL BY REGION Trekking/Hiking
Guatemala
— 35 Comments

Watching a live volcanic eruption from my perch atop Santa Maria

“No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied — it speaks in silence to the very core of your being”.  —-Ansel Adams

Around 10:30, five hours after starting our hike up the dark and slippery path of the Santa Maria Volcano we had finally arrived at her pointed peak.  The clouds had started to form and blanket the valley of Xela thousands of miles below.  Yet fortunately they hadn’t fully conquered the peak.  There was still a spectacular view of the surrounding volcanoes and valley beneath.

As we approached our resting spot for an early lunch I was perplexed by a low humming sound.  The sound of voices, high and low, big and small, filled up the empty open space around me.  As we come closer to the noise I realized with amazement that it was a human chain of chanting.  The Mayans were singing their prayers to their gods.  The voices of their chants flowed smoothly together making a monotonous tone at times, entrancing me and captivating my soul.

Adventure Travel Guatemala TRAVEL BY REGION Trekking/Hiking
— 5 Comments

My 5 am climb up the Santa Maria Volcano

“The Beauty of the Mountain is hidden for all those who try to discover it from the top, supposing that, one way or an other, one can reach this place directly.   The Beauty of the Mountain reveals only to those who climbed it…” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

View of the grand Santa Maria volcano off in the distance as I was leaving Xela via shuttle on my way to Antigua. 

There are things you’ll experience in Guatemala that will stay with you forever: the smell of a freshly grilled tortilla; the assault-on-all-senses of a jungle trek; the people you bump into on the road and become lifelong friends…..In the west, a volcano looms on almost every horizon, almost begging to be climbed.  (Opening lines in the introduction to Guatemala, Lonely Planet 2010).

It was with these words, “almost begging to be climbed” that I joyously opted to skip my already-paid for Spanish class on Wednesday and wake up at the break of dawn to climb Guatemala’s fourth highest volcano, Santa Maria (elevation 3772 m/12,375 feet).  It didn’t matter that I was utterly exhausted nor that I didn’t have the right gear.  All that mattered was there was an enormously, inviting volcano begging to be climbed.  There was no way I wasn’t going to climb it.

Adventure Travel Guatemala TRAVEL BY REGION Trekking/Hiking
— 8 Comments

Itchy eyes and the early arrival of a Minnesota spring

Spring has come a month early this year in Minnesota.  After an unseasonably warm winter with hardly any snow to amply cover the ground or build a snowman, Spring has launched full force in what most people consider “Minne-snowta“.

The ice off nearby city lakes such as my beloved Lake Harriet faded into our memories almost a month early.  The trees are in full bloom and the allergy index is high. My eyes are itching, my nose is running and I have desperately scrambled to unpack my summer cloths while the temperatures soar on average 30-40 degrees higher than normal.  The average high for today of 44 degrees F is a long ago memory as each and every day another record is set and it feels like June.

In fact, it seems like we just skipped past Spring all together and jumped into summer.  But the telltale signs of the trees, bushes and flowers in full bloom reminds me that yes it is still spring.  The spectacular showing of brilliant reborn green has been making my eyes water as I marvel at their sensational beauty and watch the world around me come back to life.   It gives me joy, inspiration and miraculous hope for the future as I witness the rebirth of Spring and embrace the phenomenal changing of the seasons that encompass the circle of life.  

Here are some of my favorite photos I took today during my morning walk around Minnehaha Creek and Lake Harriet nearby my home.  

Minnesota TRAVEL BY REGION
— 12 Comments

5am climb on Santa Maria Volcano

Just a short note to let you all know that I had the most spectacular day today in Guatemala! I rose at 4:45 am and set off in complete darkness to climb the fourth highest volcano in Guatemala, Santa Maria at 12,375 feet/3772m. It was so intensely beautiful that it made me melt. When we got to the top of the volcano a few hours later, I saw my first ever live volcano eruption right across the way at Santiaguito Volcano. Here it is….

20120307-204407.jpg

There are two other options for climbing The Santa Maria Volcano. One is you start at 11 pm and do a moonlight hike and watch the sun rise over the neighboring volcanoes (there are tons!) but it is very very cold. The other is a 2 or 3 am start and you arrive just as the sun rises over the volcanoes. Apparently if you do the night hike you can see the brilliant red lava gleaming from a neighboring volcano!!!! If I was here a little longer than a week, I would have definitely done it. I can’t imagine how amazing it would be to see burning live lava in the darkness of the night!

Stay tuned…This is just a quick “postcard” summary of my trip. I took over 150 pictures today of the amazing volcano, countryside and farmland. Of course I need to edit and write it all up as a post! That will be when I return!

Adventure Travel Guatemala TRAVEL BY REGION Trekking/Hiking