Opatija, Croatia

     This fall I went to Croatia and a few surrounding countries for 2 weeks.  The trip started off in Opatija, Croatia.  Opatija is a small town on the Istrian penninsula, on the coast of the gulf of Kvarner.  It was the perfect first town to visit, just a beautiful seaside resort area with hospitable locals and beautiful buildings. 

 

Hotel that I stayed at, nice except for the extremely loud wedding reception!

 

 

The building next door, a shopping center. 

 

 

The small pier is just a short walk from the hotel, and there is beautiful coastal scenery from every angle.

 

 

And lots of fisherman.

 

 

It's probably an ideal location for anyone with a spare boat.

 

 

If you go, and stay on the side of town by the Bristol, there is a beautiful park with some amazing graffiti and nice landscaping.  This was one of my favorites.

 

 

This was the view at the end of the walk.  The perfect vacation spot for people looking for relaxation. 

 



London in 2 days or less...

     I've always wanted to go to London.  Even if it was work related, I finally made my way over this fall.  There wasn't enough time to see everything I wanted to, but there was enough time to see enough to know that I want to go back. 
     The day I arrived was the final day of the Paralympics.  I was just walking through downtown and came across the Marathon event.

    
     The area was so crowded and the excitement was palpable.  It was easy to get drawn into the energy and definitely made me want to attend a future Olympics.  After waiting around for a while, some of the athletes came through.  The crowd went crazy, cheering for everyone equally.  One could tell that London was sad the events were coming to a close, and still wanted to rally for the last few moments in the sun. 

     It was so crowded, I couldn't make it to the finish line, so after some more wandering, I found some typical London sites.  I didn't really have enough time to actually stop anywhere, so here is a quick photo tour of what I saw.  Hopefully I will have the chance to return some day and actually go to some of these places!

 

Beautiful building that I saw

 

Buckingham Palace

 

I'm lucky that I could even get close enough to the fence for this picture. 

 

Double Decker Bus 

 

Who knew?

 

Obligatory phone booth photo

 

 

London Eye

 

 

 

Westminster Abbey

 



     The next day, I made it to the British museum for a few hours, where it was obvious you could spend days there. 

 

   And I came across King's Cross Station, which had beautiful architecture and a long line of children waiting for a certain monument...

 

King's Cross Station 

 

For all Harry Potter fans

 

     Then, I had to work for several days and was introduced to British, uh, cuisine.  I managed to make it down to Stone Henge one day after work. 

 

 

     I wish I had had more time before they closed the area and that it had not become dark so quickly.  I wish my camera had been functioning better too for that matter.  Visiting Stone Henge was surreal.  They were closing up when I arrived, so I was not able to get too close.  The next time I go to the U.K., I will make a point of going back.  The pictures simply do not do justice to the area.  It was so beautiful, even mystical, and you could feel the hint of magic in the air.  In fact, everywhere that I visited during this trip had a similar feel to it, and no, it was not just because I'm a Harry Potter fan.  There were just many unreal moments when travelling for those few days, maybe because I've seen the pictures so many times, or seen the sites in the movies, or maybe there is just something magical about England. 

Squaw Creek

     Last weekend I drove up to Mound City, Missouri to visit the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge.  http://www.fws.gov/refuge/squaw_creek/  It is a haven for migratory birds on over 7,000 acres.  December is a prime time for eagle viewing and unbeknownst to me, they were celebrating Eagle Days.  There was a presentation by a local zoo with a bald eagle and golden eagle.  I had seen a lone bald eagle once at the Philadelphia zoo, but it really was incredible to see it up close.

    They offered an auto tour, and there were a few designated points to get out and hike if you wanted.  Since it was eagle days, they also had naturalists set up with viewing stations to get a better view of the eagles, bus tours with guides around the auto tour route, and other fun activities going on.

Even though the main attraction was the eagles, there was plent of other wildlife at the site.

And even though most of the vegetation was brown or gray and the trees had lost their leaves, there was still beautiful scenery.

 

 

 

And of course eagles.  Unfortunately I don't have a telephoto lens, so this is the best that I could do. 

Throughout the course of the day, I probably saw around 15 eagles from various distances.  It truly was amazing to see them in a natural setting and to hear them calling to each other and scanning the ground for food.  There were lots of other birds as well, and apparently they have tons of geese in the fall and spring.  Despite a drive that was a little longer than I expected, it was well worth the trip, especially since everything at the refuge is free.  I'd definitely try visiting in another season, but if you can only fit in one trip, I recommend visiting at a time when the eagles are there.  It sounds corny, but seeing this American symbol does inspire a sense of pride for this country.  And to think, it could have been a turkey instead...

Night Hike in Utah

Some night pictures from the toadstools in Utah - my first try with night photography and it was definitely addictive!

 

At the end of the hike.  

The toadstools in Utah, about an hour and a half from Zion National Park.

The moon provided so much light it was almost like day.

Color Run - In Photos

The Color Run is best described in photos. The run itself was ok, the end was definitely the best part, see for yourself.

Start of the Run

The End of the Run - No clue who the guy in the background is

Color Rave



Aftermath of the color rave

Leaving the Run



It was definitely worth experiencing once.  Not sure if my lungs can take it again next year though!

Trail Nerds

If you're into twisted ankles and feeling like you're in hot pursuit, then trail running is probably for you.  When I signed up to try the trail run, I didn't know what to expect, but I was up for trying something new.  It was the Trail Nerds intro to trail running, only 2.8 miles.  I thought that it couldn't be too bad, for that short of a distance.  I had been running regularly anyway and thought I was up for the challenge.  Plus, it was at Wyandotte County Lake Park, which I had been meaning to check out anyway.

When I showed up for the event, I was really scared that I would be the last runner.  There were around 200 people and they looked like serious runners - tall, thin, lean and wearing very little clothing.  I started towards the very back of the starting line, and waited to take off, I was glad I started at the back as it was a quick start.  Soon we were walking though, as we headed into the trail and had to filter down to a single file line.  It was fun at the start, racing through the woods, a nice slow pace because of all the people jamming together. 

When it opened up into a clearing, we were able to spread out a bit more and pass people that were slowing the group down.  There had been lots of uphill challenges on the way to the clearing midpoint, so I was looking forward to a downward route on the way back.  Unfortunately, we went back a different route with more hillers at steeper inclines.  It was difficult to continue at a few points and I'm surprised that more people didn't twist ankles or fall in a few places.  I was glad to finish and check out the rest of the park once the race was over.  Wyco lake park was surprisingly nice.

If you ever get a chance I recommend checking it out!  Not very crowded and worth the drive.

I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy with travel, work, life, etc., but my resolution for the summer is to update all of my travel and adventures.  There are many!  China, Armenia, Republic of Georgia, NYC, amongst others.  I want to do them justice and write about upcoming travel as well.  There are many places planned.  But for a short post, I'll just show a quick picture or two from a recent adventure.

A friend and I went to the X-Factor live auditions.  I've never seen the show, and never thought I would like something like this, but when a friend couldn't make it and offered the tickets I didn't pass it up.  The auditions were at the Sprint Center in Kansas City and with the tickets we only had to wait about 15 minutes for some great seats.

Frank Nicotero was the host and started the night by going through the rules for what we were supposed to do - applaud if something was good, boo if we didn't like a show, disagree with the judges, and he made us practice again and again so the cameras could pick up our actions.  Of course the main draw for the evening was the new judge...Brittney Spears.

I wanted to like her, I really did, but she made it hard.  She didn't have anything intelligent or witty to say and she never acknowledged the fans.  Demi Lovato though was very likable and kind to the fans that had showed up just to see her.  It was fun and I'm looking forward to watching the KC auditions in the fall and see a few of my favorite auditions, like the white teenage preppy rapper and outgoing country group with the funny leading lady.  It was worth checking out one time, especially since it was free. 

Remember, adventure is easy to find - trying out a tag line :)