Fodder For Fiction » bucket list

Family Bucket List Series. Vol. 2. Issue 1

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:00:42 +0000

I probably should call this, Family Bucket List. Volume 2 ½, because I’m merely writing to tell you I’m in the planning stages for my next exciting Family Bucket List Vacation. For those of you who didn’t catch Volume I of the Family Bucket List, first let me explain what’s going on.

The idea for this trip grew out of a family movie-watching experience. We saw the movie The Bucket List, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. In the film, the two main characters, being treated for terminal illnesses, decided to carry out every adventure on their bucket list before it’s too late.

Luckily, my entire family is happy and healthy. But we do have limited time before my oldest is off to college. We decided that since we only have a few more years with us all living under one roof that we would each make our own bucket list of the places we would like to travel together. Then we compared our lists and came up with our family bucket list.

Our first family bucket list trip was a tour of National Parks including Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bryce and Zion Canyon, ending in Las Vegas (to offset all of the Natural Wonders, my kids wanted someplace “fake” on the itinerary). You can read about some of the highlights by clicking on “Bucket List” in the popular tags listed in the sidebar on the right of this blog.

I have spent the better part of the past few days, knee deep in travel plans for the summer. Our next bucket list trip will bring us to Hawaii! I’m so psyched! I have been calculating points mileage for our airfares, comparing hotel prices, checking out Frommer’s and other travel guides for suggested itineraries. It’s looking like we’ll spend most of our time on the Big Island and Maui. As I said, I’m still in the planning phases. So if any of my readers have been to these locales and know of any attractions or restaurants I shouldn’t miss (or should avoid), let me know!

When the time comes, I’ll be sharing more about our adventure. So stay tuned!

Best to you,

Lisa Lipkind Leibow

Author of Smart Women’s Fiction

www.LLLeibow.com

Family Bucket List Series. Vol. 1. Issue 11

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Day 9

On our last morning of vacation, we ate breakfast in the room and the checked our bags through to the airport at the hotel valet (Great service!) This gave us a couple of hours to explore Madame Toussaud’s Wax Museum. It was silly and fun. We took tons of photos with “famous” wax models, including President Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Evel Kneival, Shaq, MJ, Whoopie Goldberg, and more. One stop for gelato, and then off to the airport.

When I packed-up, I carefully removed Thing 2’s snow globes from the bags to be checked, afraid they might break if mishandled by the baggage crew. Little did I know, snow globes are a hazard! Security would not let them through in our carry on bags.

As I was unwilling to abandon the souvenirs, Thing 2 so painstakingly picked out, I sent the family to the gate, left the secured area, and took the backpack with the globes to baggage check. Then, I waited in line to go through security, for a second time. Forty-five minutes later, I was able to join Hubby and the boys at the gate. I hope the snow globes make it in one piece!

We’re about to land. Vacation’s over!

Family Bucket List Series. Vol. 1. Issue 10

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Day 8
In the afternoon, yesterday, we took rides in the gondolas. We had to split up since there is a 4-passenger limit. So, Hubby and I went in one, the kids in another. The boys’ gondolier was perfect for them. He sand in classic Italian and then asked them if they wanted the Disney version. When they said, “sure,” he followed up with a rendition of “Hey, Mambo” in a perfect Donald Duck voice. They loved it!

We wandered around the shops and found funny t-shirts for the kids (somewhat of a challenge to find something not “too risqué.” However, we managed. Oldest found one with the googley-eyed stack of cash used in the Geico ads next to googley-eyes floating in mid-air with nothing, labeled “Before Vegas” and “After Vegas”. Thing 2 found a Vegas snow globe for his collection. I skipped my book on this leg of the tour. But I chose something else with Hubby. We went to the gallery where we purchased an original King Kong poster a few years back and found a similar print of the Wizard Of Oz made with a similar process (using the original three-paneled presses). I can’t wait to see it hanging next to the King Kong print.

On our Vegas Night, we loved Blue Man Group! Thing 2 sat next to me and could barely stay in his seat he was so excited. The show included drumming on a PVC pipe organ, spitting and catching paintballs and marsmallows, and covering the entire audience with toilet paper. It was interactive, high energy, fun! Here’s a link to a video, if you want a taste of what we experienced. http://www.blueman.com/about

We ate a late dinner at Molto Mario’s restaurant in fake Piazza San Marco. Fake Venice was pretty cool, I have to admit. Even though we dined at close to 10:30 at night, the trompe l’oeil ceiling of the sky with puffy clouds made it feel like we were out on a sunny day, amidst canals winding through the place, musicians playing in the square, restaurants and gelato shops.

Family Bucket List Series. Vol. 1. Issue 9

admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Day 7
We woke up to the boys complaining that they didn’t sleep so well all sharing one King-sized bed. I wish they would have told me. I would have suggested one of them move to the couch. I wouldn’t even mention this at all, but the lack of sleep colored the rest of the day.

Our morning was great! After breakfast, we met our trail ride guide and horses for a one-hour ride. Our horses were: Thunder, Lightning, Roany, Ace, and can’t remember hubby’s…

We traversed up and down a steep, sandy path, through high desert land overlooking Zion National Park. We all loved riding and decided we would look for other opportunities to be around horses.
I loved experiencing the canyon trails from a different means in each place.

Oldest, especially, complained of being tired and he seemed to be coming down with a cold. So, we changed our original plan to hike the Narrows thorugh the river and opted for an easier way to explore Zion.

We drove through the park: beautiful mountain road, winding through the rocky hills. We actually drove THROUGH the mountains via a tunnel blasted through the middle. We couldn’t find parking at the visitor’s center se we parked just outside the park in Springdale and took the shuttle back into the park.

We stopped at the Weeping Rock for a short, half-mile hike to see the cliff side dripping water everywhere. It gave the illusion of being in a rainforest in the middle of high desert country – interesting phenomenon.

Next shuttle stop was Zion Lodge for lunch, cafeteria style burgers, dogs, and deli. This is the only park we visited that had the kind of simple, American Junk food I expected (or was worried) to see everywhere along our trip. I’m hoping I won’t hate the scale when I get home. I have made good choices most places.

Over lunch, we took a vote on what was the favorite park and what was the favorite activity. Majority voted Bryce as the most unique vistas, geological phenomenon and Lake Powell a close second. Horseback riding, tubing and three mile hike in and out of the Bryce Amphitheater all made a strong showing for family favorite activities. We couldn’t come to consensus of the best one.

We made two more shuttle stops at Zion, to see the Three Patriarchs – a short 100 yard climb from the shuttle afforded a spectacular iew of the three mountains in a row, named Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then to the visitor center where I bouth my book of scenic Zion views. We shuttled back to Springdale, where the boys found their t-shirts and a snowglobe.

Hubby did the driving from Zion to Vegas. The resto f us enjoyed the change in scenery.
There were these very cool looking trees. I must look up what is the species. They had thick brances like a palm tree with many branches each with a tuft of broad leaves at the tip.

We checked-in to the Venetian. We have a luxurious suite with a king BR and a LR with pull out sofa, roll away and a dining area. We ate dinner at Cafe Lux. I was bad in the car and snacked on fudge and cheezita and trail mix. So, I had veggies for dinner. It was fine for me, though.

After we ate, we went swimming at the 10th floor pool, which was open until 10 p.m. There was a hot pool with fountains in it. It felt great to hae the warm water on my sore muscles. I have really enjoyed this active vacation filled with hiking, tubing, swimming, horseback riding. Today we slept in and had room service for breakfast. I ate oatmeal, strawberries, yogurt and one small pastry. (I couldn’t resist).

We headed for the main pool on the 4th floor and swam for an hour. Hubby is playing in a poker tournament. The boys tired of the pool (OMG!) so we are now in our luxurious suite, watching a movie, 17 Again.

Family Bucket List Series. Vol. 1. Issue 6

admin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:13:00 +0000

Day 5

We woke up and decided to take our time getting ready since I spotted lightning while I sat on the balcony during hubby’s shower.

We ate at the Marina buffet again, and then we headed over to the boat rentals. The problem: everyone and their brother had also waited out the weather and arrived all at once. We waited for an hour in the heat to have our tutorial and boat assignment. We were all pretty hot and grumpy by the time we set out.

But as he attached the inner tube and rope, the fellow who set us up on the boat told us of a really awesome natural swimming pool formed by the rocks across the bay.

We all perked up and set out for the first stop on our adventure. We slowed the boat as we approached the natural pool. I jumped out, thinking I could stand by the edge and hold the boat, like our guide suggested. Impossible! I climbed back aboard with hubby’s help and we decided to move on.

On problem: the end of the rope from the tube had wrapped so tightly around te engine propeller, it stalled. I tried to untie the know but it needed cutting, and I had no knife.

We were stuck! We radioed for help and waited as we drifted into the rocks, trying to paddle away with the one, flimsy paddle provided. Oldest sat on the bow with the paddle poised and ready to push us away fro the rocks if we drifted too close.

Help arrived and he towed us to the shore. I let the kids swim while the guy cut the tow rope for the tube from the engine and provided us a new one.

We finally got on the road – or – I mean, the LAKE. We explored a little and found a great bay to tube.

Hubby was a great driver and everyone had a blast, tubing on the lake. We took turns in pairs and singles. I felt like I was flying! A couple of times, Oldest and Thing 2 fell off because as the boat decelerated, the tube submerged in the water. But all was well. After our rough start, all decided it was worth it!

We left the marina and drove from there to Bryce. The driving through this area sure beats the New Jersey Turnpike. Ever turn offers spectacular buttes, cliffs, riverbeds, and mountainsides.

We pulled over a few times to take pictures. Even the view from the gas station took my breath away (for once the view and not the fumes…)

We arrived at Bryce just before sunset and stopped at the Visitor’s Center for quick info about where we should go to watch sunset. We drove out to Paria Point.

Thing 2 said, “This is cooler than the Grand Canyon,” as we all caught our first glimpse of the Hoodoos.

We looked at them and walked along the paved rim trail a bit. As we drove from Bryce at sunset, a baby deer ran out in front of our car. Hubby’s quick reactions at the wheel saved the deer and us from harm. Yikes! This was a day filled with excitement. Oy!

We’re staying about twelve miles out in Tropic, Utah America’s Best. The country store and Restaurant served us a nicer than expected dinner. I had a delicious Red Trout dinner.

We don’t have connecting rooms, here. So, I’m sleeping with Thing 1 and Thing 2. Hubby is with Oldest.

Good night! More tomorrow.Oh wait! One more thing. I can’t figure out how we drove west and it got later! Weird. I must investigate the time zone boundaries.

Family Bucket List Series. Vol. 1. Issue 5

admin — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:10:00 +0000

Day 4

I woke up early – 5:45 am, got the kids up, and wandered to the restaurant in the Marina for breakfast. Today’s plan was to take a tour boat cruise around the lake out to the Rainbow Bridge and back. When we get back, we planned to rent a motor boat and explore on our own. While we ate breakfast, we ordered some box lunches for our excursion.

We rode a tour boat for five hours through Lake Powell. We were disappointed to be stuck inside the boat instead of up on the rooftop in the open-air seating. However, this turned out to be a good thing due to the heat. Views were spectacular even from the windows.

I began to wonder what the water swallowed up when the Glen Dam was built.

We saw rock formations resembling reclining camels, and the areas used to film Planet of the Apes.

However our destination, the Rainbow Bridge (the largest Natural Bridge in North America) was a beautiful site. The water levels have dropped 40% in the past 20 years, so we had to hike to a site once approached by water.

Thing 1 mostly stayed below deck on our ride back because he overheated a bit. But we all had a chance to ride in the open air surrounded by the buttes and islands of the lake.

Five hours outside without taking a swim made us all very hot and tired. So, we retired to our room to cool off for an hour and then, after discovering no boats were available for the afternoon, reserved one for tomorrow and opted to swim in the pool and on the small sandy beach below the resort.

I’m looking forward to tubing with the boys tomorrow and exploring some private spots on the lake.
Today provided a great lesson in go with the flow as our plan to boat tomorrow will probably cut out Antelope Canyon before we head to Bryce in the afternoon.

We’ll see…
Souvenier list:
Hubby – Lake Powell hat
Thing 1 and Oldest: t shirts
Thing 2: snow globe
Me: Photo book of Lake Powell and book about Glen Canyon-pre Dam
Note: Thing 2 has decided to start a snow globe collection. I think that is really cool!

Family Bucket List Series. Vol.1. Issue 4

admin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Day 3
We woke up feeling fresh, with some of the jetlag tapering off. After breakfast at the Maswik, we caught the Blue Line Shuttle to the Visitor’s Center and walked from there to the rim trail. The paved trail was easy to walk on and offered spectacular views the entire way.

As we walked along, one thing that struck me is how different mindsets experience the canyon.
There is the artist/poet type, who focuses on the way the sunlight alters the appearance of the layers of rock throughout the course of the day, or who tries to put into words the feeling of awe and insignificance that the sight of the vast canyon inspires.

Then, there is the analytical, math-minded, adventurer, who is fascinated with questions like, “if someone fell off of the canyon, how long would it take them to hit bottom,” and “what are the precise dimensions of the canyon?” – You guessed it, my boys, especially Thing 1. Hubby had a great reaction to the gory obsession.
Instead of freaking out in horror, like I was inclined to do, he asked Thing 1, “Well, what’s the distance it would take you to reach terminal velocity?”

From there, they took the formula, using estimates based upon average depth of the canyon and estimates of the speed at which one would fall, etc. Oy vey!

The math-minded and poet-minded fascinations merged when it came to the science of geological, paleontological, and wildlife around the canyon.

We watched the timeline stamped along the path, marveled that the earth at a particular spot was 270 million-years-old or 1 billion-years-old. It’s not easy to grasp the ancientness of the minerals. We looked at the layers of the cliff-sides and plateaus, spotted shale and limestone, and peered down to the Colorado River.

We even spotted a Condor—a huge buzzard-like bird with a 9-foot wingspan.
We finished our hike and ate lunch at El Tovar Lodge, a lovely hotel right on the rim. A restaurant with a view – excellent! I ate a salad with chicken and Meditteranean veggies.

Before walking back to Maswik, we stopped at the Hopi House Art Center to look around. I bought a book of Native American Legends and also a book with photos of the views from Hermit Road. I also loved seeing all of the different styles of Native American pottery and learning about the way they were made. Some coil pots, burnished. Others molded as “greenware” actually poured into a mold and then hand-painted. Amazing.

We drove to Lake Powell in time to take a dip in the lake. But e the drive provided amazing scenic view the entire way. We hugged the Grand Canyon and passed through the center of valleys between roc formations seemingly erupting out of the Earth. Beautiful!

We ate dinner at the Lake Powell Resort and Marina Rainbow Room, overlooking the lake and a boatyard full of houseboats.

I need to get some sleep because we have an early day tomorrow.

Family Bucket List Series.Vol.1. Issue 3

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:28:00 +0000

Day 2.

After breakfast, we hit the road – that is, after a short errand of picking up a Styrofoam cooler, some ice, and a case of water. The kids were intrigued by the giant cacti dotting the landscape in some spots and thickly settled, like forests of saguaros in others. We stopped to see Montezuma’s Castle (another misnamed ruin, since the Aztecs had nothing to do with building this Pueblo village thought to be a thriving community between 1100 and 1450 A.D.)

Hubby liked the drive on Route 17 as we continued North – speed limit 75 was a first for him. We arrived at the Maswik Lodge in Grand Canyon National Park and walked a short way down Bright Angel Trail, where the mules walk and then climbed back up and caught the Hermit Road Suttle to explore a little more. The boys reacted with anticipated awe.

Thing 1 immediately wanted to know the dimensions of the vast canyon. After hearing 270-something miles long, none of us could wrap our heads around it.

We ate a small snack, a short rest in the room, dinner at the Lodge, and then took a shuttle to Arena, where we walked a paved path to the rim trail and walked along the rim trail to watch the sunset. We’re back in our room and ready to get a good night’s sleep before tomorrow. I will dream of the vivid hues that filled the sky and the way the white shelves of rock turned to burgundy layer by layer as the sun set. Phenomenal!

Family Bucket List Series.Vol. 1. Issue 2

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:26:00 +0000

Night 1:
Scottsdale:

Our flight was delayed about 1 ½ hours but we made it to Phoenix and saw my aunt, said good-bye to Noah and rented our car. Hubby upgraded to an Esplanade and we juggled our luggage, trying to figure out the best way to fit it in and still have room to sit.
After a half-hour drive from the airport, we pulled up to the Fairmont Scottsdale –beautiful resort. Our suite is huge!

We swam in the pool from 5-7 pm (got a snack at 5 o’clock of tortilla chips, salsa, fruit smoothies, since we hadn’t eaten lunch. We ate dinner at the resort at LV Bistro. Organic fare, dinner was delicious! Fresh salad with heirloom tomatoes and radishes, beets, cucumbers. Salmon with haricot vert and mussels. Oldest son had hanger steak. Thing 1 and Thing 2 both ate chicken tenders. Hubby enjoyed his scallops and shrimp.
We returned to the pool for an hour after dinner. Now we’re trying to stay up a little longer to adjust to the time change. Phoenix/Scottsdale was 116 Farenheit when we arrived today. But as they say, dry heat is easier to take.

Hubby and I have decided to lay off the wine and cocktails this week to stay as hydrated as possible while hiking in the desert and at higher elevations.

As for being with my boys tonight after they were away at camp for three weeks—I loved it! Hearig all of their fantastic tales of color wars, dippies, the new campers from Spain and France, the Apache relay race, freeze games at mealtime, loomster cocntests, and more. I’m thrilled they have these fond camp memories.
I’m lucky my children like one another. So far this first bucket list trip is a hit and we haven’t even started yet!

Family Bucket List Series. Vol 1.Issue 1

admin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Day 1
This is the beginning of my travel log for a dream family vacation to some of our nation’s national parks. As I write, I’m sitting at the gate, awaiting a flight from BWI to Phoenix, Arizona. With me are my husband, three sons, and my little cousin, Noah.
The kids just finished their annual summer camp at Camp Tall timbers and Noah will meet his mother in Phoenix. Once we complete the cousin-hand-off, the Leibow family’s first bucket-list trip will officially be underway.

The idea for this trip grew out of a family movie-watching experience. We saw the movie The Bucket List, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. In the film, the two main characters, being treated for terminal illnesses, decided to carry out every adventure on their bucket list before it’s too late.

Luckily, my entire family is happy and healthy. But we do have limited time. My oldest is entering high school in the fall. We decided that since we only have five more years with us all living under one roof that we would each make our own bucket list of the places we would like to travel together. Then we compared our lists and came up with our family bucket list.

This first bucket list trip is a trip to the Grand Canyon and more. Here’s the plan: Fly to Phoenix, spend one night in Scottsdale. Drive from Scottsdale to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, stopping a Montezuma’s Castle along the way. After a night and a full day at the Grand Canyon, we’ll head to Lake Powell for two nights. Then it’s Bryce, Zion, and then off to Vegas.

I insisted that seeing the natural wonders of the world will exceed any Disney “Fake” place.

My oldest responded, “Mom, we’ll love the real stuff but I really like the face places. I’m psyched for Vegas!”

The logistics for planning for this trip for a family of five might just be the most complicated trip I have ever planned. We pieced it together on our own instead of joining an organized tour. What I ended up doing, though, was to borrow an itinerary from a tour company and mimic their route and how many nights they stayed in each place. I figured they had done this a million times and know how long to spend in each place and where were the good stopping points along the way.

Since we plan to haul our own gear from place to place and stay in a different location practically every night, packing bags worried me, too. But I came up with a great system. I bought enough of the jumbo-sized Ziploc bags for each person to have one per lodging location. I packed what each of us needed for that night in the bag, and tossed them into a suitcase for that particular place. That way, we have one suitcase per location instead of one suitcase per person. I ended up packing one additional bag with toiletries, extra t-shirts, a raincoat, etc. that we might need anywhere. That means that we only have to carry two bags. This will save us a lot of lugging in and out, as we’ll avoid dragging five bags in and out of each hotel or lodge.

Well, the flight is about to board. I hope our adventures will be fantastic!