Birthday celebration in Arizona

We were supposed to go to San Miguel De Allende in Mexico for my birthday, but some plans fell through, so we had to be flexible and in the last minute, Jason suggested Arizona, and I was all for it.  We booked the Westin Kierland Golf Club in Scottsdale and just did it!

We ate at wonderful restaurants, we golfed, we played tennis, we hiked, we lounged at the pool and we sipped on cocktails.  Just what the doctor ordered!

 

Natural Beauty of Slovenia

Days 4 & 5 - Lake Bled

Day 4 was a bit more than we expected, we started off by checking out of our Ljubljana hotel, and driving up to Lake Bled.  It was a pretty quick and easy drive through the countryside.  Every little village prettier than the next.  We couldn't help but notice how charming every single house was, with well manicured gardens and overflowing window boxes.  

We got to Bled and checked into our little hotel.  The town had a rustic lake town feel to it, and our hotel was no different. Charming is the only word. 

Once we settled in, we decided to head to the lake and started walking around it.  There is a very nice paved path that goes around the entire lake, about 4 miles, giving different views of the island church and the castle as you go around.  

While walking, we found an entrance to a hike that we thought would give us a better vantage point to see the lake, so we decided to give it a go.  It turned out to be quite a challenging hike.  It was super steep the entire way up, including a staircase that might have been the steepest, longest staircase I've ever been on.  I got dizzy when I looked up! I had to think that going down was going to be way worse, I was dreading it, but the views the whole way up got better and better.  

When we got to the first vantage point, where most people stopped and turned around, we saw that the path kept going, so we decided to see where it went.  Turned out to be another vantage point, and even better.  

Now that was where the remainder of the hikers turned around, but we decided to keep following the trail... it turned out to wrap around the mountain and lead us back down to the path around the lake, just a little further down.  Perfect! As we walked further, we came to the entrance to the trail that led to the castle on the top of the cliff and decided to hit that one, too.  

Phew, that was a lot of climbing! 

Well, we got to this castle, and again, as castles go, it was a little disappointing.  It was certainly cool and very pretty, and actually reminded us of Winterfell, but again, it just didn't have the authentic feel of Predjama.  

After the day that turned out to be longer and more strenuous than we expected, we decided to grab a drink at a restaurant along the lakeside.... until the heavens opened and we had to run back to the hotel! Once we cleaned up, and warmed up, we headed out to delicious dinner at Ostarija Peglez'n.  I had fried cheese that was so delicious I ate it before I could take a pic! 

We then had a nightcap at a bar above the restaurant and called it a night.  We checked the weather for the next day and it looked like rain the whole afternoon, so we spent a lot of time deciding what to do for the few hours of good weather in the morning.  We landed on a bike ride. 

So the next morning I rushed Jason awake so we didn't lose all of our sunlight hours, we had a lovely breakfast at the hotel, and got our bikes and hit the road.  We rode about 25 km (15.5 miles) through the beautiful countryside.  It was steep at times, but so fun.  We saw little villages, sheep, farms, churches, amazing streams from the melting of the snow capped Alps, wildflowers like I've never seen, and a beautiful old mill.  

We rode and rode, until the rains came! We decided to head back once the rain hit, but man was it coming down! We were being pelted from every which way.  The rain, even though it was actually quite warm out, was super cold - basically it was miserable.  When we got to the old mill, I yelled to Jason to pull over and get some shelter, while we make a plan for what to do. 

If we kept going, there would be no shelter for a long way, so we thought we'd wait it out.  But when the rain had been steady and hard for about 30 minutes, I decided to call the bike rental company and have them come get us.  Jason wanted to just ride back, but it would have been over an hour and this was really horrible.  The company was already out getting other unlucky bikers out of the rain, so we had to wait another 30 minutes.  A full hour of downpours, thunder, lightning, and even hail for a short bit! No way we could ride in this! 

Of course, he picked us up and 8 minutes into the drive back, we came into the most beautiful weather!  It was sunny and warm and Jason got so mad at me! As we backtracked our steps with the man from our rental company, I mentioned how beautiful all of the homes were, and he said that in their culture, they care a great deal about their homes.  That explains why in every town we passed, all I could do was marvel at these pretty homes.  

Once we got back, I figured it out, and we burned over 1,500 calories on that ride, so that meant we could eat and drink whatever we wanted for the rest of the afternoon, and after such a long, cold journey, we earned it!  We took long, hot showers, got dressed for the afternoon, and spent the rest of our time hitting cafes along the river, having cocktails and food all night.  

We went to a restaurant that we had passed on our ride called Labod for dinner, and it was really so good.  We couldn't decide which night's dinner was better between these last two, but certainly, the views, ambiance, service, and food here were excellent.  Jason even tried the traditional cake from Bled, and loved it! 

After changing spots for one last drink and one last view, we hit the sack because we had to get up early for our 3 hour drive back to Venice the next morning. 

With the 6am alarm set, we packed up and were out before 7.  We decided to take a slightly longer (20 minutes more) route through Austria and Northern Italy rather than backtrack the way we came, and it was the right choice.  The drive through the Alps was really stunning, from amazing bridges to long tunnels through towering mountains, passing little Alpine villages, and beautiful trees, it was a great ride back.  Not to mention, the incredibly well cared for roads! We had to pay about $25 in tolls for this way back, but if that's what it takes to have such well maintained roadways, I'd say it's worth it.

If I could sum up Slovenia in one word, it would be "pretty."  I was so tired of hearing myself say the word pretty the entire trip, that by the end I was really trying not say it anymore, but you just can't help it. Ever where you turn, it's just pretty! The fields of wildflowers, the architecture, the natural wonders, the quaint towns, the incredibly tall and old trees, the unassuming churches, the medieval castles, the towering mountains, the clear and colorful streams, even every tunnel we went through, everything was so pretty. 

Well that's it! We're writing from the plane, heading home and longing for our next trip already! I'll be heading to Morocco with my daughter and mother in September, and Jason and I will be visiting San Miguel de Allende in October.  If I could squeeze more in, I would.  We really do just love to explore and see all there is the world.  

Until next time!

Sue and Jason

Natural Beauty of Slovenia

We leave for Slovenia tonight!

Where? You ask....  Let's start with the three questions I know you're thinking first and get them out of the way.

1. Why Slovenia?  The answer is that Jason was there 17 some years ago and still maintains it was the most beautiful place he's been, and as you know Jason's been to some spectacular places.  He's been saying he's wanted to go back with me for over 15 years and we're finally doing it.  After a few google searches returning articles calling Slovenia the New Zealand of Europe, #4 on the list of top destinations in the world, an underrated gem, where you can find the best sparking wines you've never tasted, and many more, I was totally game.
2. Where the heck is it?  Slovenia shares a border with Italy, Austria, Croatia, and Hungary.  We will fly into Venice and pick up a rental and drive just 2 hours to get to our first stop, Piran, on the Western coast.  The whole country is about the size of New Jersey! We'll be driving through the country, from Venice, to Piran, to Ljubljana, to Bled, and back to Venice in 6 days. 
3. What is there to do there?  Here are a few of the stops we plan, Google them: Piran, Skocjan Caves, Predjama Castle, Ljubljana, Lake Bled, Vintgar Gorge.  Not too shabby, huh? 

It's also where Melania Trump is from, so I'm pretty sure it will be filled with beautiful and glamorous people. ;) Seriously, though, this I do know, it's an adventure! Someplace we've never been, and wouldn't think to go in our normal list of places, so why not? Looking forward to updating you along the way! I'll post each night if I can.  

Cheers, 

Sue

Last Minute Maui

Day 3

• Drive to Hana

Aerial View of Road to Hana

Today we embarked on the "dive to Hana."  We read that it was a cool dive and we kind of expected it to be like the Amalfi coast or Mediterranean coast of Turkey, but it wasn't at all.  There weren't really views of the ocean because the vegetation was so lush, but it was similarly a narrow road with 54 one lane bridges and over 300 ess curves winding its way through dense forests, waterfalls, and a rugged coastline.

Along the way there are a TON of sights to explore, waterfalls, hikes, national parks, beaches, and so much more.  We didn't make every stop, but the ones we did were pretty spectacular.

We started by getting breakfast in the town of Paia, which I loved and want to go back to when the shops are open, then we stopped at a local grocery store (and I mean local, a woman who lives on the island sold me bars that she was stocking on the shelves that she makes and delivers every morning).

Such a cute restaurant

We made a few stops that weren't all that impressive, but also a few that were amazing.  The first of which was the hike through a bamboo forest along a stream that lead us to some very cool waterfalls.

The denseness of the forest was breathtaking, and the path was tiny.

Waterfall 1

Waterfall 2

Waterfall 3

That last waterfall was so fun.  We were the only ones there so we went swimming in the pool and played in the falls.  So pretty and so fun.

Took this with an app called CamMe.  It's awesome.

Next we made our way to the black sand beach, called Naupaka Beach.  It's made from black lava rocks eroded down to sand.  We've never seen anything like it.  The foam of the water against the black of the rock was just beautiful, and add to it the lush green plants that were growing out of the lava and it's really a beautiful sight.

Black sand beach

Lava rocks were all over the place.

Then we started exploring, there were caves and ledges of lava rocks everywhere, so we hiked along them for a little while.

Finally, we found a little swimming hole called Waioka Pond.  This place apparently flash floods, so I wasn't too keen on staying, but boy was it pretty.  The blue ocean pounding just outside a deep but warm pool, and the rugged scenery surrounding the area is absolutely stunning.  Jason even jumped from the cliff along the water's edge.  

Day 4

• Sunrise at Haleakala Crater
• Paako Cove 

This morning we woke up at 4am (it's not as bad as it sounds, since we're still on east coast time we're getting up early anyway) so we could watch the sunrise from the top of the volcanic crater.  We saw the top sticking out from above the clouds when we were flying in.

We heard it would be cold, but you can't believe how cold it was up there.  Jason is flying to Minnesota after this, so he happened to bring his winter coat, gloves and hat with him, so I wore yoga pants, a sweatshirt and his coat.  Jason, however, wore just shorts and sweatshirt.  The poor guy was absolutely freezing!  It was in the 30s with blustering 35 mph winds and no sun.  Add to that we were at over 10,000 feet above sea level, so the air was thin, and you've got unbelievably cold conditions.  You can't believe you're in Maui!

SO COLD!!!

It was so amazing, though.  You start up there in the complete dark, but as the sky lightens you begin to see the crater around you.  Then you realize you are above the clouds and you're watching the tops of the them pass by.  Then you get the light show as the sun begins to rise above the clouds.

the view of the other direction

The sunrise was beautiful, but the weather conditions didn't give us the spectacular show you can sometimes get.  Google image search Haleakala Crater Sunrise and you'll see what I mean.

The original plan was to do some hiking around the crater (which is why Jason wore shorts), but instead we decided to leave.  It was super cold and starting to rain.  On the way down we had the heat on and it took us a long time to thaw out.  Long time.  But we got home and changed into bathing suits and headed out for breakfast and beach for the day.

On our way back we saw a perfect rainbow with all of the colors and full from one end to the next.

I read about this secret cove, so we set off to find it.  It wasn't easy, but after passing the entrance once we finally found it.  It was this small opening in a lava rock wall along a residential street.

 Boy was it worth it!  When we got there we were the only ones (except for some local boys that were fishing and jumping off the rocks into the water).  

Those blue chairs are ours, and just as we were taking this, another couple arrived.

The beach was simply gorgeous.  The water was so pretty, the coral reef around the corner was spectacular, the sand was perfect.  It was by far our favorite.

Of course it didn't last that we were the only ones there, just as we took the picture above another couple arrived, but we wound up talking with them and going out to happy hour together to watch the sunset!

Pretty great day!