Travel (The Fun, The Adventures, The Mishaps)

Tree Swallow Cruise–Connecticut

The tree swallows in the sky along the CT River.

Some friends and I went on a Tree Swallow Cruise with RiverQuest down the Connecticut River last week and if you can arrange it you have to go. It’s really reasonable ($40 per person) for the time (3-3.5 hours) and what you get to see (half a million to a million tree swallows flying around at dusk).

It was incredible, and if you live in Connecticut it is right here for us. So often when I want to see something naturally cool I feel like you have to travel to see it—Mexico for the butterflies, New Zealand for the glowworms, etc. But this is right here.

You bring your own drinks and snacks and board the boat by the Goodspeed Opera House. It takes about an hour to travel downriver to Old Saybrook while Mindy and Mark, your hosts, point out all different birds and information about the river along the way. Shortly before sunset the birds start to trickle in—a few at a time, then a few more, than hundreds, then they […]

Tree Swallow Cruise–ConnecticutMaggie Downie2017-10-25T14:24:29-04:00

Welcome to Jordan

“You are welcome to Jordan” was the phrase we heard from almost everyone we met on our recent whirlwind trip to the Middle East. “Please, go home and tell your friends and family they are welcome to Jordan too.” Jordan, like Turkey, is a predominately safe country with some very difficult neighbors. It doesn’t have any state issued travel warnings. Mexico does. (Just to provide a little perspective.)

The curbs were the most colorful part of Amman.

I was nervous about traveling to Jordan until I got there. Even though the flights were long, it was worth the trip. We had three days in country which gave us time to see Amman, the Dead Sea, Petra and spend the night in the Wadi Rum.

Amman had some good local food and dabbled in interesting graffiti, but in my short stay there I didn’t see much else worth discovering. It’s a very beige city—the Earth and buildings are the same color.

Floating in the Dead Sea

The Dead Sea disappointed in its beauty […]

Welcome to JordanMaggie Downie2017-10-25T14:24:29-04:00

Hiking Zion, Bryce, and Arches National Parks

Traveling the world always reminds me why I keep moving. I enjoy hiking, which enables me to see places in the world that are a little harder to get to. I want to keep moving so that I can see the whole world. Here are some of my most recent and favorite spots from a trip out to Utah to hike in Zion, Bryce and Arches National parks.

About 1 hour into the Subway Hike in Zion

Hiking the Subway (Zion): The Subway was the coolest hike I have ever done, but I’ve never had to rappel or swim on a hike before so it got a lot of new factor points. The hike took us ten hours at a pretty leisurely pace. The terrain was varied, but at times we were at the base of very narrow canyons, pushing our packs through first to fit our body after. We could see the ripples of a millennium of waves on the rocks as if the rocks had frozen water in time. I spent most of the hike in awe of our world. This is […]

Hiking Zion, Bryce, and Arches National ParksMaggie Downie2017-10-25T16:00:58-04:00

Hiking the Subway in Zion (Not if there is a flash flood)

Rain has never stopped us before. If we are traveling and want to hike, we go, even if we occasionally get strange looks from the locals.

The Subway got it’s name because parts look like an actual subway.

So when we got to Zion Visitor Center to pick up our permit to hike the Subway, we were conflicted when we saw there was a 60% chance of rain the day of our hike. We had taken rappel classes and invested in the equipment (helmets, harnesses, rope, carabineers and more rope and carabineers) we would need along the way.

It turns out 60% chance of rain doesn’t mean there is a 60% chance of rain like I always thought. It means that 60% of the area in question will get rain. And on the Subway in Zion that means a probable chance of a flash flood. When the ranger informed us that she wouldn’t even consider hiking anything with over a 30% chance of rain, and we called Matt’s dad (an atmospheric physicist who can serve as a meteorologist) we begrudgingly decided not […]

Hiking the Subway in Zion (Not if there is a flash flood)Maggie Downie2017-10-25T14:26:04-04:00

Grateful on Thanksgiving and Every Day

I may have dreamt it, but I’m pretty sure last year my Dad asked us all to say what we were grateful for before we dug into Thanksgiving dinner. And I’ll admit, while it feels a little cheesy, it is a nice concept, and I liked it. So here are just a couple of the things that I am so lucky to have in my life in 2011:

· Matt
· My family
· My clients (who make me laugh and ensure that my job so much fun)
· The people I work with
· Classes that I look forward to going to teach
· The Old Wethersfield Boot Campers who have become my running buddies
· Bees that are alive (so far)
· Neighbors who have been really friendly and helpful since we moved in, especially during Irene and Alfred
· Sunny days
· Kurt Vonnegut who is a genius and I’d never read him until this year
· Having the means and health to be able to travel and go on adventures

I’m […]

Grateful on Thanksgiving and Every DayMaggie Downie2017-10-25T14:26:04-04:00