On our last day of the trip, we walked down to the Flamingo to see their wildlife habitat. We had seen everything we wanted to see at that point and I was ready to head home. After awhile, crowds start to really bother me, so I was glad to escape the madness. [View Full Entry]

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After flying back to Vegas from the Ranch, we took a shuttle from the North Las Vegas Airport to our hotel, The MGM Grand. After checking in and dropping off our luggage, we headed out to see the sights of Vegas. The first day we mainly walked through the MGM, New York New York and the Excalibur. The next day we walked down to the Bellagio to see the Conservatory- very beautiful. We also checked out Ceasars, Paris, and the Luxor before heading back to the MGM to see Cirque du Soleil's Ka. Fabulous!!!!! [View Full Entry]

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On our third and final day at the ranch, we took a ATV ride out to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I rode in the range rover- I'm sure this is no surprise to those of you that know me well. Too dusty and holding on to the handles and brakes all the way there trying not to crash was too much for me. I've had several car accidents, I don't need an ATV accident added to that list. Again, my photos do not do the beauty of the Grand Canyon justice. It is breath-taking. After spending some time [View Full Entry]

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On Day 2 we woke up very early, since we are on Eastern time. It's a good thing they serve breakfast at 6:30am so I didn't have to go hungry very long. The breakfast was awesome- cheesy eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy. Very yummy. After breakfast we had a guided tour to Paraschant National Monument. It is one of the canyons close to the Grand Canyon. We took the Range Rover. Lane was our tour guide- he was our favorite of the cowboys. There were lots of rocks on the trail on our way up to the canyon, which usually wasn't [View Full Entry]

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This year on vacation, I decided to stay in the US and visit the Grand Canyon. My friend, Sarah, and I stayed at the Bar 10 Ranch- located just 9 miles from the Grand Canyon's North Rim in the Arizone Strip. There are two ways to get there: by teeny, tiny plane that lands on an asphalt runway or by a truck or other high clearance vehicle by way of a 100 mile dirt road from the nearest town, St. George, Utah. We chose the plane. I saw visions of myself disappearing over the edge of a canyon had I tried [View Full Entry]

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We also traveled up to the coast on the 4th of July as well as visiting Castle Howard. We visited the town of Whitby which is nestled on the banks of the North Sea. There is an abbey there on top of the hill. You should be able to see it in some of the photos. I didn't feel up to climbing the 199 steps to the top to see it. We took a different path on the way back from Whitby on our way to York to visit Castle Howard. We traveled through the Moors on the way to Whitby [View Full Entry]

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On Independence Day we drove just north of York and visited Castle Howard. This castle began constuction in 1699 and took over 100 years to complete. Today it's still used as a home for the Howard family, but is open to the public to visit. The castle is beautiful and the grounds are lovely. There are peacocks that roam the grounds, the gift shop sells peacock food! The Howard family has an interesting history. Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were both members of the Howard family. They were the second and fifth wives of King Henry VIII, both were beheaded. [View Full Entry]

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Harlow Carr Gardens in located in Harrogate, very close to where I was staying. You could actually walk to it from my Aunt's flat. It was a beautiful day. We sat outside in the sunshine and drank tea surrounded by all the flowers. A perfect way to spend the afternoon. [View Full Entry]

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Today we went to Fountains Abbey. It is Britain's largest monastic ruin, founded in 1132 by 13 Benedictine monks. It was sold in 1540 to a merchant following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 by Henry VIII. It's a shame that so many of the beautiful abbeys were destroyed during that time period. I tried not to go overboard on the photos in this section. I took 57 photos of the abbey and have only posted the good ones. I have more than a couple not so good photos. I didn't know you could get blurry photos with a digital [View Full Entry]

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Hello again everyone! This year on vacation I visited my fabulous Aunt & Uncle in England. I spent an entire week traveling around Northern England visiting abbeys, castles, and beautiful gardens. On the first day we took a drive through the Yorkshire Dales. It was rainy early, but cleared up later in the day. The English countryside is breathtaking. It's like something out of a movie. The hills are lined with dry-fitted stone walls and dotted with sheep. In England people are allowed to hike through property. No such things as trespassing. There are alot of hiking and walking [View Full Entry]

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