http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Bridget--B/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Bridget B en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:03:59 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:03:59 +0000 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. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/Las-Vegas/blog-407669.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/Las-Vegas/blog-407665.html 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 phot http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Grand-Canyon-National-Park/blog-407658.html On Day 2 we woke up very early since we are on Eastern time. It's a good thing they serve breakfast at 630am 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 to http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Grand-Canyon-National-Park/blog-407653.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Grand-Canyon-National-Park/blog-407639.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/North-Yorkshire/Ripon/blog-297262.html This was the first day of driving without my aunt or uncle in the car. Considering my issues with left turns and my occupation I navigated instead of driving. I'm good with maps not so good with driving on the left side of the road. I did drive around the block once. After my uncle reminded me a couple times that I was getting too close to parked cars on the left I decided driving in the UK http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/North-Yorkshire/York/blog-297254.html 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. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/North-Yorkshire/Harrogate/blog-297248.html 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 Yo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/North-Yorkshire/Whitby/blog-297244.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/North-Yorkshire/York/blog-297238.html 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 h http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/North-Yorkshire/Yorkshire-Dales/blog-297221.html New York Day 4nbspNorth America raquonbspUnited States raquonbspNew York raquonbspNew York raquonbspManhattan By Bridget BMay 24th 2007On the last day after the last meeting and before we had to leave for the airport we had just enough time to visit the Empire State Building. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-162877.html On my trip to London Germany I went on and on about how good the food was. The food in New York was not spectacular just ok. Anyway on with the trip. We had most of the afternoon off to spend doing whatever. We took the subway downtown so we could catch the ferry to Ellis Island. Another water trip it's a theme of all my trips. The photo of the group Victor Brad Scott me Dave and Jay http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-162866.html New York NYnbspNorth America raquonbspUnited States raquonbspNew York raquonbspNew York raquonbspManhattan By Bridget BMay 22nd 2007 The latest trip for work took me to NY. We stayed at the the Hotel Pennsylvania I don't recommend it in Manhattan. The first day was spent getting from the airport to the hotel and then a walk to Times Square. The next day before the meeting w http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-162856.html On Thursday we traveled to Lubeck. On our way to Lubeck we stopped to take photos of the windmills. They are huge Michael was able to find a country road that took us right up to them. They make almost no sound. It saw very few power lines here it makes for some very pretty scenery. Michael dropped us off downtown on his way into work. We started our day by taking a boat trip on the canals. L http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/blog-153227.html We flew to Germany on Monday. To get to the airport in London we had to take a train. I had never been on a train before so that was a new experience. The airport in Lubeck was very small 1 terminal it made baggage claim and passport control easy. We had dinner at a greek restaurant another new experience for me. I don't eat lamb so finding a dish I could eat was challenging especially sin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Hamburg/Hamburg/blog-153220.html On Sunday we visited Kew Gardens followed by the Natural History Victoria and Albert Museums. We finished the day with a wonderful dinner at a Belgian restaurant. Kew Gardens is very large and we were not able to see everything. There are some very beautiful orchids in one of the green houses. Some of the first photos show the gardens outside the Palm Green House. The second green house we vis http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-153212.html London Day 3nbspEurope raquonbspUnited Kingdom raquonbspEngland raquonbspLondon By Bridget BApril 21st 2007On Saturday Michael Amy's husband flew up from Germany to meet us. We met him at the Tower of London had lunch and then planned our day. Amy and I set off to tour the Tower of London followed by St. Paul's Cathedral. There was a visiting chior at the Cathedral that day http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-153208.html It basically took me a whole day to get to London from Indy many airport delays. Amy flew up from Germany and met me at Heathrow. We then took the tube to our hotel in South Kensington to drop off our bags. We were starving so we had fish and chips at an area pub. They serve fish and chips with peas in the UK we were given the choice of garden or mushy peas. The mushy peas sounded scary so I http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-153192.html