DrakeSmart - Ann Anhalt

I am a "life long learner" with my day job as the Risk and Insurance Manager for an Energy Company in Des Moines, Iowa. When I'm not at work, I'm off traveling, near and far. I would like to share my travel adventures with my family, friends and anyone reading my travel blog. I hope to paint a vivid picture of what I'm seeing and doing. My motto for 2009 is "get busy traveling".

During the Spring, I'm off traveling with Dr. C. Ken Meyer at Drake University on his DrakeSmart Public Policy Course, traveling to Europe. Last March, we traveled to London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Venice and Nice. View my travel blog of the many sights we saw.

DrakeSmart 2009
March 12th 2009 -» March 30th 2009 Going West, Omaha, Nebraska
May 2nd 2009 -» May 2nd 2009 Proud To Be An American
May 25th 2009 -» June 15th 2009 Kansas City And Girls Just Having Fun
July 17th 2009 -» July 19th 2009 Toronto, Trinidadians and Caribana 2009
July 30th 2009 -» August 3rd 2009 Stella Got Her Groove On In Kansas City
August 30th 2009 -» September 3rd 2009 Going Home To Wheaton, Maryland
September 30th 2009 -» September 30th 2009 Iowa to Washington DC, Honoring Veterans
November 10th 2009 -» November 10th 2009

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Joined on: March 11th 2009
Last Login: November 21st 2009

Blog Entries: 33
Photos: 269

TB Code: [blogger=113203]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by DrakeSmart, order by Date newest first.

By DrakeSmart
November 10th 2009

Iowa to Washington DC, Honoring Veterans North America » United States » District of Columbia » Washington

Greatest Generation
Nice to see young kids honoring our veterans

While the globe is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and Sesame Street’s 40th birthday, I will be paying tribute to the millions of men and women who have served/serving in the United States Armed Forces on Veterans Day, November 11, 2009. I shared this summer of how I ended up in America. What’s more interesting is that four of five of my siblings served in the US Armed Forces, 1975 to 1990. I would love to say it was out of our patriotic duty for America welcoming us to this land of opportunity, but it [View Full Entry]

By DrakeSmart
September 30th 2009

Going Home Is Not Always Easy; Wheaton, MD North America » United States » Maryland » Silver Spring

Chee You House
12017 Centerhill Street, Wheaton, MD

Check this off my bucket list: going home to Wheaton, Maryland. One of our local radio personalities, Van Harden, shared how he visited his elementary and high school a couple of years ago. So on my last trip to Washington DC, I did just that. A little back story might help. We came to the US from Trinidad in 1968. We settled in Wheaton, MD. I started school in third grade, skipped the 11th grade, graduated in 1977 and then joined the USAF in 1978. I lived in Idaho and since 1980, call Iowa my home. Let’s start with the family [View Full Entry]

By DrakeSmart
August 30th 2009

Kansas City and The American Idols North America » United States » Missouri » Kansas City

Sprint Center, KC
Outside the Sprint Center, AI here we come!

TGAIO - Thank Goodness August is Over! August has been a busy travel month. It started with Caribana Festival/Parade in Toronto Canada , then the Iowa State Fair, WW II Honor Flights and ending the month with the American Idol concert in Kansas City. More later on the State Fair and Honor Flights. Some background, I must confess that I’m a TV junkie with news and reality competing for my attention and at times, my reality shows overshadows my love for politics and the daily scandal/murder and so forth. This occurs in the winter when American Idol (AI) captures my attention, [View Full Entry]

By DrakeSmart
August 1st 2009

Toronto, Trinidad and Caribana 2009 North America » Canada » Ontario » Toronto

Chee You Family Picture In Trinidad
Mom, Tony, Larry, Me, Glen and Charmaine

Today it’s all about family, traditions and witnessing the largest Caribbean festival in North America. It’s called Caribana and it’s a three week festival held every July celebrating Caribbean culture. It ends with a humongous, a million plus, masqueraders dancing down Lakeshore Blvd. Read more about the history of Cariabana here: . Some background about me will be helpful. I was born on the island of Trinidad and Tobago. My parents; East Indian (from India), Chinese (China) and Spanish (Venezuela). You ca [View Full Entry]

By DrakeSmart
July 30th 2009

Canada: Yes I drove to London and Toronto North America » Canada » Ontario » Toronto

Ankeny To Toronto
Yes, I live in Iowa, Not Ohio or Idaho

Closing out July 2009 by road tripping with my “sweet ride” to Toronto, Canada with Dad to see my Trinidad family, experience Caribana 2009 and see a bit of London and Toronto. Let me break down my trip: 15 hours or 840 miles from Ankeny to Toronto (13 hours of actual driving) 3 hours will be saved by driving to Davenport and working there on Wednesday 2 hours will be saved with an overnight stop to London (just to say I drove to London) 1 hour will be lost as I move to Eastern time Traveling with me is my Dad, [View Full Entry]

By DrakeSmart
July 19th 2009

Kansas City Weekend: Girls, Hair Extensions, Garage Sales, Farm Animals and Cocktails North America » United States » Missouri » Kansas City

2008 Impala LTZ
My Sweet Ride on her maiden voyage to KC

This weekend was all about “fun” and letting my hair down with my friends Judy, Molly and their extended friends. I had no set agenda other than taking my sweet ride on her maiden voyage and having some fun. So here goes with the cast of characters for the weekend: Judy and Greg (Des Moines) I’ve known them since 2005 (Drake trip to Europe) Molly (Louisburg) Longtime friend of Judy who lives on farm with Jeff and 101 plus exotic animals Kelley (Des Moines) Longtime friend of Molly and Judy Teresa (Kansas City) College friend of Judy Annette (Lincoln) High school [View Full Entry]

By DrakeSmart
June 14th 2009

Proud To Be An American Part Two - WW I North America » United States » Missouri » Kansas City

World War One Museum
National World War One Museum In Kansas City, MO

While in Kansas City, MO over Flag Day weekend visiting my friends Greg and Judy, I wanted to do something special for Flag Day. One of the things on my to-do list is to visit the Harry Truman Library in Independence (just outside the city). So on Flag Day, June 14th, I planned to check this off my bucket list. (It's also my brother Tony's birthday- Happy Birthday Tony!). So what about The National World War 1 Monument/Museum asked Greg? What a World War 1 museum in KC? The answer was no and no because I did not know one existed. [View Full Entry]

By DrakeSmart
June 1st 2009

Proud To Be An American - Part One North America » United States » Iowa » Des Moines

WWII Veteran KIA At Pearl Harbor
Headstone of a WWII Veteran Died Aboard the USS Arizona, Lawrence McFaddin Jr.

My theme for my latest travel journey revolves around patriotism and remembering those who fought for our freedom, near and far. After a busy spring, my European adventure and side trips in May, I wasn’t ready for any big travel adventures over Memorial Day and Flag Day weekend. To be honest, I was looking forward to staying home, catching up on work around my house, gardening and just sitting on my best side. But weekends without an adventure is not one of my best attributes. So on Memorial and Flag Day weekend, instead of searching for an adventure, the adventure came [View Full Entry]

By DrakeSmart
May 10th 2009

Iowa Trivia: Must Love Tulips, Dogs, Kids and Cloris In Iowa North America » United States » Iowa » Des Moines

Ann and Tulips
Ann In A Field of Tulilps

Iowa Trivia: Must Love Tulips In Iowa Last week I wrote that traveling can be done in your backyard so this weekend I traveled to a potpourri of events within 45 miles of my home in Ankeny; Pella for the Tulip Festival, Des Moines for the Farmers Market and to see Cloris Leachman’s “One Woman Show”. I asked myself “how do I make this trip interesting as compared to my trip to Omaha? “ After fretting a bit, I told myself to give it up. From lessons learned, I reminded myself to just own it and travel with good friends. First [View Full Entry]

By DrakeSmart
May 3rd 2009

Omaha Is Buffett Country North America » United States » Nebraska » Omaha

Qwest Center
Outside the Qwest Center

Saturday, May 2, 2009 What a day I had on my short journey to Omaha, Nebraska. My goals for today are to: Get up at 4 am *Meet my travel buddies Brent and Felicia at 5:15 am *Be in the Qwest Center by 8 am, *Learn something from Warren Buffett (WB) *See the BYD electric car *Find some goodies *Be back home by 9 pm Today will be a 16 hour travel day. Reminds me of Europe! I’ve got good news, goals exceeded. So let me run down what we did: 3:45 am, got up and out the door by 4:40 [View Full Entry]

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DrakeSmart - Ann Anhalt

Blogs & Travel Journals