Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Tuesday's Top Ten Plus Ten [Places I'd Like to See]

My "Bucket List" on Pinterest is extensive. There's many places I want to see and I doubt I'll have the time or resources to visit them all, especially since we have friends and family in Minnesota, Oregon, Bahamas, Colorado, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.... still, these pictures are giving me a traveling itch. My traveling bucket list is equally as extensive as my must-read-book-list. I won't live long enough to accomplish it all. Perhaps today's topic will help me narrow it down and make it seem like it's actually do-able. 


Be sure to visit Melany's top ten places as well! 

Number 1 on my list will always be Italy. When I was a little kid I remember taking a 1984 National Geographic from my great grandfathers house because that was the year I was born. I can't tell you how many times I've looked through that magazine! It was intriguing because on the cover was a picture of a skeleton wearing fancy jewelry, encased in what looked like concrete. This particular issue covered Mt. Vesuvius and the ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum. 
I always thought it was so fascinating! They had pictures of furniture, people huddled together - dying together, boats, soldiers and the "science" behind each skeletons story. I LOVED reading about what each skeleton told of that persons life. One was malnourished suggesting his lifestyle was that of a slave or lower class. One young woman, presumed to be in her early 20's, was 6 months pregnant. Another young man had chipped bones, missing teeth, and his skeleton suggested he was a soldier because of his extensive injuries. Each skeleton told a story and I wanted to see it for myself. That desire has not changed. There's so much history in Italy and the more pictures I see of this place, the more I want to see it for its beauty as well. Plus, who wouldn't want to see the Colosseum as well!

Kyle talks about two places so much that I want to visit them now as well... Alaska and Oregon...

2. Alaska - Depending on where you are you can see grizzly bears, brown bears, humpback whales, sea lions, waterfalls galore, glaciers, and the list could go on forever and a day. You could spend a lifetime exploring this ginormous state. For whatever reason it's calling my husbands name. And with pictures like this of Bridal Veil Falls, taken by Mike Jones (source), how can I not fall in love with the beautiful, adventurous Alaska as well? 
3. Oregon - Kyle talks about his memories of eating fresh clam chowder, visiting light houses, and the wildlife. When he talks about it, I want to go. Plus, I'm thinking I could kill two birds with one stone and visit...

4. Sequoia National Park - I want to stand next to a massive tree! I especially want to meet "The President" that is 3,200 years old and stands over 247 feet tall! I mean, just look at those men in comparison to this tree...
It's like "Where's Waldo?" trying to locate them, huh?
5. I want to go to the Kentucky Derby, dress up and wear a BIG HAT. The mint juleps sound pretty nice as well....

6. Ireland or Scotland. I'm going to lump them together because I want to visit them for the same reasons. Not just for beautiful places such as this...
The Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye, Scotland 
Cliffs of Moher, Ireland
... but also because I want to listen to them talk. 

7. Cedar Point. Which is in Sandusky, Ohio of all places. It's considered the roller coaster capital of the world. It's also known as an "adrenaline junkie's paradise"- so am I an adrenaline junkie for wanting to go? I LOVE roller coasters  and names like "Iron Dragon" or "Gatekeeper" or "Corkscrew" or "Maverick" or "Millennium Force" or "Raptor" ... hehe... I'm all in. 

8. Ghost Towns/Abandoned Castles/Unique Historical Buildings. I'm just going to generalize here. I LOVE history. Growing up I'd always hear my mom say, "OH! If only this place could talk..." and I'd imagine the stories they could tell. Places like this intrigue me a lot... 
Peria Townsite in Southern Utah
... or the inverted tower in Portugal...
... or this church in Scotland, last used in 1947...
... or this abandoned castle in Ireland...

9. Australia. Once again, it's gorgeous and (again) I want to listen to them talk. Seriously, just talk to me, and take me to places like this... (sigh... I just love warm, white sandy beaches... give me a book and a beach and I'm in heaven...)
PLUS, When the Travel Channel describes places like Kakadu National Park like this, "You’ll be lost for words in World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park – a tapestry of rainforest and Aboriginal cultural artefacts across 12,000 square miles. Rugged escarpments, lush wetlands, plunging gorges and cascading waterfalls spill over each other here in our largest nature park. You’ll see millions of migratory birds in the wetlands and crocodiles sun their primitive hides on the banks of the Adelaide River." I say, "LET'S GO!" 

10. I'd LOVE to visit all the places I read about in the Bible: Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Gethsemane, &etc. I think that visiting these places that Jesus walked and talked would make the stories come alive in a new and wonderful way.

Thankfully, I'm not panicked if I don't get to visit all of these places in this lifetime. Heaven will be a gazillion times more beautiful, more relaxing, more glorious, because it will be infinitely better than Italy, Scotland, Alaska, Oregon, Australia or any other place in the universe, seriously.can't.wait.

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