New York and North Carolina

I have been to these two states once.

Minnesota

I have been to Minnesota four times.

In the summer of 1975, I visited Minnesota for the first time with my mom, my youngest brother, and grandparents. We had quite a few relatives in the area. We went and stayed at Lake Minnetonka with one of my mom's cousins and his family. We boated on the lake in my uncle's pontoon. We swam in the lake. Eventually, we drove into Minneapolis so we could see my great aunts (my grandfather's two sisters). I also ended up in the emergency room of a hospital in Edina, MN, due to an ear infection. One of the last things we did on the trip was to drive to one of my mom's cousins' farm near Taylors Falls, Minnesota. I remember we went to the lookout at Taylor's Falls to see the St. Croix River. What a beautiful site!

The following summer, my parents, younger brother, and I went to Minnesota. We followed my grandparents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Again, we spent some time at Lake Minnetonka. We went into Minneapolis to visit my grandfather's sisters. We also spent a day in Taylors Falls.

In August 1994, I made my third trip to Minnesota. This time, we stayed in Bloomington, a suburb of Minneapolis, MN, with one of my mom's cousins. On Saturday night (the first night that we were there), we went to Minnehaha Falls in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. The following day, I took my last trip to my mom's cousin's parents' lake home on Lake Minnetonka. We took their pontoon out on the lake. It was sooo neat to be out on that lake again after an eighteen-year absence. On Monday, I soent my day by the pool. That evening some of the adults, including me, went to Mystic Lake Casino® in Dakota County, MN, to gamble. What's a trip to the Minneapolis area without a shopping trip to Mall of America®?? Not only did I visit the mall once, but twice! On Tuesday, we spent a whole day shopping at the mall. I spent soo much money there. :-) On Wednesday, I went to lunch with my mom's cousin and her parents and my parents at Dayton's (now Marshall Field's®) at the Southdale Center® in Edina, MN. That night I went to a nightclub in dowtown Minneapolis with one of my mom's cousin's daughters. On Thursday (our last day of vacation), we went to the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul, MN, where we saw Kenny G in concert. The concert was great but the storm we got caught in was incredible!

In late February 2000, I made my fourth trip to Minnesota. This time it was for a shopping trip to the Mall of America® in Bloomington, MN. My mom, sister-in-law, and niece flew up on a Saturday morning and flew back Sunday night.

Michigan

I have been to Michigan twice.

In the summer of 1983, my parents and I drove to Michigan with my maternal grandparents. We stayed with relatives in the suburbs of Detroit, MI. One of the places we visited was Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. Another place we visited was an old amusement park located on one of the islands in the middle of the Detroit River. The only way we could get to it was by ferry from Detroit. It had a really cool wooden roller coaster. It might have been the first wooden roller coaster I ever rode. (If you know the name of the amusement park and/or island, please email me at kristi@simplykristi.com. I don't think that the amusement park is in operation.) One day, we traveled to downtown Detroit, MI. We drove through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel under the Detroit River to Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. We drove back to Detroit over the Ambassador Bridge. I also made a trip to Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, MI.

In late summer 1992, my mom and I flew to Detroit, MI, for a few days to visit the same relatives. We visited Meadowbrook Hall at Oakland University in Rochester, MI. We took a tour of the mansion and its grounds. We also enjoyed lunch there. I swam for the first time in a heated outdoor pool. The temperature outside was in the upper 50s. On a Saturday, we visited Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfied Village. My mom, her cousin and son and great uncle went there. On our last full day, my great uncle took my mom, his daughter (my mom's cousin), and me to The Whitney, a four-star restaurant, for lunch in downtown Detroit.

Hawaii

I have been to Hawaii once.

It was the trip of a lifetime for me. I got see some great friends and see and do stuff can't do here at home.

Florida

I've been to Florida once.

In November 1996, I flew to West Palm Beach, FL, to meet a man whom I had met on the Internet. He lived in Boynton Beach, FL, at that time. Right after I left Floriday, he moved to New Jersey.

On Friday (my first full day in Florida), he and I drove from Boynton Beach to Fort Lauderdale, FL along Route A1A. We drove through the cities of Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Pompano Beach, Deerfiled Beach, and Fort Lauderdale. We drove over inlets at Boca Raton and Pompano Beach. In fact, we stopped at the one in Pompano Beach. We stopped at some of the beaches along the way, such as Deerfiled Beach (walked up on the pier there) and Fort Lauderdale (walked along some of the beach there). While in Fort Lauderdale, we stopped and walked around Sawgrass Mills Mall®, Florida's largest retail and entertainment center.

On Saturday, we drove to Miami, FL. We drove to and around Pro Player Stadium®, which is home to both the Miami Dolphins and Florida Marlins. We drove to Miami Beach. We walked the beach for a little ways. We stopped at ate a restaurant in Miami Beach. We drove over the Rickenbacker Causeway bridge to Key Biscayne Island. We drove thru part of Miami where Planet Hollywood® is located. We drove back to downtown Miami and walked around Bayside Marketplace for a bit.

On Sunday, we drove from Boynton Beach to Jupiter, FL. We walked in the surf at the beach in Boynton Beach. The water was warm. We drove thru West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Singer Island, and Jupiter.

On Monday, (my last full day in Floriday), he took me to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. I saw a few alligators and other animals. It was a fascinating area to visit. The only thing that I didn't like was being near the alligators. :-)

Colorado

I've traveled to Colorado ten times.

In the early 1970s, my family and I went for a long weekend to the Colorado Springs area with my maternal grandparents and my mom's brother. We spent a night in Dodge City, Kansas, where my uncle was living at the time. We headed to Colorado Springs the following day. I believe that we stayed at some cabins in Manitou Springs, CO, which is right outside of Colorado Springs. One day, we drove to the summit of Pikes Peak at an elevation of 14,110 feet. Pikes Peak is named after Lt. Zebulon Pike, who discovered the mountain in 1806. He predicted that no one would ever make it to the top of that mountain. We drove the 19-mile scenic highway. For others who do not wish to drive on the road, there is the Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway. At the top of the summit is Summit House with drink and food and souvenirs. We spent some time at the Garden of the Gods. It is full of red rock. It's an incredible place to visit! We also went to the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel in Colorado Springs, CO.

In July 1978, my mom, youngest brother, maternal grandparents, and I followed my uncle out to Dillon, CO. He had purchased a lot to build a second home six miles south of Breckenridge, CO. We traveled thru the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel for the very first time. Dillon, Colorado, is located in the heart of Summit County, Colorado. We spent a day in the town of Breckenridge. We visited my uncle's lot as well as shopped in the town. Another day, we visited the town of Vail, Colorado, to do some shopping and sightseeing. Mainly, we stayed around the Lake Dillon area.

In December 1980, we traveled to Breckenridge, Colorado, for Christmas to my uncle completed home outside of the town. We shopped in both Colorado cities of Breckenridge and Vail. We skated on the pond (which no longer exists) in Breckenridge. The weather was warm and there wasn't much snow. One day, we intertubed down the hill across the road from my uncle's house.

In December 1981, we once again traveled to Breckenridge. We left home a day or two after Christmas and arrived back home on New Year's Eve. The snowpack, which made getting around difficult, was deep that year. In fact, we had to come home earlier than we planned due to the weather.

After a very long absence, my parents and I made it back to Colorado in June 1992. This time, we went to the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. None of us had ever been west of Vail until that trip. We drove thru Glenwood Canyon. The four-lane highway was still under construction. It was a beautiful drive! We drove thru another canyon, the De Beque Canyon, which was beautiful too. As soon as we came out of the De Beque Canyon, we came to the Grand Valley. Grand Junction is located in the Grand Valley. As we came out of the canyon, the vineyards were to our left and the Book Cliffs were to our right. The Book Cliffs are low mountains that run east to west from Colorado to Utah. We arrived at the home where my grandma lived at the time. During our seven-day stay, we visited Colorado National Monument, which was one of the neatest drives I had ever taken. One day, we drove to the top of Grand Mesa, the largest flat-topped mountain in the world. That too was a wonderful drive! We even played in the snow.. in the middle of June! On another day, we drove to Moab, Utah. (Please see "Other States" for more details.) We took a day trip to the Colorado towns of Ridgway and Ouray. Ouray is considered "Little Switzerland." Ridgway is an old town and the scene of the movie John Wayne's movie "True Grit."

In late May and early June, my mom and I spent two weeks in Grand Junction with my grandma. On our first day in Grand Junction, my mom's youngest brother and I went to Colorado National Monument. The next day, all of us went to Glenwood Springs, Colorado. My mom's brother and I swam in the hot springs pool at Glenwood Springs Hot Springs Lodge and Pool while my mom and grandma drove the completed Glenwood Canyon. (I didn't get to go thru the canyon until 2001.) After swimming, we walked around Glenwood Springs. We drove to the top of Grand Mesa, which was covered with lots of snow. One Sunday, we drove to Craig, Colorado. One day, we drove to the Colorado towns of Redstone and Marble. We drove past a few waterfalls. One afternoon, we drove through the vineyards in the Grand Valley. It is the wine country of western Colorado. One of the wineries we visited was Colorado Cellars Winery. I still have an unopened bottle of wine from there. (I am waiting for a special occasion.) One day, we drove to Ridgway and Ouray. On the way back to Grand Junction, we took a beautiful scenic route called the Unaweep/Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway.

In mid Agust 1997, I went to Colorado with my oldest sister-in-law and niece along with one of my sister-in-law's sisters and her son. We stayed at my uncle's hosue near Breckenridge. On Saturday, we drove to Copper Mountain and Vail for some shopping. On Sunday, we went shopping at the factory outlets in both Silverthorne and Dillon, Colorado. We drove across the Lake Dillon dam. On Monday, we headed for the gambling towns of Central City and Black Hawk to do some gambling. On Tuesday, we headed for Denver. I met a woman form the Internet and others went to Six Flags Elitch Gardens.

In late July and early August 2000, I made another trip to Colorado with family members. We stayed at my uncle's condominium in Frisco, Colorado. He had sold the house near Breckenridge and bought the condominium in 1998. We arrived on a Saturday. We spent Sunday shopping in Silverthorne and Breckenridge. On Monday, we drove to Aspen, Colorado, where we shopped and ate lunch. It was the first time any of us had ever visited Aspen. We also shopped for a bit in Glenwood Springs. On Tuesday, we drove to the sumnit of Loveland Pass, which is something we had never done. We went to Black Hawk to some gambling. On the way back, we stopped at the factory outlet stores in both Silverthorne and Dillon. On Wednesday, we drove to the summit of Hoosier Pass. We walked around Breckenridge. On Thursday, we drove back to Black Hawk for more gambling. On Friday, we ate breakfast in Frisco and then walked around the town for a bit.

In early August 2001, my parents and I traveled to Colorado with some relatives. When we arrived on Saturday, we ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday. I ordered a HUGE margarita, that I couldn't finish. On Sunday, we went to the summit of Hoosier Pass and walked around Breckenridge. We ate lunch at Breckenridge BBQ in Breckenridge. On Monday, we drove to the summit of Loveland Pass. Afterwards, we went shopping at the factory outlets in both Silverthorne and Dillon. We also walked around Frisco. We ate lunch at the Dillon Dam Brewery. On Tuesday, we drove to the western slopes of the Rockies to Ridgway, Colorado. We took I-70 thru the Glenwood Canyon. We ate breakfast at Rosie's in Glenwood Springs and went to the rock shop there. We stopped at the Thunder River Trading Company store in Parachute, Colorado, where I bought a watch and bracelet. Then we took the scenic byway over the Grand Mesa. That night we ate at the True Grit Cafe in Ridgway. On Wednesday morning, we visited Ouray. We walked around Ouray for a bit. On Thursday morning, we headed to Grand Junction, Colorado, to visit my grandma. We also visited other relatives. We ate dinner at a restaurant in Grand Junction. We stayed at one of the hotels in Grand Junction. On Friday, we drove back to Frisco. We stopped at two of the rest stops in Glenwood Canyon to take pictures.

My last trip to Colorado was in September 2002. My parents, my middle brother and his family and I spent about a week out in Frisco.

California

I've been to California twice.

In August 1995, I flew out to visit my mom's youngest brother in Pomona, CA. It was my first time to fly so far from home by myself. I stayed at his apartment. My grandma came up from San Diego, CA, to spend time with me and her son. On Sunday, we went to Newport Beach, CA, for some fun in the sun and water. My uncle's three sons went along too. We had met their mother the night before so the boys could spend Sunday with their dad. It was the first time I had ever been to the ocean. After some fun on the beach, we rented a boat so we could boat around Newport Harbor. At one point, I actually drove the boat. :-) We went shopping in Newport Beach as well. We got back to the apartment to meet my grandma. She and I would spend a lot of time together over the next six days. One day, my grandma, uncle, and I drove to Hollywood, CA, to sightsee. I saw the famous Hollywood Sign sitting in its spot on a hillside above Hollywood. We visited the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, where many connected to Hollywood are immortalized. I visited the court outside of Mann's Chinese Theatre. As we walked along the Walk of Fame, we stopped and shopped in many of the stores along Hollywood Boulevard. After walking around Hollywood for awhile, we drove over to Beverly Hills. I bought a t-shirt at the Hard Rock Cafe. We walked through the Beverly Center in Los Angeles at the edge of Beverly Hills. We couldn't find Rodeo Drive. We drove to the LA County Courthouse where the O.J. Simpson trial was being held. I spent a lot of time shopping at Montclair Plaza, which is a very nice mall in Montclair, CA. I had my nails professionally done for the first and only time in my life. My grandma had her nails done too. :-)

In August 1996, my mom and I flew out together to California to visit her brother (the uncluye whom I visited the previous August). We spent the first full day at Newport Beach, CA, with my uncle and his three sons. We enjoyed fun and sun on the beach. The waves were huge that day. We walked up on the Balboa Pier. After that, we walked around Newport Beach. On Tuesday, we went to Catalina Island. We took a boat over to Avalon on Catalina Island. We walked through Avalon. We shopped. We took a Seal Point tour, which is a boat ride out to see the seals and other wildlife along the eastern shore of Catalina Island. In spite of my uncle and I taking too much Dramamine® (which made us drowsy all day long), we had a great time. On another day, we went back to Newport Beach and spent a couple of hours on the beach. After spending time on the beach, we went over the ferry to Balboa Island. We just drove through Balboa Island. We drove through Corona del Mar and Dana Point. We ended up in Laguna Beach. We walked a little bit of the main street in Laguna Beach. In betwen days at the beach, my mom and I went shopping at Montclair Plaza in Montclair, CA. On our final full day in California, all of us went to San Clemente to meet my mom's only sister. We went to both beaches in both the north and South areas of San Clemente.