This week the girls have been watching Fetch on Netflix, which is a reality/game show for kids made by PBS. The host, Ruff Ruffman, (he’s a dog) always gives out Bonus Points! This week, I’m giving you a bonus! Tamara and I are exchanging questions and answers for Ask Away Friday, and I asked my readers some travel questions for The Spin Cycle! If you are not familiar with The Spin Cycle, I host a writing prompt every week. The Spin Cycle was started by Jen at Sprite’s Keeper, and was taken over by Gretchen at Second Blooming, and now I’m hosting for a short time until Gretchen finishes her book! I give a writing prompt on Mondays, you put your “spin” on the prompt, and link up any day of the week. Please visit our Spinners and give them some comment love!

For Ask Away Friday, two bloggers swap 10 questions with each other and post the answers on Friday. Tamara is one of the hosts, and she is on vacation in sunny Florida this week. We decided to swap travel questions! Stop by Tamara (like) Camera to read her answers to my 10 questions! If you have never read her blog before, you are in for a treat. She is an amazing writer and I’m happy to call her a friend.

1. How many of the 50 states have you visited? (I think driving through counts but not flying over). If you haven’t been to all 50, which is the state you most want to visit that you’ve never visited? Why?

When I was in college, I was fortunate to sing in our university’s Concert Choir, which toured the East Coast two years in a row. I live in the Midwest, and I’ve taken several vacations out West, so I’ve covered a lot of ground! If I’m counting correctly, I’ve been to 30 states. I didn’t include Washington because even though I spent four hours at the airport on my way to Alaska, I never stepped foot on Washington soil.

I’ve also been in 4 states at one time! A couple of years ago, we stopped at the Four Corners where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado meet. My left foot is in Utah, my left arm is in Colorado, my right foot is in New Mexico, and my right arm is in Arizona!

Which states would I like to go to next? In college, I wrote a paper about old growth forests in Oregon, and I’ve always wanted to see them. However, I honestly want to go to Hawaii!

2. How many other countries have you visited? What three countries would you most like to visit?

I’ve been to Canada and Mexico, and also Jamaica and the Cayman Islands as part of a cruise. I would love to go to France, and Germany, and I really want to go visit my cousin in the United Kingdom! She has lived there for a long time, and I have yet to go see her.

3. What’s your dream trip to take with the whole family?

This is a tough question because we’ve already taken so many amazing vacations with our kids. We’ve already traveled to Alaska, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. Ed and I have always wanted to drive with the kids from Chicago to Yellowstone, just like we did before we had kids. It’s the great American Road Trip. Along the way we’d stop at the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and Devil’s Tower. Of course we’d also stop at Wall Drug! And Yellowstone itself is amazing! It’s so large, and there are several areas to explore that are completely different from one another.

4. What about just with your husband?

When we were dating, Ed told me he’d never go to an opera. One Christmas, he surprised me with tickets to the Lyric Opera! This Christmas,  he gave me tickets to the Chicago Symphony. Now the next step in our cultural adventures; visiting the Louvre! Ed and I have talked about going to Paris for a romantic trip with just the two of us, including a chance to gaze at fine art.

5. What’s a really memorable vacation you’ve had, and what made it so?

When we were on a day-cruise in Alaska, we saw some humpback whales bubble-netting. They work together as a team to make a net of bubbles around krill, and then scoop the krill up in their cavernous mouths. Of course, we only saw their huge, open jaws emerging from the water, and our tour guide told us what they were doing under the water. It was an amazing sight to see!

Another memorable vacation was just this past summer. We stopped at Death Valley National Park. Night swimming in the large, outdoor pool which was fed by an underwater spring was very surreal. The water was warm, but the air temperature was much warmer. It was 9:00 at night, and we kept looking at the thermometer, which read 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Death Valley does not cool down much at night because of the mountains surrounding it, making it a bowl of heat! Right now in January, however, it is 62 degrees! We would love to go back in the winter when it isn’t so unbearably hot.

 

6. When you were a child, did your family take trips? Would you always go to the same place or different places?

When I was little, my family went to the Ozarks and we also visited a grotto in Iowa. When I was a little older, we started having a week-long vacation with my dad’s family at a lake every summer. It started at Lake Huron, then we moved around to a couple of smaller lakes in Michigan, and finally we ended up on Lake Michigan. This family vacation is still going strong, and we usually take our girls there for at least a couple of days. This year we’re planning on staying for the whole week!

7. Describe the worst trip you ever took. Where did you go? What made it a bad trip?

We’ve been very lucky, and most of our trips have been fantastic! One summer when I was about 15, however, we stayed in a rented house on a little lake. The house was dirty, the lake was full of duck weed, and even though we had fun with our cousins it was just not a good place to vacation. That was the only time we stayed there.

8. Would you prefer to relax on the beach or tour a big city?

I’m definitely a relaxing on the beach with a book type of gal. I dream of listening to the waves on the shore while napping in the sun during these cold, dreary winter months!

9. Have you ever feared for your life while on vacation?

When Ed and I were on our honeymoon, we took a taxi in Jamaica. As our driver was going up a mountain road and honking his horn as he was going around curves instead of slowing down, I definitely feared for my life!

10. If you could go on a road trip with any person (dead or alive), who would you choose and where would you go?

I would want to go on a road trip with my mom. Once, we drove from Chicago to Des Moines, just the two of us, and I learned so much about her as a person and not just as my mom. I loved talking to her, and as a teenager I talked her ear off! She was such a good listener. I don’t think it would matter where we went if I could talk to her again.

Thank you, Tamara, for being my Ask Away Friday partner!

In 2015, I’d like to get the Spin Cycle grow. I love you to join us!

• Write a Spin Cycle post any day this week and link it up here!
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Have a wonderful weekend!