Tennessee Bound - From the Desert to the Rockies

As you may have figured out from reading my blog, I love to travel! I really don’t care where to or how I’m going to get there. It’s the journey, not (necessarily) the destination.


We decided to leave Las Vegas the afternoon of October 20th and get a jump start on our over 2,000 mile drive to the eastern part of Tennessee. Three hours later, we spent the night in Cedar City Utah.

So when we were planning a trip to Tennessee a couple of months ago, it was decided to make it a “Road Trip“. A date of October 22 was set to begin our journey, but in true “Debbie” fashion, we left 2 days earlier!

The next morning was our first long day of driving. Destination, Denver Colorado.

After heading north on I15, we did see some beautiful scenery driving west on I70 through the States of Utah and Colorado.

Fall is definitely in Utah!

While driving east through Utah, we found a great spot to stretch a bit and see some interesting rock formations.

Apparently, this is a hot spot for the Native Americans in the area to sell their handmade items to tourists.

I know that the colors of fall in the west can not compare with the colors we will soon be seeing in Tennessee, but you have to admit, these yellows of Colorado are gorgeous!

As we drove through the Rockies, it was evident that ski resorts may very well be opening soon.

A special treat for me after arriving in Denver was the chance to visit with a dear friend of mine. This was the first time in 37 years that we’ve seen each other.

I am reminded of a road trip we took to Provence France when I see the moon over the snow covered mountains of Colorado as I did in the Haute-Alps de Provence. (you can read that story by clicking here)

A great way to end the day……wouldn’t you say?

If you would like to see more pictures, just click "Where's Debbie" then click on the album "From the Desert to the Rockies"

Colorado on Dwellable

Driving The Great Northwest

I've been back from a 2 month trip to Europe since February 27th 2010.  And if you've been following this blog you can see that I'm still trying to catch up with writing about what a wonderful time I had, from enjoying everyday life in Brussels to a home exchange in Ferragudo Portugal.

But as of this moment I am on another trip.  This time a whole lot closer to home too!

Stijn returned to America with me and he will be here for 6 months.  So of course we need to see some of the beautiful places in America while he's here.

Some of my favorite places to visit are the Northwestern States.  From the unmatched beauty of the Oregon Coast to Pike Place Market in Seattle and the Big Sky country of Montana to the majestic Teton Mountains of Wyoming.  The georgous National Parks like the California Redwoods, Montana Glacier Park and of course Yellowstone.  What better places to visit to show off what a beautiful Country America is.

So I'm anxious to start sharing with you our road trip and what we will be seeing and doing along the way while "Driving the Great Northwest"!

Who Knew?

I really want you to get to know me.

So what you need to know first and foremost is that I love to travel.

Growing up we never took a family vacation. We never went anywhere actually. I grew up in Los Angeles California and a "vacation" for us was to load up the station wagon and make the drive down to Salton Sea to visit my grandparents little getaway they had down there for the weekend. And this wasn't very often. I remember how excited I would be knowing we were going "somewhere"! I was thrilled to stay in my grandparents great little 1950's silver camp trailer and help my grandmother sell hot dogs and snow cones from her little portable food stand while my grandfather fished all day for corvina from the pier. I can remember at night sitting outside and looking up at the stars and pointing out the Milky Way and both "Dipper's".
When we had the opportunity to move to Nevada in the early 1970's, I had my mother packed and renting a UHaul "To go where no Smith has gone before". Out of the State of California! Now this was only to the neighboring State of Nevada in a little town called "Tonopah" but at the age of 14 I thought, what a great adventure!

When I was raising my family I made sure we took family vacations nearly every summer. I would get ideas of places to visit from magazines, television or even just talking with co-workers and friends. But most importantly from my children. One year my daughter learned in school that there was a place where she could stand in one spot and be in four States at the same time. So I planned a whole vacation around her curiosity. I would always figure out how to see and do as much as possible in a two week period.

During these 23 years we were able to explore so many beautiful places. Oregon, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and even back to California. And then finally.....the airplane ride! My first airplane ride at the age of 37 to Nashville Tennessee to see Christmas in the Park. I remember getting there, parking the car and walking through the parking lot and I just started to cry. I was so overwhelmed with the thought that I was actually experiencing such a beautiful place. I get that way. I can't tell you how many times I have had to fight the tears when I get somewhere.

The past 12 years I have had the opportunity to visit just about every State now and about 23 countries.

I look back now and think to myself that I have always had a desire to get out and explore new and different places.

Who knew?