Shake, Rattle, and Aloha -- An Earthquake Tale

posted by hackey hudjson



When an earthquake rattled the East Coast this week, it made me think about my own experiences with having "the earth move." The DH and I are native Californians who have never lived anywhere but the Golden State. Given California's reputation with regard to earthquakes, the two of us have lots of stories to tell about quakes, right?



Wrong.



DH has never been in a major earthquake, and the only one I was ever in happened when I was six-months-old (which hardly counts). In fact, these two old Californians had to go all the way to Hawaii to experience an earthquake first hand!



We are very lucky because we live where it is easy to find inexpensive deals to Hawaii. Such was the case one recent October when a travel agency we've often used offered a five day trip to Honolulu, and we decided to go for it. Our high rise hotel was in a GREAT location, across the street from the Honolulu Zoo and half a block from the beach. The views from our ninth story room were wonderful -- we could see all the way to Diamond Head.



Sunday morning at 7 a.m. I was awakened from a sound sleep by the bed shaking. Thinking the DH had returned from his morning swim and was playing a game of 'let's wake up the slug', I rolled over ready to yell at him but NO DH. Instead, I heard a very loud roar, while the bed and the room both started to sway!



I may have never been in an earthquake before but I KNEW what was happening. I threw some clothes on over my pajamas while the room continued to sway. Then I grabbed my umbrella (Did I mention it was pouring rain?) and RAN down all nine flights of stairs to the lobby!



I had a friend who was trapped in an elevator for four hours during the Loma Prieta quake in 1989 so there was NO WAY I was getting in an elevator, though that stairwell was pretty icky. I'm just glad we weren't on the eighteenth floor.



When I reached the lobby, huffing and puffing like a steam locomotive, I saw a lot of bleary-eyed people milling about. An emergency generator was already set up to run one elevator and some lights. Staff also had turned on a battery powered radio and I listened anxiously for about ten minutes for news of death, destruction, and... a tsunami!



All I heard was that one power grid had gone down and in doing so, had triggered overloads on all the power grids so electricity was out all over the island. Also, that the quake had been centered off the Big Island, not Oahu. And NO tsunami.



I couldn't quite believe that last part, and worse -- DH was still out there SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN! I walked out to the front sidewalk and peered through the sheets of rain. Finally, I decided if he didn't show up in five more minutes, I'd go looking for him. Two minutes later he walked up, towel around his shoulders, dripping wet. He headed straight for the elevator and couldn't understand why all those people were standing around in the lobby. When I mentioned THE EARTHQUAKE, he gave me a blank stare.



He hadn't felt a thing!



Luckily the only consequence of the earthquake turned out to be no power in Honolulu for thirteen hours. Inconvenient, yes. No cooked food, no air conditioning, no running water above the third floor... But in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that bad! We spent most of the day sitting on the lanai of the Hawaiian Princess hotel, which was right on the beach and had a lovely breeze.



I give the highest kudos to the Honolulu police, who were out directing traffic within 30 minutes of the quake knocking out the power. Officers were stationed at every traffic light down the length of Waikiki, and they stayed until the power came back on at 8 P.M. As the electricity was restored to each high rise hotel along Waikiki, a cheer went up from the patrons inside. Ours was no exception.



By the time we flew home on Tuesday morning, everything on Oahu (the airport, the roadways, the tourist attractions) was running as smoothly as it had been before the quake hit.



So there you have my earthquake tale, now it's your turn: Did you feel the quake this week? Have you been in another earthquake? If not, do you have a 'wild weather' experience you can share?Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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Walking in the steps of history

By Trish Milburn



One of my favorite school subjects has always been history, particularly American history. One of my minors in college was in History. So it's no surprise that I love visiting historic sites be they homes, battlefields, roads, whatever.



Growing up in the South, you can almost pitch a rock in any direction and hit something that has a tie to the Civil War. Historic re-enactments almost always pit the blue against the gray. But one of my favorite periods in American History is actually Colonial/Revolution. So this summer when I had the opportunity to visit New England for the first time, I was mucho excited. I was going to see places that really helped to shape our country before it even became the United States of America.



There have been times when I've visited a place of such historical significance that it was surreal. I felt that way the first time I visited Washington, D.C., in high school. All those monuments, the Smithsonian, the White House -- those were things that you just saw on the nightly news. Several years later, I took a driving trip out West and stopped at several points along the Oregon Trail in Nebraska and Wyoming. There are parts such as Windlass Hill in Western Nebraska where you can still see the ruts from the wagons that were headed west along the Oregon Trail. Fast forward to 2003 and my first trip to New York City. I had the same surreal feeling when I visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.



This summer, I experienced it again when I stopped at Minute Man National Historic Park outside of Boston. Here I walked along the road (pictured here) that Paul Revere rode down to warn the countryside that the British were coming. The park and the Battle Road commemorate the famous Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the beginning of the American Revolution. I stood in the middle of the road and was hit with an overwhelming sense of history.



The big destination for my trip, however, was Salem, Massachusetts, set of the infamous witch trials in 1692. I have a YA paranormal trilogy coming out next year, and books 2 and 3 take place in Salem, so I wanted to see it firsthand. I walked all over town, and you can tell how steeped the town is in its witch history. Museums dedicated to the witch trials, businesses with names like the Witch's Brew Cafe, and visitors touring cemeteries. There's also a memorial comprised of 20 carved stone benches. Each one lists the name of one of the victims of the trials, when they died and how they died. 19 people were hanged and one pressed to death as a result of the hysteria that had no basis.



In nearby Marblehead, I visited the grave of Wilmot Redd, the only person from Marblehead to be executed for being a witch.



Another must-see in Salem is a literary landmark. The famed House of the Seven Gables (pictured), made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne, sits overlooking the harbor.



They have a very nice tour that takes you through the circa 1668 house and showcases its history and construction. I happened to visit on Hawthorne's birthday, so everyone was in a festive mood. Also on the property is Nathaniel Hawtorne's birthplace and a nice gift shop where I just might have purchased some witch-themed novels and a very pretty pair of earrings. :)



Now I'm curious -- do you enjoy visiting historical sites? If so, what kinds in particular? Have you ever visited a site where you really felt the history of the place? If so, where? And tell us about your favorite historic site.

Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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The Day I Became A Celebrity

posted by hackey hudjson

The iconoclastic artist Andy Warhol was once quoted as saying, "In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes."

Well, I got part of my fifteen minutes, if not exactly fame then a taste of what it is like to be a celebrity. It happened in Thailand, an amazing and beautiful country with some of the nicest people in the world.

DH and I were doing a 'self tour' of the Summer Palace which is a short boat ride up the river from Bangkok. The palace is actually about a dozen different buildings on extensive, beautifully landscaped grounds. I was walking by myself across a pretty little stone bridge over an ornamental pond, when I heard a huge group of school children approaching. There must have been a couple hundred of them, around ten years old and wearing crisp blue and white uniforms. Undoubtedly they were on a field trip.

I scooted out of the way, and stood with my back against the low stone railing of the bridge to let the big noisy group pass. As the first dozen kids walked by me, they all stared (I was probably one of the first if not THE first American they'd ever seen live and in person). Then, one bold youngster shouted out, "Hello!" To which I answered, "Hello!" This brought a gale of nervous giggles, followed by a raucous chorus of hellos.

After a few dozen more kids, all chirping out "hello" like myna birds, scurried past me, one little boy got brave and stuck out his hand while exclaiming, "hello." I obligingly shook his hand and said hello back. Well, that opened the flood gates! Next thing I knew, about a hundred enthusiastic kids were crowded around me, all shouting hello and grabbing for my hands.

YIKES! It was more than a bit scary!

All those eager little bodies pressing around me could have easily sent me over the railing and into the pond. Dozens of them might have fallen with me! Fortunately that didn't happen. I kept smiling, shouting hello, and grabbing as many outstretched hands as I could, while the teachers herded the kids the rest of the way across the bridge. They also smiled and bobbed their heads in thanks to me.

The whole incident lasted maybe ten minutes, but it felt like a lot longer at the time. When I got back to the DH, I collapsed onto the shady bench beside him and said, "Now I know how Michael Jackson feels."

And I can just imagine the discussions in the school yard days later. While one kid brags about his adventure, another kid whines, "No fair! We didn't get to shake hands with an American tourist at the Summer Palace!"

Have you had your fifteen minutes of fame? Maybe five minutes? Please share your exploits as a celebrity with Aunty and the rest of us here in the Lair!Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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Close Encounters of the Reptilian Kind

posted by hackey hudjson

Trish's book launch and the talk about National parks reminded me of my first trip to the Everglades, and the first time I ever saw an alligator "in the wild" -- as in not inside a zoo or other compound.

This did not happen on our first trip to Florida. We'd already been there several times. First we did the Disney World/Epcot experience, then we did Speed Week. Heck, we'd even ventured down to the Keys a few weeks after a hurricane devastated the surrounding area. But this was the first time we ever ventured into the Everglades.

It was a wild and blustery winter day in south Florida (but still a LOT warmer than here in NorCal!) when we pulled into the ranger's station intent on taking one of those swamp buggy tours into the Everglades. Unfortunately, the weather made it unsafe for swamp buggies or anything else out in the 'Glades, the ranger politely explained. Road closed. End of line. But seeing how crest-fallen we were, she directed us to a nearby spot where we would probably see some alligators.

We followed her directions and within minutes found ourselves driving slowly along an elevated gravel road with water on both sides. The vegetation was lush and there were birds galore. Suddenly, DH threw the car into reverse and backed up about 100 yards, then inched forward a bit, saying, "I think I see a gator!"

He rolled down the window and pointed. I couldn't see anything, so he shut off the car and we both got out and walked to the back bumper. What is it about reptiles, especially large reptiles, that brings out the stupid in mammal brains? The DH pointed again and I squinted a little more, until I noticed the partially submerged black log he indicated actually had AN EYEBALL!

Oh WOW! An honest to goodness gator! This was exciting.

We stood for several minutes just looking, and the gator just stayed there too, never moving. Then DH got the bright idea to "feed" it to see if it would move. He opened the trunk and pulled out a fat-free muffin left over from breakfast (they hadn't been very tasty, but we didn't throw them out in case we were desperate for a snack), and lobbed it in the gator's direction.

ACK!!! In about one-tenth of a nanosecond, the thing whipped around and these massive jaws went SNAP!

As my eyes bugged out and my throat made this funny little EEP sound, my brain shouted, "That thing is FAST! And it's A LOT BIGGER than it first looked!" Well over six feet!

But mostly I'm thinking, "RUN YOU IDIOT! DON'T JUST STAND HERE!"

Apparently DH read my thoughts, or he was thinking the same thing. But he managed to tell me, "Do not run! Slowly get in the car." Yeah, right! We both shuffled carefully and quietly around and got into the car. Gravel flew as we high-tailed it outta there!

We've been back to Florida many times, and have been into the Everglades more than once. AWESOME PLACE! We've even been on a couple of swamp buggy tours. But we have NEVER again been stupid enough to try and feed the gators!

Are you like Aunty and Indiana Jones, do reptiles make you break into a cold sweat? Or do you like our reptilian inhabitants? Do you have any encounters with reptiles you can share with us?Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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Going Ape On Gibraltar

posted by hackey hudjson

Not long ago, I watched an excellent travel program all about the Camino Santiago Pilgrimage in Spain. The show brought back memories of my trip to Spain and Portugal and one of the funniest moments of my travel adventures.

We'd been in Spain and Portugal for ten days. We had prepared ourselves for the cold wet weather, it was February after all. But we had not expected the lack of heat and hot water in several of the pensiones where we'd stayed. The morning we rolled up to the border crossing to enter Gibraltar, I was cold, hungry and homesick.

When the guard in the crossing booth asked for our passports in his precise English accent, I almost jumped out of the car and kissed him. Then we drove a few hundred yards down the road and on my right I saw a Safeway grocery store and knew I was in Heaven!

After we hung out in the quaint downtown for awhile, we got on the tram to take us to the lofty heights of The Rock. The views were truly spectacular and we were awed by the formations inside the limestone caves. Since it was a beautiful clear day, we opted to walk part of the way back down and found ourselves at the only other tram stop on the mountainside. This spot was also the favorite hang-out for a large group of the famous Gibraltar apes, which are rather large tailless monkeys. And the males have quite impressive teeth.

While waiting for the tram to arrive we watched some of the moms with their babies and a few larger youngsters playing along the stone wall designed to keep us humans on the path. I took a couple more pictures of the harbor, and the apes. In spite of signs in several languages warning NOT to feed or tease the apes, some people waiting with us started offering them cookies. Meanwhile, DH took the camera and directed me to stand over near the wall so he could get some shots of me with the apes in the background. Only they didn't STAY in the background.

As I stood smiling and oblivious, a half-grown "teen" ape made a big leap toward my shoulder. I saw him just as he made contact. I screamed, jumped and pushed him away. I think he may have yelped too as he bounced onto the pavement, then leaped back over the wall. The DH was doubled over laughing, and yes, he got one picture but it was blurry because both the ape and I were moving QUICKLY! VERY QUICKLY! DH still claims that the fastest he's ever seen me move.

Fortunately, the tram arrived a couple of minutes later. Once we were safely back within the confines of Safeway and I'd consumed a Cadbury chocolate bar, I was able to laugh about my misadventure with a young, and maybe amorous (or at least hungry) ape.

I realize not everyone can have an elephant follow them home from school like our Helen, but have you ever had an up-close and personal encounter with wild life? A rabid squirrel or prairie dog perhaps? Please share the details with Aunty and the rest of the Lair.Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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Runnin' Through the Airport....

This weekend, I was at the RWA Board meeting in Austin, Texas. Now, this isn't the topic of my blog and if you're interested in what we did, grab a look at the RWA Hot Sheet on the website.

No, what I want to talk about is travel. Yes. Travel. We're all thinking about it, I know.....Going to conferences, RWA National included, or thinking longingly of Easter/Passover visiting, Spring Break or summer vacations ahead.


Are you flying?

Now don't wince. This isn't a diatribe about flying either.

I love to fly. Really. I do.

I do NOT love to go through security, but I'm fairly tolerant of all the nutso rules and regs. I've mailed my beloved Swiss Army Knife home to myself at least three times, thrown away perfectly good bottles of water, Diet Coke, Milk, etc. right at the gate of security, let them confiscate my nail polish (a gorgeous OPI color too!) when the no-liquids rule first went into effect, and all that insane stuff.

I love that instant when the wheels lift off the ground and you can feel the almost weightlessness of the airplane. *shiver* It's fabulous. Or the solid bump-soft-shudder-bump-shhhhhh of a great landing. Excellent.

What I'm not fond of? All alcohol and caffeinated drinks on a five-hour flight and no food. (Can you say "belligerent passengers"?) Running through Atlanta's airport. That is one airport you just CANNOT run through. The floors are too slick, the train too slow. Impossible.

Memphis ain't real fun either, as I can attest from this weekend!

However, airline employees, the REAL ones on the front lines, are great. Lorry W, with Delta, made sure that I would have a second connection already ready and waiting if my connection missed in Memphis, so I could get home. Brenda, Mary and Barb, all Delta flight attendants, were cordial, good humored, and sincerely helpful, even to the guy who insisted on taking off his shoes (no socks on, folks. Ugh!) and who gestured at them and demanded yet one more gin and tonic, with his unlit and quite chewed-upon cigar. Double-ugh.

My cousin is a flight attendant. Some of the stories she can tell would curly your hair if it were straight and straighten it to board straight if it were curly. She also tells wonderful stories of meeting Phyllis Dillar (the life of the show, even on board an aircraft), and other celebrities, most of whom behaved beautifully. Grins. It's a hard job, being a service person on an airline, who really is there to protect you. They serve as "staff" but their real job is to be there, be on the front line, when there's a problem. To handle it, to keep people safe, to make sure everyone gets off alive.

Daunting thought, especially when faced with a whole planeful of drunk or over-caffienated, over-salted, tired, cranky, "I'm-sitting-next-to-a-screaming-toddler-who's-mother-is-sleeping one-row-up" people. They pat and soothe and get stern, and issue alerts and warning and somehow balance that frickin' heavy cart in high winds down the center of the aisle and still manage to pour coffee without spilling it.

Hurrah, for flight attendants! Grins.

Then there's the weird shops in airports, like the Braves Shop in Atlanta - hey ya'll, the Season opens in 3 weeks! Go BRAVES!!!
And the weird souvenirs that come with travel. I'm always fascinated with the stuffed armadillos in Texas, the giant guitars in Memphis, the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks mania in O'Hare, and New York's Rolex clocks.

So tell me your travel stories, good and bad.
What do you HAVE to have with you when you travel? Pillow? Eye mask? Magazines?
What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen in an airport? (For me, it's a chiropracter adjusting his girlfriend on the floor of the waiting area)

What's the strangest thing you've carried home on an airplane?

Ever gotten through security with your Swiss Army knife?

Strangest thing you ever brought home for the family as a souvenier.

OH!! And if you're traveling - or even if you're not! - pick up a copy of this month's Cosmopolitan Magazine! An excerpt from my Deadly Little Secrets is featured as the RED HOT READ for April! Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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Arches and I Don't Mean Golden

posted by hackey hudjson

A few months ago, the DH and I took a little jaunt to celebrate our anniversary. This time around we stayed pretty close to home, only a few states away. We went to Arches National Park near Moab, Utah and close to the Utah/Colorado border.

As anyone who knows Aunty will attest, she is NOT an outdoorsy type. But the sights at Arches were just too spectacular to view strictly from the car window. Within an hour of our arrival in the park, I actually found myself doing something I literally had not done in years --HIKING! But there was just no other way to see these fabulous rock formations, which are unlike anything I've ever seen anywhere else.

Here are a few of my piccies so you can see what I mean:

The Windows

One of the most famous formations in Arches National Park. Individually they are the South Window (on the left in this picture) and the North Window. They, and all the other fantastic rock formations in the park are the result of wind and water erosion over hundreds of thousands of years.

To put the size of the Windows into perspective, here's the DH (all 6 feet 5 inches or 1.97 meters of him) standing in the middle of the South Window.

I'm standing about 100 yards down the hill so that I can fit the whole thing in. And yes, it was a stunning day, as evidenced by the clouds and blue sky behind the South Window.

Delicate Arch

Probably the most photographed and therefore the most famous of all the formations in Arches is this one. Also called "Bloomers" or "Cowboy Chaps" for obvious reasons. I viewed it from a very long distance and let the DH hike the extremely steep three mile trail for a closer look.

Delicate Arch stands 52 feet (or 16 meters) tall, and sits all by itself on the edge of a rocky plateau in the absolute middle of nowhere. This photo does not do the bright red and orange coloring of the arch justice. It is absolutely striking (even through binoculars down in the parking lot)!

Landscape Arch

This is the longest arch in the park, and I'll have to take DH's word that this is it. Once again, I stayed behind and read a book while he make the arduous hike through the Devil's Garden to view this arch and the other formations. It does look like the other pictures I've seen of it, so I guess I can trust his word that this is the genuine article.

One of the rangers told us that ten or fifteen years ago, a piece of rock cracked and fell from the center of Landscape Arch. Luckily it happened at a time when very few tourists were around and nobody was hurt!

The Three Gossips

Finally, a formation that is not an arch. The guide book described these gigantic pillars that look like over-sized human figures as the Three Gossips. I personally thought they resembled the Three Wise Men of New Testament fame. Or perhaps three ancient Egyptian dieties.

The park is full of pillar type formations. Some of them were undoubtedly arches whose middles collapsed. Other formations look like giant ships or castles. I won't bore you with any more of my less-than stellar photos. If you check Google Images, you'll see many fabulous ones.

Better yet, take a trip to Arches National Park yourself. Aunty guarantees you won't regret it!

When you travel, what is your favorite destination? City or great outdoors? Foreign or domestic? Same place different day or some place entirely new?Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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Croozin' and Schmoozin'

by Anna Campbell

Happy New Year!!!!

Hey, guys, I promised you a report on New Zealand and also some photos so here goes!

If after this deluge of photos, you'd like to see some more, please check out the My Favorite Things page of my website where there are MORE! Oh, and I'm blogging on the 11th January on Tote Bags 'n' Blogs about the beautiful botanical gardens in Wellington so if you want pictures of rainforest plants and roses, check that out too.

I was the guest of P and O cruises on their 'Pacific Dawn' (about 2,000 passengers and 1,000 crew). I gave six talks on romance writing on the sea days. The three on the way out were ostensibly on how to write a romance but they ended up covering pretty much everything to do with writing a book. The three on the way back were about favorite romances (there were lots of enthusiastic romance readers on board), readings from my first four books and then a session on MY RECKLESS SURRENDER and MIDNIGHT'S WILD PASSION. I also did a big signing on the last sea day where I got to sit next to the captain who was signing shipboard souvenirs! That was way cool!

By the way, I think the lady in the armchair at the front of the photo above is just listening intently. She's not ASLEEP!!!! Snork! And you'll notice that we got quite a few blokes along for the talks - always nice to see!

I really enjoyed shipboard life. Everybody was tremendously friendly and I spent way too much time in the cocktail bar. And food! Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, they feed you on the boat like it's going out of style! It's a very relaxing way to travel - you can do precisely as much as you feel like doing. And it was wonderful to see so many people reading as I wandered around the decks (well, perhaps lurched - take note of the cocktail comment above!).

Our first stop was Auckland which has a spectacular harbor scattered with islands. I booked shore excursions at every port as I wanted to see as much of the country as I could. To the left, you can see a photo of the beautiful Waitakere rainforest park outside Auckland. Bushwalking in New Zealand is a snap compared to Australia which is full of creepy crawlies and some seriously dangerous critters. New Zealand doesn't even have leeches and it has only one poisonous spider which apparently is incredibly rare and not very aggressive.

After the rainforest walk, we headed out to the wild west coast to see the Murawai Gannet Colony. I'd seen gannets fishing in Scotland (they're spectacular, the way they turn themselves into white missiles and dart right into the water). It was interesting seeing their nesting - doesn't look very comfortable, does it? We were lucky enough to see some of the elaborate courtship/greeting behavior when Mr. or Mrs. would come in from a long time at sea and renew bonds with the bird that had sat minding the egg.


Our next port was Tauranga from where we visited the volcanic wonders of Rotorua. I'd booked another day trip to go to the Waimangu Valley which still belongs to its traditional Maori owners. The valley was created by a massive volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886 so it's one of the world's most recent landscapes.

Our hosts greeted us with a traditional welcome when we arrived. Very impressive! Then they whisked us off for a lake cruise on Lake Rotomahana where we got to see how incredibly unsettled this landscape still is.

Look at that steam escaping from the thermal vents! The landscape was mindboggling and made you feel very puny as a human. I'd never seen anything like it - rivers of boiling water and lakes of sulphuric acid and the world's largest hot spring in Frying Pan Lake.

After the cruise, we did a walk through the landscape. I kept expecting a dinosaur or two to pop out and say hello. It was definitely primeval!


Instead we met our hosts again who put on a wonderful concert of traditional Maori dance and song. They sang a beautiful Maori love song called Po Karekare Ana which gives me goosebumps. Just gorgeous.







And another picture of the amazing landscape steaming with volcanic activity!











Our next stop was beautiful Napier. This is another story of a place completely shaped by recent seismic activity (Australia is pretty stable when it comes to stuff like earthquakes so all of this definitely counted as exotic to me). In 1931, the port of Napier on the east coast of New Zealand's north island was almost completely destroyed by a massive earthquake which killed something like 10% of the population and flattened nearly all the buildings. The town was reconstructed in the fashionable Art Deco style and today, Napier is one of the world's Art Deco destinations.

I knew some of this, thanks to going to a huge Art Deco exhibition at the National Gallery in Melbourne a couple of years ago. What surprised me was quite how MUCH Art Deco remains. With a few exceptions, almost every building is in this elegant, angular style. I did a wonderful architecture walk through the town which got us into some authentic interiors as well. And then I spent a fortune on Art Deco souvenirs at the Art Deco Shop.




As you can probably tell by now, the town takes every advantage of being the world's Art Deco capital! They have an Art Deco weekend in February every year and I was really impressed to see that the locals turned out to meet the ship in period costume and driving vintage cars. They even had a great jazz band to farewell us as we sailed away.






And what do you think of this elegant lady with her equally elegant greyhound in the main shopping street?















Please check out the Tote Bags blog next week for the beauties of Wellington's public gardens!

Our first stop on the South Island was Christchurch which was rocked by a major earthquake in 2010. Hmm, the whole volcanic thing is turning into a theme, isn't it? I didn't spend very much time in Christchurch itself although the drive through its main streets indicates they've done a great job of cleaning up what was obviously a major disaster.

Instead, we took a wonderful train trip up into the Southern Alps which involved some spectacular scenery and a wonderful bus ride home through the rugged valleys where they shot the Narnia films.

Sadly, none of my photos of this trip really do it justice! But take my word for it, it was beautiful!

Our last port was Dunedin which was the only place where we had rotten weather. I'd always wanted to see an albatross and so immediately signed up for a wildlife cruise to the only mainland nesting colony in the world for these majestic birds.

Again, my photos don't do it justice! But there's something really breathtaking about having those pure white birds with their massive (over 6m) wingspans flying overhead or dipping low to check out the boat. According to our guides, the boys tend to be naughty and mischievous. The girls take life much more seriously and build the nests and make sure everyone is fed.

No comment!

Anyway, photowise I thought I'd skip to what scenically was the highlight of the trip - Fiordland National Park on the bottom west corner of the South Island.

It was here that my new digital camera (I finally moved on from film for this trip) really came into its own. I took hundreds of photos! We were really lucky with weather too. After the cold, windy, rainy day in Dunedin, I was worried I'd only see gray and mist in the fiords but it turned into a perfect blue sky day. Nothing like jagged mountains rising up against a clear sky, is there?

We visited Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound - that's the one with the icy glaciers in the photo.


Not only did we have perfect weather, we had perfect companions. Lots of dolphins and the occasional southern fur seal.

Definitely a day that I'll treasure in my memory forever.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this long but very pictorial glimpse of my recent travels.

As I said, the day in the fiords was heavenly, almost too good to be true. Have you had a travel day that was like that? Just a perfect day that lives in your memory with that special golden glow? I'd love to swap travelers' tales with you today! Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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What I Did On My Summer/Winter Vacation

posted by hackey hudjson

I seldom take vacations in the summer. I started this 'tradition' back in the good old days of the dreaded day job when everyone else wanted to take vacation time and being on the lower end of the pecking order, I got last pick. But then I discovered the beauty of traveling in the off season or what travel agents used to call 'shoulder season.' In the fall or late spring, the weather is still pretty good and there are no crowds even at the most popular tourist destinations.

So the DH and I have made most of our travel plans during months other than June, July, and August... until this year. I leave it to the DH to make most of our travel arrangements. After all, he is paying out for most of the travel expenses, but even more important, he has an uncanny knack for finding a GOOD DEAL!

This time he really out did himself. On a sunny May morning, I came home from having lunch with my BFF to be greeted with, "We're going to New Zealand!"

Turns out that Air New Zealand offered a two day special on air fares that came out roughly 2 for the price of 1 and my DH jumped on it. Of course that meant we had to leave in two weeks and we could only stay twelve days (the last day of the cheap return flight) but I didn't care! We were off to the #1 place on my "Bucket List!"

On June 2nd, off we flew on our first summer vacation in a very long time. But it was just turning to winter in New Zealand so once we arrived, our summer vacation actually became a winter one, complete with rain, snow, and lots of chilly weather! Not that we minded, since we were used to off season travel and we were in New Zealand after all!

Since our time was limited, we decided to stay on the north island (which means we'll have to go back someday soon to see the south island). We rented a car and with the DH driving the entire time, we drove from one end of the north island (The Bay of Islands) to the other (The Bay of Plenty and Wellington).

Here's a shot looking down from Kilborn to downtown Wellington and the harbor. Above is a piccie of Aunty at beautiful Haku Falls near Lake Taupo.

And here's a shot of the coastline along the gorgeous Bay of Plenty. Yes, the water really is that color. Remember, this is the South Pacific (west side of NZ). It wasn't always cold and rainy!

The trip was GREAT, just too short. New Zealand was every bit as wonderful as I expected it to be with magnificent scenery and friendly people everywhere we went. The only downsides were the 12 1/2 hour plane flight from LA to Auckland, and the narrow windy roads (we Californians are spoiled with our freeway systems). I would go back in a heartbeat, but I think the DH is now searching for a GOOD DEAL to Egypt!

As you will recall, Sven, the cabana boys, gladiators, and hockey hunks all took a summer vacation this year to Orlando with most of the Banditas. The exceptions were Paolo, Lars, Marcus, and Zach who were left behind with Posh, Jo-Mama, and Aunty to hold down the Lair. Being the generous sort, Aunty has granted our "Left Behind" boys a few days for their own off season vacation.

Please tell us where Paolo, Lars, Marcus, and Zach should go on their vacation and why! The boys will be forever grateful and Aunty will even give an autographed copy of one of her books (winner's choice) to one randomly selected commenter!Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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Nicola's Cool Winner!

Thanks to everyone who made Nicola Cornick's visit yesterday such fun. Wasn't it interesting to find out more about the North Pole, not to mention Nicola's latest release WHISPER OF SCANDAL! Sounds like it could warm up a cold night or two!

The winner of the signed copy of WHISPER OF SCANDAL plus the cuddly polar bear toy is:

CORIES!!!!

Congratulations, Cories! If you email Nicola on ncornick@madasafish.com with your snail mail details, she'll get your prize out to you. Enjoy!Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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Won't Leave Home Without...

by Christine Wells

I'm packing. Again. Just returned on a 27 hour flight from Orlando a week and a half ago and now I'm off again, this time on a mere one and a half hour flight to Sydney, where I'll attend my second romance writers' conference for the month.

Romance Writers of Australia are congregating at Coogee Beach for four days of hugs, laughs and learning.

And I have nothing to wear.

OK, I do have clothes, but I'd been focusing so much on coping with summer in Orlando, I forgot to shop for winter in Sydney.

Do you ever gaze at all the clothes in your closet, willing something new and fabulous to simply appear? Sadly, this well-formulated technique doesn't work--at least, not for me. Soon, I'll give up and toss the old favourites into my suitcase.

No matter what I wear, there are some things I never get on a plane without--my laptop, a novel and some butter menthol lollies (candy?) in case I get painful sinuses on takeoff or landing.

But it's always that split-second before I put my purse through the security x-ray that I wonder what on earth I have in there, what I've forgotten and what I might have to dash to the nearest 7/11 to buy.

So here are my questions for you all:

1. What do you never, ever travel without? My answer: A book

2. What do you often take but seldom use? My answer: Running shoes. I mean, really!

3. What do you always forget to take and always need? My answer: nail scrubbing brush (especially for beach holidays)

4. What have you left behind in a hotel room? By accident? On purpose?

My Answer...By accident: Shoes; On purpose? Hair products. I'm paranoid about them exploding all over my suitcase and I usually take only a little more than I'm likely to use.

5. What's the niftiest travel gadget/product you've found? My answer: portable DVD player--it's absolute gold on family holidays.Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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That's not gonna buff out

by Cassondra Murray



When I was a little girl, my older male cousins and brothers used to joke about that. We'd see a wrecked car with its front end all smooshed into the engine compartment, being towed by a wrecker or on the back of a truck . It trundled by and we'd stare and wonder what happened and hope the people were all okay, and then one of my cousins would say, "that's not gonna buff out."


No amount of time with a rotary buffer would make that wreck better.


"That's not gonna buff out," has taken on a whole new meaning for me.



No, I did not have a motor vehicle accident. *knocks on wood* All our cars are fine.

This has more to do with my recent travel experiences, and.....well....my angst.

I've been traveling a lot in the past three months. In fact, I pretty much just leave my suitcase out, and switch out the clothes depending on where I'm going and what I'll be doing. Dry cleaning comes out of the suitcase, goes to the cleaners, then comes home and goes right back into the suitcase, still in its wrinkle-reducing plastic bags. And off I go again.

Once upon a time I could "travel light." I live about an hour north of Nashville, Tennessee, and when I worked down there I had one medium-size shoulder tote in which I packed the essentials. A change of underwear, my makeup, some aspirin and a few other things for emergencies. A toothbrush. If I got stuck down there unexpectedly, as long as I had this bag I could stay overnight anywhere and function just fine the next day, in pretty much any circumstance. I could attend all but the dressiest events with what I had on "yesterday" and what was in that bag, assuming I had a place to sleep and a place to shower.



I carried this bag with me everywhere I went. I never got on the road, when I commuted sixty miles per day to work, without it. If I went on a weekend trip I had only to supplement what was in the bag with an extra pair of jeans and top, and I was good to go. I could even look rather glam with what I could pull out of this bag if I needed to do so.



Alas, things have changed.



Because I'm flying so much now, I've been making a valiant effort to use only carry-on luggage. Thus far I have failed. I have yet to take a trip without checking a bag.



The plain, sad truth is that now, it appears I cannot survive by traveling light.



I need too many lotions, creams and gels.

And there, Bandits and Buddies, is the problem.


In case some of you have not tried to board a commercial aircraft in the past few years, let me explain. The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) has implemented certain rules. And believe me, having a husband who knows a bit about explosives, I completely understand the reasoning behind these rules, and I support them. They are there to keep us safe. I have no problem with that. High Fives to those officers slaving away behind the x-ray machines at airport security. If they had tip-jars, I would be tossing in dollars.



But one of these rules is a limit--a severe limit--on the number of lotions, creams and gels an individual may carry onto an aircraft. You're only allowed to carry on the amount which will fit into one--yes that's right, I said ONE--quart-size zip-loc baggie. And no container may contain (or be sized to contain) more than 3.4 oz of any lotion, cream, or gel.



How the heck am I supposed to groom myself with one zip-loc baggie full of products?



When I was 20, yes, I could do this. Gimme a bar of Ivory soap and a some decent shampoo, and I was good to go.

But I am not 20. We will leave that point right there.

Not so long ago I had this moment of realization. I got up that morning and staggered toward the bathroom. I paused only to glare at the coffee maker and curse a little-- because it had not yet begun its pre-programmed gurgle-steam-hiss routine--before I stumbled through the bathroom door and up to the mirror. I put in my contacts. I brushed my teeth. I slid out the drawer filled with my expensive lotions, creams and gels, the cost of which would subsidize a small third-world country for a month. I cleansed, exfoliated, tourmaline-primed, power-lifted and firmed, toned, then moisturized all the appropriate areas. I leaned into the mirror. I looked at the lines near the corners of my (no longer 20-year-old) eyes, and a thought rolled through my mind.



That's not gonna buff out.



I can pour all the pennies I want into the fountain of youth, and those lines are not going away. But still. I have seen me with, and without, my lotions, creams and gels. And I know that I don't NEED them, but...I need them. If I stop using them, people start asking me if I've been sick.



I now officially qualify as high-maintenance.



If I don't have my particular shampoo, conditioner and styling products, my hair looks like...well...hell. If I don't have moisturizing body wash, my skin gets so dry it itches. If I don't have my skin-care products, within about four long days and nights of on-the-road stress, my skin revolts and I start to look like that car being towed behind the wrecker...sort of smashed in.



So what's a girl to do?



I mean honestly? I know those lines are never going to buff out, but without my lotions, creams and gels I could star in Return of Medusa. It is not pretty.


And the kicker is that every time I turn around somebody is aiming a camera at me. GAH!


Now for you very Zen folks and the activists out there, I do realize that nothing in this blog will solve world hunger or bring about world peace. I'm not that shallow.

But I'm plenty shallow enough to want my lotions, creams and gels with me wherever I go.





I recently sent off $50 to some online container store in an attempt to get eensy teensy containers, which, when filled with all of my potions, would still fit into one quart-size zip-loc baggie which, by decree, must zip closed easily.

And I have determined that this is impossible. Not because I need large quantities of any one of them (except shampoo--I have a lot of hair), but because I need small amounts of so darn many of them.



And you know what? There is some subtle prejudice against being high-maintenance. There is a cool-factor to being able to travel light and not need all these products to maintain ones-self, and I used to buy into that cool factor, but now, for entirely selfish reasons, I question this. For the past while now, I've been noticing a prejudice against the high-maintenance woman, even in the books I read. And (hangs head in shame) it's crept into my own writing.

For the past two or three years, I've tended to write older heroines. When I first start a manuscript, I give them an age based on their wisdom and knowledge of the world. The way the "feel" to me as a character. Then as I assess the story, I back away and think, "that's too old. Nobody wants to read about a heroine that age. No editor will buy a heroine that age." So I start to make her younger. And younger. Aaaaand younger. If she's over 30, I figure she's too old.

The heroine in almost any novel I read now is neither older nor high-maintenance. She can travel light. She can get caught in a power outage or a hurricane, stay overnight at the hero's house unexpectedly, and still look ravishing. With absolutely no lotions, creams or gels. And absolutely no flaw anywhere which will not buff out.

But back here in my harsh-lighted and mirrored world---there's contact lens solution. It comes in "TSA-approved" size, 4-ounce bottles. There's even a teensy little plane on the label. Newsflash for the manufacturer--the size limit has been reduced to 3.4 ounces. Nothing like being frisked and questioned in the security line and having your Opti-Free Express confiscated before you can board an aircraft.

So tell me, Bandits and Buddies? Do you have suggestions?



Are you high-maintenance? Or can you live with ivory soap and a toothbrush in the outback with the wolves and mountain lions and be happy?



Do you require a lot of lotions, creams and gels?



If you're older than 20, has the number of potions you need to work your magic increased?



Can you travel with only carry-on luggage? Or are you forced to check a bag (and pay the fee to do so) on each trip you take?

Have you found any shortcuts or secrets to traveling light without looking all smooshed-in?

I could use some ideas if you're willing to share.



And even more important--what about the books you read? Are there ever older heroines in those books? How do you feel about them? If you're under 25, can you still relate? If you're older, can you relate to the under-30 heroine?



And for the guys lurking out there, do you find that you're more high-maintenance as you grow older?
Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/travel
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