Italia May 7-17

My mom has had Italy on her bucket list for as long as I can remember. We originally booked a preplanned coach tour of Italy in 2020, but of course everyone knows what happened in 2020. So we cancelled. We decided to go in 2022, and we picked the PERFECT time to go. Our family friend Lisa came along with us, and we had such an amazing time. The tour group we went with was Gate1Travel, and our tour guide was Mauricio, who is from Rome. He was a wonderful tour guide!

Venice

We stayed on Lido Island, visited Murano where the island is known for glass blowing, and San Marco.

St Marc’s square, and tower

Rialto Bridge

Bridge of Sighs

Florence and Tuscany

Winery tour and wine tasting at Montecarlo Fattoria il Poggio

Quick stop in Pisa for views of the leaning tower of Pisa

We saw the Duomo, replicas of David, and the actual David by Micheangelo

Dinner at Villa Machiavelli - a beautiful winery with amazing food and drinks of course

Enroute to Rome, we stopped in Assisi - a holy city. The church and city itself date back to 1200. Its older than the Vatican.

In Rome

St. Peter’s Basillica

The Vatican Museum

Piazza Navona for Lunch

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon from 125 A.D.

Spanish Steps

Coliseum by day and night

Roman Forum

Sorrento Via Pompeii

Walking tour of Pompeii, it was incredible! There were still grooves in the cobblestones from chariots! It was incredible to see how well preserved the city was.

Capri

Probably one of my favorite things that I’ve done in Italy. Capri is just beautiful. We started in Ana Capri - the highest village on Capri. Then took a little walk to the view point which was beautiful. I took one of the chairlifts to the top of the island and then we took a cable car down to the lower town. We took a boat ride around the island which was BEAUTIFUL. That a place like that actually exists on this planet is amazing to me. Gorgeous. Then we took a ferry back to Sorrento.

Amalfi Coast and Positano Drive, and Sorrento

Beautiful scenic drive with a few photo stops. We spent two hours roaming around Amalfi, but my favorite part was stopping on the beach and picking up sea glass with mom. She loved it so much.

Arkansas July 2020, and 2021

Crystal Hunting

In July of 2020, and again in July of 2021 I drove down to Hot Springs, Arkansas and started digging for crystals. I saw some videos on Instagram of how to look for your own crystals, and decided to start. It has so far become an annual trip that I make. On my first trip, my friend LeighAnna came with me. We found so many, got so dirty and of course had a lot of fun. I’ve started making necklaces with the crystals, and selling them at a local shop. There are lots of things to see along the way if you know where to look. There are lots of glass churches that I saw, and then crystal bridges art museum in Bentonville is well worth the stop even if its just a quick breeze through. The exhibits are all American artists and the collection is extensive.

Arkansas is definitely a beautiful state with lots of natural beauty, hence its name the natural state. The images that follow are from both trips I took. Usually I don’t get many images from digging because I’m covered in mud and dirt, and don’t want to get my phone dirty.

Washington, May 2021

This was my first solo trip in two years. I was really nervous, but since I was vaccinated, I felt okay traveling. I was also VERY excited to go see my cousin, who lives out in Seattle, who I haven’t seen in a long time. It was so lovely to catch up wtih family, and experience parts of Seattle with her!



I’ll break down my trip by things I did and the photos will follow. Enjoy!



  • Pikes Place Market

  • Gum Wall

  • Chihuly Garden and Glass

  • Space Needle



  • Olympic National Park

    • Staircase

    • Third Beach

    • Hoh Rainforest


Drive to Anacortes and take the ferry over to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island

  • Cattle Point to look at Tide Pools

  • Whale watch to see ORCAS!

  • Drove and saw the wild fox babies who were black! SO CUTE!

  • Hiked again today

  • Looked for harbor seals

  • Lavender farm

  • Lime Kiln State Park - saw another kind of orca from the shore

  • Alpaca Farm

  • Tried to drive to visit a winery but it was closed.

  • Lime Kiln State park to hike

  • Jackl Lagoon

  • Mt. Finlayson

  • Jackson Beach

  • Cattle Point to walk around and look for seals and foxes

  • Museum of Pop Culture

  • NuFlours cakes <3

  • Aquarium

  • Mt. Rainier Park

New Mexico, September 2021

My mom and I were supposed to go to Italy in 2020, and obviously that didn’t happen. So we decided to go to New Mexico together. We both had never been, and its somewhere we both have wanted to go. I planned everything. Here is a glimpse at what we did on our trip. I’ve noticed that on solo trips I focus more on taking photos than when I travel with someone.

Santa Fe

  • Meow Wolf

  • Georgia O’keefe Museum

  • Bandalier National Monument

Truth or Consequences

  • Elephant Butte

  • Soaking Tubs at the Hotel

  • White Sands National Monument

Roswell

  • Pecos Diamond Hunting

  • Carlsbad Caverns

Albequrque

  • Old Town

  • Casa Rondeña Winery

  • Biopark and Aquarium

Saint John, USVI December 2021

Confession: I barely planned anything for this trip. It was a stressful trip over there, but man it was amazing once I got settled and used to driving around the island in my crummy rental car. It was a good trip, and relaxing. Just what I needed for the end of 2021.

  • Maho Bay

    • Snorkel

  • Honeymoon beach

  • Found Irie Pops that are Rachel friendly!

  • Cinnamon Bay

  • Hawksnest Beach

  • Annaberg Sugar Plantation

  • Waterlemon Cay

  • Maho beach again

  • Trunk Bay

  • Longboard - restaurant for dinner

  • Salt Pond Trail up to Rams Head Trail

  • Back to Maho Bay