Cute Travel Ideas

So today I was watching Ugly Betty on netflix and pinning all sorts of things on Pinterest. During my pinning I found a super cute idea for traveling with a significant other.

Cut out pictures that are in the shape of the state visited and glue onto a map.

Isn't that adorable? I think it is. It reminds me of what my grandparents do. They both have traveled all over the world and in their living room there is a world map. On the world map they have color coded pins that are stuck on the map onto counties that they went to. Countries my nana went to, my grandpa, and where they have been together. 

I would like to do something like this when I start my bigger travels. Do any of you do anything like this? 

Christmas break!

So yesterday I took the train from Charlotte to Philadelphia! As long as the trip is I still love riding the train. Something about it is very relaxing and soothing. I think it's the movement that a train has. The only problem is the trip from Charlotte to Philly is over 11 hours. I caught the 1:45 am train and arrived in Philly around noon.

I had a very nice woman sitting with me. Her name was Anna and she lived in Hickory! I had a friend! We talked about a number of things. My schooling, her grandchildren, my travels as well as hers. She was part of a seven member group going to New York City. I gave her some suggestions on where she should go since I have been to NYC a few times.

I got off at the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. I love that station because it is so old and beautiful.

I took these pictures the last time I was at the station in October heading back to Charlotte.

I love the train information desk. The board will flip the different times and information about the trains. It is so cool to watch the board.

The building itself is huge and the architecture is incredible to look at.

I love how old everything in the station still looks. From what I believe everything in the station is still original and is kept in good condition.

So now I am back in Pennsylvania for my Christmas break and I am enjoying relaxing and doing nothing. Although I will start working again at The Hershey Lodge soon.

Have any of you been on a train? If so did you like it?

Change of Plans For London

So it has been decided that I will not be studying abroad next semester, but instead over the summer! I did not want to be put behind a semester and wanted to get major classes in to prepare for future internships.

I am not terribly upset with this decision. Mainly because the A Cappella Choir will be traveling to Disney World this spring and I have the opportunity to go again! I might post my past adventure to Disney actually…

I also have the opportunity to go to Universal. I have never been and I want to go to POTTER WORD!!! I am a huge Potterhead. Been following the books since they first started, so this is amazing!

My summer abroad will be six weeks in June and July. Gives me more time to save and plan. :)

(Past Adventure) Yellowstone: Animals

So Yellowstone is known for it's beauty, it's wild nature, and all the animals you can see! My mom was determined to see a moose, but unfortunately no moose were seen. We did see a lot of other really cool animals though!

The first two animals I saw were not very exciting. There was a black bird chilling by the welcome center we visited on the first day. We also spotted a prairie dog who was not shy at all.

Driving through Yellowstone I saw a carriage ride. I really wish I could have done this while I was there, but that just means I need to return!

Next animal we saw? A BLACK BEAR!! It was a smaller one and he was just chilling on the side of the road eating berries. It was such an amazing sight to see a black bear up close and personal.

Down the road we saw another one who was getting a little to close for some people's comfort. He ended up running across the road to the brush and trees.

Next thing we saw? BISON!! I had never seen a western bison before. They are also called buffalo, but in all honesty these guys are bison. If you go to google and type bison in the search bar you will see these animals. If you type buffalo they come up but you also see actual buffalo. 

This is a buffalo. An african Cape Buffalo actually.

I am sorry, I digress. These animals were all on the first day. The day we wandered around The hot springs and Old Faithful we got to see smaller creatures.

I found this dragonfly to be fascinating. It is a bright reddish orange and I thought it was so vibrant against the dead grass. I was luck enough to snap a decent picture of it before flying away.

This here is my chipmunk buddy! He was such a cutie I had to take a picture. He was by the Grand Geyser and was a photogenic little bugger. 

This guy was by the Yellowstone Grand Canyon and was adorable! He was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk as if to guard it. He would chase after people's feet as they tried to pass. It was so cute!

My last day at Yellowstone was not exciting animal wise. Got to see all the same ones we did coming in. The Bison were in abundance all over the place! You could not get away from them. This last picture I found so wonderfully ironic. We passed a Bison crossing sign and on the other side of the road was a Bison casually strolling down the proper side of the road. He didn't care about the other cars and looked to be smirking in a way. I found it hilarious.

Well, that I believe is the entirety of my Yellowstone trip. I do hope you enjoyed all of these posts and I cannot wait to share another adventure with you! :)

(Past Adventure) Yellowstone: Waterfalls

So there was a day where my uncle wanted to take us to see the Yellowstone Canyon as well as many different waterfalls. I was all for it and so we went on an adventure to see the amazing sights of Yellowstone.

These scenes look like something from Pocahontas. It was incredible to just look out and see all this green and the beautiful water.

And here is Yellowstone Canyon with it's large water fall. The scene was something you would see on a screen saver, and again Pocahontas. Just around the river bend. The water was rushing so strongly and violent that it was rathe frightening. The experience was still an amazing one.

This is my brother and I. We had such a fantastic time!

I know it's silly but I had to take a picture of a yellow stone in Yellowstone.

An awesome surprise when we got back to the inn, one of the geysers was going off. I do not know which one this was, but it was going for about 20 minutes.

(Past Adventure) Yellowstone: Old Faithful

So today I am going to show you the amazing journey I had at Old Faithful Geyser. We actually stayed at the Inn by Old Faithful and it was an amazing inn! It was wooden and rustic with beautiful scenery. I am quite mad at myself for not taking pictures of the inn, but I do have some amazing ones of the geysers and hot springs.

Yellowstone is actually a HUGE volcano. Yup I said it, VOLCANO. This is why we have all these hot springs, geysers and sulfur pits around. The pressure is being released from all these areas so there will not be a gigantic explosion like we did in Washington years ago.

This is Old Faithful. This picture is actually not at it's full height. I had just missed it when I snapped this picture.

After chilling at Old Faithful for a bit my uncle took us on a tour of the rest of the hot springs around the area. 

Some of the hot springs water was so clear and blue that I wanted to dive in. Of course that would not be a good idea and I would've boiled like chicken.

We also got to see other geysers that were around the area. Yeah, Old Faithful is not the only one there.

This one was just spurting water into the air every ten seconds. It was interesting to have to maneuver around the spray.

This geyser didn't do anything while we were there, but I got to see it from afar as we were leaving.

The Giant Geyser was not doing much when we walked by. All I got to see is some bubbling water at the base. 

Here are some other geysers that we walked passed during our adventure.

We got to see a lot of gorgeous scenery as we walked around. There was so much walking involved I was happy I brought my sneakers with.

These pictures were too cute to not show y'all. The first one is my sister and my cousin walking down the path holding hands. My sister snapped the last one of me and our cousin walking as well. 

That day was incredible and I got to eat bison for the first time. It's actually very delicious. 

I will keep everyone updated on the rest of this adventure!