My husband and I took a long weekend road trip to Vermont to visit friends at their cabin. From NYC, the drive took us about six hours to our final destination of Stowe; of course my insistence that we stop along the way for photos and the occasional coffee did extend the trip some, but isn’t that what a road trip is all about?

Heading north through New York State way we traveled through the Adirondack Mountain Range. The Adirondacks are a worthy trip in itself. Thousands of streams and lakes, (including famous Lake Placid and Lake George) offer gorgeous scenery, kayak and canoe waterways, tons of hiking trails and camping sites. The scenery here reminded me of my home state of Washington — just with much shorter mountains.

After four hours of arm-out-the-window singing along to our usual road trip tunes (Bob Dylan, Modest Mouse and Neil Diamond) we opted to spend the night in Rutland, Vermont.

Rutland, like many towns in Vermont is small, but large enough to have a Main Street complete with a street fair, organic shops and great restaurants to choose from. Again I was reminded of my roots seeing the laid back, “granola” lifestyle so common to Seattle i.e.: VW bus driving–Birkenstock sporting–fleece wearing–organic food selling — ski and mountain bike bumming… and I loved it! While parts of Jersey and NY also have their “natural” sections that remind us of home at times — but Rutland was the first place we’ve visited since moving to the East Coast where I really felt like a Seattle-ite could move here and fit right in.

In Rutland we ate at the trendy yet homey Table 24. Thinking about their skillet cornbread and macaroni & cheese is a regular past time of mine when I am hungry.
The ingredients are fresh and the staff are mainly college students that may argue that the skiing brought them there more than the local college. After dinner we walked the street fair, listened to the live music and window shopped the local stores.

Rutland, VT street fair

The next day we got an early start for Stowe and made only a few short stops to take some pics and one stop at the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory Headquarters in Waterbury. Free samples!

Diana at Ben & Jerry’s

Stowe is a popular ski town but in the summer it is a hiking/mountain biking town. Tourism is clearly the industry here, as it is in most ski areas.

While in Stowe we checked out the Summer events around town that run through mid-October including the line-up the Stowe Mountain Resort. You can take a 2,300′ ride on the Alpine Slide, get high with Bungee Trampolines or climb some rock walls. Stowe has a Gondola as well that you can ride to the highest peak in the State.

Gondola

We took advantage of the warm weather (low humidity) and hiked some of the more popular trails in the Smuggler’s Notch area. Guided tours are available for every level of hiker, but we opted to go off on our own carefully choosing the hikes that would best fit our ability (I like danger )

We hiked to not very crowded scenic high points on Morse Mountain that offered panoramic views of the Champlain Valley below. We managed to also make it up Sterling Mountain–a four hour trek to the highest trout pond in the state.

The rest of the “hiking” we did was mainly around the town. Art galleries populate the roads of Stowe (one of my favorites was the Stephen Huneck Gallery showing his very popular dog drawings and sculptures) and of course the mountain touristy shops that I never seem to get tired of browsing through.

photo courtesy of www.dogmt.com

Diana at the covered bridge in town

On our last morning we stopped at the Dutch Pancake House for a very filling and delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes, Dutch style (crepe like with all ingredients baked in, replicas of what you would find in Holland) and strong coffee. According to this site, the NY Times reviewed this as “The World’s Most Decadent Breakfast” and I’d say that review is pretty accurate.

dutch pancake

Overall, for a four day weekend, Stowe and it’s stopping points along the way was a great road trip from New York City. When I head back in the Winter I’ll be sure to update you on the happenings and you can also trust me to try out the Dutch Pancake House again, simply for the sake of research, of course.

I first heard it in the British Virgin Islands when the transparently blue/green water and the scores of rainbow fish got to be just too beautiful to see over and over again (yeah, I am really not complaining here…) and one of my travel partners on that trip longed to see “the grayness of Newark” (well, she said that, but of course no one longs to see Newark)… anyway… I uttered the same phrase again while in Zion.

I’d like to think I have visited epic locales– oceans, cities & mountains known for their beauty– but I had not yet seen anything like Zion National Park.
Let me tell you now, any pictures you see, even the professional ones do not capture, in the slightest, what you will witness in person.

The Park, that welcomes three million visitors a year, is divided into 4 sections–all with gorgeous views, scenic drives and hikes for every level of mountaineer.

1.Zion Canyon containing: the Emerald Pools (that Jean, Rachel and I hiked), Angels Landing (the steepest hike in the entire park and upon your completion, if you have the energy to to make it back down, can buy a t-shirt proclaiming your victory ascent and The Narrows which has been voted by National Geographic as in the top 10 of their best 100 hikes in the Nation.

2.Kolob Canyons known for the famous Kolob Arch that is shown in many Zion pamphlets.

picture courtesy of First Light Photographs

3.Kolob Terrace: with the well known, yet challenging Subway hike. Parts of this hike travel through naturally made mountain tunnels and in some parts require partial or depending on the time of year (like last week while I was in Zion) total submersion and swimming into cold water.

photo courtesy of zionnationalpark.com

4. Highway 9 that includes the Tunnel– a spectacular scenic drive that leads to the South side of the Park.

Zion is a massive area and my time there was for exploring the park, but also for my friend’s wedding (which was IN the park and was GORGEOUS) which did not allow me excess time to get all of the hikes in I had wanted. Next time I go back, the Subway hike is first on my list.

Now that you know a little bit about Zion, and my original purpose of the trip… let me display some of my favorite pictures and accompanying stories.

Hiking around various areas of the Canyon we found ourselves in dry river beds full of … sand? Yep. Some of the softest sand to ever have passed in between my toes! The mountain rocks are all Sandstone (some of the largest amount anywhere in the World actually) and the Virgin River, over time, has eroded parts down into, well, sand.

We came across a family of Mountain goats while hiking and I didn’t zoom on this shot–we were this close.

This was the lodge we stayed at, just outside of the Park. The views were incredible and a free shuttle ran every 10 minutes to take you either into town or into the Park (of course we had our stealth Hybrid (see part 1). Us 3 girls shared a giant room with 2 queen beds, a queen sleeper sofa a nearly full kitchen and a deck overlooking the heated pool.

On one of our hikes…

Scenery shot! Too much beauty!!!!

I swear– it was not easy to climb up here even though it looks like it’d be pretty easy…

This concludes part II of the Zion trip… but there is more to come… and take a read of part I if you haven’t yet.

When I got into Salt Lake (an hour early–thank you Delta) I had some time to kill before Rachel flew into town. I had been to Salt Lake about 10 years ago for a Husky football game and had a chance to see some of the city and surrounding area. Salt Lake is small, but it is surrounded by mountains pretty much entirely which makes it look even smaller when viewing it from above–which is exactly what I did!

After picking up my hybrid rental car and taking like hours to start it [word to the wise—hybrids make NO noise --not even at point of ignition--until they are going like 25 mph. Who knew?] I drove to the highest point I could, within reason, and found a hike up to Ensign Peak. This place, as many places in Salt Lake, has religious significance to the large Mormon population, but to me it offered a spectacular view of the mountains and city.

After the hike and the wheezing, breathless reminder that Utah is at a much higher elevation than I have been used to on the East Coast, I caught my breath at a Starbucks then toured the city –drive by style–and saw the highlights.

Below is the Capitol building that lies at the foothills of the mountain I had just climbed–near the University of Utah.

After picking up Rachel, we headed north to Park City — the ski mecca of Utah. Of course, skiing wasn’t really going on while we were there, although snow was in the forecast. We were much more interested in gabbing and cruising the town–and what a cute town it is! The “Main Street” had art galleries, restaurants, shops and outrageously expensive pet clothing stores; needless to say–we were in heaven!

Rachel & Di hanging out on the lift chair

Main Street

Absurdly long staircases which have got to be damn near impossible to climb in the snow

One of 3 enormous resident Park City dogs at the doggie boutique

Rachel scoping out some night spots for when Jean meets up with us.

We drove back to Salt Lake to pick up Jean (only 30 minutes away) and then back to Park City to have some dinner and start our reunion! We ate at what we heard is THE hangout during the ski season: The No Name Saloon. The food was awesome and while we were outnumbered by like 75 to 3 in a men to women ratio — we had plenty of time for ourselves to visit and laugh before stopping off at Lindzee O’Michaels Mixologists (see above pic) for $2 Ladies Night. Did I mention that driving is not necessary in Park City? Everything is within walking distance to the hotels!

At the No Name Saloon we got our first taste of Polygamy Porter: Why have just one?

Relaxing at Mixologists. The place had some interesting people… & I don’t mean just us!

Rachel dancing to, what else? The Beastie Boys! Its as if the Girls Trip Reunion Gods were smiling on us!

to be continued…

1. It is the law, that birds have the right of way on any public highway.

2. In some counties in Utah, daylight must be visible between dancing couples. How is this enforced??

3. Utah has what I think is the coolest state animal: Rocky Mountain Elk.

4. My ancestors settled in Utah in the 1800′s as part of the influx of Mormon’s coming over from Europe (Sweden in my case). While I am not Mormon, some of my extended family is and my previous trips to Utah have been a great representation of geneology. My great-aunt, a Professor at BYU, remained in touch with a family that lives on the property once owned by my great-great-great-great Grandmother and that still has the cabin her son Charles (my ggg Grandfather) built when he was 14 and new to this country. Years ago I visited that cabin in which the current owners have decorated with antiques from the time period of the cabin’s creation. No one resides in the cabin–but it is often used for the current owner’s family Christmas celebrations. Touring the cabin and the grounds is one of my fondest memories and when I saw the Swedish newspapers breaking through the walls that were used as insulation when Charles built the cabin really impressed upon me the reality of the hardships my family had as immigrants: a new country, a new language, a new life.

diana in front of the cabin

diana in the loft of the cabin

5. Utah has the highest literacy rate in the nation. Wow. Interesting.

6. Utah is home to two of the largest dinosaur graveyards in North America: Dinosaur National Monument in the northern part of the state and the Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry in east central Utah.

7. Utah does not allow alcohol to be served on election day.

More to come…

Now stop your internal nay-saying and hear me out.
Even if you were not an English major (as I was), Shakespeare has appealing qualities to everyone, well- except maybe my mom. When she helped me study my lines for the very amateur Shakespeare plays I took part in during my undergrad I remember her saying multiple times “how can anyone understand this”?

In retrospect, my response to her then of “Mom! It’s not that hard! Just help me!” didn’t add her to the number of Shakespeare fans out there. Since my future career of theatre has gone the way of Hamlet’s father and my frustration of one not understanding “the craft of the language” has subsided, I can see how the complexity of the language can seem as approachable as snuggling a hedgehog.

Of course, one could buy cliff notes or watch the many movies that have been made from the plays (and I have to say, Mel Gibson’s Hamlet is not bad), but I suggest instead to try taking in a live show in a true festival format. In my opinion, seeing the actors express the words make them easier to grasp and gives an unanticipated appreciation of this old language full of modern day messages.

Nearly every major city in the US and Canada have a Shakespeare Festival–as well as in Europe, but here are the ones that make the top of my list:

1. The Globe Theatre, London, England
The original Globe Theater was opened in the 1570′s and here, Shakespeare got his start. After a few tragedies, namely the Bubonic Plague, a demolishing fire, the English Civil War and finally the destruction of the Globe (and theaters in general) by the Puritans, The Globe laid dormant for 350 years before a man named Sam Wanamaker had it rebuilt in the early 1990′s.

Today, Shakespeare’s Globe is THE Shakespeare festival to attend and their 2010 schedule is packed with some of the Bard’s greatest hits.
With the gorgeous setting, the history and the nearby sights of London–this festival is hard to beat.

Plus, you can buy these cool mugs at the gift shop.

2010 Schedule
Macbeth until June 27, 2010
Henry VIII thru August 21, 2010
Henry IV Part 1 (my favorite) from June 6- October 2, 2010
Henry IV Part 2 from July 3- October 3, 2010
The Merry Wives of Windsor August 14-October 2, 2010

2. Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland, Oregon
When I was last in Ashland, a town near the border of California, for this festival, 2 friends and I camped at the local campground. Camping is always fun and it saved us quite a bit of money as the bed-n-breakfasts and hotels here can get pricey and fill up quickly. The campground was great and truly added to the wonderful memories I have of Ashland.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has always been known for having cutting edge plays showing alongside the most popular Shakespeare plays in their 3 theaters.

This year ‘Hamlet’ is featured and the last time it was featured here was 10 years ago (when I was there)!

‘Henry IV, Part 1′ must be a big one this year because its showing here too (as well as in London) and other than ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and ‘Twelfth Night’, the rest of the line-up is non-Shakespeare. Here are my recommendations playing through the end of October (and ‘Hamlet’ also playing through the end of October, is a given):
‘Pride and Prejudice’
Ruined

After seeing some shows and strolling amongst the other Shakespeare buffs in Ashland– drive just 90 miles away and see the truly take-your-breath-away vision of Crater Lake. The blue in this picture has not been doctored. The lake is seriously that blue.

3. Santa Cruz Shakespeare Festival, Santa Cruz, CA

Ahhhh, Santa Cruz: my favorite city in Cali. Close to San Francisco, but such a beach town with awesome surfing waves, boardwalk amusement parks (with the country’s OLDEST working wood roller-coaster) and a very cool Shakespeare Festival!

the author & her brother with the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk in the background

Although a short season and with only three plays each summer, the festival on the campus of University of California at Santa Cruz (“UCSC”) is quite popular and always sells out. My favorite showing here was the classic ‘Romeo and Juliet” played out in the UCSC outdoor theatre surrounded by a canopy of evergreen trees and complete with 2 story stage so you could really see Juliet searching for “Romeo, Romeo…” as intended, from her second story balcony.

photo of the outdoor theatre during a showing of Julius Caesar in 2009. courtesy R.R. Jones

The 2010 Festival Season runs from July 20 – August 29 and the shows featured this year are:
Love’s Labour Lost
Othello
and The Lion in Winter (a non-Shakespeare play)

4. Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, Ontario

My Aunt, a University English Professor, travels to Stratford each year from the West Coast for this Festival— known as the most popular in all of North America.

For more than 50 years, this festival has provided, according to their website, “stimulating, thought-provoking productions of Shakespeare’s plays, to examine other plays from the classical repertoire, and to foster and support the development of Canadian theatre practitioners”.

Stratford is just outside of Toronto and aside from reaching here by train or plane, the festival has round trip bus rides for just $30 Canadian from Toronto to the Festival.

The festival here runs from April through October (but check individual plays for their running time). There are a dozen plays this year and including Peter Pan that has an emphasis on an all-ages audience and Evita, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber (both running through October), the key Shakespeare plays are:

‘As You Like It’ through Oct 31, 2010
‘The Tempest” June 11- September 12, 2010
‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ July 12-September 19, 2010

See the entire playbill here.

Hopefully you can get to one of these festivals or many of the others that are going on around the country this summer!
Have any Shakespeare recommendations? Please leave a comment and let me know!