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What: #14 Go to a national park that I've never visited

When: June 20th-25th, 2016
Where: Yosemite National Park
Why: My childhood was filled with camping and road trips, spending many vacations admiring the beautiful places and spaces that were preserved for us to visit throughout this nation. Moving in to my adult life, I've tried to keep that up, but with so many of my adventures focusing on international travel, I wasn't dedicating enough time to see some of the parks still left to see in the U.S. This summer, I wanted to finally see the iconic Yosemite National Park, so I started planning the trip almost a year ago.

I lived in California for a few years, so did a few of my friends. My family still gets out to national parks every year. Somehow, neither I nor my friends or family had made it to Yosemite. It's not easy to get to...about 5 hours from the nearest major city or airport, and a pricey flight to get out there. Lodging can fill up very fast for the summer, so planning ahead was really key. We wanted to stay in the park at one of the historic hotels, so that limited our options for lodging.

Summertime is beautiful, and crowded. Early mornings, getting out on the trails, and heading along the Tioga Road were perfect ways to escape the traffic and big groups. So, without further ado, here are a few of the pictures that will never do it justice!

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What: #15 Go to a new state or Canadian province

When: September 4th
Where: Idaho
Why: As a child, my family traveled all over the country on summertime road trips. When we would get back home, my brother and I would excitedly get out the U.S. maps we kept and color in the new states we had visited. For almost 2 decades, no new states have been colored in on my map because I've turned my attention to international travel, but there were still eight elusive state borders left to cross, and finally this summer, I got to come home and color in a new state.

On a weekend trip to Utah, we decided to head up to the Tetons, and I found a great scenic drive through Idaho that followed portions of the Oregon Trail, so we hit the road and headed into the unknown.

We crossed the border near the beautiful Bear Lake, which was shockingly far below its usual level. Our favorite stop along the way was in Montpelier at a small pizza joint called Studebaker's Pizza. It was seemingly the only thing open in town, so our expectations were not that high, but let me tell you, if you are ever near Montpelier, Idaho, please stop in because the food and people are great!

We headed through Idaho again on the way back to Utah and enjoyed the simple scenery again...a very lovely state, and one I'd like to get back to again to see more of it!

14 done ... 38 to go...

What: #53 Go Fowling

When: May 9th
Where: Hamtramck
Why: Late last December, as I was looking for new things to add to this year's list, a fortuitous article was published, catching the eye of a few of my friends that know I'm always on the lookout for local adventures. This adventure was dubbed "Fowling"...a combination of football and bowling, pronounced "foe-ling" and taking up residence in a warehouse in Hamtramck, a 15-minute drive from my place in Detroit. Honestly, I wasn't sure this was going to be my scene, but I was willing to give it a try; at most I'd be out $10 and a half-gallon of gas.

The open courts for $10 unlimited play!

Wow, I underestimated how contagiously fun this game can be!! At first, I think everyone entering the gates is a little apprehensive, but an hour or so passed and I was hooked. I was working up a sweat, aiming my heart out, perfecting my form, and even mentoring new players as they arrived on the scene. The games got so intense, I'm actually still a little sore!

The five of us rotated in and out of the game, getting challenged by onlookers, one of whom even got a BONK on his first ever throw. Trust me, that was a HUGE deal.

If you are out in the Detroit area at all this summer, you should check this place out. In fact, you might even make it into the documentary they are filming about it!

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What: #99 Sleep overnight in a Frank Lloyd Wright house

When: June 13-15
Where: The Palmer House, Ann Arbor

Notice my FLW bookmark, too!

Why: I've been fascinated by Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture even since I saw the Plymouth "Snowflake House" when I was very young. I remember thinking that it was unlike any home I'd ever seen in the way it was laid out, which of course is an understatement. I've made it a point to see other homes and buildings of his throughout the years, many in Michigan, those in Chicago, in the LA area, and of course Falling Water and Kentuck Knob - both in Pennsylvania. After reading "Loving Frank" last year, I have an even keener desire to see Taliesin in Wisconsin, and hope to visit it one day soon. In the meantime, I took all this touring up a notch by actually living in an FLW home for a weekend. The idea started about 6 years ago when this particular home went up for sale for the first time, and I watched with interest to see what became of it. Much to my surprise, the owners converted it into a rental property, and after finding a few friends to make it possible, my dream of living in an FLW home finally came true!

The original Origami chairs, and gorgeous vaulted ceilings!

The immediate reaction when you enter is the openness of the living area; not just in sheer space, but how open it feels to the outside, and when the surroundings are as beautiful as they are in Ann Arbor, it's a pleasure to feel so connected to the outdoors. Despite protests from our friends who stayed with us or visited, I could definitely see myself living in this home. I like that the bedrooms are small because I spend limited time there versus in the living room; I love that the windows are left without curtains or coverings; and I like how the lights are seamlessly blended into the ceilings, the walls, and the original furnishings. Even the kitchen - a room that, let's be honest, I spend less time in than my bedroom - was a great space, with a wonderful skylight, practical counters, two sinks, and ample room to move around in it.

It blends in with the landscape...

Throughout the home, the abstract bird blocks were repeated, giving a very unique view outside and around corners. The whole use of glass (walls), concrete (floors) and wood (ceilings) is just beautiful, and seeing the intricate puzzle of fitting together rooms and hallways and built-in furniture with rarely a right angle gave me a lot to discover.

Another building on the property, the tea house, was constructed in a similar style of the same materials, by design of Wright's apprentice. It, too, uses the equilateral triangle as its foundation and brings the outside in with incredible sliding window walls. This is where the Palmer's daughter would practice her yoga, so I paid tribute.

Yoga in the tea house, as was intended!

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What: #7 Go curling

When: March 1st
Where: Kalamazoo Curling Club 
Why: Apparently, every 4 years there is a major upturn in the popularity of curling. This is called the Olympic effect. This year, I missed every minute of coverage of the Sochi Olympics, so I can't blame the Olympics for my desire to curl. Instead, I blame the proximity of my hometown to Canada, and the fact that in my formative years, we often watched the CBC's coverage of sports, and that included curling. The similarity between curling and shuffleboard (altho many others compare it to bocce ball), also captured my attention because I loved playing shuffleboard with my grandparents when I was growing up, and doing it on the ice during the winter seemed like a fun twist. And let's be honest, this winter has been rough, so anything that can be done to have a bit of fun during these long cold months is worth it!

Prior to our time on the ice, we were treated to an introductory video. That was supplemented with some first-hand knowledge passed on to us by a local curler, including the details on the quarry where they cull the 42-pound curling stones. Armed with this new knowledge, we took to the ice to the tunes of bagpipes, ready to give it all a try. 

As beginners, we were given stabilizer bars, much like training wheels, in an effort to support us going down the ice in the lunge position. Once set up in the hack ("starting block"), the other foot is placed onto a Teflon-coated sole to help us better slide down the sheet of ice. Then, in a tripod stance, you launch out of the hack and then turn the handle ever-so-slightly as you let go of the stone. This all seems ridiculously easy, but it was insanely difficult. To be honest, I had the balance to get down the ice without falling, which wasn't the case for many others, but then I got cocky and tried to do it as the pros do; using only the "broom" instead of the stabilizer bar, and this was the result. 

After getting over my wounded pride, I went back to using the stabilizer bar and improved my skills. It was hard to get the stones down to the house (the target at the end of the sheet) without pushing them off as you release, which are you NOT supposed to do. The whole movement takes a lot of finesse, and then the sweepers get involved. That was a hot and stressful part of curling, everyone awkwardly yelling "Sweep! Faster! HARDER!", but as the Skip for my team, I was excluded from it after the practice round, and instead I was calling the shots for my team and devising our winning (aka losing) strategy. It all ended well; as the losers, we earned drinks from the winners, so we headed off to Bell's Brewery to "stack the brooms" and enjoy the rest of our night!

Good form!

Action shot!