Sharry Miller

Gothenburg, Sweden

Mom at the Trädgårds Föreningen rose garden in Gothenburg, Sweden. Not surprising for a Wisconsin girl, my Mom's family on both sides hails from Sweden. All of her grandparents were immigrants to the U.S. with last names like Olson and Johnson. As a result, traveling to Sweden has been a life-long dream of Mom's. Now that she's 73, and knowing she'd never go on her own, I decided it was time to fulfill that dream... Read more →

Freedom with Fear

As our group of 11 women walked down the Wagon Trail in Valdez, someone commented on the number of bear scat piles we'd seen. I hadn't thought it was that many, six or so in two miles, but I suppose if you're not used to them, that's a lot. Another asked if we should be worried. I replied, "None of them were steaming, were they?" Later that evening, at the final dinner for this Adventures... Read more →

Nicaragua - Watermelon Weaving Monkeys

Watermelon weaving monkeys? Huh, what? Sorry...it just amused me to leave out the commas. While Wednesday, March 16, did indeed bring us watermelons, weaving, and monkeys, they were totally unrelated. Before I get to any of those things, however, I have to share the delight of early morning at Laguna de Apoyo, our home for just one lone night. Someday, I'm going to live in a place where I can get up and go for... Read more →

Exploring by Bus and by Carriage

One of the reasons Rowan and I were excited to travel to Nicaragua was to practice our Spanish. She's in her second year at school, and my three high school years have been refreshed too infrequently by trips to Mexico and Peru. Little did we know that Spanish in Nicaragua is not like Spanish anywhere else. I won't go into the intricacies of "tu es" versus "bos sos" (ask me later if you want me... Read more →

Termites and the Devil Horse

Monday, March 14 - finally, a day filled with activity, some expected, some novel, some terrifying. Our Adventures in Good Company group spent a second day on Ometepe hanging out with a cute local guide and exploring the slopes of Maderas, the lower, dormant volcano. Our morning goal was a waterfall on Maderas, Cascada San Ramón. As with everywhere we went, there was a rather lengthy drive to get to the starting point. This morning... Read more →

Ometepe

As I look back at my notes for our first full day with our group in Nicaragua (Sunday, March 13), I am reminded why I decided that, much to my surprise, I like traveling on small group tours. I learned so much in just one day, things I would never have figured out on my own. Having a guide local to the area I'm traveling in gives me answers to questions I would never think... Read more →

Nicaragua - Unica y Original

That Nicaragua was going to live up to its tagline (Nicaragua - Unique...Original) was clear as soon as we got to the airport in Managua. First, everything was spotlessly clean, even the bathrooms which were supplied with ample quantities of toilet paper, not a given in Latin America. Granted, we still had to throw toilet paper in a garbage can rather than flushing it, but some things never change. Second, the people were so quiet... Read more →

Hana Highway Reprise

I'm putting my time turner to use again to tell you about one more of our adventures in Hawaii. Tuesday, December 30, 2014, ended up being one of our favorite days on Maui, and that's saying a lot since I haven't told you about snorkeling at the Dumps, kayaking in rough water, SCUBA diving on a wrecked fishing vessel.... Even though it wasn't our favorite road, we drove the Hana Highway again, this time in... Read more →

Better than the Road to Hana

Wow, so sorry! We made it back home from Hawaii today (and trust me, I'm whining), and I haven't posted anything about our trip in over a week. I'd had every intention of being more timely, but our days were so busy that by the time we were "home" for the evening, I was too tired to go through photos and write about the day. There were a couple of days that I really want... Read more →

Sunrise on Haleakala

There has to be a darn good reason to get up at 3:00 in the morning and drive for two hours. I managed to convince my family that no trip to Maui was complete without driving to the top of Haleakala, the island's highest mountain, to see the sunrise. With coffee and snacks in hand, we were all more or less willing. Our bible, Maui Revealed, warned us that it would be cold on the... Read more →