Road Trip?

I realize that we just went on a cruise in December. But I'm still obsessed with traveling, so I'm already anxious to plan our next trip. I've decided that we should take our first big 2010 trip in June, mainly because that's when my contract with ME ends. (Of course, I'm hoping they'll offer me a permanent position, and that would be great cause I could start right after our trip. Fingers crossed!) Now, I just decided this today, so things are definitely in the very beginning planning stages (What can I say? I'm a planner!) but I think a trip to the Northeast might be fun. I've been wanting to get back to NYC for a long time, and would love to re-visit Boston, DC, and also go to lots of places I've never been.
I started perusing Google Maps today, trying to decide a route (an extremely tentative route) and I realized I need help. I have no idea what/where to visit in lots of these states. Like West Virginia for example. And Ohio. What are the big tourist attractions there? Do we do something outdoorsy, like hiking, or are there cool museums or zoos? I have no clue! So I need suggestions. If you know any cool "must see's" for the places I list, let me know. Cities, landmarks, anything will help!
1. First stop, Garden of the Gods, Illinois (Mark said its really cool, so we'll start there)
2. Next stop, Kentucky somewhere (Louisville?)
3. Somewhere in Ohio, next (Cincinnati? Toledo? Dayton?)
4. Indiana (Indianapolis?)
5. Chicago, Illinois - I've never been but can't wait! This is likely the first place we'll stay 2-3 days.
6. Michigan (Detroit? Grand Rapids?)
7. Niagra Falls
8. Toronto, Canada
9. Montreal, Canada
10. Quebec, Canada
11. Vermont/New Hampshire/Maine
12. Boston, Mass
13. Providence, Rhode Island
14. New Canaan, Connecticut (where I lived when I was a nanny!)
15. NYC! I can't wait to return! (Don't need any suggestions, here, unless you know of some place/thing that's totally unusual.)
16. New Jersey
17. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
18. Delaware
19. Baltimore, Maryland
20. DC
21. Virginia
22. And finally West Virginia
Sounds fun, right? Think we can do it in 3 weeks? I might have some serious editing to do, but right now I'm just excited to start planning!

2009 Resolution Recap

I had a few specific goals for 2009...you can see them here and here. I've never really made any official New Year's Resolution prior to '09, because really, who ever completes them? Let's see if I did...
Resolution #1: Read 75 books. This one was a fail, but it was due to extenuating circumstances. The only reason I didn't get them all, is that I couldn't read anything for a week or so after our cruise because I was too "land sick". If it wasn't for that, I would have smoked it. As you can see from my book list on the right, I only read 73 books. These are all books that I read from start to finish. Of course there were many that I started, didn't like and didn't finish. Those don't make the list. I'm sad I didn't meet this one - I really thought I would be able to. But oh well. Very close.
Resolution #2: Work out at least 3 times a week. This one is clearly a fail. I've become even lazier in the past year. But that's gonna change in 2010. I even joined a gym last week. Now if I could just work up the motivation to drive there...
Resolution #3: Visit at least 2 foreign countries. PASS! Yea, I did one! This one just slipped in to 2009, since our cruise was in December and all, but we did make it to Belize, Honduras and Mexico. Score!
Resolution #4: Find a new job. This one was a hugely disappointing fail. 2009 was a miserable time to be unemployed, and especially to be looking for something in the meeting/events industry. But 2010 will be the year for change because last week I started my new job! Finally!!! I'm working as a contract employee for Meeting Expectations, which is a meeting planning company in Buckhead. I started last week and my contract goes until the start of June. I am so happy to be working with this company - all the people I've met are super nice, the office is less than 5 miles from our apartment, I'll be able to learn/grow in this field, etc, etc. I really hope it turns into a permanent position, but I'll take what I can get for now!
So if we're looking strictly at a pass/fail ratio, I didn't do so hot. But if I include one week of grace time (first week of January), I killed it! I don't have any big goals for 2010 so far...really I just want to get in better shape (like always), travel more (duh) and grow in my career (surprise, surprise). Very typical, but still very worthwhile. So 2010, I'm glad you're here and hope you continue in the direction you started.

Christmas Cruising Part 4 - Roatan & Cozumel

Roatan was our second stop and we had a very relaxing day there. We rented a taxi for the day (our driver, Raul, just stayed with us wherever we went) and spent most of the time at a beach resort at the West End. I did a little snorkeling but we mostly just chilled on the beach and at the pool. The next day was spent on Cozumel. We rented a car and drove around the whole island, which was pretty stress-free since there is only 1 road. We stopped at a few different beaches, drove through some neighborhoods and tourist attractions, and ended up in downtown (had to get our passports stamped!). The beaches were absolutely gorgeous and we loved that we were all alone at most of them.

Our sweet rideWhere we ate lunch and spent most of the day
Downtown

All in all, the cruise and all of the places we visited were wonderful. It was a lot of fun and good to experience...once.

Christmas Cruising Part 3 - Belize

Our first, and favorite, port of call was Belize. We went on an amazing all-day excursion that consisted of a bus tour through the city, a visit to the ruins of Altun Ha and a boat ride on the River Wallace. We had a fabulous time - perfect weather, great guides and awesome sights!

On the busAt Altun HaOops...I dressed like the staff!

Mark, holding a baby crocodile on the top of one of the ruins

We stopped for lunch at a cute restaurant, but Mark and I ate outside by ourselves since we'd packed a lunch from the ship. This guy decided to join us.After lunch, we took off on the river tour.

We saw some amazing animals including...monkeys (my first time seeing them in the wild!),bats,iguanas,fighting iguanas,tons of crocodiles (I'd say this one is a little too close for comfort!),dolphins,and manatees!

We were really amazed at all the wildlife we saw. The boat ride took up most of the afternoon so after we arrived back at the port town, we window shopped at a few stores, got our passports stamped (finally!) and headed back to the cruise ship (this was the only port where we didn't dock and had to take smaller boats to shore). I'd love to visit Belize again...the main attractions are more adventurous activities (zip lines, cave tours, kayaking) so hopefully we'll get to go again after Mark's fully healed.