Snapshots from "The Sister Trip"

 Three years ago my sister Linda started a new tradition: The Annual Sister Trip. The plan? Each year we would take a week out of our busy schedules to have a sisterly adventure in a place we would take turns choosing. In 2009 Linda picked Sedona, Arizona. This trip would also come to be known as The PT Cruiser Tour because the rental place made a mistake and the Cruiser (a total misnomer) was the only vehicle left. Below are a few pictures from that trip.

This is the cabin at Briar Patch Inn where we stayed.
Notice the Cruiser.

We discovered a few things on this trip: 1) Linda should not listen to her younger sister about where you can drive a Cruiser 2) The PT Cruiser is not an off road vehicle and cannot be taken on the same trails a Pink Jeep Tour. 3) Linda should not listen to her sister.

These are some of the scratches she put in the Cruiser.

We did a fair amount of hiking as would become the case on trips to follow.

Something other things we learned on our first trip: 1) The gas tank on the Cruiser is on the drivers side. 2) Additional gravity fills the gas tank faster. 3) My sister is awesome at multi-tasking (note the use of sign language while simultaneously filling the tank.

Sedona was a great trip.
Next it was my turn to choose. When Linda first conceived this Sister Trip idea it was with the understanding that we could go absolutely anywhere and she would foot the bill.  She stressed ANYWHERE. In 2010 I picked. We went to....Minnesota. There was a long silence on the phone when I told her I wanted to take her to the North Shore. "There are waterfalls! There is this big lake that looks like an ocean! There are mountains! There are hiking trails! There is canoeing and fishing and.....and...I get to pick."

She was a total skeptic, until she got there.

This is how she looked for most of the trip.

Because this was not the size of waterfalls she expected!

 We did a first ever for Linda - an overnight hike on the Superior Hiking Trail. It changed  Linda's mind about the term "hike".

We stayed at a nice little cabin on Lake Mitawan near Isabella. It had a very nice "biffy".

I started a tradition within a tradition. The ceremonial wearing of the sunglasses.

This was the Just Chix No Dix Tour.

This brings us to our latest trip; one we were not really sure would happen because I've been under the weather since January. (that's a separate blog) It was Linda's turn to pick this year and Breckenridge, Colorado was the destination. At an elevation of around 9,000 feet, Breck as it is know to locals sits in a valley surrounded by the Rocky Mountains.

During the winter, which seems to run all year round up there, Breck is a down hill skiers heaven. In summer Breck is....a down hill skiers heaven?  There was still a lot of snow up in the mountains.

Our cabin was located in Blue River, just south of Breckenridge

and just north of Hoosier Pass, at about 10,000 feet.

I got a kick out of all the Continental Divides since I live on one in Minnesota. Ours are not as boastful about the elevation.

This year Linda partook of the Ceremonial Wearing of the Sunglasses this time. Clearly I was cooler. Even the shirt says so!

As before, we did some hiking, though I have to tell you it was a little more challenging for two reasons: 1) Everything is on a slant in the mountains. 2) They have no air. For this last reason I am here-fore naming this trip: The Sucking Wind Tour

I promised my sister I would post pics on our blog and tell our story. So, over the next few days and weeks I'll post a pic and tell you all about The Sucking Wind Tour. Was it fun? Stay tuned and read!

Peace,

Karen