Reflecting: 2012
I guess this makes it a tradition now.
- Celebrated New Years in Antigua Guatemala with some Quezalteca. Paid the price in the morning.
- Climbed the Mayan temple of Xunantunich in San Ignacio, Belize
- Waded across rivers and swam into the mouth of a cave to explore the ancient Mayan sacrifices in Actun Tunichil Muknal
- Dove over 100 meters into the ancient sinkhole from the ice age at The Blue Hole in Belize
- Explored one of the largest ancient Mayan civilization of Tikal in Guatemala
- Bruised my face getting hit by a car while a riding bike
- Visited the house where a young Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in Atlanta, Georgia
- Biked through Bogoto, Colombia on a graffiti tour
- Ascended over 3,000 meters while joining a pilgrimage to the top of Monserrate in Bogota
- Drank an aphrodisiac milkshake made of blended (live) crabs and alcohol on the streets of Bogota
- Consumed copious amounts of the most delicious Colombian exotic fruits
- Partied with some of the most beautiful women on the planet in Medellin, Colombia
- Scaled the crooked staircases wedged into El Peñón de Guatapé
- Licked BBQ sauce off my fingers at The Salt Lick in Austin, Texas
- Got my lime on in St. Kitts & Nevis
- Scuba dived through the hull of a sunken ship off the coast of St. Kitts
- Got blown into the ocean by the hot blast of air from a jet engine in St. Maarten
- Camped in the Appalachian Mountains along the Blue Ridge Parkway from North Carolina to Virginia
- Toured the house and plantation of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
- Stood in the very room where U.S. Bill of Rights was ratified in Richmond Virginia
- Honored the fallen heroes buried at Arlington National Cemetery
- Walked up the steps of The United States Supreme Court
- Toured Jefferson’s, Lincoln’s, MLKs, Roosevelt’s, The Vietnam, WWI & WWII memorials in Washington D.C.
- Hung out in George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon
- Saw the crack in the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia
- Taste-tested no less than 5 Philly Cheesesteaks
- Ran up the “Rocky Balboa” steps in Philadelphia
- Set foot inside the Independence Hall where The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were adopted.
- Imprisoned myself inside the Eastern State Penitentiary in the cell next door to Al Capone’s
- Toured Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty
- Mourned at Grand Zero
- Watched The Book of Mormons on Broadway
- Climbed to the top of The Empire St. building in New York City
- Cruised on a ferry underneath the Brooklyn Bridge to the Figment Festival on Governors Island
- Partied with thousands of boricua’s in the streets of New York for the Puerto Rican Day Parade
- Gawked in the Guggenheim
- Relived my childhood in Bethel, CT
- Swung on a bench-swing while enjoying the sunset over Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont
- Sampled a new Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor at their factory in Montpelier, Vermont
- Heard a Who in Springfield, Massachusetts
- Broke into the dome of Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount-Royal to catch an awesome sunset over Montreal
- Talked my way into permission to take photos inside of the private library of Canada’s Parliament
- Dunked my head into a quarry 200 feet below me at the end of Canada’s tallest bungee jump
- Rode a bamboo bicycle through the graffiti-filled alleys of Toronto, Canada
- Stood behind the roaring water falls of Niagara
- Rocked out at the Rock & Roll hall of fame in Cleveland, Ohio
- Milked a cow and ate dinner with an Amish family in Millersburg, Ohio
- Survived a ferocious lightning/hail/wind storm in Jackson Center, Ohio
- Played games at Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Machines in Detroit, Michigan
- Cruised through the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana
- Uncovered a top-secret SR-71B Blackbird jet
- Urbex explored a decrepit church in Gary, Indiana
- Watched the 4th of July fireworks explode over Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois
- Photographed Chicago’s skyline at dusk from alongside Lake Michigan
- Walked a lap in The Great Mall in Saint Paul, Minnesota
- Found one of the meanings of life in the Badlands National Park in South Dakota
- Laughed at the corniness of The Corn Palace in Mitchel, South Dakota
- Stared up the presidents nostrils at Mount Rushmore in Keystone South Dakota
- Sat in a Bison-induced traffic jam in Yellowstone National Park
- Waited for The Grand Geyser to blow in Yellowstone. Totally worthy it!
- Smelled sulfurous gasses spew from the bubbling mud pits in Yellowstone
- Stood in the center of the universe in Wallace, Idaho
- Climbed rock towers in Frenchman Coulee, Washington
- Contributed my chewed gum to The Gum Wall at Pikes Market in Seattle, Washington
- Landed in a sea plane in a lake on the south-side of Kodiak Island in Alaska
- Played a game of chicken with a brown bear in Kodiak, Alaska. The bear won.
- Crossed the Arctic Circle on the perilous Dalton Highway
- Drove the Seward highway and discovered the diverse wildlife of Alaska
- Rode ATV’s through Denali National Park and caught a glimpse of Mt. McKinley’s summit
- Stood underneath the Alaskan pipeline
- Drank an apple-tini from an ice glass at an ice bar inside an ice hotel in Chena, Alaska
- Spooked a wild moose and her calf in Fairbanks, Alaska
- Feed some reindeer in North Pole, Alaska
- Hiked to a glacier in Juneau, Alaska
- Summoned my inner Homer Simpson at an old abandoned nuclear power plant in Elma, Washington.
- Watched glassmakers blow glass at the world renowned Museum of Glass on Tacoma, Washington
- Zenned-out at the Japanese Garden in Portland Oregon and then porked out Voodoo Doughnuts
- Hiked to the top of Multnomah, Falls in Oregon
- Kite-boarded and stand-up paddle-boarded on the Hood River in Oregon
- Got soaked from the spray of ocean water as it rushed into Devil’s Churn
- Climbed to the top of Smith Rock in Oregon
- Rafted down the Big Eddy Thriller rapids of the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon
- Stumbled my way through the pitch-dark Lava River Cave near Bend, Oregon
- Hiked to the top of Watchman Peak and watched the sun rise over Crater Lake
- Stood with giants at the Redwood National Park in California
- Experienced an extended deja-vu in Mendocino California
- Completed a 2-year 23,822-mile cross-country road-trip around North America
- Watched the Space Shuttle Endeavour fly over the Golden Gate Bridge
- Completed a 13-hour hike from the valley floor to the top of Half Dome and back in Yosemite National Park
- Dined on a 7-course meal at one of the finest restaurants in Lima Peru and attended a beauty pageant as a VIP guest of the bathing suit designer
- Scuba dove with hammer-head sharks, sea lions, octopus, sea turtles and more in The Galapagos Islands
- Swam in Tortuga Bay in The Galapagos Islands
- Climbed to the top of Sierra Negra and witnessed the most amazing sunset on my birthday
- Straddled the two hemispheres at the center of the earth in Quito, Ecuador
- Soaked in natural hot springs after experiencing the excruciating head pressure associated with altitude sickness in the mountains of Quito, Ecuador
- Pulled an all-nighter in Bogota Colombia and partied with some bohemian Colombians
- Relaxed with friends on the beaches of El Salvador
- Attended the opening day of the Space Shuttle Endeavour exhibit at The Science Center in Los Angeles
- Leapt out of an airplane all by myself and fell through a cloud.
- Helped out those in need by donating some old clothes and feeding the homeless on Christmas.
- Sweated profusely at my first Bikram yoga experience.
