Bucket List Completions, So Far.....

I have a somewhat unrealistic bucket list with items that include the Unst Bus Shelter in the Shetland Islands and beachcombing in Iceland and the Falkland Islands.  I have some realistic goals of course...on Pinterest I broke them down into separate boards to include 'Local/Doable', 'Canada', 'Possible' and 'Unrealistic'. Then I decided to do a 'Bucket List: Done' pinboard, which includes things that weren't necessarily 'bucket list' items at the time they were done (I never even heard of that term till the movie came out), but pretty cool experiences.  And anyway it makes me feel better about my incomplete list items, to see all the things that have been done.  Kate over at Another Clean Slate, suggested that I do a blog post with some of the things or goals I've accomplished in my life.  I've tried to reach back to some obscure ones from awhile back as well as a few new ones.

In no particular order, except alphabetical which is the way the pictures were saved, are some highlights from that Pinboard (all photos used are web images).

Completed Project 365/Photo A Day for One Year, in 2012.

Volunteered with the American Indian Movement in 1992 in San Francisco, the 500 Years of Resistance campaign.  We did a protest on Columbus Day and I was invited to a sunrise ceremony on Thanksgiving Day in Dolores Park.  Also ran a Leonard Peltier Support Group out of my apartment in Marin for a few years, in those days.

Saw "Beach Blanket Babylon" in SF a few times in the 1990s....a must see musical that's been playing nonstop since the 1970s at Club Fugazi.  Cannot recommend this show enough.

Met Bob Weir & Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead in 1990.

July 4th in Boston, 1986.  Every major city has fireworks on the 4th but Boston really knows how to do it right.

Crossed the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver, BC, 2006.  My desire for good pics overrode my fear of heights.  

Crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in 1976 (dad was driving us home from Florida).

Did a helicopter tour over Cannon Beach & Seaside, Oregon, summer 2005.  Again, wanted good pics.

Saw David Cassidy in concert, 2006. Have loved him since I was at least 6.

Met the Clash backstage at Cape Cod Coliseum after their concert in 1982.  

I appeared on a segment about the 1960s on 'Entertainment Tonight' in the fall of 1989.  We were interviewed on the way into Golden Gate Park for a free Jefferson Airplane/Bob Weir concert, which is another bucket list thing, to have seen a free show in GGP.

Been to a gay wedding, in SF, 2008

Went to three Grateful Dead New Years Eve shows in 1989, 90 and 91.

Been to Glass Beach in Fort Bragg in the 1990s, before they closed it to glass collectors. My best and rarest pieces are from here.

Visited Gorham, Kansas, in 1989, where my other fave movie, Paper Moon, was filmed.

Been to the Hearst Castle in California, in 1986 and 1988, driving down the Pacific Coast Highway 1 both times.

Saw Jake the Alligator Man at Marsh's Free Museum in Long Beach, WA, 2005

Saw Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore West and a free concert in Golden Gate Park, fall 1989

I'm somewhere in this huge crowd in Golden Gate Park for the incredible and free Laughter, Love & Music concert after Bill Graham died in the fall of 1991.  Musicians/bands included Journey, Santana, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, the Grateful Dead, John Fogerty singing Creedence songs with the Dead backing him, Joe Satriani and Joan Baez.

Trip to England in 12th grade, 1982, which included all of London, Windsor Castle, Oxford, a Shakespearean play in Stratford On Avon, Kent & the White Cliffs of Dover.  We also went to Paris but I absolutely hated France.

Rode the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls when I was 11, in 1975.

Saw "Top Gun" at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, 1986.

Made glass marbles and glass beads at The Bead Factory in Tacoma, WA, 2005'ish.

Saw Nelson Mandela speak at the Oakland Coliseum in 1990.

Two Monkees shows (w/o Mike) in 1986.

Drove to the summit of Pikes Peak, CO.  This is a web image but this was the exact weather I encountered up there.  37 degrees and sleet in July, 1989.

Saw Pyramid Lake in Nevada, 1994.  It could not have been more anticlimactic.

Met Red Green in Renton, WA, 2002.

Among many other things I've done in NYC, I got to see the Rockettes' Easter show in 1978 at Radio City.

The only 2 NFL games I've been to were the 49ers at Candlestick Park.  I was there the day of the Oakland Hills Fire in 1991 and ash rained down on us all afternoon, and the smoke covered the sun so much that the stadium lights were turned on.  Also saw a couple of Giants games at The Stick.

Drove:  Across the USA west in 1989 and east in 2011, Florida to MA in 1976 (well dad drove), and California to Washington State in 1999.  These are all the states I've been to or through, thus far.  Saw lots and lots of cool stuff, even just flying down the highways at 75 mph.  

Crossed into Yosemite National Park from the lesser-used, but jaw dropping, magnificent eastern entrance, over Tioga Pass, in 1988. 

Been to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood in 2008, which served as the external shots of The Overlook Hotel in 'The Shining', one of my fave movies.

There was no time to stop and see everything on the 2011 trip east, but Wall Drug in Wall, SD was a must see.

Wyeth family exhibits at the Brandywine Museum, in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 1993.

Saw Yul Brynner in one of his last 'King & I' performances in Boston, 1984, just a couple of months before he died.

Participated in a Guiness Book of World Records attempt at creating the world's longest strand of beads, at Shipwreck Beads in Olympia, WA, December 26, 2009.  Our strand crushed the old record at almost a mile long.

This summer I hope to hit a few more on the Local/Doable Bucket List!!  Now if only I could win the lottery, I could see everything on every bucket list!!

Bucket List

My sweet baby and I were talking about how much traveling we want to do, both realistic trips and dream trips. There are a few overlapping destinations, and I think parts of my list are a little bit more unrealistic and will, more than likely, remain just dreams.  Let's face it, the odds of my getting to beachcomb on the Falkland Islands are pretty slim.  Or taking that cruise to Antarctica. Or New Zealand.  It's possible I could get to Iceland one day, and the British Isles.  I do think my Scot boyfriend should see his homeland.

We also diverge on a few trip ideas...mostly because I resist going to warm climates and he's growing weary of the raw, cold, snowy New England winters.  

So he tossed out the idea of both of us making our Travel Bucket Lists and comparing them to see what we can start planning.  

I've actually had my Bucket List, on the side of this blog for awhile now.  I really regret not doing the rest of the Pacific Northwest Stuff.  Big time.  But he wants to go back up there someday, so at least I know it's still on the table. For now, I will list things I'd like to see within the next few years:

Watkins Glen State Park, NY.  Never really occurred to me to go here till I saw a pic of it recently.  Now I have to go.  It's in the Fingerlake Region of Upstate NY, on Lake Seneca.  

Niagara Falls, NY and/or Canada.  For now I'd be happy to see the American side.  My parents took me to the Canadian side in 6th grade, and I do want to see it again too, but for now NY would be optimum.

Mount Desert Island, Maine/Acadia National Park.  And many other places in Maine as well...any coastal community, Mt. Katahdin, Lubec (the easternmost incorporated place in the 50 states), etc. Angie is eagerly awaiting my visit to see her in Bar Harbor. 

Vermont.  Except for one time when my dad got lost and accidentally drove over the border of NH into VT, I have never set foot in that state.  This trip would be preferably taken in the fall, for the foliage.

Shelling on Sanibel Island in Florida.  It should be noted that I absolutely cannot stand the State of Florida.  It's too hot, too flat, too humid, ugly and yucky.  But my desire for great beachcombing over rides my hatred of that state.  The shells here are amazing.

Walt Disney World/Universal.  My parents took me to Disney in 6th and 8th grades.  They went a 3rd time, w/o me, when I was in college.  I would very much like to see it now, and also visit Universal and the Harry Potter part. Disney also happens to be his fave place on the entire planet, and he's been here dozens of times He wants very much to take me and show me around.  

Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  This would also taken in Asheville, NC. 

Rte. 66 of course.  I assumed he would want to honeymoon at Disney, but he tossed out Rte. 66 and I eagerly agreed.

The Canadian Maritimes. Pick a Province, any Province. (just not Quebec. lol)

Bermuda.  Reeeeeally need to beachcomb here.  My friend Barit told me that there is some decent glass on the beaches.  

I'm certainly not gonna turn down any suggestions for RV trips across the USA or Canada, and I'm game to see anything, like Savannah, GA or New Orleans.  But for now, this is my new Bucket List.