Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Category: bucket list

Alaska (Part 1 of 2)

Four words for you: trip of a lifetime! Chris and I just got back from an amazing adventurous vacation in Alaska, and I miss it already. This place is absolutely breathtaking and magical. I know a lot of people retire to someplace warm like Florida, but I think we could happily settle down anywhere in Alaska. (You know, in 35+ years when we actually can retire.) Chris and I went nuts taking photos of course, although mostly just with our new little point-and-shoot (Canon PowerShot G12) camera.

We decided that a cruise would be the best/easiest way to get to a lot of the places we wanted to see, with the benefit of being sort of all-inclusive, so we booked a one-way itinerary on the Celebrity Millennium.

We set sail from Vancouver, Canada, and we flew in a day early just to get settled and make sure we definitely got on the ship in time! Plus it gave us some time to walk around Vancouver a bit, and we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Cardero’s.

The best benefit to our cruise was our cabin with this amazing balcony (or veranda, if you will). Our cabin was located on the aft (the back of the ship, land lovers!) and we had a 180-degree view of the scenery. It was awesome for taking photos, or for just sitting and watching the mesmerizing patterns of the wake.

We had fantastic weather nearly every single day. Spoiled!

Our first port of call was a small town in Southern Alaska called Ketchikan. Chris and I went kayaking in Orcas Cove – our first time kayaking ever! We shared a two-person kayak, and contrary to the photo below, Chris did help paddle. (Thanks to our awesome guide, Alex, for the photo!) I also took a few photos of my own once I got over my fear of tipping over and losing my camera in the water.

The next port of call, Icy Strait Point, included a trail ride on ATVs. Our fabulous guide, Amber, carried bear mace just in case. Although Chris and I really wanted to see bears.

The view from the top of Chichagof Island was beautiful. We even saw a bald eagle! Again, I just had my point-and-shoot along so it’s kind of like Where’s Waldo, but in the whale photos below and also in the next post I’ll show some photos we took with our other gear including a telephoto lens that we rented especially for this trip.

And as long as we were at the top of the island, might as well take the quickest way back down right? We rode the ZipRider, which is currently the world’s longest zip-line at nearly 5500 feet long (with a drop of 1320 feet – taller than the observation deck of the Empire State Building)! Chris and I are the two people with our arms straight out, clearly the only two people crazy enough not to hold on.

Among other firsts in Alaska, this was my first time trying some new foods, including crab. My verdict: not bad! Kind of creepy, because I like my food to be a little more abstract instead of having legs, but it was pretty good.

And then for the highlight of the first half of our trip, we went on a whale-watching cruise, where we took a smaller boat out to find whales and other sea mammals. We had our telephoto (long) lens and were able to get some pretty cool photos. Here are a few favorites:

Stay tuned for the second blog post of highlights from our Alaska trip where we did REAL zip-lining (there’s video proof!), and took a helicopter ride where we landed on a glacier and went dog sledding! Mush! (They don’t actually really say “mush” though.)

June 29, 2011
Oh Yeah…the 101 List!

If you have been following my blog at any point in the past 2.5 years, you may recall that I made a list of 101 things that I wanted to complete in 1001 days. I started way back in April of 2008 and set a completion date of 12/31/2010. I promise I didn’t forget about the list or the looming deadline! But obviously I am now officially past the deadline for checking off all of the items on my 101 in 1001 list. It looks like I completed about 45 items, so not quite half, but I’m proud of the ones I did accomplish!

What I realized a few months ago was that while there are several things on there that I still really want to tackle, a few of the items are no longer relevant or practical or interesting. Plus there are a TON of other things I want to add to the list. So, what I decided is that I’m going to start fresh and create an official bucket list. Only I don’t want to call it that because there’s sort of a sad reference-to-death connotation there, right? Instead, I’m calling it my Life List, and I’m in the process of creating it now. I’ve transferred the remaining 101 in 1001 items that I would still like to complete, and I’m working on adding several new items. As soon as it is updated, the list is going to live here on my blog, and I’ll share my experiences with you (with photos, of course!) as I cross the items off. Sound good? Does anyone else have a “bucket list” that they’re working on? Or did you complete a 101 list?

And to pay homage to my original 101 in 1001 list, a collection of images of items that were checked off:

January 23, 2011
101 in 1001: What Was I Thinking?

For those of you who have been following my little blog for a while (thank you for reading!), you know I’ve been participating in one of those 101 in 1001 lists. First, there are two things that I have finished but haven’t posted about yet: #5 – Buy a new sofa, and #68 – Refinish a piece of furniture. Both of these items go along with some updates we are making to the house, so I’m not quite ready to take pictures yet, but I can at least show you proof that I did refinish a piece of furniture. This Pottery Barn headboard used to be black, but I wanted a softer look for the master bedroom and decided to paint it sort of an antique brass:

And second, because my deadline is fast approaching, I have been reviewing the rest of the list to see what I have left to accomplish. There are a few things that I’m not really interested in doing anymore, a few things that are no longer possible (visiting my brother in Scotland – he moved back to the States!), and more than a few what-was-I-thinking items. I’m not a quitter though, and I still plan to complete as much as I possibly can assuming it’s possible. I think I mentioned this before, but the one item on the list that seems completely insurmountable is riding a bike to the end of the W&OD Trail and back. The DC end. That’s about a 56 mile ride. I think when I added that item on the list, I figured I had already done a 20 mile ride so what’s another 36? Except I don’t think I rode my bike all last year because of a knee injury, and now I’m not in any kind of shape to do even 20 miles! But I’m still willing to spend this spring, summer (ugh), and fall trying my best to get this item crossed off the list. I’ve already been out a couple of times for very short rides just to get back into the habit. So if that one is the only other 101 in 1001 item I happen to complete before the deadline is here, I’ll still be really proud because that’s the big one for me. So stay tuned!

March 23, 2010
Jump! Skydiving 2001

As requested, I’m posting a little clip of my skydiving video from my tandem jump at Skydive Orange!

To set the scene a bit, it was October 2001, just a month after 9/11. We had all been affected by that terrible tragedy in our own ways, and I was in the camp of people who suddenly realized how temporary life truly is. I made a silent vow not to miss out on anything my heart desires in this one short life we’re gifted. And at that time, not unlike today, the dream in my heart was that of adventure! I had been curious about skydiving for a while, and decided there was no time like the present. I signed up with a local company, Skydive Orange, paid my deposit and counted down the days excitedly without a drop of anxiety.

On the day of my jump, I arrived at Skydive Orange early to sign ~~my life away~~ waivers and to watch a safety video. Inside the hangar, our names were written on a whiteboard indicating the assigned tandem partner with whom we’d jump. For the life of me I can’t remember my partner’s name, but what I do remember is that we were supposed to have a short on-the-ground lesson before we even boarded the plane. I watched the other tandem jumpers practicing proper jump positioning with their partners, but my guy was no where to be found and my jump time was quickly approaching. I wasn’t even harnessed up yet!

About two minutes before my scheduled flight time, my tandem partner came running into the hangar yelling my name. I answered, “here!” and before I knew what was happening he quickly whisked me away to the field where the tiny airplane was waiting. He had just landed from the previous batch of jumps, so he had to hurry to make this next flight with me. He literally harnessed me up as we were walking to the plane, and that is the moment when I started to get just a little nervous. What if in his rush to make the flight time, he didn’t harness me correctly? He finished making adjustments while we were on the plane, tightening a strap here, checking a carabiner there, and gave me a quick overview of how to read the altimeter which he had just fastened to my wrist.

The ascent in the tiny plane seemed both short and long if that’s possible, but all too soon the huge side cargo door was opened and pairs of divers began to scoot towards the opening. Once I was at the door, the terror hit. What in the world was I doing?! And why didn’t I have the proper fear mechanisms in place to warn me in advance that this was a very bad idea?! It was too late though – my partner gave me the 3-2-1 count (or maybe it was 1-2-3?) and before I knew it, there was nothing but air between the ground and me. And I loved it. What a rush! The incredibly windy freefall lasted 60 seconds, but again, that minute felt altogether too short and also way too long. I don’t want to completely spoil the surprise, but that stomach-in-your-throat feeling you get from a deliciously big drop on a rollercoaster? Not the case here – you are so high up that the sensation is entirely different.

After the chute opened (thank you, dear God!) by way of my partner grabbing my hand to pull the ripcord together, we spent about 6-7 minutes in flight, gently sailing towards the bullseye target. I steered for part of the time, but mostly I just took in my surroundings – I can’t recommend Virginia in the fall enough as the absolute perfect backdrop for a skydiving experience.

Here I am getting ready to board the Cessna Otter with my tandem partner, and the image on the right is post-jump, all smiles! (And hey, check out my super light-wash jeans.)

The quality isn’t that great since the original is on a VHS tape (there was no digital video option way back in October 2001), and I’ve transferred that to a digital file and then compressed it for web, but you’ll still get the idea. There’s one jumper before me at the very beginning, and then I’m right after that. I can’t tell you what I was saying right as I’m standing in the doorframe because I don’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure I’m glad you can’t actually hear the words. 🙂 I wasn’t really scared up until that exact moment, and then for about 10 seconds I was terrified. Once I jumped, I was fine, and once the parachute opened, I was even better!

Susan’s tandem jump at Skydive Orange – October 2001 from Susan Marks on Vimeo.

July 2, 2009
A Week on Oahu

And now for just a few fun/personal Hawaii pictures! Since Chris and I were out in Hawaii specifically to shoot a wedding, I was feeling a little over-cautious about things and didn’t want to put myself in any situation where I might not be 100% for the Big Day. Meaning, I didn’t want to get sunburned, sick, sore, stung, kidnapped, lost, etc., so Chris and I just hung out around Waikiki most of the time relaxing and taking it easy. Which was totally nice and not a bad time at all. We had been to Oahu a few years ago and did a lot of the must-see stuff, so we didn’t feel like we were missing out. And both of us really needed some time just to rest. (That said, I don’t have a ton of super exciting look-what-we-did-all-over-the-island photos. I have those from our first trip.)

We ended up staying at the Sheraton Waikiki right on Waikiki beach, where we stayed the last time we were in Hawaii. I especially love their pool right off of the beach with the amazing view, so it was an easy decision to book there.

I say “ended up” because we were originally booked at the Aqua Palms, which I selected because it was the closest hotel to the military hotel, Hale Koa, where Jenn and Stephen (the bride and groom) were staying. However, when we checked into the Aqua Palms and went to our room, I discovered that it was a room above the street that was a little noisier than I could handle. To be fair, I’m a super light sleeper, and very sensitive to noise. No other rooms were available, and I never fell asleep that night! So in my exhausted state, I blearily hopped onto the Internet kiosk in the lobby and booked a room at the Sheraton for the remainder of the week. (I have to mention though, that the staff at Aqua Palms were really sweet and very accommodating for the night we were there. And it’s a good value for a hotel right in the heart of Waikiki.)

The vacation gods were smiling upon us as we checked into the Sheraton, because they upgraded us two levels to a luxury suite! Check out the amazing ocean view from our lanai, looking right at Diamondhead:

And this was our view further to the right:

We took this cute trolley around the city when things were beyond walking distance. $2 each way…can’t beat it.

Waikiki is pretty touristy, but is kept really clean and manicured, and still has a good bit of lush tropical flora amongst the high-rises.

And two last random photos – a self-portrait on our lanai, and our fresh flower leis. Jenn and Stephen gave one to everyone in attendance at their wedding!

So, all-in-all the trip was a nice mix of resting and working, and really…how can you really call a wedding in Hawaii “work?”

September 30, 2008