#youshouldgohere

[tylerlaros]

#tbt to one of the best pictures I've taken and one of the most breathtaking places you'll ever see. @rebecahhhh123 ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ #muirgrovetrail #sequoianationalpark #talltalltrees #youshouldgohere (at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks)

[one-hip-momma]

Beachfront mall! #pacificcity #beachfront #mall #shopping #cali #lifestyleblogger #lifeover40 #hipmommastuff #youshouldgohere #pasttime (at Pacific City in Huntington Beach)

[youshouldgohere]

Okay, let’s see if I can squeeze in another slo-roll of a cool place before I split for Brussels on Christmas Day. Everyone seems to be heading to Portugal right now, for good reason. The rest of Europe already knows all about Portugal, but it’s hard to find much in the U.S. press until of late. Portugal is like Italy + France + Spain in a single country, but has something special all its own. (Now one of my favorite countries.) So if you're thinking of going, #youshouldgohere  I stayed in an awesome, teeny little boutique hotel in the Algarve last spring that's been getting a lot of great press... for good reason. Holy cow. It’s like a perfectly-framed work of art, but you sleep in it. I made a few posts about this hotel back in April, back when I first signed up for Instagram… and before I realized that one needed a hashtag before anyone else could see it, or me. So bear with me as I spool out some new stories, one pic at a time, of this really amazing place. #ohboyohboyohboy

[youshouldgohere]

Okay. New story.  Since we just left the canyons of southern Utah, let's go hang out at a cool resort in Western Colorado. #youshouldgohere This is Colorado?? I thought it was all about mountains and skiing?   Yup. But then there's here. Gateway Canyons.  Western Colorado is a blurred line into the canyony parts of Utah. An hour south of ridgy Grand Junction -- Colorado's Orchard -- sits the teeny town of Gateway, nestled in high-hipped canyon ridges that make 80's Meg Ryan mom jeans look low-cut. And this resort is here. The name saves a lot of confusion.  The whole resort is built around this big beautiful hunk of rock called The Palisade. (You will see a lot more of it in upcoming posts.) If you google the word "palisade" its origin goes back to Greek and Roman times and means, loosely, "a rock fence". Who wouldda thought that early Western pioneers were Greco-Roman scholars when they named this? Supposedly the Romans kicked the shit of the Greeks on making stronger palisades to defend their military camps. Makes sense; they made damn good bridges. Someone else built this marvelous beast...

[youshouldgohere]

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This is why it’s good to have a 4WD in Salta — which I didn’t, unfortunately. When it rains, it roars. Especially in the rainforesty parts of Ruta 33 and the Cuesta del Obispo (“The Bishop’s Slope") valley. The drive is the adventure. And the views amazing.  Ruta 33 follows a roaring river, winding up the lush, dripping green canyons to the pass, in the direction of Cachi. As you ascend, the road conditions descend. This is me crossing one nasty, intruding river. You have to get a running start, gun it, and hope for the best. You can’t see the straight-down 1,500 ft drop off to the left. Nor feel the rear end of my car sliding in the raging current. Nor can you see the road grader with a shovel standing by, ready to push stuck cars out of the muck before they get washed over the edge. There’s a change-of-shorts stop about 1km up the road….. ______________________________ You hardly ever hear much about Salta, the wild northwest corner of Argentina. Google it, not much there.  That’s a good thing. Go there now before everyone else finds out about it. Vast expanses and just about every ecosystem you can imagine, all in a single day. The Andes, unending gorges, high deserts, roaring rivers, great salt flats, few good roads and killer food, wine and music. Geeez, what more can you ask for on a vacation? The next few days I’ll post some of my favorite places in Salta and Jujuy provinces. (Jujuy is just a blast to say…!) #youshouldgohere