Celebrating things Close to Home

I was thinking about what to write about today, the creative juices haven't been flowing freely this week, and as I sat listening to a friend of mine traveling to Europe this week it hit me!

In the next 11 days of her adventure she will be seeing the Iceland Volcano/glazier, the Little Mermaid Statue, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Anne Frank Haus, and a number of places. Some pretty cool things to say the least!

Not all of us have the chance to see places and areas overseas or even in the next state, so today I want to celebrate things close to home. I would like to get a list of fun places to see in each state from the people who actually have lived in the state, but it is hard. NOT because there is little to see in some states, but because so many times we think of a vacation or trip as far away not close to home.

So what if everyone stated within their state and visited interesting places? Where would it take you, me, or them? I have a great state to celebrate - Minnesota. Did you know that you can canoe in the Boundary Waters, go 100's of feet down in an old coal mine, see Paul Bunyan, walk across the headwaters of the Mississippi River, go to one of four professional sporting team events, stand on the shores of one of the largest great lakes, fish in one of 10,000 lakes, visit a full size replica of a Vikings Ship, take a houseboat trip, go white water rafting, agate hunt on the shores or in the fields, tour one of the top ten caves in the USA, visit the home of SPAM, see wild buffalo, visit a wolf and black bear center, or a host of other things - all within 250 miles of where I am at right now! Whoa!

I have done most of the above, some a number of times. There are still things on this short list that I haven't done though. I could add another 150 things that I have done that are not in books or very seldom visited.

I guess my point is that to many times we think we need to go some where far away to see things when all we need to do is look out our backdoor. I love traveling and hope to do it more in the future. I love different cultures, learning about others, getting to see history in the making. I also love to explore my backyard - so this summer enjoy both. If you have a chance to get out and see a new part of the world have a wonderful time. If you don't have that kind of time look for everything around you 250 miles away from where you are right now!

Celebrating things Close to Home today!