I’m really not sure if I’m going to be able to pull it off or not, but, just in case, I’m gathering all the information that I can. I want to know (as close to) exactly how much everything will cost, so that I can really figure out if I can go or if there is just no possible way.

IZEAFest happens in Orlando, Florida from September 11-13, and I think it is going to be a TON of fun! I know my friends that went to PostieCon, as the conference was called last year, had a REAL blast!! And it would be great to – NO – WONDERFUL, to meet face to face other people like me who obsessively stay on their computers – that alone would be priceless!

I’ve been looking into the various hotels in area, to see how much they’d cost. I just love the internet, ya’ll. You used to have to get on the phone and call each hotel and ask a million questions, just to get the information you needed. Then the internet came around, and at first, you had to go online and check out each hotel’s website to see how much they cost and what all they provided. Now, however – there are websites that gather all of that information for you. However did we function before this thing called ‘internet’ came around? Ha!

The first one I’m looking at is Hotels Combined. On their site, I enter check in date and check out date, number of guests and rooms, and the city – and it does a search for me based on those criteria. It comes back with a list of 327 possible hotels, but, also – more search parameters, so that I can dig deeper. I like the way the search results are laid out, though. They are each boxed off, and easy to read, with a little picture of the hotel, and user ratings, and 1-5 smileys for reviews. And most importantly, the price is clearly and boldly marked. There is a Holiday Inn for $80 or $89/night. If I got three other people to share the room with, that is not bad at all. I would just need to find out how far that is to the convention, as that could be an issue.

Oh darnitall! That is eighteen miles away from the conference – that would definitely be too far. Ok, back to the drawing board! I’m definitely going to keep digging around and try to figure all of this out. I think I’m going to also look on Expedia.com and there is a new one that I haven’t yet heard of, TripAdvisor.com. Well, ok, it might not be new, but, I haven’t heard of it before. Oh yeah, it’s definitely not new – SEO for Firefox tells me it was created in 2000! Duh me! Anyway, I’m going to keep looking and see if I can make this happen.

I think the most expensive part is actually going to be getting there and food. And I do actually know that quite a few Punkymoms live in Orlando – so who knows…

Ever since having a German next door neighbor last year, I have been so intrigued by Germany. I never really knew that much about it until I met Sonja, and she made it sound like such an interesting place. And the food she would bake for us – yummm! Every few days Sonja would knock on the door with some new taste treat that she had baked up and made sure to make plenty for us! She would often make German bread, because, she complained that our American bread was just too thin and light. Her bread was so delicious!

Being friends with her made me feel as though I was ‘experiencing’ some of Germany, but it would be really cool to actually go there and experience it! And from what I am finding online, the hotels in Germany look really neat. I mean, some of them sort of look like what you would find here, but, a lot of them just have really neat and different architecture than what I see here in Alabama.

I think one of the most exciting things for me to see would be the castles! The castles in Germany are called ‘burgs’ and they are all unique and different. That is so cool that they are not all your typical castle. I love that they vary so much in architecture and design. The Wartburg Castle is one of the oldest in Germany. It was built 938 years ago! That would be so amazing and would render me completely speechless. I get spellbound here in the States with 100 year old houses and such. I can’t even imagine being in a building that old!

I would definitely want to see The Berlin Wall. Going to Germany and not seeing it would be like going to Paris and not seeing The Mona Lisa. So I would definitely want to find about hotels in Berlin.

I would also look into hotels in Munich, so that I could see some of those old churches there. The on that is the oldest parish church in Munich has a very ornate interior and you can walk to the top of it, I’m assuming in a tower – and have a wonderful view of the city. But the one that I would love to see is this one:
It is the Heilig Geist, and I can’t find a whole lot of information on it online, but, the picture alone is haunting me. I’m going to have to keep looking and see what I can find out about it.

That is what my sweet little girl said to me the other day. I have been feeling sad that I am not going to Postie Con and BlogWorldExpo – two back-to-back blogging conventions happening in Las Vegas, that a bunch of my friends are going to – and that I could learn a whole lot from! Not to mention, have a great time!

And on that particular morning, I was feeling uber sad that I wasn’t even going to get to meet up with some of the PayPerPost crew in Atlanta, one of their many stops along the Blog America Tour. Ted Murphy, CEO of PPP, and a few guys decided to make a road trip from Orlando to Las Vegas for the conventions. And that way, they could stop at cities along the way, meeting posties as they go! They have been Twittering their whole trip, though, and so that has been fun to keep up with.
This is a pic of my friend, Colleen and her nephew with Ted and Ashley, from PayPerPost at their stop in Florida.

And knowing my sweet Punkymoms, I wouldn’t even have to pay for a hotel!

Now that sounds like a trip!

EasyToBook.com provides all kinds of information on hotels in various cities. You can get discounted rates on all levels of hotels, because, the hotels book rooms directly through the Easy To Book system, and that is cheaper for them to do. You also do not have to pay any reservation fees. They give a lot of information on each hotel to help you make your decision better. They tell prices, obviously, but, they go much further than that. They let you know about all the different services and room services available, times for check in and check out, information on taxes, and even distances to popular sites nearby.

The site features two of my favorite, dream destination cities. The first one is New York. Thanks to my wonderful mother, I have actually already made this trip, but, we are both wanting to go back very badly. So I am always looking at New York hotels and sites online, planning the next trip in my head.

One of the other places that I have always wanted to go is Paris. I honestly don’t know if this trip will ever happen, but, it is so exciting to ‘plan’ it anyway! I love checking out all of the things people do when they visit Paris. With all of the maps provided on EasyToBook.com, I can get my trip all planned out!

Ever since I moved to Alabama, I keep hearing about North Carolina and it just sounds so beautiful! I’ve even made some lovely blogging friends that live there! And now I’ve just heard about this contest to win a FREE Raleigh Getaway. Quoting from the site, this is all that you get if you win:

* One night accommodations for two at the Courtyard by Marriott Raleigh Crabtree Valley
* $25 gift certificate to Bloomsbury Bistro
* Free VIP admission for two to Rum Runners
* 2 tickets to the North Carolina Theatre
* 2 tickets to the N.C. Museum of Art’s Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism
* 2 tickets to Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries at the N.C.
Museum of Natural Sciences

I don’t know about you, but, that sounds like a lot of fun to me! But there is even so much more than just that to do in Raleigh! There is an Autumn Arts Festival downtown that sounds like a lot of fun, with music, food, and arts and crafts from local craftsmen. Also, there is the North Carolina State Fair, with all kinds of games, side shows, rides, and tons of food! And while at the fair, you could see Trace Adkins in Concert – that would definitely be awesome!

I am definitely signing up to see if I can win this trip – it would be so wonderful for my husband and I to have a Fall Getaway, just the two of us! I’d say – after fifteen years of marriage, we’re due, don’t you think?

It looks like the fall colors in Raleigh are just absolutely beautiful and that would be so nice to experience, but, even better than that – is the theater! There are tons of shows in Raleigh! They have Mamma Mia! coming up and that looks like it would be really good – it might be hard to drag Mark there, as it’s a musical. People who just shut their eyes and ears to great theater, just because ‘it’s a musical’ – are so silly! They are really missing out on a lot! And Tyler Perry’s What’s Done In the Dark sounds intriguing. I can’t tell if that one is a musical or not. I’ll have to do some more research on that.

Anyway, this sounds like a fantastic trip – I’d love to win it!

Several years ago, I picked up a book that was so interesting and helpful (and one that I definitely need to read again!) called Clear Your Clutter. I loved the book and the author’s way of looking at things so much, that I went out and bought another of her books, and it was all about the ancient art of Feng Shui. I was so taken with this author and her take on things and her way of living – she had me in a trance, almost. And she lives in Bali – she had gone there to visit, and loved it so much she just moved there. She sprinkles bits and pieces of information about Bali throughout her books. And ever since, I have wanted to go there so badly. She just made it sound like the most wonderful place.

I was looking at this website that lists discount Asian hotels, and I was floored at some of the prices! It was absolutely amazing – and there were pictures and full descriptions of the places and none of them look like dives. They actually list a whole range of prices, so there are expensive ones listed there, too. But from looking further into the site, one of the very cheapest ones so far is my favorite. It’s $34 a night and it’s a 3-star establishment. What is really cool about this site is that there customers can write reviews of the hotels. That is one of my favorite things about the net these days – you can always hear from other consumers before you shop or buy. And the site has the cutest logo:I’ve never traveled out of the country before, and I think Asia would be a good place to start. There are so many things about Eastern cultures that I admire, so visiting that area of the world would definitely be a good experience. I’d love to start in Bali, and now I know a good website to look for hotels in Bali. I love that they include multiple pictures for each hotel – some of the rooms look positively dreamy! It would be so awesome to get to travel there and see what life is like over there.

How’s that for just plain dreamy? That is a four-bedroom lodge in Branson, Missouri. I, personally, would like to call it home – not vacation spot. I would kill for a home like that! And I’ve heard so much cool stuff about Branson. I’ve just had fun this morning checking into some Branson real estate – I’ve found out all kinds of cool information, including how great their schools sound! Now, someone correct me if I’m wrong, but, I’m thinking of Branson, as the place where an asian guy who is a FABULOUS country singer or something, went and turned this place into the next Las Vegas. And now it has all these casinos and stuff. I think I might be way off base here, folks. Someone correct me…. But I did read some wonderful things about the place. Along with a great, hip and happenin’ night life, they’ve got amazing geographical beauty and wonderful outdoorsy stuff to do! You know I dig that! And like I said, it also sounds like they’ve got really great schools! Anyway, my family and I stayed in a lodge like that in Colorado, and I just loved it – I think it would so cool to actually get to live in it!

I could sure use one – I’m completely exhausted. I was meandering around on the web and I found some really nice sites in Pennsylvania that I would like to see. It would be really cool if I could take a little vacation there. It would be so relaxing to stay in a Pennsylvania bed and breakfast. And then each day, head out and see some cool sites. There is a really neat building built by Frank Lloyd Wright there. It’s called ‘The Falls’ as it was built right on top of a waterfall. I’ve always been interested in architecture by him. There was a theatre in Dallas that we used to go to that I was told was built by him, too. The house embodies a very powerful ideal – that people can learn to live in harmony with nature. I love the sound of that! And speaking of nature, I’d love to see some of the beautiful foliage that surrounds the falls in the Poconos, that are known as the ‘Niagara of Pennsylvania’. It really does sound like a beautiful place – a really good place for me to get some rest. 😉

One of my Punkymom friends just got back from Maine and she let us see all of her pictures. It just looks so beautiful and idyllic. They were there ten days and had only two days of sun, but, even in her cloudy pictures, there is something so peaceful and ‘storybook’ about it, you know? That was one of my folks’ favorite places to travel and I can definitely see why. My friend has family there, so she of course stayed with them, but, I think if I went I would definitely try to stay in a Maine bed and breakfast. Ever since my brother’s wedding, where we stayed in a B&B, I’ve become sort of obsessed with them! I’ve always been obsessed with old houses, though, so I don’t know why it took staying in one to make me so crazy about them. Maybe it was too many years of watching Newhart, that turned me off prior to that! Theirs wasn’t a really old house, though, so it just seemed annoying. It might have just seemed annoying to me, because, it was from the owner’s perspective, and owning one, I’m sure – could be a pain in the neck! But Maine just seems like the most perfect setting to stay in a B&B! The whole historical, and laid back, atmosphere would be just right!