Hot Vacation Spots

As Tera pointed out earlier this week, Las Vegas is hot hot hot in the summer. I happened to be in New Mexico this summer when it hit some record highs. After my cousin's wedding in Carlsbad, this is how hot my car was. Yes, that reads 138 degrees fahrenheit, folks. Even after I started it up and drove on the highway at 70 mph, it only went down to 119. YIKES!

Now, I'm just going to post a few fun photos from New Mexico, which is only one of the nine states I have been in or will be before the summer is over. I hope you enjoy!

Being a cave dweller in Carlsbad Caverns, a Santa Fe sunset, and if you look closely at the Hobbs sign, you'll see tiny me! And here's big me holding a tiny wild turtle. The turtles thought my toenails were strawberries and kept nipping at them at the most unsuspecting moments! Last but not least I enjoyed hanging with the local folk in Roswell.

On the Road Again...

I’m getting ready for yet another trip, and the familiar feeling of having too-much-to-do is starting to hit me again. Packing is so not my thing. Neither is getting up early to head to the airport. I’m not so much for dragging heavy suitcases, either. And don’t get me started about waiting in long lines at the airport, or that anxious feeling that hits my stomach before we take off.

What I am into is getting there.

Once I’ve checked in at the hotel, I’m starting to feel ok. Then, if I’m in a town or city I’ve been before, I make a beeline to nearby haunts – like the place that serves my favorite slice of pizza in Midtown, my favorite plate lunch shack on Oahu, the joint that has the best tacos in Portland. The comfort of familiar places and food calms my travel nerves. Yummy food is somehow a home when I'm far away.

So what if I go to a new destination? Well, I immediately find a favorite food place. When I was in Dallas for a conference with buzz girl Dona a few years ago, I didn’t feel at home until she texted me one morning on my way out of a workshop -- “Found cheap a$$ food! Two streets away at diner!” After being dismayed by the cost of restaurants nearby the hotel, we suddenly had our breakfast place, and everything was right with the world. (And we had pancakes!)

How do you make yourself comfortable when you travel? Can you related to my food location trick? Do you pack pictures of family, friends, or pets to display by your bedside? Do you bring your own pillow? A favorite book to get you through the trip?

I’d love to have some travel tips to pack to today.

Hugs,

Heather

www.heatherdavisbooks.com

The Clearing – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Never Cry Werewolf – HarperTeen

Wherever You Go – Harcourt Fall 2011

P.S. That photo of my kitty is not staged! She is having a sit-in to protest my packing.