The Bucket List

I have had a 'to do' list as long as I can remember.  I had never formally called it a bucket list, but in reality, that is what it is.  I have become more aware of the dwindling time frame for me to complete this list.  The travel portion quite frankly is a challenge.  My husband and I have virtually no help whatsoever from our families and with our sons’ food allergies, traveling is difficult.  Because we have no one to leave them with for us to go away together, we take the boys wherever we go.  And finances are unfortunately a limitation as well.  We go on long weekends and stay where I can take and prepare food, and we also stay at a condo in Vermont for one week each year, but for the foreseeable future, long flights and international travels are simply not feasible.  However they do remain on my list.  I am hopeful that in a few years we will be able to visit at least a few of these places.

Probably the most unattainable item on my bucket list is riding on Air Force One. (but I really, really want to)  Ever since I saw the movie Air Force One with Harrison Ford, I've always wanted to not only see it, but board it and take a ride, even if it was only skipping cities!  Meeting the President would be great as I've never met a POTUS before.  And of course I'd need a photo of me walking down the steps. 

I've been tweeting the following, but haven't gotten a response... Next time you're in town @BarackObama - Can I have a ride on Air Force One? I'll take a commercial flight home pleeease #BucketList 

                     If you follow me on Twitter and see this tweet, feel free to RT!

I would love to meet and get a photo with Bruce Willis.  Yippee Ki Yay!!  Call me maybe?

                        Go on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and meet Ellen!

                             Swim with the dolphins..

Visit British Columbia and see a pod of killer whales (Orcas) in the wild.  

       Go on a whale watch and see a whale breach.

My son is a huge Derek Jeter fan and I would love to get a photo of him with Derek Jeter.  We've been to Yankee Stadium, but can't get near Jeter.  We may be going this spring.   CAN SOMEONE HELP???  

            Front row seats to a Maroon 5 concert.  

Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and have dinner at an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn.

Take a photography workshop given by a very talented photographer I know.  She runs them every few months. (can't make any of the ones this Jan/Feb) but hoping to cross this off the list this spring! 

   

        Ride in a hot air balloon. 

                         Skydive.  Just once...  

       

                  Visit the Grand Canyon.

Rent a camper and drive to Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore and Glacier National Parks. (And more of the national parks if we can squeeze them in!)

     Visit a ghost town.  

                         Bike riding in Nantucket.

       Learn to surf.  

        Lose 35 pounds (working on it!)  

Hire a private chef for a month who can work around the dairy, egg and nut allergies.

Spend a week on David Copperfield's private island.

    

        Visit Hawaii.

    Go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Watch the ball drop in Times Square from a room at the Marquis Marriott.  

Spend a week in a suite at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan at Christmastime.

I dream of spending a month in France, climbing to the top of the Eiffle Tower, walking along the many bridges in Paris, picnicking on wine and cheese in the beautiful parks and visiting the famous sights of the city.  


Then onto a tour of the countryside with a few days lounging on the beautiful French Riviera.

Seeing the pyramids in Egypt is the one thing I really hope I can do before I die.  With all the unrest in that part of the world today, I would not even consider going.  But someday I would love to spend at least a month there, visiting the pyramids, some of the famous temples, the lighthouse at Alexandria, riding a camel, taking a cruise on the Nile, and hot air ballooning over Luxor.  

It is a dream of mine to go back to Italy and rent a car in Florence, taking the back roads through Tuscany to ultimately wind up in Rome.  No set itinerary, just drive and stop at some of the towns along the way and stay wherever it suited us.  

I would love to attend a Mardi Gras.

It would be so cool to have a NASCAR Racing Experience and drive a NASCAR race car on the track. 

I want to rent a camper for a weekend in Talladega for a NASCAR race weekend with my sons (and husband if he wants to go, he's not a big NASCAR fan).

Washington, DC is on our list of family things to do. 

Visiting Disneyworld is also another family vacation we would like take someday.  

Williamsburg, VA is another family vacation we would like to do.  My sons really enjoy history we love exploring these historical locations. 

Attend a Somewhere in Time weekend at Mackinac Island in Michigan at the Grand Hotel. 





I want to learn to take better photos.  I would love to be able to do something with photography, not quite sure what!  But I need to perfect some technical skills. 

Visit all 43 Presidential sites - we have been to 2 so for, Calvin Coolidge & Chester Allen Arthur, both in Vermont.

I want to have my 15 minutes of fame in a movie or on TV.

I want to do something that really makes a difference in someone's life.


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I have done a few things that were on my list.  I had always wanted to spend summers at the beach and two years ago I had the opportunity to rent a beach house for 4 weeks.  This summer will be the third summer we spend a month at the Narragansett beaches.  

My husband and I honeymooned in Italy in September, 2000.  We spent 12 days touring many cities and towns including Capri, Sorrento, Positano, Ravenna, Florence, Rome, Milan, Venice, Bellagio, Sangimniano, Padua and even Lake Lugano in Switzerland.  We climbed to the top of the Duomo in Florence and rode on a gondola in Venice, another item on my bucket list.

I always wanted to have a luau party and for my 50th birthday this summer, we had one at the beach house.  It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun.  

        Rode an elephant. 

Went down into a cave. (Howe's Caverns in Cobbleskill, NY). 






I unfortunately don't have photos of the following adventures:  

I have been on a Carribean cruise, visited St. Martin with friends, and had a week long vacation in Antigua many years ago.
Went on a Jolly Roger booze cruise in St. Martin and several of us jumped off the boat and swam to shore - that was pretty fun!

Do you have a bucket list?  What have you done already?  What are some of the things you would like to do most or places you really must see?