The first year my family started this tradition of going on a big summer trip was in the summer of 2006. We went to Washington D.C. When we went to D.C. we stayed at the Hotel Washington. This hotel had the view of the White House. The hotel had a restaurant on top of the building, and when you sat up there you could see the body guards on top of the White House. When I went to Washington D.C., my family did a lot of site seeing. We went to places like the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, and we even got to go into the White House. Little did me and my sister know, my mom and dad surprised me and my sister with a surprise visit from our best friends from Iowa. The rest of our trip then was spent with our friends, we went to this restaurant and to enter you had to knock on the door. Washington D.C. has late night bike rides you can take to get a view of the night. This was a very fun trip, if you like looking at important documents and learning about the history of our country, this is the place for you. Washington D.C. was a great trip, but the best part was when our friends came.

In the depths of the Grand Canyon, walking down the side with no ledge or railing.  The summer of 2007 I went to the Grand Canyon. When you first think of the Grand Canyon you say what is so exciting about a hole in the earth? However, when you actually think about it, it takes your breath away when you think nature created this. When we were at the Grand Canyon we went on a boat trip down the Colorado River, and when we stopped my sister pushed me in the 40 degree water. It was freezing,s o I had to get up and try to warm up again. After we went to the Grand Canyon we went to the Grand Tetons. We stayed up in a cabin, and the only thing there to do was to swim in the pool. Last, we went to Yellow Stone. Yellow Stone was fun with all the geyser and the anticipation of the geyser's water shooting up. The biggest geyser at Yellow Stone is Old Faithful. The have this huge clock that tells you the countdown to when the water is going to fly out, so of course my family waited for an hour just to see this geyser explode. This was a fun trip, the only negative was how hot is was there. Look on the bright side you would get very tan.

The summer I was going into 6th grade, my family went to Denmark and Paris, France for vacation. Everybody always asked why I went to Denmark, and the real reason is because my grandma is from Denmark and she came on the vacation with us, so she wanted to see where her parents grew up. Denmark was actually a very cool city.The only down side was people there smoke a lot, so it was a lot of holding your breath. However, the unique restaurant, Danish speaking people, and the beautiful landmarks made up for it. Then we went to Paris... my favorite city in the whole world. In an apartment with a beautiful view that looked onto a river and the Notre Dame Cathedral just a look away was like paradise without the palm trees. With little cafes on every corner made you have this warm, comfortable feeling inside. My favorite day of all was when we went to the Eiffel Tower, although tickets were sold out to go to the very top we still went up pretty far. After, riding the elevator up, I persuading my parents to walk all the way down with me and of course they did. Even though it was step after step, I was glad I did it when I finally got to the bottom. Of course, I was always sad to leave I had a great time and I would definitely suggest going to Paris. I would go back in a blink of an eye.

When I first heard that I was going to Canada for vacation, I questioned my mom a little bit. However, I decided to give it a try, it was a new adventure for all of us. We flew into Buffalo, New York. and rented a car to drive to Niagara Falls. We stayed there for a few days; from there we went to Toronto, Canada. This wasn't my favorite destination, but it was unique. Then the difficult part came, we went to Montreal, Canada. Montreal is in Quebec, and this is where they speak French. After we visited Montreal we visited New Hampshire for a night and Vermont for a night. In Vermont, my family went through these caves. I can say I did get a little Closter phobic, but after we went through all of them I wanted to do them again and again. Then, we went to Boston, Massachusetts where we visited Paul Revere's house, and then from the house we followed this yellow line, that I swear ran a few miles, and we just kept following it. Boston was fun, but our last location was definitely my favorite by far. We went to New York City. In New York City we went shopping every day, which included Canal Street. You definitely have to visit Canal Street, it's a little scary, but the experience that counts. Overall, this trip was fun, although I would suggest doing it in two trips because it was to much for one, but it was still amazing.

When I heard the news that I was going to Hawaii for the summer, I think I almost cried. I was so excited for the trip I packed two weeks in advance. I have to say this has to be one of the best trips I have ever been on. The flight was nine hours, and it was kind of scary flying over the Pacific Ocean for almost half of it. However, it was worth it when you got there, they greeted you when you got off the plane with those flower necklaces. Right when you stepped off the plane it felt like paradise. We first went to Oahu, which has the capital of Honolulu located in the middle of the island, and is where we stayed. Everyone was so friendly there, and since Honolulu was the capital it was kind of busy, but it was a really nice city. We stayed there for 6 days, but I never wanted to leave since we went to the beach and pool every day. Then we went to Maui for 5 days, which a lot more relaxing than Oahu, but still very fun. In Maui we rented this house that was right in the ocean. I would take walks every day because the weather was beautiful. In Maui we went on the Hana Highway, which contained curvy roads that got you a little queasy. However, the beautiful scenery took all the dizziness away. Along the way you could stop and they would have special spots where you could go and jump off rocks, which was very fun for me at least.

The most recent trip I was on was to California. With our Delta miles we got a few nights free, which is always key. We first started in San Francisco, and went site seeing to Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, and the largest Godiva chocolate store. San Francisco was definitely windy, but as long you wore a light jacket you were okay. Then, we went to Los Angeles which was my favorite by far. In Los Angeles we went to the Kodak Theatre, Rodeo Drive with all the high end stores, and then went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame with all of the celebrities stars. While we were walking down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, we saw Joan Rivers, the fashion police on E. It was very cool getting to meet her. She was filming for one of her TV shows., and I think I got in the camera a little bit so they had to cut me out. Lastly, we went to San Diego where the weather was perfect. We went to the San Diego Zoo, visited beaches, and ate at fabulous restaurants. San Diego weather makes the trip worth it. When stayed at mostly Hiltons on our vacation, and they all treated us nicely at our stay there.  California is a amazing place to visit, and all four hours of the plane trip your adrenaline is rushing because you are so excited to get there.