I think it's time for a bit of light relief. I'm asking
that everyone share their most memorable holiday ... (It can be
memorable for a variety of reasons)...
I'll go first.

The holiday I'll never forget was a few years ago. We were living
in Los Angeles. It was during our winter break that we chose to
holiday in a place filled with soaring cliffs, plunging waterfalls,
gigantic trees, rugged canyons, sheer walls of granite, mountains
and valleys, otherwise known as Yosemite National Park.

We had gone skiing in Badger Pass high above Yosemite Valley.
It was late in the afternoon, on our way down to the valley, the
road had black ice in the shadows. The road was cut into a very
steep mountainside. Our car started to skid on the ice but we
managed to get control.

However at the next steep bend the car started to slide towards
the edge. No amount of steering corrected the drift towards the
precipice. The side wheels hit a mound of snow on the edge of the
road built up by snow ploughs and the car rose up on two wheels
ready to tumble down the near vertical slope to the valley
way down below.

Suddenly the car stopped sliding. The windows were coverd with
snow. I was completely terrified and shaken.

My husband climbed out to help me out.
Lucky for us the car had slid onto a tree stump
at the side of the road. If that tree stump
wouldn't have been there - we would have have been goners.
The back of the car was 6 feet above the slope.

At that moment a car full of skiers came along and with the aid of
our tow cable they managed to drag our car back onto the road.
No damage was done to the car. I can't say the same for us. To this
day I have a morbid fear of mountain roads. Anyway, we continued our
journey back to the safety of our hotel in the valley.

That was one holiday I'll never forget.

What's yours?

Foxy I share your fear of high mountain roads but with far less reason. :)

My most memorable holiday was being pushed back towards the south by army tanks in Sri Lanka after an increase in skirmishes with the Tamil uprisings. That put a dampner on our trip but then we headed off other parts and all was good.

Another bizare experience was being pursued by a Japanese businessman on a plane while on a trip to the US. He could not take No for an answer - he was about 45 and I was 21 and he was a dirty old man in my view. Even in the transit lounge in Los Angeles he stuck to me like glue telling me about his riches and that he could 'keep' me in one of his penthouses. He did not understand how someone could not be enticed by material goods and luxury and thought I was playing hard to get. I was glad when I finally reached my destination. Travelling on a plane as a single woman was not a great idea in hindsight and I would never had done it but was going to start a new job and take a holiday at the same time.

Foxy dear
The next one. Whenever where it is.

Pelican,
So it was you who broke my heart not foxy...just kidding:-)
Ps. Do you know if he has a rich sister? I fancy being a sugared daddy

Dear Pelican,

Gosh, your holiday account brought back some memories...

Back to my days at Uni. I had a total crush on my English
Lit. lecturer. I'd been instantly attracted to this tall,
lanky dark-haired, brown-eyes, desert-booted Adonis,
with the sensuous mouth and crooked smile, whose eyes had
caught mine mesmerized, across the crowded lecture theatre.

When he tapped me on the shoulder after the lecture, and
asked if he could buy me a cup of coffee, I accepted.
Anyway, to make a long story short. That winter he invited me
for a holiday at a friend's ski-lodge. I was very excited at
the prospect, and everything went well - until we got to
the lodge and I noticed his putting his luggage and mine into
the one bedroom. I politely inquired where he was going to sleep?
He slept on the couch, but my holiday ended the next morning,
he took me home. Never asked me out again...

nice one Foxy, mines a toss up between 2.

a week in Broken Hill, seeing both the working mine(over 4oo km of road under the surface) and the 100 yo Daydream mine, desert sculptures and desert peas, picnics in dry river beds and Maidens at a full Menindee Lakes. Red river gums and the beautiful Darling. Eagles everywhere, big reds and parrots. and the pubs.
Then down the Darling and across to Lake Mungo with its ancient layers of green and purple clays laid out like miniature worlds, changing colour before my eyes as the sun set. Huge white dunes perfectly smoothed by the wind with one lone set of emu tracks disappearing in the distance.

or the red centre, particularly Kings Canyon with its majesty and magic. Awe inspiring surrounds, impossibly beautiful waterholes and wildlife. Also the mighty mighty Finke River, dotted with waterholes on its way to the desert. And my search for the Western quoll, who are out there somewhere. The night sky.

Desert holidays are my favorites, shared with the one I love.

Dear palimpsest,

More please, more, more, more...

How beautifully you described it all.
I can just visualize it and it made me
actually drool.

I also love the desert, the colours are
stirring,and the sunsets - magnificent.
A totally different world.

I recently went to the IMAX theatre at the
Melbourne Museum and saw the "Grand Canyon Adventure."
It was awesome.

Ah well, back to the real world.