Oh the Places I Might Go!

Off topic post again. I was thinking that James and I don't find nearly enough time to go and explore our immediate surroundings much, what with the work load and the wedding planning for the last year. So I put together a list of near(ish) places that I'd like to visit - you know, as a long weekend type dealy.

• New Orleans - I've been to NO twice now, but James has never been. We were thinking of making it an Emeril's pilgrimage, but there are so many fine dining establishments there, it seems like we would be shortchanging ourselves if we only went to Emeril's places.
  
  
• Hot Springs - Never been there. Supposed to be a nice town and there's some beautiful hiking nearby we'd like to do.
  
  
• Big Thicket - can't remember if this is a preserve or national park or state park or what, but it's down near Houston, which means this is NOT a summer trip.
  
  
• Caddo Lake - this is reasonable driving distance for us, the only natural lake in Texas (shared with Louisiana) and it has big cypress trees and such. Good canoeing, apparently.
  
  
• Caprock Canyon and Palo Duro Canyon - these are a bit of a longer drive (may get a Southwest flight out there) not sure if this is one or two weekend trips, not sure how close they are to each other.
  
  
• Durango, CO - James and I found Durango during our trip last year - we drove from Las Vegas back to DFW so we could see the Great American West. James being from England, and I being from Philadelphia, neither one of us had seen much other than a few conferences in Las Vegas before. We loved Durango. James wants to buy a vacation home there. It's so tempting...
  
  
• Chicago - I've been there before, and James has loads of trips there for work, but he's never explored the city, only seen the suburban corporate side of it. Plus we have friends there - Jen, my Scottish friend who I used to work with when I lived in Munich and her Swedish husband Per. They just came to our wedding, and I was so happy to see them. Plus they don't know how long they will be in the US, so we need to motivate ASAP to visit. I'm hoping they will be up for a trip to Wisconsin, so I can add it to my list of states. :-)
  
  
• Lake Texoma - we've hiked the Cross Timbers trail on the Texas side of Lake Texoma, but they apparently have some nice resort hotels up there, and it's only about 45 minutes from our house in McKinney.
  
  
• Canton - okay, this isn't really to visit Canton per se, but to go to First Monday Trade Days, this legendary flea market. I've been told to bring a wheeled suitcase, because you have to buy everything when you find it, because you'll never find it again.
  

Today I have been mostly... cleaing out the kitchen drawers, cabinets and pantry. We have so much stuff now that we got married, we don't have places to put it all. Our friends Frank and Sondra's daughter Katie is headed off to Colorado, so we are putting everything we don't need/want/use/like into boxes for her to peruse. Anything she doesn't take, it's Goodwill time.