Teens' take on travels

SLIDESHOW: See more pictures of Top of Utah teens travels
Summer has gone again.
And now that Utah's students have traded in their sunglasses for marked-up chemistry books and are readjusting their clocks to rise before the sun, the TX. staff offers one last glance at the summer of 2009.
Here are some memories of our staff members' travels, from the beaches of sunny Southern California to the landmarks of far-away France.
Paris
Jessica Fox
Clearfield High
My trip: A tour of northern France, for 10 days.
What did you like best? The first was the countryside. The Loire Valley and the town of Chenonceaux were gorgeous and green and absolutely calming. The second was the people. The French people were particularly nice about speaking slowly and allowing me to practice my French ... not everyone was kind, but the majority were.
What was the worst thing? The bathrooms! You had to check every toilet you used beforehand to figure out how it flushed; they were all different -- buttons, chains to pull, certain parts of the toilets that had to be moved a certain way ... it was insane! I also had to pay a few times to use the bathroom in a public place.
Vacation dining: Nothing can compare to the fresh onion soup I ordered at a restaurant in Chenonceaux. However, after four days I was so sick of eating bread. I never wanted to see a baguette again, let alone eat one for breakfast. There was far too much bread in France, most definitely.
Cool keepsakes: I got two things for myself that I love: a smooth stone picked up off of Omaha Beach in Normandy, and a pair of Chanel sunglasses that cost 250 euros, which is about $357.45. They are gorgeous and I love them!
 
Island Park, Idaho
Sarah Bingham
Weber High
My trip: A week in Island Park; I have a cabin up there.
My favorite foods: Most of the food is our regular food but because we make it up in the woods, it's 10 times more delicious. I love Dutch oven.
What did you bring home? The best souvenir I got was a shirt. I love it because I went with my two other sisters and my shirt said, "I'm the little sister"; my next eldest sister's said, "I'm the middle sister"; and my eldest sister's said, "I'm the older sister." It was so funny to watch people's faces as we walked by wearing those.
What did you like the most? There is so much you can do outdoors. I love nature, I fished and four-wheeled, and it was a blast.
Any downside? The worst thing was probably having a fear of bears because we saw one up there one year.
Costa Rica
Shannon Sousa
St. Joseph Catholic High
My trip: My family went to Costa Rica for nine days, staying in the city and on the beach.
Favorite pastimes: All the activities -- we did the zip-line tour, went "canyoning" -- which included rappelling down 300-foot waterfalls -- hiked in the rain forest during a huge storm, witnessed a volcano spit out hot lava rocks, everything! We even went four-wheeling along the beach. It's one of the best places for active, recreational things to do.
Not-so favorites: The humidity and the roads. Everywhere you go the roads are small and windy, which made for the most uncomfortable transportation. Plus, without major highways, traveling any distance took up a major part of your day.
What about the food? Food in Costa Rica is not like typical Mexican food. There are no tacos or burritos or things like that, most of the time they just eat rice, beans, chicken. They also eat yucca a lot, which is kind of like potatoes. And their bananas and pineapple are fantastic!
Favorite souvenir: A really cool ring made out of bone that is dyed bright pink and cut in a cool swervy shape. I have never seen anything like it here, so it's definitely unique.
Miami
Danielle Downs
Davis High
My trip: I went to Miami, Fla., for a week with my volleyball team for the 2009 Junior Olympics.
What did you like? The ethnic diversity. Since I'm from Kaysville, I look the same as almost everyone, but in Miami there are so many different people and you can hear tons of different languages just walking down the street. At the beach we met some black guys who asked us to take their pictures; they spoke French. Luckily, one of the girls on my team and I understood what they were saying so we could help them out. Experiences like that just don't happen in Utah.
What was the worst thing? The one thing that bothered me was the gap between the rich and the poor. The rich parts of town are really rich and cater to tourists with loads of money. However, mere blocks from the rich part of town were streets with really run-down buildings and people in poverty. One street had close to 30 homeless people just lying around with rats running across the street.
Strange sights: It was weird to see coconuts on the ground. Our team picked some up at a park and we tried to open them. We used the materials in our hotel room, which included a razor, a piece of coral, the plug of an iron, a pen and a butter knife. It took three hours to open the thing because there's this outer husk you don't see when you buy a coconut in the store. We learned about 10 ways of how to NOT open a coconut and why everyone leaves them on the ground to begin with.
Get any souvenirs? I have a whole collection of shells from the North Beach on Miami Beach. It was fun to find them and the best part about it -- they were free!
Europe
Lindsey Larson
Roy High
My trip: I visited Italy, France, Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal, Ireland, France, Belgium and London on a two-week cruise.
Favorite things: Trying all the new foods and seeing the clothing, art and architecture.
Odd things: European beaches -- they just take off their swimsuit tops and walk the beaches. I didn't see any totally nude beaches, but it was still a tad traumatizing.
Dining delights: Europeans know how to eat. I had Belgian waffles and chocolates; gelato (Italian ice cream) one day and glace (French ice cream) the day after (gelato is creamier but glace has a stronger, sweeter flavor); Duck Galantine; beef on top of a creamy polenta (which basically tastes like the best mashed potatoes you will ever eat, even though it is not that); and beef-and-ale pie from Garfunkel's in London. I would love to still be eating this sort of food on a daily basis.
Best souvenirs: Probably my Claddagh from Cork. It's an Irish ring, silver, two hands holding a crowned heart. If the heart is worn toward you, your heart is your own. If the heart points out, your heart is not your own. A close second is my Moulin Rouge compact mirror from Paris.
California
Noelle Johansen
Syracuse High
My trip: I went with four other girls to a beach cottage in Mission Beach, Calif., just outside of downtown San Diego and basically next door to Sea World. Seven whole days with no parents!
Best things: The best part was being two houses from the bay, and a miniscule walk from the glorious ocean.
What about the food? I felt like a college kid, living off of Ramen and sandwiches. But one day we went into San Diego and ate at a darling Italian Bistro. I had lobster ravioli and my mouth might have died of happiness. Don't get me started on the crab legs at Joe's Crab Shack.
Nifty keepsakes: One of my favorite souvenirs was a pair of sunglasses I bought for a mere $8 at Buffalo Exchange. I loved them. I loved them so much that when they flew off of my face at roughly 80 mph while my head was through the sunroof on the freeway. I complained the ears off my driving companions. They might have been sick of it, but they didn't lose their new sunglasses smashed to bits on some Nevada freeway.
Any travel tips? Do it, do it, do it! Travel! Stay in tiny cottages on the beach! It was beautiful and I loved every minute of it. And, when going to Six Flags Magic Mountain, splurge for the flash pass that gets you to the head of the line. It's worth the extra money, unless you're content with getting heatstroke while waiting in line for four roller coasters.
 
Wyoming
Dezarae Beaman
Syracuse High
My trip: To Wilson, Wyo., to see the Bar J Wranglers in concert. It was a one-day trip; we left about noon and got back around 2 in the morning.
What did you like best? It's beautiful country, great food, and terrific comedy.
Any strange sights? One of the comedians dressed in a sequined shirt for part of his routine, complete with fake buck teeth.
Dining delights: Oh, the food was amazing! It's all cooked fresh and is an almost "authentic" cattle-drive meal.
My favorite keepsake: T-shirts. We weren't going to get anything, but Dad spilled on his shirt, so we each ended up with one. They're exactly what we wanted.
What was the worst thing? The long drive was AWFUL! We were cramped in the car for close to 10 hours altogether.
Alaska
Jimmy Dotson
Davis High
My trip: I went to Alaska for one week with my dad and some other members of my family.
What was the best thing? I loved being able to unwind in the beauty of Gustavus, Alaska. Both hiking in the thick, mossy forests and being out on the ocean fishing for some of the largest halibut in the world.
What was unusual? I caught a 190-pound halibut, and snapped the pole in two while bringing it up. We nearly ran over a whale in our boat. And while fishing for bait (which are fish large enough to be considered a "catch" here), you could land five to seven fish in one "cast" easily. It was such a blast!
The food: I'm not a fish eater but being next to the ocean, and on a fishing trip, I ate way more fish than I ever had in my life -- halibut and chips, crab bisque, lemon halibut, and salmon and rice. I'm still not a fish fan, but I'm glad to have had that experience. Oh, and eating sandwiches on the boat after handling slimy fish (with only salty ocean water to clean up with) was quite the experience.
Favorite keepsake: I got to bring home the pole that snapped in two. An "Ugly Stik" snapping from a literal ton of weight on it is quite the ear-splitting pop. The shock of it stunned me for some time. Me, with a stupid wide-eyed expression on my face holding my fishing pole bent in half, must have been quite the comic sight.
Any travel advice? Alaska in the summer is still cold, so bring a hoodie and pants for sure. If you get seasick, be prepared to hurl off the side of the boat. Go with a hearty appetite for fish.
Uinta Mountains
Julia Saxton
Roy High
My trip: I went to the Uintas to my friend's cabin -- not too far, but it was my first time there. We stayed three days.
What was the best thing? It was peaceful because it's nature and we weren't surrounded by anyone. We could just relax and know that the drama of the world was at least a few miles away.
Anything you didn't like? The moths, because they would be all over the cabin at night! We would have to catch them or kill them all around the house. But it was funny at the same time chasing those little creatures around.
Out-of-the-ordinary sights: A moose! I have never seen one in person before but we were hiking and it just popped up on the trail. Not gonna lie, it was an intense moment. I was a little scared. It was only about 10 feet in front of us. Surprisingly it just kept moving and crossed the trail. And we got a picture of it, so people would actually believe us.
My favorite souvenir: A picture of my friends and I in front of the sunset, because one friend was leaving soon after the trip. I can keep it in my room and remember all the fun times we had at the cabin. It's better than a dorky T-shirt any day!
One thing more: I learned how to skip rocks at the lake and that was a lot of fun. I've never been an outdoors person because I didn't grow up around it. We never go camping or anything. It made me appreciate nature a lot more, and gave me the chance to truly enjoy it.
Southern California
Robby Barr
Fremont High
My trip: Six days in Hollywood, Los Angeles and Anaheim, Calif.
Thumbs up and thumbs down: The weather was great. Sea breezes are the best in the summer; I love Cali climate. The worst was all the walking, because I'm lazy and out of shape.
Take-home treasures: The only souvenir I got was a "Nightmare Before Christmas" beach towel because they didn't have those creepy Mickey T-shirts that I wanted.
Oddest thing I saw: The La Brea Tar Pits, in L.A.
Yummy vacation foods: I ate at some of the most delicious places: a farmers market, Pink's hot-dog stand, Roscoe's chicken and waffles, plus plenty of fast food you can't get in Utah.
Travel tips: Know where you're going and know what you're doing. You don't want to be lost in Hollywood.