I dreamt I walked through the blooming Flower Fields of Carlsbad. A sea of pink, white, red and orange flowers in rows of waves as far as I could see. I stepped into a painting with the breezes blowing off the ocean and could see the ocean from atop the hill. I realized I wasn't dreaming. This was a dream come true.

Celebrating National Parks season kicks off this month in a variety of ways. Here is what you need to know about the when, where and how to celebrate our National Parks, Monuments and Forests.

Heisler Park in Laguna Beach, California is a perfect stop along the Pacific Coast Highway. It's a perfect mix of tropical and wild beach. If you want to truly appreciate how beautiful a beach can be, visit it early in the spring, after a rare Southern California dark and cloudy sky. Any beach can look appealing in bright sunshine and blue skies. For the wanderer that seeks raw and wild beauty where ocean touches the land, this is where you go.

My previous winters in Chicago always left me wishing I could be somewhere warm...

Armacao dos Buzios, Brazil

No one believes my Mother's Day stories. I wouldn't either.