Conquering mountains and Vegas expenses

ByABC News
December 18, 2008, 3:48 PM

— -- Best experience

Unleashing my long-dormant inner artist at an Artista Creative Safaris' women-only "intuitive painting" workshop in Carmel, Calif., made me understand why learning vacations and girl getaways are so hot right now. Guzzling wine and splashing acrylic paint to music got creativity flowing aided by chocolate, gal talk and a Cosmo-fueled, fruitless search for local icon/inn owner Clint Eastwood.

I'm still in touch with three participants and have four new abstract paintings on display at home. Guests get extra points for praising them.

Worst experience

My beau and I slogged all day through mud on a generally wonderful self-guided walking tour in the hilly vineyard region of Piedmont, Italy, getting lost when the printed instructions didn't make sense. I developed shin splints that made hobbling to that night's lodging painful. We looked forward to staying at an agriturismo a farm that takes in guests. But the chain-smoking hippie-ish owner seemed more interested in drinking on the terrace with his pals than greeting us, and the manager (a young man whose looks were better than his inn-keeping skills) shrugged dismissively when I asked to change to a quieter room from one overlooking the patio revelry.

We stayed in dirty quarters with a sliver of soap and a nearly used-up roll of toilet paper. We came, we saw, but the partiers and their midnight disco music conquered.

Most unexpected experience

In the wilds of the West, under the jagged Grand Tetons in Wyoming, this luxury-hotel specialist attempted off-road biking (slippery and scary) and rock climbing (slippery and scarier) on a multi-sport adventure tour from The World Outdoors. Surprisingly, I kept my mettle as I staggered to the top of windswept 10,000-foot Avalanche Peak and later as a herd of seemingly peaceful buffalo turned feisty and charged uncomfortably close as we pedaled across Antelope Flats.

Best bargain

I'm putting my money on Vegas. LasVegasAdvisor.com value maven Anthony Curtis taught me to parlay free membership in casino players' clubs into complimentary blackjack bets; a tasty 99-cent shrimp cocktail in a tulip-shaped sundae glass at the Golden Gate casino downtown; and a $6.99 sirloin dinner with big salad, baked potato, green beans and homemade root beer at locals-favorite Ellis Island casino.