Going back to my first trip to Paris in 2007. I was with my sister, her daughter, and their neighbor.
This was from our trip to Notre Dame. We were staying just over the river in the Marais District so we spent a good amount of time in this area.
I remember we took a tour of the church on Tuesday and while we were waiting in line to go into the bell tower we met some college girls who told us the best time to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower was in the evening. They were right! It was beautiful.
We had already visited Montmartre the day before and I love that I had it in the background. The gargoyles were so much fun and I have so many pictures of them! I wonder if they are ok?
There’s nothing like “seeing the colors” on an October weekend in New England!
Our motorcycle gang of 4 people, 3 bikes took off for Vermont on a Friday morning in October of 2015. We stayed at the Grey Ghost Inn in West Dover. On Saturday, we took a ride to Mount Equinox and had an amazing 360 degree view of mountains and valleys.
Of course when you’re on a motorcycle, you take a very circuitous route there and back so I’m sure we spent the entire day riding to a place that is a 2 hour round trip! Of course, there’s stops for snacks, lunch, more snacks, candy…..
Along the way we passed through 2 covered bridges and this beautiful steel bridge. This was taken as we were motoring by and there are 3 or 4 pictures I took leading up to it because I’m always hoping for at least one spectacular shot. I think I succeeded here!
What’s your favorite part of fall? Do you have changing colors where you live? Let me know in the comments!
I have a thing for trees with no leaves. That doesn’t mean I like winter though; I hate cold weather. But I love the sights that trees with no leaves give me.
Central Park
This picture is from February 2009 – so long ago! It was during an overnight trip to New York.
I love the way the branches curve in and out and I can “see” the canopy that the branches with leaves would create during the summer.
We go to New York every December to shop for the holidays but we haven’t been to Central Park is a few years.
In the run up to the November election, I am reading “Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate” by Bob Woodward.
Currently reading – published in 1999
Obviously, since it ends with Clinton (his first term), it’s an older book, however, since I turned 18 during Carter’s reign, it’s all pretty new to me!
It tells of the various scandals of the presidencies, beginning with the end of Nixon, his resignation, and his pardon by Gerald Ford. That was very controversial and seemed to guarantee Ford would be a One and Done president.
It also brought about the ethics bill and the creation of independent councils and special prosecutors. This was due to Nixon firing his appointee to investigate Watergate. Of course the first time it was used was to investigate Hamilton Jordan, Carter’s chief of staff for his “alleged use of cocaine” at Studio 54 in New York! This was based on testimony by the 2 owners of the club who were charged with skimming millions of dollars off the top of the club’s profits and it was requested by Carter’s Attorney General. So odd and such a waste of time and energy to come to a No Probable Cause decision by a grand jury.
I read a biography a year or so ago on Jimmy Carter, “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life” by Jonathan Alter. It was very interesting and gave me a greater appreciation for him. He was out of his league in Washington and I think he could have done so much greater good if he hadn’t wasted his time there. Of course, he’s nearly 100 and had many, many fruitful years after 1980!
I was in college during the uprising in Tehran and the taking of hostages and my school was big on, and made most of their money with, their English as a Second Language program so we had many rich South American, Asian, and Middle East students there. I remember long nights of them watching the news in the recreation room. I remember hating that the hostages were freed after the exchange of the presidency between Carter and Reagan. I was not a fan of Reagan.
I’m currently on the Reagan Era, the Iran Arms Deals, the Contras, and Ollie North. There were a lot of powerful men hiding a lot of crazy shit – or were they really hiding it?
It’s a heavy book of 517 pages but close to 80 of those pages are notes and an index. I may have to have a few palate cleansers nearby because I fear some sections I may slam the book in aggravation!
Have you read it or anything similar? Do you enjoy non-fiction books?
Today’s Hump Day photo comes from the first week long motorcycle trip we took in 2013. We traveled with another couple and 2 single guys from Connecticut, down the Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park, and along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Cherokee North Carolina and back.
Brendan, Chris, and Mark Harley Davidson Factory York PA
This picture was taken in the parking lot of the Harley Davidson factory in York Pennsylvania. It was on the last day of our trip. Because of a rain delay the day before we were running behind. We stayed overnight in York, but I think there either was no Saturday tour or we couldn’t swing the time because we were still a good 6 hours away from home.
About the trip –
We took off in early June and it was cold and rainy. The views were amazing on the Skyline Drive but for much of the ride on the parkway it was cold and foggy! Lesson learned #1 – we need to travel in the summer!
There was one other rider, who is still a good friend. He led the way and the focus was getting in a lot of hours on the bike. Amy, the other female, and I wanted to see sights! Lesson Learned #2 – plan the trip!
We rode on the Tail of the Dragon in Deals Gap, NC and went nice and slow! We went to the top of Chimney Rock and could see Lake Lure where they filmed Dirty Dancing. We stayed in Floyd Virginia and absolutely fell in love with it! We got caught in a monstrous rain storm on the highway and stopped for the day and overnight in Natural Bridge Virginia at this little motel where we pulled the bikes under the overhang and walked to the nearby diner for our meals.
After this trip, we continued to go on day trips, weekend trips, and week long trips with Brendan and Amy and Chris. We all got along so well and enjoyed some really great trips.
This picture reflects the start of those wonderful friendships.
I’m on vacation this week which I’ve told you about in previous posts.
So why not share a picture from today!
Early evening on the water
We had our friends over for a day on the boat and lunch in Wolfeboro. It was still very warm after they left so we went back out to anchor somewhere and spend some time reading.
The smoke from the Canadian fires made the skies very hazy and strange!
I took a trip to Paris in May 2007 with my sister, her daughter, and their friend. We rented an apartment in the Marais District from a friend of mine from California.
Our apartment was about four blocks from the Seine and after we rested, we took off to look around. It was amazing to see all the beautiful buildings and that famous river we’ve heard so much about!
I like this picture because of the couple stealing some moments together on the banks of the river Seine. It is one of the first pictures I took on our trip.
Paris France
Before we left, I studied the Rick Steves’ book on Paris and came up with a list of places we might want to visit. Everyone was willing to follow my suggestions! We went to the Montmatre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Père LaChaise Cemetery, the Louvre, Musee d’ Orsay, and Versailles. We really packed in a lot of sights in 7 days!
Back then, I was taking pictures on one of those small Canon SD600 cameras. I don’t know what type of phone I had back then but it must not have been very good if I didn’t use it for pictures. I took 305 pictures, they are still in my iCloud photos and I still enjoy looking at them and remembering our trip which means another one from this trip might show up sometime!
Today I’m sharing a photo from February 2006. The same sister and her family that we went to Mexico with, we also took a few ski vacations together over the years!
We took a 2 or 3 February vacation trips to Mont Sutton located in Sutton Quebec. It was approximately 6 hours away from our home in Connecticut. We would meet up with my sister and 2 or 3 other families from Rhode Island at The Junction Restaurant in Troy Vermont for lunch. From there, we would cross over the border into Canada. We would stay every trip at an auberge right next to the slopes and rented the entire first floor wing of 8 or so rooms to make sure we had a game room for the kids and so we wouldn’t disturb any other guests! The hotel served us breakfast and dinner and we all brought coolers of food, a microwave, and whatever else we needed to come back to the rooms and have lunch if we wanted. All we had to do was ski.
The Sutton bird
This picture was from our 3rd trip to Canada. It was crazy to see this up in the tree but even funnier was what I thought I saw on the slope. My husband and I were on the chairlift, and I saw a small group of people on the side of the trail. I looked closely and then said to him “why is there a canoe on the trail?” He thought I was insane! What I was looking at was a snowboarder sitting on the ground with his board up on its side edge. From the direction I was looking, it looked like a person in a canoe!! 😂😂 I have a very vivid imagination!
Every time I see this picture in my favorites album I think about all those fun trips we took, and the canoe on the ski slope.
I take so many pictures on my IPhone. 29,386 photos and 1,079 videos to be exact! I have a Canon EOS with three different lenses but it just cannot compete with the instant gratification convenience (my Canon doesn’t have wi-fi).
What should I do with all those photos? First off, delete all the duplicates. But second, Share them! So starting today, on Wednesdays I will share a photo and give the when, where, and why.
This photo was taken during a vacation in August 2021 to visit friends who had a home in the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. While there with 2 other couples and the hosts, we took a trip to Mackinac Island.
It was quite a drive to get to the ferry (although we’d gone to Petoskey on a previous trip) but it and the ferry ride were enjoyable!
Once we got to the island, we had lunch and shopped and then took a horse drawn tour which brought us all over the island. It was such an enjoyable trip and one of the stops was at Arch Rock which looks out onto Lake Huron to the east. Believe me when I say, I took many pictures of this view from every angle.
We also saw the beautiful Grand Hotel on our tour along with a cemetery, and our tour guide had a lot of great information about the island.
Once our tour was over, we walked back down to the town and took the ferry ride back to Mackinaw City and headed home.
I’m very grateful for having met these couples on a Danube River cruise and our visits with them afterward!
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 