Let’s pretend today is Wednesday! Unless you had such a horrible Wednesday, you’d rather forget it….
This was taken in October 2013. It was another fun travel trip with my sister, Janice, and her daughter Julie. We shared driving duties from Connecticut to Las Vegas, and then Jan and I would hop on planes and fly home.
We planned the trip to allow us to see a little of the area along the way. We timed our day right to stop at this site mid-morning and enjoy the grounds and the view from the TOP.
In July 2016, five people and three bikes took off from Wallingford, Connecticut, for a cruise around Pennsylvania. The trip was inspired by our 2012 trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway through Gettysburg. My head was on a swivel as we went through the middle of town coming home from that trip and I knew I wanted to go back some day!
We prepared for the trip in February by checking out the state on a map looking for sites and hotels and planning our route.
I took so many pictures during our trip and one of the sites I couldn’t get enough of was Fallingwater.
This home was designed in the mid-1930s by Frank Lloyd Wright for Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann who met him through their son Edgar jr. The home is cantilevered over the falls of Bear Run!
The family, through Edgar jr., continued to own the house through the early 1960s, when he turned over the home and 1,500 acres to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. It’s a beautiful home in a gorgeous location and the ride on the motorcycles to it was filled with rolling hills, forest, and farmland.
Have you ever been to any of these locations? Tell me in the comments!
Write about your most epic baking or cooking fail.
Picture this –
I’m standing at the kitchen counter in my pretty pink Izod polo shirt with the alligator and a popped collar (hey, it was the ‘80s!) and I am blending broccoli, something, and something else, hoping it will turn into a tasty broccoli soup.
Unfortunately, I failed to make sure the lid was on tight enough! The top flies off and green liquid is flying everywhere – and it’s HOT!
After I freak out and regain my senses, I turn off the blender and begin cleaning up in my pretty pink Izod polo shirt that is now covered in broccoli soup.
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?
Lordy, what a day I had! Within one hour the dog threw up on the carpet, I got caught behind a funeral procession (thankfully small and just heading from St. Paul’s to In Memoriam), there was construction going on at the corner of Ives Road and Route 5, CVS pharmacy was busy, and the train gates came down just as I got out there. Oh well. Dog’s fine, someone’s laid to rest, and my husband has his prescription. All’s right with the world.
Biddeford Maine 2022
This photo was saved in my favorites. This was from a family vacation to Biddeford Maine. We rented a cottage maybe 1/4 mile from the beach. My niece, her husband, and two children live there and we got to spend a week with them. At the time they were almost 3 and almost 1. We all just loved being with them!
I took this on one of our morning walks. I can’t be near the ocean without taking 100s of pictures! Especially a sunrise or sunset!
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.
Mark and I are spending the week at a cute little cottage in Alton New Hampshire. We brought our boat up and it is docked here on Lake Winnipesauke.
After trading comments back and forth last night with a former classmate on one post and some stranger on another, I decided it’s time to take a break from social media. Personal Facebook and Instagram accounts specifically.
Today my phone was tucked away in my backpack, only brought out to use Apple Maps on the water (it’s easier to see what the islands are!) and I felt free!
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!
Those are two ways I usually express my gratitude for something someone has done for me or said to me.
I think sometimes, for me, I don’t slow down or stop to think about thanking the people who are around me all the time. Family, co-workers. I am go, go, go in the office and expect people to do the same!
I need to stop and reflect what someone does that makes me feel good or happy or satisfied the way something was done. Not just for something they say to me or do for me.
The words will be the same, but for different reasons.
I was thinking of the hobbies I have been really “passionate” about – knitting, piano, making cards, ancestry – and how that passion will be so strong and then wane. None of those have completely disappeared but they move in and out of my life like waves.
That’s when I realized I am passionate about learning. New skills, new ideas, history, people.
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 