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.
In August of 2006, my family and my sister and her family went to a Mayan Palace resort in Puerto Vallarta Mexico.
For one of the dinners we went to Las Carmelitas which was approximately a half hour outside the side far up into the hills. It was a little nerve wracking being driven so far away from the resort in a taxi in a country we couldn’t speak the language! After passing through the city, we turned off the main road onto a road with a gate at the bottom. What did we get ourselves into! It was a dirt road, bumpy and winding. At one point, my sister’s taxi was having trouble making it up the hill, so she and my niece jumped out of the car and started walking!
Once we got to the top, there was a beautiful open air restaurant overlooking the water. There were chickens walking around and a toddler scooting around on his toy.
The food was so incredibly fresh, I remember the ceviche in particular, it was like it had just come out of the sea. The margaritas weren’t bad either!
We had a beautiful dinner as we watched the sun set over the water. After a few hours, the taxis returned to take us back to the resort. Whoever recommended Las Carmelitas knew what they were talking about. This picture is one of the many I took of the setting sun.
If you missed last week’s photo, you can find it here.
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!
I guess if I didn’t think they were “dear”, I wouldn’t wear these same four rings every day.
rings I wear every day
The thick band with the diamond – the band was my mother in law’s wedding band. We had a new diamond put in for our 30th wedding anniversary.
The thin band is my original wedding band.
The silver ring holds a Danburite crystal. I found it in an antique store in Sonora California while visiting my father in law in 2022. It was meant to be – I was getting ready to leave but decided to look at the jewelry and this stuck out. The crystal takes its name from Danbury Connecticut (I’m born and raised in Connecticut), and it fit perfectly!
The bottom ring is a worry band I bought while visiting with friends in Los Cabos Mexico. It was a splurge and I have worn it since early 2020.
I have a lot of other rings, but these 4 just feel so right together!
I am very comfortable leading a conversation, a discussion, or directionally around a location.
For some people, it’s their tendency to take over because they were a leader in their profession. I admire people who don’t do that. I like watching everyone have the chance to lead if they want.
But if I’m leading people around a location and lose my sense of direction, I get flustered and someone else has to take over! This happened to me in Vienna Austria with friends we met on a river cruise. One of the men stepped in to help me because I had us hopelessly lost!
I am also able to follow in those situations. When I don’t know the subject well, I listen to what other people say. If someone knows exactly where we are headed, I say “Just tell me where to go!”
There’s an article today in the New York Times Wellness Section entitled “You’re Never Too Old for Story Time” that talks about why adults to read aloud to one another and how to get started. That brought back memories!
It must have been when Cody was still in elementary school, maybe middle school, that on a few occasions during long car rides I would read to him and my husband.
My two favorites were both by the same author, Richard Peck. A Long Way From Chicago and A Year Down Yonder. They were books I was introduced to while I was a library assistant in a K-5 school.
The first involves a brother and sister who go to their grandmother’s home one summer. It is described as short stories but they all blend right into one another.
The second, is about the sister who is living there on her own with her grandmother, her brother having joined the army.
I read them both on my own at first and, even now I’m tearing up thinking about the stories! I knew my husband and son would both enjoy them so on a trip I would bring along one of the books and read.
I clearly remember getting to a part and saying “ok, give me a minute to get weepy so I don’t do it while I’m reading!”. We usually managed to finish a book on the trip.
I still have those two books on my bookshelf. I think it’s time to read them again.
While in California to visit friends and family, my husband and I spent two nights in Morro Bay with a day a Hearst Castle.
Our son told us about a hotel he and his wife stayed at – The Landing at Morro Bay – so we stayed there. It was awesome! It was a motor inn of the 60s and we had a second floor room with a view, cathedral ceiling, and king size bed. There was also plenty of room to put clothes away, as well as a microwave and mini-fridge.
The view from our room
Once we got there and unpacked, we headed into the cute little town where there was a street fair going on. Not knowing what we were going to see elsewhere, we were hesitant to spend money but I did but a necklace of abalone shell and a pearl. Then we headed out to the wharf for food and shopping. We were starved so we found someplace right away – Blue Sky Bistro on the Bay – which of course had a view of the Rock!
You cannot get away from the Rock
We found a great place for breakfast both days – Carla’s Country Kitchen. While we were there, I noticed a framed basketball jersey with the #1 and Wixom on the back. I thought it was someone from Morro Bay who made it big in the WNBA or NBA. Nope, it’s Carla Wixom, the owner of Carla’s Country Kitchen. She was elected mayor of Morro Bay in November of 2022!
We spent Sunday at Hearst Castle (post for another day) which was incredible. After we were done there, we headed back to the wharf and the Blue Sky Bistro for appetizers and then a restaurant that “sounded good” but we both wished we’d stayed and had dinner at the bistro.
Another day and the rock is still rockin’ 😂
Before we headed out on Monday morning for our 4-1/2 hour ride to Laguna Woods, we drove over to the park to walk around and get a closer view of the rock. Here’s what we found out – “Morro” is Spanish for domed rock, or turban. Explorer Juan Carrillo gave it its name in 1542. Of course, prior to his arrival, the area was the home of California Indians for thousands of years. But what is it? The rock is one of a chain of volcanic plugs. 26 MILLION years ago, there was a volcano there and the rock was a plug. In the millions of years past, the volcano eroded away and left the harder rock of the plug. There is a chain of 4-5 of them from Morro Bay down to San Luis Obispo.
It has a break wall on one side of its and then across the back on the other side. I don’t know how else to describe it!
Clock wise: Side break wall, the rock, cairns on way to back break wall, back break wall, ancient cactus(!). We were confused by the hideous power plant (looking back at Morro Bay from the rock). Selfie at the rock, route for the rest of the day.
It was hard to leave the rock once we got out there, watching the waves hit the wall and seeing boats come in and out. There were a few otters in the water, playing around in the bay that we watched for a little while. Definitely peaceful! But it was time to check out and head on down to Laguna Woods! Maybe we’ll get back there in one of the years to come.
Perusing through a box of pictures, I found the journal and pictures from a trip to California at the end of July 2007. Our son was going into his senior year of high school and we needed to get the trip in before football practice started!
I’m so glad I kept a journal because there was a lot I’d forgotten and it really brought it back to me. Especially our day at the Moaning Caverns in Murphy, California! They are located about an hour from Twain Harte where Mark’s dad lived. When we would travel to visit him, I always made sure I found a couple of fun adventures so Cody wouldn’t be bored. The website looked very interested and he and I decided we were going to rappel down into the 165 drop. For perspective, the Statue of Liberty is 151 feet. The following is from my journal:
“Oh my GOD. 1st we watch a video with rules like NEVER let go of the rope, NEVER put your hand on the J-bar – real fear inducing. Then the person goes over them again. There were 5 of us. 2 girls went 1st then Cody then me then another lady. We have a seat harness & a chest harness. The chest harness has 2 carabiners & they attach the J-bar to it after weaving your rope through the bars.
Then you duck under a rail and grab onto the rope and feed the rope up toward the J-bar that makes you go down. So I’m hanging onto the rope with my feet on the wall and moving myself down. You can see a ledge so you go down to it and then there is a small narrow hole. You put your back to it and move yourself down. I’m going through this little hole sweating and questioning my decision. There’s another small flat spot and beyond that you see the walls far away and a lot of air space.
8/1/2007 Moaning Cavern Rappelling
I go through that last hole and go over the side. Bang around a little desperately, want walls to put my feet on but there is nothing except me, a rope, and a seat harness. It is freaking scarier than para-sailing last year (story for another day). My heart is pounding. I’m shaking like a leaf. Rocky (my husband’s nickname) knew I was freaked (they were at the bottom watching) because I was silent – no shrieks, no shouts – just silence. I was doing two handed pushing on the rope & even separated the bars a few times so I could go faster and get it over with! It’s hard to even look down because you’re at an odd position. Everyone on the walking tour is watching and when you get to the floor, you go just below (deeper into the hole!) and the guide pulls you in. I was shaking so much! I had to sit down. Cody said it was the “scaredest he’d every been“. After it’s over you have to walk up the 265 stairs to the top.”
I like to say “I’ll try anything once and if I don’t like it, I won’t do it again.” That DEFINITELY applies to rappelling! While looking up the Moaning Caverns there is no mention of a rappelling adventure on their site. Wise decision Moaning Caverns!
We were in Fort Collins, Colorado in early September for a family wedding. Because it was on Sunday evening, we decided to stay an extra day and fly home on Tuesday.
At one of the events for the wedding, someone mentioned they drove up to Laramie Wyoming to visit the Wyoming Territorial Prison! It was an hour away and all we had was time.
Easy shot up the highway!
Once we said goodbye to everyone at the air bnb we shared with family, we headed out. When we got to Laramie we looked online for a restaurant for breakfast.
The remains of Sausage & Biscuits and our pretty inexpensive bill
Accomplice Beer Company in downtown Laramie is a bar / restaurant / brewery. No beers for us but we cozied up to the bar and had a delicious breakfast.
The Wyoming Territorial Prison was surprisingly close to town. In its prime it was probably a long way from town!
The welcome center to the prison
They have a welcome center to buy tickets and of course a variety of gifts to purchase! We knew we’d be back after our self-guided tour.
The first building was the wardens house and it was decorated for the era it was used.
Love the way pictures were hung!The warden’s residence
Around the grounds were carriages that were used during the time of the prison
I’m sure some prisoners reminisced about robbing one of these! And I’m sure they didn’t like seeing this around!This must have been a very uncomfortable ride!
Inside the prison, we walked through the two floors and throughout there was information about the rooms and the prisoners who were held there. The most famous prisoner was Butch Cassidy. His story is a little different than the movie!
In a cellWash roomGeorge Reeb, prisonerInformation on prisonersSharing a cell
After going through the prison, we walked through the prison yard and over to a building their used to make brooms for sale. We had a lot of these brooms in our home growing up and of course, we had to buy one to bring home! We had to get creative to get in in the suitcase but it survived!
Inside the prison yardOne of the watch towersThe broom building
On our way home we were just amazed at the wide open land and the clouds! The clouds were so huge and they looked close enough to touch. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of them!
Big, beautiful, fluffy clouds!
We didn’t really notice on the way up to Laramie, but on the way back we were also amazed by the changing landscape between Wyoming and Colorado. It’s fun to watch it unfold through the miles.
We were excited to add Wyoming to our list of states visited but we’d like to explore more! Someday…!
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 