Archives for posts with tag: Baby Boomer

Snow Canyon, Utah…again!

October 29, 2017 //

It’s the wonderment of Mother Earth and her ability to expand and contract in all sorts of ways which takes my breath away. And, last night when I decided I needed to get out and hike to get a fresh perspective and to also get out of this 16-foot trailer for the whole day, the only place I wanted to see was the place I picked to stay…my favorite volcanic site, Snow Canyon State Park. Even though it’s a small park, I never get bored seeing its geologic fabulousness.

I really can’t add to the adventure much but will explain a little under each photo, but, other than that, words still escape me. I’m breathless. Swept away by its beauty and power. Enjoy.

If you’re interested in the volcanic history of this place (from 27,000 years ago), then read this.

Lava rocks are sprinkled like peppercorns all over this landscape.

Views are too majestic and regal to reduce to words. It’s so very quiet here.

Layers of Petrified Sand Dunes of all colors!

Petrified Sand Dunes

Lava rock capped petrified sand dunes.

Closer look of Lava rock capped petrified dunes.

Layers of petrified dunes eroded away by wind and rain.

Hiked up to see the Pioneer Names Trail.

Pioneer Names Trail takes you to see where pioneers wrote their names & date in axle grease dating back to 1881!

Hiked next to Jenny’s Canyon.

Jenny’s Canyon

Had to go back, of course, to the Snow Canyon Overlook. This was to the left of where I was standing.

Yep. Had to take another pic of it. I couldn’t delete one!

Got a decent selfie of my back overlooking the overlook without getting vertigo. It only took about 7 tries!

Now, back to work.

Happy Trails…until we meet again!

Tags Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, cross-country travel, faith, relationships, Renaissance Woman, single female camping, single female travel, Single Woman travel, Snow Canyon, Snow Canyon State Park, southwest, trailer traveling, travel, travel journal, travel trailer camping, travels, United States, Utah, Woman Baby Boomer camping alone, woman cross-country camping, woman cross-country traveling, woman traveling alone

Categories life adventures

Lovin’ the Trailer Life!

October 25, 2017 //

As a woman who always enjoyed smaller homes, I’m so loving living the rambling’ life in my trailer. It suits me to a “T” for the writing journey I’m on. It began right after Jenni (Ava’s friend) and I visited Snow Canyon State Park in St. George, Utah in the summer. It was that pivotal moment of my remembrance of “soaring” which Jenni caught in a blink of her camera’s eye.

MeFlyingSmall

In that second, I remembered my reoccouring dreams of yesteryear of being an eagle soaring over these lands. It broke me free in a way I’ve been praying for all these years of healing. I’ve continued the metamorphosis over the weeks that followed while I worked to make my return happen with a trailer. My idea was to return to the canyon lands; however, my grandmother won out in the end. She’d “told” me I’d need to go to the desert to write. But, I wanted to be in the canyons…not the desert. However, it turns out that the canyon lands get too cold in the winter months and there was only one RV space available in a warmer climate…yep, the desert. I snapped it up embracing the fact that Grandma always wrote in the desert and to not fight the forces that be.

Hattie (Harriett) Irene Friend (grandma)

Yeah, that grandma!

Over those few months, every place I planned to go visit on my way West got hit by Harvey, Irma, Jose, raging fires, drought or an earthquake! Well, to be honest, there was no way I was going to Mexico City! All else was true. This caused my trip to get accelerated to the point I was able to get to where I am now so I could write sooner than later. Again, don’t fight the forces at work!

Ready to write! This is one class act RV Park with Cable TV, internet that actually works and clean facilities!

Facing toward the back with another one of Ava’s belly dancing scarves hanging over the window and the bunk beds on right in the back.

Ava’s Belly dancing scarf serves as a privacy screen over my bed. Oh, and that’s the puppy my girls Stacey gave me after Montana passed when I said I wasn’t getting another dog! Yeah. I had to bring it.

It took me about three days to re-organize my trailer from just “get ‘er packed” mode to “get ‘er ready for living.” I hung my prints of Matisse, Georgia, Frida and Toulouse along with my pictures of Montana, Carl and Ava. I’ve made it home. It’s what I do.

I’ve already had a visiter (Jenni) in my digs and she’s coming back soon! And, thanks to Jenni, I now have a Warrior Eagle Donna Mama writing pen! It sits right beside me all day long!

2017-10-22 EaglePen

And, although I got a little writing done while I was Boulder, today was the first real day I’ve written since landing this gypsy caravan in one place for more than a few hours! It felt good to stretch my brain. Tomorrow I want to fit some real physical exercise in and more writing. It’s great to be in the here and now…alone…connecting to those who write through me.

Happy Trails…until we meet again!

Tags Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, faith, family, relationships, Renaissance Woman, RV living, single female camping, single female travel, Single Woman travel, southwest, travel, west, Woman Baby Boomer camping alone, woman cross-country camping, woman cross-country traveling, woman traveling alone, writing

Categories life adventures

Buckin’ Bronco Road Warrior Rodeo!

October 20, 2017 //

WOW! I left Green River, Utah at 9:30 AM today headed West on I-70 to drive 237 miles which, under normal driving, would have taken just a little over three (3) hours with the speed limits generally ranging from 75-80 MPH past the major inclines.

I did decide as I took off from Green River that I’d take the time to turn off on “Scenic Views” if and when I saw something interesting. The name “Black Dragon Canyon” pulled me right in. I didn’t have the time or inclination to hike the trail to see the drawing but if you Google the name, you’ll see an interesting pictograph painted on the walls of the canyon by ancient ones of what looks to be a flying dragon, which, by the way, isn’t black! The view, however, was marvelous!

2017-10-20 UT1

Now, go back in time a couple of days to recall that horrific 40-60 MPH wind gusts I faced going through Denver toward Boulder? Well, I guess somebody upstairs wanted to prepare me for today because it took me 6 hours to drive that 3 hour distance because of that same situation except include 8000′-foot elevation mountains (up and down), dust flying from undeveloped prairies and NO gas stations for a hundred miles on a tank that’s only gave me 7-8 MPG today! The good news is that the only cows I saw were in holding pins and not in front of me in cattle trailers!

After driving almost a hundred miles without the whiff of a gas station, I broke my normal rule of easy on/off gas stations at the exits and decided to exit at Emery, Utah as the next town was 35 miles away. It was one of those gut instinct moments because only after exiting the expressway was there a sign that read “Next Gas 35 Miles.” Needless to say, I gladly drove the 24 miles roundtrip to get to the sleepy little one-gas-pump (literally) town to fill up. I would have been so screwed if I hadn’t! All these years of driving the back roads (and especially this summer’s adventures in Canada) reinforced my instincts to fill up at every chance.

The few times the winds weren’t beating me up, I was able to catch a few shots that were so magnificent that I just had to try and capture some of the wonderment of this region. It feels like “home” to me except for all the winds!

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2017-10-20 Ut3

2017-10-20 Ut4

2017-10-20 Ut5

I finally made it to my next stop for the night glad I booked in advance because all these RV parks fill up quickly! I need the rest from those blowin’ winds. I got this baby anchored down for the night which is something I don’t normally do on hit-and-run stays. I don’t normally mind being rocked to sleep but I’ve had enough of that bucking bronco rodeo for today! I need a trophy that reads, “Buckin’ Bronco Road Warrior Rodeo Champion!”

So, Happy Trails…until we meet again!

Tags Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer Dating, Baby Boomer travels, Black Dragon Canyon, camping, camping cross-country, cross-country camping, cross-country travel, faith, I-15 South, I-70 West, single female camping, single female travel, Single Woman travel, southwest, trailer traveling, travel, travel journal, travel trailer camping, United States, US backroads, US West, Utah, Woman Baby Boomer camping alone, woman cross-country camping, woman traveling alone, writing

Categories life adventures

The Synchronicity from this summer’s trip continues!

October 19, 2017 //

This past week has been a whirlwind of seeing family with whom I really haven’t been able to have a direct connect with since after Ava’s death in 2012. Yes, I have “seen” them but haven’t had “quality” time to spend with them for a myriad of reasons and this visit has been wonderful!

Gosh, I’m so in love with ALL my Chirrens of blood and by adoption! And, now after this trip to Boulder, I have two more! One of whom I met at the Cork Restaurant in Boulder! Hey there, “G”!

The Cork Restaurant in Boulder, CO.

I guess I should start by saying that although Boulder isn’t a city I’d visit if it weren’t for my loved ones living there because it’s just too busy, too residential, too many bicycles EVERYWHERE, it is very clean and perfect for raising children in a safe environment. It’s just not my cup o’ jo. I like dirt and lots of it.

However, I do love those snow capped mountains once you escape suburbia and a little town not terribly dissimilar from my own called Nederland, Colorado. It’s tucked in the Rocky mountains. Like my town, Nederland has a very small residential population but have several festivals every year which can bring tens of thousands of visitors. I had a hard time visualizing where all those people would go…or even stay, for that matter…and still do!

Yup. Small town, Nederland, CO

But for the festivals, I could, for a moment, see myself living in this little town because of the wonderful people I met there! Here’s a shout out to Winston, Chris and all the other people we met while we were there. It’s worth a trip there but check out their it’s festival schedules first!

Of course I had to go into the Renaissance Woman store in Nederland, CO. I told the owner all about our Atlanta Little Five Points area and their annual Halloween Parade!

When my sister and I were traveling the turquoise trail, we ran into a similar shop like this so it was only fitting for her eldest daughter and I to go into Wings of Lace Boutique, Nederland, CO and do some shopping! Hey, Chris!

Remember what I said about bicycles being EVERYWHERE! Here’s proof! This is Solta Restaurant, Nederland, CO and the young man behind the counter looks like a young man Mark’s twin. Mark was like a son to me and chose to leave us way too soon and has been on my mind a great deal this month. Both were from Austin and moved to Colorado! I almost fell out!

After seeing all the mountainous terrain of I-70 West of Boulder, CO to Green River, UT via I-70 from studying Google, I was quite apprehensive if not anxious about driving it. However, my niece’s husband, who is extremely familiar with this highway, talked me down out of the tree with some good info. And I’m so very glad! The trip West was marvelous! My favorite park was driving through the river gorge, but that is always my favorite part of any drive!

See what you think!

I-70 West – First snow capped view!

Mountains galore!

River Gorge driving just shivers me timbers!

Golden trees everywhere!

I be comin’ ’round the bend!

This just doesn’t do it justice but…

Well, this travelin’ woman is just about done in for today so, Happy Trails…until we meet again!

Tags Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, Boulder, Colorado, Cork Restaurant, faith, family, I-70 West, Nederland, northwest, northwest adventures, northwest US adventures, relationships, Renaissance Woman, single female camping, single female travel, Single Woman travel, travel, Utah, west, Wings of Lace Boutique, Woman Baby Boomer camping alone, woman cross-country camping, woman cross-country traveling, woman traveling alone, writing

Categories life adventures

This ole Road Warrior is Road Weary

October 15, 2017 //

Eagle Nest, New Mexico is so wonderfully peaceful that I drove out of my way for my R&R. The lake is nestled in the bowl of these wonderful mountains. The town is small and quaint and affords one of the activities I enjoy the most about my travels which is meeting and getting to know locals. And, it was this pristine, magical place that helped me prepare for what came next!

Mountains surround this valley

This lake is huge!

Mountains in the background hugging this lake filled valley.

Cimarron Canyon State Park was the prelude to Eagle Nest.

Driving from Eagle Nest, New Mexico to Boulder, Colorado just about did this ole Road Warrior Eagle in! The wind all along I-25 was as challenging as Texas but instead of 18-wheelers (of which there was NONE), I was faced with getting behind open cattle trailers with every excrement known to a cowhand flying onto the front of my windshield coupled with crazy California-type drivers jumping lanes. Add to that 30-40 MPH winds slapping me around all the way up to just outside of Denver.

So, I stayed in the far right lane to avoid as many of the Cali-type drivers as possible opting for the cattle excrement!

And then…the 40 MPH crosswinds came. Just like Texas…cattle trailers and all. I fought the whole scene for hours…and then Denver. There are almost as many aggressive, inconsiderate, rubber-necking drivers in Denver as LA based on population ratios. Their rubber-necking would put Georgia’s to shame. FIVE MILES of traffic was backed up going both north and south because of a truck on the side of the road being loaded onto a wrecker! For real!

I thought that, once past the clog, all would start to flow again especially now that the cattle trailer had exited but I was so wrong. It was start/stop, cut in front of me all the way into, in and past Denver. Silly me, I’d forgotten this type of I-25 insanity from my 2016 trip to Boulder or else I would have found another route. Yup. Will remember this one, won’t I! LOL

However, this ain’t the good part yet. This 30-40 MPH crosswind stuff is what makes me a Road Warrior. It was the turn off toward Bounder onto Highway 157 with 60 MPH wind gusts that broke me down. I was tired before I got there, but like the ole barn mule, I could see the barn and smell the feed in the bucket. My family was close now so I fought onward.

That wind was BRUTAL and unrelenting. I thought it was going to flip the trailer over. I’ve driven about 150,000 miles on the backroads and expressways on these trips since 2008 and this was the first time I experienced the “full” monty of white knuckling, gut wrenching, orifice puckering driving. When I pulled up at my niece’s house, tears ran down my cheeks and my whole body was shaking. None of these Chinook-type winds was predicted on any of the three weather websites I checked right before leaving Eagle Nest.

Understandably, I have no new pictures from this last leg of my episode but I’m still standing, I have my truck, my caravan and reservations for the next legs of this amazing trip. So, I’ll repost my own reminder that I’m running with the big dawgs!

Running with the Big Dawgs!

YEEHAW!

Happy Trails…until we meet again!

Tags Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, Colorado, faith, life adventures, midlife reinvention, New Mexico, relationships, single female camping, single female travel, Single Woman travel, travel, US West, west, Woman Baby Boomer camping alone, writing

Categories life adventures

On the road again, like a Gypsy I go…

October 12, 2017 //

I had such an amazing experience this past summer traveling the West, Northwest, Canada and Northeast that I decided to buy a travel trailer and “gypsy” it up a bit and get back on the road! Like my BFF says, “If you can’t run with the big dogs, get off the porch!” Well, I’m officially OFF the porch and running the the big dawgs now!

A little gypsy is a good thang!

And more is mo’ bettah!

Running with the Big Dawgs!

Crossing Tennessee and Arkansas just about wore me out and that ain’t an easy thing to do! I got wind, rain, mountains, more wind and 18-wheelers by the millions trying to blow me, my truck and stuffed Wolf Pup off I-40 but I wasn’t going to quit! I made it safely to the lovely Ivy’s Cove RV Park in Russellville, Arkansas. If you’re planning on doing this kind of traveling, I recommend picking a place ahead of time to arrange for a spot as soon as you know what day you’ll arrive. It’s helpful to be specific with where in their RV park you want to be placed…near the bathroom and a pull through…etc.

As a GoodSam RV Elite Member, I have access to their wonderful website to get all the information I need to contact any of the parks (in or out of their system) to help me make my arrangements so I’m not stuck at a truck stop (like I’ve found myself doing back in 2008) sleeping in my truck. I must say that every truck stop where I’ve resorted such measures was years ago and great experiences as long as you tell them upfront you’re alone, tired and to look out for you. Now that we’re in the age of magical access to internet via our phones, there’s no real reason to have to do the truck stop thing, however, it is an option. I also hear Walmart still allows parking lot parking but I haven’t confirmed that.

I’m so very surprised to find that there is such a great demand for these RV parks! I noticed back in 2010 when I had my pop-up that there were whole families living in these places. I assumed, maybe incorrectly, they were forced to live there in travel trailers because of the recession. I’m thinking now that it’s more of a lifestyle decision as more and more families are home schooling their children to find alternative lifestyles and I’m loving that!

After getting over the giddy feeling of sleeping my my travel trailer for the first time around 1:00 AM, I rested better than I have in months! I was raring to hit the road again to cross the rest of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

As for Arkansas, I love the fact that they have “Toad Suck State Park” and the most amazing Great Country station 107.3 which got me across half of Oklahoma. Yup. Willie, Hank Jr. and Sr., Johnny (Cash) and all the good ole’ boys from yesteryear had me dancing in my seat!

As I travel, I love to find “mom & pop” places to fill up both my car and stomach! I found I could do both at Exit 270 on I-40 West (and East) in Checotah, Oklahoma at Campbell’s BBQ & Country Store. Turns out they have 100% gas and the best beef brisket with sides of slaw and pork-n-beans! It kept me going all the way to Amarillo! Yeah, baby! Tell them “Howdy” on Facebook (Campbells Country Store)!

Campbell’s BBQ & Country Store at Exit 270 West!

Deal of the century and the best brisket West of the Mississippi!

And, then there’s the chair!

All I can say about Texas: brutal cross-winds, a billion 18-wheelers, intense gas-guzzling white-knuckle driving and exhaustion. I actually watched the needle on my gas gauge drop rapidly as I limped along toward Amarillo! I just barely made it to a truck stop with the gas warning light staring back at me for those last ten miles. It was weird. The best part of that day was pulling into the Amarillo Ranch RV Park and the wonderful people who helped me get registered even with their internet down and get me outta there this morning! Now I’m fully trained (compliments of them) in black and gray water disposal! Hahaha!

As I do, I jumped off the interstate onto the backroads at Amarillo and headed for Eagle Nest, NM. I do love me some New Mexico and the only reason I didn’t stay in the Santa Fe and Taos areas were due to inclement weather issues. I need to get to Colorado, visit some VIP’s and get back south before weather turns nasty. Heck, there’s still snow remnants in northeastern New Mexico! Anyway, next time I’m this way, I’ll find a place where I can stay for longer when weather is more appropriate for my rig! LOL

As for now, I’m in R&R mode and catching my breath before heading for Colorado.

Happy Trails…until we meet again!

Tags Arkansas, Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, backroads, Oklahoma, relationships, single female travel, Single Woman travel, Texas, travel, US backroads, west, Woman Baby Boomer camping alone

Categories life adventures

The trip of a lifetime…2017!

July 14, 2017 //

I’ve had a few days now to ponder the wonderment of the overall trip and it’s hard to process it all in such a short period of time because each section, shared with each unique and very important person in my life magnified the journey for us collectively and independently to such a level, that, for me, it feels archaic to try to put it all into words.

Each night, sometime between 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM, I’d post the highlights of each day and some of you who have followed me for years wondered why I didn’t tell more as I’d done in the past. Well, it’s very complexly simple…I wasn’t alone…which engorged my brain with so many visions, insights, lessons, spiritualness and Godliness that all I could do is a summary of the overall picture. After I’ve recovered some more, I’m going to re-read my posts and fill in the blanks because I want to remember all those nuances I left out. Each one was that important to my overall purpose of the journey…spiritual healing.

I adore the women who shared this journey with me…Shirley, Jenni, Stacey…and my special LA Angel and JD. You have blessed me with unconditional love, acceptance, joy, understanding and friendship few are capable of giving in such small quarters…two front seats of a pickup going 80 MPH over 13,500 miles! Yeehaw!

As for the last leg of the trip, it was complete with double rainbows under a blue sky, mountains, valleys, deep-tissue sharing and healing as well as a special treat for my girl. Stacey, She got to see the brick-and-morter school which she attends on-line while working 50 hours a week. I’m so proud of her!

Here are some of those pictures.

This Moose warning sign is HUGE!

Stacey just heard someone on the other end of the line! Really? It works? LOL

Island Falls, Maine

Found another one for Stacey to get into!

Hovering clouds on the mountains with Blue sky one minute…

Rainbows the next!

Double Rainbows!

Then back to Hovering clouds!

I am truly blessed to have the fantastic friends who joined me on this trip both in the physical sense or the voyeuristic one…yes I know who you are…that I can never feel alone as I am full by your blessings and prayers.

HAPPY TALES & TRAILS…UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!

Tags Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, faith, family, healing, healing from grief, healing from suicide, healing heart, life adventures, Maine, mental health, relationships, single female travel, Single Woman travel, spiritual healing, travel, Virginia

Categories life adventures

New Brunswick & Nova Scotia

July 4, 2017 //

July 3, 2017 – New Brunswick:

Well, yesterday, Stacey and I decided to drive from Bangor, Maine as far as we wanted to into New Brunswick (Canada) toward Nova Scotia until we got tired or ran out of time, and then drive back to our non-cancelable hotel room in Bangor. And, we did just that… via the back roads…and it took F-O-R-E-V-E-R! These roads are rough, to say the least! Couple that with the s-l-o-w speed limits and the unchanging views and one gets a little stir crazy and feeling like you entered the Twilight Zone or a black hole where the wheels on the car are moving but you aren’t! Been there a great deal in my Canada travels. Love the people, though!

The one thing that keeps my interest is the clouds while driving from Maine to New Brunswick and back. They are very heavy, many different types in one single view and low to the ground. The other part that brightened our day was the Canadian Border Crossing grilling! These dudes are intense!

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Canadian Border crossing on backroad Highway 1.

Pretty intense! “Why do you want to drive across the border to turn around and come back?” And it didn’t stop there.

I just answered, “Because I’ve never been to New Brunswick before and that’s what I do…go places I’ve never been to before!”

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However, there was the nicest man who greeted us at the US Border Crossing with the more intense younger dude behind him scrutinizing our ever glance. I answered all the man’s questions before he had a chance to ask as I’d been down this road before with the last four crossings! 2017-7-3 NB7

July 4, 2017 – Nova Scotia:

This morning, July 4th, we checked out of the Bangor, Maine hotel and headed, quite excitedly, for Nova Scotia (via New Brunswick via the quickest land route. On the drive, we had such a great time catching up and chatting, that I forgot to get gas! My brother texted me and when it showed up on my Bluetooth, I noticed the time and looked at the gas gauge. The light was on and I had no idea how long it’d been on! This area of Maine is quite desolate and I was getting concerned about our gas situation when an exit sign appeared. As has been my experience in my travels, not all exits have facilities of any kind!

Exit 276 on Trans Canada Highway 2 will forever be my favorite place in Maine! I can’t even remember the name of the town where it was but we not only got the gas pumped for us but met this group of wonderful men sitting around a table drinking coffee and telling lies! Of course, Stacey and I had to join in! We stood there for the longest time getting to know them, hugged and said we’d see them on the “come around” tomorrow…and we will!

We got caught in the time warp thing again as soon as we crossed the Canadian Border again. Dang! I was glad to hear Stacey say that she’d felt it too because I was beginning to wonder if it was just me. Thank GOD for Stacey!

It took EIGHT HOURS to drive from Bangor to Nova Scotia only to find out how slow it is to get around this province. There’s no fast way to do anything here and I believe it would take a person at least two weeks to see it all. I hear tell there are about a million people living in Nova Scotia. Hmmmm. Not sure where on them marshlands they be living but I ain’t got no authority to discount that population number and don’t care to because I do believe I saw every one of them on the roads as we struggled our way off and on this road and that just to get to our hotel in Halifax only to find out we’d need two weeks to see the area and all we had was about a half of a day.

So, we jumped back into the truck (really? again?) and drove to see the closest historic area called Peggy’s Cove where there is an old lighthouse. It didn’t appear to be that far from our hotel by looking at the map but it took us an hour to get there (expanded to much longer considering the time warp factor)! It only took us about forty minutes to get back. Hmmm.

Rainbow on drive from Halifax to Peggy’s Cove!

Adorable Churches all on the drive to Peggy’s Cove

Finally, I see water!

The roof of this church in Peggy’s Cove seemed to glow. This is photo is not altered!

Quaint fishing village in Peggy’s Cove

Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse

Flowers in the rocks!

The rocks, rain and sunset.

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Stacey & the lighthouse

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Village shop in Peggy’s Cove

Tomorrow? We start to drive back to Georgia. It’ll be a test of every bit of fortitude we can muster to get this done in the time allotted, but knowing Stacey and me, we’ll get ‘er done! July 5th? Albany, NY or bust!

HAPPY TALES AND TRAILS, UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!

Tags Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, cross-country travel, faith, family, Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Peggy's Cove, relationships, single female travel, Single Woman travel, South Shore, South Shore Nova Scotia, travel, travel journal, travels, woman cross-country traveling, woman traveling alone

Categories life adventures

Portland and Bangor, Maine

July 2, 2017 //

Having Stacey with me is totally awesome! We work well together as a team and always have since the first day I met her over fifteen years ago at my last job. I adopted her then on the spot and have brought her into the closest folds of my family because that’s who she is! She’s quite a remarkable woman who I love dearly as one of my Chirrens! I’m so blessed.

I waited until she and I could figure out the order of our adventure even though I’d already booked our rooms out of concern for the upcoming July 4th celebrations. It all worked out fine because when we left Lewiston, Maine today, we drove for about 45 minutes to Portland to explore the wharf area. And explore it we did! I don’t think we really walked all that far as it was over 85 degrees and we were both feeling the heat/humidity combo such that we walked only on the shadiest side of the street and stopped frequently to feel the breeze under the trees.

Beautiful area of Portland!

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Stacey in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall torn down in 1989. She was born in Germany!

Boone’s Fish House and Oyster Room was down toward the water on a side street. They had a four star rating with ten star pricing! Three scallops and two crab cakes were $45.00! Yup, folks. Not for these po’ folks! Tasty but I think we hit the jackpot at dinner for same price!

Half of the $45 appitizers!

The other half! Really?

Wall art

They were healthy!

We struck it rich when we asked the young man (aptly named Montana) at the front desk where he would recommend us eating. Hi Tides was one of his favorites. We jumped in with both feet and loved every minute of it.

View of the Penobscot River from our table!

Salmon Oscar with garlic green beans & grilled asparagus for both of us for $45.00! The view reminded us both of the place I used to go with Mom to celebrate her birthday called Ray’s on the River in Sandy Springs. She always ordered Salmon Oscar! Of course, we had to do the same as she would have wanted it that way!

View from the River

Beautiful Bridge over the River

And a nice stroll along the River Walkway below restaurant after great food! Now that’s what I call ambiance!

Tomorrow? We’re going to get up really early to drive over to New Brunswick to get to Nova Scotia! Nothing excited me about NB except that it was on my way to Nova Scotia. We’ll explore the eastern half of Nova Scotia tomorrow and the western half on the next day when we’ll be staying on the island in Halifax.

HAPPY TALES AND TRAILS UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!

Tags Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, Bangor, Bangor Maine, creative coping skills, faith, family, finding your normal, healing, healing from grief, healing from suicide, healing heart, Maine, northeast, northeast adventures, northeast US, Portland, Portland Maine, relationships, single female travel, Single Woman travel, spiritual healing, travel

Categories life adventures

Headed straight for the Border!

June 28, 2017 //

I cancelled Canada and headed straight for the US Border. Frankly, mah deah, I’d had enough of paying $46.00 for a half of a tank, way too much for a good meal which wasn’t, driving the Trans Canada Hwy. 17 and more than ready to be home even if it meant the closest I could get to my cabin was 1200+ miles from it and in the Adirondacks! I’d visited there years ago and I am familiar with how beautiful the area is with mountains, lakes, rivers and forests.

Lakes

Fields

BARNS! Yay!

Rivers!

The Canadian people were lovely all across the country, so don’t think I didn’t or don’t enjoy their company or friendship because I do. Every one of them that I shared my story with of that last 200 miles before Sault Ste. Marie, laughed hard in recognition of the insanity of the drive. One woman said she experienced it when she was seven months pregnant! That my my story pale miserably in comparison, for sure!

And when I asked why Canadians feel the need to blow their car horns at anything, they also laughed and said they had no clue! I still say them horn blowers need to drive on any of the expressways with ten foot merge lanes into 200 MPH traffic! Blow at that, would you! Please!

This drive was to take me to a new level of healing and how else can I do that but be challenged more than ever before but in different ways from last year when Tom took me on the Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee at the beginning of my trip and all the other switchbacks as well?

This year, it was harder for me to embrace by the 40th hour Trans Canada challenge. I was reminded of my own tsunami surfboard analogy and, admittedly, had difficulty finding the wax for my board. In reflection, I believe it was mainly because of the never changing views, constant construction and slow progression because of the exasperating but necessary speed limits. However, today’s drive reminded me of the joy of being a US citizen, how convenient and organized we are at the gas pumps and on our expressways…and way too many other ways to list, but here’s a few.

The BRIDGE to the other side!

The view from the bridge

The BORDER!

Old Barns & fields

Ahhh…looks like home!

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Cute little houses

Lake Placid, NY

I’m recuperating at Lake Placid, NY for a few days so I can be ready to pick up my next travel buddy in Burlington, VT airport. It’s going to be an interesting week visiting Maine’s coastal areas, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia before heading for the cabin.

Tomorrow? Rest and relaxation and maybe some Lake Placid explorations…on foot! LOL

HAPPY TAILS, TALES OR TRAILS…YOUR PICK!

Tags Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, Canada, Canada Highway 17, faith, family, healing, healing from grief, healing from suicide, healing heart, Lake Placid, New York, relationships, single female travel, Single Woman travel, spiritual healing, Trans Canada Highway 17, travel

Categories life adventures

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