Recently I was blessed with tickets to Harpo Studios in Chicago, IL to see a taping of Oprah’s Lifeclass with Iyanla Vanzant. What an exciting experience! Definitely something that not a lot of people get to do. Honestly, I could attend every taping and never get tired of it. I am a huge fan of […]
Wild West Road Trip: South Dakota Scenes
After our rest stop in Sioux Falls Park, we headed west toward the Badlands. These are a few of the things we saw along the way. Saw this at an official highway rest area. Not sure if it has a use, other than looking interesting and representing the state…but I liked it! Not a tree in […]
Wild West Road Trip: Sioux Falls Park, South Dakota
You know that feeling you get when you spend hours upon hours in a car and you finally see the rest area sign? Sometimes you want nothing more than to just get out of the car and walk around for a few minutes. Even though rest areas are nice, we found the best place to […]
Wild West Road Trip: Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in Iowa
And we’re off! Our first family road trip together. We have driven all day before to get to family, but never day after day after day for a family vacation because we usually fly to our destination. We started off our day at the German American Heritage Center, which is located in Davonport, Iowa. You know […]
Snoqualmie Falls Park, Washington
Anyone remember the popular 90’s show Twin Peaks? If so, you might recognize this… We made a quick stop here as we headed off to visit some local wineries. Snoqualmie Falls Park is located 30 miles outside Seattle, Washington. An easy drive on I-90. I am a sucker for waterfalls! Never pass up seeing one. Snoqualmie […]
Seattle Space Needle
Seattle was our starting and stopping point for our Alaskan cruise. We only had a limited amount of time there so we headed straight for the icon that Seattle is known for…the Space Needle. We decided to kill two birds with one stone, so we had dinner at Sky City restaurant while we took in […]
Traveling the world for spoons!
I got married quite young, which was very normal at that time in the south. We didn’t have very much money, but we already had a passion for travel. No money and wanting to travel aren’t a good mix! So we did what we could…we started small. We traveled within our own state. We stayed […]
Basil’s Greek Dining
Basil’s Greek Dining Restaurant, right on the edge of Naperville, IL in Aurora is a great place to enjoy a little taste of the Mediterranean right in your own back yard. If Chicago is your back yard! 🙂 The day I went I was on a 1200 calorie a day diet, so I was really […]
Alaskan Cruise: Ketchikan’s Saxman Native Village & Lumberjack show
Ketchikan was one of my favorite stops on the Alaskan Cruise. It really summed up an “Alaskan” experience for me. When I think about who lives in Alaska, I think about the native people who have been there for so long and I also think about the rough and tumble folks who came for […]
Alaskan Cruise: Russians, Eagles & Native Alaskans in Sitka
In the 1800’s, Sitka, Alaska, was the cultural and political hub of Russian America. The town reflects on that fact in most of its tourist attractions. Several of Holland America’s excursions are about Russian History. I have some Russian ancestry, so I thought it would be interesting to learn more while I had the […]
Alaskan Cruise: Hubbard Glacier
I am regularly amazed by mother nature and the Hubbard Glacier was no exception! As the ship approached, we were able to go out to the front of the ship to get a good look. Normally, this area is not open to the public. So it was a special treat. The snow capped mountains were […]
Alaskan Cruise: Historic Juneau Gold Mine Tour
I’ve mentioned that I am a history buff, but you might not know that I am also a former school teacher. I love to teach (and learn)! So every opportunity I get to teach my kids something on a trip, I go for it! That is exactly why we booked this excursion, the Historic Juneau […]