July 20, 2008
Home to the Heat
We returned from Minnesota on Thursday night, and since then the temperatures have been very July-like!! I am so thankful for airconditioning, but I do miss the open windows and fresh air. Soon we will hearing the loud buzz of the cicadas, and that is a melancholy reminder of the summer season moving along all too fast!
Posted by Carol at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2008
Northward
Tomorrow we are flying up to Minnesota, taking Delaney and Ella to spend a few days with their great-grandparents. They are very excited - both girls love to travel and visit and see new sights! Delaney and I hope to do our poetry presentation while we are there - it went just perfectly on Tuesday night at "Poetry Plus" in front of an audience of 12. Ella was in attendence, and you could tell she was enjoying it and paying attention when she would laugh after the humorous poems were read!
Posted by Carol at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)
June 23, 2008
Water Taxis
After fast talking Delaney onto a water taxi in Baltimore last week (she has a long-standing fear of being in a boat on the water!) I had a hard time talking her off of it!! She loved the concept of traveling about the inner harbor via these small open air excursion boats and we rode to various points, got off, explored the area and then back to ride some more!
She enjoyed Fort McHenry and already knew the whole story of Francis Scott Key and the Star Spangled Banner etc. Her favorite place in Baltimore was the National Aquarium and the gigantic sting and manta ray tank.
Not far behind that was her swimming schedule - 4 times every day that we were there! She is a self-taught swimmer which is pretty rare in these modern times of signing up kids for every sort of activity or lesson imaginable.
And she (as well as Ella) loves to travel! She listened on the airplane headphones to the air traffic control and pilot conversations for all aircraft in our area and duly reported the latest for our flight number!
Small world report - on Friday we got on the same water taxi as my Conversation Club friend Kate & her family were on! They were in Baltimore for the day, then attending a weekend wedding in Harper's Ferry!
Posted by Carol at 1:13 PM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2008
Headed east
Tomorrow morning early Steve, Delaney and I fly out to Baltimore - Steve has a UPA conference to attend, so we girls will sight see and take it easy as fits our mood:) The weather promises to be mild and dry, unlike the other time I was there about ten years ago when it was 95 and humid!
So many flowers here are ready to burst into bloom and I hope they will still be pretty when we return on Saturday!
Posted by Carol at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2008
Princess Ella
Our trip to Disney with Ella was wonderful. She is the perfect age (she will be 5 at the end of July) and temperment for all the magical Disney sights and sounds and attractions. We had great weather - hot but not too humid, no rain but some nice heavy overcast skies now and then. Trips like this are a tidy investment so it is always nice when everything goes so well!
Posted by Carol at 9:58 AM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2008
Back from the woods
We had a fantastic time, good weather and the girls were wide-eyed at the natural beauty of the park. Many of the trails were too rugged and steep for them, but several were nice and flat. Sugar Creek is flowing so pretty right now and the rocky shoreline had plenty of flat skippers - even Ella got the hang of it after awhile. Our room in the lodge was nice and big and right by the big 2nd story veranda where we sat and looked out at the woods. The indoor swimming pool was also quite big and Delaney added up that we swam for a total of 12 hours! Food in the restaurant was homemade and delicious. All in all, a wonderful time. Topped it off with a stop in Rockville at this huge old fashioned dime store - it even smelled like the Ben Franklin store of my growing up years in Pine City. Trip #3 of 2008 is coming up week after next - driving from here to Asheville to Charleston to Savannah and on over to several Civil War battlefields including Kennesaw by Atlanta and Shiloh by Memphis.
Posted by Carol at 2:35 PM | Comments (0)
April 6, 2008
Turkey Run
Quaint Hoosier name for a state park! Steve and I are taking Delaney and Ella there for a couple of days this week as it is their spring break from school. There is a beautiful lodge, a new indoor swimming pool and game room, miles of hiking trails, horseback riding to name a few things we will take advantage of. They are pretty excited and so are we. Today Delaney made a list of 18 items she wants to remember to pack! Now if the weather will stay like it was today - 70 and sunny - we will have it perfect!
http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/inns/turkeyrun/index.html
Posted by Carol at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2008
From Blue to White
Home again, in snowy Indiana! The change in temperature from 80 to 10 has been hard, especially on the arthritic wrists who know the difference between cold and warm climates. We had a fantastic time in Hawaii, and enjoyed all of the usual things the island of Oahu has to offer. While the clean white snow is also quite pretty to look out on, the blue skies and warm sandy beaches make it alot more fun to be outside! I am finding it hard to get back to business here ~ there are several projects I want to complete before gardening season begins again and I need to focus on those...
Posted by Carol at 3:21 PM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2007
Atlanta
We had a fantastic time down south! The weather was quite pleasant, being hot but not very humid. It is such a beautiful area - Georgia pines, southern magnolias and other trees in blossom in huge abundance. We re-visited Stone Mountain, and took in Six Flags and the Georgia Aquarium. That is a sight to see - the main aquarium is so big that it’s impossible to describe except to say that it has 4 whale sharks swimming around along with dozens of other huge fish and they each have all the room they need plus more! Delaney is such a good traveler. She is back home now, resting up for our next jaunt up to Minnesota this Friday till Sunday. We are visiting Steve’s folks. Ella will get her turn next month!
Posted by Carol at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)
April 1, 2007
East, West, Home is best
After a wonderful visit to the land of Aloha it is good to be home safe and sound. Jet travel still astounds me, and because I don't really understand how it all works I am always thankful to touch down on earth again. Mother Nature has been extremely kind and has gifted us with alot of sun and 75 degree temps this past week so it seems like an extension of our time in Honolulu.
In full bloom in our yard right now are rhododendron bushes, forsythias, hyacinths, magnolia, daffodils, a few tulips and yes, even dandelions. Tomorrow I am going to fill the hummingbird feeders as they will be arriving any day now.
Did I report that I saw the movie Miss Potter? Just lovely, and if you see it, ignore Renee Zelwegger's face scrunching. She stops doing that eventually!
Posted by Carol at 11:11 PM | Comments (2)
March 6, 2006
Where have all the flowers gone?
Always a shock to the system to see the overall "brown-ness" of our winter landscape as the plane descends towards home after two weeks in the tropical colors of Oahu. The lushness and warmth are hard to leave behind, but it is of some comfort to know that within the month, things will begin to green up around here. I can see some tulips and hyacinths popping up above bulbs already!
Posted by Carol at 11:29 AM | Comments (1)
January 24, 2006
Back from Orlando and Wise Words
Had a fine time in Orlando ~ being treated to Cirque du Soleil and dinner afterwards by Matthew and David was heavenly! Also very enjoyable were outings to the Tibet-Butler Nature Preserve near their apartment, and riding the new themed coaster at Disney's Animal Kingdom "Expedition Everest" ~ wheeeeee!
Returning home, it is always satisfying to share news of my travels with Gloria. Of course we can ramble on for a long time until we have covered much more than current news! This poem by Robert Frost was in the Writer's Almanac last week and I think it apropo...
A Time to Talk
When a friend calls to me from the road
And slows his horse to a meaning walk,
I don't stand still and look around
On all the hills I haven't hoed,
And shout from where I am, 'What is it?'
No, not as there is a time to talk.
I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,
Blade-end up and five feet tall,
And plod: I go up to the stone wall
For a friendly visit.
Posted by Carol at 10:17 PM | Comments (1)
January 17, 2006
Off to Orlando
Flying down to Florida this afternoon for a short visit with Matthew ~ he promises warm breezes, flowers, and plenty of sunshine. Saturday night we are going to see "La Nouba" Cirque du Soleil which will be a real treat! And on Friday, he tells me he has pulled strings to get us both on the inaugural run of the newest roller coaster attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom. I think I am supposed to be excited about that as well....hmmmm.
Posted by Carol at 9:54 AM | Comments (2)
August 26, 2005
Taking the Two-lane
Yesterday Gloria and I had the best outing! She picked me up about 9:30 am and we wound our way along the cornfield lined country roads to Crawfordsville where we shopped at our favorite small town store "Goody's" for several hours, trying on clothes and snagging some great bargains. From there we went uptown to a little cafe called "Elaine's" where we had quiche and salad and iced tea, all of it British style due to the fact that Elaine is just that!! (The tea was served in pub pint glasses!) We took I-74 back toward Indianapolis, and stopped off in Avon where there is a lovely perennials nursery. We strolled the grounds, but couldn't find any bargains, so when we got back here to Nora we went to Ace Hardware and found plants at 40% off. Later in the evening Gloria returned here to give some advice on which fabric to choose for reupholstering a chair. Then we watched a rented DVD "The Story of the Weeping Camel" - a documentary style movie, set in Mongolia. Sure enough, at the end of the movie, the camel in question cries real tears! Anyway, it was such fine day!
Posted by Carol at 12:26 AM | Comments (0)
June 6, 2005
Feeling Hot Hot Hot
The song by that name always makes me think of the movie "Bend it Like Beckham" - funny! But it also describes how it is here, and how it will be in Orlando when we get there! June in Orlando, we must be crazy to be headed south. Last weekend in Minnesota was cool and pleasant, and Alicia Ruth's graduation and open house was lovely. A highlight was a Memorial Day stop at LeSueur River Norwegian Lutheran Church in New Richland to visit the graves of many relatives on Mother's side of the family. It sits out in the country across the rich black farmland from the "home place" of my great grandparents who actually donated the land for the church. It is probably my choice for a final resting place. As Taylor once observed during a visit there: "What alot of dead Norwegian dudes and dudettes!!"
Posted by Carol at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2005
"Welcomebackgloree"
It is good to have Gloria home again, safe and sound and hopefully refreshed from a trip to Florida! I missed you friend!
Posted by Carol at 10:06 PM | Comments (1)
February 24, 2005
South Pacific
Not the musical, but just our travel spot! Hawaii truly is a beautiful place. Here on Oahu we have Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head, which are the unmistakable landmarks of "Hawaii". But also the lush volcanic mountains, rainforest, waterfalls, pineapple and coffee bean farms, coral reefs for snorkelers, flowers of every color under heaven, and my favorite sight - the North Shore. There you will see unspoiled broad beaches of beautiful sand and huge crashing waves full of surfer boys and girls! The Banzai Pipeline can have waves reaching 25 feet, but the highest we have ever seen here is about 12-15 feet. Hard to imagine anything higher. The Pacific around the islands is an unbelievable aqua turning into sapphire blue as farther on out. Paradise!
Posted by Carol at 3:39 PM | Comments (1)