We saw several covered bridges while driving around Vermont. There was a unique one…with a double lane…which we have never seen before.
All bridges are still in service. And, each bridge had a special 250th commemorative USA flag flying.
"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."
A quote by Anne Shirley in L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables.
We wanted to plan a trip to visit friends in Vermont. We chose to go in October, to hopefully see the fall colors that the New England states are known for…and we did. It was peak!
The forecast before we left was rain. We had one afternoon of misty rain, and the rest of the time it was sunny!
We took a day to drive a few mountain gaps in the Green Mountains before heading to our friend’s house. We were enjoying the drive, seeing a carpet of color all around us when we came upon a ski resort offering a chairlift ride to the top of the mountain.
As we were thinking about it, I talked to a friendly guy close by and he said, “now you are seeing the beauty, but on the chairlift you are in the beauty.” I liked that description, so we bought our tickets and up we went.
It was a great 20-minute ride up. At the top we looked around, and then got in line to go down the mountain.
As we approached the platform to get on a chair to take us down, the whole operation stopped. Something had gone wrong and they needed to fix it! Fortunately, we were only stranded on top of the mountain for about ½ hour…
Being surrounded by color, having sunny weather and spending quality time with our dear friends made our October trip to Vermont delightful, and I agree with Anne…I’m so glad I live in a world with Octobers.
Up at my friend Barb’s cabin this week, on Daggett Lake, I found myself hoping to see Minnesota’s elegant state bird, the loon. Although I heard it calling, I never did see it. I wrote a haiku.
Sitting on the dock,
I hear, but cannot see them,
Watching for the loons.
We did see some wildlife…a great blue heron walking along the shore, and a large turtle swimming off the dock, a deer in a field, and multiple families of wild turkeys in several places, squirrels, chipmunks, seagulls…
All though I did not see any loons while we were up north, it’s always wonderful to hear their call. And we had a relaxing time and refreshing time…
On a recent trip to Indiana to visit a dear friend, I wanted to gift her with some dishes since I know she likes dishes (likeI do) and she likes to host gatherings (like I do). I chose a couple pieces of Indiana Glass from my “collection.” In order to give her a little background of the glass pieces, I looked online and discovered some interesting information.
I learned Indiana had a thriving glass manufacturing industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The discovery of natural gas in the region during the late 1800s was what drew dozens of glass factories to the state.
I found out the specific Indiana Glass I was gifting, was made in Dunkirk, Indiana. Dunkirk is known as the “Glass Capital of Indiana.” (I didn’t know.) Dunkirk had over 20 glass factories at its peak. The dishes I gave my friend were Indiana Glass Sandwich pattern, made in the 1920s.
There’s more… I learned there was a glass museum in Dunkirk, Indiana. That sounded very interesting. On a whim I looked up to see how far Dunkirk was from the town where I was going to visit my friend, and found it was only 30 minutes away! I thought it would be great fun to visit the museum, and my friend thought so too, once I told her about all my discoveries.
So, off we went to visit the glass museum in the tiny town of Dunkirk with many vacant storefronts but a nice, small, public library attached to the nice, larger glass museum.
We paid our admission fee ($2) and an elderly gentleman got up from behind the desk and took us into the museum. He had retired from the glass industry where he worked for 30 years. He had a ton of knowledge that he enjoyed passing on to us.
We had a great time looking at two floors of glass, with hundreds of glass pieces, all labeled and most in enclosed cases.
On the way home we stopped at an antique store. We found some Indiana Glass, and I bought another piece. 😉
One of the attractions for our bike get away this year, was to attend an outdoor concert at Lake Brophy County Park – along the Central Lakes State Trail near Alexandria, MN. The bike trail runs right through the middle of the park.
Summer Sounds is what they call their summer outdoor concert series (free), sponsored by the Rotary Club, and it’s a big deal. Thousands show up at this park with a large hill going down to Lake Brotphy where the bandstand is set up near the water, creating an amphitheater. People sit on the hill to watch and listen. There was a jumbotron so all could see.
We went to hear the tribute band for Fleetwood Mac, called Rumours and Dreams. Apparently, this tribute band is part of the Summer Sounds concert series every year. I can understand why people keep coming back to hear them. They are very good. Three lead vocalists and other instrument players sounded like the original band. The 70’s and 80’s were Fleetwood Mac’s most active years.
We rode our bikes to this event (from a parking lot one mile away). If you ride to the concert, you can park your bike in the bike corral (safe and secure) and in exchange you get a camp chair to sit on to listen to the concert. A creative idea!
There were food trucks and a playground for the kiddos, lots of trash bins brought in as well as Porta-potties. The concerts attract thousands of attendees.
At the end of the concert, about 9 o’clock, there was a beautiful glow as the sun began to set. We hopped on our bikes and rode one mile back to our car. It was so easy and quick, and we avoided all traffic jams and others leaving the area.
Outdoor concerts are a quintessential part of summer. I’m grateful for the many opportunities all over Minnesota.
On our recent trip to Madison, Wisconsin we toured the beautiful state capital building, walked around the farmer’s market that occupies four sides of a large city block on which the capitol building stands (with hundreds of other people).
We visited Olbrich Botanical Gardens, ate at a few unique restaurants, and shopped a couple thrift stores. It was hot and humid, but we had a good time in spite of it. I have been to Madison many times, but Gary had never been there. He liked it.
On our way back to Minnesota, we stopped at Devils Lake State Park, a park near Baraboo WI, which is a half hour from Madison. Our friends knew of a unique trail there so we decided to take a hike.
It’s called Tumbled Rocks Trail. It was a narrow, winding, asphalt trail through humongous boulders…not “rocks” on each side of the trail. The trail followed Devils Lake and was scenic (although there was some haze from the wildfires burning in northern MN and Canada).
It was fairly easy walking on the water’s edge trail. The large boulders (Quartzite) created a natural cliffs as they tumbled down the hillside. I’m not sure where the boulders came from, or what made them stop where they did, and why they stay in place now, but it was an interesting hike. And it was pretty, with Devils Lake on one side and the boulders lining the western side of the lake. I like the name of the trail, although I do believe it should be named Tumbled Boulders Trail, not Tumbled Rocks Trail…although scenic, these are not your lovely, smooth rock piles.
We have been to many of Minnesota’s wonderful State Parks. Other than Interstate State Park we have not been to any Wisconsin State Parks. It was fun to finally see Devils Lake State Park, since for many years I have driven by the sign for it along the 90/94 Interstate through Wisconsin.
Our stop piqued my interest…maybe it’s time to start looking at other parks in Wisconsin: Mirror Lake State Park, Governor Dodge State Park…there are 50 of them in the state.
Athens was the focus of our first five days in Greece. We met up with our friends at the hotel we were all staying at on the afternoon of our arrival. We hung out and toured Athens charming streets and many ruins, including, of course, the famous Acropolis.
It’s hard to comprehend how old some of the ruins are…going back centuries…
We visited the Acropolis museum (very well done) on a guided tour, before we climbed up to see the Parthenon and The Temple of Athena Nike, The propylaea (grand gateway) and The Erechtheion, another temple.
One day we went on a tour that took us away from the city and through the countryside. Our destination was a lovely seaside town, Nafplio.
We stopped at the Corinth Canal to view this “shortcut” dugout from the Ionian Sea to Aegean Sea. It was dug in the late 1800’s. It’s an impressive sight but no longer serves the bigger ships of today.
We also stopped at the Mycenae acropolis and walked under the stone gateway called the Lion Gate leading up to the acropolis in Mycenae. It is supposed to be the oldest know monument sculpture in Europe, carved in 1250 BCE.
It is here in Nafplio where we ate our best lunch. We ordered a traditional Greek fare: moussaka (made with eggplant and tuna). It was delicious. We ate in an outside cafe, along the harbor overlooking giant yachts.
Back in Athens we saw small, charming outdoor cafes, markets, many ruins, lots of churches, cypress trees, graffiti, cats (yes, stray cats all over the place and people feed them).
There is so much ancient history in this area…it was interesting to hear and learn, but hard to comprehend and remember.
Greece is a beautiful country…friendly folks too… with so much to offer. As usual we saw only a small portion of it.
We definitely would go back if the opportunity presented itself, but then we say that about most places we visit. There are so many beautiful places in this big, wonderful world. We are grateful we can travel to see a few of them.
“It’s a funny thing coming home.
Nothing changes.
Everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same.
You realize what’s changed is you.”
Eric Roth
“Santorini is famous for its dramatic volcanic caldera, iconic cliffside villages of whitewashed buildings and blue-domed churches, and breathtaking Aegean sunsets.” (Google) And we got to spend four nights on this romantic island.
Upon arrival at the airport in Santorini, our pre-arranged driver transferred us to our resort in the city of Oia (locally pronounced Ee-ah) in the north, away from the cruise ship docks in Fira. He dropped us at the parking lot which was several hundred yards from the resort’s office, so a strong, young employee from the resort met us with a dolly.
He loaded our heavy luggage (there were four of us) and pulled and pushed the dolly to the resort. It was impressive. These are narrow, uneven brick lanes, going both uphill and down…and down…and down. I’m not sure I could have carried my own luggage if I had to.
We checked in to our lovely room…with a view, and a balcony… with a hot tub.
As on the other islands, the resort and hotels, houses and most buildings on the island are painted white…some with blue trim. Churches have blue domes. The buildings are cubical and some cave-like, to imitate the original cave homes on the volcanic island. We were told that in order to confuse the pirates all the homes were painted white and the small lanes created a maze.
The volcano erupted about 1600 BC and created a caldera (a large, cauldron-shaped depression that forms from the explosion or collapse of the center of a volcano). The island of Santorini is one part of the edge of this caldera and therefore is a crescent shape. Thousands of years ago this caldera filled with water… the most exquisite crystal- clear blue water I’ve ever seen ~ the Aegean Sea which flows into the Mediterranean.
The resort we stayed at was built into a hillside and, as I mentioned, has a lot of steps. This is not a place for those who cannot handle steps or have balance issues.
From the office of our hotel to our room there are about 75-80 steps (I lost count). We walked up them every time we left the resort. Our friend’s room was about 15 steps further down from our room. And the swimming pool and breakfast buffet and restaurant was down further still. The streets are a labyrinth… you needed to pay attention to where you were going. We used our phone’s GPS system often.
Santorini is an amazing place. On this magnificent island we had four days to play. Besides enjoying our balconies and the pool and the restaurant, we left daily for different activities.
For our first day, the activity we planned was a 6 mile hike from the town of Fira to where we were staying in Oia, but it was misty (the only day it rained on our trip), so we just relaxed and delayed our hike until the next morning.
The next day we decided to shorten the hike to 4 miles or so; we hired a driver to take us to our selected hiking starting point and hiked the trail along the edge of the Caldera. It was very picturesque.
Several people were hiking this popular and spectacular trail. We learned about the hike from our son and his wife who walked the trail a few years ago.
There were stunning views of the sea, and many varieties of wildflowers along the way.
That afternoon we went horseback riding. It was a short ride down to the beach, but it was fun, and a new and different activity for us.
One day we sailed around the other islands in the caldera, on a 45’ catamaran.
There was only one other couple for our four-hour time slot, so it felt like a personal tour. They crew served us a delicious grilled fish lunch. The boat stopped in two different areas where we were able to jump in and swim. The water was cold!!
We all enjoyed sitting in front of the catamaran to watch the world go by.
While on Santorini, we had a delicious meal at the restaurant in our hotel. It was a wonderful place, but what made it so special was first, the seating arrangement…always outside…facing west because Santorini is noted for their gorgeous sunsets.
And second, we mentioned to our tour director on the cruise ship that we were staying at this resort in Santorini and he told us it is owned by one of his best friends, and he would give him a call. When we checked-in they told us we were gifted with a complimentary dinner at the restaurant. What a fun surprise.
It was a splurge for us to stay on this magical island for four nights, but it was memorable, and we all felt it was worth it.
“We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone.” Katie Thurmes
We woke up to another beautiful day in Greece, at a port in Rhodes.
Before our trip we had prearranged a 4+ mile hike along the sea with a tour company. They picked us up at the dock and drove us several miles away to the start of a trail along the rocky coast.
We had a wonderful guide, and the views of the sea were stunning.
It took several hours, and we enjoyed every minute of it.
We stopped at Limni Beach to swim in the cool, refreshing, clear waters.
The next day we disembarked on the isle of Crete where we went to a local family organic farm where they grow olive trees and grapes. We tasted the wine and had some cheese and bread and tomatoes while watching traditional Greek dancers performed for us. It was delightful.
We also had a chance to dance with the dancers at the end. It was fun.
The last stop on our cruise was Santorini. We opted to stay onboard because the next day we would fly to Santorini for a four-night stay on our own. It was very pleasant to be on the ship with so many passengers disembarked. We had the hot tub to ourselves and a nice relaxing experience.
The cruise went quickly. We had a lovely dinner on board, on our last night.
"And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty,
your hair messy
and your eyes sparkling."
Shanti
Our time in Greece was marvelous. It was divided into three parts. Five nights in Athens, a four-night cruise through the isles, and four nights on the island of Santorini. I couldn’t decide where to begin writing about our adventures. I decided to start with my favorites, instead of chronological order. But then, I couldn’t determine between the four-night cruise or the four-night stay on the island of Santorini…I decided to start with the cruise.
I love being on the water and was happy to be on the Celestial Discovery, a smaller ship (1200 passenger) cruising the Mediterranean Sea and stopping at a couple of the 1,200 islands in Greece. We had a delightful tour director who took good care of us. We disembarked on a four islands: Mykonos, Patmos, Rhoades, Crete, and also disembarked at a stop in Ephesus, Turkey.
Besides seeing the scenic, small, cubical white-washed buildings (some with blue trim and all with no peaked roofs) and the narrow alley ways between houses on the islands and the picturesque scene of these buildings enveloping the hillsides up from the water, each island was unique in its own way.
Our first stop was not an island, but we sailed to Turkey, to visit Ephesus. The incredible ruins of this town where Apostle Paul, and other Biblical personalities walked the streets, 2,000 years ago, was incredible to see. The ancient city of Ephesus’ excavated remains go back several centuries.
At one time Ephesus was a massive economic and intellectual hub of the Roman Empire, and a center for early Christianity. It amazes me that so many of these ruins are intact today…and that we can meander through them and envision all the activity they represent.
Later, that same day , we sailed to Patmos where the apostle John was exiled from Ephesus, and where John had his visions described in the Bible’s book of Revelation. Researchers are confident the cave ~ The Cave of the Apocalypse ~ where we visited, is indeed where John actually received his divine visions. It is said the crack in the rock wall above (we looked up) is believed to be the spot where God’s voice echoed, symbolizing the Holy Trinity (3 fissures in the rock). This site, as is Ephesus, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a landmark or area formally recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as possessing “Outstanding Universal Value”)
It was meaningful to me to be there in this cave on Patmos. Our guide told wonderful stories. The one I remember is that after the ruler who sent John to exile at Patmos died, John returned to Ephesus as an old man. In church, when the congregation asked him for a word, he would simply say “Love one another.”
When his disciples grew weary of hearing the same phrase and asked why he always repeated it, John replied: “Because it is the Lord’s command, and if this only is done, it is enough.” Amen. I enjoyed hearing that story.
Back on the ship, we sailed during the night, to Rhodes…(to be continued.)
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35