Finally! After almost 3 years of talking about it, 2 years of meaning it, and 1 year of planning it, the bloggers (and family members) are en route to Dunedin, NZ!! And it should come as no surprise that I am indulging in a little pre-flight libation. It’s going to be an amazing trip. Stay tuned for happy photos!
Forgive me, WordPress Friends, but it has been 5 Weeks since my last confession … er, I mean, post!
In the almost 6 years that I have been blogging, that may just be a record. So! Where have I been?
Inauguration
In early January, we traveled to Richmond, Virginia’s Capital City, to see the Inauguration of our new Governor.
It was a cold, but beautiful winter day and we were all so excited to be there!
As you might guess, I took a ton of photos. Sadly, I just haven’t had time to work through them yet. This image, though, shows the impressive sight of all 1600 Virginia Military Institute Cadets march by in the Inaugural Parade. Our new Govenor, Ralph Northam, is a VMI Grad.
The Women’s March in Roanoke
One week later, I hit the streets of Roanoke for the Women’s March.
From the Women’s March to the Swearing-in of Delegate Hurst
We left the Women’s March a bit early and drove straight to the swearing-in of our new Delegate, Chris Hurst.
I loved catching this image of the Delegate in concentration,
and of course, enjoyed a quick visit in his office.
It was a long, exciting day and I’m so glad to have had this man to share it with.
Puzzle Time with Family
I enjoyed a quick run to Williamsburg to spend time with some of my family,
followed by a brief stop in Richmond on the way back home.
8 weekends in a row of travel, with work in between, and suddenly blog posts take a back seat. As much as I have loved all the road trips, some of which I didn’t include here, I was grateful to be home this past weekend. Why? So I might be able to plan the BIG TRIP:
New Zealand and Australia!!
I am the luckiest gal to be leaving in just 12 days for the Southern Hemisphere! Even better, I’ll be spending time with dear blogging friends: Pauline from The Contented Crafter, (and her awesome daughters), Alys from Gardening Nirvana, and Boomdee from Boodeeadda.
I anticipate lots of laughter and love, good food and drink, gorgeous scenery and many, many photo ops. I’ll be traveling on foot, and by car, plane, train and hopefully motorcycle, and I simply cannot wait to share it with all of you!
Hello from Southwest Virginia! And a belated Happy New Year to all of you!
2018 is starting out much like the last few months of 2017 ended: full of travel. We are just 8 days in and I’ve already spent both weekends on the road, including New Years Eve in Washington DC and Alexandria, Virginia.
Despite the subfreezing temperatures, we spent several hours of the weekend out of doors. We visited National Harbor, a multi-use waterfront development on the Potomac River in Maryland. With temperatures hovering around 20 degrees during the day, we did not take the opportunity to ride the Capital Wheel, but it made for a great photo subject.
It was a beautiful evening!
Someday, in warmer weather, we’ll come back for a ride,
Later that night, we went to the National Mall to see the National Christmas Tree and the 57 trees that surround it, one representing each US State and Territory. With the wind whipping about, it felt colder than 17 degrees and these next images were taken with my cell phone, held by my shaking, freezing cold hands.
The National Tree
The Virginia Tree with the Washington Monument in the background.
Selfies are a challenge when one of you is 6’4 and one of you is 5’0.
On NYE, we counted down to midnight on the Alexandria, Virginia waterfront. The subfreezing temps kept some folks at home, but the atmosphere was festive and there were still hundreds to celebrate with.
(More cellphone photography)
Check out that frozen water!
Happy New Year!
Unlike 2017, the beginning of this year is filled with hope.
Last year: devastation. This year: motivation to continue the resistance!
I am ready!
Where ever you may be in this big wide world of ours, I wish you the utmost of peace, contentment, health, security, and happiness this holiday season. Cheers!
Recent travels took me to Virginia’s Capital City. It is always a special treat to go to Richmond during the holidays. Many of the businesses add white lights to the outside of their buildings and the city scape just glows.
In addition, the James Center creates a reindeer forest each year and I felt like (and acted like) a child as I walked through. I didn’t have a tripod with me, but sure had fun trying to capture the magic. My son and I used to go every year when we lived in Richmond years ago, and the place brings me great joy.
If you are a lover of Christmas lights, you need to stop through Richmond during the holidays. You will not be disappointed!
During my visit to Richmond a couple weeks ago, I was able to attend the Groundbreaking for the Virginia Women’s Monument. I’d attended an event several months prior and learned about this amazing project, and immediately started doing my part (my very, very small part) in helping to get the word out about it.
In 2010, the General Assembly established the Virginia Women’s Monument Commission to “recommend an appropriate monument in Capitol Square to commemorate the contributions of the women of Virginia”.
“Voices from the Garden is the first monument of its kind in the nation recognizing the full range of women’s contributions. Voices takes the form of an oval shaped garden that encompasses twelve bronze statues of significant women from different centuries, backgrounds, and areas of the state. The statues will be surrounded by a glass panel, etched with names of other noteworthy Virginia women”.
It was a bright, beautiful December morning, and I was glad that I arrived early as the seats filled in quickly and it was soon standing room only.
One of the attendees was Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (1818 – 1907). The actress (I wrote down her name, but regrettably I lost the slip of paper) portraying Elizabeth stayed in character during the ceremony and shared some of her story.
A slave who bought her freedom, Elizabeth became Mary Todd Lincoln’s seamstress and confidant during the White House years.
She established the Contraband Relief Association, which provided support for recently freed slaves and wounded soldiers, and she wrote a book called “Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House: Memoirs of an African-American Seamstress”.
Governor McAuliffe, long a champion of this project was present as was Nancy Rodrigues, Secretary of the Administration and a chief fundraiser for the project.
After the ceremony, many people picked up a shovel and took the opportunity to be captured in a photo. Of course, I had to as well!
The inspirational woman on the right, in response to my comment about how I didn’t really break the ground said “oh yes you did. We ALL did, and we still are”.
How right she is!
Fundraising still needs to be done. Please follow this link if you’d like to contribute to the Virginia Women’s Monument.
I’ve been on the road alot lately, and had the chance to spend a short time on the campus of Willam and Mary Law School in Williamsburg. While my friend did some research in the law library, I wandered around outside with my camera. Of course.
The first thing I saw when I walked out of the door was this stunning sculpture of John Marshall and George Wythe.
And the front was as captivating as the back.
As I turned around, I was struck by the beauty of the campus.
It was early in December yet I still found what looked like spring.
Then I saw the Tamarack Trees off in the distance. Their gorgeous needles were almost glowing.
Though the tamarack tree resembles other evergreens, it is actually a deciduous conifer, meaning that it sheds it’s needles every fall.
Research in the library was over so I took one last shot before getting back on the road.
Typically when my friend Karen organizes a hike, it is the walking in the woods and the view at the end that provides the memories.
Barney’s Wall provided that, for sure, but getting there was the adventure! We all piled into my truck and hit the road for the trailhead. And what a road it was!
What was initially a lovely ride through the trees,
turned into a challenge for my 4 Wheel Drive skills.
We made sure our seatbelts were locked in place and the windows up.
I took my time and drove carefully … until we saw these huge puddles.
I mean, what fun is a puddle if you can’t make a big splash?
What a fun mess!
After a bit of searching (see Karen’s post for the story) we found the trailhead.
And what a beautiful trail it was!
We’d not gone far when we learned that it was the 1st Day of Rifle Season. You’d think that the sound of gunfire in the distance would have cued us in, but it was not until we saw hunters coming towards us that we realized the significance of the day.
We perservered and it was not long until we received our reward.
The drop off was severe and soon enough we were scrambling around on the ledge.
As always, we were thrilled with the view, and with the comraderie and friendship.
Sometimes the hike is long. Sometimes not so much. No matter the length of the walk, the memories will last a lifetime.
After the almost single minded focus on the November election with it’s exciting conclusion, it was time for a getaway.
First stop: Atlanta and a quick visit with Andrew and Jon.
And Tela and Wilson, too.
We attended the Virginia Tech / Georgia Tech football game (my team lost …) but we also enjoyed site seeing, a little shopping (a very little), and lots of good food and drink. Surprisingly, I didn’t take many photos, but I was pretty happy with the few shots that I did take.
After leaving Georgia, I hit the road for Maggie Valley. Set in the mountains of North Carolina, the town is situated near the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Cherokee Indian Reservation.
We enjoyed visiting the Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum
and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
It was wonderful to have unplanned time to explore without a specific agenda,
and to enjoy the beauty of nature’s gifts.
Happiness!
Hello my friends! What an exciting time it has been here in Virginia.
A ton of hard work led to an incredible victory for progressives, and a wake up call for those who support the 45th President. From the devastation of the election results one year ago to the empowering and inspiring Women’s March in January, and every day since, the year has been bewildering, with all of us waking each day to one distressing news story or tweet after another. Now though? We celebrate!
This past year has found me, and my friends, and political colleagues working hard towards that victory. I was honored to have my home serve as a campaign staging site for several Get Out the Vote events, and loved hosting, and seeing the crowd respond to several political VIPs.
Then Lieutenant Governor, now Governor Elect Ralph Northam
Senior US Senator from Virginia Mark Warner and now Delegate Elect Chris Hurst
Junior US Senator from Virginia, and former Candidate for US Vice President, Tim Kaine
Senator Kaine obliged us by playing the harmonica with some of my friends (cellphone photo)
Former Candidate for Governer and former Congressman, Tom Periello surrounded by Radford University Students
As much as I loved seeing all these political VIPs, I adored spending time with the campaign team. Their energy, passion, and work ethic were inpiring (and FUN!) to be around.
There was always someone coming or going, and there was a well worn path through the leaves on my driveway.
November 7th, Election Day, dawned with cloudy skies but the rain held off until the last hour that the polls were open. Texts were coming in throughout the day with news of a much higher than normal voter turnout. We gathered that evening in Blacksburg, hoping that Virginia would remain BLUE and our House of Delegates candidate would be soon be Delegate Elect.
The excitment in the room was palpable and the crowd grew as the clocked ticked later. It was a multigenerational, inclusive, and diverse crowd, and the room was full of laughter, cheers, and chatter.
We watched the returns on the TV, laptop, and phone.
The word came in that not only had we swept the top ticket, our candidate Chris Hurst had beat the incumbent.
Jubilation is the best word to describe the mood in that room.
When Delegate Elect Chris Hurst walked in the cheers were almost deafening!
and the campaign team and campaign manager celebrated along with the crowd.
Virginia is standing tall! We RESISTED and we are so proud, and many women were elected to the House of Delegates, too!
I know that many of you are also thrilled with these results. Whether from the United States or the global community, you have expressed dismay and frankly, have been appalled by the actions of many in this country, especially those in leadership positions. I wish you could have been there Election Night to share in the joy.
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After the Election, I took a mini- vacation to Atlanta, Georgia and Maggie Valley, NC and am anxious to share some photos soon!
Life on the Bike and other Fab Things 