Tag Archives: Travel

Pacific Coast Highway Tour: Port Angeles, WA to Astoria, OR

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What a thrill it is to spend the entire day driving the Pacific Coast Highway! Mile by mile of exploration with the only downside being that I wanted to stop and photograph EVERYTHING!  We had 10 days to get from Seattle to LA and we could have spent weeks!  Still, it was a gift just to be there and we will be back!

Day 2 on the road found us leaving Port Angeles, driving through Olympic National Park, and ending up in Astoria, Oregon.

This view brought tears to my eyes.

But that view came after miles of driving through fog, which was stunningly beautiful even though it blocked some of the view.

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At the end of the day, we found a local brewery and enjoyed a cold beverage.  Happiness!

Costa Maya

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After a fair bit of travel and a ton of work, I am dropping by briefly to leave one photo and to let you know that I’m still here.

Can’t wait to catch up with all of you!  I’ve missed you.

Richmond

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A 48 hour trip to Richmond, VA  – also known as RVA – was packed with appointments, visits with family and friends, and good food and drink.  Founded in 1607, Richmond is Virginia’s working capital.  History, arts, entertainment, and dining are just a few of the amenities of this city that I called home for seven years while attending the Medical College of Virginia.

Every moment was filled, and as I ran from place to place, I often had nothing but my cell phone in my hand.  I didn’t come away with many photos, but the memories will sustain me.

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I managed to find parking along E Franklin St and walked the block over to Perly’s Restaurant, a creative jewish deli where “bites & dinners are served in this funky, retro eatery hung with family photos”.  Oh my goodness, the potato latkes as an appetizer and the pototo and duck pierogies in mushroom and onion sauce were just divine!

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That evening I met with the Girls of August.  We laughed our way through our annual gathering, which always starts with a cosmopolitan.

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The eclipse of the moon was a fitting ending to a lovely day.

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Thank you for stopping by.  I’m working hard to fit WP into my resist lifestyle!

#ShePersisted

Monochromia: Subway Surfing

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It’s hard to believe that it has been 5 weeks since that incredible weekend in NYC.  The past month has been a blur!

When Joe, Stacy, Terry, and I were taking the subway to meet up with Patti and Robyn, I had fun trying to stay upright without holding onto anything as the train sped underneath the streets of the city.  I also posted myself right in the window to grab this shot.

Such fabulous memories of a great time.

(and, just FYI, I did manage to stay upright … although I’m not sayin’ it was pretty 🙂 )

Fresh from the Bay

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The first half of my vacation is over but the memories of the Middle Peninsula on the Chesapeake Bay, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and the beaches of Delaware keep me smiling.  There is much I want to share with you but since I leave for Kentucky in the morning, I thought I would share just a few photos from our fresh crab and tuna steak shopping trip.

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Aren’t the colors of those crabs vibrant?  These photos are unedited; the color is true.

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The fisherman working that day, saw my camera and offered to let me walk out onto this fairly rickety dock.  From that vantage point I was able to photograph some of the surrounding docks.

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The weather those first three days was what some might consider less than “beachy”, but for me and my friends, it did not matter.

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We were happy just to be together and to explore the culture, marine life, and food that the Middle Peninsula of Virginia offers.

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What an incredible place!

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More photos from the coastline of Virginia and Delaware after I get back from my time on the bike!  Next stop … Kentucky!

The First Glimpse

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This was my first glimpse of the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.  After a chilly, 4 hour ride, I was so excited to be getting close, I just had to pull over alongside the highway and stare.

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This is also my first real glimpse of the photos from that fateful ride.  I look forward to the weekend and an opportunity to spend more time reviewing and editing the images.

After the weekend: my first oral surgery!!

Annapolis

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The 2013 Bike Trip has been great so far!  I’ve been lucky to enjoy smooth and rainfree riding through the mountains of Virginia to the the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, and also had a wonderful reunion with a treasured friend and her family.  Today I explored the history, food, and walkability of Annapolis. More photos later but for now, i hope you like this completely unedited image.

Tomorrow: Southern Maryland!

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Washed, Waxed, Ready!

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One of the things on my pre-trip “to do” list was clean the bike.  All those rides in the rain had left my motorcycle pretty much a mess.  As yesterday afternoon headed toward a beautiful evening, I gathered the necessary supplies and headed outside.  To be honest, I would have preferred to just ride, but there was work to be done!

I’ve never named a bike that I’ve owned, nor have I assigned a gender to one.  That’s just not my thing.

Somehow though, “it” just doesn’t sound right for something this pretty!

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I know you all may be getting tired of my pre-trip excitement, but I just can’t help it!!!

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Now … if I could just figure out how to save photographs from my camera SD card to my borrowed Samsung Galaxy Tablet, I’d be a happy woman!

2 More Days!!

Myrtle Beach on the Bike: The People and The Bikes

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This is the second in a series of posts about Myrtle Beach Bike Week and my experience as a first timer.

Myrtle Beach Bike Week – motorcycles, music, people, bars (some only in business during bike week / 2-3 weeks per year) and restaurants – so many sites to see and things to do.  I was there for less than 48 hours and still managed to walk on the beach, log some miles on the bike, listen to fun music, enjoy good food and drink, and spend time with great friends.

People watching is a favorite activity.  Find a rocking chair, a beer, and watch the bikes and people go by.

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The problem I had with the rows of rocking chairs is that they were lined up right in front of where I had to back the bike into a long line of bikes.  Do you know how unnerving that is? Angle the bike wrong and the whole row goes down … or at least that was my fear.  Knowing everyone was watching made me even more nervous.  Deciding to make a positive out of a potential negative, I jokingly asked the crowd for a little love.  Everyone began to cheer and clap and I backed in without problem.  Phew!

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Once the bike was parked, I was able to grab a cold one, hang with my friends and get down to some serious people watching.

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Juli and I with our multi-tatted friend

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Then there are the bikes!  The models, colors, styles, and sheer individuality of them would keep you busy for hours.

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Of course for me, the best part was having an unplanned, extra day off from work and using it to spend time on the bike and with friends. It was a fabulous mini-vacation!

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Next Post:  The Music, Bars, and Restaurants

Southwest Virginia!!

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If you’ve read even a couple of my posts, you know that I frequently tout SWVA as a beautiful and fun place to live.  Now, it’s not just me who is spreading the word!  Thanks to my friend Brandon for sharing this article from Mens Health Magazine entitled 13 Places to Visit in 2013.

The world’s an endlessly vast place for exploration. And the more you travel, the more ground you realize you have yet to cover. With that in mind, here are a baker’s dozen of places—close, far, known, and relatively obscure—that you should visit in the coming year.

Guess what #12 is?

12. Southwest Virginia (woo hoo!)
It’s hard to beat the Blue Ridge mountains for watching the leaves change in the fall. The 12,000 acre Primland resort offers postcard views along with a wide range of activities, like tree climbing, geocaching, clay shooting hunting, and mountain biking. Drive south along to the crooked road music trail (stops include the Carter Family Fold, the home of Johnny Cash’s in-laws) to Abingdon, a scenic town with vineyards, breweries, theaters, and the 34-mile Virginia Creeper Trail. Also of note, the Star Museum, which showcases an extensive rotating collection of movie memorabilia including a smoking jacket worn by Clark Gable.

When to go: October, to watch the leaves change.

http://news.menshealth.com/13-places-to-visit-in-2013/2012/12/27/

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As you can see by the pictures, you don’t have to wait until October!  It’s beautiful all year long.

Be sure to let me know when you’ll be visiting!!