Tag Archives: Travel

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History and Art on the GAP

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The Great Allegheny Passage is a 150 mile Rail to Trail that runs between Cumberland, Maryland and Pittsburgh, Pennyslvania. Work contstraints had my friends and I doing half of the GAP in the Fall of 2025 (you can see the posts about that ride here and here) and the second half of the GAP just three weeks ago.

We arrived in Ohiopyle, PA the night before the ride, glad to be reunited with the beautiful Youghiogheny River.

Ohiopyle is a super fun “trail town” that caters to cyclists, walkers, backpackers, and river runners. We enjoyed dinner at Falls City Restaurant and Pub and slept well at the Falls Market Inn.

The next morning, after a delicious breakfast with our support crew at the Falls Market Restaurant, we set off!

It was an incredible day and we were so happy to be back on the GAP.

One of my favorite parts of riding a rail trail is learning the history of the people and communities along the way. The GAP runs through the Laurel Highlands region which is “shaped by Native American heritage, pivotal early American conflicts, and coal, coke, and steel booms”.

An unexpected pleasure is seeing public art along the way. “The Connellsville Gateway Arch, with it’s colorful stained glass fanning 16 feet into the air, welcomes eastbound travelers on the Great Allegheny Passage. Built from formed concrete, coal, and riveted steel, the arch features materials made in the town’s own Youghiogheny Opalescent Glass Factory”.

We loved the murals on three industrial silos owned by Youghhiogheny Glass. Artists Chris Galiyas and Meeghan Triggs originally painted the silos in 2008, and due to fading over the years, were restored in 2022 by Galiyas.

“To honor the steelworkers past and present, the Yellow Dog sculpture was developed through the collaborative efforts of sculptor Jim West, George Junior Republic’s Fine Arts program, and the welding program at the William H. Gladden Career and Technical Center on the campus of George Junior Republic”.

We also enjoyed the unofficial pieces of art that bring smiles.

And then we came across the Darr Mine Memorial Mosaic.

The Darr Mine disaster occurred on December 19,1907 and was the deadliest coal mining tragedy in Pennsylvania history, claiming the lives of 239 men and boys. Created by mosaic artist Rachel Sager, “the memorial includes 239 individual mosaic plaques mounted on an old stone retaining wall. Each unique mosaic is built into a vintage film canister—resembling the metal miner tags left behind in the earth”.

The explosion left 130 widows, 300 children without fathers, and 542 people without a source of income. 

Rail Trails follow historic railroads, pass through small and large towns, and preserve the surrounding countryside and history. Next post will be about our fourth and final day on the GAP.

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Former Railroad Trestle Bridge

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The New River Trail is a 57 mile linear State Park in Virginia. Created from an abandoned railroad right of way, this bridge is one of 30 along the trail. I recently crossed this bridge on my fairly new gravel bicycle (not the one pictured in my header image) while training for an upcoming ride in October.

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After several false starts, I am determined to get back into blogging (I’ve certainly said that before!). After posting regularly for almost a decade, life, work, and caring for parents seemed to keep me from following through on my goal. Fingers crossed, this time I will succeed!

Life on the Bike started as a travel journal and a place to share photos from the road with friends and family. Sadly, there was a two year time span when I wasn’t able to ride either the motorcycle or the bicycle.

I had also not picked up my DSLR for a year! But two weeks ago, I took a photography class in DC and have been practicing / refreshing daily. When I started this blog back in 2012, I had little more than an eye and a “point and shoot”. I look back at those photos now, and see good intentions but not much more. Hopefully, I’ve improved since then!

I am going to commit to posting once weekly, most likely the same day that I post on Monochromia. If you are a fan of B&W Photography be sure to visit and see the work of some amazing photographers.

I look forward to catching up with the blogging community and friends who have been much more diligent than I in maintaining their blogs.

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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!

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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.

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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

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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 🙂 )

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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!

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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!!

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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!!