Finesse and wiggle…

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Good bye to Yellowstone

Each day I keep hoping to wake up and feel back to my normal happy, healthy self. We had to move on from Yellowstone, whether I felt up for it or not, we have a large country to cross. So I was up early, feeling not so dizzy or nauseous, but not up to par either. We had a long day of driving and such beautiful scenery and thank goodness we are listening to a great audio book called The Book Thief. And as lousy as I felt, the book was a reminder that my troubles are worthless when compared to the plight of the Jews in WWII. Continue reading

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The travel bug…

IMG_20180518_150434601_HDRSometimes you have all the luck and your life is charmed, sometimes you hit a large pothole in the road. Today I was at the pothole. I woke up with the room spinning wildly around while my eyes were closed. Thanks to Mr. Hitchcock we all know the word VERTIGO and I was gripping the side of the bed while it spinned. Welcome to my morning. I did a quick google search and deduced that I most likely have an inner ear infection brought on by the virus I have been fighting off. Continue reading

I’m goin’ to Jackson

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The gnome made his proud appearance as the small builder of this gateway of antlers in Jackson Hole, WY

I contracted a cold somewhere along our travels and have been fending off succumbing to it’s persistent annoyance. But today I was dragging around  feeling sorry for myself that for my favorite part of the trip I felt rotten.

Audrey downloaded a Johnny Cash playlist and we heard him singing on our way into Jackson, Wyoming… Continue reading

Roadside falls

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Kathy, Lori and Audrey happy to see each other!

One of the best things about road travel is the people you meet along the way, some old friends and some new. Today was full of old friends in Reno, Nevada, Kathy and Grandma Blume. After wonderful visits we packed the car and set out for destination Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

We had about 7 hours of driving and while filling up the gas tank the spout spit gasoline onto my leggings and as much as possible I soaped it off in the public restroom. I smelled of gasoline the rest of the day. We didn’t have time to do the trip in one day so we stopped for the night in Twin Falls, Idaho, under a beautiful rainbow. Continue reading

The boots are back!

IMG_7490The fringe boots are back as I am making the transition from winter to summer and kicking off the season with another cross-country road trip. The boots are somehow synonymous with my road trips, so that, like Pavlov’s dog, I am starting to drool for adventure and they make me imagine I am Sacagawea exploring the wild pioneer tundra. I wrote about these boots in one of my very first blogs (What’s with the boots?), and they still get comments daily in my travels. Continue reading

3 states, 5 towns, 10 days & 25 people

I’m just back from a whirlwind trip to the West Coast. Having moved to the eastern edge of the USA it is difficult to see all of the people and places that mean a lot to me in one trip, but this time I can say that I came close!

IMG_6485I flew into Seattle to connect with my daughters. I met a new grand-kitty, celebrated a birthday, saw a new apartment, walked to the beach, ate some amazing food, extolled the virtues, and adorableness, of Seattle’s plethora of little free libraries and watched one daughter in a dance performance at University of Washington. This was a last-minute addition to my trip west and I can’t even explain how important it was to my own well-being. Seeing my daughters and their friends in the midst of their living is a tangible delight and more than necessary, even if only for a few days. Continue reading

My girl…

DSCN0580My car, we’ve been through a lot. She’s my pal, she’s like a horse that I pat on the flank when she’s doing a good job or when I worry about her. In Massachusetts every year you have to take your car in for an inspection, they put your car through a barrage of tests, emissions, wind shield wipers, undercarriage, seat belts, you name it. I get nervous every time because if your car doesn’t pass you have 60 days to fix whatever ails it. But this time while my girl, her name is Malibu, was getting the once over, I was reminded of taking my pets to the veterinarian. The technician used to take my poor, scared dog away to some back room and behind closed doors give her injections or take tests, while leaving me in the white exam room. Continue reading

Waramaug sounds like the name of a dragon…

“But in my heart is the joy of youth for I have learned that the essential things of life are near at hand and happiness is his who but opens his eyes to the beauty which lies before him.” -John Burroughs

IMG_6439I took a day trip to Connecticut this week. It was time for some exploration, one of the areas in my life that needs attention for me to be happy. So off I went heading south on Hwy 7. My first stop was for coffee at a cafe in Sheffield, Massachusetts then over the border to Connecticut to a waterfall at Kent Falls State Park. It was pretty and I enjoyed a leisurely climb up the path to the top. Continue reading

Cinderella’s mice…

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” -Mark Twain 

Today I went in for my “muslin fitting” for the costume I will be wearing this summer running around Edith Wharton’s The Mount Mansion grounds, playing Egeus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Shakespeare & Company. The role was written for a man but I will be playing him as a female dressed in a tailor-made 1830’s riding habit!

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I have always loved playing dress-up, part of why I enjoy acting so much. When I get the perfect costume, combined with a great role, it can transform me into a fantasy world where I get lost. I suppose it’s a lot like writing and how you can disappear into a book both as the author and as a reader. Just add an outfit to that and BAM you get the full sensual experience! Continue reading

The Cape…

IMG_6366No, not the red little riding-hood variety but CAPE COD, Massachusetts. I decided that I needed a quick get-out-of-town adventure and at midnight booked a cottage by the sea (three nights for the price of two) in South Yarmouth for the next day. Just packing, getting in the car and turning on the tunes puts me in a different head space. I left behind the never-disappearing list of things to do and cast off on a road trip and found myself sipping rosé out of a wine glass with a lobster painted on it. Bliss. Continue reading