by Ninasusan

North Shore Day 1

Cold rain and temps in the 60s but that didn’t slow us down. When traveling the United States, I really enjoy when the landscape and the trees change. Driving along Lake Superior in the North Shore area of Minnesota is beautiful! Its only nature! Miles and miles of water, trees, incredible rock lined roads and tunnels.

Gooseberry Falls were a little disappointing …. the water flow wasn’t as heavy as the first time we were here….although the sight and the sound were still breath taking. I stood for a long time and centered myself taking it all in using all of my senses.

Split Rock Lighthouse tour…$10 per person….the lighthouse is a must see and the views of the shore line are breathtaking even on a cloudy, rainy day.

We made it to Grand Marais by 4:00. Probably the furthest north we will go because we didn’t bring passports. We have a room in a hotel right along the lake although trees mostly hide a great view

The various sea birds are providing a manic chorus. I hope they SHUTUP when the sun goes down.

Until next time……

09.30.17

by Ninasusan

Not all who Wander…..

I wish I had asked my dad why he moved two hours away from his family in the 40s. If you knew my dad, you would understand that he was a homebody for the most part…didn’t particularly need or want friends…at least in the years he was my dad. We took 2 week family vacations from the time I was about 8. I think he really enjoyed the destination but getting there always exhausted him…driving, driving overnighting in Mom and pop motels…he followed the highway and I don’t think he would have considered seeing a road and saying…hmm I wonder where that road goes. He didn’t do it so I assume it didn’t cross his mind. I always felt his mother and I were the most important to him…and our poodle named Edie. I assume my mother figured in to the equation? He was married to her for almost 50 years.

I always wonder if those family vacations were the impetus for my love for traveling and taking the road less traveled.

I know when I arrive at that place I was meant to visit, I’m overwhelmed with the feeling of “I could live here”. I’m not sure “what” all comes together to recognize soul comfort but it is something. I felt it when we found this house in a small town south of Kansas City. I have never felt more content in my own skin…with that being said….I still find myself traveling to different states and be awashed with the feeling. At this age and because of my grandchildren, I don’t want to uproot my life and move on but the comfort when I find one of these pillows of comfort for my soul manifests in freedom and peacefulness.

Until next time…..

09.18.15

by Ninasusan

The Fiat 500

Gena and I are always surprised how much room there is in the back seat of the him-in-law’s Fiat

To be totally honest…that is what we said prior to the feast at Bare Bones BBQ tonight. When entering the back seat of the Fiat, you must pay attention and not just squeeze inside in a hurry…not even if you are in a hurry to save your life because you must be cognizant of the fact that you must exit the vehicle ducked and bent over in exactly the same manner as you entered the vehicle….and one would never want to be in the back of the Fiat with anyone occupying the front seat that you don’t trust with your life! It would be virtually impossible to escape without the front seat occupants assistance. Period.

My loyal partner of 36 years has been a faithful mate! If a woman on the street catches his eye, I would not know it…he’s just one of those guys.

Until FOR CRYING OUT LOUD tonight. It was my idea for us to hit the ice cream shop after dinner…he’s driving and we pull up in front of the ice cream shop…two female employees are sitting outside…he gets out of the car, slams the door and makes his way to the door of the shop (I believe I hear giggle giggle but it could have been the heat rushing from my ears) before he realizes that he has locked his wife in the back seat…the him-in-law was just standing outside his car door waiting to assist his future bride out. I was pretty sure that him in law was also wondering WTH his brother was doing. He may or may not have heard my expletive about his brother totally forgetting his wife when he sees a couple of other women. Needless to say, the embarrassed man who locked his wife in the backseat of the car bought ice cream for four. And thus begins our week long foursome vacation.

Until next time….

09.12.14

by Ninasusan

2014 Italy Day 3…Goodbye Venice…Hello Vasto!

I didn’t get all of my pictures downloaded last night…Here’s a couple I thought were worth mentioning. We stopped at a sidewalk pizza restaurant for dinner. These little restaurants along the streets and sidewalks are so quaint and could not be replicated in the US mostly because of the history of the Italian cities and the atmosphere…I’m sure to the Italians…we are all tourists…but to us, the tourists, it is so easy to fall I into the mindset of being Italian…even for the day…it’s in the air….anyway…back to the pizza place…we were in an alcove with a tree growing in the corner…the ceiling was actually the tree branches and leaves and the night sky was visible between the leaves…Gena was fascinated…she is going to love this picture of herself.

He has just not been impressed with the Italian beer he has tried
Too hoppy whatever that means…

I snapped this picture of the boys setting up the water taxi service for this morning before we settled in for the night. Settled In Is not exactly what we did…He and I couldn’t sleep…I think we finally shut off the light around 2 and got our wake up call at 5.

Found out how supplies are delivered to the businesses in this canal city while waiting on a bridge this morning. The long boats pull up to the taxi pick up corners and they unload onto carts and are then pushed around the city for delivery. While I was standing on the bridge taking in the view, one of the long boats slowly meandered down the canal under me and I had a freakish movie scenario go thru my head ….of me….(feel free to fill In The movie characters)…jumped from the bridge onto the boat and ran across all of the boxes and jumped the driver. Shortly our water taxi arrived…couldnt park next to the sidewalk so we had to step down on the delivery boat and walk across it to board the taxi. I had already been wondering how brave I was going to be stepping from the sidewalk down to the taxi. I’m thankful the real scenario had not been entertained in my already fertile imagination.

Still dark, we traveled down the Grand Canal to the train station. It was like a movie!

Boarded the train, rented the car and fell asleep on the beach of the Adriatic Sea in Vasto…I’ll fill in the blanks later.

Ciao

09.11.14

by Ninasusan

2014 Italy Day 2 Venice….the good..the bad and …well, the ugly

the bad…started off with a fine mist this morning. Lasted for about an hour but Gena and I got to carry umbrellas with us for quite a few hours. I got a little big bite while eating dinner.

The ugly….In a shop window that flashed Red Cross/green cross sign

I had to look!

The pigeons on San Marco – St Marks square

Expensive tea

The good/awesome
The beautiful Venice

The beautiful Rialto bridge over the Grand Canal

Alarm at 5 am…who can sleep…a water taxi up the Grand Canal to take us to the train,,,destination….Pescara

Ciao

09.10.14

by Ninasusan

2014 Italy Day 1 Home to Venice and points in between…

Because I always bitch about the TSA….I must start out saying #TSA Kansas City are awesome….not a hitch… Easy, organized and professional. US AIRWAYS also a great airline even though they are related to American Airlines! Customs in Rome was easier than the drive through at Taco Johns! We switched planes to Alitalia without a hitch….we had to board a bus at the terminal and take a “hold on for your life” bus ride to board the plane in the middle of the Tarmac. Dave mentioned that even when everything goes well, it is exhausting. The bus trip and boarding the city boat for the trip down the Grand Canal in Venice was stressful…but the sights made it worthwhile. You can rent a private boat to take you up the canal but 2 to 3 times the rate so we were willing to put up with a little bit of CROWD torture for the 15 euros…it was worth it.

Venice is in it’s full glory at night. It’s hard to top Venice!

After a great italian dinner, Gena had her first real gelato.

St Marks square had 4 string groups playing at the same time…it is that big.
It is breathtaking.

I can see us returning for a week in Venice…maybe closer to the end of a September some time to avoid the crowd. We will be here another day and night. It’s 1 am..everyone else is asleep. Must be about 6 pm in Missouri and Iowa.

Ciao.

09.30.08

by Ninasusan

Visiting Kate in Ohio…..

It’s raining tonight in this part of Ohio. Just a nice soothing rain. He and I got up late – okay – nearly afternoon – Katy came home from work and spent about an hour with us before she had to head to Kent…We turned on Carmen the Garmin and headed for Cleveland – saw the Indians, Cavaliers and Brown’s stadiums…ate at Hard Rock and then we went on a hunt for a wii. We hit most of the Game Stops in and around Cleveland and Akron – will hit a couple tomorrow in Cuyahoga Falls. Apparently several places had wiis this weekend but sold out…I guess most of those were Best Buys grrrrrrr

I finally won a fantasy football game = finally!!! We were talking about going to Pittsburg tomorrow to check out the Steeler’s stadium and just hang out but Kate wants us to come to the Montisorri preschool where she teaches at 1600…so will probably just shop tomorrow – I know there has to be a craft shop yelling my name.

That’s it for tonight…

Until next time….

09.14.08

by Ninasusan

fishing in Wyoming

So…we are in Livingston, Mt at the Yellowstone River. As I said in yesterday’s blog, in and around Livingston is where the movie “A River Runs Through It” was filmed. It is very beautiful. The plan was to park the truck and then we would walk a ways down river and “he” would fish his way back up..fine with me…I collected rocks (one for Kim, one for Christa and one for me)…sat in the sun and read my book, took pictures and occasionally watched him….While I’m sitting on the ground, it occurred to me that there was probably rattlesnakes – so I stood up and tried to keep an eye on it but instead of rattlesnakes – I found cows.

and then the cows found me and started to get curious…I did the dog whisperer thing and tried to remain calm and submissive. This one got too curious and too close….

Meanwhile, back at the river…

No trout….he was going to catch and release anyway…I really wish he would have at least gotten one – but just fly fishing in the Yellowstone River in Montana was good enough for him….

Until next time…..

09.13.08

by Ninasusan

Montana 2

Montana is a state with vast areas of nothingness…the only green we saw on the east side was the money we payed for gas…The speed limit on interstate highways is 75 and 70 mph on secondary roads…we laughed because we went thru a construction zone and the speed limit was 65… and there is no traffic. Sure the cities such as Billings and Bozeman and Great Falls has traffic – but out in the country… the highways are empty…It seems that drivers are relaxed and in no hurry..of course, if you can go 75 mph how could you tell.

Glacier National Park was the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. We spent an entire day driving the 50 miles on the “Going to Sun Highway”. The brochures say that you can estimate 2 hours each way….

St Mary’s Lake

The picture above is Jackson Glacier – it is the only Glacier that could be seen from the highway – the other’s required some hiking and our knees just were not up to it….

…until we got to Logan’s Pass – the continental divide…behind the bookstore/welcome center was “going to the sun mountain” – there were various trails – all UP…we decided to go for it…steps and ramped wooden sidewalks 3/4 of a mile. I’m very sensitive to altitude so it took us a while but we made it 3/4 mile – did I mention UP. The view was breathtaking..we just sat and looked around – in awe. On the way up, these fellas were laying on a ridge.

and here’s a view from almost 7000 feet – the continental divide

On the way down….. the beauty

…and this fellow standing right beside the road….

Driving down the western side of Montana was shockingly green…more visible ranches and lots and lots of cows and horses. What a gorgeous place on earth!!!

Until next time……

09.09.08

by Ninasusan

Wall Drug driving through South Dakota

WHERE IS WALL DRUG. Well, in Wall,SD, silly…We stayed in Mitchell,SD last night – was a LONG drive just to get here 🙂 I asked “him” about 2:30 – well, are you about ready to stop for the night – we weren’t out of Iowa yet.

We checked into our motel and started watching football – go Green Bay….I looked over and he was asleep – so I shut out my light at around 8… no supper…that’s okay. Around 11:30, I woke up famished – I let him sleep until midnight-30 and couldn’t stand it any longer – we hit the truck stop across the highway for breakfast with all of the fixins…then we were so full we were sick…but what do you do after a big breakfast – well, you go to bed and read and then sleep for the night so all of the fat calories have a chance to soak in.

Don’t know how far we will get today – we are stopping at Wall Drug and also Devil’s Tower on the Wyoming side….and then who knows…who cares – we are on vacation.

Until next time…..

Ninasusan

Happiness gently landed on my shoulders

Category Archives: vacation

North Shore Day 1

Not all who Wander…..

The Fiat 500

2014 Italy Day 3…Goodbye Venice…Hello Vasto!

2014 Italy Day 2 Venice….the good..the bad and …well, the ugly

2014 Italy Day 1 Home to Venice and points in between…

Visiting Kate in Ohio…..

fishing in Wyoming

Montana 2

Wall Drug driving through South Dakota

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