NY Trippin' - The West Virginia Hills and the Rain

Ok - before I head to far down the road, I'm posting some pics from Tennessee and Kentucky. We crossed the  mighty Mississippi River into Tennessee.

Memphis Tennesee. Gotta see Graceland.

This is as close as we came to the Elvis abode.

This next photo is the very ornate fountain at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. It is the daily home for the duck march of the five beautiful ducks below.

 The duck master below comes out to explain the tradition of the duck march. He then rolls out the red carpet and goes up to the roof to march the ducks into the fountain.

Here you see them settling in after their highly impressive march into the fountain.

Here is the Lorraine Motel. We didn't have time to go in because we wanted to get on the road. But out of respect to MLK, wanted to add a photo.

After leaving Memphis, we drove on through Tennessee and into Kentucky. Beautiful, lush trees, hills and pastureland.

After leaving Kentucky, we rolled through West Virginia. The weather was very unsettled, as we were driving up to meet a line of rain further to the north and east. There were multiple spots that appeared to have steam rising up from between the thick forest land. I don't know if it was coming from water under the ground or above it. It was very different and very pretty. As we drove up and down the hilly terrain, there were places where the clouds were so low they were meeting the ground. It was very mystical looking. Then the rain started. It wasn't horrible, but sometimes would rain pretty heavy. We got stuck in traffic behind an 18 wheeler accident, then later drove past what appeared to be a one car rollover. I was kinda glad when we crossed over into Pennsylvania and got to flatter terrain. We drove into the night and stayed in the dutch/amish area of Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the night. I tell ya, I was glad to climb in bed after that long and tense day of driving.

Next: We make it to Charlie's!   Goodnight!

NY Trippin' - Tennessee and Kentucky

Once back on the road from Hot Springs, we drove to Memphis Tennessee. Home of The King. Ah....the King. And where another important King lost his life.

We arrived in Memphis in the afternoon in time to enjoy the heat advisory 96 degree heat. We drove past Beale Street (party street) and down to Graceland. Because neither Janet nor I are diehard Elvis fans, we opted to just grab some pics from the outside of Graceland. We also saw the Lisa Marie jet. We spent the night on Elvis Presley Blvd. And then-

The next morning we attended the internationally known (well maybe not...)Peabody Hotel Duck March. It was great! 5 ducks march from their home on the roof into the elevator, down to the lobby and across the red carpet and into the fountain in the middle of the lobby. They swim there until 5 pm when they march back into the elevators and up to their home again until the next day. It was a 5 star performance. I highly recommend it!

We then drove by the Lorraine Hotel to honor the place where Martin Luther King lost his life in 1968. It's a museum now. We then bid Tennessee goodbye and drove into Kentucky. I thought Kentucky was beautiful. Lots of things to see and places to camp. I would recommend Kentucky as a destination for a family vacation. We ended our day in eastern Kentucky, in Morehead KY, almost to the WV border. A scenic little hamlet  tucked into the Kentucky hills, it has a little of everything, even a college-Morehead State University.

I didn't include any pics tonight because the little motel where we are staying the night doesn't have a very good  internet connection. I'll post more this weekend. Love!

NY Trippin'

Hello Friends! Long time no post. This summer my friend Janet and I are taking a driving trip up to Pennsylvania and New York. We left on Tues about an hour and a half BERFORE dawn.

Our goal was to get out of Texas.

We drove for a good 12 hours on Tues. We finally landed for the night in Hot Springs, Arkansas. What an interesting place!! Full of history. If you remember, Hot Springs was the place people went to take baths in the hot water that bubbled up to the surface in Hot Springs, believing that the water had medicinal properties to cure whatever ailed you, or, if nothing ailed you, make you feel more relaxed and happy.

The entire area of Hot Springs is a national park. It is a beautiful town and in reading the history of the town, it was an extremely popular tourist destination. In the downtown area, on Central Ave. in Hot Springs, you find the bath houses. They are huge and ornate. The style of each bath house is a bit different: some with red tile roofs, turrets, canvas draped windows. All have big, welcoming front porches with comfortable chairs to sit in and people watch.

 One of the bath houses had been turned into a museum. We toured all three floors and the basement. Everything except the basement was original. These bath houses were constructed and designed to pamper their guests. They included bath rooms where guests were bathed in the spring waters. They also received many other services: sitz baths, needle showers, massages, and beauty care. There was a gym to get exercise and a parlor to visit.

Aren't these rooms amazing?? I can just picture these beautiful, prim and proper women walking around in towels, visiting with each other and being waited on for every little thing. And can't you just picture the gentlement running around in shorts using that unbelievable gym equipment?\

What was cool about this place is they had preserved almost everything. In the beauty parlor, there were curlers, brushes, mirrors, even a magazine on the chair from 1919! I loved this place!

Even the parking garage was opulent. Such gorgeous workmanship. That's a fountain running down the middle of this first photo.

I highly recommend Hot Springs, Arkansas. If you enjoy history and social studies of people, this is a great place to go.

Oh! And - Yes - you can still get all the treatments: bath, sitz, needle shower, massage, etc. We talked with a sweet couple who were there for their 10th anniversary. The husband took a bath and said it was wonderful and very relaxing. I want to take a bath too, but prefer to go back when it's not 96 degrees outside!

Next: Tennessee and Kentucky.

Love, Love!!

Sunny Morning in Galveston

Galveston oh Galveston.... I'm waking up to your sea winds blowing.

Thanks to my wonderful friend Janet, I'm enjoying a fun weekend by the waves and winds of beautiful Galveston. We plan to check out Moody Gardens this morning, and, with any luck, maybe do some junking too! Thanks Janet.......woohoo!!

Whew...........what a day!

Look what I found....

I forgot we saved it when we remodeled the house.

Even has a glass door knob!!

So-I cleaned it up and put it in my den....see?

Then I made the little wire photo holder

 from some wire from and old electric fence

and the window frame from our old entry door. I love it!!

Sorry the lights not so great. But I didn't finish

'til dark so I had to use a flash.

Tomorrow, tomorrow

Ok.
Its late and I need to go to bed.
Tomorrow I'm going to make something. I haven't decided yet, but I'll post it here whether its a blossom :D or a bust :O.

New Year Mulching and Composting

Happy New Year!

2012 - New years hold such promise. It's sort of like the beginning of summer for a teacher on vacation...looking at what all can be accomplished! So-thinking about and setting some goals. This year I'd really like to create me a 'space'. Someplace I can have my projects spread out and can be left spread out until I can get back to them. Maybe the garage? Hmmm..... I also need to do some 'composting' or out with the old -- the garage, my closet, filing cabinet etc. Those aren't my favorite tasks though, so I'll keep you posted.