Serenity!

Yoga Beach Vacation with Yogaville

Here it is, in one tidy package. All donations accepted!

Flying From Snow

Here it is, folks. The wish of the day.

Sunset on the bay

Even though it was a rainy day, there was a dramatic sunset to be had on the Chesapeake bay.

Two Quick Touristy Things to Do in Oklahoma City

Breezing through OK? Here are two places within a few minutes drive from each other that you can quickly visit for free.

Bricktown

Mosaic mural and
fountains at one end of the canal.

There's a lovely canal meandering through the heart of town. You could spend hours hiking from one end to the other, or you could park in a $5 lot (free on Sundays) and wander along a short section.

The canal is lined with benches, murals, sculpture, restaurants, coffee shops, and snacky places (like an ice cream shop that makes custom flavors while you watch). Beautiful landscaping decorates the walkways, tunnels, and bridges.

Mural along the canal showing the
 canal tour boat departing. 

There are canal boat tours which require some planning and may make you wait in line. Tickets are purchased at special ticketing areas NOT at the docks. Maps and info readily available all along the canal.

Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum (Outdoors)
The not-to-be-missed memorial commemorating those who died during the 1995 bombing. Park across the street or along the curb (if you can find an available meter).

Tributes to loved ones on the fencing.

Check the fencing for tributes to loved ones. There's a lovely reflecting pool situated between 9:01 and 9:03 walls giving a somber and sacred atmosphere. Beside the pool are chairs, one for each person killed in the blast. There are small chairs representing the children in the daycare center. The seat bottoms are glass cubes that light up at night. The outdoor park is open 24 hours and there's a cell phone tour (dial 405.445.4792).

The reflecting pool at 9:02.

The reflecting pool is a few inches
deep with imperceptible drain and
recycling niches along the sides.

The chairs along the right side
of the reflecting pool.

 On the other side of the pool is the Survivor Tree (which survived the blast). From the tree you can get an overview of the grounds. Behind the tree is a graffiti wall with the original (regularly cleaned, painted, and renewed) words sprayed by rescue workers.

The Survivors Tree.

Looking left from the
Survivors Tree.

Looking right from the
Survivors Tree.

Further along is the children's area featuring a wall of children's art from a Texas Elementary school. The plaza features large slate tiles and colored chalk for children to enjoy.
You can stay longer if you visit the indoor museum (not open 24 hours and there's an entry fee) which has three floors and in depth displays of all bombing-related events.

Tiles made by Elementary school
children in Texas. Nicole was
6 years old at the time.

Wamego Tulip Festival Without Blooms

Local tulips before the festival.

The festival was a success but the tulips weren't blooming. They are only now beginning to bloom, primarily in sheltered locations.

The festival area is also Wamego city park. It is bordered by playgrounds, a windmill on a mound, and the History Museum. The museum is a collection of artifacts not necessarily from Kansas, although most were donated by local residents.

Lathe at the Wamego History Museum.

Surrey with a fringe on top.

Down the street from the park (and the festival) is the Oz Museum. They nearly owned the original Judy Garland ruby slippers. Unfortunately, the shoes were stolen two weeks before they were due at the museum. Although (as you will learn in the museum) in the book they were silver shoes, not ruby slippers. The ruby slippers came into being to take advantage of newly discovered technicolor film.

There are as many aspects of Oz as can be crammed into one residential home-sized space. There are niches for sections of the story: the witch dies, munchkins, the tin man, the scarecrow, etc. All nicely done and off limits for touching. There is also a dark, scary Haunted Forest section complete with warning sign. One young visitor could only be coaxed through while holding her father's hand.

Most sincerely dead.

Shelves of books (behind glass) show early editions of all the books Frank Baum wrote. There are a lot. Besides the Oz books, there is an extensive series for young girls written under a pseudonym. Other items behind glass include a death certificate for the Wicked Witch of the West, playbills and photos from stage productions, a pair of ruby slippers (not from the movie), and a case of genuine "Wicked" stage props.

Original art work from the Wizard of Oz books.

Pay no attention to the man
behind the curtain.
Sit in the chair and be the Wizard!

Admission is $7. A good place for a rainy day. If the admission seems unreasonable, you can see the Munchkin prints in the cement outside and purchase souvenirs in the gift shop.

Sometimes the tulips do bloom for the festival. This year winter stayed longer than usual. No one seemed put out by the lack of blooms. There were numerous booths and lots of handcrafts to choose from. There was carnival (festival) food. You could eat as many funnel cakes as you like, provided you were willing to wait in line. I opted for the barbecue which had the virtue of being the shortest line. Being made ahead, I didn't have to wait for the order to be cooked.

It was a true Kansas experience.

A blooming tulip discovered at the festival.

A Visit to Lawrence: the Hippie Capital of Kansas

Signage at the Antique shop.

Lawrence exists because once upon a time the residents of Kansas considered coming down on the side of slavery. Alien intellectuals moved here to swing the vote. And then, having succeeded in keeping Kansas free, they stayed.

The place is now a university town, attracting liberals from all over. The main street, Massachusetts, has become a hippie happening (particularly on Saturday) with artsy shops, museums, fabulous food, assorted crafty places, and the requisite hipsters. The street is wide and pedestrian-friendly.

8-track tapes! Still to be
captured in the wild.

We (my two house mates and I) started off at the Antique Mall because it was early and most of the other shops were closed. You have to arrive by 10 am or you won't find a place to park. It's all meters with a 2-hour limit. The only free day is Sunday.

After wandering around viewing 8-track tapes, funky signage, and school desks I hadn't seen in at least 30 years, we headed out into what was becoming a throng.

Next stop, the Yarn Barn with luscious yarns all in the nosebleed price range and catering primarily to weavers. Need a loom? You can find it here and the warp and weft to go with it.

The shock of student desks.

The British food shop, Brits, was up next. And through the next door, separated only by a glass wall into au Marche, a European food shop. Ooooooh! Flake! Assam Tea!

Back to the car to move to another meter. Everyone else was playing the game and we lucked into another spot two blocks up.

Take a card! 

Lunch at Aladdin's was amazing! Flavorful authentic Mediterranean cuisine, a blend between Lebanese and Greek. I had perfectly grilled lamb kebobs with vegetables and a tangy fresh cucumber sauce. The lentil soup was delicately spiced. The server noticed I preferred water with no ice, and brought me a glass after my Rose Lemonade ran out—without having to be asked.

Lamb kabobs with cucumber sauce. Yum!

If you get the chance to visit Lawrence, be sure to stop into the Phoenix Gallery. And drop into the fine art gallery downstairs, too. The Phoenix shows a variety of pottery from unique shapes and colors to original glazes and thoughtful specialized dishes. There's a stand of Holly Yashi (my favorite) and lots of other handmade jewelry.

We browsed the shops for four hours, but you could easily stay longer.

For the Whovians at Brits.

Next up: the Wamego Tulip Festival. Hoping to get some good photos and a sunny day.

I'm not skiing within sight of guns

I was attracted by the lush photo of skiing on perfect powder. Then I read the article about the difficulties of altitude, local guys with guns, and grade Z ski runs. Nope. Not for me.

Also, the description of the "resort" as

a place that combined hints of luxury (official-looking uniforms, stylish public areas) with leaky showers and paper-thin walls

is a bit discouraging. I'm afraid I'm the type that prefers luxury to be all luxury. Then there's the caveat that you need to have avalanche managing skills. When I'm on vacation I prefer that it be relaxing and easy. It's the bunny slopes for me! Life is challenging enough, thank you.

Just as good to know what you don't want as well as what you do want. Think I'll wait until someone I know is going and is willing to take me along so I can hang out in the warm interior watching them ski.

Costa Rica!

Cheap deals drive me to the beach. Or fly me, anyway. One of the first, real vacations I bought came from a radio announcement of a special package deal to the Bahamas. I thought about it for five minutes and then picked up the phone. It was a great vacation, once they got our hotel and room sorted out. Returning was not so cool. It was a charter cruise and they herded us like cattle.

Anyway, all those little details fade away when I remember all the fun I had on the Robinson Crusoe cruise, the markets, helpful natives, eating conch, and laying on the beach sucking back Bahama Mamas.

Here's another goodie! Costa Rica* at about the same price I paid for the Bahamas so many years ago. Of course, by the time you pay for everything (food, souvenirs, side trips, etc.) you've spent double the price. Who cares!

*You'll need to create a Travel Zoo account to see the full deal. Your mileage may vary as the price alters depending on your departure city.

It's Fasching!

Fasching in Mainz is the best. Wish I could be here Thursday. The day after my birthday. One of the biggest parties in the world. Must be in my honor.

Guardistin in the Parade in Mainz, DE.

You could take me. I don't drink, so I could make sure you get back to your hotel safely. If that's what you wanted ...

Spending Time With Mo

I ended my long drive across country yesterday by driving through Mo. Missouri, aka Mo, as in MoDOT Cares and mostatefair.com, had been previously known to me as Misery. What I remember from all those college-years drives is the dark cold wind and miles of uninterrupted flatness. Things have changed since then. Mo is all friendly and filled in between St. Louis and Independence with patches of activity; places for shopping, getting gas, sleeping, hanging out. In particular, the exit for the state capital is fun land: Ozarkland and Nostalgiaville. 

Mo is also very interested in having you believe in Jesus and rethink your attitude towards abortion. I feel I did a service by driving through with my Coexist bumper sticker. Fighting back against billboards one bumper sticker at a time!

I had planned to stop for lunch around Kansas City, hoping for Chinese or Asian. Having learned from previous experience, I took the bypass route around the city. Two qualifying eateries were advertised at exits but the traffic was so frenetic and the exits so complex that I gave up.

I crossed the state line hoping for a glimpse of the Mississippi. What a brain fart that was! I had already crossed in St. Louis without even noticing. I should have made more of that crossing of the Missouri. It was so wide it looked like a lake!

Then it was on to the Kansas toll road where there was no stopping! Speed limit: 75 MPH and you know everyone was driving faster than that. I just kept on keeping on, knowing I would arrive at my destination before 2 PM and feeling reasonably certain I could get lunch in Topeka. That worked out.

My daughter was glad to see me. I was glad to see her and that the driving was over. I made it. I'm here. Now I just have to figure out how to get the rest of my stuff here. 

Lovely day in flat country

Rain ended by morning. An hour of driving brought me to blue skies with brilliant sunshine.

Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri: the pass-through states. Six lane highways at 65-70 mph with travel plazas and rest stops. I sped past Candle Glo, Boot City, and Historic Greenup.

On the plus side I had a lot of happy music to listen to and parades of semi-trailer trucks to keep me company.

St. Louis is the most confusing city. They take 70W, divide it into four parts, bring it back together and then lose it completely only to bring it back miles later. I chose to go through town. Word of advice: take the 270 bypass. I got stuck in construction traffic where six lanes were reduced to two as a crew did something to the bridge that smelled like glue.

The arch was impressive the way the Washington monument is impressive: tall. 70W took me right past it. Don't think I would make a special trip to see it.

This Motel 6 (in Wentzville outside St. Louis) is the fanciest so far. It's in a corporate area and used to be a Holiday Inn. Unlike the other Motel 6's it is not surrounded by Waffle House, Mc Donald's, and gas stations. The nearest breakfast place is one exit down. Or up. It's also more expensive and I was not automatically offered the senior discount.

Last night on the road. Looking forward to sleeping in a homey place tomorrow. And seeing my daughter, of course.

Columbus and Rain

It doesn't matter where I start from or when, I always end up outside Columbus at rush hour. If I had skipped visiting my friends I would have been there before lunch. But what would be the point of that?

I'm so glad I made the trip to Cleveland to see my friends. It was like being home again.

The drive to and from Cleveland was mostly misty. From Columbus to Dayton the sky broke loose and poured. I got tired of the sound of wiper blades. It's still raining. Hoping for a cessation by morning.

To simplify directions I made a short list to get me to Cleveland. I'm using the long list now. Yay google maps!

This Motel 6 (outside Dayton in Englewood) hasn't been renovated yet and its difficult to find the entry but it's clean and well maintained. I got a nice single room around the back convenient to a scrap of land for dog walking. And at a really convenient price! Also, gas is a mere $3.05.

First Leg

Drove seven hours. Still have about two hours to my friend in Cleveland. I'll do that tomorrow.

Over two hours was spent driving up and down and up and down over mountains and across the eastern continental divide which is underwhelming compared to the one in Colorado.

They have a thing about trucks in West Virginia. They can only drive 50 mph, are constantly told the degrees of the inclines, and reminded to downshift.

Stopped at a pretty overlook rest area. Drove around in circles looking for a take away Chinese place. Mistook a tan shop for a Thai restaurant. And I think a women was giggling at my high rise yoga pants. They're so comfortable!

Staying at pet friendly Motel 6 in a brand new double room for only $52! However, I made up for it by having to get gas at $3.75.

A real adventure!

Moving out of my home and staying with family and friends has left me with little time to consider journaling my travels. I've been to Yogaville a couple times. I highly recommend it as a retreat center. Incredibly peaceful and relaxing and you get spiritual practice to boot.

In the morning I'm beginning a drive to Topeka KS. I haven't travelled that far by car for 10 years. Looking forward more to arriving than traveling.

Pip, the dog, is accompanying me. So I'll be on the lookout for dog-friendly hotels. Motel 6 has been recommended to me. They are fairly priced and even have an app.

I'm leery of the iPhone Maps app. I was steered wrong to the obscure closed back gate of the local dump instead of the front gate. Not a type of mistake I'd like to repeat when trying to find a hotel at the end of the day.

I tried Waze but it didn't work. Took in addresses from my contacts list and then just sat there. And it has over 16,000 downloads with a good rating! I'm going to consult and then get a back-up app. Or maybe one with turn-by-turn voice. There's some for $.99 that look pretty good.

Hoping I get to sleep soon. Gonna try to drive for 8 hours tomorrow to get to a friend's house. After that I plan to cut back to 6 hours a day.

Gonna be a long day.

Equatorial Hot Spots

From the "Snowflake Creator" app.

As usual at this time of year – the winter fully gone, spring in full swing, intimations of summer reminding me of extreme humidity – my thoughts turn to cool summer spots. Most of them are off the list due to distance, i.e., Norway, Denmark, most of Canada, the Arctic, Antarctica, Alaska, Mongolia, etc.

Places that seem to be within reach actually aren't, i.e., Michigan, upstate New York, and Maine. This year there is a new contender, although sadly in the out of reach category: Ecuador. Actually, anywhere along the equator would be ideal. Not too hot, never very cold. Unfortunately there are other reasons why the equator is out of the question.

Have you ever followed the equator around the world? Thanks to Google Earth it's easily done from the convenience of your armchair (or whatever device you use to park yourself in front an internet connected device). Most of the countries on that latitude have issues. They are the Congo, Ecuador, Uganda, Brazil, Somalia, Sumatra.

There are a few that are nice, i.e., the Maldives, Easter Island, the Galapagos.

Which still leaves the problem of what to do when it gets super hot here in Richmond VA (RVA).

Utah and New Mexico are nice, simply because they have very low humidity. Colorado has those great mountains. However, these areas, although more easily reached, are also too far to go – for me.

Sadly, I am unable to live on the road, which would be ideal. I could follow the temperate temperatures wherever they go. I've heard Michigan in the summer and Austin TX in the winter is a nice combination. Bit of a journey, though.

What would be my ideal? I believe I may have mentioned that spring and fall in RVA are ideal. That leaves summer and winter.

The only places I've been in the winter are Miami and the Bahamas. Have to say, the Bahamas win flat out.

Maine is excellent in the summer – particularly northern Maine. Another excellent refuge from the humidity.

Realistically, what could I do? Camp. Am I interested in camping? No. I like to think I am. I have a very romantic notion about that; remnants of childhood memories. I am, in reality, more interested in five star accommodations with swimming pools and hot tubs.

Until I win the lottery, I'd best prepare for living indoors for the six weeks from the middle of July until the end of August. Maybe I could camp out in a mall with free wifi.

Indoor camping – NOT in a mall.

Baños de Santa Agua!

Courtesy WikiMedia.

The only reason I choose Baños is because you need neither heat nor air conditioning there. Travelers report the wonderful weather, friendly natives, and natural hot springs. What they fail to mention in much detail is the local volcano and that Ecuador is a volcanic country. They also fail to report on the conservative Christian culture and government. While it's lost some of it's charm for me (including the myths about cheap and/or free housing*) I still would like to visit. And right now would be nice.

*A search on airbnb turned up only really expensive places to stay. None of them in Baños.

Bahamas! Anytime!

Such a deal! It hurts to be penniless.

Where shall I go? Follow the river ...

Not sure where I would go if I were allowed a vacation right this minute to anyplace I wanted to go. Probably I would stay here. With someone I love. And we would laze about and pick at the things that need doing here. And we would do them with whimsy and lack-a-daisicalness. Splotching and poking and gathering and winnowing and toodling and doodling. Nothing would be serious except our love. And we would be happy making this our home for those springs and autumns that are heaven in Richmond VA.

If I have to choose, and I know I must or I wouldn't be writing this, I would choose Maine or Northern Idaho or possibly Seattle or maybe even Bandon by the sea in Oregon. All lovely cool places. No. Wait! I have it! Germany! Back to my home town of Höchst in Hessen. To visit relatives and relations. To relish the cool misty days and warm connections. Yes. That's it.

The house will have to wait.

A Vacation Out of This World!

What a great way to get away from it all! All I need is $200,000 and a way to get to all the VIP events. Let's both go. I'm sure we can come up with a mutually enriching barter.

Or you can work your way there by applying to be a space pilot.

Wealthy Spirit - Just what I NEED!

This lovely retreat is right up my aisle, along my path, in my way, and what I need. Especially, as I am always saying, at this time of year when I wake up to a house that's 62 degrees and relies on the fireplace and a rising sun to make it warmer. All day I strive to raise the temperature to a toasty 68 so I can avoid dipping deeper into cold overnight and thus, as the days of winter pass, avoid freezing my assets off. Let's both go – you and I – while the sun is anesthetized in the sky to visit the heat where it hides.

And, oh, yes, to deepen my spirituality. Which is where the "rich" comes in. (This has nothing to do with the reasonable fee or the fact that I am only a 12-hour flight from Bali.)