May 29, 2013 - Linda (My Blind Friend)

Today I had an enjoyable visit with my friend from where I use to work. Her name is Linda and she is blind. She has a seeing eye dog named Teddy. We had a great lunch of Chinese Food. One of my very favorite flowering plants is the Azaleas. When driving over to Linda's when I made the turn to her street I saw this house with the most beautiful Azaleas in their yard. I said I am going to have to take a picture of that yard before going into Linda's house. Well low and behold my GPS said you have arrived and I was parked right in front of...

Jul 4, 2011 - Grand Farewell

Perhaps better remembered as a farewell to the grand...children. Our secret mission on this holiday occasion was to stay with the Lavinder boys while Mom and Dad went off for a quiet seventh anniversary dinner. While they were gone, Papa and Carson caught the local fireworks from the Lavinder front yard. Curiously, it was exactly seven years ago that we began our cruising lifestyle. Right after their wedding we took our first trip north to Maine. The Fourth served a double purpose to celebrate Will's second birthday (actually 8 July). Bill...

Mar 10, 2011 - On the road again ..Now entering Generica USA.draft

On Wednesday March 9th at 7:30 am in the morning, we sat in the Vibe staring at each other and then at the snow drifts too close to our back tires. We were stuck in the driveway at our cottage. GRRRRRR. We had hoped to avoid the need for four days of snow tires. No such luck. After waiting for a CAA tow truck for two hours we were FINALLY on the road to the USA. Our two days at the cottage were a wonderful opportunity for 45 hours of sleep catch up. We had a whirlwind of "To Do's" from the week at home and of course five family and friend...

Dec 27, 2010 - Preparing for the Trip

Today I am packing for my trip to Costa Rica. My trip will begin with a week's stay in Playa del Coco on the Pacific Coast. I will then travel to San Jose for a two week adventure travel trip around the country. I hadn't known much about Costa Rica before planning the trip but I trust that I will have a great time and see some amazing things! It looks like a destination that has options to do a bit of everything. Pura vida!

Jun 2, 2010 - Arlington National Cemetery -- Arlington, VA

We made a trip to Arlington National Cemetery and spent a couple of hours wandering the grounds. The flag in front of the Arlington House fly’s at half mast when there are funerals. During our visit there we heard several 21 gun salutes. The Arlington House was the residence of Robert E. Lee and was turned into a national cemetery after the Civil War. This was to prevent General Lee from returning as a punishment for his leading the confederacy.

May 12, 2010 - Arlington Cemetary

Arlington Cemetary We made a stop at the Arlington Cemetary. What a wonderful sight! We walked through the cemetary and saw the graves of many great Americans. It was such a wonderful sight to see the grave of John F. Kennedy. The changing of the guards at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier was also a very solemn sight. If you have never been there, please take the opportunity...it is a worthwhile trip.

Mar 31, 2010 - March 31 Photo Upload

Randy and I have been having a great trip overall. A company called Kensington Tours arranged our trip. They partner with an Egyptian company called Mena, and we've been sailing onboard a Nile Presidential river boat for several days. Gamel, Asem, Mohamed, Asem, Abdullah, and Said have acted as our Tour Coordinator, Tour Guides, Egyptologists so far. Our tour boat, the Nile Admiral had about 80 cabins, I think. It was several stories tall, was wide, and had a shallow keel. We steamed upriver for four days (south on the map) from Luxor to...

Mar 21, 2010 - Trip Overview

Trip Summary We will explore the Pyramids, Sphinx, the Egyptian Museum with its incredible Tutankhamen exhibit, and the bustling bazaars. Randy and I will fly to Luxor/Aswan to board our deluxe Nile cruiser, which will be our floating hotel, moving from city to city while we explore the river's edge temples and monuments. These include; the Valley of Kings & Queens and Karnak temple in Luxor, the ancient monuments in Edfu and Kom Ombo, and the High Dam and Philae in Aswan. Combining private tours and transfers with enjoyable group outings,...

Jan 23, 2010 - Mark and Julia - The Wedding

The wedding... what can I say... the groom was handsome, the bride was beautiful, the ceremony went perfectly, the reception was fun, the Texas BBQ was tasty, the cake was lovely, the dancing was delightful... everything was perfect. We now have a new Mrs. Coombs in the family and we love our Mark and Julia more than words can ever express. I will let the pictures and videos speak the rest (although I am sure that the professional photographer will have taken much better pictures than I did)... Happy Travels, Rebecca

Jan 22, 2010 - Day Before "The Wedding"

We are in Arlington, Virginia, for the marriage of our son, Mark, to the love of his life, Julia. The festivities started off with an afternoon wedding shower for Julia. It should be noted that in order for us to get to the shower we (me, Julia, Julia’s three sisters, Julia’s mother, Julia’s paternal grandmother, and Julia’s aunts) all rode the Metro. This was my first time to ride the Metro and it was a true adventure. Those trains sure did zip by us fast when standing on the platform! Also, once on the Metro, we noticed that the other...

Aug 25, 2009 - Travel to Arlington to see Cousin Carol

It was hard to leave June and Ed, but I really wanted to see my cousin, Carol, who lives in Arlington, VA. The first half of the trip was pretty boring. There wasn’t much to see on the side of the road due to the trees that lined both sides like a bobsled track. aI got pretty excited when I saw tobacco growing on the side of the road—something different from the trees. Wild “life” was limited to an interesting road kill Harry thought sounded like a woodchuck from my description. As I got close to Carol’s place, I could see the Washington...

Jun 9, 2009 - More relatives in NJ and on to VA

Tuesday (6/9) After a lovely breakfast with Joe and Patty, we head south again. Since we stopped in St. Clair yesterday, we decided to stop in Lambertville, NJ (the town my Dad was born in) on the chance that his cousin (Mary Rosso) would be home. I'm so glad we did...she was very surprised to see me - happily so. We had a great talk. She also called my cousin Suzie (who lives around the corner) to come over. Mary is a great lady and I have so many wonderful memories of all our "shore" vacations at Lavalette. I also found out that her...