These are blog posts by or about both of us.
When we entered the Conservatory at Longwood Gardens, it was about 4 p.m. and still light outside. When we walked out into the cold evening an hour later, the grounds were stunningly transformed. Hundreds of trees clothed in colored lights, festive fountains dancing to Christmas carols, lighted red and white orbs overhanging walkways, kids and adults alike with their mouths agape. Longwood Gardens is only 84 miles from…
Please see our New Mexico photo gallery. The last stop on our RoadScholar tour of Albuquerque, Taos and Santa Fe was another kiva – this one at Coronado Historic Site in the Albuquerque suburb of Bernalillo. A kiva is a sacred room within an Indian pueblo, where religious rites are performed. This visit required climbing up one ladder and down another one into the underground chamber; only 13…
There are a few places on earth where I feel like my soul is at home. Where the psychic roots run deep, my DNA is buzzing contentedly, and I always feel a welcome familiarity no matter how long I have been gone. One of those places is the Texas Hill Country, land of my mother’s clan and a rocky, rolling landscape of cedar, winding creeks and limestone bungalows.…
Our camping experiences date to Girl Scouts and, for me, a few miserable outings in high school. That was quite awhile ago. But we thought trying again might be an antidote to my desire for a small RV. The two-night outing to Trap Pond State Park near Laurel, Delaware, was only about 25 miles from our house. We would not starve. We could try out some of the…
Maybe not everyone thinks of pairing bird-watching with African-American history. Well, we do. And near Cambridge, Maryland, you can do just that. We recently spent a spring day visiting the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in rural Dorchester County, Md., followed by a drive through Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. The trip was about 60 miles from our home in Sussex County, Delaware, on two-lane roads past…
A season that starts off with “You are dust and to dust you shall return” seems like a good time to contemplate dying. So Sue and I signed up for a Lenten retreat called “Life After Death: Intimate Union with Infinite Love.” When I was younger, I always pushed back thoughts of death with, well, I still have nine tenths of my life ahead of me. Or three…
At the beginning of each year, I take resolutions seriously. And when those resolutions start to flag, Lent kicks in. So it is like a one-two punch to focus me on spiritual and other goals. Of course, that doesn’t mean everything sticks. I am always amazed that I can wake up in the morning, make coffee, look at Facebook on my iPad, watch “Morning Joe,” and get most…
November 2 – For two retired women, visiting five National Parks (plus Monument Valley) in 10 days was probably a bit ambitious. Now that the trip is over, we have some insights: Our favorite parks were Bryce Canyon, Zion and Arches – close but roughly in that order. A revised itinerary would probably omit Canyonlands and Capitol Reef and spend more time exploring the other three. We did…
Wednesday, October 25 – Driving through southern Utah, the landscape changes are often immediate and stunning. From a rolling sea of slickrock to high-altitude pine forests to towering red rocks, it’s hard for us East Coast flatlanders to absorb. Approaching Zion National Park, the rocks again change to red – and so does the road. Jagged, majestic peaks jarringly transform the landscape. We were on the Zion-Mt. Carmel…
October 25 – The most wondrous 2.5-mile trail I have ever walked was breath-taking, in more ways than one. The one must-do hike for me on our Utah National Parks itinerary was a combination of the Navajo Loop and Queen’s Garden trails at Bryce Canyon. An elevation change of 320 feet did not sound like a lot, but what goes down must come up. Starting at Sunset Point,…
October 22 and 23 – You are still miles away, near the hamlet of Mexican Hat, when you first spy the iconic buttes. Cars and RVs start pulling over for pictures; some tourists wander onto the highway. It’s the famous Forest Gump view of Monument Valley. We booked a premium cabin at The View, on Navajo Tribal Lands, in Arizona. The balcony and picture window had an unobstructed…