By Guest Author Peggy Bradshaw
I was amazed at the size of the big white ship docked at Vancouver, B.C. We had flown in and were ready to board for our 7-day cruise through the famous Alaskan Inside Passage. Traveling with two other couples, we had mini-suites with balconies side by side on the Dolphin Deck, Deck 9.
Cruising from Vancouver Photo by George Bradshaw
Los Angeles has fascinating attractions. Some of the finest and most reasonable are in LA’s giant park, Griffith Park. Spread out over 4,200 acres, Griffith Park has something for everyone. Nestled northeast of downtown LA, Griffith Park is “the largest municipal park with urban wilderness area in the United States.” (LA Parks Web site)
With grassy lawns, but also mountain vistas, you can see for miles – smog permitting. The roads leading into the park do not all connect, so it’s best to know where you want to go before you arrive or you may wander about trying to get to the correct location.
There are pony rides, horseback trails, hiking trails, picnic areas, an observatory and a merry-go-round, among other attractions. (more…)
Los Angeles is known for being the center of the movie world, covered with a layer of smog, and dense with cars on crowded highways. It is all of those things, but much more.
Traveling up the coast of California from San Diego, there are a number of glamorous beach towns and resorts and a clear view of the Pacific Ocean that makes it understandable why people would live in LA. From almost anywhere in California, you can be at the beach within a couple of hours. There is something calming and restorative about being near an ocean.
We chose a recent weekend to visit LA, not our first visit and certainly not our last. The climate was balmy with daytime temperatures in the 80 degree (Fahrenheit) range with a breeze blowing to keep it cool. For people who live in Arizona and endure 115 degrees in summer, it is heaven!
We crammed our weekend full of fun adventures that we’ll share, including our observations and suggestions. Some new experiences we’ll share include a visit to Griffith Park, including an observatory and a merry-go-round, an afternoon at the Getty Center, and a shopping trip to the LA Farmer’s Market.
Tomorrow: Some details about our visit to the Queen…the Queen Mary.
Looking for an Old West experience that’s fun for the family? Then, head to Rawhide, if you’re in the Phoenix, Arizona area.
"Come and Get It" greets visitors at Rawhide's entrance
A sense of wonder is truly important when exploring the natural world. When you visit Kartchner Caverns, you will be amazed at how nature performs. A drive south of Tucson, Arizona leads you to an eye-opening display where colors and formations dazzle you underground.
Kartchner Caverns entrance
What better way to celebrate USA’S birthday than a visit to Washington, DC!
Imagine standing in bone-chillingly freezing weather near a large, manmade lake (The famous Tidal Pool) with two impressive monuments across from you, just waiting for sunrise. That was the scenario for me several years ago in Washington, DC during the spring cherry blossom season.
Almost on a dare, I decided to try photography at sunrise since I’d always heard it was the best. Well, it was, but the cold was so numbing that I almost couldn’t get my fingers to push the camera shutter.
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Jefferson Memorial at Sunrise
FORE!
DUCK!
GET OUT OF THE …. WAY!
OOPS! SORRRRY!
It’s time to hop a golf cart over to the birthplace of golf over 600 years ago, St. Andrews.
Actually, birthplace is not quite accurate. Golf in some form was probably played in another country before it came to Scotland, but hey, Scotland just had a better marketing department! (more…)
Even though we just got there (Edinburgh), it’s time to get out of town!
What do Mel Gibson, Liam Neeson and Angus Macfadyen have in common? They have all portrayed Scottish heroes at your local Cineplex. Whether or not the movies were entirely accurate (Braveheart & Rob Roy) is beside the point. The characters were real. William Wallace, Rob Roy and Robert the Bruce were, in fact, local heroes, much to the chagrin of the British monarchy at the time. (more…)
South Mountain Park, located in Phoenix, Arizona is the largest city park in the US. Especially on weekends, throngs of people spend time hiking and exploring the trails. (51 miles worth of trials, according to the City of Phoenix’s Web site.)
Certain perspectives are almost otherworldly as you can be hiking with no one around, yet you’ll see the City of Phoenix below, spread out as far as the eye can see!
View of Phoenix from South Mountain Park
If you’re looking for a challenging hiking experience that promises – and delivers on – scenery, a visit to Chiricahua National Monument is in order.
Entering Chiricahua after driving through miles of open and desolate desert (about an hour south of Willcox, Arizona), you arrive at the visitors center. After all of that driving, you begin to wonder why you made the drive…and then you get into the park a bit and it’s like you’re in another world! (more…)
