Road Trip

Road Trip: A Wet Morning, Fattening Food and Wine Country,

Our road trip is going very well. We encounter both the expected and unexpected each day, which is part of the adventure.

We spent a very wet morning, visiting Niagara Falls.

The falls are truly magnificent and pictures do not adequately describe the beauty and power of the falls.

And, no – we didn’t fall in 😉

We visited the Canadian side, which has a better view of the falls.

The ground was so wet from the mist generated from the falls.

These tulips didn’t have a chance with the sopping wet soil.

I also had to be careful with my camera because of the mist. I would take a photo quickly and then cover up my camera.

After spending the morning at Niagara Falls, we headed toward the Finger Lakes region of New York, which is in the central part of the state.

On our way, we saw a sign for an Amish swap meet.

So of course, we had to stop by.

There were many different vendors and we saw some very nice items along with the more ‘traditional’ flea market stuff.

I had fun seeing all the food choices there. It reminded me of ‘fair food’. Here is a sampling of what we saw…

“Gramma’s Butterflied Potatoes” are basically a huge mound of freshly-fried potato chips covered with cheese.

My favorite food in the whole world is bread and when I saw this sign, I must admit that I was sorely tempted…

But, I resisted the temptation.

The Belgian waffle also looked good.

Next, we headed to the plant section…

Spring is in full swing and there are beautiful container combinations everywhere you looked…

It was a hot day…about 89 degrees and a bit humid, so I took the opportunity to sit for a few minutes on an ‘Adirondack’ chair.

I admired the fresh vegetables…

Before leaving, we stopped to buy fresh bread from an Amish woman and her little brother….

We bought a inexpensive foam cooler for the car where we keep some fresh Amish cheese, fruit and bread for snacking on.

We arrived in Geneva, which is in New York’s wine country. Geneva is located right on the shore of Seneca lake.

Because there were many different wineries, we stopped by one to buy some wine for my youngest sister and her husband.

While my mother tasted the wine and made her selection, I headed out to a small garden I saw next to the store…

Wine Country

Did you know that there is a species of Prickly Pear that is native to New York? According to the sign above, there is.

I just loved seeing succulents planted in an old pair of boots.

I love Dicentra, don’t you?

The poppies were huge…

Wine Country

Grapevines and the beginnings of grapes…

The water from the lake helps to keep the vineyards warm enough to grow grapes.

As we left the winery, we spotted a red fox trotting by the roadside.

He was awfully cute and since we don’t have foxes where I live, we stopped by the road to watch him.

He didn’t care that we were nearby – he was concentrating on catching dinner…

He did catch dinner while we watched and swallowed it in one gulp.

We had a fabulous day 🙂

Our next stop is to the historical places and picturesque towns of upstate New York.

Road Trip…College, Tiny Town and Containers

Road Trip

We are more then half-way through our road trip and are having a fabulous time.

We have encountered great food, not so great food, interesting tourist destinations, beautiful plants as well as some over-hyped destinations.

Our typical road trip day begins with breakfast at the hotel and then we head to our car, turn on the GPS and get on the highway. We have brought some audio book CD’s which are fun to listen too.

We try to stay off of major highways because you cannot see much besides trees on either side of the road. To experience more of each area we visit, we travel on minor highways. BUT, our GPS is always trying to get us back onto the major highways.

We visited Washington Jefferson College in Washington, PA – the second oldest college in the US, after Harvard.

interesting tourist destinations

Both my grandfather and great-father attended this college.

After visiting the college, we walked up and down the main street of Washington.

interesting tourist destinations

There was some pretty Clematis growing underneath a Gingko tree…

Roses were in full bloom as well….

Before we left Washington, we drove up to my great-great-great-grandfathers farm. Or, where it used to be. It is now filled with beautiful homes. I tried to imagine what it used to look like and felt a connection to standing on land he used to farm.

Later, we headed up to New York state. On our way, we stopped by the tiny town of Volant, which is located in Amish country in New York.

Don’t you just want to sit on this porch?

I found an antique colander, which I will turn into a planter.

The weather has been warm….in the 80’s. I must admit that it is a bit too warm for me. I know, I know….I live in the desert. How can it be too warm for me?

Well, I am a wimp when it comes to humidity – I like dry heat 😉

This tiny town was hosting a progressive tea party. Each store was hosting part of the meal. Over a thousand people were expected. Thankfully, we came the day before.

Blue Lobelia, White Bacopa, Sweet Potato Vine, Geraniums and Marigold.

Spring has arrived and colorful containers are filled with beautiful flowers.

Lupine

I fell in love with the Lupine, above.

Guess where we went the next day?

We visited Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side, which has a better view.

Tomorrow, I’ll share with you our visit to the falls and then our travels to the Finger Lakes region with its wineries and hidden garden I found.

Roadtrip – Three States in One Day

Road Trip

We woke up this morning in Amish country and couldn’t wait to get started exploring some more. As we drove through the countryside, we noticed an unusual amount of Amish buggies out on the road.

Amish country

As we passed some of the farms, we noticed a huge gathering of buggies and horses…

Amish country

Horses gathered together while their buggies were parked in a row.

Horses play a huge part in Amish life.

As we drove into one of the small towns, I was on the lookout for the one Amish delicacy that I love…

You have not lived until you have tasted an Amish soft pretzel. They make them from fresh dough and bake them in a convection oven.

As I sat in the sunshine eating my pretzel, it was just a small piece of heaven.

There are also other Amish delicacies….

Some of which, I have no desire to try….

I forgot to mention an incident from yesterday…

We were in the parking lot of Target, having picked up some essentials, when we heard a long siren go off, warning the city about ???. We didn’t know what the signal meant. There were clouds off in the distance, but they didn’t look too threatening.

My mom went and asked the lady who worked at Target what told us that it was the tornado siren that is tested every Wednesday afternoon.

So, we obviously stuck out as tourists – but seriously, we don’t get huge tornadoes in Arizona.

For lunch today, we ate slices of fresh Amish wheat bread and some of our Amish butter. It was delicious.

McDonald’s has designated parking for trucks, buses, Amish buggies and RV’s.

Fairy Gardening is quite popular in this area. I like to imagine tiny fairies living in the garden.

The Amish countryside is so beautiful – I had so much fun taking pictures…

As we left Ohio for Pennsylvania, we had to drive through a small part of West Viriginia.

Super cute town.

Our goal this afternoon was to visit the grave of my grandfather along with my great-grandparents.

My mother sprinkled some of her mother’s ashes on her father’s grave.

Then it was time to visit another cemetery where my 3rd great-grandparents were buried.

We had a hard time finding this cemetery. First of all, it is small and has not had any new burials for years. As a result, there was no address for this cemetery. I did follow the directions, but they made no sense.. My mother and I were ready to give up and drove into a parking lot to explore our options.

As we got ready to leave, I looked u AND there it was! Right across the street!

It is always quite humbling to me to walk through a cemetery and see how long ago someone passed away. I imagine what kind of life that they had.

Both of my 3rd great-parents are buried underneath this marker. The dates are beginning to fade.

Many of the grave stones showed that death occurred for many in the 1800’s.

You will be proud to note that the trunk of our rental car is quite neat and clean, except for my Diet Dr. Pepper.

The same cannot be said for the interior of the car, however…

The backseat is filled with our cooler that containers our fruit and Amish butter cheese. Bags are filled with homemade Amish wheat bread and of course, we had some leftover pizza from tonight’s dinner. The remaining bags are full of the results of our shopping.

We are having a fabulous time.

Tomorrow, we are off Niagara Falls!

Road Trip: Day 2 – Ohio

Road Trip

It is hard to believe that we have only been on our road trip for a single day.

We have done so much already….

First, we headed for German Village in Columbus, Ohio to visit my friend.

The homes here are over 100 years old…

Beautiful hosta fill their front garden.

My friend and her husband completely renovated their historic home along with the back garden.

Tracie and I used to work together, years ago in Arizona.She quickly became a special friend.

I have been fortunate to have been able to see her in three different locations over 3 years.

Two years ago, we met in Durham, NC when I was passing through.

Last year, she and her husband visited Scottsdale and we met for dinner.

This year, I was so happy to be coming to Columbus, where she now lives.

Another bonus is that I got to meet her new baby girl, Avery, who is just 6 weeks old.

I’m not sure why we took a picture behind the faucet 😉

We had a great visit and soon it was time to get back on the road.

As we walked back to our car, we admired the beauty of this historical neighborhood…

We got in our rental car and started on our journey to Amish country.

On our way, we happened upon a ice cream factory as we were driving through Utica.

We learned that Velvet Ice Cream has been making delicious ice cream for over 100 years.

So, we decided to check it out…

Once inside, we were faced with a problem….

There were over 60 flavors to choose from.

So, we decided to share the sampler plate, which had five different flavors…

We selected caramel honey, waffle cone, praline pecan, moose tracks and strawberry cheesecake.

The ice cream ended up being our lunch 😉

Then we continued on our trip to Amish country.

Amish farmers were busy in their fields…

Many Amish buggies share the road, but this Amish “pick-up” caught our eye…

We took time to stop by and check out one of the many cheese factories. We picked up some “Amish Butter Cheese” along with fresh-baked bread. They will make a good lunch for tomorrow.

After eating ice cream for lunch, we felt that we needed a regular dinner, so we headed to Wooster and ate at a fabulous, local restaurant.

We have enjoyed our first full day of our road trip.

Tomorrow, we head to our next stop…

Thank you for joining my mother and I on our journey 🙂

Road Trip: Day 1

Road Trip

Well, after planning our Northeast road trip for a few months – we are finally on our way.

Not much to show yet, but this shot of our plane descending into Columbus, Ohio.

We are staying at a hotel by the airport and will get our rental car tomorrow and will travel to Amish country.

I have visited Amish country in Pennsylvania and Indiana and can’t wait to see the Amish in Ohio.

**Besides the picturesque farms, the homemade items and the Amish people themselves – the thing I am most looking forward to are homemade pretzels.

Seriously – they are incredible!

I hope you join my mother and I as I blog about our road trip adventures. *Update – click here to read about our next stop.

Day Trip, Mexican Village and Great Container Ideas

Road Trip

Last July, we had some guests visiting us from Missouri. There visit was to be only 48 hours and so we planned a day trip, packed with activities in order to show them parts of our beautiful state.

So, we took them up to Sedona, which is a stunningly beautiful area, less then 2 hours from our home. As we started the drive north of Phoenix, our friends were amazed at the beauty of the desert and marveled at all of the Saguaro cacti that dotted the landscape.

Soon, the cacti disappeared and pinyon pine started to appear and we soon saw the red mountains of Sedona in the distance.

Sedona Arizona

Sedona is one of my favorite places to visit and we make it up there at least once a year.

Sedona Arizona

Our primary destination in Sedona was a place called ‘Tlaquapaque’, which is a recreation of a Mexican village. This recreated village is actually full of shops – mostly full of creations from local artists. Although, I must admit that my favorite store is the Christmas store 🙂

There is just something so inviting about an archway that says “Shops” over it, isn’t there?

Tlaquepaque is a very beautiful place with many specimen trees, shrubs and plants.

Sedona Arizona

As we walked around, our guests headed straight for the shops, while I spent most of my time looking at the gardens.

I was especially interested in the beautiful container plantings that they had.

Here are a few of my favorites….

Coreopsis, Zinnias and Toadflax

Coleus and Impatiens

An entire walkway was lined with containers full of annuals.

Potted Geraniums and Variegated Ivy

Did you know that Bougainvillea make great container plants? Look how beautiful they look when trained upward against a wall, below.

Bougainvillea don’t like wet soil and like to be watered deeply and then allowed to dry out in between, which makes them suitable for containers.

Indian Fig Prickly Pear

I thought this was an interesting potted plant. Now most Prickly Pear species are NOT suitable for being planted in pots because of their thorns and ‘glochids’, which are the tiny, brown hairs that get stuck in your fingers.

But, Indian Fig Prickly Pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) is a thornless species of Prickly Pear, which makes it okay for use in a container.

Petunias and Purple Coneflower

As I walked around taking photos, I noticed that I was close to my favorite Christmas store, so I ducked inside….

This store (I forgot the name) features beautiful, handmade Christmas ornaments. I have bought some of my favorite decorations here.

The display above features a dried agave stalk that they have hung ornaments from.

I resisted the urge to buy more ornaments for myself, but I did purchase an ornament for our guests to take home to remember their trip to Arizona. It was a dried, red chili with a Santa face and beard painted on it.

As I stepped out of the store, I heard Indian song and drums….

Imagine my surprise to see an Indian hoop dancer, performing.

My family and our guests enjoyed the performance very much.

Especially my daughter, Gracie (far right), who in the past was scared of Indians because of their painted faces (from the movies, I think).

She loved the performance and afterward….

Sedona Arizona

Posed for this picture and shared it with her school.

We had a fabulous day with our friends and on our way home, decided to treat them to another regional treat….

In-n-Out Burger 🙂

A Beautiful Garden in the Middle of a Ghost Town

Tom Sawyer, Route 66 and an Unexpected Stop

Road Trip

For those of you who have been nice enough to follow my adventures on our Midwest road trip, this will be my last post.

Our last two places that we visited were Hannibal, Missouri where Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) grew up and lastly, Carthage, Missouri, which is located on Route 66 and was the home of my great-great grandparents.

Our first night in Hannibal was cold and rainy. Thankfully, we woke up to a beautiful, sunny day.

Viewing the Mississippi River from our hotel room.

The Mississippi River was beautiful to see.

Can you see the riverboat?

The levee that protected the town from flooding were quite tall.

The town was very charming.

They had a master garden, which consisted of a vegetable garden.

They also had a butterfly garden.

Isn’t this a cute border made up of small terra-cotta pots?

I enjoyed walking through this garden and it was obvious that a lot of time and care had been spent on it.

Statue of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn

Getting ready to whitewash the fence, just like Tom Sawyer.

Our unexpected stop was in Kansas. We were only about 10 miles from the border, so we decided to venture into Kansas and see what there was to see. It turns out there is a famous Union Civil War fort in Ft. Scott. It is a national park and we enjoyed exploring.

Behind the fort, there was a small garden. Most of what was growing was a variety of herbs. But, it was the blooming irises that caught my eye…

Aren’t they beautiful?

You know what? I really like iris and I think I will grow some in my own garden next spring.

Okay, you may be wondering what I am doing in a cemetery. Well, this is where my great-great grandparents are buried. They settled in a town on Route 66 called Carthage. We were able to find their grave and it was a really wonderful way to end our Midwest road trip.

At the cemetery, I noticed a gravestone that had a Peony bush planted next to it. Believe it or not, I have never seen a real Peony bush before. They do not grow in the desert. The flowers were so beautiful and fragrant.

Well, by the time you read this, I will soon be on my way to the Springfield, Missouri airport. I had a fabulous time traveling with my mother and discovering all sorts of neat things about the Midwest. One thing that I discovered, is how much that I don’t know – but I do love learning about new things.

Thank you for ‘traveling’ along with me. I cannot wait to see my husband and kids when I arrive home tomorrow 🙂

Indiana, Illinois and Abe Lincoln

Road Trip

I wish I could share with you personally, how wonderful our trip has been so far. I have enjoyed the natural beauty, the towns and the people of the Midwest.

To date, we have traveled from Michigan, Indiana and now we are in Springfield, Illinois.

We spent our morning in the darling town of Noblesville, which is some 20+ miles north of Indianapolis. The historic downtown is absolutely thriving and we had a great time shopping and eating 😉

We stopped by this nursery, called ‘The Mustard Seed’. The owner and I had a great time talking about plants and surprisingly, I was able to help him identify a plant he had that he had no idea what it was. My mother bought a very unique bird house.

Town of Noblesville

Each of the historic buildings had a plaque on the outside, telling the history of the building. All of the buildings dated from the 1800’s.

Did I mention that they had great shopping?

I love this idea….

The Noblesville courthouse.

The food has been amazing and I will really have to hit the gym as soon as I get home 😉

The beginning of Route 66 is in Illinois. I am used to seeing the west side of Route 66 🙂

Believe it or not….Abraham Lincoln is not buried in Washington DC. He is buried in this cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. The tomb is huge.

I realize that it looks like my mother and I are ‘picking’ Lincoln’s nose. But, we are actually rubbing it for good luck. At least that was what we were told to do. So many people rub it that his nose is much shinier then the rest of his face.

I have been enjoying the beauty of all of the flowering trees.

Lincoln is buried beneath this large tombstone.

We later visited the Lincoln Museum and Presidential Library in downtown Springfield, IL

The museum had wonderful displays. There were quite a few school children visiting this day.

My mother decided to ‘talk’ to John Wilkes Booth. The historical characters were quite realistic looking even though they were not living.

The first family

This is the neighborhood where Lincoln and his wife raised his family.

Abraham Lincoln’s house.

Even though I was fortunate enough to visit Washington DC last fall and learn about Abraham Lincoln, I was pleasantly surprised to find out much more that I did not know about Lincoln.

So far, we have not experienced any rain. We have had sunny or cloudy days with some wind from time to time.

Our next stop is Hannibal, Missouri where Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) grew up.

‘Talk’ to you soon!

Greetings From Amish Country…

Road Trip

Well, we have had a wonderful time on our Midwest sojourn so far. Sunday morning, we left Holland, Michigan and started our trek down to Indiana. Now, the point of our trip was to get to know the Midwest – its people, towns and countryside. Well, you cannot get a good feel for a place if you stay on a busy highway, so we took rural routes which led us past small towns and beautiful countryside.

Below are some photos and observations from the past couple of days…

As we drove through Michigan, we went through a tiny town that didn’t have any place to stop off and eat, except for this little ice cream parlor. So, we decided to indulge ourselves and order ice cream cones. We each ordered a small size ice cream. Imagine our surprise when they handed us a cone with 3 scoops of ice cream!!! Now I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t seem ‘small’ to me.

It was overcast and a bit cold, but the view from our bed and breakfast was just beautiful.

As we ate breakfast, we saw the Amish farmer who lived next door, out in his fields along with his 6 draft horses. Most Amish do not use power equipment for farming, so horses are necessary.

This old Amish farmer is fertilizing his field the old-fashioned way….with rotted manure from his cows.

His son was working hard too. They will be planting corn in this field.

The quilts are beautiful and you can buy them in town or at some Amish farms themselves.

Many residents are impatient for spring to arrive as you can see from the sign.

We visited this Amish farm to see their toy woodworking shop.

Isn’t this a pretty bed for flowers?

What is it about 3 scoops of ice cream in this area?

I must admit that I am in love with Whoopie Pies. I had my first one last fall when I visited Amish country in Pennsylvania. I haven’t had one since, but I told myself that if I saw any in Indiana Amish country, that I would get one. I confess that I have been eating one while I am writing this….

Corn harvested last fall that is fed to the livestock.

I just love these beautiful Magnolia trees.

Sheep and horses share the field at this Amish farm. Monday seemed to be the day for doing the wash. You could see Amish clothes hanging out on the line.

The Amish could be found in your regular stores. You did have to be careful where you stepped in parking lots and streets, just in case the horses left a little ‘surprise’.

We had a marvelous time. The Amish community in Indiana is not as conservative as the one in Pennsylvania and as a result, you interact much more with each other.

THE OTHER EVENING, AS MY MOTHER AND I RETURNED TO OUR BED AND BREAKFAST, OUR HOST (A NON-AMISH WOMAN), HAD 3 OLDER AMISH WOMEN OVER AND THEY WERE WATCHING A TAPE OF THE ROYAL WEDDING.

IT WAS JUST SUCH A GREAT SCENE AND THEY WERE REALLY ENJOYING THEMSELVES VERY MUCH.

On our way out of Amish country, we stopped by an old-time pharmacy with a lunch counter in the back. My mother and I ate our lunch there surrounded by the local Amish and Mennonite people.

When I come away from visiting Amish country, I am struck at their simple way of life, their hard work and how they appreciate the little things in life.

*********************

We are off to our next stops in Central Indiana and then heading over to Springfield, Illinois.

We are having a great time!

Greetings From the West Coast…

Road Trip

…of Michigan.

You know what? I was raised on the West Coast – of California, that is. I had never visited any of the Great Lakes before. It has been a wonderful treat visiting the West Coast of Michigan.

My mother and I are in the midst of a Midwest road trip. We have not really spent any time in this area and want to get to know it better. So on Friday, we boarded an airplane from Phoenix to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

As we got off the plane, it was a bit of a shock because the trees were leafless and the weather was cold. It was like winter back home.

We spent our first two nights in Holland, Michigan, which is a Dutch settlement and home to Hope College.

Our first full day was spent going to a tulip farm, visiting the coastal town of South Haven and then back to Holland to explore the downtown area.

Holland, Michigan

The tulips, daffodils and hyacinths were just beautiful.

I don’t see many (okay any) tulips where I live and I just love their vibrant colors.

I do love daffodils, and they do grow where I live, thankfully.

The fragrance of the Hyacinths was just intoxicating and I just love the color blue in the garden, don’t you?

The gardens were just beautiful. They also had bison on the property, which I thought was kind of unusual. They sold bison meat in the garden store (I passed on the meat).

There was a Dutch shop next to the garden that we explored…

There was a huge display of Delft porcelain as well as wooden shoes…

They aren’t as comfortable as my mother’s regular shoes.

Our next stop was about 25 miles south at the town of South Haven. It was a lovely sort of beach town and the downtown was a great place to shop.

It was a very blustery day and a storm was blowing in. But, the beach was beautiful.

The store owners were more then ready for spring to arrive and it has been unusually cold for this time of year.

They had quite a few chocolate shops and we walked into three of them, smelled the delicious fragrance of chocolate and then left before we were tempted to buy anything.

That is until we walked into the Chocolate Cafe…

We were ready to leave without buying anything until we saw this…

A six-layer chocolate cake.

Now believe it or not, we didn’t eat a slice of this cake, but it certainly made us want to give into our craving for sweets. So we bought a large muffin and split it between the two of us 😉

We had a lovely day of shopping, but the storm clouds started to approach so we decided to leave and head back for Holland.

Holland, Michigan

Once back in Holland, we made a stop at the Holland Museum, which was having a Dr. Seuss exhibition.

The walls were painted in red and white stripes like the “Cat in the Hat’s” hat.

We had a lovely time in Holland and the surrounding area. Our next stop will be in Amish country in Indiana, which we will reach by driving through small towns in lower Michigan.

Our fun was just beginning. Our next stop…Amish Country.

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Road Trip: A Wet Morning, Fattening Food and Wine Country,

Road Trip…College, Tiny Town and Containers

Roadtrip – Three States in One Day

Road Trip: Day 2 – Ohio

Road Trip: Day 1

Day Trip, Mexican Village and Great Container Ideas

Tom Sawyer, Route 66 and an Unexpected Stop

Indiana, Illinois and Abe Lincoln

Greetings From Amish Country…

Greetings From the West Coast…

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