This Southern Belle's Summer Travels and Adventures



The Acropolis Athens Greece

 By now most of you know I have a gypsy soul with a serious case of wanderlust. I also seem to have an adventurous spirit that most men feel intimidated by hmm… I guess that means I just haven’t met the right man yet! Hopefully the right man will come along and will be filled with a longing to experience other cultures and exotic places like me. But that is not what this blog is about today. Today I wanted to write about my passion for travel.

Every summer when school lets out I start thinking about where I want to wander off too. This year is no different, some years I have more resources than others so I can travel to far off places like Greece, Italy, Australia, Germany, Great Britain and Alaska. Other years I have to settle for domestic travel and I find that enjoying as well. I brought a book once and it had all these amazing places (that you never hear about) in the U.S.A to see. Now granted some of those places may give you a chuckle and you will never want to see them again but other times you catch a moment of something so rare and beautiful that it takes your breath.





I was in Wyoming one summer and I was just driving down the interstate all by myself, the sun was starting to rise and I thought what a great picture this would make. Little did I know after I stopped and got my camera out the sun was a magnificent orange ball of light in the sky and just as I clicked my shutter on the camera I realized that I had captured not only the sunrise but a wolf as well. Who seemed to be as intrigued with me as I with him? I was spellbound by the beauty of that moment.

My sister Julie and me on that fun filled day!

I have had many such moments in my travels. It becomes imprinted on your soul and you know it doesn’t matter how long you live you will always remember that moment. My sister Julie and I were in Amberg, Germany in June. We had decided to walk to the local market to get our dinner, it was a beautiful summer evening. She and I stopped at a sidewalk cafe and decided to start our dinner early with a glass of wine and a cheese and fruit tray. The gentleman was so entertaining he told us story after story that had us laughing. He kept giving us drinks, the sun was starting to set and the place became almost magical at that moment and I thought to myself don’t forget this gift that God has given you. It brought tears to my eyes as I looked at my sister laughing and joking with him. I felt so alive in that moment. As the evening came to a close my sister and I left singing “Pretty Woman” as we walked away from our admiring friend.





Pipar and our new Italian Friends

Another precious moment was when I was in Florence Italy with my friend Pipar. I had made reservation at a little out of the way place recommended by Rick Steve’s (Europe through the backdoor author) and when we got there the lady spoke NO English. I kept trying to tell her my name and she kept calling me Ellen (that is my middle name). I had given her my credit card info on the phone but apparently all she could remember was Ellen she finally took us to our accommodations and they were quaint. We pulled out a map in our room and by then her adorable husband had joined us and they tried desperately in Italian to tell Pipar all about something she needed to see in Florence. I was laughing so hard that it brought tears to my eyes and I thought what a darling couple they made as she would tell him NO and shake her head and he would just smile slyly and shake his head. They were just so cute and I thought this is what real traveling is all about. It’s not the Uffizi or Michelangelo’s David that made Florence memorable but this sweet little couple made it unforgettable.






Homer Alaska

 Another heart print I have was on the trip my ex-husband and I took our son’s Joshua and Jake on. We decided to travel the Alaska/Canadian highway. What and adventure that was! We traveled all across the United States and up through the rugged road to White Horse Yukon, then on into Alaska. When we got to a little place called Chicken, Alaska population 37 people and 1 grumpy old man. We decided to pan for gold there and try to get rich. There was absolutely nothing to see in Chicken but the conversation I had with the few locals and 1 visiting Irishman more than made up for it! The lilt to his booming voice and jovial nature made everyone there smile and laugh out loud. He kept telling his very American wife that she needed to make their fortunes and he would take a sip of Irish whiskey and toast her hard work! Jake had so much fun playing in the creek he needed a good bath before he got back in the truck. Our son Joshua said it best when he said it was the greatest adventure of his life when he stepped out of the truck and saw the vast wilderness of Alaska. I will never forget the look on his face if I live to be a hundred. We may not have found our fortune but there was a bit of golden moments at the end of the day.






Me, Marty, Ramona and Jackie on our Great Adventure!

One of the funniest moments of my travels was in Belgium. My ex-husband and I were traveling with our good friends Ramona and Jackie. We boarded a train in Belgium to head back to Amberg, Germany. Jackie and Ramona where taking their time before boarding the train (buying beer). Marty and I were already seated and waiting, when all of the sudden Jackie sticks his head in the train and asks if we have any cash because they didn’t have enough to pay for the beer. So we dig out what English money and German money we have to give to him; when all of the sudden the conductor asks for our tickets and stamps them then we heard a chime, Jackie snatches the money from our hand and we both have this puzzled look on our face. Then we look out the train window and see Jackie throw our money at the man working the beer stand and proceeds to grab Ramona with one hand and the beer with the other and starts running like a crazy man dragging her behind him like a rag doll. They get on the train and Jackie is as white as a ghost and Ramona is confused, Marty and I are about to wet ourselves were laughing so hard. Finally Ramona asks Jackie what the hell was that all about and he is so shaken he can barely talk but the words out of his mouth were priceless. I thought when I heard the chimes the train was going to leave without you and I had to go and save you. Well we sat there on the tracks for another 20 minutes before we took off and Jackie was still so shook up he couldn’t even drink one of those beers! Priceless, I tell you just priceless!



Plaza de Armas Arequipa Peru

I’ve climbed castle ruins in Germany, the Harbor Bridge, rode a camel, held Kolas and fed kangaroos in Australia, dangled from castle ruins in Austria. I swam in the Great Barrier Reef and stood at the Acropolis. I have seen the death camps in Germany and the Rhine River. I have seen Buckingham Palace and Edinburgh Castle, took the Teapot trail, had a Medieval dinner at Ruthin Castle in Wales and I have beheld the White City of Peru. The best Pizza in the world I found was in Anchorage Alaska and it's The Moose's Tooth Pizza! OMG it's the best ever and of course my summer fishing for salmon on the Kenai River in Alaska was awesome as well! Yet the most memorable things about these trips were the people I met. The guy who owned The Griffin Pub in Toddington, England. Brian Coombes who invited us over and we stayed there well past closing time sharing stories about his trip to America. When he first saw Marty and Jackie he said I know you, you’re Rednecks from the south! And of course Keith and Edna Brown my dear Australian friends whom I keep in contact with! Mrs. Hammer from Germany and her wonderful kitchen! Takis from Athens who gave me a silver necklace and earrings with the Greek design and took us to his friends place to eat lamb in the Plaka,  And last but not least Victoria, Diana and Hector in Arequipa Peru, Friends for life as well. It’s the people not the places that make my travels wonderful; it’s the variety of these places and people that I love.





My friends Keith and Edna Brown

So where am I off to this summer? I will go back to Peru on a Mission Trip and hopefully see Machu Pichu this time as well as the beautiful North Carolina beach, and then I will spend some time getting to know more about the country music capitol of the U.S Nashville Tn. with my mother. Who knows who I will meet and how they will influence my life. I have Faith that God is in control and wherever I wander it will be with his blessings. So wish me luck on my new adventure and stay tuned for photos and stories! Y'all enjoy!




Billabong Sanctuary Townsville Australia

 



 "To travel is to possess the world"~Burton Holmes

Würzburg Germany







Medieval Banquet at Ruthin Castle Wales

 

“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J. R. R. Tolkien





Sitting In the Piazze Navona Rome Italy




Venice Italy



Greek Island

Lima Peru

Nashville Tn at The Cock of the Walk Restaurant

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

Castle Ruins Austria




 “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Plaka Athens Greece

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

I'm  the last one on the right and living my life to the fullest! Sydney Harbor Bridge Australia!