We have friends who absolutely love to go on cruises. They like going to bed in the wee hours of the morning and waking up in a different port. They can tell you which cruise lines they have enjoyed and why. I suggest using Cruise Locators.com when looking for cruise specials. They represent cruise lines from the river and small ship cruise lines all the way up to the luxury cruise lines. They have the ability to offer the best value when shopping for a cruise. Get more for your money by checking with Cruise Locators.com. Their website has so many offers from which to choose. You can even choose a theme cruise. Take advantage of their expertise and first hand knowledge to get the cruise of which you have dreamed.
The second person in a matter of two days has told me they will be in Michigan next week for their vacations. I can understand why Michigan draws so many visitors. My friends are staying in a cabin and will be frying up fish they catch each day. The kids will be out in canoes and row boats and roasting marshmallows over the fire in the evenings. They go to the local hang out one night during the week and sing karaoke. What a hoot that would be.
The lesser known lakes in Michigan offer a placid vacation spot like no other. Loons warble on the shoreline whilst bald eagles soar overhead. Sunsets are late and give the opportunity for great walks along the beaches. The hillsides are full of wild blueberries and the icy waters are just warm enough for the kids. The wild native landscape in Michigan is to be shared by everyone. There is nowhere like Michigan.
A recipe for outdoor cooking:
All-in-One Breakfast
3 sausage links (or other)
3 eggs
half a potato
1/4 cup shredded cheese
3 tablespoons milk
Cook sausage and cut into small pieces, cut the potato into small pieces and cook in sausage drippings. Drain. Beat eggs and milk together and add to potatoes. When almost cooked, add sausage and cheese. Ready when cheese is melted. Serving : 1
It sounds like next year, mom and I will be attending the yearly quilt show in Paducah, Kentucky. A friend of ours attended the second week of April and had a blast. She went on and on about all the sales and the wonderful bargain prices on fabric.
The AQS Quilt Show is held in multiple venues - the Paducah Expo Center, Julian Carroll Convention Center and JR’s Executive Inn, all located at One Executive Blvd. in downtown Paducah.
The American Quilter’s Society Annual Quilt Show & Contest makes Paducah a mecca for quilters and quilt enthusiasts each April.
In addition to the juried exhibit of the finest workmanship and most creative quilts in the world, the festival features a merchant mall, workshops and special events throughout the community. Anyone care to join us?
Over two million pets and other live animals are transported by air every year in the United States. Federal and state governments impose restrictions on transporting live animals. In addition, each airline establishes its own company policy for the proper handling of the animals they transport. As a shipper or owner you also have a responsibility to take the necessary precautions to ensure the well being of the animal you ship. Check with individual airline carriers to determine their rules.
There are age requirements for pets who travel. Pet carriers must be a certain size. There are tips on feeding a pet before it is boarded onto an airplane.
More information can be found at the Aviation Consumer Division of the DOT. There were many things I had not considered about traveling with a pet. It is good to know these things ahead of your travel time. I learned so much from the article.
Were you aware that some airline carriers have begun to charge for each bag you check in when traveling? I think it was only one airline so far but others will probably follow suit. The cost of fuel is making it so the airlines cannot afford to fly and are trying to make up the cost difference any way they can. I heard on the evening news that flights to certain cities like Kansas City are being discontinued.
There is a website called How Was Your Flight that gives information about these topics and others. I read one of the articles there that talked about how airline employees have slashed their own pay in order to keep the airlines going. I am not sure what will become of travel as we knew it. Things are certainly changing. I don’t like it, do you?
One of the best museums displaying American Western art and artifacts is the wonderful Stark Museum of Art. H.J. Lutcher Stark and his mother, Miriam Lutcher Stark established the Stark Foundation as a non-profit corporation in 1961. Beginning as a vision of improving the quality of life in Southeast Texas by encouraging, promoting and assisting education, the arts, and health and human services. The Stark Museum of Art holds a wide array of collections of art.
The Western Art collection includes many artists dating over two centuries. Beautiful art in many forms portray cowboy life and Indian imagery depicted from the artist’s individual interpretation as they settled in the west.
The Indian tribes of the Great Plains, Southwest, Eastern Woodlands and Northwest Coast are represented in wonderful collections. Examples of Plains clothing, body ornaments, and beadwork, such as elaborately beaded moccasins are displayed in the Stark Museum of Art.
Collectors from all over the world have visited the Stark Museum of Art to see the museum’s collection of rare books and manuscripts.
Offering an outstanding collection of glass and porcelain in its Decorative Arts Collection, the Stark Museum of Art is renowned as having numerous items from Steuben Glass. Another wonderful exhibit that can only be seen at the Stark Museum of Art is the complete set of The United States in Crystal, a series of bowls engraved with scenes representing each of the 50 states as well as Puerto Rico and the Union. Other exhibits include beautiful porcelain birds by artist Dorothy Doughty as well as those by artist Edward Marshall Boehm..
Located in the city of Orange, Texas in the southeast corner of Texas this wonderful museum is one I hope to visit someday. For now, I will continue reading and learning from their website at http://www.starkmuseum.org/.
When your kids become teenagers, you will try anything to keep them involved in family outings. One year, my sister, Grace brought her teen aged son to our house. My son and I joined her and the four of us drove to Illinois to my other sister’s house. We decided to check out Chicago things to do as a way to keep the teenagers happy as well as my sister’s seven year old. Nothing keeps kids of all ages happier than to shop in a large city, so that is exactly what we did. I knew from our experience with taking the speech team to Atlanta, Georgia that these guys would enjoy Chicago. There were so many similar things to do in Atlanta that the boys would be thrilled with Chicago.
Trusted Tours is an excellent source for information on sightseeing tours. Their newsletter has so many fun ideas for different cities that it is something everyone can use. Sign up for the Trusted Travels eNewsletter and enter to win a $150 iTunes gift card. The offer ends Saturday, May 31st, 2008.
We discovered that the museum had a fantastic display from the Titanic Ocean liner at the time of our visit. The guys were so interested in that event that we had to drag them away to get to the stores downtown. The bus trip was an adventure in itself. We were laughing so hard that I think they tried to pretend we were not their mothers.
We had a wonderful day in Chicago. In addition to learning about the museum display, we used the newsletter as a guide for places to eat, finding bus stops and other valuable information. If you want help planning your next trip, you will find so much help and advice by signing up for Trusted Travels eNewsletter. Don’t forget that for a limited time they are having a special promotion where a person can win a $150 itunes gift card by simply signing up for the newsletter.
These photos were taken while traveling through the Appalachian Mountains near Pikeville, Kentucky. You can see the coal veins in the part of the mountain that was cut to make room for the road. It is an amazing site. Pikeville is home to one of the largest earth-moving projects in history - the Pikeville Cut-Thru, and host to one of the biggest festivals in the state, the nationally-known Hillbilly Days.
On our way down to Kentucky on Wednesday, we picked my sister up at the Louisville, KY airport. She had flown in from Dallas to join us on our way to our niece’s graduation from nursing school.
Her flight arrived a little after 1 in the afternoon, but it had been a long day for her. She had to use a car hire service to take her to the airport in Dallas. She said it worked out well, but it would have been cheaper to leave her car in the remote parking lot. Oh well, at least she got to relax some on the way to the airport and doesn’t have to worry about her car, it’s at home.
Do you ever use a car service when traveling?
We are in Kentucky to honor my niece as she graduates from nursing college. We are so proud of her. She is the nicest person, a wonderful mommy and loves life. We are thrilled to see her achieve her dream.
The eastern part of Kentucky is in full spring color. Wild lilacs are blooming and the rhododendrons of every color are splashed in everyone’s yards. It is an awesome sight.
