Hitting the Road with Some of My Oldest Friends

Because gifted authors use settings as characters which are rich and alive, our road trip traveling through the South has made me feel like I was hitting the road with some of my oldest friends as many wonderful books were brought to mind. Texas Friends Traveling between Austin and San Antonio brought to mind Tres […]

Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Biloxi and Mobile

Moving on from the wonderful time we had in the Lafayette area, we visited Baton Rouge, New Orleans, then Biloxi and Mobile.  Here are a few things we did. Louisianaā€™s state capitol in Baton Rouge was a new stop for us. I’ve been to NOLA several times, but not BR. No offense to anyone in […]

Lafayette, Louisiana Highlights

Would you call me crazy if I said trees were my favorite of the Lafayette, Louisiana highlights?  I am utterly obsessed with Southern Live Oaks and magnolia trees.  The camellias here are also as large as trees so letā€™s throw them into the mix too. There must be a hundred photos on my phone of […]

Choosing Between Chain and Boutique Hotels

While planning our trip we batted around lodging choices and even considered camping along the way.  Somehow that got nixed so weā€™ve been staying in hotels. This is how we’ve been choosing between chain and boutique hotels. Itā€™s a balance between budget, comfort, safety and hopefully a little charm if we can find that too. […]

One Way to Pack Clothes for a Long Road Trip

There are a number of ways to get creative when packing clothes for a long road trip.  Hereā€™s what I decided to do. DF Shira has a lot of experience with long trips and gave me the suggestion of packing daily outfits in two-gallon storage bags, placing them in bins and then transferring daily needs […]

Iā€™m Retiring! (Again)

Well, hereā€™s the big news around here.  Iā€™m retiring.  By which I mean Iā€™m retiring again.  I tried this three years ago and my retirement lasted seven months.  But.  This time, I think Iā€™m ready. And.  Weā€™re hitting the road.  For a month.  Yep.  Weā€™re loading up Johnā€™s Big Red and heading out. Iā€™ll have […]

Fall Garden Kick Off

In a moment of optimism spurred by the coolest, wettest summer we have experienced since moving to Arizona, we decided to stick our toes in the water for a fall garden kick off. Now, we don’t have impressive garden beds and acres of land like other climes, but our love of produce keeps us trying. […]

Promotion to Brigadier General

We were blessed last week to attend the ceremonies and festivities around our DF Leonā€™s promotion to Brigadier General. You might remember I shared a recent trip to Fort Smith, Arkansas and a tour of their Air Force facilities.Ā  Our friend the Colonel who hosted us is now the General and we could not be […]

Oklahoma City Visit

We were so blessed to take a small step out last week (FINALLY) to get out of town to visit friends. Two really important events took place that brought us out of town. And this post is about our leg in Oklahoma City.  The event was that DFs Terry and Jerry hosted us in their […]

Memorial Day Weekend

Iā€™ve spent a lot of time on the road for work lately, but Iā€™m hunkering down and enjoying time around Anthem over the Memorial Day Weekend.Ā  The last Music in May concert held Friday night was a perfect kick off.Ā  Hub picked up my favorite salad from Salad and Go and we enjoyed a couple […]