My husband Gary & I have written and photographed our travels for magazines and in four travel guidebooks for Falcon Press Publishing. We’ve been happy travelers as well as the unhappy version. We’ve been traveling for more than thirty years. Planes, trains, automobiles, buses, cruise ships, and pickup campers have carried us on journeys to half of the fifty states and sixteen foreign countries. We’ve traveled for business; we’ve traveled for pleasure. We’ve traveled with a baby, a teenager, and with Grandma.
But it is through our experiences during sixteen years of owning a lakeside resort that we have truly come to know the travelers’ soul. We’ve been a part of family reunions, funerals, and weddings. We’ve hosted one night stands and fiftieth wedding anniversaries. We’ve been cursed at, laughed at, and physically threatened. We’ve been written about kindly and not so kindly. We’ve made life-long friends and thousands of casual acquaintances. We’ve had incidents involving sheriffs, firefighters, and brain surgeons. We could write quite a comedy about all of the things we have seen and experienced at our little resort.
Maybe someday we’ll write a movie script, but the posts here have one purpose: to bring happiness and hope to the travel weary and the travel leery. We want literally, to move you.
Traveling is life at its most exhilarating. It IS life.
We sincerely hope that on these pages you find something to laugh about, something that reminds you of why you love to travel, and at least one “ah-ha” moment that moves you to action. So read on, then start planning your next trip. Here’s hoping it’s a happy one.
Cruising 201: In-depth Questions About Cruising
We know you have questions about cruising!Cruising can get complicated. No matter how many cruises you have been on, there is always something that pops up that you don't know. The fact that there is always something new to learn about is part of what...
Scuba Dive Review: St. Vincent
Scuba Dive Review: St. Vincent Disclaimer: Gary and I were hosted on a Windstar cruise that took us to St. Vincent. Our diving was not hosted. All opinions are my own. Life is good anytime we have the opportunity to do a scuba dive review, so let's jump...
#TravelTruth: Are Dolphin Swim Experiences Ethical?
Dolphin swim experiences are an emotional and controversial subject. I have personally always felt torn between a love for marine animals, which includes a strong desire to see them, and a firm belief that those desires should never be satisfied at the...
Guy Fieri and Carnival Host 4H Cooking Contest at the State Fair of Texas
Guy Fieri and Carnival Expand Their Partnership October 11, 2017—Guy Fieri and Carnival showed a whole lot of kid love this week at the State Fair of Texas. The Food Network celebrity chef took time to promote both his own foundation, CWK (Cooking With...
#TravelTruth: 2017 Mileage Runs for Real People
Okay, all you road warrior, top-tier elite status mongers, this post is probably not for you. Move along so the rest of us can talk freely—about 2017 mileage runs for small-time players. We aren't even in the same league. Let's face it, folks, more than a...
#TravelTruth: Hiking Guatemala’s Pacaya Volcano in 2017
Conditions on the Pacaya Volcano in August 2017 Current conditions matter—that's why I want to make sure that the date of my post is clear. There are plenty of older posts floating around about hiking the Pacaya Volcano that can be misleading about what...
Viking Combo Cruises: 2 Cruises, One Booking
So what's a Viking combo cruise? It's a marriage made in heaven--you begin a European journey on board one of Viking's river cruises, before being whisked away to a Viking Ocean ship for the remainder of your voyage. Besides the sheer novelty of the...
Photo Journal: Volcanoes, Architecture, and the People of Guatemala
#TravelTruth: There Could Be Snakes in the Toilet—Expecting the Unexpected When You Travel
When we are not traveling, Gary and I operate a very small lakeside cabin resort. It makes us better travelers—knowing what goes on behind the scenes in the hospitality business. It also has given us a wealth of interesting stories. #TravelTruth from an...
10 Secrets You Need to Know About Cruise Ship Scuba Diving
Cruise ship scuba diving is like an all-you-can-dive buffet. On some itineraries, you get to pick and choose from six or seven great dive destinations—trying a little of this island and a little of that island. A land-based trip that allows you to dive at...