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Amy and Pat Taylor
Amy and Pat Taylor

Amy and Pat Taylor

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorWestward Ho!Viaggiatore
    3

    The Buck Stops Here!

    26 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    A Presidential Library has been on Pat's bucket list for a long time. The Harry S Truman Presidential Library and Museum was not too far off our route and made a perfect place to stop and stretch our legs on an 8 hour drive day.

    I was most moved by President Truman's constant consideration of right vs wrong. He had so many incredibly difficult choices to make. He made some compromises he didn't like but he owned his decisions . No ego, the man just served his country. He did what he thought best for our country and it's people.

    I thoroughly enjoyed the 3.5 hours we spent here and we will definitely visit more Presidential Libraries. The museum was high quality with many engaging exhibits.

    Dinner and the Truman movie tonight...

    From Pat
    It was powerful. It wasn't just the bomb, it was segregation, the Israeli state, rebuilding Europe and Japan, the red threat and the ever present - corruption.

    I cannot emphasize how well this museum was done. I was aware of a lot of it, but it is laid out so well. The most jolting to me was the graph of WWII deaths by country.

    The USA lost 405,000 lives. Which country lost the most lives in the war?

    The Soviet Union 25 million, China 15 million, Germany 7 million. Countries run by tyrants who did not care about the cost -- human life.

    On the upward side of emotion, seeing President Trumans office (not a replica but his actual office) was cool. After he left the presidency, he worked a full-time schedule on this site.

    A truly decent human.

    The Oval Office replica was neat with a tour in President Truman's own voice was neat. And I regret that neither of us took pics of his cars, but we enjoyed that too.    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorWestward Ho!Viaggiatore
    1

    The Catenary Curve

    25 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    The Inverted Catenary Curve, actually. That is the type curve the Gateway Arch is. (Imagine a necklace chain but upside down).

    We can always count on My Lovely pitching in and doing some of the heavy lifting (she is holding the Arch steady).

    We rode our bikes over from East St. Louis to the Arch. I enjoyed the history and the view from the top, but the views on the ground were more spectacular.

    Of course, the different points of the view were all beautiful, but we actually enjoyed the park even more. It is the epitome of what a city park should be. Just loved it.

    From Amy....once again, the bikes made it better. We were able to see the entire park, no way we would have walked that much in the heat. It is a beautiful park. Loved the museum, too. Now back to the camper across the river for some dinner and Football!!!    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorWestward Ho!Viaggiatore
    1

    Yep...on the road!

    25 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    It's a beautiful day to begin this trip. We are so excited, but I miss the boys already! It's always hard to leave, but once we are in travel mode, it's easier. We got on the road right on schedule. Our first stop later today is The Gateway Arch in St. Louis for a visit to the Museum of Westward Expansion (Perfect for our first big trip out west together) and a tram ride to the top.Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorDale Hollow with Burgess Fam !Viaggiatore

    The Gang is not all here...

    14 luglio 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 91 °F

    Day 1! The gang is not quite all here.
    Present are: Gary, Patty , Sarah, Michael , Audrey ,Aaron, Hannah ,Greg, Aiden ,Ashlyn, Nana , Pat ,Amy, Jacob.
    Missing are Josh and Ashleigh.
    Present in Spirit: Papi and Maddee....Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorNatchez Trace by bike!Viaggiatore

    Sunday Afternoon on the Trace

    30 giugno 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    We've been wanting to ride the Trace since we got our bikes. We were a little apprehensive that it might be too hot today, but we were hopeful that since this section is mostly north/south that the trees would shade us from the afternoon sun. It mostly did! We rode from 4pm to 6pm and did a leisurely 23 miles. We are attempting more hills without any assist. We are improving, but so thankful the assistance is there when we need it. Halfway through the ride we did get some welcome air conditioning in the form of a light rain shower that lasted a few minutes. It left us just wet enough to cool us fir the rest of the ride. It was very peaceful, birds singing, a hawk overhead, a deer crossing in front of us. Car traffic was low, and on the Trace bicyclists are allowed to use the whole lane and cars go around. Though, of course we stayed over when they passed. This was one of the things on our #SummerToRemember2024 list. We really enjoyed it and will definitely be looking for good weather days to do it again. I love life with my best friend! ❤️Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorPercy - Boat Shake DownViaggiatore

    Shakedown cruise...

    29 giugno 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 93 °F

    So the guys are headed to Dale Hollow Lake next weekend for a guy only trip! Believe it or not we haven't taken the boat out yet this year. So today was our Shakedown Cruise to make sure everything was in order. All is good, except the upholstery is starting to show its age! Pat and I had a great time just floating, watching the boys cliff jump and have a great time together. I love the memories that these boys, young men, are creating together. We were missing Nate as he is still in Utah. I hope they continue to make a lifetime of memories together. I love each and every one of them as if they were my very own.Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorMammoth Cave National ParkViaggiatore

    Still loving our Velotrics!

    23 giugno 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    We had an hour and a half of rain this morning. So Pat and I enjoyed our coffee and studied Exodus together.

    We are working our way thru the Bible chronologically using Bible Recap and Bible Project (which are white board drawings that make great introductions for each book).

    After the rain passed, we headed out on our Ebikes. There is a lovely gravel hiking and biking path that goes all the way to the visitor center/cave entrance 10 miles away. Almost the entire path is in the forest, so it was very pleasant. Not too hot! As we were getting on the path, 4 road cyclists (what I call REAL cyclists) passed in front of us. They complemented us for wearing helmets and said all other bikers they had passed had none. We found that to be true, too. No way I would ride these trails without helmets! It was a lovely day, and we did 20.4 miles.

    And, there was even an ice cream sandwich involved!    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorMammoth Cave National ParkViaggiatore

    Mammoth Cave - Grand Avenue Tour

    22 giugno 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    Mammoth Cave Grand Avenue

    Last night, we did the Star Chamber Tour. This morning, it was the Grand Avenue tour.

    The Grand Avenue Tour is the longest walking tour they offer at 4 miles and lots of inclines.

    The NPS advertises 1,600 stair steps. And there are the inclines beyond that. Well, to set the recorde straight, there are 1,600 stair steps (up and down), but that only tells part of the story. The other part is that my Fitbit registered 51 flights of stairs climbed - it counts walking up an incline 10 feet as a flight too.

    It sounds really hard, but it wasn't as bad as it sounds. The rough tour (that we will not be doing) is a hike where you spend a good bit of time crawling through holes - really small holes. Definitely not for us.

    This tour, like last night's tour, was to a large extent about the stories they tell - the history. But there were 2 awesome highlights.

    The first highlight was Boone Avenue. We spent a decent amount time trekking through what one could best describe as 'wide crevices', slot canyons in the cave. It was really neat and definitely better than the Grand rooms of vast space.

    The second highlight is at the end of the tour. And after doing almost all the stairsteps and inclines mentioned in the 2nd paragraph, when they get to this part of the tour they call it OPTIONAL STEPS, because, if you want to, and you are up to it, you can see "Frozen Niagra", if you choose to do an extra 97 steps. Optional because it is a little side trail down a staircase.

    Well, the first thing I have to tell you is that 97 stair steps is 49 steps down. And 48 steps up. Not too bad.

    The second thing I have to tell you is that it is spectacular. That 1 stairwell was 5 times better than the rest of the day combined - and it was a good day.

    The light is low, and with nature, pictures never do justice, but Frozen Niagra (which is neither Frozen nor a waterfall) is fabulous.    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorMammoth Cave National ParkViaggiatore

    Maps and Other Memories

    22 giugno 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    Maps and other Memories

    Sometimes, we get side tracked, or just lazily behind. I am posting about the Kentucky trip and we still have half a dozen Honduras post waiting (we need to pair photos with the words - and there are a lot of photos).

    As I wrote about in the first footprint of this trip (about the new drone), we do these posts for ourselves to document memories, but we hope that some of those closest to us enjoy what we are doing too. This post is in that same neighborhood.

    Like so many other campers, we have the USA map on our camper showing the states we have visited. Believe it or not, many campers have very distinct rules for these things. Some people put a sticker up even if they just drive through a state. Others say you have to spend a certain amount of time there. Everybody is entitled to their own rule (let freedom rein). Our rule is, we have to spend a night AND we have to do something (a hike, a tour, a bike ride, something) in order to get a state sticker.

    So we get behind sometimes and we didn't do Indiana after visiting Zach and Marina. So today, both Kentucky and Indiana go up.

    The other thing we do is collect stickers from where we go and what we do.

    When we first got married, we did post cards and I wrote a note in a journal of sorts. But we didn't really get to enjoy it. But with the stickers, we get to enjoy what we are doing.

    Amy bought some 'Peel & Stick' wallpaper of a fun variety. It reminds me of the song 'Over the hills and through the woods, to grandma's house we go'. My Lovely covered the front of the camper fridge with the wallpaper. And we put the stickers that we collect on the wallpaper on the fridge. So when we do things like hike in Mammoth Cave, we get a state sticker for Kentucky outside, and the fridge gets a sticker for Mammoth Cave.

    When the fridge is covered, My Lovely will peel the wallpaper and cut it up into squares. She'll make a scrapbook out of it. And then we get to start over.

    It may not seem like fun, but us picking out the right sticker together is a blast. And the placement on the fridge . . . well, that is an event. (Amy edit....ain't we goofy!)

    And two more things. In my previous post I wrote about the penny with the cross punched out. We will find a home for that blessing somewhere in the camper.

    And the last thing: Maddee goes with us everywhere. In our hearts, in our spirit and on our walls.

    Love you and miss you Madgirl.

    Every minute of every day, Baby Girl.    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorMammoth Cave National ParkViaggiatore
    1

    Ranger Alex The Story Teller

    21 giugno 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F

    Ranger Alex, The Story Teller

    Our first tour of Mammoth Cave was the Star Chamber Tour. An evening tour without lighting, save the lanterns that a dozen or so of us carried.

    It was just enough light to see where you are going, but not enough to 'see' the cave.

    The photos that My Lovely took will illustrate this. The most you see is the lanterns themselves. Although, I think we have a rather nifty selfie - by the glow of the lantern.

    The tour was more of a story telling tour than a sight seeing tour. And Ranger Alex did a good job.

    He told that us Mammoth Cave (singular - it is all 1 cave - 426 miles long) is the longest cave in the world. And that the cave was privately owned and changed hands many times until 1941 when it became a National Park. But he did not tell us the facts, he told stories and the facts revealed themselves in the stories.

    The cave used to be filled with soil full of nitrates. Nitrates are preservatives (such as in pickles and hot dogs) and back in the day, people mined the soil and filtered out the nitrates and sold them - including to Egypt for mummyfying.

    The Nitrates were used to make gunpowder too.

    And the cave was once bought by a man for its believed medicinal properties. He built cabins of rock inside to house TB patients.

    The tour is called the Star Chamber Tour because Ralph Waldo Emerson once toured the cave and asked to be left in the cave overnight so that he could lie on the cave floor and gaze at the stars on the ceiling.

    The tour was a walk in the dark. Cool air , 54°. We strolled hand-in-hand for about 4 miles and listened to the stories. Then we watched as he gathered all the lanterns and walked away. He left us for a few moments, in the truly pitch black darkness. No light at all. My Lovely was busy trying to see her hand in front of her face while I wisely took the opportunity to steal a kiss.    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorMammoth Cave National ParkViaggiatore

    New Money or Something Worth A Lot More

    21 giugno 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    New Money or something worth a lot more.

    We had a man give us some money today.

    That is not really accurate, but it is what he said as he was doing it.

    The man was visiting a neighbor in the campground and struck up a friendly conversation. And while talking to us, he noticed and commented on the cross necklace I was wearing (a gift from my brother John and sister-in-law Stephanie, on the day of my baptism). And then he said he wanted to give us some money. He reached in his pocket and gave us each a penny. A penny that had been stamped to punch out a cross from the center. Then he reached in his pocket again and retrieved the "drop". The cross that had been punched out.

    No, he didn't really give us money. He shared peace with us.

    I thought it was pretty neat.

    My Lovely liked them too. But she really liked what he said as he was leaving. He told us 'young people' to have fun.

    We are going to have fun. And we will be as young as we can be.

    Peace    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorMammoth Cave National ParkViaggiatore

    Birdie's First Flight

    21 giugno 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    First Flight

    Our footprints (our posts) are mostly for us. Documenting for ourselves where we have gone and what we have done. The sweet moments. The fabulous views. The times we wandered together.

    We are happy to share with anyone who is interested, but when the rocking chair replaces the hiking boots, My Lovely will be flipping through these pages.

    Amy is a scrapbooker - or was. Now technology has made everything digital. And our new toy, the drone, is, we hope, going to capture a different perspective.

    So this footprint is about "Birdie's" (the drone) maiden flight. A simple thing,
    us leaving the house. My Lovely piloted the drone to capture us leaving. (Well, I tried...lol...I got a photo...I'll do better next time...learning curve.)

    The interesting thing (to me) is that the drone has the technology available that we could have simply put it out there and told it to follow us from any angle. But we are old, and technology deficient. It was easier, for now, just to fly it. And that is what she did.

    I have to give credit to our friend John Chosay. He brought his drone to our fish fry. He took a group photo with his drone. And then he compared it to a selfie stick. He said that you could put the camera anywhere and get the shot you want.

    SOLD!!!

    We have a new horizon. Let's watch as My Lovely learns how to catch new perspectives. Watch as she (and I, she hopes) learns to fly this thing.

    We hope everyone enjoys this. We will.

    Edit from Amy....this was supposed to be an "us" toy! Pat has to fly, too!!    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorRoatanViaggiatore

    Why would you do that for me?

    24 mag–1 giu 2024, Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    His name is Stanley. He is young- I'm not sure of his exact age. He is a husband and a father of 2 young children. He works 7 days a week. He was our Waiter this week at Ankor restaurant. He was there from breakfast at 7am until dinner , over at 9pm. Stanley always had a smile on his face (as did everyone we met). He was always ready to meet our needs. Halfway through the week, Gary told him that we always prayed at our meals and asked him if there was anything we could pray for him about. He looked confused. He didn't understand what Gary was asking. So Gary explained that we would pray for any needs he might have. Health, his children, etc. He thought for a moment and then said "food supplies". After he left the table, we all sat there, staring at each other. It was incredibly humbling. We joined hands to pray, but Gary was too overwhelmed with emotion. So Patty prayed over Stanley for us. A couple minutes later, Stanley returned to our table and asked " Why would you do this for me?" So Gary explained that we are Christians and we know how much God loves us all, even though none of us deserve it. God loves Stanley and his family. We told him that we believe in the power of Prayer. It's hard to understand that he had never heard the message of Jesus. In our tip envelopes at the end of the week, Gary included a letter telling him more about Jesus and salvation. Please pray for Stanley and his family. Pray that his heart is open to salvation and that God provides mightily for his needs!Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorRoatanViaggiatore

    Perspective

    22 maggio 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Perspective

    We might sometimes lose perspective of how blessed we are in America.

    This was my 3rd trip to this resort in Roatan.  1 trip pre-covid, 1 trip at the end of the pandemic and now, 3 years later.

    What was the glaring difference? The sealife. 

    Previously, you saw sea turtles on every dive.  Multiple turtles.  In the wild, sea turtle live 50 to 100 years. Some, many more years.

    This trip.  1 small turtle for the whole week.

    Also, previously, sharks on many of the dives.  This trip, I saw no sharks, Jacob saw 2 on 1 dive.

    And the rays.  I saw 2 small eagle rays this trip. Previously, half of the dives featured rays.

    The answer:  No Tourists.  No jobs.  No money. No government subsidies.  Tourism was shut down for 7 months.  Schools shut down for 17 months.  People had to eat.  They ate the turtles, they were easy to catch. This broke our hearts, for the people and the turtles.

    I will also say that in most places I dive (ie. Mexico), the reefs are a national park.  Subsidized by the government and fees collected from divers to enter the national park.  In Honduras, they know the government is corrupt, and the fees collected would be scarfed up in the corruption. 

    In Roatan, the dive operators ask the tourists for a voluntary donation (some do it, some don't - and the operators don't push it).  The operators collectively maintain the reefs.  Cleaning, hunting the species that can harm the ecosystem, providing means, transportation, and supplies for volunteers to do the work of cleaning the reef, and trying to grow new coral foundations.    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorRoatanViaggiatore

    The Lay of the "Land"

    22 maggio 2024, Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Anthony's is an island off an Island, off the coast of Honduras. We take a little water taxi (the size of a John Boat) from the key (where our rooms are) to everything else we do.

    This post will feature a few pictures of the area. Then, later we will get into some of the week's fun.Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorRoatanViaggiatore

    Easy Out

    19 maggio 2024, Honduras ⋅ 🌬 84 °F

    The slow churn.
    Week moving at half speed.

    I cannot not remember, if it has ever happened at all, leaving for a trip in such a relaxed mood.

    We packed through the week. There was no 3 page list of things to do before we left. Nothing left undone. No crisis. No fires to put out.

    A flight not too early. Everyone up on time. Out of the door in a breeze.

    A blessing to begin our trip.

    And what did we do on the flight? We trip planned for next summers wandering of the west.    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorRoatanViaggiatore
    1

    Anthony's Key

    18 maggio 2024, Honduras ⋅ 🌬 86 °F

    A vacation at a diiferent pace.  It's not a working vacation.  And you can always sit out a dive if you want to, but a week at Anthony's Key can be a very busy week.

    By the time the week is out, we will have the opportunity for 18 dives, but due the flight schedule we will only get in 17.

    Most of the boat rides are short and there are breaks in between and meals.  Not to mention the Dolphin Encounter tomorrow.  But we stay happily busy.

    I suspected that the boys would skip most of the early dives (8:30 am), preferring a bit of extra sleep on their vacation, but they have been with us all the way.

    With this post, I will simply add a few photos around the resort as we come and go.

    Anthony's is an island off an Island, off the coast of Honduras.  We take a little water taxi (the size of a John Boat) from the key (where our rooms are) to everything else we do.

    This post will feature a few pictures of the area.  Then, later we will get into some of the week's fun.    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorRoatanViaggiatore
    1

    Boys 2 Men

    18 maggio 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    It's what you do when nobody is watching, or at least when you think nobody is watching.  That is what counts.

    The boys get along well, but as Amy says about all our young men, their frontal cortex is still developing.

    I witnessed some good stuff this week.

    We were doing a night dive, and it was toward the end of the dive, so it was dark down there (pitch black).  Jacob's dive light quits.  Sam swims up alongside him, reaches out and takes Jacob's hand and puts it on his, and they share a light.  It was special to see, and fortunately, I got it on video.  Made momma proud.

    On another occasion, the boys were swimming through tight caves, reaching the end and turning around to make sure the other was coming through.

    There were a half dozen of these moments that I witnessed this week.  And, of course, this is the way it is supposed to be.  But it is not what one commonly sees in 20-something brothers.  And since our whole Find Penguins venture is about marking the memories for momma, this post is all about warming mamma's heart.

    Good boys - proud momma.

    A: I am one insanely blessed momma!    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorHocking Hills and Visit Zach!Viaggiatore

    It's All About The Love

    5 maggio 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    It's all about the love.

    The whole point if this particular trip was to see our nephew Zach.   He is at the University of Indiana working on his PhD in chemistry.  We are very proud of him. 

    As a bonus, we got to meet his girlfriend Marina – also working on her PhD.  Marina is adorable in every way and they are incredibly cute together.

    With luck, Zach will finish his degree in about 6 months and Marina will be about a year behind him.

    I love Zach.  A young man full of heart.  He gave us most of his weekend.  We are blessed.

    Zach and Marina joined us at camp for dinner both Satuday and Sunday nights, and they showed us some of the campus, including their labs Sunday afternoon. 

    The campus is beautiful.  They have a small forest on campus.  Brick walking paths crisscrossing through the mass of “Dunn's Woods"  --- the way to get from studying to burgers and wings.

    Zach explained what they are working on and told us about some of the equipment. Most of it didn't register in my brain, but it was fun all the same.

    They spent several hours telling us about their teaching and their research. And we just ate it all up. 

    But the best thing they showed us - what touched me - was this hallway in the Chemistry building. It has block walls. And when you get your PhD, you get a block. You sign it and share what you want to share. A block for prosperity. Again, we are proud of him and can't wait to see his block

    We taught them to play Rummikub which was fun, but the best thing was watching the two of them interacting together.  It was special.    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorHocking Hills and Visit Zach!Viaggiatore

    Beautiful Bicycling in Brown County

    5 maggio 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    We got a relatively early start this morning because we were meeting Zack and Marina at the University of Indiana this afternoon. It was a beautiful day for a ride. A little chilly at first, but not uncomfortable, then the sun came out and we were in the 70s. It's a lovely, hilly park with curvy up and down roads from pretty overlook to pretty overlook. We biked 23 miles today. Lots of other bicyclists too!Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorHocking Hills and Visit Zach!Viaggiatore

    Photos from the Road

    4 maggio 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    I'm still not sure of the correct word to discribe the feeling, but during these drive days, I am taken by the views of Americana.  Nothing special really, but growing up in the city then driving from state to state seeing these vast farmlands.  Yeah, I know it is silly. 

    Wholly Pitchfork Batman!!  We live in the middle of a cow pasture and I am still awed by all the farmlands we drive through.

    We enjoy the small towns,  the old clapboard houses, and the small town churches with the bell towers below the steeples -  and almost universally, the church bells are long since gone.

    We enjoy the drives.  We see the scenic views, listen to our music or Amy reads to me.  And without fail, we talk of new places we want to go.

    Just a few pics from our drive today between Ohio and Indiana. A few sprinkles of rain, and then the sun came out. Pretty farmland and peace.    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorHocking Hills and Visit Zach!Viaggiatore

    Ohio for Camping???

    3 maggio 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

     

    How did we end up camping in Ohio?  Honestly, I didn’t remember until we actually got here.

    So we don't watch regular TV.  Quite often we entertain ourselves by watching YouTube videos on camping and hiking.  A few months back, we were doing just that when we saw a video on Hocking Hills.  We literally booked the trip the same day, based on the video.

    Time passed, and I am old.  I knew I was excited about the trip, but I honestly did not remember why.  I didn't remember what we saw on the video.

    And you know, when you think about camping, you think The Great Smokey Mountains, or Yellowstone, or somewhere in The Natural State – Arkansas.  Ohio would never cross my mind.

    The truth be told, we are just excited about getting out.  And, we are going to Indiana to see our nephew Zack.  Super stoked about that.  So it was going to be good no matter what.

    But let me tell you, the video we watched that inspired us to come to Hocking Hills State Park was all about the hiking.  Folks, if you like to hike, this is a great place.

    The trail maps list the hikes as short, but they budget a lot of time for them.  That is because the views are just packed.  You just can't see it all.  This is awesome. 

    Ohio for camping.    Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorHocking Hills and Visit Zach!Viaggiatore

    The Sound of Joy

    3 maggio 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

     

    The crunch of crushed stone under her hiking boots….

    My Lovely's favorite sound.

    Isn't it awesome that she has a favorite sound.  I think it is Faaaaaaabulous.

    We are in Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio (more on Hocking Hills in another post), and we are here for the hiking.

    My Lovely is a conservative woman in almost every way, especially in speech.  She would not be known as verbose.  So this post may come off as a little mean-spirited, but I assure you that it is not intended that way.  I could just say she was excited.  But it just simply wouldn't do.

    My lovely woke up this morning, and well, someone had pulled her string.  I was sipping coffee and smiling.  I couldn’t even understand what she was saying. After about the fifth utterance – and she still hadn't made out of the bed… and me, I hadn't a clue. I had thoughts of the Tower of Babel.

    And then she asked me a question and I understood the question.  My Lovely asked, “Honey, do you think we should have caffeinated coffee today?

    I love this lady.  She brings me so much joy.  I love that she was so excited.  And she really needed this trip.

    Crunch, crunch, crunch.  The pebbles under her feet today.  Smiles, ooohs and a few aaahs.  And a couple of remembrances of hikes with her boys.  This is the type of place where the boys would have gone hog wild running about.

    We did 5 relatively short hikes in all today.  They were chock full of wilderness wonder.

    A happy day for My Lovely makes for a happy day for me.

         Leggi altro

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  • Amy and Pat TaylorHocking Hills and Visit Zach!Viaggiatore

    Cantwell Cliffs

    3 maggio 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    This 2 mile hike was supposedly the most difficult and rugged hike in the park. Maybe it's because it was our last hike and we were purposely going slowly to savor it, but it wasn't difficult at all. It starts with a stunner you don't see coming!Leggi altro

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