Kauai: October 2016

A glimpse of the absolutely stunning Na Pali Coast -- probably the most beautiful place I've ever been. (And that's my mom!)

Better late than never, right?! One of my goals for 2016 was to get better about posting travel photos on the blog, and while I was semi-successful (I did post photos from most of our 2015 trips), I never got around to 2016 (specifically, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Kauai). We're about to get a puppy so we definitely won't be doing as much travel in 2017, and hopefully that means I can finally get on top of travel posts! In that spirit, here's a look at our trip to Kauai, Jarrod's and my favorite Hawaiian island, when my mom was out for a visit in October.

Some notable sites (and places to add to your to-do list if you ever visit the Garden Isle):
-Rainbow Falls
-Waimea Canyon (and Waipo'o Falls)
-Kalalau Lookout (at the very end of the Waimea Canyon road -- that's all the green mountain-y photos, including the one of our hair blowing around like crazy!)
-Kilauea Lighthouse
-Opaeka'a Falls
-Hanalei overlook
-Spouting Horn blowhole
-the "tree tunnel" on the road to Poipu

That island in the distance is Ni'ihau, the second-northernmost inhabited Hawaiian island. It's a private island that's been owned by the same family for generations and it's famous for the tiny seashells that can be found there (called, appropriately, Ni'ihau shells).

2015 Travel Recap: Niagara Falls

Well, I'm ashamed to say that 2016 has somehow surpassed me dawdling along with my travel recaps from last year and our trip to Cleveland and Niagara Falls actually happened over a year ago, at the beginning of October 2015. Goodness, it's hard to believe it's been that long -- and what a year it's been!

If you're interested, you can see posts about the rest of our fun year of travels here:
Hawaii
Gettysburg
New York City
Bristol Race, the Biltmore and the Smokies
Colorado Part 1: Lost Lake and Pikes Peak
Colorado Part 2: Rocky Mountain National Park
Cleveland: Cuyahoga National Park and "Christmas Story" House
Next up: back to the Smoky Mountains in October 2015

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At the beginning of October last year, we took a long weekend getaway to Cleveland and Niagara Falls, with a stop in Buffalo on the way home to sample the fare at the restaurant that claims to have created buffalo chicken wings. Cleveland was already on the to-do list since it was our last year in Ohio and we hadn't been yet, and I figured we might as well jaunt over to the Falls because who knows when we'll be in that part of the country again. I'm so glad we did... I had never given Niagara Falls all that much consideration before, but I was pleasantly surprised -- the falls were so very stunning in person!

American Falls with Bridal Veil Falls off to the far right of the photo. Bridal Veil Falls is the waterfall you walk next to on the famous Cave of the Winds excursion (which we did, and which was very wet, and which you'll see below).

Another view of American Falls during the day. I was shocked by the sheer volume and power of the water.

There's a light show at night!

On our second day, we headed over the bridge to Canada (I was vaguely disappointed not to have my passport stamped). It's true what everyone says -- the Canadian side is nicer in every way. The Canadian part of the waterfall (Horseshoe Falls) is even more impressive, and the area is much cleaner and more nicely maintained.

That mist is no joke!

Jarrod looks like the Marshmallow Man with this windblown poncho!

And here we are getting drenched, and then drenched some more. The top two photos with the blue ponchos are from the Maid of the Mist boat tour, which takes visitors right up to both the American and Canadian falls for an up-close-and-personal encounter with an insane amount of gushing water and resulting mist.

The yellow ponchos are from Cave of the Winds, where we donned special rubber sandals and walked up a maze of wooden stairs and platforms alongside Bridal Veil Falls. It's smaller, but let me tell you, it's formidable. Every part of me that wasn't completely and totally covered with my poncho (which billowed out constantly from the wind created by the falls) and most of me that was covered was absolutely soaked with ice-cold water. It was an entirely miserable/amazing experience.

You can't quite tell in the photo, but this was basically like standing in a downpour. I would definitely recommend Cave of the Winds, but be prepared to be wet and cold!

Monday Musings

My Saturday evening.

My week: After working all those crazy hours lately, Jarrod got Thursday and Friday off, and he took all of next week off for my mom's visit. It's been so nice to have him around for a change! I had some discouraging news on the job front, though. I had really been hoping to find work at a library while we're here in Hawaii, but it's likely not going to happen any time soon. The public library seldom has openings (and even when they finally do, it would be a major stroke of luck for it to be at the library near our house), and I finally went in and had a chat with my old boss at the base library where I worked last time we were stationed here, and she doesn't expect any openings for an entire year. I'm going absolutely nuts sitting at home by myself so much, so that means it's time to start exploring other options... though I'm not too sure what those might be. There are plenty of good things about the military life, but some of the biggest downsides are leaving behind good jobs and struggling to find employment each time we move.

Reading: I finished "Underground Airlines" by Ben H. Winters, which is set in a present-day America where the Civil War never occurred and slavery is still legal in four states. It was a decent read, though I think it could've been better.

I took a mini reading break, then dove into "To the Bright Edge of the World" by Eowyn Ivey. It's an epistolary novel told in journal entries, letters and articles -- and even includes photos and drawings -- set mostly in 1885 Alaska and Washington Territory. I absolutely loved it and gave it 5 stars! I haven't read Ivey's first book, "The Snow Child," but now I'm definitely hoping to get to it soon. It's also set in Alaska, and I have a thing for books that take place in cold, rugged climates.

Last night I started "Rebecca," the gothic mystery by Daphne Du Maurier, which I've been meaning to read for ages, and next up will be "The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton. I've read two of Kate's books and enjoyed them both, and I'd like to read all her work. (Two more to go after this one.)

Knitting: Not much happening on the knitting front; I made another little stuffed hummingbird this week, but that's it. I need to sit down and do some research so I can order some yarn that'll be suitable for re-starting my Earnest cardigan. (If you recall, I had to set it aside after weeks of work because the yarn I was using wasn't getting the proper gauge and it was coming out way too small.) I also have my eye on a kit for the "Gilmore Girls" mystery knit-along. It's a cowl, which I definitely don't need here in Hawaii, but I love the yarn colors that the kit comes with, and it'd be fun to work on it while watching the "GG" revival. Plus mystery knits are just so much fun! Aaaand my birthday is coming up this month, so perhaps it'll be a gift to myself.

Watching: I watched and thoroughly enjoyed the second half of this season's "Grantchester," which follows the adventures of Sidney Chambers, village vicar/amateur sleuth, in 1950s Cambridgeshire. The more I see of this show the more I love it, and I was thrilled to read it's been renewed for a third season. And Jarrod and I watched the first two episodes of the current season of "Poldark," which just started back on PBS. I love that Jarrod will watch it with me! It takes place in gorgeous Cornwall, England, just after the Revolutionary War.

Eating: I made some tasty white chocolate-macadamia nut cookies this week. And tomorrow I'm baking another batch of those deeelish pumpkin cinnamon rolls for my mom's visit.

Blogging:
Monday Musings
10 Great Reads With Despicable Villains
Book Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (4.5 stars)
Book Review: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (4.5 stars)
Book Review: His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik (4.5 stars)
I Judge Books by Their Covers: Uprooted

Looking forward to: My mom gets here tomorrow! She'll be visiting for almost a week, and we're taking a little getaway to Kauai, our favorite island, for a few days while she's here. I'm so excited!

I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2015 Travel Recap: Cleveland: Cuyahoga National Park and "Christmas Story" House

Aloha and welcome to the latest installment of my painfully overdue series of posts about our wonderful year of travel in 2015.

Here are the previous posts: Hawaii, Gettysburg, New York City, Smoky Mountains/Biltmore, Colorado Part 1 and Colorado Part 2. Next up: Niagara Falls!

 
The first weekend in October last year we took a trip to Cleveland and Niagara Falls. We knew we'd be leaving Ohio shortly (we were only stationed there for three years) and we still hadn't visited Cleveland! We also intended to stop by Ohio Amish country on the way up, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with us.

I had sort of an old, run-down, super-industrial city filled with disintegrating factories in mind, but Cleveland was actually pretty nice! We enjoyed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and had a delicious dinner at the Great Lakes Brewing Company. Jarrod and I were both pleasantly surprised. After two days in Cleveland, we headed to Niagara Falls, which will have its own post.

Our first afternoon in Cleveland we visited Cuyahoga National Park, mostly because one of my life goals is to visit every U.S. national park. I'm a huge fan of nature and being outdoors, but I'm sorry to say that as far as national parks go, this one was a let-down -- there's hardly anything to it and I have no clue how it lives among the ranks of Yosemite and Rocky Mountain and Big Bend... it really should be a state park. But still, it was fall and the forest offered some lovely colors. And the main attraction, Brandywine Falls, was really pretty. We also "hiked" to Blue Hen Falls, in the upper right picture (I say "hiked" because it was really more of a light stroll through the woods).

"He looks like a deranged Easter bunny. It's a pink nightmare!"

The highlight of our Cleveland adventure was the "Christmas Story" house!

If you're ever near Cleveland and are at all a fan of "A Christmas Story," this quirky attraction is a must-do! It was cheap, quick and fun. This old home -- a real house tucked away in an actual neighborhood -- was used for filming the exterior house scenes in the movie, then quickly sank back into obscurity. But not long ago, someone bought the house, repainted the outside to look just like it did in the movie, and fixed up the inside in a '50s style.

There are TONS of fun replica movie props -- a Red Ryder BB gun, Lifebuoy soap, a Little Orphan Annie decoder pin, and obviously a leg lamp in it's fraaa-geee-lay-marked crate -- and photos are highly encouraged. My favorite part was donning pink bunny suits! There's also a small museum with actual clothes and props from the movie, as well as newspaper articles and information about why the house was awarded its movie role. And of course there's a gift shop, too.

2015 Travel Recap: Colorado Part 2: Rocky Mountain National Park

Aloha and welcome to part six of my 2015 travel recap! It was a fabulous year of travel for us and I'm excited to share it all with you -- even if we are now rapidly approaching a year overdue!

You can see the previous posts here: Hawaii, Gettysburg, New York City, Tennessee/North Carolina, and Colorado Part 1.


Last September Jarrod and I traveled to my home state of Colorado for a beautiful autumn visit -- the first time I had been back in the fall since 2009! We had a wonderful time with my family and took every opportunity we could to get outdoors. We took an overnight getaway to Rocky Mountain National Park and were lucky to see the aspens already beginning to change in the higher mountain climate. We also did two lovely hikes and saw tons of elk!


The timing of our trip was ridiculously fitting. Jarrod and I met in college, and the first weekend of October 2005 we took a weekend getaway to Rocky Mountain National Park to celebrate our 1-year dating anniversary. Almost exactly 10 years later, we headed back -- and we even did the same waterfall hike, Alberta Falls, that we did that very first time. It was even more beautiful than I remembered, and Jarrod brought his new fold-up fishing pole and was thrilled to catch a rare brook trout above the waterfall.


The second day of our trip was a full one! In the morning we did a gorgeous though somewhat strenuous (at least when you're not acclimated to above-sea-level air!) hike to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake. Then we took the easy path around Bear Lake, which is right next to the trailhead for the three lakes.


The lakes: (top right) Bear Lake; (middle left) Nymph Lake; (middle right) Dream Lake; (bottom right) Emerald Lake.


After lunch we did one of our favorite RMNP activities: the drive up Old Fall River Road (a one-way 11-mile gravel road that quickly takes you up and away from traffic and tourists) to the Alpine Visitor Center and back down Trail Ridge Road. We saw two black bears cross the road right in front of us toward the start of Old Fall River Road, but we weren't fast enough to get a photo. That's the first time I've seen a black bear in person in Colorado -- all my previous sightings have been in Tennessee!

I absolutely LOVE the landscape surrounding Old Fall River Road and Trail Ridge Road. The end of the road is above the treeline and the alpine meadows are stunning. It's also cold -- there are patches of snow up there all year round, and the roads are closed during winter.

I'm a little bit obsessed with yellow-bellied marmots -- I think these groundhog cousins are just the cutest things -- and one was waiting for us at the visitor center. After I told him I'd make him famous on my blog, he was more than happy to pose for some photos before scampering off.

A Look Back: June 2016

The Month:

*It's been a fairly quiet month here in Hawaii. We arrived May 25 and spent three weeks living in a hotel on base while we were house-hunting (a stressful and grouchy time, but we won't go into that!) and then we moved into our new home two weeks ago today. And today, the moving company is finally delivering our stuff! (For some crazy reason, they were backed up enough that they needed four weeks to deliver, so we've been making do with the little bit of loaner stuff available from the Air Force. I have never been so excited to sleep in my own bed -- or to vacuum!) After living for two weeks in an almost completely empty house, I am so looking forward to making this place feel warm and homey! And to have some patio furniture so I can sit outside!

*On June 15, the day we got the keys to our house, Jarrod and I celebrated our 8-year wedding anniversary by picking up and hauling in our new washer and dryer, then eating at our favorite burger place (we're super-fancy around here!).

*Our kitty cat, Lily, joined us in Hawaii last Friday! We had to delay bringing her out because we couldn't find any decent cat-friendly lodging while we were house-hunting, so she spent an extra couple weeks with her grandparents in Colorado. She's already found her new favorite perch, the living room windowsill where she can watch the birds and our occasional mongoose visitor.

*We had several days between moving in and DirecTV hooking up our cable, so we binge-watched season 1 of "Mr. Robot" on Amazon Prime; perfect timing because the new season starts in a couple weeks. It's a unique thriller about a cyber security expert/hacker/schizophrenic and we both enjoyed it. And now that we have our cable hooked up, we've been taking advantage of our three months of free movie channels to catch up on this season's "Game of Thrones" on OnDemand.

*I finally had my first Moscow mule cocktail! It was delicious and I totally want to learn how to make them myself. Maybe I'll even buy some cute (faux)copper mugs!

*We had an unpleasant surprise last weekend when we encountered a scorpion crawling across our master bedroom floor. YIKES!

The Books:

Books finished: 6

Favorite book: "The Wolf Road" by Beth Lewis... but "Written in Red" was so good too (in a completely different way)!

Biggest let-down: none this month! :)

Most excited about reading in July: "Sleeping Giants" by Sylvain Neuvel. I have it on hold at the library and I'm hoping it comes in soon; I've been dying to read it since before it came out, but the timing was all wrong with our move and being able to get it from the library.
Books added to to-read list: 17 (I actually added a couple more since I started writing this post, but I'm too ashamed to count and add them!)

Books added to maybe-to-read list: 27 (Houston, we have a problem!)
Most intriguing TBR addition: "The Last Days of Night" by Graham Moore, out in September. From Goodreads: From Graham Moore, the Academy Award–winning screenwriter of "The Imitation Game"...comes a riveting historical thriller about the "War of the Currents," the famous race for glory and riches between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse.
Books read from my summer reading list: 0
Books read from my must-read-in-2016 list: 1 ("Written in Red")

Favorite Bookstagram: (below) I just love the cover of "Lily and the Octopus" and it was fun turning it into an Instagram photo. I seldom read e-books until I started requesting advance-reading copies from NetGalley recently, and it's been interesting taking photos of my iPad (and battling that glare!). Follow me on Instagram @knittinglindsay!

The Knits:

I've made some good progress on my Cap Sleeve Lattice Top (pattern from Purl Soho) this month! It should be done shortly; I just have to finish the stockinette body and bottom ribbing on the front, then it'll be time to seam the sides together! It's been a fun and easy knit, and I'm excited to have a handmade sweater that I can actually wear in Hawaii without getting heat stroke! I've been scouring Ravelry for more short-sleeve sweater patterns and I'm sure I'll start another one soon!

The Blog:

Favorite post: 10 Things I Love About Harry Potter  I put this post together at the last minute and it turned out to be such fun! I really enjoyed looking back through the photos from our February trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (one of these days I'll write up a whole post). It also made crave a Harry Potter movie marathon, so maybe that's what I'll do this next week in between unpacking.

Favorite link-up post: 25 Gorgeous Bookish Art Prints to Add to Your Wishlist  So much for Top Ten Tuesday, we've got Top 25 Tuesday! Looking at this post just makes me happy... so many pretties!

Book reviews:

"June" by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (4.5 stars)

"Lily and the Octopus" by Steven Rowley (4 stars)

"The Wolf Road" by Beth Lewis (5 stars)

"Age of Myth" by Michael J. Sullivan (4 stars)

Monday Musings

Weekly highlights: It's been a weird week for us. We're tired of living out of suitcases, we're tired of eating out, we're tired of house hunting and we're tired of the other various issues we've had (like delaying having our kitty flown out because we couldn't find cat-friendly accommodations; Hawaii is not a very pet-friendly place). We finally found a house that's decent and meets most of our needs, and we had tentatively decided to take it. We'd move in the end of next week, which sounds great -- except when we called the moving company they said they're all booked up and our stuff can't be delivered until July 1! We're still going to take the house, I think, and try to make do with the military's crappy loaner furniture for a few weeks. (But we'll have to go out and buy things like sheets and towels. And what about cookware? And a TV? And a router so we can get our internet hooked up?) Sigh. It's been one thing after another with this whole move, but that's just how it goes with a relocation out of the continental U.S. -- and that's just part of being an Air Force family.

On the plus side, we did take in some pretty Hawaii scenery this week, and we went to our favorite beach on the North Shore to collect sea glass. The photo above is from our drive around the southeast side of the island Saturday. Lanai Lookout is one of three scenic pull-offs along the south shore and it's always stunning. There are several more photos on Instagram of our first week and a half back in Hawaii if you're interested!

Reading: I didn't get a whole lot of reading done this week. I finished my advance-read copy of "June" by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (which came out a week ago) and started another ARC, "Lily and the Octopus" (out tomorrow). "June" was excellent; I gave it 4.5 stars and I'm working on my review. The characters, the setting and the story -- which takes place in 1955 and 2015 -- were all spot-on. "Lily and the Octopus," a story about a man and his dog, is cute and quirky and sad, but I'm not nearly as enthralled as I was reading "June" -- at least not so far. Next up is another ARC from NetGalley, "The Wolf Road" by Beth Lewis, which comes out in July.

Eating: After nearly two weeks of living out of a hotel, Jarrod and I are most definitely getting tired of eating out twice a day, every day. Everything is just so heavy and rich -- which is awesome in moderation, but not so awesome every. single. day! On the flip side, though, we've been working our way through all our favorite restaurants from when we lived here three years ago, and everything has been pretty damn tasty.

One new-to-me thing was this amazing dragonfruit margarita! (And yes, that is the actual color of dragonfruit -- it's so gorgeous!) This weekend I got my first boba drink (my favorite flavor, purple yam and sweet coconut) since we've been back, which was a treat. I couldn't ever find a good bubble tea place in Ohio. I also tried my first-ever Moscow Mule, which was delicious! I'm definitely going to have to find a good recipe to make them at home -- and possibly purchase some of those fun copper mugs!

Watching: "The Revenant," which I really liked. I loved the stunning scenery, the beautiful cinematography and the simple but intense story. We also finished the first half of season 2 of "Fear the Walking Dead." It was ok, but I'm still not nearly as into the story or the characters as I am with the original show.

Blogging: On a total whim (Jarrod was at an in-processing appointment and I had some time to kill) I put together my first ever monthly recap on the blog. I'm hoping to fine-tune it (and come up with a better name) and make it a regular feature!

Looking forward to: Same as last week -- getting a house, getting our household goods delivered and getting settled in!

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I'm linking up with Kathryn from Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

A Look Back: May 2016

I've been meaning to try out some monthly wrap-up posts for ages, but I never seem to get around to it. Today, though, just so happens to be June 1. And I just so happen to be sitting in our hotel room on base with nothing to do while Jarrod's at an appointment. So -- let's give it a shot!

The Month

May was an unusually jam-packed month for me! The big thing, obviously, is that we moved to Hawaii. I spent a big chunk of April and most of May with my parents in Colorado as part of our military move from Ohio to Hawaii. Jarrod was taking a month-long class in Florida, and it was so very nice to actually get to spend some time with my parents and brother! Jarrod met up with me in Colorado mid-May and we had about 10 days there before we headed off for Hawaii last Wednesday, a week ago today.

Here are some highlights:

*I started May off with a visit to Dallas to see my best friend, Katie. We've known each other since 9th grade -- that's 17 years! I had a great little trip to see her. She's a zookeeper and was fostering some wild baby raccoons who were displaced by construction at the zoo, and they were just about the cutest things ever. As if that wasn't enough adorable, she was dog-sitting a goldendoodle puppy and I just fell in love with him! We also went to Fort Worth to see the daily cattle drive, got cupcakes at the famous Sprinkles, and went to Waco for a day where we visited Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Market, the Dr. Pepper Museum and Waco Mammoth National Monument (which was so, so cool!).

*My mom and I went to a painting class and played around with alcohol inks, which was a really fun girls' night! (Picture above.)

*My brother Andy graduated from my alama mater, Colorado State University, with a business degree. Being a military spouse I miss out on a lot of family events, but I was lucky enough to be able to attend this one!

*We helped Andy move from Fort Collins to his swanky new apartment in Denver. That doesn't sound all that fun, but we managed to work some excitement into the day. I dragged Jarrod to The Loopy Ewe, a huge and amazing and wonderful and awesome yarn shop in Fort Collins. (I had the self-control to only buy three skeins of yarn!) We also ate at Big City Burrito, a college favorite that I have to hit up every time we're in Colorado. (Their potato burritos are by far the best burritos I have ever eaten.) And we went to Voodoo Doughnut in Denver, a shop that has all kinds of fun and wacky and inappropriate donuts.

*Jarrod and I took a little getaway to Walden, Colorado, way up in the north-central part of the state, which just so happens to be the moose-viewing capital of Colorado! We saw probably 20 moose -- only females and young'uns though, no males. But still, I was absolutely thrilled to finally see moose in the wild. Bucket list -- check!

*Before we left, we made sure to gorge ourselves at all the chain restaurants we're going to miss here in Hawaii: Red Robin, Texas Roadhouse, Jimmy John's, Firehouse Subs, Chick-fil-a, Sonic. And I did a lot of Kohl's shopping -- another store we don't have in Hawaii. :(

*We -- and our mountain of luggage -- headed to Hawaii last Wednesday. Unfortunately, our second go-round in Hawaii isn't off to the best start and I am so very looking forward to being settled in so we can actually start enjoying ourselves!

The Books

Books finished: 6

Favorite book: "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik

Biggest let-down: "The Blue Bath" by Mary Waters-Sayer

Currently reading: "June" by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (loving it so far!)

Had to put down: "All the Winters After" by Sere Prince Halverson (but I WILL get it again once I get my Hawaii library card! I made it about halfway through and it was getting good!)

Books added to to-read list: 7

Books added to maybe-to-read list: 10 (eek -- too many!)

Favorite Bookstagram: (below) I love the way this picture came out -- and it features a few of my favorite things: the Hogwarts crest, a book map and tea! The book was "A Gathering of Shadows" by V.E. Schwab, book 2 in her Shades of Magic series, and I totally enjoyed it. It's just a delightful series with some fun characters and an epic good vs. evil battle -- oh, and four parallel universe Londons! I highly recommend it! (find me on Instagram @knittinglindsay)

The Blog

Favorite post: 2015 Travel Recap: Colorado Part 1: Lost Lake and Pikes Peak  It's so fun reliving the memories when I put these posts together. (That's no excuse for not doing it many, many months ago, though. This trip is from last September!)

Favorite link-up post: My Summer 2016 Reading List  I'm the world's biggest sucker for lists about books. And I always have the best time putting together these quarterly reading list posts. It's a fun sense of anticipation to decide what you want to (try to) read for the next few months!

Book reviews:

"Jane Steele" by Lyndsay Faye (5 stars)

"The Blue Bath" by Mary Waters-Sayer (2.5 stars)

"A Murder in Time" by Julie McElwain (3.75 stars)

"Black Rabbit Hall" by Eve Chase (3.5 stars)

Monday Musings weekly wrap-ups:
May 2: Snow, snow, snow and tattoo inspiration
May 9: Dallas trip = raccoons and tacos
May 16: Andy graduates, good books, yarn writing
May 23: Walden pictures + donuts and yarn
May 30: Aloha from Hawaii; rain sucks but it makes pretty waterfalls

2015 Travel Recap: Colorado Part 1: Lost Lake and Pikes Peak

You can see part one of my travel recap (Hawaii) here, part two (Gettysburg) here, part three (New York City) here, and part four (the Biltmore and the Smokies) here.

In September Jarrod and I headed back to my home state of Colorado to visit my family and imbibe in some Rocky Mountain air. The weather was perfect, and we got to spend lots of time in the mountains. We hiked to Lost Lake, a breathtaking mountain lake near Buena Vista, with my parents, and Jarrod and I drove up Pikes Peak. I'd been to the summit a million times, but Jarrod had only been to the top via the cog railway and it was long past time for him to experience the fun of driving up the curvy mountain road -- sans guardrails! We also spent two wonderful days in Rocky Mountain National Park, which will be a separate post.

Lost Lake. Absolutely stunning.

At the Pikes Peak summit, 14,110 feet!

Me and my new friend.

We enjoyed the must-have high-elevation donuts and hot chocolate at the summit house, and on the way back down we stopped at an alpine meadow and visited with several yellow-bellied marmots, one of my favorite animals.

2015 Travel Recap: Bristol Race, the Biltmore and the Smokies

Hello, friends! Here's part four of my long-overdue 2015 travel recap: our trip to Tennessee and the Biltmore mansion in North Carolina. Part one (Hawaii) is here, part two (Gettysburg) is here, part three (New York City) is here.

In August we headed to Bristol, Tennessee, to attend the Irwin Tools Night Race. Jarrod loves any and all sports, and the Bristol night race is his favorite NASCAR event, so I surprised him with tickets for his 30th birthday. It was my first NASCAR race and I had a surprisingly good time! The track is only a half-mile, so it was a pretty intense (loud!) viewing experience!

Bristol is in the eastern part of Tennessee, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take a little jaunt to Asheville, North Carolina, to visit the Biltmore, the Vanderbilts' humongous, crazy opulent mansion, which was constructed in the 1890s. Pictures aren't allowed inside, but I can guarantee it was stunning. There's a bowling alley and a swimming pool in the basement (complete with old-fashioned changing rooms), tons of lovely artwork, and the library... sigh. It holds over 10,000 books and has the biggest fireplace I've ever seen! I was also fascinated by the upstairs/downstairs facet to the tour. It was so interesting to see the servants' quarters and domain compared to the family's lavish living arrangements (especially after watching "Downton Abbey").

I was particularly excited to tour the gardens, which were designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park and was in charge of the landscaping at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair (which you can read about in the awesome book "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson). The gardens were gorgeous and I could fill up an entire blog post with flower photos, but I managed to whittle it down to just a couple.

In addition to the palatial residence and beautiful gardens, the Vanderbilts enjoyed an amazing view!

From Asheville we headed over to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where we'd reserved a cabin for a few nights. We finally got around to doing the 5.4-mile roundtrip hike to Rainbow Falls, a beautiful 80-foot waterfall -- and we were lucky enough to see the rainbow!

Salamanders abounded at the falls, and we encountered a black bear on the trail when we were hiking back down. I mean, literally on the trail in the direction we needed to go. It even growled and hissed at us a few times. It was my first up-close-and-personal bear encounter and I admit that I considered running screaming in the other direction, or peeing my pants (luckily I did neither!). The Rainbow Falls trailhead is off the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, one of my very favorite things to do when we visit the Smokies. The one-way road follows the Roaring Fork River through the mountains and the scenery is gorgeous, with beautiful vistas, the rushing river and the million shades of green. It always reminds me of being in an enchanted forest.

Cades Cove is another driving loop, and another place we visit each time we're in the Smokies. It's a a mountain valley filled with old churches and cabins to explore and lots of wildlife like black bears, deer and turkeys. We even saw a fox one time!

The two pictures on the left are from Cades Cove (we spotted another black bear!) and the two on the right are from one of Jarrod's favorite fishing spots in the national park. I usually get bored when he fishes, but I could lounge on a rock reading a book and listening to the river here for hours.

2015 Travel Recap: New York City

*Part one of my 2015 travel recap, Hawaii, is here, and part two, Gettysburg, is here.*

New York City has been on my travel wishlist for years and years, and I finally got to visit the Big Apple at the end of May when we met up with my mom and brother there for a three-day trip. It was jam-packed, but we got to see, do and eat almost all the things we most wanted. No Broadway show for us this time, but "The Book of Mormon" came to Dayton in August, so I still got to see my first musical this year.

Day 1: Circle Line Cruise, Grand Central, NY Public Library, 30 Rock, Times Square

We got to New York City in the late afternoon and met up with my mom and brother, Andy, at our (surprisingly tiny!) Hell's Kitchen rental apartment. That evening we went to Times Square, which was almost as bright as day with all the signs! (That's the two bottom right pictures -- see the New Year's Eve ball?)

Our first full day in NYC started off with a Circle Line Cruise around Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Then we went to Grand Central Station, which features lovely Beaux-Arts architecture and astronomical symbols painted in gold on the soaring green ceiling.

The Chrysler Building with its distinctive terraced top. (It reminds me of a pencil.)

The one must-do on my NYC trip list: the New York Public Library.

The children's library is home to the original crew of stuffed animals that inspired A.A. Milne to write the Winnie-the-Pooh stories.

The children's library also features miniature library lions constructed from Legos! (Did you know the actual library lions are named Patience and Fortitude?)

At the top of 30 Rockefeller Center, 70 stories up. That's Central Park in the background.


More pictures from the Top of the Rock observation deck -- the Empire State building, Central Park, and New York City in all its sprawling glory. And more New Year's Eve ball!

Day 2: FAO Schwarz, The Met, Central Park, American Museum of Natural History

It's me!


We started off our second day by taking an Uber (my first ever!) to FAO Schwarz toy store, home of the "Big" piano and Zoltar machine. Then we went to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (can I just set up camp there like the kids in "From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler"?!), walked through Central Park (I was ready to cut my feet off at this point -- it probably would've hurt less!), and ended the day with a quick trip through the American Museum of Natural History, home of the "Night at the Museum" movies. (P.S. That's a Statue of Liberty made out of Legos! P.P.S. We look thrilled about our subway ride! Actually, the subway was cleaner and easier to navigate than I expected. And the cars had blessed air conditioning!)

Day 3: Soho, Wall Street, World Trade Center

Our last full day included a visit to Soho... and the knitting mecca of Purl Soho! I'm so grateful to my wonderful mom, brother and husband -- who have zero interest in fiber arts -- for accompanying me!

Lunch in Soho, then on to the financial district and Wall Street. The bottom center photo shows the wonderfully curvy and slightly Dr. Seuss-ish 8 Spruce Street tower by architect Frank Gehry, who also designed the famous Dancing House in Prague.


1 World Trade Center, a.k.a. Freedom Tower. The last night of our trip just so happened to be opening night for the new One World Observatory on the 100th floor, and we managed to get tickets.


The 9/11 Memorial, with the bottom of Freedom Tower in the background.


The 9/11 Memorial was lovely, but the 9/11 Museum is a must-do. Pictures aren't allowed inside most of the museum, but there are a few above, like the "Survivors' Stairs." The museum was so well-done, and it really brought the horrors of that day home for me, someone who was thousands of miles away from New York, sitting in a high school psychology class, when the second plane hit. (P.S. You may want to pack a few tissues.)

The Freedom Tower observatory was fun if a little overdone. The view from the top was cool at night, and I'd like to see it during the day on our next trip.

Have you been to New York City? What are your must-dos so I can put them on the agenda for our next trip? The highlights of the trip for me were the library and the Met.