Road trip

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Connecticut, Europe, postaday2014, road trip

Today my husband needed to tour a few facilities in Connecticut so we went off; as I drove through various parts of Connecticut, listening to my husband on the phone and when he wasn’t on the phone, he was on his computer, he works all of the time, I couldn’t help but think of my friend Tilly from
http://www.thelaughinghousewife.wordpress.com fame because our destination was Avon right outside of Manchester. Connecticut does have several cool names for towns and cities; Windsor, Avon, New London, Oxford, Manchester and Greenwich. Can you tell that most of the original setters must have been homesick or at least that is my theory. I mentioned to my husband that seeing the sign for Manchester made me think of Tilly and he said that our Manchester wasn’t as nice as the one in England. I agreed, I have never been to Manchester overseas, but I would bet a lot of cookies that it must be nicer than Connecticut’s version. In defense to Manchester Connecticut, I have a serious bias towards Europe; I have a weakness for all things historic and that’s why I imagine in my head that Manchester, Oxford and Greenwich, all these places that I have never seen, to be such special places, I imagine cobble lined streets, buildings with centuries and centuries of meaning and stories. My weakness, I know.

When I see places in this country, I see a new slate; despite being settled since the 1600’s, this country still has a new feeling when compared to walking down the streets of say Paris or Rome or London.

So that was my day and my day of driving led me to these thoughts and my thoughts became this post.

On the Road Again ….. on the road again

Tags

music, postaday2014, road trip, travel

I do not appreciate country music except for Willie Nelson, I love Willie Nelson; all of his songs, especially this one and the duet he did with Julio Eglesias “To All the Girls I loved Before”

As my hubby and I were driving back up to Massachusetts, we’re home hooray! Jack is thrilled by the way, so is the baby boy, his gigging went great but he missed Jack a lot. Willie Nelson was singing to me in my head as the miles melted under our wheels. New Jersey is one very long state, Washington D.C, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland are all mushed up, so that part goes by pretty quickly, because you have to concentrate on the road and staying on the right highway, but New Jersey just goes on and on and on. My favorite part of the road trip is going over the Delaware Memorial bridge, it always reminds me of my little sister and how much fun we had the few times that I went to pick her up when she was a student at University of Delaware. The bridge is a beautiful one, twin suspension and it makes a gorgeous backdrop to the grand river below.

I know that a few of my friends are big country music fans and while I don’t like most of it, I do love Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Tracy Atkins; those three in my mind are more than country, they are great music, classic that will always stand the test of time.

Views of another road trip

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leaves, pictures, postaday2013, road trip, skies

I am writing from my iPhone as my iPad is experiencing huge technical difficulties. We are going back down to New York as a family for the weekend, the baby boy is driving and we even have Jack with us. Typing with only one finger, the index finger, isn’t very efficient I know but I have yet to master the dual thumbing of the youth. Since I’m in the passenger seat, I took the opportunity to take pictures. The sky was particularly beautiful in my opinion, such a bright blue contrasting with the waning colors of the leaves. My finger is getting cramped so I’m keeping this short and sweet.

Our return home with pie!

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Driving, Home, pie, postaday2013, road trip

Hooray we are home, it’s a two and a half hour drive back home from my mother’s, so the weekend usually turns out to be quite exhausting. But we have Pie! My sister on her way back from the Hampton’s, stopped at Briermere Farms and picked up their peach fresh fruit pie. It is famously out of this world.

This is the piece that we brought home for the baby boy, you can see the whipped special tangy cream that lies underneath the fresh peaches and the beautiful pie crust. It is a work of art, I promise you.

Jack is very happy to be home and to have his back yard all to himself. So am I, no more walking forever to get him to go to the bathroom.

Traveling a long way for a surprise party

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hotel, pets, postaday2013, road trip, surprise party

We have spent the last five hours driving to Canandaigua, New York to be part of our little cousin’s surprise graduation party. The surprise party is scheduled for tonight at 10:30 and there is a small chance that the party girl may have other plans in mind, oops. I’m not worried about it, we are here to see the family and if she has other plans because she wasn’t expecting a surprise party, than no one can fault her for that, she is 17 after all.

We bought Jack with us and that should be an adventure in and of itself. The hotel is pet friendly, so we will see exactly how far that statement goes, lol. It’s always an adventure and I am sure that tomorrow I will have an adventure or two to tell you about.

Bringing back baby

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car, College, empty nest, postaday2013, road trip, spring break, university, vacation

Today, sniff, sniff, we had to drive our baby girl back to her school. The spring break vacation was over and it was time to get her back to her studies. I had just gotten used to having my baby girl back home and it was already time to drive her away from home back to her college domain. Tomorrow is sure going to be quiet. Our baby girl was excited to get back to school and I am grateful for that. It would be awful if she was miserable or feeling overwhelmed. Instead she went back with a huge smile on her face, ready to continue with her academic work and enthusiastic about her future. I can tell you that when your child feels that way, it lightens your heart and your spirit and you sleep much better at night, knowing that since your child is in a good place emotionally and mentally, they will tend to make much better choices in their daily lives or at least you hope. I have faith in my baby girl, she spends a nice amount of time on self-reflection and she keeps me in her orbit, to which I feel lucky to be included.

I miss the little baby girl, but I really love seeing the young lady that she is growing into and spending time listening to her dream and plan her future career and adventures is exciting. Seeing a child grow up is almost like having two lives, you are as invested in their happiness as you are in your own. You celebrate their triumphs even more than you would your own, when they hurt, it hurts you just as deeply. The connection between parent and child is incredible in all of its complexity and depth. An amazing gift.

Road trip from Rouen to Bordeaux

Tags

France, postaday2012, road trip, Rouen

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The road trip that we took was to get to my Tonton and Tantine’s house in time for the family celebration that was taking place on Saturday, July 27th. Nicolas and Francoise planned the road trip very well, we stopped midway at Tours to have lunch at a wonderful little restaurant making the trip feel just 3 hours long of sitting at any one time. Rouen to Tours 3 hours and Tours to Bordeaux 3 hours, very doable from both a driver and a passenger point of view.

The views of the sunflower field are my favorite, I spent most of the car ride with my neck angled to the right and then to the left, just gazing at rapidly approaching streams of yellow. It is one of my strongest memories of France from way back when, those long stretches of yellow. Next spring, I am going to plant my own little patch of sunflowers somewhere in my garden to remind me of France.

The place where we stopped for lunch had signs that showed paths to walk along the river and picnic, we opted for the restaurant. I wanted to treat Nicolas and Francoise to show them my appreciation for all of their hospitality. There were also signs indicating chateau visits along the Loire. One of these days I am going to plan a trip down the Loire Valley for my hubby and I because I have heard rave reviews from many different people, French and American alike. Can’t go wrong when you have such a diverse bunch of critics.

The famous bottle of red at my Tonton’s house in Bordeaux is a Chateau Petrus, back when I used to drink wine, my Tonton opened a bottle of Petrus for my hubby and myself and the rest of the family and it was an exceptional wine, I do remember that. That was eons ago and another bottle of fine wine that my Tonton opened for me, way back when, was a bottle of Chateau Yquiem, a Sauternes, and that was in exchange for a lovely dessert that I had made for my Tonton. That wine, I will remember forever, because it tasted like the nectar of the gods.

I thought that the old chateau carved out from the surrounding cliffs needed to be photographed. I really love the engineering and the economy of thought that entails constructing buildings such as the chateau and its surrounding units from within the land around them. I find that it captures the essence of the people of its era, they were a hearty people and they worked their land very hard to maximize as much as they could from the land and their labors.

There is so much more to be seen in that region and I am looking forward to exploring it in the future with my hubby.

Road trip to Bordeaux

Tags

Bordeaux, car ride, hot, postaday2012, road trip, Rouen

This morning at nine Nicolas, Francoise, the baby girl and I piled into the Renault family car, which I have to say is a very comfortable spacious car, and headed down south to Bordeaux. The distance is about 689 kilometers, which never means anything to me. In the States, it’s miles, anything else is meaningless. So basically whatever the speed limit is gives you an idea how to calculate the time required to cover the distance so, since the speed limit on the highway here varies between 110-130 kilometers an hour and the distance is 689 therefore the time would be around 6-7 hours in the car. A full day of driving for Nicolas with a full day of riding along for the three of us. Francoise had a tremendous idea that split the ride in two parts with lunchtime being the halfway mark. Her sister Michelle recommended a wonderful restaurant in the town of Vouvray that is right outside of Tours, 3 hours away from Rouen and 3 hours away from Bordeaux. Perfect rest stop, Nicolas found it without any trouble, we were seated immediately and the decor was rustic and elegant in an Old World type of way. The food was very good, we all started with sliced cantaloupe and prosciutto ham alongside a small salad. I had a salad served with sliced breast of duck, fresh mushrooms and pine nuts, the baby girl had salmon tartare and both Francoise and Nicholas had spinach raviolis filled with cheese and served with sauteed shrimp. Everything was delicious, we ended with dessert, I had a paper thin apple tart served warm right out of the oven all caramelized with a scoop of all spice ice cream, oh my, was it so light, warm and comforting to slowly eat and savor. We got back on the road and I was battling with my cell phone trying to take pictures of the fields of tall sunflowers that are strewn all between Paris and Bordeaux. I will upload them later on but honestly you will have to trust me that the blurry yellow images are really sunflowers. Before I knew it, we were very close to Bordeaux when we hit the dreaded traffic jam, it added an hour to our trip but I spent the time thinking of what to write and I immediately thought of this car ride and also the fact that we crossed 4 rivers on the way to Bordeaux; the Seine near Rouen and Paris, the Loire near the restaurant, the Dordogne on the cusp of the southwest, the Garonne right at Bordeaux. I don’t think that I have crossed 4 major rivers in probably close to 14 years. I thought that it was an interesting part of our adventure.

When we arrived at my Tonton and Tantine’s house it was a welcome stop because even with the stop in the middle, my legs were feeling a little stiff and my buttocks were numb by this time. That was all forgotten in the wake of all the welcoming kisses and hellos.

What route would you plot for an epic road trip?

Tags

France, journey, postaday2012, road trip, Roman road

Create a route for an epic road trip.

June 17, 2012

Epic Road Trip

Roman road

I would love to research to see if the old Roman roads were still in existence and if they were in their full length. That would be an amazing journey, if I remember my Roman history correctly it would be a road trip that covered England, France, Spain, Italy, Greece and throughout Africa and the Middle East. That would be going back to the road well traveled, following the footsteps that are thousands of years old.