Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Vacation 2012

First of all...my prayers are with all of you suffering the damage from Sandy.  It looks just devastating on the news feeds.

Warning......this post will be picture heavy.

I know it has been awhile since I have posted or even checked blogs, but we have been away for the last few weeks.  One of our very favorite things for DH and I to do is to jump in the car and just drive.  Our final destination was to be Iowa where many of my family members live, but we make no plans ahead of time.  We drive until we feel like stopping and just enjoy our beautiful country.  This trip took us across California, across Nevada, through the tip of Arizona, up through Utah and Bryce Canyon.  We continued on through Colorado and headed north through the sandhills of Nebraska (and hurricane force winds), finally crossing the Missouri River and across Iowa.  The trip home took us through the Black Hills and Wyoming when our visit to Yellowstone and the Tetons had to be altered due to heavy snows.  At that point we left our beloved small roads and moved to an Interstate that had snowplows. 

Snow in Bryce Canyon



Lake Powell, Utah

Well disguised Bighorn Sheep

Cows along our newly found favorite road to Cripple Creek, CO.

I hope no cars are coming from the other direction!!!

Still showing some nice fall colors.

Two crops...hay and windmills

Chimney Rock in Nebraska.  Did you ever play Oregon Trail on the computer?  I could hear the music as we visited Chimney Rock.

Sand Hills in Nebraska

My cousin's brand new toy.  It had just been delivered.  What an amazing piece of equipment!

Very fall looking - view from my cousin's patio.

Along a road in Iowa.  Isn't this great?

Loved this car beside the old house.

Entering the Black Hills.





Snow as low as the desert floor in Nevada

Of course returning home after that length of time always leaves much catch up to do.  I had some wonderful mail from friends awaiting when I returned, including lots of birthday cards since I turned another year older while traveling.  It makes getting older so much easier when you have such wonderful friends.

These darling labels were in a card from Maria.  I already have plans for both of them.  Thanks, Maria.

Mug rug and fun goodies from Ida and Irene, our Rugs with Friends "Momma".

A wonderful package from Leona, my mug rug swap partner for Nov/Dec.  Thank you, Leona.


I also received a package from Madame Samm for participating in the Fall Blog Hop party.  Look at all the fun goodies.  Thank you so much.  I will also be participating in the URPriceless hop and my day will soon be here - Nov. 5th.  Please stop back for that.


Lastly.....remember when I showed the fabulous carved pumpkins?  After seeing them we were visiting our grandson's garden.  He had several green pumpkins so we gave it a try.  What do you think?  We just quickly did the name with a scissor blade, but think how much fun it would be with a little Dremel drill.


26 comments:

  1. Your trip looks gorgeous. Love the "fly by the seat of your pants" travels.

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  2. The perfect kind of trip! I'm from the Black Hills, so it was fun to see those pictures. You must have a HUGE mailbox to get all those wonderful goodies.

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  3. Fantastic trip and post! I enjoyed all your pictures...what a trip you had! And such diverse scenery and road conditions. Glad you made it home safely and how lovely to arrive home with some wonderful mail. Nice to have you back!

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  4. What gorgeous pictures, I really enjoyed that!

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  5. Thanks for sharing pictures from your trip. Looks like lots of fun.
    And great mail to return to. Jake's pumpkin is fabulous!

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  6. That sounds so fun, beautiful pictures!

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  7. Welcome home and Happy Birthday Mary! I'm really enjoying the photos from your great country. I love driving trip too, but haven't done as much as we like. Glad you had a good time - Hugs
    Nat

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  8. Wow....I always say, "Why would I want to go abroad when such a glorious country I have here in the USA.....I have seen much of it but not all I would like to see. That old car looks much like my very first car, a 1949 Plymouth (complete with "suicide doors" like that one in the photo). That house in Iowa looks like it came right out of the Civil War! Thanks for sharing all your wonderful photos and glad you had a great birthday!

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  9. Happy Birthday, looks like a fabulous trip!

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  10. Happy Birthday! Great pictures! Looks like you had a wonderful trip, I love road trips like that too.

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  11. Looks like a really fun trip. Bryce is my favorite National Park.

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  12. Happy Birthday and what a wonderful vacation you had. It looks like you all had so much fun. The photos are fabulous. Thanks for sharing them with us. Glad you got home safely.

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  13. Happy belated birthday! Looks like you had a great trip! :0)

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  14. Sounds like a wonderful trip. A belated happy birthday!

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  15. Thanks for sharing photos from your trip.I`m enjoying.Happy belated birthday!!

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  16. Thanks for sharing the pictures of your trip. A trip up through that part of the country is on my bucket list ... preferably on our way to Seattle for a cruise to Alaska and back. ;-)

    And happy belated birthday!

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  17. What a marvelous trip! We sometimes forget what beauty our country holds. Love the big house all decorated for Halloween - reminds me of the haunted house at Disneyland. Thanks for sharing your photos.
    Happy belated birthday, Mary. I hope it was a great one!! Looks like you received many great gifts.

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  18. Really enjoyed going on your driving trip with you. Love the buffallo...
    Wonderful gifts for a wonderful lady. Enjoy!!

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  19. Loved the pictures. I am from Iowa, so was wondering what part of our state you were visiting. The house in the pic is really interesting. Glad you had a nice vacation.

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  20. Just loved all the photos Mary and thank you for posting.
    How can one look at the Black Hills without thinking of Doris Day.
    Glad you had such a good trip and how adventurous, driving till you have had enough then making a stop.

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  21. Wow, what a range of places! How did you ever know what to pack? The snowy one driving down hill almost made my stomach fall out! So glad you had a good trip!

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  22. Glad to hear you are back home and I enjoyed all of your photos.
    I take it that you did not like our winds while in our state.
    Happy birthday also.
    Hugs

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  23. Beautiful vacation pictures! Happy Belated Birthday to you :-) I sure hope you had a great one!!! How cool is that pumpkin? What a fun idea!

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  24. So Glagolitic you're back and had a great time. I loved looking at all the fantastic photos. My favorite is the one of the entrance to a tunnel which seemed very narrow. I think your comment was you hoped no one else was driving from the opposite direction LOL

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  25. Beautiful photos, I too love the one of the old car.

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  26. Wow! It looks like it was a wonderful vacation! The scenery looked beautiful in the pictures...I hope that your birthday was everything you dreamed of..

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