Sharing some of the experiences encountered moving to and living in London … and then moving to Amsterdam! And then, moving to Austin, Texas where Adventure Cow has taken over this blog!
Up the road we went again, this time to Prince Edward Island (PEI) in eastern Canada. I am not sure exactly when we got the bug to go to PEI, but once decided, we determined that this is too interesting of a place to go it alone. Who could take us around and educate us in the geology, history and culture of this island? Road Scholar came to the top of the list. https://www.roadscholar.org/ We signed up for the Best of Prince Edward Island, a seven day tour – perfect.
Adventure Cow (AC) is ready. He is hanging out in the back pack so he won’t be forgotten.
AC loved looking around Cow’s Ice Cream store in Banff; but here in Charlottetown, PEI, he is at the home of Cow’s. A Canadian ice cream chain founded in PEI in 1983. More about Cows? https://cows.ca/
Cow visited the Lt. Governor’s House in Charlottetown where he saw the garden dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada. Learn more about this historical, yet still in use house: https://www.lgpei.ca/history/government-house
Walking around Charlottetown is thirsty work. AC helps Andy locate a brewery with many tasty choices. To learn more about Gahan House click here: https://charlottetown.gahan.ca/about-us/
The next day, we all officially became Road Scholars. We had a lecture and a walking tour by a local expert: Cameron Macdonald (Cameron was as entertaining as he was informative) who then dropped us off for a private tour of The Beaconsfield House. Learn more by clicking here: https://www.peimuseum.ca/visit/beaconsfield-historic-house
Stanhope Beach. Cow thinks this is the ocean there is so much sand and water, but actually he is looking at the Gulf of St. Lawrence. To learn more about Stanhope Beach, click here: https://welcomepei.com/beaches/stanhope-beach/
Oops! AC has fallen in the flowers again. He did not hurt them.
Here AC is at Cavendish beach. This section is not a sandy beach, the edges are cliffs that all folks in the area are told to be wary of, as they may crumble into the sea as you stand on them. To learn more about Cavendish click here: https://welcomepei.com/beaches/cavendish-beach/
The island tour, of course, includes a trip to Green Gables; the house made famous by the stories of Lucy Maud Montgomery. To learn more about this site, click here: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables
The grounds of the Green Gables Heritage Place include a hike on Anne’s Lovers Lane.
And, a walk through the Haunted Woods. The fearless, Adventure Cow was not afraid. To read the stories about Anne, you might want to check out Amazon. The books remain in print after more than one hundred years. Click here: https://www.amazon.com/Anne-Green-Gables-Complete-8-Book/dp/0553609416
A representation of an indigenous peoples camp greets visitors to the Greenwich Dunes Trail in PEI National Park. AC tried to be respectful of the artifacts, but just had to try on a new set of horns. For an introduction to the First Nation people of PEI, click here: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/reserves-on-prince-edward-island
AC looks out over Bowley Pond as he begins the walk over the pond’s boardwalk toward the dunes.
Later AC joins with the other Road Scholars to climb the East Point Lighthouse. Here is gets a different view of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. To learn more about the lighthouse click here: https://eastpointlighthouse.ca/
AC also liked playing in the Lighthouse’s fog horns.
One of the great things about the Road Scholar program, was going places and hearing presentations that we just would not have found on our own. It is unlikely that we would have stopped at Basin Head Fisheries Museum, but with RS we did. The friendly tour guide was very accommodating of AC’s inspection of this 1800’s mail boat. https://www.peimuseum.ca/visit/basin-head-fisheries-museum
Another excursion was to The Robinson Family Potato Farm and warehouse. They farm 2,200 acres of crops rotated between potatoes, soy and barley. In addition to the fields, we also toured one of the warehouses. AC is standing in a section of the warehouse that will hold 1.5 million potatoes after the harvest. http://www.robinsons.pe.ca/companies/robinson/
Cow was able to participate in the Acadian Villages’ festival celebration. Acadians are French Canadians living in the south-eastern section of the island. Please click this link to visit the webpage and then watch the short video. It will give a small taste of the music we enjoyed that day. https://www.villagemusical.ca/
AC views the special lunch – it is ok, no beef here.
The Acadian dessert looks yummy; and it was, pastry filled with apples, raisins, and cranberries which we all made for ourselves with some excellent help from the friendly staff. The sauce is made from brown sugar, butter and vanilla. For recipes and more information about the Acadian people, click here: https://www.lacademie.com/acadian-foods/
The group had moved from Charlottetown to Summerside. Here the hotel was very close to a beautiful boardwalk.
AC does not understand what he sees here; is it a toy? No. Is it alive? No. It is part of a hands-on display at the International Fox Museum. Again, another place and another presentation we most likely would not have found on our own. Yet, the history of the fur trade is quite an interesting story. To learn more about the Fox Museum, click here: http://culturesummerside.ca/international-fox-museum/
In the distance is the Confederation Bridge. The longest bridge in the world over ice-covered water; it is an eight mile lifeline between PEI and New Brunswick and a marvel of the twentieth century. Click here for the Bridge’s website: https://www.confederationbridge.com/site/about
During our time on Prince Edward Island Andy and I enjoyed our adventures with AC, but somethings were not appropriate for small cows.
One afternoon we spent quite a bit of time on Lennox Island. This YouTube will give you some introduction to the Mi’Kmaq people: https://youtu.’be/6BVgUVdZaOM During our visit we were given tours and traditional foods of mussels, oysters, and bannock cooked over an open flame. While the food was prepared, volunteers gave all a tour of their museum and shared their personal, heartfelt, stories.
The bread is cooked under the coals of the fire in a cushion of extra flour which then must be removed.
Andy and I went to the Confederation Center for the Arts Museum during our free time. It has some interesting displays, this is the evolution of an artist; but no place for AC to play or pose. https://confederationcentre.com/artgallery/
It was a great eight days with great folks and excellent tours and presentations. We are very happy that we chose Road Scholar for this adventure and may choose to take another of their trips in the future. As for Adventure Cow, he loved it too. The Road Scholars were very welcoming to his brand of mischief and he was happy to make many new friends.
Like Canada, Colorado is also home to the Rocky Mountains. There are trails to explore, waterfalls to hunt, and lovely cool evenings to enjoy being outside. Unlike Canada, it is close enough to Austin to make it a road trip. Away we go.
Adventure Cow is ready.
If I’m in the car, they can’t leave without me
Our first stop: Lubbock, Texas. Home to Buddy Holly and The Crickets. Visiting the museum includes a tour of the house next door. It is Buddy’s friend’s parents house that has been preserved and relocated to this site. The people said the house is a time capsule of the early 1950’s. This is where “That will be the day” and “Peggy Sue”, in addition to many other songs, were written. Click link to go to the Buddy Holly Center. https://ci.lubbock.tx.us/departments/buddy-holly-center
Down the road from Lubbock is the Capulin Volcano National Monument. Here Adventure Cow is looking up from a pile of cinders at the bottom of the crater. Click this link to go to the Volcano’s website. https://www.nps.gov/cavo/index.htm
AC (Adventure Cow) makes it to the top of the Volcano
From here he can see for miles and miles. What he sees is the Santa Fe Trail. Click this link for more information on the Santa Fe Trail. https://www.nps.gov/safe/index.htm
Just south of Amarillo is the Panhandle-Plains Museum. Since the Dustbowl of the 1930’s did reach this far south, Linda, who is still thinking about what we saw at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa (https://woodyguthriecenter.org/), thought the museum would be about that – it is not. It covers geology, archeology and sociology of this area. We really could have spent quite a bit of time there. We never made it to the second floor. Adventure Cows are not allowed to pose with the oil derrick, the dinosaurs, the fossils, or the salvaged, restored, and recreated Pioneer Town. He did sneak into this vintage child’s car when no one was watching. https://www.panhandleplains.org/
Adventure Cow found another waterfall on the Thomas Trail.
We then went down the trail to this end’s trail head. From here, it is down Hondo Avenue back to the town center. This trail requires big steps. AC is glad to hike in a backpack. Click this link for more information on the town: https://greenmountainfalls.colorado.gov/
A few days later, we went in the car to Denver where Aj and Aaron had been spending a few days. We brought them back with us to Green Mountain Falls.
On our way back to Green Mountain Falls we got to look at the social areas Aj designed for an apartment building in Castle Rock. (The Venue at the Promenade) It is hard to take a picture of a small Adventure Cow in a large recreation area – but we tried. AC is on the double-sided fireplace separating activity areas.
More adventure! With Aj and Aaron we all went up the Cog Railway to the top of Pikes Peak. The train is slow – it takes an hour and 10 minutes to get to the top, but the view out the window is great. Click this link for more information about the Cog Railway. https://www.cograilway.com/?utm_source=google-gbp&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gbp
To celebrate Aj’s birthday, we did two days worth of hikes in The Garden of the Gods. This is very easy hiking and the views are amazing. Click this link for more information about The Garden of the Gods. https://gardenofgods.com/ FYI: We did the Geo-Trekker movie – it is not too much of an adventure.
One day we went to downtown Colorado Springs. They have lined their sidewalks with large baskets of flowers, each containing small sculptures sponsored by local artists/companies. These were great places for AC to play. Learn more about downtown Colorado Springs by clicking here: https://downtowncs.com/
Oops, Adventure Cow fell in the flowers. He did not hurt them.
One morning we all had breakfast at The Pantry. This local restaurant is over 60 years old. They let Adventure Cow, and kids, play on the truck while they wait for a table. Click this link for more information about The Pantry: http://www.thepantryingreenmtnfallsco.com/
The Pantry also has a Little Free Library. Perfect size for hiding Adventure Cows.
Adventure Cow climbed the ledge outside the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center
This was our second day at the park. AC loves looking at the stone shapes.
Adventure Cow could not do all the things that people can do in Colorado; he did not get to play at the US Olympic & Paralympic Museum (https://usopm.org/) . He had to stay in the backpack while we all went to the Turrell’s Skyspace (https://greenboxarts.org/) . Nor did he like outlet shopping in Castle Rock, or having drinks at The Tavern in Green Mountain Falls – but we did.
AC is back on the shelf for now, but his rest is not going to last long; September is travel month. Whooo! Hooo! More Adventure Cow stories to follow!
Even a longhorn from Texas knows that Austin is setting records this summer for how many days it can string together that are over 100 degrees – time to hit the road again!
Cow is ready to learn about Western Canada. He wants to see trees, rocks, and water. He wants some fresh air that is not blooming hot.
(Click picture to access a Wiki page on Western Canada)
On the first day driving from Calgary to Banff, we stopped in Canmore. A beautiful village with trees, rocks, water and cute shops, restaurants and breweries. A river runs through it. (Click picture for website link with more information about Canmore)
During a tour of Banff and the surrounding area, Andy and Cow watch the Bow river go by. (Click picture for weblink to more information about Banff)
Cow wants closer to the Bow river waterfall – he climbs the rocks.
Later, the tour went to the Banff Gondola. From there you can climb to Sanson’s Peak, where the old weather station remains on Sulphur Mountain. (Click picture for Banff Gondola website)
Cow plays in the flowers of Banff’s Cascade of Time Garden (Click the picture to learn more about Banff’s gardens)
Later, Cow joins a boat ride of Minnewanka Lake (Click the picture to learn more about the lake)
In Banff’s town center, Cow is excited to find a whole store dedicated to cows – and ice cream! (Click picture for weblink to Cow Ice Cream, Banff)
Cow officially picks up a first name while hiking to see Stanley Glacier. He is now “Adventure Cow”. (Click the picture to learn more about this hike)
The next day, Adventure Cow was ready to hunt for waterfalls. This is lower Johnston Falls. (Click this picture for more information about hikes in Banff, including Johnston Falls)
As Adventure Cow kept hiking, he found Upper Johnston Falls.
Another day, another waterfall hunt, the next hike was Lake Louise. (Click the picture for weblink to more information about Lake Louise)
To get closer to the waterfalls, Adventure Cow jumps in for his first canoe ride at Moraine Lake (Click this picture to learn more about Moraine Lake)
After the canoe ride, AC (Adventure Cow’s nickname now) climbed the rock pile next to Moraine Lake. He loves the views of trees, rocks, and water.
AC waits to enter the cabin rented in Field, Canada. (Click this picture to learn more about Field and Yoho National Park)
Up the road from the cabin, is Takakkaw Falls. The second highest waterfall in Canada. (Click the picture for more information about Yoho National Park)
Going up river from Takakkaw Falls are the Laughing Falls. AC is happy to climb the rocks at the base of the falls. We are laughing.
Today a new adventure awaits: driving up the Icefield Parkway of Canada. Every exit is another hike, lake, or waterfall. This is Peyto Lake. Yes, it is the most beautiful color of blue, or is it green? (Click the link to go to a Wiki page dedicated to Peyto)
One stop on the parkway, is Athabasca Glacier. It is a steep climb to the base (or toe) of the glacier, but worth the effort. (Click the picture to find more information about Athabasca Glacier)
AC has found another waterfall off the parkway, it is Sunwapta Falls. (Click this picture to learn more about the falls)
Another Falls awaits – The Athabasca Falls. AC is amazed at the amount of rushing water generated by the melting glacier and the remaining snow. (Click this picture for a link to a Wiki page on Athabasca Falls)
The next day Adventure Cow learns that he gets to go rafting on the Athabasca River. He is assured that the ride will not take him over the Falls.
Oh boy! This is more fun than the boat ride on Minnewanka. Yes, this water is gray. It is saturated with glacial ‘flour’ or minute particles of rocks and minerals. (Click the picture for a link to Jasper Raft Tours)
Time for a breather – a visit to the JAG helps AC recover from his busy days. (Click the picture to visit the JAG website)
From Jasper we take the Canadian train to Vancouver. Adventure Cow is surprised to find a friend on the train. “Mousey” was traveling from Toronto to Vancouver and she too was surprised to find another animal whose adventures are documented and shared. (Mousey does not have a blog, just a list of close friends) (Click the picture to go to the Canada Rail website)
AC waits in the sleeper room of the train, he is ready to be outside again.
Cow finds himself on Granville Island, within the city of Vancouver. Most of the island is shops and restaurants, but he has found a nice spot for a break from shopping. (Click the picture to go to the Island’s webpage)
Adventure Cow is happy to see that Vancouver has breweries. This one is right in Stanley Park, a large park at the tip of the Vancouver peninsula. (Click the picture to learn more about Stanley Park Brewing)
We are talking adventure now. Cow takes his first seaplane ride from Vancouver to Victoria. This is fun! (Click the picture to learn more about Harbour Air)
AC can’t believe how much fun he gets to have. The next day he goes whale watching. He does not see any whales, but others do, so that’s ok. The boat goes very fast until it finds the whales – then it stops. (Click this picture to learn more about the whale watching company, Eagle Wing Tours)
Victoria is home to Butchart Gardens. AC takes in his first view of the sunken garden. (Note it is sunken because the garden was started to disguise a limestone mine) (Click picture for link to Butchart Gardens website)
Butchart Gardens has more than just flowers – The Dragon Fountain is a gift from China in recognition of a sister-city relationship between Victoria and the City of Suzhou.
AC had his first afternoon tea at Butchart Gardens – he ate all the savories.
Cow finds flowers in the city of Victoria too. (Click this picture for access to a Wiki on Victoria, BC, Canada)
The time has come to leave Victoria, AC looks out the window while on his first ferry ride; Victoria to Seattle. (Click this picture to learn more about ferry service from Victoria)
Back in the USA! Adventure Cow takes in the Olympic Sculpture Park with a view of the Space Needle too. (Click the picture to link with Seattle Art Museum and learn more about the Sculpture Park)
Oh Boy! More rocks for AC to climb.
Adventure Cow is fearless! That’s what another visitor to the Space Needle said, anyway. AC is happy to push his nose to the glass so he can see all of Seattle below him. (Click the picture to go to the Space Needle’s website)
Below the Space Needle is the Chihuly Garden and Glass. AC want’s a better view of the art glass, but the workers at Chihuly will not let him play, not even in the plants or flowers. (Click the picture to link with Chihuly Garden and Glass website)
One more stop on this adventure – Tacoma. There are five main places to view Chihuly glass in Tacoma, his home town; The Glass Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum, The Glass Bridge, Union Station, and the Murano Hotel. (Click picture for weblink) Only the Glass Museum allowed AC a chance to join the artwork.
That is it for this adventure. AC (the fearless Adventure Cow) is back on his shelf right now, but that is not going to last for too long; Adventure Cow is always on the lookout for trees, rocks and water; planes, trains and automobiles too.
When we left Towson in 2018 we had no idea how long we would be gone or where we would come back to. We put many things in storage. As it turns out, we were gone over three years and we landed in Austin – which is not close to Towson, or Baltimore, at all. This summer the timing was right to deal with at least some of these items; back to Baltimore we went; another road trip.
These pictures show you some of the adventures Cow had while we were on this trip.
Cow is ready to go. He is waiting inside the snack bag we keep in the car – this way he is sure he will not be left at home. Plus, the bag has a cow on it.
First stop: Little Rock, Arkansas. We have been here before, so this was just an overnight stay. Cow learned that the summer theme for North Little Rock is it’s old name of Dogtown. Sculptures and art cover the streets.
Cow found more alien friends when we stopped for a cave tour at Crystal Onyx, Kentucky.
You can’t touch the walls or ceilings in the caves, but you are allowed to touch some broken stalactites and stalagmites that are edging the walkway.
One night in Baltimore Cow went with us to Union Brewing. Here he hides in the beer koozies.
Next door to Union Brewing, on part of the campus they have created out of the old Pepsi bottling plant, is the Wine Collective. We all liked this; the interior is new and shiny and the wine is good – even if it is from Maryland.
Cow did not help at all with cleaning out the storage unit but he did like meeting The Cow in Reisterstown and our old friend Leslie. We liked the root beer floats.
After the working part of the trip was over, and we had met up with as many old friends as possible in our short time, we were on our way back to Austin. We were not in a hurry. We spent four days in Brevard, NC (just south of Ashville) Cow takes in the view from the cabin’s back deck.
Transylvania county is home to over 250 waterfalls. Our goal was to see/hike to seven of them. Cow loves a good hike.
Linda takes Cow to his first waterfall in Brevard – Hooker Falls. (Hooker ran a gristmill in the late 1800’s)
Cow’s view of Hooker Falls
Andy warns Cow to not fall in the rushing water.
One waterfall, two waterfalls …
three waterfalls …fourfive waterfallssix
And, this one makes seven!
Can you find Cow? He is hiding in a hibiscus tree in downtown Brevard.
While Linda and Andy shop for lights at a Brevard store that truly has everything, Cow admires the bear family.
Brevard is home to Oskar Blues Brewing – Monday night is Jam session night. Real fiddle, guitar, banjo and bass music in North Carolina. (Funny side note: the leader asked if Cow was a recording device – no, but my phone is. 🙂
Cow is not in this picture. Andy took this picture on the campus of Brevard College; known for it’s teacher programs and being home to one of the few colonies in the US of White Squirrels.
After Brevard, we were off to Huntsville, Alabama; home to the Space Center. Cow poses with a prototype of the Lunar Landing module from 1969.
Astronaut Andy is ready to take Cow to the Moon.
Linda and Cow are ready for Mars.
From Huntsville, we were off to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Cow chose Mexican food for our first dinner.
Hot Springs is one of America’s first spa towns. It still has it’s old bath houses, although only two of them are still functioning as spas, and it has hiking trails through the forests which surround the area.
Cow wants to be healthy too.
It has a Mountain Tower with an elevator to the top – the view is for miles in all directions.
Another meal was taken at Granny’s Cafe. Granny has more toys than most kids and was happy to let Cow pose among her various collections.
We left Hot Springs, and headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma and the beautiful Tulsa Club hotel.
We particularly wanted to see the Woody Guthrie Museum in Tulsa. Very interesting and inspiring.
The Guthrie museum also had a special exhibit on Bruce Springsteen. Of course, Cow loves The Boss.
Right down the street, and funded by the same foundation as The Guthrie, is the Bob Dylan Museum. Dylan and Guthrie did meet when Dylan was just beginning his career.
Tulsa is also home to The Gathering Place. The word ‘park’ is not adequate; there are trees, flowers, paths, and water. But, also small museums, eateries and venues.
Next stop: Oklahoma City. They too have a nice city park, but it is not comparable to Tulsa’s.
Oklahoma City has the triple A Dodgers minor league team. Cow got to go to a baseball game again – Twice actually; a fun place with reasonable ticket and souvenir prices – and Friday night was Fireworks night!
Cow learned that pictures of cows can be artwork. Here he is at OKC Museum of Art.
The OKC Museum of Art introduced Cow to Chihuly Glass artwork. They have a large, permanent, exhibit at the museum because Chihuly’s wife is from Oklahoma City. This is the Persian ceiling installation
Cow says goodbye to the OKC city park. It is time to head back to Austin.
The Baltimore Road trip comes to an end with a final overnight in Dallas. The four of us went to Alamo Draft House Cinema for lunch and to see the new Thor movie. Cow had to stay in the car.
But, Cow’s adventures will continue. Cow says Austin is too hot – he wants to go to Canada where the weather is cooler – so, off to Canada we go!
We found Cow in Amarillo, Texas. We decided to take him on our road trip, the horse was too big
First stop, The Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo
Cow loved smiling for the pictures as he played in the spray-painted Cadillacs.
In Albuquerque’s Old Town he helped Linda shop for a bag to carry him in. This one had horses.
The metal work store has so many items. It was easy to hide for a little bit.
Shopping is hard work. Time to stop for a coffee and cookie.
Cow’s first hike, Sedona, AZ
Follow the cow; up the rocks.
Cow likes to hide in the bushes.Hiking is easy when you have friends
Let’s do another hike, this is fun!
We are at the top of the trail – where is Cow?
Cow is looking down, to see how far up he has come.
Cow is amazed! What is that? A hot air balloon? In Sedona? That would be perfect!
The balloon is almost ready. Soon they will let all 12 people, plus one cow, climb onboard
Wow! I am the luckiest cow in the world – I can see forever and it is beautiful.It’s another Park. Joshua Tree in Southern California
The rocks here are so different from Sedona; they are not red, and they are smooth, like granite.
Cow likes big rocks
The brochure says you can see Mexico from the top of this trail – Cow does not see Mexico
Cow’s first baseball game; he got to see the Dodgers play. They did not win but the hotdogs were good.
And then, the Cow went to the Happiest Place on Earth! Disneyland!
Cow loves this sign on Pixar Pier, Adventure is out There! Cow believes it is true – he is on quite the adventure.
Cow has to wait in line like everyone else in the new Galaxy’s Edge section. This is one view from the line for The Rise of the Resistance. All Benjamin’s recommend this ride
Cow waits his turn
After the ride he surprises Rey and Chewy; but even a Wookie cannot resist Cow
The Disneyland part of the road trip was over, time for other activities like visiting the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
Cow likes the museum – he imagines he too is on the yellow brick road
Cow enjoyed his trip to the Los Angeles Central Library.
Cow had fun at the new Broad Museum downtown too. The Murakami exhibit was so colorful.
Cow saw his first Broadway musical in Los Angeles: Hadestown at the Ahmanson.
While Aj looked at the design of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Cow played in the garden
The garden has a delft pottery mosaic fountain dedicated to Mrs. Disney (she is the one who made the initial gift of 50 million dollars to help make the project happen)
Aj also showed us the new Apple store in downtown LA in the refurbished Tower Theater (easily the most beautiful and least crowded Apple Store in California)
Cow poses for a picture on the balcony of the Apple Store
Ah, the good life in Comstock’s backyard; Fullerton, California
As Aj and Aaron head back to Dallas, our road trip continues up the coast to Paso Robles and Cambria
Andy picked the perfect AirBnB. It had a swing right by the vineyard
Look at all the beautiful fieldsCow was right at home
Cow even met real cows!
Cambria had the most interesting shops
Paso Robles had interesting wine – but, mostly red wine, which Linda does not care for
Back on the road we go. This time we land in Las Vegas. Cow’s first time on The Strip
Cow poses for Andy at the Aquarium within the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace
Cow meets fish
At night, we went to the Neon Boneyard in downtown Las Vegas. Cow learned some of the history of the hotels including the Moulin Rouge which was the first integrated casino.
Cow looks on as the crowd of young people listen to loud music and drink many adult beverages on Fremont Street.
Cow takes in the sight of Vegas Vickie at the new Circa hotel and casino on Fremont Street.
Time to continue the road trip – goodbye Las Vegas
Cow’s road trip did not intentionally cover Route 66, but parts of it were down this famous highway
One thing anyone can do on Route 66? Meet Jackson Browne while Standin on the corner …
Cow met some interesting characters in Roswell, New Mexico
This friendly fellow was waiting at the Roswell Visitor Center
As we climb back into the car to return to Austin, an official Roswell greeter bids us goodbye.
Cow’s first road trip comes to an end. He is recovering from all this excitement by laying on a shelf in our Austin kitchen. He plans on taking another road trip adventure this summer – when he does, he will let you know.
We had something of a list of places we wanted to visit while living in Europe; the usual places, London, Paris, Amsterdam; to which we added: whole countries like Spain, Portugal, Croatia. We were lucky, we got to live in two of the places on the list, both London and Amsterdam. And, Paris, dare we say: “we are good with Paris”, we have been so many times. It is truly good to be a Benjamin.
If you have read any of this blog, then you know we went a lot of places in our three years:
So, as we thought about one last trip, where would we go? Portugal, specifically a hiking holiday in the Algarve region has been on the list for a long time and the weather in November is quite nice; but we decided to let that trip go for the time being. Instead, we went to Finland. Yes, it was cold, but not terribly. (We went in November, not January) And, while Covid caboshed our planned stops in Estonia and Latvia, we were able to spend a good number of days in Helsinki and five days in Utsjoki. Utsjoki is so far north that you have to go south to visit Santa Claus’ village. But it is worth it. We stayed at Aurora Holidays. https://auroraholidays.net/about/ where we had our own cabin with wide open views of the northern skies. We saw the Northern Lights four of our five nights there – such a treat. During the day we hiked and visited reindeer and sled dogs and ate wonderful meals in the accompanying restaurant. Another trip of a lifetime to end our three-year adventure of a lifetime.
The view of the Tena river from our cabin at Aurora Holidays
Shall we begin looking at Finland, with a sunset in Helsinki?
Helsinki Library reflects their shipping historyA full service library: sewing, 3-D printing, video production; amazingAnd, books! and play areas! and coffee!Libraries in Finland are more like community centers. We saw several couples on dates there – which our tour guide said is quite common.
On to our cabin at Aurora Holidays. I woke up at 3:15 in the morning, and this is what I saw when I looked outside. We learned later that there had been exceptional solar activity reported from 3:15 – 4:15 am the night we arrived. This is the first of dozens of pictures taken.
But let me also show you the lovely restaurant and the breakfast included with our stay. (Remember, I was up most of the night, so a little tired looking)
Us under the Northern Lights, under the stars.
Just the lights and a few stars.
During the day we hiked up the hill behind us to take in the air and the view. The hut offers a warm place to stay for a bit with a fire pit in the center.
Inside the hut, the hut’s name is Steve by the way. On my left is Tiina, proprietor of Aurora Holidays.
We used Steve’s firepit to roast sausages and mulled cider.
Here we are again; the Big Dipper almost as prominent as the Northern Lights.
If you go this far north, you have to have a dog sled ride; but there was not enough snow for sleds – so it was more of a wagon ride. Still great fun and the dogs are just the best.
At the end of the sled/wagon ride, there is time to warm up with more mulled cider, cookies, and a chat with the dog musher.
Another pic of Lights at Night.
Back to the restaurant (all meals were included). This is the end of a berry nice dinner.
Meeting and feeding the reindeer during the day.
Our cabin under the Northern Lights
At the top of the world, almost; with Rayann our guide and photography expert.
One last picture of us, one last picture of the Northern Lights over the resort, our one last adventure comes to an end.
For eight days we walked our feet off, Aj and Aaron had finally come to Amsterdam. There were at least two trips worth of sightseeing, shopping, and eating to fit into the one trip that could be scheduled between Covid, weather, and work. The trip was twice delayed and once cancelled, but eventually the borders were opened and we were together again in Amsterdam.
Aj and Aaron: sunset at the Amsterdam Lookout.
With few exceptions, like the Shipping House, and De Dageraad, we went to places Andy and I have gone to before; The Rijksmuseum, The Moco, The Van Gogh, the bakery next door, the shops on the Kalverstraat, and even down to Leiden. The difference is that we could now see them through Aj and Aaron’s eyes. We have covered a lot of ground in our eighteen months, and yet much was new to us during their visit.
We began the week with a tour and high tea at The Shipping House or as it is now named, The Grand Hotel Amrath. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheepvaarthuis This began our official education in the Amsterdam School style of Architecture developed in the early twentieth century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam_School And, gave us one more chance to have a High Tea while in Europe.
The Shipping House. Glass skylights over the central stairs.
An afternoon was spent at the Rijksmuseum where we took in the current exhibit on the topic: “Remember Me”. (Selfies of the 13th – 19th century) https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/remember-me A walk through Vondelpark and it was time to find some dinner.
Forget me not, while KAWS exhibit is dismantledRyksmusuem library
Van Gogh is not the only colorful person at the Ryksmuseum
The New Church is not new to us anymore. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwe_Kerk,_Amsterdam But, it did have a new curated Amsterdam fashion exhibit; The City, Fashion, and Freedom, which was interesting to all of us. https://www.nieuwekerk.nl/tentoonstellingen/maison-amsterdam/
Amsterdam Fashion at the New Church
Aj in LeidenAndy & Aj at Naturalis Museum, LeidenCaught looking down the fortress well, LeidenAaron at Old ChurchAaron wins big at Holland CasinoLibrary at DeDageraadOutside the Museum of the Canals – Amsterdam
A quick photo on the walk home – I do not want to forget how beautiful it is here.
We knew the afternoon at the Resistance Museum would not be easy; but the history of World War II does not go away by just ignoring it. The Netherlands was neutral during WWI and most Dutch assumed they would stay neutral and avoid Hitler’s reach in the late 30’s. That did not happen. While not a large museum, it does an excellent job of detailing the ways that life changed for everyone, every day under the occupation by the Nazis. The Dutch are known for their organization and general willingness to follow the rules; Jewish families willing registered as they were told. Authorities documented where every Jewish family lived. The result; no country lost a bigger percentage of its Jewish population than the Netherlands. https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/netherlands-greatest-number-jewish-victims-western-europe/
It is haunting to think that tens of thousands of innocent victims walked the same streets we did.
I didn’t mean to stop writing; the blog just dropped a few notches on the “To Do” list, and the next thing I knew it has been almost two months.
The last posting in this blog was our hiking trip to Austria; still a top-ten thing to do in our minds. Activities, fresh air, beautiful scenery, and good food and drink. But, since that time, we have done and seen a lot more. We went to Brussels, Belgium for a weekend, to Maastricht, Netherlands for a weekend, spent a long (in many ways) weekend in Berlin, spent eight days with Aj and Aaron here in Amsterdam and Leiden (remember the Pilgrims; blog 46), and last week we wrapped up 10 fabulous days in Finland. Yes, Finland. It continues to be true: It is good to be a Benjamin!
With all that, it would just be too, too much to write about each experience, so what follows are a smattering of pictures with a few comments and links. Part 1 of 2 “catch up” postings.
We begin with Brussels:
Brussels, Belgium was home to the 1958 World’s Fair, or Expo 58. The Atomium was the symbol of a technological leap into the future.
The view from the top of the Atomium, looking down the fair’s main parkway entrance.
In Brussels, we spent 8 hours on a walking tour! We met at the city’s Market Square, beautiful by any standard or time period. We then started the tour with seven different chocolate shops – Belgian chocolate is deservedly world-famous and highly regulated to maintain the quality. Yum.
The tour, of course, included a visit to the Manneken Pis statue. What I had not known before is that one costume designer is responsible for outfits for the boy and that he may wear as many as 400 in a year. This was his second outfit for the day we were there.
After all the chocolate, it was time for beer tasting. Again, plenty of different bars/restaurants to learn all about Belgian beers – ending with the beer that has been proclaimed “The best beer in the world”. Westvleteren XII It is so good, it no longer enters the competition and is sold only by lottery which the monks run themselves.
We end the tour at the Galleries’ Royal, where we see only the Love side of a Love/Hate installation. The stop also included our final tasting – a true Belgian waffle.
A few weekends later we were off to Maastricht, Netherlands. Maastricht is a university town in the southernmost part of the Netherlands. It is in the region of Limberg; known for its cheese and for being fought over through the generations by the Belgians, French, Spanish and Germans. The food, the architecture and cobblestone streets reflect these multitudes of European cultures.
If you go far enough back in history, you find the Romans were here too. A waterportal remains from the times Roman ships docked on the Meuse river.
We stayed at the Kaboom hotel. A very convenient location, right across from Central Station. Unique in many ways; you can rent a stick insect terrarium to place in your room overnight if you want. We did not need insects; our room came with a mannequin in the large corner window, light at night for all passerby’s to see. (dark curtain on our side)
A thing to do in Maastricht is taking a tour of the caves. The caves are not true caves, they are tunnels created by hundreds of years of chalk and limestone mining. This is a picture taken in the tunnel which shows the maps of all tunnels. People have been known to get lost in here and die. Note: no cell service. It was also used as an art depository during WWII. Both sides honored the stash of art because both sides wanted the art in tact when they won the war.
In more recent times, early 1900’s, Maastricht developed into a European pottery making center. The huge Sphinx complex housed all phases of pottery making – dishes to the kitchen sink. This is the gate workers walked through as they entered the complex. It is now home to shops, theaters, hotel, and student housing.
We went into what we thought was one home furnishing store; candles, afghans, that kind of thing – it turns out it was an IKEA sized group of linked stores offering all manner of things for the home. We were trapped with no way out – still, a very cool space, that used to be the mold-making rooms.
There are very few Jews in Maastricht. Yet, there is a beautiful synagogue built in 1840 with funds supplied by the city.
We realized walking across the river to our hotel, that we never see a wide-screen sunset in Amsterdam; we are too close to the buildings here in city-center. That made this sunset in Maastricht extra special to us. This is not photo-enhanced. The sky was that orange.
We end part 1 of 2 with Berlin, Germany
When I realized it was only 6 hours by train from Amsterdam to Berlin, we had to go. I wanted to see the Brandenburg Gate. The Gate does not disappoint, and I guess as a tourist, I cannot complain that there were too many tourists there. And, look at that clear, blue sky!
Almost by accident, we also went by Checkpoint Charley. Andy was instructed to stand behind the sandbags for the requisite tourist picture. We both laughed as we crossed the street; not only were we leaving the previously cordoned off American Sector, we were also leaving the KFC!
We spent some of our time waiting in a “day of” ticket line to see the Reichstag that night. (If you did not order tickets months ahead online, this is the only option to go inside) 96 tickets are available each day at 1:00 pm at this booth across the street. However, if there are a lot of people in line, and there are always a lot of people in line, the tickets actually go on sale about noon. They are easily sold out by 1:00 pm. We were among the 96.
It is difficult to take a good picture from within the dome. The glass top opens directly over the Plenum meeting space so that all government laws will now be made in the open for all to see. The history is beyond difficult and while it is a light-filled space, even at night, it remains an oppressive sight.
We spent quite a bit of time at the Jewish Museum and wandering the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe. Both remind us; do not become comfortable, do not forget. More time was spent at the Topography of Terror Museum. It is built on the remains of the SS and Gestapo headquarters. The lower wall you see on the right is the remains of the interrogation cells. The goal of the museum is to explain how systematically the Nazi’s took over every aspect of daily life – it truly did terrorize me.
Close up from the Topography of Terror – Brandenburg Gate right after the war’s end.
In 1866 a Jewish congregation built a new synagogue. Reflecting the Moorish style in vogue at the time, it was beautiful inside and out with tile, metal, and wood works. It was among the first buildings destroyed during Kristallnacht, November 9 – 10, 1938. The building façade has been restored to its former glory, but much of the inside is actually now outside as the restoration shows only the outline of the previous building and what remained of the entry.
Guards were aligned at the Gate for a protest. Perfectly aligned, as Andy captured a Heart of Berlin.
This is the end of part 1 of 2. Coming up next, 8 days in the Netherlands with Aj and Aaron.
But, it was not the movie that drew us to the area, it was the availability of a hiking holiday outside of Salzburg in the lake district of Austria; the Salzkammergut. https://www.salzkammergut.at/en/hiking-trails-in-the-salzkammergut.html A perfect Covid friendly vacation; Covid protocols, small hotels, and most activities outdoors. Time to pack those hiking poles!
Especially right now, few folks are able to quickly plan a trip to Austria, but if you could, or when you can, we would recommend it. What follows below are a few of our highlights from the 10 day trip. A few of our favorite things, if I may. And, while I don’t usually mention the places we stay or companies we use; this was our second hiking holiday put together by Inntravel out of the UK- we do recommend them.
We begin our holiday in Vienna with the best possible of omens; a rainbow over the river Danube. Do you see the shadow on the upper left? It’s actually a double rainbow; we are double lucky.
The following day we arrive in St. Agatha – this is what we see out our bedroom window
First morning in St. Agatha – Andy is ready to go!
First morning in St. Agatha – Linda is ready to go too! Sporting the latest in stylish rain gear.
Day 1 starts easy; follow the asphalt path toward the hills
Up the hill we go. On the way to Rathluckenhutte for lunch
Here is a sign for the hutte now. We are on the right path.
Time for a break as we go up the hill. Do you see the muddy pants? Yes, I did go the wrong way on a muddy hill – but just for a bit.
Andy is ready to keep climbing. Up we go.
We make it to the hutte. A cold beer, sausage, and potatoes; yum, German food. Oh, and cash only – very much in the Austrian tradition, no credit cards taken.
Andy surveys the Eternal Wall – a mountain of stone with two tunnels carved out for hiker access.
Looking back now at the Eternal Wall as we head for the inn and our pre-planned dinner.
A good walk, a rest, a shower, a clean set of clothes; plus wine and beer. Life is good.
We left St. Agatha the next morning. Time to hike over to Hallstatt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallstatt Hallstatt has a history of salt mining going back to the Iron Age, or about 800 BC. The area was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. It has been called the most Instagramable town in the world.
We walk past the town limit sign of St. Agatha on our way to Hallstatt
Andy checks the directions again: go around the closed gate, following the path around Lake Hallstatt
It is a lovely walk. Mostly flat with views of the water and hills.
Are we there yet? Can we see Hallstatt in the distance?
Yes, there it is! We take a boat across the lake and land in Hallstatt. Yes, this is Instagram worthy.
As we check into our Hallstatt inn, we see that our room looks out over the Market Square with a view of the mountain and a waterfall. Easiest waterfall hunting ever!
Our first day of hiking from Hallstatt begins with taking the cable car at the edge of town. Up we go.
The cable car ends fairly close to a restaurant and the World’s oldest salt mine. We were ready to learn the story of Hallstatt’s salt.
First, you have to get suited up to go in the mine
Then you join the whole group and march right into the mine to begin the tour.
A salt mine is a difficult place to take a good picture – but, it was something to see – we learned a lot about salt. And, as we say about many places we go in Europe: ”You could never do this in the US; trip hazards, rough surfaces, uneven stairs, and poor lighting.”
After the salt mine and a bite of lunch, we are back on the trail to town. This route takes us past glacier fields and a waterfall.
Andy is coming back up the side trail after taking pictures of the Glacier Field
Here is one of his close-up pictures from the Glacier Field
From there it was off to the waterfall and back down the mountain into town.
The next day begins with a short trip to Obertraun and another cable car ride.
We are at the top of Krippenstein and walked over to the Five Fingers lookout. Hello clouds!
Andy takes in the view from the end of the middle finger.
This is what he sees.
As we walk along the ridge, the clouds lift and it is amazing.
The landscape on the back side of the mountain is completely different. Moonscape almost
“Candygram” For some reason, which we do not know, there is a land shark on our path.
There was some confusion regarding how exactly we were supposed to come down from Krippenstein, but we did figure it out, had a great day’s walk, and made it back to Hallstatt before the sun went down.
Yes, take care of what you love.
Our last morning in Hallstatt. The sun has come out and it is time for breakfast on the lakeside terrace.
A very easy start to the day; we take a taxi to the next town of Gosau. The driver drops us off at the head of lake Gosau for a day hike around the lake and up the hill to a hutte for lunch.
They said there would be waterfalls on this trail; there’s one now.
And another
We have climbed up from Lake Gosau to Hinterer Gosau – do you see the hutte across the lake? That’s our lunch and turn around spot.
A lovely day in a beautiful place.
The next day brings another cable car ride and more beautiful views await us.
The next two days have great weather. The rain from the past 5 days is over and temperatures are in the low 70’s. But, this weather conspired to challenge our last two hikes. Day 6 the trail is ruined by mud, and while the helpful folks at a hutte help us get on track -the cows came – to use the same trail. You can’t argue with a herd of cows.
There seems to be only one good way down this mountain – a ski slope that has been recently mowed.
Here we go! Just like skiing, we had to traverse side-to-side all the way down. Good thing we had our poles.
Our last hiking day begins with a riverside walk through town (Gosau) before we begin a climb around the three churches and into the woods on the hill.
It is just above the last church, the pink church, that we encounter a closed gate with this sign. No need checking our directions on this one – we are not going through the gate.
We decide to go up a small path to see if we can link up with the original trail on the other side of the target practice. It is there that we see this sign: Roughly translating to: Detour Herenweg trail Landslide. Uh oh. We try another trail.
The new trail dead ends so we turn around, walk back to town, take the bus back to the cable car and go back up the mountain.
We spend our last hiking afternoon walking around the top of the Dachstein mountain taking in views in all directions.
And while we did not stop for a drink here at one of the three main huttes, you have to admit this is one nice view to go with your coffee or beer.
We return to the inn as tired hikers one last time. The next morning we are off to Salzburg.
Mirabell Gardens with the city fortress in the background. We spent most of our time here going through the gardens, visiting the fortress, and then out to Hellbrun Palace and a visit to the Trick Fountains.
When you enter the Tricky Fountains area, they take your picture – we thought not too bad. 🙂 This picture has been linked to a ten minute video about Salzburg. You can fast-forward to 6:30 on the timeline to learn more about the fountains specifically. Yes, most visitors do get wet!
With this, our ten days were over. Time to head back to Amsterdam.
But I still have Do Ri Mi from The Sound of Music stuck in my head, and I found no place in this posting to use it – so I am ending this posting with it anyway. This is a video of a flash mob performing to the song at the beautiful Antwerp train station. I dare you not to at least smile if you watch it. Happy trails!
In 2008 the movie In Bruges was released. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Bruges It is a very dark comedy about criminals and the crimes they commit. At the time I was indifferent to this film; the jokes were too British, the violence too real. Fast forward 10 years and we were living in London; we were now four hours away from Bruges, we watched the film again.
Such a dark film; it is actually black. It was however, filmed almost entirely on location in Bruges, Belgium. The best part of the movie was the city. We put it on the list; the ‘maybe we should go there while we are living in Europe’ list. We were not enthusiastic about visiting. Some online reviewers said there is not much to do there, that there is no night-life. But, we wanted to do a test run of going to Belgium on the train and we only wanted to use a weekend; so [boring] Bruges it was. We are not looking for night-life anyway.
Visitors to Bruges can focus their time by museums, churches, gardens, shopping, architecture, https://www.visitbruges.be/visit or even major sites from the movie. https://www.discoveringbelgium.com/bruges-walking-tour/ We organized our time by food and drink. We would use some time to scout out inviting restaurants; those with outdoor seating, umbrellas, and, of course, patio string lights. We set aside times by making reservations for a chocolate museum https://choco-story-brugge.be/nl/ and a brewery tour. https://www.halvemaan.be/nl/brouwerijbezoek And we would use some time to climb the Brugge Belfry. https://www.visitbruges.be/en/belfort-belfry It is our sightseeing tradition to see if there is a tall structure in a town, and then climb it. As we made our way to our pre-selected points we visited churches, walked through gardens, did a little shopping, admired the architecture of countless buildings, and even hit a few sites from the movie – including all 366 steps of the Belfry.
We walked through multiple parks; these are Koning Albert park and Astrid park (film loc 16)
De Halve Maan Brewery (The Half Moon)
We are inside the Brewery courtyard, but which way to start the tour?
Quite the tour; many steps, many steep stairs and even stairs that could well be ladders
But the tour and the view from the top were well worth it!
By the time folks have finished the tour and tasted all the beer; a good time is had by all
The Choco museum was not as much fun as the brewery tour – but they did give us chocolate – so there’s that
As Andy’s pictures show, the architecture is facinating. Many buildings are similar to the Dutch (Belgium was part of the Netherlands at one time), but also beautiful in their own right.
Andy’s favorite building picture from Bruges
And, so many arches and gateways too
Not just the buildings; the buildings plus the water is something to see too
Sunday morning we were at Market Square (film loc #6) to see the horses getting ready to pull their carriages filled with tourists around the town
On the other side of the Square, it was time for us to make our climb to the top of the Belfry (film location #7) (Another picture taken by Andy)
As we start the climb, the view of Market Square is still quite clear
From the top, the individual details of the Square are no longer visable
This view made me think that I could see from the past below to the future in the distance
In the other direction, we could see forever
Unlike the movie though; you can see that we were never in any danger of falling out of the building.
Back down the steps, for a view of the Belfry from the inner courtyard
By taking a look down an alley …
we discover the cutest cafe; and a true Belgian waffle – yum!
Soon it is time to take the train back to Amsterdam. We changed trains in Antwerpen; a treasure of a station from the early 1900″s. Modernization was accomplished by going down three more levels, allowing the original building to remain intact. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antwerpen-Centraal_railway_station
We loved Bruges! It is easily walkable, has tons of character, great waterways; and it’s known for chocolate, beer, waffles, frites (‘French fries’), lace and tapestries. All wrapped up in some beautifully picturesque locations that are all movie worthy, whether they were In Bruges, or not.
And then we were back to Amsterdam. Sunset on the Brouwersgracht
