New York Traveler

Hammondsport, NY -- America's Coolest Small Town?

2012-01-27T17:46:00.004-05:00

We shall know soon enough. The beautiful little village of Hammondsport, NY, is in the race for America's Coolest Town, contending with other towns such as Damascus, VA, Jerome, AZ, Nashville, IN, and even Cape May, NJ.

:O Seriously, NEW JERSEY?! Cape May?! We can do better than that. If Cape May comes in before Hammondsport, I will be so ashamed as a New Yorker. ;) I am from the Finger Lakes area so of course I'm rooting for my roots. :)

Go vote for Hammondsport. Not only does the winner get loads of national kudos, the region will get a big economic boost from the honor.

Last I checked, Hammondsport was neck and neck with Beaufort in North Carolina. Go VOTE for Hammondsport! It doesn't cost you a dime and you don't have to submit your email or anything. Go to the Budget Travel America's Coolest Small Towns 2012 and vote.

Good luck, Hammondsport!

Visit Whistler This Winter

2012-01-27T17:19:00.002-05:00

Despite a few new inches of snow in Upstate New York, we still have a "snow drought" and skiing is a little tough on some areas. The larger skiing businesses make their own snow, but I know that some prefer the "real" stuff.

So if you have been absolutely starved of snow and need a ski break, check out Whistler ski holidays. You can get some great prices on
discount whistler lift tickets all around the world! Hotspots include Japan, France, Switzerland, Canada and right here in the good old U.S.A.

One of the skiing highlights for North Americans is Canada's Whistler Mountain, rising to 5,020 feet and making it the second highest vertical rise on the continent. There are plenty of slopes for beginner, intermediate and advanced skiers and snowboarders. You can even make a full-fledged holiday of it. Spring Break is right around the corner, so book your Whistler ski accommodation now!

The website has some great information on Whistler (and other skiing paradises). Watch videos, read reviews, check out events, get information on discounts and even on childcare! The site has a very nice trail map and a good listing of places to stay and things to do. Very cool!

Nothing To Do

2012-01-24T19:20:00.000-05:00

"There's nothing to do." "I'm bored." Oh, how I remember constantly saying those things as a kid. Of course, I'm shocked-- SHOCKED -- to hear these same words coming from the lips of my own little darlings. Bored?! With all the TVs, DVDs, iPods, doodads, and thingamabobs?! When I was a kid...

Talk about payback, ooo! >.<

Well, if you live in Upstate New York, where children seem to moan the loudest about "being bored" (so it seems), check out this neat resource I found! It's a concise map and listing of things to do in Upstate communities. It's not 100% comprehensive-- I've yet to find anything that is 100% comprehensive. (I hope to make it myself, someday). But this is pretty good. It includes things to do during the long winters as well as the summer. The Year-Round Fun in the Neighborhood is a PDF file and is made by the New York Power Authority. It's a good one to bookmark for ALL those "boring" days.

HGTV House Hunters: Guest Post

2012-01-24T19:05:00.000-05:00

HGTV House Hunters

This guest post from Mickey Garza

I have decided to dedicate an entire post to House Hunters. I like to watch this show because I am a complete house junkie and I love to look inside houses. House Hunters comes on HGTV on expertsatellite.com. If you haven’t seen it here is how it works. A person or more usually a couple is out searching for a home to buy. They are with a realtor who takes them to three houses and they always end up buying one of these houses. The couple will give the agent a list of things they want in a house. Usually this list is highly ridiculous for their budget but the agent being the good real estate sales person that they are never lets on that their list is laughable. The show follows the people walking through house number one and the couple will point out completely obvious things for the camera’s sake. Here is an example of the dialog that happens: Agent: here we have the living room which flows in to the open plan kitchen. House Buyer: I like the open plan kitchen. I don’t like color of the walls. Agent: Well the wall color can always be changed. Let’s look at the bones of the house. House Buyer: Yeah but painting is a lot of work! I’m not sure we have enough time to paint this room. Let’s take a time out here. This is why I think this show is so entertaining. First of all the House Buyer always makes a big deal about the wall color. As if it is a permanent choice that they will never be able to cover with a couple of cans of latex from the local home improvement store. If you are old enough to purchase a home then you should be old enough to know that paint color is not a house buying deal breaker.

A Beautiful Time Lapse Travel Video

2012-01-21T17:43:00.002-05:00

What a beautiful video! It's a time lapse video of a young man who quit his job and bought a one-way ticket to London. OHHHH how I long to do something so adventurous! The video is truly spectacular. I have embedded it here for you. It's best seen enlarged in full screen mode.

Time is Nothing // Around The World Time Lapse from Kien Lam on Vimeo.

Wouldn't such a trip make wonderful boyfriend valentines day gifts? I would LOVE for my husband and I to just pack one bag and go exploring. It's something I've always wanted to do. For now, I travel vicariously through such videos.

I will HAVE to do something similar for our travels in New York State. I got a nice camcorder (finally) and we will be using it for our trips more often. I think I will compile a time lapse video sometime.

Find the Wise Men

2012-01-09T20:08:00.002-05:00

We took a trip to Little Falls, NY, during the New Year's holidays (more on that, later). We discovered a lovely collection of antique stores in the old Stone Mill in town. The kids had a blast looking at tools and housewares from a century ago.

In one store, there was this cute display of three wise men. The kids wanted me to snap a photo of them.

So, can you find the wise ones in this photo? LOL.

Change of Email + Forgetfulness = Lapse in Service

2012-01-09T17:02:00.003-05:00

I logged into my Flick photo sharing account this morning and my heart sank to my feet. I saw only 6 of my 159 sets in my account. OH NO. I have been a Flickr customer for 5 years now, and my account is stuffed with almost 6,000 photos! You can see my huge, huge assembly of photos at my Flickr Mrs Mecomber account, if you like. I get a lot of traffic on my blogs from people searching for the photos, so not only are the photos important documentation, they also drive traffic to my websites. Some of the photos are pretty neat. I have everything from Upstate New York mummies to ancient Eskimo snowboarding goggles to famous art museums to the new World Trade Center construction.

So imagine my panicky dismay when I see only a tiny fraction of my stuff!

After my heart slowed down, I realized that I forgot to renew my Flickr "pro" account. OH NO! Why didn't they send me an email?!

I then realize that they HAD sent me one, but it was to my old email address. I recently changed my IP and therefore my old email is no longer in service. I thought I had changed all email addresses for all my Internet accounts (dozens and dozens of different accounts!) but Flickr must have slipped through the cracks. Unfortunately, the photos had been down for 4 days. :( As soon as I resubscribed to the PRO account, all my photos came back.

ARG!!!

Lesson learned. Either never change my IP company again, or use webmail and not my IP email for accounts! Sheesh!

2012: Pressing Forward

2011-12-30T09:24:00.002-05:00

I've never been much for New Year's resolutions. I like to make new ones all throughout the year. :) Some I keep and some I don't, but I can't make them all on one day and expect to remember them all throughout the year, LOL!!!

But I saw a video on Facebook titled "How to Make 2012 an Awesome Year" and it made me curious. It's a rather long video, but I snuggled with the cat and we watched it together.

I think Mr. Brown's message was what I needed to hear today. I've been feeling a little low about my career, my jobs. I can turn this situation around for good, if I've got the right attitude. I know I can certainly draw nearer to God more. As a busy working mom, my time has been precious and I don't dedicate enough time to Bible reading and prayer. I am concerned about the bills and the debt on the house projects, but I cast those cares upon God since He cares for me (that's from 1 Peter 5:7). I do my best and He'll take care of the rest (that's from an old Keith Green song, "He'll Take Care of the Rest." lol)

ANYWAY, I have made a New Year's resolution-- just one. From this resolution springs all other resolutions-- draw nearer to God and TRUST HIM for His help. It's a marvelous thing to have peace in your mind and in your heart. A great thing. Money cannot buy such a thing.

How is your New Year looking? Have you made any resolutions yet?

Sometimes Writing Sucks

2011-12-29T15:46:00.002-05:00

I'm a "freelance" writer, which means that even though I work for a few writing companies, I maintain a "self-contract" that allows me to choose my own writing assignments from a pre-made list and make a little money. Translated: the companies absolve all responsibility for my employment, but I must write within their confines... and pay a ton in Schedule C taxes. :-p

(Just so you know, my gripe is not with the blogging companies I do business with. Those guys rock).

So sometimes freelance writing really, really sucks. An I don't mean inground pool pump sucks, I mean STINKS.

Yeah, I'm a bit of a disgruntled employee-who's-a-non-employee right now. Even though I, as a "freelancer" am "allowed" to choose my own assignments, I can only choose what assignments are offered to me. Or, as in this past year with a certain company, NOT offered to me.

Online content is suffering these days. Everyone is blaming Google. Since I dislike Google, I blame Google, too. It is true that they want to rule the Internet roost and bash any hint of competition with their algorithmic mace. Some companies are buckling up and making attempts to change their strategy. Others are simply whimpering back into the corner, making harsher demands on their non-employees while rearranging the deck chairs on the sinking ship.

I cant say much more because I'm not allowed to give away "company secrets" ....even though I am technically not a part of the company....

So I'm applying to various other companies in the hopes that the Google will not follow me into that direction, too, and destroy another career so I can feed the family. *gripe gripe* I can't work out of the home, I'm physically limited. My only option is to keep plugging away on the Internet. I don't know if my writing career will persist. I'd hate to see it go but it sure is expensive being a non-employee paying such high income taxes. One guy, a former writer, recommended that writers ditch writing for these companies because after you finally get the measly pay and then shell out 17% to 30% of it to the IRS, you're basically a slave to both systems, the company and the IRS. It's better to get a job in the "real world" working minimum wage and yet making more money because you get to keep more of your income. Problem is, I don't have any choices for the "real world." And doesn't anyone find it hideously unjust that the IRS taxes self-employed people so heavily?

Yes, yes, I'm venting. I suppose I could always maintain a happy, shiny blog where nothing ever goes wrong in my life and where I am never discouraged or grouchy....

I can't deny the lousy situation I'm in right now. I can hope in God and expect Him to provide me a new way. He's never let me down. I did love writing, though-- in the beginning it was fun and fulfilling and lucrative. I admit that I dislike change so that's part of my gripe. I'll survive, with His help! It's getting through this dark valley that has me feeling a little low.

On the bright side, I've submitted my resume to several online tech magazines. I hope something comes through, even though I'll need to brush up on my tech skills again. Who knows, 2012 may be the best year yet! I'm definitely praying for that!

You've Got Connections

2011-12-28T12:57:00.003-05:00

This holiday, I have officially watched too many movies with actors speaking in British or Scottish accents. So far it's been The Water Horse, British History with Simon Schama, Downton Abbey, Lawrence of Arabia, and the final straw was How to Train Your Dragon, last night. I was talking with my son last night and I noticed a slight Scottish rogue to some of my words. :| Not that there is anything wrong with a Scottish rogue but I AM AN AMERICAN in America.

Still, I won't *always* be in America, so perhaps I'd better brush up on my accents, eh? After seeing the spectacular UK scenery, especially in The Water Horse, I am more determined that ever to visit my beloved British Isles someday. It must be soon, before I lose all my courage wresting past the TSA airport intrusion.

I have even daydreamed about where I will stay. A nice little cottage by a loch or a comfortable studio pad by Kensington Gardens. *sigh* I have NO IDEA how I'd find such places, though. Well, until now! I recently came across a family from London who routinely survey various European cities for safe, clean, affordable apartments and bed and breakfast establishments. Robert and Polly Arnold and their three children are from London. They run a small family business connecting travelers with accommodations and more. The Arnolds maintain an excellent site of London Apartments as well as worldwide accommodations that they have PERSONALLY looked into themselves. Wow! It's something like what I do on my other travel blog, but on a much larger scale.

Robert and Polly have lived in London all their lives, so they know that city like the back of their hand. With the 2012 Olympics coming to London, the Arnolds are preparing to help travelers locate the best London Apartments available. The website is indeed very nice- the Arnolds have innumerable listings that include photos, details, maps, and more. And of course, the Arnolds lend their knowledge of London to their visitors, recommending various venues and other helpful information.

This is an amazing service that Robert and Polly offer, I think. It's especially helpful for someone like me, who has no idea where to begin when planning a visit to a foreign city! I think I shall definitely look up Robert and Polly when my moment comes.

Snow At Last in Central New York

2011-12-28T12:37:00.003-05:00

I was really starting to wonder if we'd EVER see snow this season. Our weather has been absolutely crazy, just crazy. Multiple floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, and now a winter with mild temperatures and no snow?! Weird things have been happening here in Upstate New York.

You know it's bad when even the most die-hard snow haters are hoping for a few flakes.

Well, looks like we don't have to crack open the boxes of summer clothing and re-install the removable pool fence -- we finally got snow!!!

A paltry amount, I know. But hey- beggars can't be choosers!

It's blowing like mad, so the wind hasn't forgotten about winter. It's only 25 degrees, though, not very cold by my NYS standards. And even though tiny little flakes are still falling, I think this is all the accumulation we'll see. Wow, what does this make for us now-- 1 inch for the whole season so far?

How has your weather been? Unusual? 2011 was a year of the craziest weather I can remember. Here's hoping 2012 gets better.

Seeing Green This Season

2011-12-21T10:38:00.002-05:00

In my four decades living in Upstate New York, I cannot recall a time when we've had such an extended, green winter season. This must be some kind of record or something. All in all, we've had a whopping 1/2-inch of snow, and it melted the next day! When the local weathermen excitedly roll out their "historical records" and chatter endlessly about "computer models" and snow forecasts that always seem to fade away, you know it's a remarkable year.

Personally, I like snow (I don't have to shovel it!) but I am pretty happy without snow this year. I am enjoying the summer-like ease of simply hopping into the car without scraping ice, and simply driving off onto clear, non-slippery roads.

Others are a little less enthusiastic. Upstate New York tourism relies heavily on snow, as the state is filled with winter activities (when there is snow). Some of the wealthier ski resorts in the Adirondacks are making "fake" snow for their skiers. Word is, it's just not the same.

Maybe some of skiing aficinados would be interested to know that snow and skiing abounds in the Upper Valais mountains of Switzerland. The scenery is STUNNING and nothing beats the hospitality and comforts of the Oberwallis ski chalets. We have often dreamed of traveling to Switzerland someday. Just the thought of cozying up before a fireplace in a lodge, the fire crackling and the large, dewy snowflakes trickling from the skies outdoors makes me want to book my flight right now.

Featured on Lonely Planet and WikiTravel, the Oberwallis ski resorts are are some of the most popular winter destinations. They feature the "self-catered" ski chalet as well as the opportunity to race up and down the glorious Valais mountains.

There is more to do than ski, as well. Take the rails (train is a wonderful way to travel) to the numerous villages that pepper the foothills, filled with shops and true Swiss culture. The food, I hear, is amazing. If you are an adventurous type, try snowboarding. There's just a lot to do and it's all incredibly affordable. No fake snow here!

For more information, check out the Upper Valais guide. What a Christmas gift this trip would be!

Beautiful Adirondack Time Lapse Video

2011-12-13T13:07:00.003-05:00

Found this on Facebook. Very nicely done and the scenery is so, so beautiful!

ADK time lapse project - FALL from rooftopmedia on Vimeo.

I recognized some of those places. :) I actually tried to get some good videos of our trip but there is no video stabilizer in my iPhone, so the video bobs up and down like yo yo s. :( I just can't seem to muster the courage to buy a new, HD camcorder yet. Man, those things are expensive! I need to work more on my photography and video skills, anyway. I've gotten better but I still need to figure what all those buttons on the DSLR mean....

We were up to the ADKs a few times this past summer and autumn and it is a glorious place to visit!!! We met so many wonderful and friendly people. Summers are the busiest time in the Adirondacks, when people escape the heat of the cities and revel in Upstate's cool forest breezes. Once the height of the black fly and tick is over, it's very pleasant in the ADKs. Of course, there are nurses everywhere during the "bug season," as Lyme Disease is a serious threat to New Yorkers and their critters. During the late autumn, things slow down seriously. When we visited in the autumn, there was practically NOTHING open-- I don't know how people buy their groceries or get health care up there. Do they all trek 3 hours to the big cities or do they rely on traveling nurses or something?! It was impossible for us to find groceries when we stayed...

Anyway, I can at least enjoy others' videos. Now you know why I gush on and on about the Adirondacks all the time!

Read About Our Howe Caverns Trip

2011-12-02T16:49:00.002-05:00

It took me FOREVER to get through the scads and scads of photos (and my son *just* informed me that he took scads of photos on his camera... sighhh), but I finally wrote about our amazing adventure to Howe Caverns! Go to NewYorkTraveler.net and take a peek.

Now, I've been there three times, so I guess I am experienced at it. But this was the first time for my kids AND my husband. Can you believe it?! He is almost 50 years old and he has never been! I'm glad we solved that problem... It was really a great experience, seeing the caverns through their eyes.

We are ever so slowly seeing every tourist destination in New York State. Oh my, we have many more years to go yet, but lately we've traveled all over. The kids are so knowledgeable about the state-- it's history and geology and geography. It's been such an adventure. While at the caverns, taking their photos, I realized how old they've become. It seems that only a few months ago they were just little kids, running around the swings and parks. Good heavens, look at them now. What happened?! How did time pass so quickly?

I suppose this is the dilemma of the ages, watching your children grow up. I hope we never lose that fascination and excitement when we travel. I sometimes still feel like a little kid when I am embarking on a new adventure. Once we're done with New York, who knows- maybe we'll hit the hawaii vacation rentals and I can use my super handy airbnb app to traverse the world!!!

I couldn't do it without my kids, though. :)

Free Museum Admission this Weekend

2011-11-30T19:47:00.002-05:00

Bank of America is hosting another weekend "Museums on Us" promotion. Cardholders of Bank of America or Merrill Lynch can get free admission to select New York City museums. The list is impressive:

Bronx Zoo
El Museo del Barrio
International Center of Photography
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of the City of New York
New York Aquarium
New York Hall of Science
Staten Island Children’s Museum

And those are only a few museums on the list! The participating museums also include over 150 leading U.S. cultural institutions in 87 cities across the country. This promotion runs this weekend, Saturday, December 3, 2011 and Sunday, December 4, 2011.

If you want to know more about the promotion, check out the website http://museums.bankofamerica.com.

Howe Caverns Sneak Peek

2011-11-30T10:36:00.005-05:00

I have yet to write in detail on my main travel blog about our recent trip to Howe Caverns, but can't resist posting a few things here! We traveled out to the Cobleskill area, in Schoharie County. It brought back such memories! I lived in neighboring Otsego County for a few years, right near the Schoharie County border. How I remember those drives through the country, down Route 10 and 145!

Howe Caverns is technically in Howes Cave, NY, up the hill from the town of Cobleskill. Schoharie County is delightfully rural, a welcome change from the Central New York counties of Oneida and Onondaga, where rural communities all seem to revolve around the major cities. Not so with Schoharie. Here, things are much more relaxed and friendly. Don't expect to find any swanky nightclubs or glittery amusement theme parks here. The delights are much more subdued-- UNDERGROUND, for example!

I am of the opinion that every New Yorker should see Howe Caverns. Of course, every American should too, but especially every New Yorker. This is a beautiful natural resource and worth supporting and maintaining. As far as I know, the site is supported mainly by income from visitors. And from the gift shop where we know WE supported them for quite a few months. :S Here are a few photos I took:

I don't want to spoil the fun and showcase too much yet. ;) More to come! I HIGHLY recommend Howe Caverns. I think it's a trip on par (or perhaps exceeding) that of Niagara Falls. Admission is a little steep for a large family, but hey-- think of one ticket as equaling the cost of a cool t-shirt or something. A trip through Howe Caverns is inexpensive when you think of it that way. Go do yourself a favor-- SEE THE CAVES!

Eleanor of Aquitaine and The Cloisters

2011-11-18T15:24:00.003-05:00

The instant I discovered The Cloisters, I wanted to visit. Now, I want to visit even more passionately.

The Cloisters is a medieval museum in upper Manhattan. It is maintained by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a young student in NYC, I was a frequent visitor to the Met. But I hadn't known about The Cloisters until this summer, when I was researching medieval history. The place looks amazing! It's a reconstructed French abbey and holds manuscripts, artifacts and works of art from the 13th century and earlier. I read that it is the premier medieval museum in the entire North American continent.

*jaw drops to floor*

And it is only 300 miles from my home!!!

I've been content to wait until the moment is right for me to take a trip to NYC. I love visiting the city. It's filled with SO much history and so many museums. I plan to take my daughter there to see the Alexander Hamilton National Memorial, which opened just a few months ago. Would you believe that The Cloisters is a short walk away?! *pant pant* But STILL, I wait. I can wait.

Oh dear, I don't think I can wait anymore. I've been reading a biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine (she's a distant relative, lol) and the book says that The Cloisters holds the only bust ever made of her. OMG It's in NEW YORK?! Here?! That's the next best thing to visiting Fontrevault!

So now I am determined. I'll write a billion articles about medical computers and insurance, just get me on the train!!!!

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Going to Howe Caverns!

2011-11-18T15:15:00.003-05:00

I've been promising the kids FOR YEARS. We're finally going to Howe Caverns! I have been twice before (last time was over 20 years ago!) but the kids and husband have never been. Can you imagine?! Howe Caverns is one of the largest cavern systems in the United States -- a mere hour drive from home -- and they have never been. Well, I aim to fix that very soon. :)

I do wonder how much the place has changed. They used to have a boat that you cross to get to the other side of the underground lake. I don't know if that still exists... and they have some new attractions, too. I can't remember if there's a Remote Control Cars arena or a water park? It will be very interesting to see how much has changed.

I hope the lighting is a bit better, as well. I would like to snap a few photos but if the place is poorly lit, that ends that.

I can't wait!

Free Admission to Syracuse Zoo for Veterans and Military Members

2011-11-09T11:49:00.003-05:00

This is a wonderful opportunity for our service men and women to see the Syracuse Zoo for free!

WHAT: The Rosamond Gifford Zoo will host its annual Veterans Day Celebration and offer free admission to all active and retired military and their families. Organization ID cards or military discharge documents may be presented as proof of service. Active duty personnel may also wear their uniforms for complimentary Veterans Day access to the zoo.

WHERE: Rosamond Gifford Zoo
1 Conservation Place
Syracuse, NY 13204

WHEN: Friday, November 11 & Saturday, November 12

I have seen a few businesses offering discounts and other such special opportunities for the military members this Veteran's Day. It's great!

If You Like History...

2011-11-05T19:07:00.003-04:00

I know many of you dear readers appreciate history as much as I do. :) I don't know if you follow my other blog, but just in case you don't, I have written a smattering of history posts lately that you may like to read in your spare time.

Burr, Hamilton, Chase Bank and the Wooden Water Pipes

Federal Hall: John Peter Zenger and The Bill of Rights

The New England Hurricane of 1938

The Cardiff Giant: Great American Hoax

Seneca Lake, Home of the Lake Farts

The Boston Molasses Massacre of 1919

Oneida Indian Settlement, Nichols Pond, in Smithfield

I’ve Found the Oneida Stone!

The Old Main, or Utica Lunatic Asylum, NY with special attention to Gerrit Smith, the Asylum's most famous resident.

I hope you enjoy some of these. Besides writing about our travels, I do special features on various historical events or figures. You can see the listing on my Travels Archive Page. I try to make them interesting and accurate. Please visit them if you love history!

Quirky Stuff From the Adirondack Museum

2011-11-04T20:58:00.004-04:00

In September, we visited the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, NY. I loved the place. It's everything about the Adirondacks and Adirondack culture that you ever wanted to know, and then some. And the museum has EVERYTHING. I mean, everything. It was like someone dug through a hundred grandma's attics and placed them upon walls and on desks and behind glass displays. The museum has the most eclectic collection of stuff I have EVER seen anywhere, from old Adirondack gum wrappers to lumberjack suspenders to eye lash enhancers of the uber-rich who vacationed in the area every summer.

A spruce gum package. Spruce gum, can you believe it? Home grown, too.

Here's a biography of the famous Adirondack hermit Noah John Rondeau. Funny thing is, for a hermit he as awfully social. He sat for interviews, visited New York City and gave speeches, entertained visitors....

A stuffed mountain lion. Whoever did the taxidermy had a great sense of humor. These cats once graced Upstate NY forests (and still do, by some accounts).

The Adirondacks are peppered with lakes, as this quote suggests. To this day, the United States Postal Service delivers mail via boat.

This enormous display case is loaded with old goodies. The museums were stuffed with such paraphernalia.

The Smokey Bear costume!

Lake Placid was the location for the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics.

Oh, I have many more photos, but I'll leave you enjoying these. It's a great museum. If you are in the area, you MUST go! We loved it.

Love it together!

2011-11-03T20:35:00.000-04:00

Love it together!

Posted by Darwin Garza

I got Danville Directv when I first moved in here with the kids and it’s been a Godsend. They were having a really hard time with the divorce and without the extra income I found myself at the office later and later just trying to make ends meet. I was really afraid that I was shortchanging the kids during a tough time by not being home as much but they’ve gotten really into TV and I think that’s okay for now since they’re young adults. They’re really responsible about what they watch and they both love nature shows so I kind of feel like they’re learning at the same time they’re just vegging out which is a-okay with me! I don’t know what I did to deserve such great kids but my husband and I made some good ones. He’s another story altogether but I won’t get started on that tirade. The divorce is finalized and we’re moving on with our lives and that’s all that really matters at the end of the day.

Adirondack Eye Candy

2011-10-27T10:08:00.002-04:00

Kudos to my dear daughter who spent several hours sorting, editing and cropping my billions of photos that I took during our latest excursion to the Adirondacks. This time it was the High Peaks area that we visited, in early October, when the region was literally ablaze with fall foliage. These images just don't do the scenery justice, but they are all I've got!

Just so you know, photos were taken along I-87 on the Northway from Schroon Lake and Route 73 to Keene Valley, NY. I think this area has some of the most amazing roadside scenery.

I really appreciate my daughter for doing this. I'm going to have to get her a gift or something-- maybe a classy lab coat from http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/ as she is an aspiring medical professional. :) I never connected to two before-- it could be my own daughter in one of those cute, pink scrubs dotted with teddy bears and hearts! Cuuute! I'll be set for life when it comes to gift giving! LOL

Have a great weekend, folks.

SO. BAD.

2011-10-20T18:50:00.002-04:00

Oh my dear armchair travel aficionados... I have been so bad. I still haven't edited my photos from our two trips to the Adirondacks. PLUS I still have to blog about the many attractions we saw!

:(

Time just keeps on slipping. It's a very weird, very disconcerting feeling.

I'm so durn tootin' busy. I like being busy, but this is just crazy. It's been a struggle to keep up with the assignments and articles I've been given, plus everything else a mom has to do. I do realize that I could sure use more organization, though. I need to work on that....

Oh I did find one photo I've edited from our Columbus Day trip. It's one of my favorites. :)

So the assignments about replacing cooktops and installing digital television antennas and buying new tech gadgets has me a bit busy right now, but I'm sure things will get better soon. They have to. I have a trip to Howe Caverns set for November, and I still have yet to blog about our trips to the Adirondack Museum and Fort Ticonderoga yet.

Fort Ti was a blast. Literally!

The scenery was breathtaking.

But the Fort Ti public relations lady must be going bananas-- I told her I'd probably have something up my the end of September and here it is October! LOL. Well, I hope she's as busy as me and has forgotten about it... :|

I PROMISE I'll have updates soon....

Up Early

2011-10-14T06:43:00.006-04:00

It's not what I intended. I've been very tired lately. Perhaps it is the change in seasons, or maybe the sudden increase of activities that has me so fatigued lately. I went to bed a little earlier than usual, expecting to sleep soundly for many long hours. Unfortunately, my body had other intentions. Is my increasing sleeplessness one of the normal plights of getting older? I'd like to think that I'm just well rested and need to get up now. But I can't deny that my sleeping patterns have been changing.

I slept well the first few hours. After that, I dreamed. And every time I had a dream, I would wake up. Dream, wake, dream, wake. Every time I arose from that cloudy dreamworld into something resembling first consciousness, I'd become aware of the rain slapping on the roads outside and the whirring spray of water from car tires as early risers made their way to work. The sound of rain reminds me that the chimney still needs repair, that our old windows need replacing.... I stuffed my pillow over my head to block out the distractions and try to sleep again, to no avail. My kitty cat decided I should rise, though. And we all know that when a kitty cat makes up her mind....

So here I am. Awake. Watching the sun slooooowly rise. The sky is still only a deep navy blue, precisely that same navy blue color in the crayon box. Cars still whirr past, and kitty cat is still clambering over bookshelves, tables, windowsills and secret hiding places that disappear with the afternoon sun. She has this bad habit of dumping everything off my bedside table each morning -- books, hair accessories, reward cards, my glasses -- except that today she's a little early. Like me today, I suppose.

No Place on Earth...

2011-10-11T18:58:00.002-04:00

...like the Adirondacks in the autumn. Wanna see why?

We drove up to the most majestic area of the Adirondacks yesterday, the mighty "high peaks" area. Oh, I guess I could have spent my Columbus Day shopping, sifting through my lowe’s coupons at dropdowndeals and etc.... but instead we opted for a peaceful drive through the park. *sigh* It's so wonderful there.

I took some videos but I need to edit them yet. Oh, and I'm still trying to catch up from the summer's trip to New York City and our recent trip to Blue Mountain Lake, NY. AUGH!!! I don't know how I will ever catch up!

The Open Road: Route 28 Adirondacks

2011-10-05T17:44:00.004-04:00

I love Route 28. The views as it winds up into the Adirondack Mountains is exceptional. When we visited the Blue Mountain area two weeks ago, my daughter took a few videos of our drive south toward Raquette Lake.

It's a shame we didn't capture the mountains.... this video depicts us going south into the lower foothills, so the mighty mountains are behind us. However, I will be driving up to the high peak area sometime this month, and I hope to get a few nice videos of those.

The high peaks, in the northeastern section of the Adirondack Park are spectacular. Seriously. We drove from Blue Mountain to Ticonderoga at the Vermont border and the scenery was staggering.

Talk about drop-your-jaw gorgeous scenery. I tell you, we are SOOOO tempted to get some property up here. The husband could perhaps look into some Kitchen Management Jobs and I'd be pleased as punch to work my online job from a cabin.

*sigh*

Can I Go Back Now?

2011-10-05T12:21:00.002-04:00

In case you missed it, my primo travel blog, www.NewYorkTraveler.net, has been replete with zillions of posts about our latest trip to the Adirondack Park in Upstate New York. If you've ever gone on a vacation for a period of time, you know what I am talking about when I say that I still have "vacation sickness." That is, I had such a wonderful time that I'm still in this dreamy state and am finding it a little difficult to adjust back into the hectic and sometimes mundane schedule of "normal" life. I SO want to go back to the Adirondacks-- to slap on my nike water shoes and go traipsing through the trails and hills and streams and forests! *sigh* Instead, I have to slap on my nike soccer shoes and go back to being the suburban mom. I'm not exactly a soccer mom (no one here plays soccer), but I still must dwell in suburbia and do all the suburban things a suburban mom does.

Look at these glorious mountains. *sigh* Can I go back now?

That's the view from Blue Mountain in the central Adirondacks. Doesn't it just make you want to toss off the leopard pumps and go skipping over the hills? *sigh*

Adirondack Coyotes shudder

2011-09-24T14:34:00.004-04:00

We spent a wonderful week in the Adirondacks and are trying to adapt back into suburbia again. *sigh*

We'd rented a cabin and it was wonderful! I was initially going to pitch a tent, but the husband was concerned about rain (we've had a LOT of rain this year) and wanted a cabin. I'm so glad we did that. I would have FREAKED in a tent because for two nights we had coyotes wandering around the place. I have heard coyotes before, but I think the coyotes I heard were the mild, quiet, meek little suburbia coyotes. Because I have NEVER before heard the hair-raising sounds that these Adirondack coyotes made.

You know the sounds produced when you rub two large blocks of Styrofoam together? And when you rake a metal tine over a thick piece of heavy nylon fabric that windbreakers are made from? Amplify those two sounds by 50 and multiply them by 100 and that's what the coyotes sounded like.

I found a video that does an "OK" job of recording the crazy sounds. The video depicts the general idea but the coyotes we heard were much louder and there were more of them. Imagine waking up from a deep sleep at 3am to this, ugh!

I'm not afraid of critters (except bats-- I HATE bats!!) but the sounds these animals made were more than "eerie." It was more like "grab-the-Bible-and-the-necklace-of-garlic" kind of creepy. The dogs were pretty close to the cabins, too.

No bears, though. Oh well. :-\

Fall Foliage Report : Gonna Fly Now

2011-09-15T10:39:00.002-04:00

I noticed yesterday that the tree leaves in my area are *just* starting to turn. News coming from the Fall Foliage reporters is that when the leaves do turn, it'll be a fast change. SO if you have a hankering to see the glorious display of autumn colors, you best set your calendars and your tablets.

You can check out the I Love NY Fall Foliage Report for up-to-date information. They have a great map of foliage changes. According to the reports, they expect a 35% color change for Tupper Lake this weekend! That's mighty fast! The excessive rainfall and the now chilly weather is contributing to the changes. It was humid and 70 yesterday; today, it's struggling to top 50 degrees, and raining. Frost is expected in rural areas tonight and tomorrow.

We're expecting to see the autumn colors this season. I love traveling in autumn. This is a photo from a few years ago, the last time I visited the Adirondacks in autumn.

Fall is in the air! Cool weather, apples, the smell of cinnamon and dried leaves will soon be in the air.... ahhhh.

More Tornadoes

2011-09-13T22:02:00.002-04:00

I was perusing through an old book, "History of the Town of Paris," written in 1880 by a man from Central New York. The book is fascinating, as it tells the story of the founding of one part of the Mohawk Valley. I highly recommend it.

In the book, amongst the author's descriptions of panthers (once roaming the New York frontier), teenage boys' pranks that seem ubiquitous in any age, and the incessant narratives of the ancient and present geology (nee Darwinism, thank God), there are obscure stories about freaks of weather. The author makes mention of a very destructive tornado that struck the area in May 1836. He described it in vivid detail (who lost what, etc). It's notable because 1.) the author describes it as an extremely unusual event, and 2.) there is no mention in the book of another such occurrence (not that I have seen).

Which makes the following video all the more odd! Perhaps you've seen it, it made the rounds online last week. But a lady captures a powerful tornado plowing through the New York State Thruway near Amsterdam, NY. Tornadoes are supposed to be rare, but this summer we're getting at least 3 every month.

The video is very lengthy-- you can cut to the chase at around 5:45. I watched the entire video. Earlier, the videographer captures a dazzling arc of blue and green-colored halos near the horizon. Watching, we wondered what it could be-- Off Road Lights??? A fallen tractor-trailer?! Then it hit us-- an electrical transformer fell!

I heard news tonight that another tornado touched down earlier today, north of me.

Just plain weird.

Tornado in Mohawk Valley

2011-09-05T10:41:00.002-04:00

The local buzz here in Central New York is an uncommon weather event that is becoming a LITTLE TOO common around here this year--- a tornado.

The video is a bit long. The action starts about 5:45 into the video.

O_o

I have no idea how many tornadoes we've had up here this year. I would guess maybe 6, 8? In one week, we had a tornado (in Wayne County), an earthquake, and a hurricane.

OK WHAT'S GOING ON??

The *only* nice thing about living in New York State is that we usually have terrific weather. It offsets the disastrous politics and horrid government we have up here. It's NO FAIR to have both disastrous government AND disastrous weather!!

Diet Slip

2011-09-05T10:39:00.002-04:00

Note: From time to time, I feature a guest post that may contain information or just plain silliness. Here's an all-too common malady, thus says the dieter...

Diet Slip

This guest post from Hong Alexander

Last night I was watching Directv and my stomach was growling! I have been trying to diet for the last three weeks. I took some of Oprah’s advice that she gave when she was in one of her diet kicks. The “tip” is not eating anything after eight in the evening. The idea behind the tip is that the evenings are when we do our worst grazing. We are more likely to eat sugary snacks. Going to bed with sugar that is not going to be burned, puts on weight. For the last three weeks, I stuck to it and actually think that I have lost some weight because of it. Last night was an exception. I broke down and couldn’t stay away from the kitchen. Once I popped, I could not stop. I had two ice cream bars, a glass of wine, Wheat Thins, and half a container of hummus. All day I have kicked myself for my diet fail. My husband thinks the situation is funny. He told me to relax and realize that I just slipped, and not relapsed into my bad habits! I guess there is always tomorrow…

Catskill Cats

2011-09-03T09:37:00.001-04:00

Like cats? Catskill, NY, rules!!

We visited the small town this summer and spotted dozens of colorful, resin cats perched next to parking meters up and down Main Street. I did a little digging, and found out that these cats are part of an artistic fundraising, community revitalization project that's been happening for years.

I wrote more in depth about the cats on my formal travel blog, NewYorkTraveler.net: The Quirky Main Street Cats of Catskill, NY.

I found a video by Animal Planet (below) when researching the Catskill Cats. It tells a lot about the start of the event, and has a cute scene where the town elects a cat as mayor for one day.

FYI: Contrary to the Animal Planet video, Catskill is NOT "located smack in the middle of Upstate New York." :-p I think the guy who wrote this video needs a little geography lesson-- there's a whole bunch of us to the north, mister. Catskill is the upper part of DOWNSTATE New York. Utica, New York, is "smack in the middle" of Upstate. Anyway, despite the geography gaff, the video is cute. It appears to be dated by a few years. Apparently the Cat-n-Around Catskill program has been around for a number of years-- since 2007!

Cats rule!!

An Anniversary Has Come and Gone

2011-08-25T11:04:00.006-04:00

Holy cow, this blog has been "on air" for FOUR years! I realized (a little late) that my blog anniversary has come and gone! I started this blog on July 15, 2006: In the Beginning. It really seems like it was many, many years ago-- but it was only four years! So much has happened since then. It's really hard to believe.

This blog began as a hobby blog, an outlet and a journal for our travels. I kinda started midway-- we'd been traveling for a number of years before I got the brainy idea to share it with you.

I am now a professional blogger. It all started by accident. Our income had taken a nose dive with the New York economy, and I needed work. I started writing posts for a company, and it expanded into several companies.

I learned a LOT along the way. When I began blogging, I knew very little about using a computer or creating web design or anything! Through much time, tears, and screaming, I learned.

I found old screenshots of this blog way back when. Whoa, talk about retro!!

This was when Blogspot bloggers had to code everything ourselves, about as comprehensive and technical as auto shop software-- and no easy-peasy template designer back then, either!

Sometime in 2008, I wanted to get my "own" space to keep a log of our travels, so I created NewYorkTraveler.net. I pondered whether I should keep this old blog. It had acquired lots of interest from travelers and other websites... I decided to keep it on as a more personal type of blog, touching on lifestyle topics as well as extraneous stuff from our traveling. I'm glad I did.

Four years! Wow! Thanks for reading!! :D You've helped make it a blast.

I'm Giving Away Tickets to the State Fair!

2011-08-23T12:09:00.003-04:00

Want to win two general admission tickets to the State Fair plus a free parking pass? Thanks to the PR dudes at the New York State Fair, I'm able to give them away! The contest information and entry requirements are on my other travel blog, New York Traveler.net. My contest is running until August 28, so get your entries in.

I'm pretty excited-- this will be my first time attending the Fair. I found out that there will be a number of historic exhibitions and an Iroquois Indian Village display. I'm looking forward to that. I don't know if the Fair gives out trophies to the best exhibition, but I'd vote for that! There will also be an historic train display and more. Looking forward to it!

The Fair is from August 25 to September 5 this year.

Our Latest Trip: to the Catskill Region!

2011-08-18T16:18:00.002-04:00

We haven't explored much of the Capital and Catskill regions of New York State (even though I lived at the northern fringe of the Catskills as a kid), so it was with great delight that we made it to Hudson and Catskill, NY, yesterday. It was GREAT to be on the road again.

We wore our NewYorkTraveler.net t-shirts and I drove in my car with the NewYorkTraveler.net magnets... and we got a bit of attention. :)

We visited Olana State Historic Site in Hudson, NY. It was once the amazing Persian "palace" of famed artist Frederic Church (he is known for his most famous work "Heart of the Andes"). The site is just amazing.

I did a full review with loads of photos on my formal travel blog, NewYorkTraveler.net. Please go see my post and leave a comment! Would YOU ever build a house like Olana? I know I would!

Photo Surprise

2011-08-13T10:13:00.002-04:00

I left my iPhone in the gazebo with the kids a few nights ago, just to quickly run in the house and grab a jacket. I came back and they were giggling like crazy. Well, they are always giggling and goofing around, so I enjoyed the night air for a while and then we headed into the house.

A few days later, I found these photos on my phone. LOL.

And they even took a video.

Funny!

My Literal "StayCation"

2011-08-10T11:43:00.003-04:00

I see these billboards all around town that promote a "StayCation." Do you know what that is? That's a new marketing technique by tourism departments to get people to spend their vacation money at home instead of out of state or out of country.

Sheesh, it's what I've been doing for DECADES now!

Because we are not renovating the old homestead this summer, I figured we'd have a whirlwind of travel activities....

but it hasn't happened.

So far, the summer has been filled with myriads of small projects, here and there, that have kept us very preoccupied. I'm so glad we got to see Virginia in the spring, because if we'd waited until now, it never would have happened.

So anyway, this is as close to a vacation as I get these days:

My husband recently bought me some nice Adirondack furniture, too, which is missing from the photo.

Ya can't get any more "stay" in a "staycation" than this!

How's your summer turning out? Are you vacationing nearby? Is it because of the economy or because you're busy?

If It Wasn't a Cemetery, We'd Probably Have Lunch

2011-08-04T15:52:00.002-04:00

I was looking over the photos I took from our trip to Manhattan last week. I am so behind! I have barely said a word about our trip. I've barely blogged about our trip in May to Virginia, either! Ugh, I am so tardy....

Well, the photos of the grounds outside Trinity Church are very nice. The area is a lovely spot, a refuge from the sizzling heat and hectic swirl of humanity on the streets below.

The cemetery surrounding the church was cool and quiet and very peaceful. It would have been a great place for a romantic picnic! But then again, it's a CEMETERY. Last thing I want to do is have a PB & J over the bones of Robert Fulton. Or Alexander Hamilton.

Still, this didn't stop many folks from sitting on one of the benches and supping the luncheon meat. I saw a number of construction workers (probably from the World Trade Center construction site, next door) unpacking tiny picnic baskets and eating their lunches. The church has also set up a few very nice eating and relaxing areas, with chairs and cafe tables. One had a big tent over a number of cafe furniture, filled with people drinking and eating from little picnic backpacks. I thought it nice of the Trinity Church folks to accommodate the many New Yorkers and visitors with such hospitality.

We'd have stopped for a quick respite, if I didn't feel so weird sitting amid a mountain of old bones and tombstones. Maybe it's the Upstater in me, maybe it's because I'm old-fashioned. I just couldn't plop down on the grassy remains of a founding father and snack on bologna.

Is This What an Anvil Cloud Looks Like?

2011-07-29T19:44:00.002-04:00

I snapped these photos while on the train, traveling from New York City to Albany, NY. I've seen a lot of weird clouds in my day, but this took the cake. What do you think?

Very menacing.

That day, my daughters and I visited New York City for the day. Unbeknownst to us, a couple of tornadoes had hit our home area that afternoon. My son had called me from home, panicking that the winds were "hurricane like" with debris flying, and the power had gone out. If I had known that the weather was calling for severe thunderstorms or tornadoes, I'd have directed him into the basement. When I'd checked the local weather forecast that day, it said "20% chance of rain." :S

Well, on the way home, I saw these clouds. I could have sworn I saw a funnel cloud starting to form, but then the finger disappeared.

Our weather has been very, very strange for quite a few years now. Blazing heat, flash floods, and now tornadoes. Today, another tornado hit the county southeast of us, causing some damage and knocking out power.

Hmmmm....

It's Raccoon Season in Upstate New York

2011-07-15T10:50:00.004-04:00

We've had our share of raccoon problems this year. Living so close to a forested area, the critters find all my gardens delightful, all my pets terrific buddies, and my garbage cans as amusingly simple puzzles to solve. :-p

Raccoons carry rabies and there have been reports of the hydrophobic critters roaming the nearby towns, so I am on the alert. I've already instructed the kids how to detect a rabid critter, and I went out the very next day to get rabies shots for my cat (I paid $85 for the vet visit, too, because I didn't want to wait two weeks for the $10 rabies clinic). The raccoons just LOVE our yard and like to "hang" with my cat, who, oddly enough, strongly resembles a raccoon with his gray and black striped fur.

Last night we heard a very loud commotion on the back stoop. A young raccoon, obviously STARVING (or perhaps bored from all the fresh fruits and veggies in my gardens, grr), had clambered up a 4-foot-high plastic garbage bin, opened the heavy lid, and was gleefully and noisily dumpster diving in the trash. *sigh* We marched outside in an angry brigade, armed with a broom, a leftover laminate flooring plank and my most important weapon: a camera! Scary, indeed. But the critter scurried off into the dark, eluding my flash!

All I could get were his beady red eyes, can you see him??

I can't really, either. :-p

The durn rascals are everywhere this year. Oddly enough, there are no spring peepers, hardly any crickets, and very few crows in the neighborhood. What's going on with all this ecological imbalance? Instead, we have bastions of raccoons, earwigs and deer. Not a very good trade, if you ask me.

The Story of Edward Carrington and Patrick Henry's Speech

2011-07-12T19:25:00.006-04:00

We visited the beautiful city of Richmond, Virginia, recently. We wanted to see St. John's Episcopal Church and pay our respects to the amazing men and women who stirred up the flames of independence in the foundational years of our country. I haven't written much about it because I snapped literally hundreds of photos of the half dozen places we visited... and I haven't had time to go through them all!

But I am slowly chipping away at the project. :) As I sift through the photos and recollect all the wonderful things we saw and did and learned, the story about a young man named Edward Carrington strikes my fancy.

In Richmond, at the now famous St. John's Church Episcopal Church, a meeting was scheduled by the Virginia delegates on March 23, 1775. There, members of the state legislature (the house of burgesses) would debate whether to support or withhold support for Massachusetts and the cause of independence; namely, to pass a resolution to send Virginia militia to aid the Massachussets military. The church was so packed with people that many had to stand outside, listening to the debates through the open windows. Edward Carrington stood outside one of the windows, listening intently with a group of young Virginia patriots.

Patrick Henry's turn came in the round of speeches, and he delivered the now famous words:

Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Edward Carrington, a young man at the time, full of fiery passion for the just cause of independence and set ablaze by Henry's stirring words, turned to his friends and whispered, "Boys, bury me here, in this very spot!"

Indeed, he was.

Carrington grew to become an illustrious member of the Continental Congress 1786-1788; was appointed by President George Washington as the marshal of Virginia in 1789. He also served as foreman of the jury during the trial of Aaron Burr for treason in 1807. Carrington died in Richmond, Virginia, on October 28, 1810. His friends ensured that Carrington's wish was granted, hence the monument in his honor. :) I love it.

I love little stories like this, that so poignantly reveal the incredible passion and honor for the men and women who carved the way to freedom.

It's so easy to get caught up in the craziness of day to day living, concerned about commercial collection agencies and the next paycheck and such, to feel selfish and pout that things aren't always going our way. And maybe some of us have good reason to be dismayed, in such an economy and society. But it's good to remember the goodness of God and be thankful for our freedoms. Little things like Carrington's passion are a good reminder of what's really important. I just love stories like this!

OMG-- Have You Tried Zumba??

2011-07-08T19:16:00.003-04:00

I happened across a news story in my local paper about the glories of Zumba. I had heard of it in passing-- my step mother mentioned it a year ago. She said she was involved in a new "zumba" exercise class and she raved about it for a while. It sounded interesting, but since I had no idea what it entailed and since it seemed like another kind of "weight watchers" type activity, I dismissed it in my mind. Then I saw the news story and thought, "WOW!" They made Zumba sound SO exciting!

I called my local fitness place and they gave me the lowdown. Because I have had herniated disks in my back, I have to take all new physical activities slowly (which explains why I have gained weight since then :-p). So I asked about the easiest class, which seems to be populated with a lot of silver-haired ladies. Hmm.

I still want to go. I figure I can start out slowly and work my way up. I used to be in such good shape-- I took jazz ballet and gymnastics as a young lady. I'm sure my body will snap back once I start flexing those old muscles....

...but my problem has been time. Apparently, the preferred Zumba classes are only twice a week. :( And they are early in the week, too, my busiest times. Bummer. But then I saw an ad for zumba on wii!!! Have any of you tried this? I do not have a wii, but I'd surely get one if it was realistic to Zumba and if it helps me stick to it. I know next to nothing about the wii. Are there different "kinds" like the Playstation (1, 2, 3, etc)? Is one better than another?

Please leave a comment if you have any experience and can give me a little advice. This looks very cool but I don't want to waste my money if it's not going to work.

My Cool New T-Shirt

2011-07-08T19:08:00.002-04:00

So whaddaya think, huh?

I ordered the t-shirt from a printing company online. I had the logo specially made and she did a terrific job, I think. I got a whole bunch of the t-shirts for the kids and I to wear when we go out on our travels. I love it!

This was kind of a treat for me, not a necessity for the blog business. Of course, I want to promote my blog more (my main travel blog is New York Traveler.net), but the t-shirts just kinda tickled me. Stuff like this is like one of those really nice and elegant 30th birthday gift ideas for the woman blogger. Although... I'm past my 30s now. :-p So I consider it an elegant 40th birthday gift. ;) I think if a lady has a blog, it's VERY cool to get her a blog-related gift like a mug or t-shirt or something. :)

So if you happen to see a group of nutty people wearing these t-shirts and cavorting across Upstate New York, that's us. Stop and say hello.

Goodbye, June

2011-06-30T12:57:00.000-04:00

June is such a glorious month in Upstate New York. I think it is probably the BEST month of the year, except for December, which is my favorite month.

Except for a few crazy-super-humid days, this month was so wonderful. Today, the weather is glorious. It's mostly sunny, breezy, and cool at 65 degrees. My favorite weather in the world. Just enough sun to make things bright and beautiful, but a few clouds make sure the sun doesn't overpower us Northerners and our succulent plants. :) And the breeze makes it very cool. It's just lovely. It's also the month when the peonies and roses bloom. How I hate to see their lovely blossoms fade.

Oh, I love roses-- the old-fashioned roses, that is. They are just so... romantic. I am on a rose binge currently. I'm looking for rose-scented soaps. I have a rose on my iPad home screen, rose wallpaper on my laptop desktop screen, and I'm looking for a rose-themed iphone case, too. Roses are SO wonderful. I just hate to see them go. They don't last long enough.

Oh well, July is converging. While July and August are not my favorite months, at least this is when the perennials go beserk, bursting forth into the most brilliant blossoms ever. I'll start the gardening again, soon. Yay!

Enjoy your summer!

Oh. It's About Drunk Driving.

2011-06-30T11:59:00.003-04:00

There's a new billboard campaign running round in Central New York. Large, black billboards with red lettering:

You Can't Afford Me

When I first saw it, I thought perhaps it referred to our very, very, very expensive politicians. Mr. Anthony Weiner (yeah, THAT Weiner) is getting a million $$$ pension, did you know that? I thought the billboard was referring to stuff like that. New York does take exceptional care of the politicians, I tell you what.

But I found out the billboard is about drunk driving. DWI. Oh.

The new angle for this new campaign about DWI is to scare people with the cost of DWI punishment. The campaign threatens drunkards that the amount of money you wind up spending for a DWI defense is compared to such things as:

Might I also add that it also costs you 1/20+ of an average New York politicians' annual salary. Not including pensions and perks.

You're right, guys. We just can't afford it. Or you. :-p

Strange http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Code in Blogger Posts

2011-06-20T13:35:00.003-04:00

You folks who have Blogger blogs-- have you come across a very strange url code in your posts after your post autosaves or you publish it?

Isn't that the weirdest thing??

I noticed it a few weeks ago. Whenever I posted to Blogger, the code snippets inserted themselves throughout my post, even breaking up words. I would have to manually hash through the entire post, looking for the code and removing them, otherwise they'd show up in the post. And even then, if Blogger auto-saved my post before I closed it, another code would sneak in!

I did a little digging. Apparently, it's a bug with Firefox 4. *rolls eyes* No one seems to know why it's happening, and there is no fix yet (that I know of). All he geeks are simply saying "Use Chrome for now." Oh, sheesh.

Oh well, it's a relatively small problem, but it's a pain to go back and delete all the code! I hope Firefox fixes this pronto, so I can go back to garmin zumo 220 motorcycle gps shopping. ;)

Milk Production Down in New York State- Why Every NYer Should Care

2011-06-20T13:12:00.005-04:00

At first glance, this story doesn't seem terribly interesting to a non-farmer or suburbanite.

New York dairy herds produced 1,113 million pounds of milk during May. Milk cows were unchanged but production per cow was down from the previous year resulting in a 1.4 percent decrease in milk production compared to May 2010.

The number of milk cows averaged 610,000 head, unchanged from May of the previous year.

Milk per cow averaged 1,825 pounds, down 25 pounds from the May 2010 rate.

Yet I tried to read the story very carefully, because I am concerned about the Upstate New York economy. Dairy farming is a critical component in our economy. But for some really strange reason, the New York State government has been encouraging New York State farmers to reduce milk production. In fact, milk production has dropped so low in NYS, that the very successful Chobani Yogurt manufacturing plant, based in New Berlin, NY, is going to seek expansion elsewhere, outside of NYS. New York State's dairy industry cannot produce enough milk for the expansion of ONE successful business in this state.

Now I am not an economist. Nor a farmer. But I've got some common sense and a pretty good sense of human nature.

WHY the heck would our own government be pressuring New York farmers to reduce milk production?! Especially when we're *supposedly* trying to build a better economy again here. It does not make sense.

Other things don't make sense, either, like politicians passing laws, for all intents and purposes, that destroy Upstate manufacturing businesses. Do we even HAVE any manufacturing in this state anymore? Even Remington Arms, the backbone gun and rifle scopes manufacturing plant, closed doors. And then there's the increase of prisons up here. Why do politicians want to send criminals from New York City to prisons in Central New York? And then these politicians have the gall to claim these criminals as NYC residents, to pump up their population (and representative) numbers! What the heck??

Just what do the NY politicians expect Upstate NY to do?

My suspicious mind wonders if these politicians just want Upstate to be a natural resource vault, so that New York City and other large metropolis areas can slurp our natural resources dry. One good example is NYRI. That group wants to use Upstate's natural resources to pump electricity to Downstate. It would confiscate our lands, ruin our economy, destroy our properties, and raise our taxes and energy bills, all so that NYC gets more power. The NYRI proposal was struck down, but we all know it'll be back. And now there's the hydrofracking problem-- energy companies wants to slurp natural gas from our properties, caring not if the process ruins our water supplies and our land and our health. Yikes!

Something screwy going on around here....

House Sale Season

2011-06-13T11:43:00.003-04:00

Now that the threat of snow has *officially* passed us by in Upstate New York, I'm seeing "House For Sale" signs pop up like popcorn. It happens every spring. Just like our growing season, our buying and selling season is very brief. We really only have 5 to 6 months of the year to do outside stuff around here. I don't mind it much, as I like winter.

Lots of folks are taking out second mortgages and home equity loans to cover the damages from the bad flooding we had April 28. I've heard that our area was declared a "disaster" zone. Two months later, it still looks pretty disastrous! The mud is gone but the properties are in bad shape (mine included). Such destructive floods are very discouraging. I can see why people would want to bail out ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnd sell.

There was a lot of rain that day....

We are going to have to prepare for some kind of mortgage restructuring, ourselves. An FHA Streamline Refinance or Military VA Loan sound good, but I doubt we'd qualify. It's a good program for those who do qualify. We've considered (briefly) selling our home. I'm getting too old to keep renovating it. And with prices and taxes going up up up, it's futile to work on it. Such a shame.

When we visited Virginia, the properties were so beautiful, hardly anything run down at all. But then again, taxes for the area we stayed are $400 a YEAR or less! Here in New York, we pay $400 a MONTH for property taxes. Some folks pay much, much more. It's become impossible to keep the homes maintained, not when you're paying so much in taxes. All very sad. New York State had better shape up. We cannot maintain such exorbitant taxation, especially for our top-heavy bloated, wasteful government.

But I digress.

I love Home Sale season. I like walking through homes, looking at the floorplans and architectural designs and all. I like houses in general. Maybe I'll stop in on a few open houses, just to have a peek. :)

New NY Law Proposed to Make Gadget Use While Driving a Primary Offense

2011-06-10T12:23:00.002-04:00

"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." Tacitus

A sign of the times. If the people show themselves unable to maintain law and order and responsibility within society, the government creates more laws. It's the old kindergarten adage "The bad apple spoils the bushel."

According to WKTV news, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed new legislation that will make the use of any portable electronic device -- such as a cell phone, laptop, tablet -- a primary offense. This means that if law enforcement sees you operating a device while driving, you can be pulled over and fined or arrested. Currently, operating a portable device while driving is a secondary offense. You can only be fined if you are "pulled over" for another reason, such as speeding.

The whole issue is a thorn in my side. Drunk driving, texting and watching movies while driving is INSANE. It's a reproach to our form of government and our nobility as human beings that we will not control our behavior. This makes it hard for the rest of the law-abiding citizens who chafe against the encroaching police state. Sheesh.

Boy, I Love Blogging!

2011-05-26T18:46:00.003-04:00

You know how you love-- simply LOVE--- doing something, but it never really hits you how much you love it until it sneaks up on you one day?

Or am I just the only freak in the world?

Well, it wouldn't be the first time....

But seriously, I love your blogs, guys! I've spent a little free time (a whole 15 minutes) reading some of my pals' blogs. You guys have got some really great posts going on. I was tickled by them.

I really loved Lin's post about her spunky hat. For some reason it really tickled me. I like corny hats. It's nice to know there's another freaky girl out there who does, too.

Speaking of freaky girls, there's Alice who runs As in a Mirror. She also happens to be my daughter. ;) Her posts are amazing, especially Questions. How on earth did I ever get blessed with such a daughter??

And Carole's posts have been great. Her posts are ALWAYS great, but sometimes she doesn't write for a whole week.... leaving me horribly miserable and bereft of company. I almost always feel the warm fuzzies after I read her blog. I say "almost" because sometimes she talks about sad things, like her cat's death and tornadoes. I always look forward to her blogs. Thank God she has more than one. Sometimes I re-read the old posts, just for fun. :D

I love Chuck's blog. He is often thoughtful and ALWAYS funny. I especially like his comments on my own blogs, he is a wise and witty commenter.

There's a wonderful young lady, Miss Szymanski, who maintains the blog In Defense of the Christian Faith. Her posts are ALWAYS so thoughtful. I can't believe where she gets all the time to write her incredibly researched posts!

I've heartily enjoyed reading about Clint's Big Move to Another State. Don't know how he does it! And he and his wife don't even have any kids and all their paraphernalia to move!

I have two Karen friends-- there's Karen and Gerard and Karen the Chatbug. That's what I call them to the family, lol, to keep them straight. Karen and Gerard and I seem to have a lot in common (most notably, faith in Christ), so I like to pass her stories to the kids at dinnertime. And Karen the Chatbug has stories about her life in the MidWest, with homey stories and such.

Marg, my dear friend in the South, has a passel of pets and she amazingly has stories about them every day. Marg has offered pet advice to me, too, and I am very grateful for her support.

Oh gee, there are many more. I have dozens in my feed and I love you all. I know I know, all this blog reading at the computer has only enhanced my need for good reading glasses... but I love blogs. Thanks for being my pals, guys. It's been great getting to know ya.

Good Heavens, It's Been Rainy

2011-05-18T14:14:00.002-04:00

A Twitter friend from Ohio quoted her weatherman when he stated that of 135 days of 2011, 90 of them have been either rainy or snowy.

:|

That's a LOTTA precipitation.

Upstate New York has been plagued with much too much rain for about a decade now. Oh how I reminisce about the 1990s, when everyone proclaimed "drought conditions"! That is, we hadn't experienced rain for a few weeks.

My my my. I'm tired of rain. It's been nothing but rain for most of my adult life. I'd like a little dry spell now and then. Like birth announcements, rainy spells are best experienced in well-spaced increments, not deluges.

And I needn't worry about my gardens, either-- our sump pump chugs out thousands of gallons of underground water per day, all day and all night. We can rig the pipes up to irrigate the garden should the rain ever stop. IF IT EVER STOPS. So no worries about my tender young plants-- we've got them covered if need be.

How about you? Been rainy for you? Starting to wonder about Noah's ark?

Brave, Brave Tulips

2011-05-07T17:49:00.002-04:00

My daughter took this photo, isn't it lovely? :)

You'd never think that such delicate things would brave the frost and the mud and the inclement weather. Me, I'm just want to crawl in bed to escape the overcast, gloomy days, and read books all day. But tulips, as tender and vulnerable as they appear, stand up straight and tall and bloom like there's no tomorrow. I think this is one of the reasons I love tulips so. Their colors are so vivid, too-- no half-hearted blooming here! It's time to produce extravagant colors, and by golly- flooding or no flooding, they're gonna do it!Tulips are so tenacious! Like a scattering of mens diamond watches, they glitter in the sunshine, as rare as it has been, or raise uplifted faces to the clouds, no matter to them.

*sigh* So far, they are the only thing blooming in my garden, except for a few straggling daffodils. Tulips are my comfort-- they greet me early in the season and burst out every bit of pigment they've got. Then, when the other flowers finally start to show a little backbone, tulips quietly fade in the background, with a classy, confident gesture of humility.

I love tulips.

It's Spring! It's Really and Truly Spring!

2011-05-06T18:03:00.004-04:00

What momentous event marks this special occasion???

LAWN MOWING!

The past two days, we have had NO RAIN and sunshine! It hasn't stopped raining here for, what, three weeks. Now that things are drying out after the floods, everyone is racing to their lawn mowers to chop the grass. It's a nice sound, but oddly strange to me. It just doesn't seem like spring yet. We're even still getting frosts at night, on occasion. Our planting times is typically right after Mother's Day, but I think we may have to wait this year. Last year, we had frosts in June.

The tulips don't mind the cool temperatures.

Personally, summers in Upstate NY have been getting cooler and cooler. I don't mind it (I dislike hot weather) but it's a change. When I was a kid, summers were cool, but things turned warm in the 80s and 90s. Now, it's a cooling trend again. I don't mind the coolness, but I do mind the rain. We've had too much rain for a long time now.

Anyway, all's well that ends well. I gave my cool key man insurance dude a call and looks like most of our flood losses are covered. Whew.

Guest Post: Planet Earth Documentaries

2011-05-06T18:00:00.002-04:00

From time to time, I feature guests posts from budding young writers. The following is a guest post from a young man about Planet Earth and his new satellite TV. I have never seen Planet Earth, but I would love to! I love documentaries like that.

Planet Earth

Guest post written by our friend Trent Horton

Planet Earth is definitely one of my most favorite documentaries of all time. This amazing documentary is very educational and is fun to watch. You can sit with the entire family and enjoy this marvelous documentary. I watched this and many of my other favorite documentary shows on my satellite TV system from www.TVbyDirect.com/. This marvelous documentary took approximately five years to be produced and more than two thousands days of shooting from all over the world. It is absolutely one of the best shows on satellite TV and is filmed in HI defection.

This breathtaking documentary is about the earth and the many plants and animals living in it. It takes you from the dark caves and the jungle of South America to the freezing temperature of Antarctica. It shows you the thousands of marvelous animals living in it, like the polar bears, penguins, seals, foxes, lions, tigers, monkeys, kangaroos, zebras, elephants, and many more beautiful animals. This is an eleven part documentary and it brings to live on your television the wonderful creatures living around the world. It also educated you about global warming and its effects on many animals like the polar bears who have to venture further to look for food because of the melting of the glaciers. This is truly one of the best documentary every made and I watch it on satellite TV.

Madison County Tourism Email- A Great Job!

2011-05-03T20:58:00.003-04:00

Madison County does a great job promoting their tourism attractions. For such a rural area, I think they promote their stuff so well. I got their email today with a list of summer events WITH links to the tourist websites where you can get contact numbers and detailed information. I'm SO Impressed! Madison County and Onondaga County do great jobs promoting their counties online.

Here's a quick screenshot of the Madison County email webpage. Look at how easy it is to survey!

And all I had to do was "click here" on the links and voila! I'm at the webpage. You can see the webpage for yourself here: Madison County Tourism Newsletter. I have already been to almost all these places but I am encouraged to go again, just because Madison County makes it looks so good! And many of the attractions this year have free events. I'm definitely going to try for some of these!

Flooding in Central New York

2011-05-03T20:36:00.004-04:00

Another flood.

My area in Central New York was one of the hardest hit. Well, THE hardest hit. In my neighborhood, my house got the brunt of the burden.

That was my large garden bed...

This was the area around my house.

And this was my basement.

We lost everything down there except the furnace (which we elevated last time we got a new one).

It's hard to believe that the flooding was only last Thursday. It seems like it was yesterday. One day I'm wondering about the best anti aging product, the next day BAM I'm getting older by the second with every inch seeping up my sump pump well. The stormwater drainage system was completely overwhelmed, as were our two sump pumps.

This is my old woodworking bench. It's a loss. Unfortunately, it's a very old bench. We think it may have been the old oak workbench of the original house owner, some 155 years ago. I used it for my millwork while working on the renovations. I lost a good quantity of millworking wood, as well as my compound miter saw.

But you know what? We are blessed. No one was hurt, and we lost only stuff. Thankfully, we are insured for this, too, so I can get another saw and bench and more wood. Other folks aren't insured, so their losses are awful. :(

Today, we finished cleaning out the basement. What a job. That's probably the hardest part of this whole thing-- the cleanup. It consumes time and devours energy. I'm pooped. But the basement is CLEAN!!

Please pray the rain would STOP. It's been raining for almost 3 weeks straight now, every single day. Time for some dry weather.

The Upstate NY "Farm Stay"

2011-04-22T08:13:00.005-04:00

I got quite the education today.

Last autumn, my husband brought home a little postcard-sized advertisement. It was for a "U-Pick" farm several miles away. I found the card this morning as I was cleaning papers off my desk (since autumn, ugh!). I guess I didn't pay much attention to the card because we have our own garden every year. But even so, I was very tempted to try out the offer (although, it expired March 31, rats!). It's a very unique offer-- a "shared farm" offer. I looked up the farm online and did a little investigating, and LOVED what I found! Who knew hat my entire morning would be consumed in learning more about Upstate NY farms and "agritourism"!

The farm I researched is Ambrosia Farms, in Bridgewater, NY. Ambrosia Farms is much more than a family-run dairy farm that you whiz by as you're going to the next big city. They are part of "CSA"-- Community Supported Agriculture. They uniquely blend agriculture with tourism, or agritourism as it is recently known here in Upstate New York.

How intriguing! You can stay on a real, working farm-- off the grid, in a tent-- for a week, sharing farm duties if you wish, enjoying the farm life, and cooking heirloom vegetables over a cast iron stove by lantern light. You can take hikes on the hills and paddle a canoe along the Unadilla River... wow!

This is from the website FarmStayUS:

In the United States, the family farm has become a challenged institution since World War II. Yet, recently there has been a growing desire of many urbanites to reconnect with our rural countrysides. Where can we wake to the sounds of farm life, feed a bottle to a lamb, or brush a horse …even see the stars without city lights dimming their glow? We need to find our small family farms and ranches.

The term is 'farm stay'. The Europeans know it. The Aussies and Kiwis know it. Italy has its own name for it, 'agriturismo'. Surprisingly, American farmers and ranchers are new to the concept, so while there are travelers looking for rural experiences, there are not as many farms offering overnight accommodations.

Most of us offer breakfast on the farm. Other meals depend on how the farm is operated. Participation in chores is rarely required, however an extra hand is always welcome. Some farms offer classes in cheese making, spinning, gardening, cooking, even animal photography! ...What a farm stay is not is a bed & breakfast in an old farm house no longer part of a working farm or ranch.

I don't know about you, but this is my kind of vacation (even my kind of living!). To me, running around Disney World or Darien Lake, where a lot of time is spent standing in line or working toward game and sports trophies or beating back crowds of people to hurry up and do this or that is not a vacation. I'm usually more exhausted after such a vacation! A vacation to me is just SLOWING DOWN to enjoy life's beautiful moments. As I get older, this becomes more and more important to me.

Thus, the "farm stay" is extremely appealing to me. I don't know if we'll ever try it-- rates are a bit high and I'd need to save up quite a few pennies. But the money goes to a good place-- right back into the community--- and sustains a local farm, to boot.

In you're hankering to learn more, check out the website FeatherDown Farm Says USA. What an adventure this would be! I'll have to think about doing this sometime.

Photo courtesy of David Ball at Wikipedia.

Country Roads, Take Me Home...

2011-04-08T17:11:00.004-04:00

Well, the snow in Central New York is ALMOST gone. I crunched into a gritty snowbank today, but I think they'll soon be history after the weekend's forecasted high temperatures. It's going to get up to a whopping 63 degrees on Sunday! We're living high on the hog, now!

The kids want to go camping this year. Specifically, camping in the Adirondacks AND camping in the Shenandoah National Park. I don't know if we'll get to do both this year, but probably one. I guess that means I'll have to air out the camping tents, as the last time we used them was in 2006, when severe flooding washed over them. I haven't been camping in SO LONG. Come to think of it, I think I have only camped once or twice in my life! When I was a girl, however, we slept in the house but we lived in the woods off the land, so I know how to "rough it." But I don't have any thing for camping. No camping stove, no sleeping bags... yah, we'll REALLY be roughing it, lol! But it will be a good experience for the kids. They need to get out and enjoy nature.

I found this photo of the Shenandoah Valley, on Wikipedia. *sigh* It's so lovely. It reminds me of the Catskills, where I lived for a time.

View from Pinnacles Overlook, June 2007. Photo by W. Grotophorst at description page on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Skyline_view_2007.jpg.

I'd heard that Shenandoah Valley was named for Shenandoah, or Chief Schenandoa, of the Oneida Indian Nation. But Wikipedia implies that Shenandoah comes from the Indian tribe Senados. Do you happen to know which is true?

And did you know that the land acquired for the Shenandoah National Park was through eminent domain? Some folks signed the papers and left, while others were a bit more stubborn and wouldn't leave. So the government allowed the people to stay, living in the park, until they died. The last to die was Annie Bradley Shenk who died in 1979 at age 92!!! I wonder if these folks were the ones who contributed to the stories and lessons in those old FoxFire books-- remember those?

SO we're going to have to load up on the camping gear in the near future. And I'll probably bring the FoxFire book, too, in case we need to skin a wild boar. ;)

Memorial Day Truck Show at New York State Fairgrounds

2011-04-04T15:27:00.003-04:00

I have never been to a truck show. I've been to an antiques car show, though. And I've been to the car races. :) While I'm not a car or truck nut, the shows can be nice. The people are always so friendly and passionate about their cars!

If you've been on the edge of your seat in sweated anticipation for the next truck show in Central New York, I've got great news! It's The "King of Trucks All Truck Super Show"! It will be held over Memorial Day weekend, May 27 to 29, at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, NY. The event sponsors are pumping it up big time.

Hm, that white car is sure pretty but it wouldn't last one Upstate NY season....
Photo courtesy of the Right Coast Association.

You can read more about the event at the truck show website. They're expecting a very good turnout.

It's Passed. An Historic Moment

2011-04-04T15:08:00.002-04:00

This post may mean nothing to you if you are not in New York State (unless you have such a dysfunctional government, too). The lords of the realm have passed the budget. ON TIME. For the first time in years. According to the news story, "The budget cuts spending by roughly 2% and closes a nearly $10-billion deficit without relying on tax increases or borrowing."

A 2% spending cut is pittance. School aid was cut (justly so, but not enough in my opinion), but taxes were not lowered. Taxes must be lowered to make NYS competitive again. But I give the legislators a little credit for closing the $10 BILLION gap.

On the Medicaid front:

Total Medicaid spending including federal, state and local spending of $52.6 billion represents a decrease of $337 million, or minus 1 percent. Future growth in Medicaid will be limited to the 10-year rolling average of the Medical CPI, currently 4 percent. As with education, the budget includes a two-year appropriation.

The budget includes a cap of $15.3 billion on Department of Health Medicaid state expenditures, which represent the largest and one of the fastest growing component of state spending.

It's no big surprise that Medicare and Medicaid are super-expensive. But the programs have created the expenses-- insurance and Medicaid bloat prices so much with the "a rising tide lifts all boats" syndrome. Due to the exponentially increasing costs of health care in the state, some folks are checking out Medicare Supplemental Insurance quotes for NY medicare supplemental insurance. It is SO HARD to find doctors, too. Doctors used to take all kinds of insurance here, especially not limiting insurance for children, but now we have to find a *certain* kind of doctor who will only take a *certain* kind of insurance.

Don't get me wrong, I am NOT in favor of federally-mandated insurance. No way. But I do think that if states want to have their own insurance programs, that's legal. IF they can afford it, of course.

We'll see how next year pans out for New York State....

The Utica Zoo Has Some New Additions

2011-03-31T21:54:00.004-04:00

Oh this is delightful news! The Utica Zoo has adopted some lions, just in time for the new season! From the Utica Observer Dispatch:

Bakari and Monni, a 6-year-old female lion, arrived on Nov. 18, marking the first time in almost 30 years that the zoo has had lions.

“We’re trying to bring a flavor of Africa,” animal curator Mike Bates said.

The lions were kept in a heated barn with an outside pen area over the winter until the snow melted in their new outdoor display. On Tuesday, Bakari moved to the exhibit area.

“He’s very mellow, very laid back about this,” Bates said.

Monni also is expected to be on display by the end of the week, just in time for the zoo’s seasonal opening on Saturday, Bates said.

Visitors also will be able to see other newcomers this weekend, including three Tibetan yaks and an African ostrich named “Boomer,” which are some of the 17 new species expected at the zoo by the end of the year.

It's nice to have some good news at the zoo. Jack the little baby sea lion pup died in 2008, Lenny the sea lion (a wonderful creature) died in September 2010, and the two beautiful tigresses, Monona and Wingra died in 2010 and 2011.

I think we'll make a trip to the Utica Zoo again this year. I want to see the lions! And Boomer sounds like a fun critter.

Opening season starts Saturday, April 2. Open daily from 10:00AM to 4:00PM. For more information, check out the Utica Zoo website.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Good Travel Resource Website

2011-03-31T21:46:00.002-04:00

Here's a tip for you travelers out there-- compare the deals before you book your hotel! I know, it's sounds like a no brainer, at least when you're not planning on traveling. When you finally decide to hit the road, if you are like me, everything goes out the window in the rush to and excitement.

I found a really nice travel website called RoomStays.com. It's a well-rounded site, with articles and deals for both the young, urbane traveler and families or larger groups. I enjoyed their very simple and straightforward article Best Ways to Travel When On a Low Budget. Definitely a must read in today's economy.

They also sport a "hot deals" section on the front page, and of course you can search by destination for deals, too. The travel guides are especially nice. They include such titles as:

10 Best Sites to See in England
Affordable Activities to do in Honolulu
Adventure Time in Redwood City
Anaheim, the theme park capital of California
Basic Customs to Remember When Visiting Japan (important!)
Top 10 Places to Dine at New York City
What Not to Miss When Visiting New York

All pretty good articles. Check them out! And do it BEFORE you decide to go somewhere, so you can take your time. :) Happy trails!

Does Anyone Still Print Their Photos??

2011-03-31T21:45:00.002-04:00

I read an article the other day about printing your camera pictures... and had to wonder, does anyone even do this anymore?! Everything has gone digital, it must cost an absolute fortune to print color photos on a computer printer! Retail printer ink is prohibitively expensive. One of my printers takes cartridges that cost $50 PER CARTRIDGE. And the printer holds SIX CARTRIDGES. It is insane.

I go for the cheap ink. You betcha. I get my inkjet cartridges at InkGrabber.com. I actually used to be an affiliate with them, I was so impressed with their prices and service. I am STILL impressed with their prices and service, but New York State's draconian tax laws ended my affiliation (NYS forced sales taxes on InkGrabber.com for purchases made through my affiliate link). I don't really understand why NYS does what it does... I was sad to end my affiliation, but I'm a devoted fan on InkGrabber.com. I haven't found anyone who offers ink less expensively.

Anyway, do you still print your photos? Are tangible photos a thing of the past, you think?

Rose Hill Mansion, Geneva, NY

2011-03-27T01:04:00.003-04:00

When we were in Geneva, NY, last month, I spotted a beautiful old Greek Revival mansion along Route 69A, overlooking Seneca Lake. It's so enchanting! We stopped so I could snap a few photos.

I did a little digging, and Rose Hill is technically in Fayette, NY. It was built in 1837. It's listed on the National Historic Landmark Register.

One of the finest examples of the Greek Revival Style in the United States. Built (1837-39) on a monumental scale, it reflects the prosperity of Western New York as a result of the Erie Canal.

I walked up to the front portico and peeked inside the front door.

Everything is covered up for the season.

Apparently, there are tours here. They house opens May 1st. Maybe I can go again!

I walked around the house a little. The architecture for even the BACK and side doors is so lovely.

By then, I was huffing and puffing from the exertion and the intense lake winds blasting me back. The winds were so fierce, I thought I was going to lose my camera.

Apparently, no one knows exactly who built the house (that I have seen, anyway). Wikipedia suggests it was local craftsmen who drew the pattern from the famous Minard Lafever's book, The Beauties of Modern Architecture. WOW! Can you imagine, a bunch of local carpenters and craftsmen, cracking open a book and just building a mansion from it?!

This is why I love old houses-- they have mystery and they have quality. Average people did such monumental things. :)

I've GOT to go there someday. I need to keep posting about sensa weight loss reviews so I can save up for gas (ugh) to drive out to Geneva again!

Do you have any glorious mansions in your area? Do you know who built them, and how old they are?

Lost and Found in Brooklyn and Paris

2011-03-27T00:44:00.002-04:00

I just watched some really neat videos. They tell the story of a young man, Todd Beiber, from Brooklyn who found a small canister of undeveloped film after a New York blizzard while skiing in Prospect Park. Todd decided to develop the film and find the owners. The photos are poignant depictions of the blizzard around the boroughs of New York.

Amazingly, Todd FOUND the owners! He spent an inordinate amount of time researching and emailing people for months, making many new friends all over the world. Here's the followup video (warning for kids-- it has an immodest European statue and lots of beer drinking).

My favorite part is how Todd made so many wonderful friends in Europe, who later served as hosts while he traveled. What a wonderful adventure! He got to see five countries of Europe and skied the Alps. Wow. I would SO love to do that (except ski the Alps-- I don't know how to ski! And I'd need a whopper of a vision screener).

I love the good consequences of random acts of kindness. :)

Surfing in Slow Mo'

2011-03-27T00:36:00.002-04:00

Before there was snowboarding, there was surfing.

Despite the apprehension while watching these guys slam their bodies into a cresting, giant wave, this video is oddly relaxing. It shows some outstanding surfing in slow motion. Pretty amazing!! It's like a water ballet.

These guys all surf very well. I have seen videos of some people who have... not.. surfed so well. They hit the waves so hard, you'd think they'd need knee braces after it all...

Surfing is an ancient Hawaiian sport. According to Surfing for Sport, Captain James Cook and crew encountered surfers when they discovered the Hawaiian islands in 1778. One of his lieutenants wrote in the log:

But a diversion the most common is upon the Water, where there is a very great Sea, and surf breaking on the Shore. The Men sometimes 20 or 30 go without the Swell of the Surf, & lay themselves flat upon an oval piece of plan about their Size and breadth, they keep their legs close on top of it, & their Arms are us'd to guide the plank, thye wait the time of the greatest Swell that sets on Shore, & altogether push forward with their Arms to keep on its top, it sends them in with a most astonishing Velocity, & the great art is to guide the plan so as always to keep it in a proper direction on the top of the Swell, & as it alters its direct. If the Swell drives him close to the rocks before he is overtaken by its break, he is much prais'd.

On first seeing this very dangerous diversion I did not conceive it possible but that some of them must be dashed to mummy against the sharp rocks, but just before they reach the shore, if they are very near, they quit their plank, & dive under till the Surf is broke, when the piece of plank is sent many yards by the force of the Surf from the beach.

The greatest number are generally overtaken by the break of the swell, the force of which they avoid, diving and swimming under the water out of its impulse. By such like exercises, these men may be said to be almost amphibious. The Women could swim off to the Ship, & continue half a day in the Water, & afterwards return.

The above diversion is only intended as an amusement, not a tryal of skill, & in a gentle swell that sets on must I conceive be very pleasant, at least they seem to feel a great pleasure in the motion which this Exercise gives.

Proof that the ancients were JUST as crazy as us moderns. :D

Herkimer House to Stay Open!

2011-03-25T00:43:00.002-04:00

Yessss!! This is great news for New Yorkers and history lovers.

WKTV in Utica, NY, is reporting that the Nicolas Herkimer Home in Little Falls, once slated for closure due to budget cuts, will remain open.

The state originally said they needed $326,000 to keep the site up and running, but now the park will be doing more with less.... a lot less. Senator James Seward and Assemblyman Marc Butler say they've got an agreement with the Parks and Recreation Department to keep the grounds maintained. The Friends of the Herkimer Home are also pitching in with their support. The site previously employed three or four people, but right now future staffing is up in the air. The good news, $100,000 has been secured in the state budget for the site, but officials plan to stretch it for more lean staffing costs over the next three years.

The Herkimer House was what got me interested in history and travel, way back when I was a girl. I was only 13 years old when I got the history bug. My school class visited the Herkimer Home on a field trip, when I was in 7th grade. At that age, most of my other peers were more concerned with cleansonix reviews, but I was smitten with the colonial era and how people lived back then. I still remember my experiences at the Herkimer Home-- the travel guides were dressed as colonials, and the made old-style Johnny cakes and popcorn for us.

So anyway, I am thrilled to see that the Herkimer Home will not be closed down. The kids and I visited the place so long ago-- and that was before my blog. So we'll have to visit it this year, take lots of pictures and savor the experience. Expect to hear more about it this year. :)

Ideals of Beauty

2011-03-17T21:36:00.004-04:00

Tonight I wrote an article about the history of GI (Government Issue) eyeglasses, horn-rimmed glasses, and geek glasses. I've never written a "fashion" article before. Since I like geeketry (I is one, by the way), I found the research interesting and the article great fun to write.

It made me wonder (once again) about fashion. And then I saw this photo in my Flickr photo file. It's a photo from the Women's Rights National Park in Seneca Falls, NY (click the link to read my post on my blog New York Traveler.net).

As a historian and travel blogger, I've addressed the issues of women's fashion before, albeit as a sidenote. For example, I researched and wrote about the Chinese practice of foot binding. And I've long lamented the corset and bustle in women's history.

Why do (mostly) women contort and maltreat their bodies like they do? Today we don't have foot binding or corsets, but there are the fashionable starvation diets and the hideous streetwalker clothing. What drives this?

When I think of fashion out of control, I always think of 18th century France. They led the way in some of the silliest fashions known to mankind. I mean, who would think this was attractive and something that you'd want to do??

SO I don't know exactly what drives people to do such extremes. Then again, I empathize more with the geeks, the social misfits, the countercultural kooks. Yeah, sure, I get a cheap auto insurance rate and don't eat my peas like anyone else... but gee-- I can't imagine EVER wanting to wear 10-foot-high hair or starving myself just so I can look like anyone else. Yet I do recognize the peer pressure to conform to the social group of choice. But I'd much rather be a slave to duct-taped geek glasses than corsets or poofy wigs. That's just me, I guess.

What do you think about fashion? Do you think fashion has more or less sway over us in our modern age?

Six Feet Deep Thoughts

2011-03-15T23:39:00.003-04:00

It hit me a few years ago: I'm turning out just like my grandma. That's good and bad. She wore dentures and support hose. :-p But she liked jokes and had a nice laugh. :) I have an old, old photo of her in a nurse uniform back in World War II, and I am amazed to see my own face in her expression. It's uncanny. But what REALLY makes me think about me and my grandma are the cemeteries. I find myself dragging my kids to all the cemeteries just like she dragged me around all summer long, eons ago, now.

She was a genealogy freak. BIG TIME. She wrote a dozen books filled (handwritten!) with notes and charts and tables about her ancestors. And I guess I got the bug. What's nice is that some genealogists follow this blog-- they actually are HELPED by all my photos and information about the places I visit, even the cemeteries!

Cemeteries are somber places, yes. But they are filled with history. I can't help but wonder about these people. What was life like for them back then? Were things so very different? What about their financial situation? In many cases, if the male head of the household died, the family was in dire straights. That's one change for the better-- life has greatly improved for women.

I haven't put much thought into my own placement in such a place. One of my relatives tried to encourage us to check out Burial Insurance rates... and when the husband worked in insurance, he did deal with some funeral insurance in various policies.

What about you? Are you older, do you think about such plans for seniors? I guess I'm thinking I'll be gone "in a twinkling of an eye," because of all the signs and seasons, you know.

But then... I wonder if THESE people, lying a-moulderin' in their graves, thought the same thing, that they would not see corruption. Makes ya wonder a bit.

Grandma is tucked away now, too; I miss her sometimes. But then again, when I hear myself laugh at a goofy joke, it's like she's here, anyway. :)

Terrific Sports & Recreation Gear and Games!

2011-03-11T15:14:00.002-05:00

Folks, I saw GREEN GRASS today! Hurray! The snow is melting! It's melting!!!

Pardon my enthusiasm. I'm just a *little* excited. :D It's been a long, dismal winter. We are all looking forward to crawling out of our dark homes into the sunlight again. My muscles are aching for outdoor activity.

This is the year we relax. Last summer, we spent every waking hour working on the house renovation. This year, I have promised the kids that we will have FUN. I have some travel plans that are in the works. I also want to create a very relaxing backyard patio where we can spend our summer evenings in quiet fellowship. I currently have nothing-- no furniture, no outdoor anything, nothing. I'm doing some shopping at CSN Stores in preparation for my plans. I'll probably create a "floating" deck system and build planters and other pretty things around it.

CSN Stores is my new "thing." They have a huge, huge selection from over 200 specialty stores, and the prices are phenomenal. Many items have free shipping, too. They have everything you can imagine- kitchen appliances, swingsets, outdoor playsets, wagons, playground equipment, stuff for make believe (like Indian tents!), and so much more. They also have sports games like croquet, bocce, foosball and tennis tables, just a TON of stuff. I'm so impressed with CSN Stores. Definitely check them out.

But in the meantime, I wait for the snow to melt..... it'll be gone soon, Lord willing!

Tenaciously Struggling Through the Final Dregs of Winter

2011-03-11T13:59:00.002-05:00

I find myself repeating through clenched teeth that spring IS indeed coming. Yes, yes. The snow is melting, and more importantly, the sun will be shining soon. That's very important. I miss sunshine.

But best of all, New York travel and tourist sites fling open their doors after Memorial Day. Oh it is SO difficult to wait that long! I never really understood why we have to wait so long for the travel season to officially open. After spending six months inside all winter, we are bursting at the seams by the end of March!

Well, at least some place are open earlier. I traveled out to the Finger Lakes area last month. We stopped at the National Women's Hall of Fame and the Women's Rights National Park (post coming up) as well as a few other places.

I learned a lot about the women's rights movement that began here in Upstate New York.

The time spent was much too brief, though. We are desperate for something like an Outer Banks vacation-- a REAL getaway for an extended period of time, a different environment where we can just RELAX and take it easy. I want to sip iced tea on a warm sandy beach, surrounded by azure ocean waters. Ahhh.

Someday, I hope and pray.

So I am white-knuckling it through the final days of winter. I hope to be getting a new vehicle, too, and that will make travel even more fun. :D Stay tuned! I expect many adventures this year!

Disney Daze

2011-03-11T13:10:00.003-05:00

It seems that all the bloggy moms are a-twitter on Twitter about Disney World these days. Did something happen and I don't know? Everyone was going to Disney World with their kids! I feel left out. :'(

Oh well, my teen and adult kids probably wouldn't have wanted to go, anyway. They are a bit too old for Disney World. I went with a friend when I was 14 years old. It seems like EONS ago. Florida was SO hot, I felt like I was going to melt (I went in July!). It was a very fun experience, my first time away from home. But you could spent days at Disney World and not see everything. I didn't have any kind of guide or guidelines.

Today's visitors have a bastion of resources at their disposal from the Internet, like ShopWiki's How to Plan a Disney Vacation. Yeehaw. The article is jam-packed with tips on when is the best time to go, seasonal events, necessary travel essentials, brush up on all the Disney films so your eyes aren't swimming when you get there, hotels, everything. They also have articles on Disney collectibles (I still have my old locket necklace that I bought while there- it cost me a whopping $10 at the time!)

In case you've never heard of ShopWiki, it's a huge Internet shopping resource. They don't sell products, they direct you to products for sale on the web. What's unique about them is that they show EVERYTHING for sale, not only the stores that pay for placement on the search engine results. So ShopWiki is very comprehensive. And their travel articles are very good.

Well, looks like Disney World is out for us (and it's way over our budget, anyway), but we are happy with our own type of travel plans. More on that in the very near future!

Abandoned House Near Geneva, NY

2011-03-03T16:14:00.002-05:00

While driving south of Geneva, NY, along the lake, I spotted this abandoned old house. I love old houses.

It was once a sweet little beauty, in it's time. My guess is that it was built in the 1880s or so. It's got gingerbread detailing and other very fine elements. The builder took great care when he built it.

Over the years, the homeowners added on to the structure. That front porch is very 1940s.

I wonder how long it's been empty? Don't houses like this make you wonder? Who built this house? What happy memories are here? Were the rooms filled with the happy laughter of children (one of the best fathers day presents, you know)? Did these people have a farm, did they perhaps raise chickens or were they part of the local hops or vineyard-growing economy? What happened here? Why did they leave?

The original stoop had obviously fallen away long ago. It's replacement was a pitiful and undersized concrete block, very harsh and ugly for such a sweet little home.

I wanted to go inside. I love roaming through old houses. But I wasn't completely sure if this one was still occupied... if not by people than perhaps by rodents with big teeth... so I just peeked inside the windows.

That's 1970s paneling and flooring. The place was probably rented out and eventually abandoned. Someone's slippers were left on the hallway floor. :( The place looked very dusty.

To me, houses seem like living organisms. It's tragic to see them empty. Like the discarded Velveteen Rabbit or Woody the Cowboy, I feel sad for homes that are no longer occupied but left to rot in solitude. A very sad sight.

Winter Break Specials at Syracuse Zoo

2011-02-21T09:47:00.002-05:00

If you're looking to get the cabin fever-crazed kids out of the house for winter break, why not take them to the zoo? We go to the zoo every winter. :D It's less crowded and the admission is very low, if charged at all. Utica Zoo in Utica, NY, has free admission up until April 2nd, where you can visit the animals and hike some of the trails in the back, weather permitting (bring your own snowshoes). Some animals may not be visible, as they may be "in hiding" during the cold weather (winter is certainly an effective best weight loss supplement for certain critters!). But when we go, it seems like the camel and the donkeys and the seals are especially friendly. Unfortunately, both tigers died, so that cage is empty. :( I hope they get tigers soon. The bald eagle there is amazing-- he's huge! Definitely worth visiting.

The Rosamond-Gifford Zoo in Syracuse has reduced admission during winter break. Admission is $4 for adults (19-61), $2 for youth (3-18) and $2.50 for seniors (62+). Children two years old and younger are free. Good prices, and the penguins are out, winter or no winter!

If you don't live in the Central New York area, check with your nearest zoo and see if they offer reduced or free admission during the winter. You might just have a great time!!

Absolutely Beautiful Upstate New York

2011-02-13T21:43:00.003-05:00

I was going through some of my Flickr archives tonight. Oh my word! Look at some of these exquisitely beautiful photos of the state! Sometimes I wish I had a huge, huge screen with xbox to make these photos fill the room.

Beautiful Trenton Falls, in Barneveld, NY:

The ruins of an old wooden pipeline that carried water for hydroelectricity in Trenton Falls.

This is at Steuben Burial Memorial Site in Remsen, NY

Also at Steuben Memorial:

At gorgeous Lake Ontario, in Oswego:

Lake Ontario at Sodus Bay, NY:

Lake George, NY:

Crazy roots in a swamp that was once the village for the ancient Oneida Indian tribe-- in Smithfield, NY

Chittenango Falls in Chittenango, NY:

This is White Lake, in the Adirondacks.

This is White Lake, in the winter:

The Hudson River in Albany, NY

Tupper Lake, Adirondacks:

My front yard :)

See how beautiful New York State is?? Ahhhhh, what a lovely place. :)

iPhone Apps For the Nature Lover

2011-02-13T01:14:00.000-05:00

Since spring is right around the corner, we will be soon crawling out of our winter-laden cabins, ready to head for the hills and hit the trails. If you are like me, you may decide to really "rough it" while camping-- forage for your own food and not pack any cushy air cushions, but there is NO WAY you're leaving the iPhone behind. My iPhone is like my third arm, my digital Swiss Army knife, Rolodex, survival library, nature resource, and Twitterverse all in one. :D

I've found a whole lot of really terrific apps for hikers, nature lovers, bird watchers... I'm pretty excited about them! Here are some of favorites or best rated:

Compass Free
Surprisingly, there are not a whole lot of compass apps on iTunes. Maybe calibration is too difficult? Compass Free is the best I've found, as it doesn't use digital technology to determine north, it uses the sun. Basically, Compass Free is, I think, a sundial compass-- you position the iPhone horizontal to the sun, and position your finger on the image of the compass. The shadow cast by the sun gives you your position.

WildLab Bird
This is one of my favorite apps. It's the largest free version of a field guide to birds available on iTunes, currently. You search by bioregion: coastal, woodland, wetland or grassland. Then you search by type of bird (thrush-like, swallow-like, etc). THEN you search by type of bird. I wish it was possible to search the entire index, but oh well. Every listing has a beautiful picture, information about the bird, and in most cases, an audio clip of the bird call (recorded by Cornell University). There's even a section on the app where you can notate your own sightings of the birds, take photos, and more. I love the app!

SAS Survival Guide
This app is based on the survival book by John "Lofty" Wiseman. There's a free version and an app that costs $6.99. I have the free version. It's very limited-- you can see in the photo that the full version has a lot of resources; the free app contains only "Essentials." Still, the free version is not bad at all, as it contains a few chapters on how to find water, planning for the unexpected, what's in a standard survival tin, forecasting weather, signaling, and several case studies stories. Probably the only thing missing is how to eat leather boots and dealing with breakdown service! I think it's a very informative app.

WikiHow Emergency Survival Kit
I think this is a "must have" for every traveler. It's free. The app lists everything you need to help yourself or other in an emergency or hazardous situation, from the Heimlich maneuver for babies to animal attacks to self defense and vehicle emergencies. It even has a tutorial on how to control a spooked camel! Has instructions and photos. HIGHLY recommended. Especially if you plan on riding a camel.

EveryTrail
The free version is extremely limited. The pro version costs $3.99. I am checking out the free version, but so far, I LOVE it and will probably buy the pro version. This kind of app is so perfect for a travel blogger. The EveryTrail video explains how this amazing app works. I'm very impressed! Here's the main EveryTrail website.

Critter Trax
This app costs $1.99. If it was free, I'd probably get it, but I'm not interested enough in tracking critters to buy it. However, you may like it if you like critters. It's got pretty good ratings at the site, and looks like it's very well organized with good images. If you have it, leave me a comment about how it performs.

Audobon Nature apps
iTunes has a ton of Audubon nature apps. The two that appealed to me are the Audubon Trees- A Field Guide to North American Trees for $9.99, and Audubon Guides - A Field Guide to Birds, Mammals, Wildflowers, and Trees $29.99. $30 for an app is rather steep, but I'll bet it's gorgeous and very resourceful. When I travel, I like to know about the trees and plants of the region. I probably wouldn't spend $10 or $30 on an app (I'd get a book, instead), but these may be useful to you.

Of course, I've already mentioned a few other incredible apps like Trails and Farmshed in a previous post. And if you're an urban lover, there are some very cool NYC apps, too.

I Love "Mess" Bags

2011-02-13T01:08:00.002-05:00

"Mess" bags is my little private term for messenger bags. I LOVE THEM! I have a couple of them, different sizes and uses for all my travel stuff. I have a "handheld" kind of mess bag, for my hefty DSLR camera and lens and accessories. I have a neoprene one for my 7" netbook. I have a few 17" messenger bags (well, I gave them to my daughters when they got their laptops), and I got a very nice Mobile Edge 15" for my laptop and for general puttering around. The Mobile Edge is my favorite messenger bag right now. :D It even has reflective strips on the side- how cool is that?!

OK OK I know messenger bags are supposed to be for toting laptops and netbooks. And I do, but rarely. I used them like a mini-backpack. I dislike backpacks because they put such strain on the shoulders and back-- messenger bags can be slung on the shoulder, and I like that. They are too large for a purse, though-- so I only use my mess bags when I travel and for carting my Bible and other stuff to church. It's very handy.

Do you have a favorite travel accessory, something you just couldn't be without?

Enjoying Your Stay in Los Angeles or Anywhere

2011-02-10T12:16:00.003-05:00

Going to be staying in California for vacation, maybe enjoying the illustrious Los Angeles tourist sites, or perhaps just relaxing on the beach? Whether you are vacationing in the Hollywood hills or anywhere for that matter, here are some great tips for making the most of your stay:

1. Choose a private holiday accommodation.
Skip the expensive and isolated hotels, and opt for a nice bed & breakfast or a luxurious holiday rental unit instead. Many rental homes are very affordable, clean, and are private. These are private properties that are available for travelers-- and they usually have better and more amenities (and are cleaner). SO instead of forking out the big bucks for the expensive chain hotel room, take a peek at rentals in Beverly Hills for a more enjoyable stay.

2. Research using the Internet.
Many cities offer free online guides, travel packages, and other resources on the Internet. You can contact a travel agency for information, or go to your local library and take a peek at some of the travel almanacs on the shelves. Reputable websites, such as Travel & Leisure, have some great articles on destinations, including this slick page about Los Angeles travel.

3. Pre-plan your itinerary, but leave time and money for impulsive moments.
I find I waste less time and money when I have a scheduled, pre-set travel plan, but I know that I am rather impulsive when it comes to new places. So I try to insert a couple of hours for what I call "travel exploration." This may be visiting a museum that I had not previously known about, or strolling through a bazaar, or even stopping to see kids competing on roller blades at some LA skating park. :)

4. Mingle with the locals.
I love to do this. I like to really get a feel for the surroundings. You can skip the national-chain restaurants and select a local restaurant, or visit a park, or just take a walk. I think one of the best parts of travel is learning more about the area one travels! I don't like to be isolated in the Big Travel Chain Stores bubble. Live a little. ;)

Hopefully, these tips help you make the most out of any vacation! Save the money, go local, and enjoy the ride. :)

Fresh Snow

2011-02-08T12:23:00.007-05:00

After the hoo-hah about the Blizzard of '11 (that pooped out after hitting Chicago and barely affected us in Upstate New York), things were cold but somewhat quiet, weather wise. It's been a very odd year for weather. Some old-timers at the barber shop were saying it's an old-fashioned winter. That is, a lot of piddly, little snow storms. We haven't REALLY had any major snow events this season, but lots of snow, because it falls down just about every day. It's tough on the small towns. Their low-budget highway departments are having to go out every day, to salt and sand and plow an inch here, and inch there. I guess it really IS an old-fashioned winter if the highway departments aren't prepared for such unusual constant streams of snow.

Anyway, we got a few fresh inches overnight. I ventured out into the 15-degree weather to snap a few photos.

Doesn't he look so cute with his bright orange hoodie? :D :D I love that thing. It practically glows in the dark!

It's a lot of snow, to be sure, especially a lot of snow that has fallen in such scanty increments. Lots of people here are eager for spring, but I'm not. Spring to me means mud and flooding. My property sits at the bottom of two perpendicular hills. While the flooding isn't as severe as the summer of 2006 and 2007, I think I have a phobia now. :(

ANYWAY. I'm looking forward to summer-- bone dry yards! Sunshine! Sitting under the ceiling fans and working on the laptop! And here's hoping the humidity is low this year. :D

Are you looking forward to the season change?

Ready For Spring Break Yet?

2011-02-06T13:46:00.001-05:00

I am. :D

I never really got any Christmas or New Year's vacation. I am such a bad mother-- I have been promising the kids that we REALLY will go on a vacation (and not just *any* average day trip) very soon. We had plans to do so on Christmas vacation, but I got clobbered with work, and two of the kids were sick with the flu. :( Talk about disappointing.

I have plans to take my girls to New York City sometime, and everyone will be going to Virginia this year, Lord willing. The problem is finding nice hotels in New York (we already have Virginia accommodations). After some browsing, I have found the perfect website! It's Octopus Travel, based in the UK. I read the FAQs and am pretty impressed with their "NO hidden costs" guarantee and their commitment to customer satisfaction. The database of hotels is huge, too. Penn Hotel, Ritz Carlton, Carter Hotel, etc, cheap and luxury hotels all at your fingertips. You can search by star rating, hotel brand, location, amenities, etc. It's a great website.

Octopus Hotel hosts TripAdvisor reviews, too. They recommend that, after staying at your hotel, you add to the reviews so the good hotels stand out (and the bad ones are avoided). All very consumer-friendly, I like it.

So if you are planning on taking a REAL break this spring break (or any time), take a peek at what Octopus Travel has to offer. I'm very impressed!

Note: Please be aware that while I am compensated for reviewing this website, all opinions are completely mine and are truthful to the best of my ability. Thanks for reading!

More Great New York State Travel Apps

2011-01-28T10:44:00.000-05:00

I've got more gems in the world of smartphone apps.... you can read the first post that showcased some very good apps for the New York State traveler.

New York State Ski Conditions
I don't ski, so I haven't used this app. But this looks like a beautiful app. The maps alone are lovely. With this app, you can instantly check the weather and trail conditions of your favorite ski mountain. A great app for those who like to "ski on the run" so to speak. ;)

NYCWay
This app is huge, a virtual encyclopedia of everything New York City. Besides the usual directories for restaurants, theatres, hotels, webcams, and transit, NYCWay also features available restrooms, banks, pharmacies, airports, Broadway shows, karaoke shows, parking, and LOADS more. If you're visiting The Big Apple, definitely grab this app. If you live there, get the app-- you may discovers some fascinating new places!

New Yawk Tawk: The Unofficial New York Dictionary
This is a cute app, but let me make one thing VERY CLEAR: There's a whole lotta New Yorkers living UPSTATE, north of the city, too! And we don't talk like this! SO if you get this app to learn New York-ese or are trying to translate the lingo, just remember that it's a New York CITY app. :D

Webcams!
There are a number of webcams available for the smartphones. Albany has their 2008 version of Northway traffic cams for I-87, and an updated 2009 version, too. My511NY also has traffic cams- more on that next. Panoramic Images 360 has some nice pictures.

My511NY
This is an app from the NYS Department of Transportation. It offers updates of traffic and commute information via your phone (or computer). You have to sign up at the MY511NY website in order to use the app. You have to sign up for the service, and give out your name, email, and cell phone number. I don't like that, why can't they just offer the traffic information for a route you select? But the app is not available until you sign up. It's a very useful app especially for cities, but the gathering of personal information puts a damper on the fun. Also, I snickered a little that NYS would come up with a cell phone app when they are such sticklers about using your phone while you drive. Ha!

I'll keep my eyes peeled for more good apps. If you know of any, please leave a comment!

Brooklyn Music Camp for Girls

2011-01-27T22:22:00.004-05:00

Parents, got a girl between the ages of 8 and 18 interested in music? Do you live in the Brooklyn, NY, area? There's a stellar program that you won't want to miss: it's the Willie Mae Rock Camp Music Lab.

Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girl's Music Lab is a local non-profit music & mentoring center. The camp offers girls ages 8 to 18 the opportunity to learn to play keyboard, drums, and electric guitar! It's a 14-week course, and it starts January 31st. The good news is that this is something any girl can do-- tuition is determined on a "need-based" scale. So it's very affordable. The music classes are suited for all levels of music achievement: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. So even if your young lady is already cooking up riffs on the axe, she can learn new skills and develop her talents.

This is a TERRIFIC opportunity for girls. I wish they had such a camp in my area!

You can learn more at the Willie Mae Music Lab website. The camp will be held at the Co-op School, Clinton Hill, in Brooklyn. The website has the schedule, times, location directions, and registration information. Or you can call 347-599-0716 for more details and to sign up for the camp.

My Februrary Itinerary

2011-01-22T11:37:00.003-05:00

Good news for me! I've booked a getaway for next month. I am STOKED. I haven't had a getaway in... oh my goodness... it must be half a year now. This is going to be the year we travel again. :) We'll be getting a more reliable vehicle, and I'm taking a break from renovating the home this year. Although... I JUST may attempt converting the garage into living space. It will not disrupt the rest of the house, so I can go at my own pace with that. We'll see. With four almost-grown kids in the house, it's getting a tad crowded. Some of the kids need their own space, now.

Anyway, the travel plans-- I plan on going out to the Finger Lakes for a few days. A very sweet bed and breakfast establishment is going to host my stay (It's the Three Tree Inn in Geneva, NY, an absolutely gorgeous inn), and we hope to see the Montezuma Winery. I don't know what else I will be doing. I'd like to see the Seneca Falls Women's Hall of Fame, or perhaps enjoy the lake and listen for the Seneca Drums or something, hee hee.

I'm so happy that the inn is helping to sponsor my stay. I'll be giving them a review on my websites. I hope they get some great visibility from it. You know, I should start printing my own GOPromos promotional items or promotional pens or something. I've considered making a car door magnet, to advertise my travel blog a bit. While I certainly prefer going "incognito" when I travel, sometimes it is very helpful to let the tourist establishment know that I will be blogging about them. Some places are very nice when I inform them of our visit and hand over my business card. They make offer a free hot dog, or a promotional pencil or what have you. Others look at me as if to say, "What's a 'blog'?"

Oh well. I'm finding that more and more businesses are going on Twitter, which is very helpful because I am able to make contacts. I'm really looking forward to my stay in Geneva.

You know, many bed & breakfasts are not much more expensive than the hotel chains. And with the growing problems of bed bugs and other sordid hotel problems, it's much cleaner to stay at a B&B, and many B&B's are more conscious of taking care of the local community, like using green cleaning supplies and promoting local businesses. The B&Bs are also friendlier-- the hosts are very hospitable and really go out of their way to make you feel welcome. You can also discover some local history and local attractions off the beaten path (which is my kind of travel).

I just can't wait to go! I'll have plenty of photos for you. :D

Good NY Travel Apps

2011-01-17T10:20:00.001-05:00

I have a feeling that I have probably only scratched the surface for New York travel apps. I have looked at some, downloaded them, kept some, uninstalled others. I thought I'd share a few of the really superior ones. Please leave any of your own suggestions in the comments, I would just love to discover more.

NYC Mate
This is a great app, perfect for the city traveler. It's a map of the subway routes for Manhattan. It's the same map that you see posted in the subway train stations. I love this app!

Farmshed
This is a great app, whether you travel or not. It's a database of farms, farmer's markets, wineries, orchards, buying clubs, u-pick farms, restaurants, and loads more for Upstate New York. WOW.

Trails
This is distributed by Demand Studios. It's a beautiful app and PERFECT for the hiker and nature lover. The app will locate trails near you, or you can search all trails in New York State or other regions. You can also rate the trails, get instant local weather, a description of trails, the length and number and average duration of walking the trails, and more.

Cheap Gas
This app isn't exactly unique to New York; you an use it anywhere. It's a simple app that detects your location and spits out the gas prices where you are. You click the station on the list to get a map of the location. WOW, gas is pricey in New York State!

Yelp
OK, everybody probably has Yelp. But I mention them because this is a cool app. I haven't had a lot of travel time to use it, but it's very handy when yu are out of town and want to find a local restaurant or something.

Goby
This is a new one that I just downloaded. Goby is an app that finds things to do where you are. First, Goby detects your location. Then you plug what you are interested in (for example, what to do today). The selections are pretty narrow-- you really have to have a good idea of what you want to do (say, historical museums), and Goby will display results of historical museums in your location.

Of course, some apps may be free, some may charge. All the ones that I mention here are free. A few have advertisements and such. I don't care if they do, I can ignore the AT&T ads and diet pills that work ads easily enough, especially if the app is fabulous. :D

However, the apps lists are, for me, a little difficult to locate sometimes. I wish there was one place that listed them all, by categories. The iTunes site doesn't seem to list them all (not that I can find), and the Apps app in the iPhone seems limited. SO it's very hit and miss.

Please leave a comment if you have a terrific gem of an app that you want to share. I am always looking for more!

Spoiled Sports Stars

2011-01-16T20:00:00.003-05:00

Well, with the Super Bowl coming up (February 5th!!!), the media has turned its gaze on the sports stars again (not that ever looked away, it's just been less intense). One of the great tragedies of sports, I think, is the undeserved attention we give it. Seriously. I mean, sports are great, and I like watching the Super Bowl, but our culture has elevated sports players to gods. This isn't terribly unusual-- ancient Rome did the same with gladiators.

Some of the sports stars think they can get away with ANYTHING, too. Holy cow, and maybe they can. These folks are in and out of detox centers, counselors, even jail! I think there is too much pressure and way too much idolization of them. What do you think?

Wouldn't it be great to just WATCH a simple game without the media and sports bookies pressuring us to elevate these players to the level of Zeus and Hera? It's JUST a GAME.

Anyway, rant over. Now back to our regular programming.

Montezuma Winery and Plans to Travel

2011-01-16T19:22:00.003-05:00

I made some fabulous new connections with New York State travelers and tourist vendors on Twitter. There is an entire community of Twitterers from the Finger Lakes (I am actually from Cayuga County), and it was great finding out wonderful new places to visit and things to do. I'm planning on visiting a posh bed and breakfast in Geneva, NY, in a few weeks, I can't wait for that! I'll have more details and a review soon.

I also discovered the website for my favorite winery, Montezuma Winery. Yay! I am really really hoping we can see the place. I did a review of their unique Cranberry Bog wine.

One of my ancestors helped form Howland's Island and the beginnings of the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, way back in the mid 1800s. I have been past the place many times, but have never visited.

The Montezuma Winery is so named because it is right in the same area (Seneca Falls area). The owner, George Martin, used to be a beekeeper of all things, but diversified into wine-making. The wines are unique because they are fruit wines, taking advantage of the abundance of delicious fruits that grow in New York State. I love the Cranberry Bog. I have not tried the others yet. I hope to do so when we visit the winery.

I'm pretty excited! I'm starting off 2011 with a TRIP! Woo hoom what could be next, custom laptops?! On the road again, at last! Stay tuned.

Got Any Car Recommendations?

2011-01-15T08:30:00.004-05:00

My eyes are swimming. :-p I need a new car, and I really don't know what to get. For the first time in 17 years, I'm NOT getting another Dodge Caravan! No! I'm tired of them! And I'm tired of replacing the transmissions. Yikes.

I'm in the market for a nice, mid-sized (used) sedan. Something that the kids and I can travel comfortably in. Oh I'd just LOVE to get an RV, you know-- my dad had one. He loaded the thing with the best RV accessories (even a plasma TV!). They were nice, very nice. But it's a teeny-tiny bit beyond my budget. I think they run for, what, $150,000. All I could afford would be the caravan water tank. Plus, I don't think I could drive the monster-- the Hubs would have to take on that task.

So I'm into cars right now. We looked at a '07 Chevy Malibu, but I read that they have power steering problems. I know that every car has SOMETHING, some kind of problem... but I don't want to deal with steering problems.

Hey you car guys-- got any suggestions?? I've heard good things about the Hyundai Sonata... and the Toyota Prius.... but I don't know what else. I'm willing to go with a compact SUV if I have to. But I have four tall teens who need their leg room. So as much as I would love to get a zippy compact car again, I don't think they would tolerate it.

Here's what I'm looking for:

1. Roomy interior

2. Pretty good gas mileage (I only got 19mpg with the minivan on good days, so anything better than that is good!)

3. I don't care about resale value

4. I don't care about amenities like fins or radios or a valet that pops out of the glove box and serves me coffee (that's what I have kids for, lol)

5. No older than 2006.

Got any ideas, recommendations, cars to avoid? I'm all ears!!!! Thanks!

Snowmobiling in Oneida County

2011-01-10T20:22:00.004-05:00

The great benefit about snowmobiling in Oneida County is the vast number of trails available. There's the Adirondacks to the north, and the Catskills to the south. With lots of wide-open space in the Mohawk Valley.

Stick to the trails, drive sober, always ride with a buddy, and PLEASE do not drive on private property without permission. I have a nice back yard, and snowmobilers love to roar up and down my yard (in town, even!) tearing out my flower beds and shrubs. Some idiots had the gall to roar right up to my windows and race around the house. Believe me, I was ready to throw the plantation shutter at them. So please don't aggravate the property owners!

Also, please do not drink and drive. Every year, especially in the Old Forge area, we hear news stories of snowmobilers who are killed. It is devastating to read about all the young people's lives wasted. It is a tragedy that can be completely averted. Yeah, I'm preaching but it's important to know this stuff. PLEASE do not drink alcohol and then drive the snowmobile.

The Oneida County Area Snowmobile Association has some great trail maps, although you can also get them at Thruway Exit 31 welcome center booth.

Looks like we're going to get some more snow, it's a great time to brush up on the trails and the safety laws!

Stay safe!

photo courtesy of Northfield.org

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About WinterCampers in 6 Minutes

2011-01-05T11:12:00.005-05:00

I am so envious of this group! It's WinterCampers.com. Winter is the BEST time to go camping-- no bugs, no crowds, no litter, no boom boxes--- it's a time when people who REALLY love camping go camping.

Jim Muller of WinterCampers.com sent me a video, "WinterCampers Celebrate Winter Camping." It's a collection of their 35 camping trip photos ever since the group began in January 1997, set to a rousing rendition of jazz music.

Boy, they look like they have had SUCH fun!!!!

Congratulations, WinterCamping Dudes!

Check out their website for more stories, photos, and some very good camping articles (such as, how to build a fire in the winter). They just may come in handy someday.

Not Ready To Emerge From the Wintry Cocoon...

2011-01-03T15:23:00.003-05:00

I have never had such an extended absence from blogging. I can't really call it a vacation, I did not "vacate" and I certainly did not I relax much. The kids were very sick all during their winter break, so I spent my time nursing their ailments. It's tough for a kid to be sick, even worse when it's during a break from school. They were so disappointed, and so was I, for them. :(

I had promised them we'd go on a trip. Scratch that. Sickness and car trouble put an end to that. Oh well, maybe it's for the best. Of course, we are disappointed-- we really haven't gone anywhere since January 2010-- but we did get a large section of the house renovated this past year. IT's much much solace to younger folks who want to go hiking and exploring. I tell ya-- have just GOT to get them a vacation sometime.

So anyway, I've spent some of my holiday break tinkering with computers, writing tech articles, lounging in the rocking chair by the heater. I've really, really tried to slow down my activities, as I just may burn out if I keep pushing myself like I have. That's been the extent of my break--- puttering around.

I created a small work station in my bedroom. It's not the most beautiful of spaces-- no Egyptian cotton Duvet cover on the bed, no nearby mahogany business desk (how I wish!). I just have my laptop on a small cart by the side of the bed. There, I can put up my foot (to relieve the sciatica) and be in a quiet place to write. The cat often joins me, nestling under the covers and snoring in her quiet kitty way. It's peaceful (when the dogs aren't yapping). And some days I even do get articles written!

We're about 1/3 of the way through winter.... I'm not yet ready to emerge from my wintry cocoon. I want it to snow more, I want it to be quiet and cozy for a little while before spring pops up and outdoor activities beckon me. I want to relish the quiet before the frantic gardening and renovating season begins again. Here's hoping for some lake effect soon!

How was your holiday break?

Snowmoble Season Officially Open

2010-12-19T19:47:00.004-05:00

Snowmobile season officially begins Wednesday, December 22 in Upstate New York! And guess what-- we actually HAVE SNOW this time. Hunting season is over, and now the snowmobiles will be roaring everywhere. I have gathered some good resources for you if you are on the EGDE of your seat waiting for tear off on your snowmobile!

Here's a link to Upstate New York Snowmobile clubs. Many have websites, or at least a contact number you can call. The list also includes clubs in Canada and Pennsylvania. Snowmobile clubs are great ways to meet new folks, get access to great trails and special discounts.

Some websites that offer maps and other information are:

Adirondack Trail Maps, a new website that looks very promising. The latest post was about the Old Forge Snodeo (rats, we missed it). The site is building more resources- it's one to watch.

This website has a nice laminated map of current snowmobile trails this year. The map is a little pricey-- $20 -- but it's a great resource. A map also makes a great Christmas gift for the snowmobile nut in the family.

Here's a great site to get holiday and some of the best dad bday gifts. Many are travel-related- I love the car charger/coffee warmer gadget! They also have nice leather and cashmere gloves, and a very classy pocket compass. Good gifts.

Of course, there's the DEC's snowmobile page with lots of links to peruse, including a list of forest preserve lands for snowmobiling, and some very good tips on snowmobile safety. REMEMBER to never drink and drive!!! Every year, we have numerous snowmobile fatalities because folks are driving impaired or carelessly. Stay safe.

Finally, if you are a snowmobile fanatic, and can't get enough about the season, see the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, & Historic Preservation’s Snowmobile Unit (opens in PDF file). Everything you wanted to know about snowmobiling and then some.

We Got More Snow!

2010-12-16T19:55:00.003-05:00

Hurray! Here's the proof. :)

The snow plow plastered snow all over the tree.

Here's hoping my yews don't crack from the weight.

Icicles dangling from the eaves. There must be a large heat loss in this area of the house. We always get large icicles right here, every year. The cause must be something up on the second floor, because I gutted and insulated the first floor, and we still get icicles. Ugh.

Notice how gray the sky is, even though the sun was shining.

It looks to be a quiet week, now. I think we beat the snow totals for the month already. :)

I'm hoping we get another nice batch before Christmas. I don't like brown, soggy snow, as it looks ugly.

Attractive Uniforms for Medical Pros

2010-12-16T19:35:00.002-05:00

In my area of Central New York, there are a large number of medical professionals and specialists. I've seen some nurses wearing the cutest uniforms and scrubs lately. When I was in the hospital every couple of years to have my kids, waaay back when, most doctors and nurses wore the most boring and bland uniforms and scrubs. In the 90s, I started to see some nurses wear more colorful scrubs uniforms. They are so nice, so welcoming!

If you are a medical professional and are looking for something beyond the ugly green or blue scrubs, take a peek at BlueSkyScrubs.com. They have a really sweet selection of scrubs and uniforms, and even some very nice lab coats. I love the colorful ones with polka dots! As an "outsider," and not as one in the medical profession, nice uniforms make it seem like the nurse or technician LIKES their job. Check out the site. These also make nice gifts for the doc or nurse in the family. :D

Remnants of Autumn, and the Lake Effect Phenomenon

2010-12-13T20:07:00.004-05:00

Ta da:

Picture taken after our first big lake effect blitz of the season, about a week ago. Over the weekend, we had RAIN. It melted a good deal of the 42" we'd managed to accumulate, ugh. Everything is soggy and ugly...

Ah, but another lake effect is brewing even as I speak.

Lake effect is what we Great Lakes states call those freaky bouts of intense precipitation that bubble over the lakes and move onto land, dumping vast amounts of either rain or snow on us. They always travel from west to east. Storms that come from the east westward are called Nor'easters. They are equivalent to the hurricanes that southerners experience.

photos courtesy of accuweather.com and earthsys.ag.ohio-state.edu

I used to live between Lake Ontario and Lake Oneida. MAN OH MAN did we get snow. Redfield to the north (Tug Hill plateau) routinely gets pummeled with snow-- 10 feet in a storm, sometimes. I don't think we ever got that much, maybe half of that. A LOT of snow there.

I like the snow. I'm looking forward to the muddy lawns being covered again with glistening crystals. Bring it on!

Interesting Ice Formation

2010-12-11T14:49:00.002-05:00

Now that we can go outside and our nose hairs do not instantly freeze into solid chunks of ice, we took a jaunt outdoors today. The kids had fun playing in the snow, and I had a blast photographing them. It's nice to take a little break from researching Wholesaleinsurance.net, and just have some FUN outside!

Every time I look at this, it makes me crack up!

Another interesting this we discovered is a strange ice formation in a chunk of ice that had fallen off a roof. I've never seen ice form this way!

So what do you think happened there? Did the water suddenly freeze? Or ice suddenly thaw? It's weird, like reptile scales. Never seen anything like it. If you guys have a clue, let us know!

And now.... my break is over. Back to work...

November Drive... Christmas Drive....

2010-12-11T12:31:00.003-05:00

What a difference a week or two makes.

One week we had drenching rains and milder temperatures, the next we had near zero temperatures and snow, tons and tons of snow! I have been looking back on the photos I took of our drive to Paris Green in Sauquoit, NY, and marvel at the difference.

Everyone is blogging about Christmas right now, chatting about the trees or the latest, grooviest football gift to get or whatever. We don't do Christmas. Not because I'm Jewish or Muslim... just because the holiday is too commercialized, and because I'm not fond of Catholic holidays in general (Christmas was created not to celebrate Jesus' birth, which was in the spring, but to create a syncretistic church where pagans and saturnalia worshipers could feel comfortable). We make Thanksgiving Day our biggest holiday. We don't go gaga over gifts, either.

Christmas is so over-rated. Oh, for some it is a marvelous time to get together with family and friends, that's great. But the hype-- oh, the hype. Maybe some people like it, but as I get older the very LAST thing I want to do on any vacation is go bananas trying to wrap gifts, decorate, clean the house, make scads of meals, and clean up after party guests. I like things more low-key, now.

Although sometimes I kinda wish we would celebrate the holiday... I saw a SWEET SWEET Toshiba laptop at the store! Would make a great gift for me, LOL! ;)

Anyway, the snow makes things much livelier, more cozy around here. I'm going to use the Christmas break for cleaning the house and unpacking more stuff. We never really moved everything back in after the kitchen renovation, and we still have a lot of unorganized shelves and boxes to sort through... and I do plan to take things a little easy, too. :D How about you?

Best Time to Publish Posts.. hmmmm...

2010-12-06T17:18:00.003-05:00

I read on ProBlogger.net that the best time to publish posts is right around 9am, EST. Most readers seemed to "like" blog posts during that time. However, the best time to tweet your 9am blog post is later in the afternoon-- that's when twitheads seems to RT your blog post for others to see.

Interesting.

I usually publish my blogs in the mornings, about noon. However, I do know that many of my readers read my posts about 10 to 11 am. I don't think I will change my habits concerning this (as I would have to change my lifestyle, too). But I like statistics like this. Interesting. When do you read blog posts? When do you write them?

I have been a writing fiend lately. I'm actually overwhelmed these days! I had a lull over the summer, so that I almost despaired about my blogging career, but then WHAMMO I have been getting consistent work for a few months. It's great because I was able to get a cell phone, and I'm able to pay off the loans I took for the kitchen renovation. I also hope to take the family on a vacation next summer. Lord knows, they deserve it. We have been working non-stop for a long time.

The kids want to see Virginia. I do, too, but I also want to see the ocean. I see the specials at http://www.horizonmyrtlebeach.com, and it makes me drool. The Myrtle Beach hotel is on the coast-- oh! so lovely! I could spend weeks and weeks galavanting the Myrtle Beach best hotels, walking the golf courses and seeing the historic sites. *sigh*

Of course, it's all just a dream right now. Right now, I must write more posts. I continue to save, little at a time. :D Here's hoping we get our dream vacation....

Upstate Finally Getting Snow

2010-12-06T16:23:00.003-05:00

Well, with the snowplows finally roaring about me, I can announce that Upstate New York finally has snow. Our November was downright balmy, very unusual! But it rained like CRAZY. :-p

Anyway, we have snow. I am thrilled, but some crazy people are babbling on about missing summer weather! What?! lol Hey. I know how much you guys must miss all the fun resorts in Myrtle Beach where you play golf all day and sink your toes into the sand and sip pina coladas on the the boardwalks and lobby of the lush Myrtle Beach hotel ... but shoveling snow can be JUST as FUN!!!

YIPPEEE!!!

:|

Erm, well, maybe a good deal on http://avistaresort.com and a few rounds of golf on the balmy Atlantic coast resort does sound like a good idea. :D

Seriously, what do you think? Would you rather stay in the snowy areas for the winter? Or escape to more temperate areas year-round? I'm pretty happy traveling-- I like to see new places-- but I do like winter. So I might go half and half.

New York Traveler

Hammondsport, NY -- America's Coolest Small Town?

Visit Whistler This Winter

Nothing To Do

HGTV House Hunters: Guest Post

A Beautiful Time Lapse Travel Video

Find the Wise Men

Change of Email + Forgetfulness = Lapse in Service

2012: Pressing Forward

Sometimes Writing Sucks

You've Got Connections

Snow At Last in Central New York

Seeing Green This Season

Beautiful Adirondack Time Lapse Video

Read About Our Howe Caverns Trip

Free Museum Admission this Weekend

Howe Caverns Sneak Peek

Eleanor of Aquitaine and The Cloisters

Going to Howe Caverns!

Free Admission to Syracuse Zoo for Veterans and Military Members

If You Like History...

Quirky Stuff From the Adirondack Museum

Love it together!

Adirondack Eye Candy

SO. BAD.

Up Early

No Place on Earth...

The Open Road: Route 28 Adirondacks

Can I Go Back Now?

Adirondack Coyotes *shudder*

Fall Foliage Report : Gonna Fly Now

More Tornadoes

Tornado in Mohawk Valley

Diet Slip

Catskill Cats

An Anniversary Has Come and Gone

I'm Giving Away Tickets to the State Fair!

Our Latest Trip: to the Catskill Region!

Photo Surprise

My Literal "StayCation"

If It Wasn't a Cemetery, We'd Probably Have Lunch

Is This What an Anvil Cloud Looks Like?

It's Raccoon Season in Upstate New York

The Story of Edward Carrington and Patrick Henry's Speech

OMG-- Have You Tried Zumba??

My Cool New T-Shirt

Goodbye, June

Oh. It's About Drunk Driving.

Strange http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Code in Blogger Posts

Milk Production Down in New York State- Why Every NYer Should Care

House Sale Season

New NY Law Proposed to Make Gadget Use While Driving a Primary Offense

Boy, I Love Blogging!

Good Heavens, It's Been Rainy

Brave, Brave Tulips

It's Spring! It's Really and Truly Spring!

Guest Post: Planet Earth Documentaries

Madison County Tourism Email- A Great Job!

Flooding in Central New York

The Upstate NY "Farm Stay"

Country Roads, Take Me Home...

Memorial Day Truck Show at New York State Fairgrounds

It's Passed. An Historic Moment

The Utica Zoo Has Some New Additions

Good Travel Resource Website

Does Anyone Still Print Their Photos??

Rose Hill Mansion, Geneva, NY

Lost and Found in Brooklyn and Paris

Surfing in Slow Mo'

Herkimer House to Stay Open!

Ideals of Beauty

Six Feet Deep Thoughts

Terrific Sports & Recreation Gear and Games!

Tenaciously Struggling Through the Final Dregs of Winter

Disney Daze

Abandoned House Near Geneva, NY

Winter Break Specials at Syracuse Zoo

Absolutely Beautiful Upstate New York

iPhone Apps For the Nature Lover

I Love "Mess" Bags

Adirondack Coyotes shudder