Category Archives: How to Stay Young

Happy Birthday from Hollywood Casino

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Birthdays are meant to be celebrated…especially the older you become…because not everyone is fortunate enough to become old!  For my birthday on Friday, I was treated by Hollywood Casino to an overnight stay with dinner and dancing at their beautiful venue in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.  If you’ve been following along, you’ll remember my post here explaining how I received all of this as a complimentary gesture!

My husband and I arrived to our room about 5:00pm and were pleasantly surprised with their simple, but elegant decor!  They recently renovated…

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Here’s the view from our room…

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Gettin’ Down with The Soul Pocket Band

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I’ve been a fan of the Soul Pocket Band for years now…groovin’ to their Mojo songs and had another opportunity last night at Newport on the Levee, a complex of shops, restaurants, free events and more, located on the Ohio River in Newport, Kentucky!  I went my friend Teresa and had my new camera with me…a Nikon D5100 with an 18-200mm lenses.  It’s a bit bulky compared to my last camera…especially when dancing, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a frequent companion!

You can make it out a bit here in Teresa’s sunglasses…

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Here are some of the performers…Victoria

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Crackin’ my Whip

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I kept a secret from all of you!  Last year during my 40 day African adventure through six countries, I purchased a leather bullwhip from our Tour Guide for $100.00.  I know…you’re probably thinking, “Why would she have done that?”.  Well…it’s fun, it’s a challenge (to not hurt yourself), and it’s somewhat meditative.

Anyway, yesterday a friend came over for lunch and to pick up a camera he purchased from me for a backpacking trip to Colorado and I showed the whip to him.  It didn’t take much prodding to get him to try it.  After a couple of minutes he got the hang of it and was crackin’ the whip!  We videotaped each other, so I thought you might like to see mine.  I played around with the iMovie settings to make it go fast, slow and backwards, in addition to normal.

What do you think?  Next time I think I’ll wear high heels and a skirt!

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Harmony Hill Vineyards

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Harmony Hill Vineyards  in Bethel, Ohio is the perfect way to spend an afternoon and/or evening!  I met my Meetup.com hiking club there yesterday and took a short hike…probably a mile…around the vineyards.  The history of the farm is really interesting.  The owners named the farm Harmony Hills after witnessing all of the wildlife existing in perfect harmony.  They grow hay and medicinal herbs in addition to the grapes on their 70 acres of sustainable farmland.  In 2006 they were certified as a National Wildlife Federation Remote Wildlife Habitat!

Here’s the entrance…

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And some of the beautiful vineyards…

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Lovin’ Loveland Bike Trail

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Last night was perfect for a 12 mile bicycle ride on the Loveland Bike Trail which is located only 10 minutes from my home!  The 70 mile paved trail follows an old railroad line and the Little Miami River.  As I was taking a photo of the Loveland office, where I began, this gentleman called out wanting me to take his photo…so I had to quickly snap.

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A bit farther up the trail this guy and his beautiful dog were willing subjects.  Look at the blue eyes of the doggie…gorgeous!  I’ll bet that’s a great way to meet women!

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What do you think of my beach cruiser bicycle…purchased on Craigslist for $60 and it looks brand new!  I love the little basket!

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Hiking Dayton, Kentucky

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Saturday I went on a three-mile hike with my hiking club through Meetup.com in Dayton, Kentucky, which is located along the Ohio River, across from Cincinnati.  It has finally started to warm up some and the sun was shining!  We split into a faster group and a slower group.  I’m always in the fast group, but wanted time to take photos…so I joined the slower group.  In this photo you can see the faster group up ahead…

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Free Music through Freegal

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Recently I discovered Freegal Music, an online site offering free music through your library.  I love anything free!  I’ve been downloading free book rentals from the library to my Kindle for a while.  Anyway, you just log into your library online with your card number and pin…and if your particular library offers the service, it will be listed on their website.  Once you’re in the site and you’ve clicked on a song to download, it will go directly to your iTunes account.  My library allows three downloads per week and the week starts over on Monday.  So…tomorrow I get three more.  They don’t offer all of the songs I’d like yet…for example…Bruno Mars “When I was your Man”; Ed Sheeran “The A Team”, The Civil Wars “Billie Jean”, or Red Hot Chili Peppers “Scar Tissue”.  They add songs frequently, so I’ll check back soon on those.

Today I downloaded Sara Bareilles “Love Song”, Ella James “At Last”, and Wild Belle “Keep You”.  I have over 3360 songs so far on my iTunes.  My iPod is almost full, so eventually I’d like to purchase one that has a larger capacity.

I like most genres of music except rap and some country.  I lean towards soft rock, R&B, some pop, etc.  I love Adele, but who doesn’t?  I went out dancing Friday night with girlfriends and had a great time!  It’s great exercise also!

I can’t remember if I posted this photo recently, but I think it’s the only one of me dancing.  I was in Lisbon, Portugal…

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If you can dance to accordion music, you can dance to anything!

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Hiking Rowe Woods

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Rowe Woods, aka The Nature Center is located in a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio.  My husband and I (and Jake the spoiled hunting dog) went hiking there yesterday.  We probably hiked 4 miles.  Hiking is one of my favorite things to do.  Even in this cold, dreary weather–there is beauty!

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Snowflakes would drift down lightly from time to time… Continue reading →

Hiking with the Clouds

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A few days ago, my husband and I headed over to the Longbranch Farms located a few minutes away from our home and took a hike!  The sky was gorgeous and it was warm..50 degrees…compared to recently.

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Hiking on the Appalachian Trail

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Hiking on the Appalachian Trail was another bucket list experience!  I discovered that you can hike Lodge to Lodge, so you don’t have to carry a tent and food (other than snacks and lunch), along a 17 mile portion of the trail through Virginia in the Shenandoah National Park.  If you’d like to plan your own trip, the details are here.

These are some of the images I encountered while hiking…

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Hiking the Colorado Trail

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Hiking the Colorado Trail is a perfect way to spend the day!  The scenery is picture perfect!  I hiked a portion of the Molas Trail, an 8 mile round trip hike, that descends to the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, and follows the Colorado Trail for a little ways.

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Hiking Olympic National Park, Washington

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Hiking in Olympic National Park, Washington is a feast for the senses!  I was blown away by the natural beauty!  I was there in July of 2011 and the weather was glorious.

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Hiking Petra

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Hiking Petra is an electrifying experience!  Although the landscape seems stark…it’s alive with energy!  Over the course of two days, I was able to hike for miles through the ancient grounds, high into the rock formations.  These horse and buggies are available for those that aren’t able or don’t want to walk.

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