Looking back at everything I’ve done in the past year, makes me realize how lucky I am. My year has been filled with lots of life!
Exercise always plays a big part. Not only hiking…
Tag Archives: Travel
Travel Spirit Meetup Group
I’ve just began my own Meetup group called Travel Spirit Meetup Group. If you’d like to take a look…here’s the link! I’m very excited to begin organizing meetups to travel together and to share our tips and travel stories! It doesn’t matter where you live…if you join, you could still meetup with us somewhere!
Here’s a photograph from Lake Malawi, Africa…
I’m working on another Powerpoint presentation…from my 40 day trip through six countries in Africa. It will have to be split into two presentations because I have over 200 photographs and an hour isn’t long enough to share 40 days of adventure!
Related articles
- Dallas and Seattle Official Meetup Tickets are available now! (thechive.com)
- Docker Meetup at Twilio (San Francisco) (docker.io)
- We’re excited to announce that Meetup is acquiring Dispatch! Dispatch is a startup… (meetupblog.meetup.com)
- PSF Ladies Meetup: 2 TODAY at Espresso A Mano (steelcityskeptics.net)
- New Feature: Create and edit Meetups on the go (meetupblog.meetup.com)
- New Meetup Group in London, (maconsultancy.wordpress.com)
- OpenStack Meetups :: Getting Started with RDO (jaddog.org)
- Kinks Hair Meetup a Success! (thekinkshair.wordpress.com)
- New Meetup & Networking Group in London (maconsultancy.wordpress.com)
I did it!
Last night I gave an hour-long presentation on a trip I took to Egypt and Jordan back in 2009, to a Travel Meetup club I belong to! Although I was a member of Toastmasters for a while and gave a few five-minute speeches, this was a great accomplishment for me. I wasn’t that nervous and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It probably helped that there were only 9 people there…but for me it was a great feeling! My Powerpoint presentation had 120 photographs that were shot with a point and shoot, but I recently bought Lightroom 5, so I doctored them up some. Now I can’t wait to give presentations on my other epic trips…Peru…SE Asia…and Africa!
To avoid the worst of traffic, I left my house early to drive to Covington, Kentucky, where the event was held, so I had some extra time and decided to practice my photography. These two photographs are of the Cincinnati skyline at sunset.
Here I am in the venue before the presentation. I love the architectural elements of the building…the high ceilings, beautiful woodwork, and large windows.
When you face your fears, anything is possible!
Related articles
- Adobe Lightroom Is A Professional Photographer’s Best Friend (forbes.com)
- Lightroom 5.2 (lightfollowers.wordpress.com)
- How Toastmasters Club Improves One’s Happiness Quotient (eminenttmc.wordpress.com)
- For the Novice: Club Contests Enrich Everyone (talkforchange.wordpress.com)
- What’s In It For Me? (firstoaktm.wordpress.com)
- Toastmasters International (derekgella.wordpress.com)
- 3 tips to be awesome! (slideshare.net)
Autumn has arrived at Indiana’s oldest and largest winery…Oliver Winery
Oliver Winery in Bloomington, Indiana has stunning scenery…stone landscaping, sculptures, beautiful flowers, and tranquil seating areas. For my annual girls’ weekend this year, five of us visited the winery this past Saturday. It’s one of eight wineries on the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail. The day before, a few of us went to the Butler Winery, which is also on the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail, and really enjoyed our time there. They are very different from each other. Butler Winery is much smaller, has a more homey feel and natural beauty, and only a handful of people were there. As you’ll see from these photos…Oliver Winery was very crowded, but beautiful!
Dee is taking our photo here…
Hiking the Rock Shelter Loop Trail
I love hiking and so do my girlfriends, so on our recent girls’ weekend, we went hiking on the Rock Shelter Loop Trail in Morgan Monroe State Forest, Indiana. I had researched hiking trails in the area, and this trail seemed to be a good choice. The trail was only supposed to be 20 minutes away from our Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO), but getting lost on those back country roads made it seem much farther. We couldn’t find the trail head once we were in the State Forest, but luckily I had the phone number for Morgan Monroe State Forest with me, so we called its location. We weren’t going crazy…there was no sign for it. The large sign said Low Gap Trail and then once you park and start that trail, there is a small sign (see below) indicating that the Rock Shelter Loop Trail is part of that trail.
Anyway, it was supposed to be a three-mile hike, but ended up being four miles. I took a photograph of this leaf that was on a slick rocky portion of the trail. The sunlight was illuminating it…
Girls Gone Wild
OK…so we’re not really girls anymore…more like ladies…but we did get a little wild! Here are some photos from the 24 hours we spent together (excluding sleeping time).
Dee (the Chiropractor…the 2nd photo down on the right) gave us a partial Pilates class Saturday morning, so Cindy put on an outfit she had bought recently that makes her look like I Dream of Jeannie.
I can’t divulge what story Gina (in the middle) was telling us, but it was obviously very funny! Cindy (on the left) was also a bit appalled!
Hiking at Elm House
For my annual girls’ weekend, I found a Vacation Rental by Owner in Bloomington, Indiana (aka Elm House) that had everything we were looking for—a home located on 100 acres with hiking trails, three bedrooms for five of us, two bathrooms (a must), a hot tub, and two wineries located within five miles! If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll recall our first stop was a winery located five minutes from the property. From there we found the house, unpacked the car and took a quick tour of the house. Elm House has three short maintained hiking trails on the grounds, so we laced our hiking boots and headed for the longest trail…a one-miler. There were only three of us at this point. Two of the ladies weren’t arriving until around 6:00pm.
Here’s a beautiful view from the house looking down at the sawmill that is located on the property.
Lunch in Golden, Colorado
The little town of Golden, Colorado is situated less than 30 minutes drive from Denver. My friend and I stopped there for a late lunch/early dinner after hiking up to St. Mary’s Glacier. We were headed to see The Local Natives and The National Bands at Red Rock Amphitheater. After walking a few blocks through town and taking some photographs…we stopped at The Bridgewater Grill for our meal. We were seated on the outside patio with a view of the small river/large creek. It’s attached to the Golden Hotel. The food was good…I would recommend it.
This statue of a man fly fishing is cool. At first I thought he had a bull whip…
The sign as you enter town, “Howdy Folks, Welcome to Golden, Where the West lives” is a nice touch!
Colorado has Glaciers
One of the cool things about traveling and having a blog is it forces you to do research and learn things…like…how many glaciers are in Colorado. Well not specifically how many…but is there more than the one I hiked which was St. Mary’s Glacier in Idaho Springs which is only an hour from Denver. If you read my last post you know St. Mary’s Glacier is only about a mile round trip–that it’s uphill and at an elevation of around 10,000 ft.
Here are some photos of the glacier and my girlfriend and I.
Hiking St. Mary’s Glacier
Located only an hour from Denver, St. Mary’s Glacier in Idaho Springs, Colorado is a beautiful hike and at 1 mile round trip is perfect if you’re looking for a shorter length hike and as an added bonus…you can enjoy a 10 mile scenic drive from I-70 to reach it. Having spent six wonderful days in Colorado (except for having to escape Estes Park flooding), my girlfriend and I had a full last day planned before we left and flew home to Cincinnati. We stopped at the magnificent Red Rock Amphitheater to take photos before returning later that evening for a concert and were stopping in the quaint town of Golden to have a late lunch after our St. Mary’s Glacier hike.
Here I am taking in the view on the hike…
I couldn’t stop taking photos…it was so pretty!
Attending a Concert at Red Rock Amphitheater is a Must Do While in Denver
Attending a concert at Red Rock Amphitheater is a “must do” if you visit Denver or the surrounding areas! As you can see from the photos, it’s magnificent. Construction began in 1936 and finished in 1941. My friend Gina and I stopped there Tuesday on our way to go hiking at St. Mary’s Glacier to take photos and check it out, even though we were coming back later that evening to attend a concert with Frightened Rabbit, Local Natives, and The Nationals. They’re Indy bands and our favorite was the Local Natives. I’ve seen an opera at the Santa Fe Opera House…also an amazing outdoor venue…but Red Rock Amphitheater is simply amazing! In addition to the scenery, the acoustics are wonderful and you can bring in your own cooler with non-alcoholic beverages and snacks.
You’ll notice people running and doing exercises during the day and it’s free to enter when there aren’t concerts. Located only 30 minutes from Denver, it’s an ideal place to visit!
I didn’t take my camera later that evening because they prohibit cameras with detachable lens. At night there are lights situated to illuminate the rocks and it’s simply gorgeous. Even the bands were commenting on how they felt honored to play there! We had reserved seats in row 52, but fortunately a guy that works there gave us the tip that the first 25 rows are general admission (first come/first serve), so we sat in row 20 towards the middle and had an excellent view! We made friends with the two couples on both sides of us and one of them even shared their homemade mozzarella cheese and homemade bread with us.
Make Music Denver at 16th Street Mall
16th Street Mall is a mile long pedestrian only street (16th Street) in Downtown Denver that has tons of restaurants, bars, and shops and loads of character! Actually there are buses that are free and take you up and down the mile. They have pianos situated at intervals in the street for anyone to sit down and play and call it the “Make Music Denver” project. I was able to photograph a few of them.
I took two photos of the guy on the left and he looked at me for the second one.
Bike Denver
My girlfriend and I arrived in Denver on Sunday from spending two nights in Breckenridge, where we had a great time at the Octoberfest. It was raining, so after we got the keys from our Airbnb host to her condo near the Santa Fe Art District, we settled in and basically relaxed the remainder of the day. She had DVDs, so we watched a couple of chick flicks and ordered pizza. It was nice to have a chill out day after being on the go. Monday we were ready to see Denver! Although we were only a mile or two from the 16th Street Mall area, I had researched renting a bicycle and discovered a cool system called Denver B Cycle. There are stations or kiosks located all over Denver where you can use your credit card and for just $8 (good for the day) rent a bicycle for 30 minutes. If you return the bike to a station within the 30 minutes there is no extra charge. If you return it within 30-60 minutes it’s an extra $1.00 and for each additional 30 minutes it’s $4.00. We ended up spending $10 total per person. I wanted to check out Cheesman Park which was about 2 miles away, so off we went. Some of it was uphill, so we got a small workout. We both liked having a basket in the front to store our things. Next we went to the Denver Botanic Gardens…which I posted about yesterday. Our final stop before turning the bikes in at the Convention Center was the 16th Street Mall area…a mile long pedestrian only area with tons of shops and restaurants. I have a separate post about that also. I have a few unique photographs of life in Denver to share with you here.
Not only are the Denver chipmunks friendly…so are the squirrels!
Denver Botanic Gardens
Denver Botanic Gardens is massive and unbelievably lush and beautiful! My friend Gina and I were on a week-long trip in Colorado and our first day out and about in Denver, we rented bicycles and rode a couple of miles to Cheesman Park. We were told how lovely the Denver Botanic Gardens are while asking a lady directions to downtown Denver, so we made our way over and started taking photographs. Within a few minutes we both were wondering why there was no charge or fee to enter the gardens. We thought perhaps since it was Monday. Later after leaving, I researched and discovered there is a $12.50 charge per adult. Oh well…I’ll chalk it up to good karma!
Anyway, love this building’s reflection in the pond…
This particular lily pad appeared quite artistic to me…
Oktoberfest Fun in Breckenridge
Breckenridge, Colorado sure knows how to celebrate Oktoberfest! In Cincinnati, where I’m from, Oktoberfest is serious business–given the large percentage of German heritage residents. Just a week ago, my friend Gina and I walked a few blocks down from Beaver Run Resort, where we were staying, to the festivities. We arrived rather early at 10:30am and by 11:00am had a dark beer in our hands.
We stopped for a few photo ops…
I was surprised at how large of an event it is in Breckenridge. Even with occasional misty rain, it became quite crowded later in the day (double the people shown below).
Sherry Lachelle Travels 