Snaking 200 miles through northern Portugal, the Rio Douro or “river of gold” flows from northern Spain through Portugal to its mouth in Porto and then, the Atlantic Ocean. It is the 3rd longest river on the Iberian peninsula. The Portuguese wine growing area, the Alto Douro, an area of over 21,000 acres of terraced…
View More
Time had come to bid farewell to the proud city of Lisboa and start our bus ride to Porto where we would get on with our riverboat cruise. Along the way, we stopped at two small towns. The first town was Obidos. Obidos is a cute medieval village with cobblestone streets, a church on every…
View MoreIf you could sum up the history of Lisbon, it might be displayed in this iconic fortress, the Torre de Belém on the Tagre River, built in the 16th century combining Moorish, Gothic and Romanesque styles. Unfortunately this fortress was never successful in keeping out invaders since Portugal was usually invaded by land! At one…
View More
We continued our driving tour of the Algarve Coast by exploring the rock formations in Lagos. Lagos is super touristy and busy so we are so happy we decided to stay at the small fishing village of Salema. There are hundreds of boat tours that leave from this area to explore the rock formations and…
View More
There are hidden beaches and coves all along the southern coast of Portugal…too many to visit during this short 4 day trip. The next beach we visited was not hidden but you had to wade across a river and then hike up a sand dune to get Praia do Bordeira (Praia means beach). What’s up…
View More
Two centuries before Christ, there was a province called “Lusitania” which included all of Portugal, south of the Douro river, and all of Spain. We’ve never visited Portugal and have always wanted to take a river boat cruise in Europe so we decided on a cruise up the Douro river from Porto, Portugal to Spain. …
View More
Let the sun be the energy that welcomes each day…Camping on the beach for a month in February? Why not? On the way back from our last January’s Key West and coastal Florida run/extended camping trip, we stopped off in Destin, Florida for a night or two. We liked it so much, we booked a…
View More
Relaxing on my hands and knees Relaxing on my face Reclining in the bear trap of its tender, warm embrace Glazed with coniferous green Glazed with excitement and dread Exhausted from oversleep Awake but still in bed Shaving razor’s rusty but the sting brings you exactly back to Maine Is the world that went south…
View More
We’re Still in New York? When you think about New York you automatically think of skyscrapers and Broadway lights and a city that never sleeps. But if you drive just a few hours north of NYC, you might think you are out west in Wyoming or Montana. Welcome to New York State and more importantly,…
View More
“New York, New York, what a wonderful town…” “New York, I love you, but you’re bringing me down” “I love New York” “New York, its killing me” “Empire State of mind” “Bite the big apple, don’t gag no maggots” Anyone who has ever written more than three songs, has written a New York song. They…
View More
We are on our way to The Big Apple but there are two stops we want to make first- Amish country and chocolate land. It is still raining as we drive through Lancaster, PA which has a large population of Amish- about 31k. The horse & buggy looks like an impressionistic painting via our wet…
View More
Architects may come and Architects may go and Never change your point of view When I run dry I stop awhile and think of you Architects may come and Architects may go and Never change your point of view – Simon & Garfunkel Frank Lloyd Wright is considered the greatest American architect of all time…
View More
Smokey Mountain rain keeps on fallin’ I keep on callin’ her name Smokey Mountain rain I’ll keep on searchin’ I can’t go on hurtin’ this way She’s somewhere in the Smokey Mountain rain- Ronnie Milsap The Smoky Mountains get about 85″ of rain every year, so I guess we should not have been surprised that…
View More
In and out and on and on Everybody goes And where the fun with finally stops Everybody knows Girls it’s me and you Doing what we do Just one way to lose Those happy birthday blues . – B.B. King It’s another trip around the sun for me today so Douglas and I will be…
View More
The Mississippi Delta was shining Like a National guitar I am following the river Down the highway Through the cradle of the civil war I’m going to Graceland Graceland – Paul Simon About half way between El Dorado and Graceland, we had a nice stop at Craig’s BBQ in Malvern, AR. Way off the beaten…
View More