Blogging A to Z — Houston

Posted on April 10, 2016 by renbog

HI am still a day behind on my blogging, so today I am covering the letter H, which is for Houston, Texas. I guess I’m not talking about Houston itself but more about the Houston area. My father has lived in Houston for a number of years and I always swore I would never go to Texas because there are too many tornadoes on Texas. But I had to swallow that fear once my father moved there, and as it turns out, I really love Houston! My father has lived in the Houston area near Hobby Airport for a number of years, so I’ve also gotten to head out to Galveston often, too. Galveston is a roughly an hour from Houston depending on where in Houston you are coming from. It’s nice to live close enough to a beach town like Galveston but far enough not to be swamped with storm surge when hurricane waters surge in. I’ve also had the chance to go to Johnson Space Center a few times, too. It’s pretty cool to walk around there and see the Houston referenced in, “Houston, we have a problem.”   Also not far from my father’s home is Kemah which has a great boardwalk — fun carnival rides, souvenir shopping, and places to eat! When my daughter was young, she couldn’t get enough of Kemah. One of my favorite places to shop in Houston is Cavender’s, which is a chain of Western wear stores. I got my first pair of cowboy boots and my first cowboy hat at Cavender’s. If I was going to own those items, then dammit, I was buying them in Texas! There is also a restaurant my dad has taken me to called Gringo’s that has terrific Mexican food (actually, there are LOTS of places to get great Mexican food in Houston). They have this great green sauce they serve with the tortilla chips. It is so good, you could eat it with a spoon! I especially enjoy visiting Houston in the summer. My favorite season is summer, and the hotter it is and the more humid it is, the more I like it! And Houston in the summer definitely is hot and humid! Every time I have been to Houston and interacted with people who live there, they have always been exceptionally friendly. I stick out like a sore thumb to them when I speak since I’m from Chicago and have that nasally Midwestern accent. But they are always nice to me and ask where I’m from and make conversation. That’s one of the things I like best about Houston. My husband and I enjoy it so much there that Galevston is on our list of possible retirement locations. One day I’d love to get down there during the rodeo — it always looks so fun! I’ve visited the Battleship USS Texas a few times, and I’ve also been to the top of the San Jacinto Monument — also very cool places to see that don’t get old! There are lots of things to enjoy about Houston — consider visiting there if y’all are fixin’ to take a trip to Texas 🙂

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My cousin, aunt, and daughter at the Kemah Boardwalk.

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My aunt and cousin outside Gringo’s!

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My cousin, who is over 6 feet tall, offering perspective on this water line mark from Hurricane Ike on a building Galveston.

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The Battleship USS Texas as seen from the Jan Jacinto Monument.

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The San Jacinto Monument.

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A nice view from the top of the San Jacinto Monument.

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Blogging A to Z — Grand Canyon

Posted on April 9, 2016 by renbog

I am a day late with my post, but here is the letter G — the Grand Canyon.G

My first trip to the Grand Canyon was probably about 10 years ago. It was part of the road trip my best friend I took our daughters on to visit Disneyland. It was my friend Jennifer who wanted to spend a couple of days there; I had absolutely no desire. After all, it’s just a big, pretty hole in the ground. How much time can you actually spend looking at it? I figured my time there would be pretty much the same experience as Clark Griswold’s was in the movie Vacation.

I could not have been more wrong. The Grand Canyon is one of the most stunning, breathtaking places on this planet. It is impossible to ever get tired of looking at it. Pretty much every time you look out upon it, you find yourself thinking, “This can’t be real.” It is just too beautiful to be real. The way it looks changes all the time, depending on how the sun is hitting the Canyon. I found myself taking so many pictures just because EVERY picture was beautiful. It’s hard to tear yourself away from it. I made sure I saw it at least once at sunrise and once at sunset. I spent a lot of time wondering what it would be like at the bottom. I also wanted to hike it — ANY of it — just to say I did it. But I did not come prepared to hike on that trip, and if you’re going to hike the Canyon, you have to be very well prepared in many ways to do this!

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One of the many pictures I have taken of the Grand Canyon. This was probably taken on an iPhone and is completely unfiltered. It’s impossible to take a bad picture of the Grand Canyon.

Which is what I learned two years after my first trip when I joined Team in Training/Hike for Discovery and did fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in exchange for training and a trip to the Grand Canyon for a hike. On that trip, I got to hike about a mile or so down the Bright Angel Trail, which is the trail the mule trains also take. The we hiked out. In my training I learned to allow twice as much tome to get out as it took to go in, and that turned out to be very true. We hiked for about an hour down the train into the Canyon, and it took a good two hours to hike back out. I had all the equipment — a Camelback for water, hiking boots, trekking poles. And it was one of the most memorable experiences in my whole life.

One of my bucket list dream vacations is to hike to the bottom, spend a couple days at Phantom Ranch hiking along the river, then hiking back out. When I finally get to take that trip, you KNOW I’ll be writing about it here!

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I never looked so good, and it has EVERYTHING to do with the beautiful background — not me 🙂

 

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Blogging A to Z — Fun Ships

Posted on April 7, 2016 by renbog

Once again, I’m playing a little fast and loose with my travel theme! For today’s letter, I am talking about traveling on Carnival Cruise LinesF — the Fun Ships! I have been on (I think) 6 cruises and they have all been on Carnival. I really enjoy Carnival because it is a great mix of adult and family fun, casual and fancy atmosphere. My first cruise, I was super nervous about not being able to see land. It took me no time at all to love the feeling of being completely surrounded by water, feeling so small on that big boat. I have only cruised to Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico,

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My husband and I on our first cruise. In the foreground is my dad’s wife Brenda who introduced us to cruising!

but I don’t even really care where we go. I just like being on a cruise. I like the way the boat feels and the atmosphere on the ship. I feel very safe. I like the implied camaraderie with everyone else on the ship. It is rare that I run into a complete jerk. But that being said, cruises are great for people watching! The food is pretty decent, too. You’ll surely never go hungry! The shows sometimes are cheesy but sometimes they’re really cool! I love going to the comedy club or just hanging by the pool. I really love going to the casino! I love playing roulette, and honestly, the only time I ever play roulette is on a cruise despite the fact that I live 20 minutes away from 2 casinos.

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One of the best things about a cruise — towel animals!!!!

I have gotten spoiled, too. Now that I have had a stateroom with a balcony, I never want to be without a balcony on a cruise ever again! Nothing beats sitting on your balcony drinking coffee in your jammies or pulling into or out of port from your balcony or sitting out there in the dark and feeling absolutely small. Carnival has had some bad press in the past couple of years, but I have found their customer service and attentiveness to detail to be most impressive. I know there are lots of other great cruise lines out there, but right now, I am still a fan of the Fun Ships!

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My mom in front of our cruise ship on a spring break cruise. Port is Cozumel, Mexico.

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Blogging A to Z — Edwardsville

Posted on April 7, 2016 by renbog

EMy theme for this year’s Blogging A to Z Challenge is travel. Which is why it’s probably a little weird that today’s post is about Edwardsville, Illinois. It’s certainly not some hot tourist destination, but it’s a place my husband and I enjoy traveling to as often as we can. That’s because our daughter attends school at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville.

Edwardsville is approximately 20 miles from St. Louis, so a short drive away can yield you all the Budweiser your heart desires. If you like St. Louis, then Edwardsville might be a stop for you before you get there.

Personally, I enjoy the small town feel of Edwardsville. It’s a college town without looking or feeling like a college town. The college students have been embraced, but the town still retains much of its quaint feel. One of the things I really appreciate about Edwardsville is the beautiful SIUE campus. The school is set on the outskirts of town on acres and acres of woods. It is an open campus school but feels much more like a closed campus school because the only reason for anyone to really be at the heart of the campus is for school-related reasons. Since it’s not smack dab in the middle of town, there isn’t a lot of traffic that is just cruising through campus. This is a good thing in particular for all the wildlife that lives on campus — and I’m not talking about the college kids 🙂 Deer and geese are easily seen all over campus. In fact, when my husband and I visited Becky for parents’ weekend her freshman year, we stumbled upon a couple of deer as we walking to her dorm. Those deer didn’t care about us at all. They weren’t the least bit scared. That’s how often they encounter people.

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The deer my husband and I encountered waling to my daughter’s dorm.

The geese, on the other hand, are much maligned residents of the SIUE campus. They are legendarily aggressive and students are commonly chased across campus by them. The students get emails about the behaviors of the geese as well as suggestions about which entrances to avoid at certain buildings because of their nests.

I know that Edwardsville is more than just the SIUE campus, but to me, the two are intertwined. How much I love the campus of that school is how much I love Edwardsville. It might not be a vacation spot, but it is a lovely town and a great place to send your kid to school.

Enjoy these pictures taken on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

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Blogging A to Z — Disney Parks

Posted on April 5, 2016 by renbog

DI am one of “those” people — a Disney maniac! I took my very first Disney trip when I was 10 years old. My parents took our family on a road trip from Omaha (where we lived at the time) to Pasadena, CA, and back. One of our stops was Disneyland — where I got to experience the wonder of Space Mountain, the spinning teacups, the Haunted Mansion, and meet Mickey Mouse! It was love at first sight!

My next trip wasn’t until I was 17 and we took an extended family road trip to Disney World. I stayed in the campground and got to see EPCOT, Cinderella’s castle (much prettier than Sleeping Beauty’s castle in Disneyland), and attend the Hoop-Dee-Doo, which is my very favorite thing to do in Disney World!

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My mom and my aunt had fun hanging with Pluto!

I’ve been back to Disney World a number of times since then and it never gets old. I have stayed at the Caribbean Beach Club, Wilderness Resort, and Animal Kingdom Lodge as well as camped in the campground. They are all wonderful places to stay.

A little over 10 years ago, my best friend and I took our daughters on a road trip to California and back like my family had done for me. I wanted to recreate that incredible memory for my daughter and it worked. We spent two days in Disneyland and it was magical!

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My husband and I in Disney World the day after the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010. We watched them win sitting in a bar at the Animal Kingdom Resort.

My daughter has been to a Disney park a total of 8 times, I believe. One trip to Disneyland, the rest of them to Disney World, and a Disney Cruise thrown in there for good measure! She’s about to graduate from college and, like her mommy, she hasn’t outgrown Disney yet!

Disney vacations are wonderful experiences — you get out of them what you put into them. I can’t suggest strongly enough that you stay on property when you go. Don;t try to save a few bucks by staying off property; it’s seriously not worth it. There is nothing more rewarding than the total Disney experience. Be sure to book dinner at the Hoop-Dee-Doo one night as well as book a character meal (I’m partial to breakfast at Chef Mickey’s).

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My husband, daughter, daughter’s friend, and me on the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. LOVE the very start of that ride!

Get an autograph book for all the characters you will meet — yes, I mean YOU, grown up person! You’ll love getting those autographs! Be sure to stay for fireworks and see the electrical parade. Eat at least one Mickey ice cream bar — a day! Want a challenge? Drink your way around the world like my husband did at EPCOT! It took him 3 hours but he did it — without puking 🙂 Smile to yourself every time someone who works at Disney tells you, “Have a magical day!” It really is the happiest place on Earth!

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Blogging A to Z — Cass Lake

Posted on April 4, 2016 by renbog

CMany years ago when I was in high school, my family took its first trip to a fishing resort in Cass Lake, Minnesota. Since then, I’ve traveled there numerous times; visiting Cass Lake brings back and continues to create memories for me that will last my entire life. They are also generational. M

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A view of Cass Lake from Wishbone Resort. The land at the other side of the lake is actually Star Island. Wishbone is on the “small” side of the lake.

y grandparents are the ones who started going there and now I am going there with my own daughter. Cass Lake is in northern Minnesota. The closest big city is Bemdiji. The resort I stay at is Wishbone Resort. They have pretty grounds, nice, comfy cabins, a pool, and boats and motors to rent. Cass Lake itself is a pretty big lake. The fish we catch there include lake perch, walleye, crappie, pan fish, bass, and Northern pike. You can also fish for muskie, but in all the years I’ve gone there, I’ve never seen one — fish of a thousand casts. Sometimes we fish on our own. We’ve gone for so many years, we know some good places to fish. Sometimes we go out with a guide. If I go with a guide, I like to fish for Northern pike. They are my favorite fish to catch — they put up a terrific fight!

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The view from the porch of the cabin I stay in.

While we are there, sometimes we drive south to Walker and go shopping. Walker is on Leech Lake, which is a really big lake! Sometimes we go into Bemidji, and there are some fun things to do there. Of course, there are all sorts of souvenir shops. We also have to stop and take pictures with Paul Bunyan and Babe his blue ox; they are on the shore of Lake Bemidji. There is also a deer park there where you can feed deer. They are pretty pushy! About an hour or so away is Itasca State Park, which is where the headwaters of the Mississippi River are located. It’s really pretty, and it’s fun to go wading in the shallows of the Mississippi where it starts! The resort is smack dab in the middle of Leech Lake Indian Reservation, so that means there is also a casino you can visit if you’re the gambling type! I have countless wonderful memories of visiting Cass Lake. I was actually inspired many years ago to write a poem about Cass Lake:

Diamonds made of moonlight
Dance on the ripples
In the dusk.
The gray of the lake in the evening
Reminds me of the times you and I sat on the pier
And dreamed of growing old together:
Gray as the lake,
Rich as diamonds!

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My husband and daughter preparing to go fishing. We rent the boat and motor.

If you enjoy fishing and living a simple life, relaxing, and getting off the grid for a little while, find yourself a fishing resort. And if you’re looking for a fishing resort, I suggest checking out what you can find in Cass Lake, MN. It’s a great place to start some great memories of your own!

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My daughter feeding deer at the deer park.

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My cousin and his partner posing with Paul and Babe.

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My daughter with the 12 pound Northern (and all the other Northern!) she caught after going out with a guide.

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Blogging A to Z — Biloxi

Posted on April 2, 2016 by renbog

BAlmost 2 years ago, my daughter was dating a young man who was doing tech training at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. She wanted to visit him so we took a road trip to Biloxi. What a great trip! We went in August, probably the hottest time of year to visit Biloxi, but since I love hot, humid weather, I didn’t mind it one bit! I loved the feel of Biloxi — such a great beach town! You can get terrific seafood there and enjoy that food and drinks with umbrellas in them at all sorts of fun waterfront bars and restaurants. Even the hotels face the beach. I’ll be honest, I was a little iffy about visiting Biloxi — beach towns tend to be really crowded and super expensive. But I had a really pleasant surprise in Biloxi! The hotel I stayed at faced the water and it was super duper affordable! And nice and clean! The seafood was affordable and fresh and yummy! And the beaches were not the least bit crowded — so wide open that I was wondering what the problem was. The beaches were clean and so was the water. It was warm, too. I am left wondering if the tourism industry there has had trouble rebounding because of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill in the Gulf. So I can’t encourage you enough to consider a trip to Biloxi if you are looking for an affordable beach getaway! There are some neat tourist things to see and do. There is a memorial for the people who died in Hurricane Katrina. Also, an artist turned all the broken trees from Katrina into beautiful sculptures as way to memorialize the sea life that perished in the hurricane. You can also take a tour on a shrimp boat to learn about the shrimping industry there. If you enjoy gambling, there are casinos to hit up, too.For the history buffs, definitely plan to visit Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis’s home! Absolutely fascinating! I simply can’t say enough positive things about Biloxi. I can’t wait to make a return trip there with my husband!

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Looking down the beach in Biloxi on a Saturday afternoon.

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One of the trees damaged in Hurricane Katrina turned into beautiful sculpture honoring the marine life that died in the hurricane.

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On a shrimp boat tour.

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Looking toward the heart of Biloxi in the evening.

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Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis’s home.

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Part of the memorial to those who died in Hurricane Katrina.

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Blogging A to Z — Avignon

Posted on April 1, 2016 by renbog

AI was fortunate enough that during my senior year of high school, I got to take a 10 day trip to France with some f my classmates. It was one of the most memorable trips in my life. One of the places I visited while on that trip was Avignon, which is in the south of France. I’m sure that I learned about the history of Avignon while there. But being a high school kid, I paid only a little attention to what the tour guide told us so I don’t remember much. But I do remember a couple of things, like I really liked the south of France and the small towns there much, much more than I liked Paris. I remember touring a church in Avignon that had a leaning bell tower and a fireplace so huge I could stand in it. I remember the cobblestone streets and drinking coffee at a sidewalk cafe with my teacher and her husband and daughter who were our chaperones. I didn’t like coffee back then, but I drank it anyway because that was what i was supposed to do while sitting at a sidewalk cafe in the south of France on a chilly spring afternoon, right? Not far from Avignon is Nimes, another small town I adored. I visited the Pont du Gard there — even walked across the top of it despite being terrified of heights. I loved the Pont du Gard so much that I bought a sketch of it from a sidewalk sketch artist. My friends and I ate pizza there after crossing the Pont du Gard — I remember it wasn’t like pizza at home (go figure). I ordered mine with jambon on it — which is ham. I recall thinking that was so weird — after all, I was an 18 year old kid who had been brought up thinking Pizza Hut pizza ruled the world. What I loved about Avignon was feeling the history all around me. I loved the look and feel of the old buildings surrounding me — something I simply didn’t experience at home in the far southern suburbs of Chicago. Avignon reminded me of what I imagined France, especially Paris, would be like. It was funny to discover that Paris was nothing like what I imagined but Avignon was everything I imagined! I have pictures from this trip, but way back in 1985, I was using a camera that required a flip flash, so all the pictures are in a photo album and I’m afraid that if I try to take them out they will be ruined, so you’ll just have to accept the links I offered above! If you are considering a trip to France, I highly recommend finding the time to visit the south of France and spending some time in Avignon and Nimes.

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Blogging A to Z Challenge — Theme Reveal!

Posted on March 21, 2016 by renbog

This is my third year participating in the Blogging A to Z Challenge. I’ve never had a theme before — this is the first year I’m having a theme! I have decided that all my posts will be about some place I have visited or traveled. I’ve been to some pretty amazing places, and I’ve been to some places that might not be amazing to anyone but me. But regardless, that is my theme! I hope you enjoy it, if you read any of my posts. They start April 1!

A2Z-BADGE [2016]

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A Foolish Need

Posted on February 23, 2016 by renbog

I like to think that I am pretty self-aware. That being said, one of the things I know about myself is that I am a people-pleaser and I want people to like me and be happy with me. When they are not, it really bothers me.

I don’t know where this came from. When I was in high school, I didn’t care at all what others thought of me. I had a wide circle of people I could call friends from all sorts of different social groups. I got along easily with most people. But somewhere along the way as I have aged, I’ve become much more concerned about what people think of me.

I don’t like to rock the boat or make waves because it might cause conflict with people I like and care about. I am like this in my family relationships, my friendships, and my working relationships. I don’t think I am a bad person. I’m HUMAN, which means I’m flawed, but I am not a mean person at heart. I can’t say I actually know any people who are like that. Because I tend to think of myself as a decent sort, it becomes of great concern to me when someone doesn’t like me or is mad at me, or if I even PERCEIVE that someone doesn’t like me or is mad at me. It will occupy my thoughts, both consciously and subconsciously. If this happens, I will go out of my way to try to make everything right. And the more I try and the less it helps, the more upset I become.

I hate being like this. I know so many people who are not this insecure. They are themselves, and they can be assertive and self-assured and don’t get a fraction as ruffled as I do when they have a conflict with someone else. Part of me says it is a bad thing to be so concerned with what others think of me. But a part of me sometimes thinks it’s not such a bad thing after all if it drives me to work hard at creating positive relationships.

Is anyone else like me, maybe more concerned than they ought to be with what other people think of them? Or who is not this way at all? I need ideas about how to handle this, either how to accept the way I am or change my way of thinking.

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