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Author: Lisa

** All photos are property of Lisa (or friends) and not to be reused or shared. ** Recent retiree. Looking forward to seeing even more of this beautiful world than I already have. I visited all 50 states as a kid, with my parents and sisters. We did long car trips every summer, with our station wagon, camper and tent for the kids, visiting all the National Parks, historical markers and other sites that interested Dad. I get my love of our beautiful national parks and history from my Dad. As an adult, after spending time in South Carolina, Alabama and Texas in the US Army I then was stationed in West Germany. I saw most of western Europe while there for almost 3 years. Divorced with one child, I wanted to show my daughter the same amazing sites I got to see. We didn't visit all 50 states together but did visit 36 or so, as well as 50+ countries and all 7 continents together. Now that I have all the time in the world, I have a long list of places on my bucket list. I'll be traveling solo, just me and my dog named Boo. A 11-year-old rescue dog I adopted last year, he's a great companion and loves car trips.
Civil War: Endgame at Appomattox

Civil War: Endgame at Appomattox

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Appomattox Court House National Historic Site I’ve been wanting to visit Appomattox Court House to see where General Grant took Lee’s surrender. I missed this site 18 months ago when I was in Virginia and Washington so planned a stop this trip. Leaving Cincinnati, I drove to Concord, Virginia for two nights, to spend a day at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. After a 9 1/2 month siege of Petersburg, trench warfare and cutting off the railroads supplying Petersburg…

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Weekend in Cincinnati

Weekend in Cincinnati

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Using my NPS site map, I decided to stop in Cincinnati for a couple nights on the way to Washington for my Visa appointment. I wanted to the see the Taft historic site. I booked a great AirBNB for 3 nights. I visited the William Howard Taft NHS Saturday morning for several hours. There is a nice visitor center with a video about Taft and his family; the home was the one he grew up in and you can visit…

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Mackinac Island, Michigan

Mackinac Island, Michigan

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I spent a week in Saint Ignace and went to the island by ferry. I wish I had checked prices better for some of the B&Bs or hotels on the island, I definitely would have enjoyed more time on the island to explore. While visiting I learned Mackinac and Mackinaw are pronounced the same – with a ‘w’ sound but both should be spelled with a ‘c’. Both came from Michilimackinac. I also learned there was a national park here…

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Balearic Islands, Spain

Balearic Islands, Spain

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When planning my trip to Portugal, I asked Kelly M if she was interested in another trip, either to Mallorca in the Balearic Islands or Malta. The flights to Malta from Faro were more expensive and complicated so we flew to Palma, Mallorca for six nights. I’ve always wanted to visit the Balearic Islands. We also booked a one day tour of Menorca from Palma. We flew into and stayed in Palma. Palma The first night we walked all the…

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The Algarve, Portugal

The Algarve, Portugal

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This was both a visit to a friend, Kelly M, who lives in Lagos, as well as a scouting trip for a rental for a move to Portugal. Kelly M is not the Kelly I’ve traveled with for years, but we also worked together. She recently retired and moved to Lagos. I flew into the Faro airport and she picked me up. We wandered through the Faro Old Town, visited Igrega do Carmo and Capela dos Ossos (chapel of bones),…

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Finger Lakes, New York

Finger Lakes, New York

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After a month in Michigan, and a week in Niagara Falls I needed somewhere to go close by before flying out of O’Hare to Portugal in September so decided to return to this lovely area. I visited some things I had seen 3 years ago, but many things weren’t open in 2020 due to COVID and I found plenty of new things to do. Kelly came out for a week, also. I had a 2 bedroom right outside of Geneva…

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Niagara Falls, Ontario

Niagara Falls, Ontario

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I’ve visited the falls several times. My first visit was with my parents and sisters in the late 1960s. My daughter and I stopped by for one afternoon and one night on the way to Maine in 1993 and we rode the Maid of the Mist. We were in Toronto for a week in 2004 and drove over for a day; we did Journey Behind the Falls. I’ve never spent any time in the area, however, to see anything other…

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Southwest Michigan

Southwest Michigan

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My daughter took a new job early in 2021, moving to central Michigan between Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. I‘ve visited many times since then, for a few days here, a week there, a month around the holidays last year and finally decided to write up some activities and places I’ve visited and enjoyed across several towns in the area. I’ll probably update this post each time I visit if I find new activities unlike separate posts for other destinations. Augusta…

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Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

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I visited two years ago when I was getting my new South Dakota driver’s license, but only spent a couple days after weeks in Rapid City. After getting some other documents updated, including a change to my mail service and a new address, I needed to update my DL, too, so came for a week. It is a beautiful city, with a great historic downtown. Falls Park is literally the center of the city, and a gorgeous area to enjoy…

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Show Me Presidents: Truman and Grant

Show Me Presidents: Truman and Grant

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I’ve been using my NPS map to plan my wandering the past few months. The NPS.gov site is great, of course, and I love the app, but the printed map shows all the NPS sites all over the country making it easier to plan road trips. Independence I came to Independence to see both the Harry Truman National Historic Site and Truman Presidential Library and Museum. I also drove out to his family farm another day. The house is by…

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