TRAVELLING TIPS

Now that’s a tip I need to remember.

First an update.

A nice, low key kind of day. Putting things in their places for the next four months. Sitting on the deck with a cup of green tea and a book. (20 degrees Celsius). Sweet. Making tomorrow’s to do lists: groceries and supplies (Publix and Dollar General), library for new cards as ours have expired, and breakfast at Sunliner Diner. Yum.Yum.

https://www.sunlinerdiner.com/gulf-shores/

But that’s tomorrow.

Today I want to share tips on how I travel plus some changes or additions I need to incorporate for future travel. If you have any helpful hints from your travels please share them with me. I’d love to hear them.

Travelling Tips

KEEP A JOURNAL

I use a new one every year and keep the old ones for reference. (Of course I left the old ones home this year but had the good sense to write pertinent information in the back of my new journal.)

On the trip down and later back home I keep track of:

  • morning departure times and evening arrival times
  • each day’s km, gas stops, rest stops and the time we stopped
  • particular exit numbers that we found tricky so we can remember them for another year
  • what time we crossed the US border
  • towns and hotels where we stayed, arrival and departure times, plusses and minuses (close to gas station/restaurant/convenience store, cleanliness, breakfast, bed comfort, and if we’ll stop there again).
  • decisions about length of driving for the next year and possible changes
  • toll $
  • hotel $
  • gas $
  • food $ (even the small amounts spent at the gas station convenience stores)
  • the total of each days $ spent and then the total $ for the three days (I also keep track of all our daily expenditures for the entire trip.)

Now if you looked at my journal right now it’s messy. I will write it out neater later. But give me a break. I did have vertigo. 😵‍💫

SUPPLY BAG

I keep a supply bag close to me in the car.

In it I keep:

  • passports
  • rental contract
  • vaccination papers
  • protein bars
  • mints/gum
  • paper maps and CAA books (I like to follow the paper map while Richard is driving.
  • bottled water
  • tea bags
  • toll money in a ziplock bag

TRAVEL BAGS

We use two bags. As Richard drives, we put his by the driver’s side back door and mine by the passenger’s side back door. That way we have easy access to get something when we stop.

In mine I pack:

  • very basic cosmetics: face cleanser and face cream
  • toothpaste and tooth brush
  • hair brush (and oops I forgot it this year but thankfully today I found it in my suitcase)
  • medications (put them in a small weekly case)
  • underwear
  • socks
  • clothes for warmer weather: sleeveless tunic top, black capri leggings, sandals
  • a wall charger and cords for Apple products. I use USB Wall Charger, Anker 60W 6 Port USB Charging Station, PowerPort 6 Multi USB Charger that I bought on Amazon. I also bought these short cords from Amazon. Short Lightning Cable [5-Pack 7inch], ARCCRA 20CM Short iPhone Charging Cable Fast USB Charger Cord. I love these. I can plug all iPhones and iPads into it and the cords are nice and short so everything stays tidy.
  • Apple battery pack (fully charged)
  • folder with: travel insurance, health directives, copies of health cards, copies of important cards
  • my laptop (I was so tired each night I never used it so next year it will be packed in my suitcase.)

Return to Pooh Corner – Kenny Loggins

That’s enough for today. Tomorrow I’ll give a comparison of our travelling expenses from our first trip to Gulf Shores (2018) and this years. I’m really interested on seeing what changes there’s been.

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

We’ve arrived. We had excellent driving conditions.

Sat on the deck with a cup of tea. Ahhhh. Went for a walk on the beach. Delightful.

Here are two pictures of the beach taken from our deck and one taken on the beach of the back of our home away from home.

And sorry about this but the sound was too lovely to pass up.

Groceries are put away, bathroom stuff too but just can’t tackle the clothes tonight. Totally exhausted.

Some of my blessings:

We made it.

Richard did a fabulous job of driving.

My vertigo isn’t too bad.

We’re lucky enough to be down here.

My children gave me a new iPhone as an early Christmas present. A total necessity for the trip and I am so grateful for their thoughtfulness.

I planned sharing a bigger post tonight but it will have to wait for tomorrow.

Count Your Blessings (from White Christmas) – Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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KEEP ON TRUCKIN’

What an interesting day!

Well first let’s backtrack.

Yesterday: excellent driving conditions. It was a long day and we were glad when it was done. 15 hours driving is really too long.

Today: a shorter driving day, only 11 hours but stressful. Started with rain. No, actually it stared with a knock on the door at 5:19 am. Impressed I was not! And no we did not answer it. What made it worse was it woke me with a jolt and that triggered my vertigo. Ahhhh. Thanks goodness a gravol and an extra hour in bed did the trick. Whew.

A few issues:

The rain. Oh yes and the fog. But it only lasted part of the morning and it wasn’t an extremely heavy rain so that was a positive. Funny thing. Richard couldn’t remember how to work the windshield wipers. Oh my. Is this a sign of what’s to come? Lol. I looked it up in the car manual and we were all set.

The 5:00 pm rush hour traffic in Knoxville accompanied by the setting sun directly in our eyes. But again it didn’t last very long.

Two reasons for my title:

1. When these things happen it makes them go much easier if you keep calm. Richard is better at that than me. He calmly keeps driving. I get filled with stress and anxiety. But try to remain calm.

2. The trucks on the road. I’ve never seen so many trucks. I know we need them and they provide a very necessary service but apparently some (not all) have an problem with reading comprehension. The signs said either (and these may not be exact) “Trucks in the right lane. “ or “ No trucks in the left lane.” Not always the case. Now I’m not dissing the truckers. They are vitally important to our economy. Just saying follow the rules please.

Now we’re in Sweetwater, Tennessee for the night. So glad. Tomorrow is a shorter drive 7.5 hours (hopefully) and then we’ll be there. Yay!

Truckin’ – Grateful Dead

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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ON THE ROAD AGAIN Part 2

Our journey today wasn’t a thousand miles. It was almost 1500 km. A long day but well worth it to make the next two days much easier. We made it to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania today.

Not much shut eye last night. Found it hard to go to sleep. Thinking too much. Don’t forget this, don’t forget that. Mind just wouldn’t stop. Only slept about three hours as we were on the road at 4:10 am. I’ll sleep well tonight. 💤

Sorry my post is so short tonight but I need a nice bath and a long sleep. 😴

On the Road Again – Canned Heat

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Yes, that’s right. We’re heading off tomorrow morning. Gulf Shores, Alabama here we come.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Shores,_Alabama

Haven’t been since we rushed home in 2020 when the pandemic hit. Who could ever have imagined how life would change so much.

The last month has been busy.

Vaccines – biValent and flu.

Appointments – dentist, doctor, car, hair, esthetics, (all the necessities of life haha.)

List Making – one of my favourite things.

Lists of what to pack in my suitcase (and yes I pack too much but you never know when you’ll need something so I can’t list the basic essentials as to me they’re all essential),

in my carry on for the trip there (change of clothes, basic cleaning necessities, lap top, rental contract, vaccination papers, medical information),

in my purse (just my regular stuff plus passports, and a plastic bag with easy access to the toll money,

in the car supply bag (maps, protein bars, masks, hand sanitizer),

in the tubs and boxes (we have learned to take some of our fav food stuffs),

and what gets packed in the car (all of the above plus my piano keyboard, a kettle, two beach chairs, pillows (don’t you sleep much better if you have your own pillow?), yoga mats, and the Apple TV with remote – to us a necessity.

Then packing the car. Richard did a superb job.

Almost forgot what was most important – the visit with my absolutely beautiful grandson.

And to top it off last Friday I developed vertigo. Not fun. At least I’m not spinning anymore. 😵‍💫

That’s it for tonight. Early to bed as we hope to be on the road by 4:30 am. 😱

We’ll chat again tomorrow night and will let you know how the day went.

On The Road Again – Willie Nelson

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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FINGERS and TOES

“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” Winnie the Pooh

I’m a Grammie. And what an incredible feeling. Love at first sight. He’s super sweet. And look at those long fingers and toes. 🥰

At first I struggled with what to call myself. Of course I googled names for grandmothers. I had it in my mind that Grammie made me feel old. I wanted something fun. I especially liked Lolli and Mumsey. But what was I thinking. My mother was a Grammie and her mother was my Grammie so … I’ll be his Grammie.

Three months from today Richard and I be in our winter spot in GulfShores, Alabama. I wonder what has changed over the past two years. We came back from there in a rush when the pandemic 😷 was declared in March, 2020 and haven’t been back. Covid-19 struck the world and how things changed. We haven’t done much traveling and are exceptionally careful. And yes we will be during our travels there. Bringing masks and sanitizer. Can’t be too careful.

And yes, I’ve already booked my flights to come back for Christmas. 🎄

Well that’s all for now. I just had to share my exciting news with you. 👶

Oops. I forgot to mention I’ve already started making a binder of lullabies to sing to the new wee one. 🎶 Won’t that be fun!

Beautiful Boy – John Lennon

Take care and stay healthy.

TIRED OF SNOW

I found this picture on the internet. It’s exactly how I feel. I’m done with winter. But apparently winter is not done with me. Hopefully soon.

It’s been a quiet week. Not a lot to share. Richard’s photos say it it all.

Picture #1 Sunday, March 27th————Picture #2 Saturday, April 1

Richard credits the recent snow to me, haha, because last weekend I washed and put away my winter coat. Not my fault. I thought it was spring. But nope. Not yet. Anyway, today I decided to put away my winter boots and bring out my spring/summer footwear. Fingers crossed 🤞🏼 no more snow.

Today’s recipe Curried Couscous with Chickpeas and Raisins is from the recipe book Chef Michael Smith’s Kitchen.

When my back was turned Richard put that red pepper on the couscous for his photo. I was not impressed.

I had peeled one carrot too many for the recipe thus carrot sticks accompanied the meal. This is easily made vegetarian by using water or vegetable broth to replace the chicken broth. We loved it.

The song title says it all.

It May Be Winter Outside (But In My Heart It’s Spring) – Felice Taylor

Stay safe and healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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LIKES AND DISLIKES

We all have our likes and dislikes don’t we? Of course we do. Nothing wrong with that. Some remain the same all through our lives and others change. Many things I disliked as a child I now enjoy and vice versa. As a teenager I loved the carnival rides 🎢 🎡, the higher the better. Now I can’t even look at them, let alone get on them. Just the thought makes me ill.🤮

Family members or friends often have different likes: movies 🎞, sports ⚽️⚾️🎾🏉, clothes 👗👔🧢👟🩴👠🥾👖👚, hair styles 👩🏽 🧑🏻‍🦰 👱🏼‍♀️ 👨🏽‍🦱👱🏼‍♂️, vehicles 🚗🚴 🛻 🚙, music 🎶🎺🎷🪗, books 📚, drinks ☕️🍵🍷🍺🧃, food 🍩🍪🎂🍨🍫🥗🍝🌮🍕🍔. That’s what makes us unique. We can’t expect that everyone will like what we do.

So what about today got me thinking about this? Richard’s breakfast: Sweet Beet Raspberry Yogurt.

Looks beautiful doesn’t it? He loved it. My worst nightmare. Greek yogurt, raspberry jam, toasted walnuts and beets. Yes beets. He loves beets. I detest them.

In my last post I discussed how my legs had been extremely painful due to the statin I was prescribed and that since stopping it I was much better. That improvement continues and thankfully my exercise regime is improving daily. Yay! It reinforces that we have to be our own health advocates. I previously knew this but you know how it is, you forget that and you take the advice of others. But we do know our own bodies and we need to listen to them too.

Today was a very tough day for Richard so I decided to be in charge of supper. Tonight’s was from Chef Michael Smith’s 100 of My Favourite Easy Recipes. Both recipes were from this cookbook. We paired it with a Don David Malbec as there was red wine in the sauce.

To my surprise the meal was very good. I had tasted the red wine sauce while it was cooking and did not like the flavour but once it was on the chicken it was delicious. The instructions for the sweet potatoes said to dice them, which I did, but in his picture the sweet potatoes pieces were much bigger. I’ll make them bigger next time.

The plated picture doesn’t look very colourful but it looked better in real life.

It’s been a tough day, Teresa. I’m thinking of you.❤️ Take care.

My song choice is not really about my post but Richard played it for me today and I loved it. So peaceful and calming. A beautiful song for when you’re having a rough time.

Be At Peace With Yourself – Bill Fay

Stay safe and healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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GOOD THINGS/BAD THINGS

“Life is not just about the good things or not just about the bad things. It is both. It all depends where you focus your attention.” Ann Marie Aguilar

During the past three months I found it very difficult to focus on the good things and, sad to say, I became a bit of a whiner. Well if I’m really being honest, much more than a bit of a whiner. Not my best winter and not my best quality. During those months I suffered from almost constant pain and cramps in my legs. Worse during the night. It sure wears you down. And I had no idea why. Plus I was so exhausted. Adding to that, over a week ago I had my first shingles vaccine and had quite a reaction. My upper left side pained and itched all the time. Was worse than when I actually had an outbreak of shingles 25 years ago. (But I really had a mild case back then.) Good lord. What else. So that’s the bad things. Here are the good things. I woke up today and the pain from the shingles vaccine was almost gone. Thank goodness. Still incredibly itchy but no pain. And the leg pain? Gone for almost a week now. And the cause? Statin. In November I was put on a cholesterol medication (a statin) and that’s what caused it. As soon as I stopped that medication last weekend the leg pain went away. Boy! Do you ever take good health for granted! I can’t believe the lift in my spirits today. Let’s hope I can remember to focus more on the good things and look on the bright side of life.

We had many projects for this winter. Some were completed and some weren’t. That’s the way it goes. Nothing wrong with that. I’d like to share one with you.

Richard has a typesetter drawer. It’s been stored in the basement and we wanted to find a use for it.

What is a compositor or typesetter drawer?

A type case is a compartmentalized wooden box used to store movable type used in letterpress printing. It was held in the printing shop in a job case, a drawer about 2 inches high, three feet wide, and about two feet deep, with many small compartments for the “sorts” (various letters and ligatures)…Traditionally, the capital letters were stored in a separate drawer, or case, placed above the case holding the other letters (this is why the capital letters are called “uppercase” characters, and the minuscules are “lower case”).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_case

What? What? How could I have been a teacher for 37 years and not know why they were called lower and upper case letters. Unbelievable! I am obviously not an inquisitive person.

So what to do with ours? Being right on the water we’re always walking on the beach and finding shells, sea glass, stones, and yes even skulls. What a perfect way to display our beach treasures. Hung it on the wall, added our little gems, and even added a light to highlight the display. What do you think?

I have a recipe for you today but it’s not from a PEI cookbook. Trying to focus on eating a low cholesterol diet and this recipe, Black Bean and Quinoa Skillet was delicious.

This is Richard’s. Mine didn’t have cheese. We replaced the sour cream with Greek yogurt.

Love this song.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – Monty Python

Stay safe and healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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LOVE LOCAL

This winter, although we haven’t been eating out, we have been supporting local by ordering in. We’ve had delicious meals from Lone Oak Brewing Company/The Abby in Borden (they make a great burger and I do love a great burger 🍔 ) https://loneoakbrew.com and from Crossings Cafe, also in Borden. Crossings doesn’t have a website but you can find it on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/CrossingsPEI A great addition to Crossings’ menu this winter has been their homemade pizza 🍕- lots of variety, reasonably priced, and very tasty. What a nice treat. Order and then pick up. Yum 😋.

This past Sunday was our first time going out to eat this winter. We went to Crossings for breakfast. I love their Breakfast Sandwich and they even have gluten free buns. They have so many delicious treats: homemade bread, rolls, cinnamon rolls, cookies, muffins, and then all their meals. If you haven’t been then you must go.

I don’t usually review the cookbooks where I get my weekly recipes but Prince Edward Island Memories by Laurie Brinklow was just too cute. (and available from the PEI Provincial Library)

It’s a tiny book but chalk full of many fascinating tidbits and absolutely stunning artwork by Hannelore Kennedy. The book begins with a brief history of PEI followed by information on Charlottetown, the Birthplace of Confederation. Throughout the book there are the recipes of course, but also included are interesting Featured Pages i.e. The Acadians, Confederation Trail, The Japanese Connection, and The Land of Anne, to name a few. It concludes with a PEI Historical Timeline followed by Annual Festivals and Events (some of which I’m sure have changed over the years but were relevant when the book was published). Just the sweetest little recipe book. Well worth a look.

When I saw it included the recipe, Kinkora Potato Soup, I just had to make it. Kinkora is very close to where I live and PEI does grow the best potatoes 🥔😊 Another good way to support local.

I wanted something to go with the soup and as I’d been wanting to try this Cornmeal Cake recipe I decided that today was the day. I’ve previously posted recipes from this cookbook Acadian Pictorial Cookbook and it’s also available from the PEI Provincial Library.

Soup tasted good but the centre of the cornmeal was undercooked.

I certainly couldn’t make a potato recipe and not include Bud the Spud as my music selection. Years ago when my grade six music classes did projects on Canadian musicians they contacted them for information. Many musicians didn’t respond, some responded with only where to purchase their CDs, but Stompin’ Tom sent them his book, posters, and a CD. Says a lot about him. The kids were impressed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stompin’_Tom_Connors

In Skinner’s Pond, PEI there’s the Stompin’ Tom Centre. Check out https://welcomepei.com/feature/stompin-tom-centre/ And https://stompintomcentre.com/

Bud the Spud – Stompin’ Tom

Stay safe and healthy.

Forgot to mention we got our first Shingles vaccine last week. And although our arms were sore and we felt out of sorts for two days I’m thankful we got it. How great is it that the PEI government offers this vaccine free to those over 65. Good work PEI. Glad I live here.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

I invite you to click Follow to receive timely updates, Like to show your love and support, Share my post on your social media site, and /or Comment.