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GS & P Road Show – Italy

October 18th, 2018 · Italy, photo of the week, travel

Packing day!    Off to a very quick 13 day trip to many parts of Italy!

Because it is a bus trip with about 5 hotels involved, we have to pack heavy for us- no time to wear and wash!  At least most of the time, others will be lugging these big suitcases!

I’m having trouble uploading a photo……stay tuned……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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More about the Erie Canal

October 2nd, 2018 · Museums, Musings, photo of the week, travel, Website of the Week

A picture truly is worth a thousand words – here are the winners of the Erie Canal photo contest :  ENJOY!

 

I so enjoyed our week on the Erie, I look forward to one day going back to do it again.  I’d love to drive along the Erie from one end to the other one day!

 

 

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15 miles on the Erie Canal

June 18th, 2018 · Musings, travel

This is the third day of our week on the Erie Canal…..one of those days was our 45th wedding anniversary.

To that end, I offer a version of a song about the canal by one of our favorite beloved folk singers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxKy1_c6DeM&feature=share

It has been an exciting and fun experience to this point….other boaters and bikers offer friendly greetings and advice, town docks offer good services or maybe not many, and the relative distance from the hectic pace of the rest of the world seems well removed (although truth be told, it’s not removed at all).

We are renting a barge from Mid-lakes navigation.  https://midlakesnav.com/.    Boats built with the non boater in mind….and that they are.   I’ll provide a more in depth review of the boat and company in a later post.

For tonight, just let me say that at 7 miles an hour (all the boat can do), and a canal speed limit of 10 mph……it is quite easy to understand how 15 miles a day was all that was possible!

Postscript:    A better connection was never really had so that I could post more often.

Please find an article I wrote here, at GoNomad, for more about our trip and more pictures!

 

 

 

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Cuba in 2013

May 23rd, 2018 · Cuba, Education

And, why am I writing about that now?

Today, Rich and I had the pleasure of presenting our trip to Cuba in 2013 to the local Senior Community Center. It was a real pleasure to share our experiences with a group of about 18 folks. None had been to Cuba, except for a woman and her daughter who had an amazing story to tell of how the mother went to Spain to be married days before the Revolution and did not go back. It was moving to meet her, and to share our pictures of her homeland with her and the others in the audience.

We went before President Obama had opened up some of the rules for visiting, and, of course, before, Trump put them back. Many things have apparently changed – just go Goggle restaurants and hotels in Havana and look at the long list.

We went with Road Scholar (previously known as Elder Hostel), and at the time, they had about four or five choices. A quick search showed that cruise ships now dock there, hotels are being built, and many dining places have opened up.   My heart hopes that Cuba does not turn into a Caribbean Disneyland.

If you’d like to see the slideshow, click on the TALKS button at the top if the page and it will take you there. Enjoy!

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Country School Houses

June 14th, 2017 · Children, Country Schools, Education, Museums, Shaker, Site Seeing, Teaching & Learning, Volunteer

What a day!

On this last day of the Country School Association of America         conference, we spent from 8 to 6:30 on a bus driving about the local area of New Hampshire visiting no less than nine – yes – NINE – one room country schools!

Just amazing.  This is my first time at this conference, where I presented my paper on 19th century children, and honestly I was a little worried that I’d be spending the three days listening to workshops on how to renovate the things.  I was completely wrong!

What a great group of folks – academic folks who’ve published books, folks who curate, volunteer at, run, organize, own, and otherwise take care of country one room schools, a park ranger, folks who know all there is to know about desks, slates, and African American schools – and so much more!  It’s a great mix of scholars!

Here’s just a few pictures of the schools we visited today.  I’ll post more in the near future (now I need some rest)!

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