Sky Watch Friday - Las Vegas Sunset

Another beautiful sunset in Nevada. 

taken Sept 14 2009

I am participating in "Skywatch Friday"

Shadow Shot Sunday - Rhyolite Nevada

This is a great little stop if you happen to be traveling on US95 through Central Nevada.

Ryolite is about 100 miles north of Las Vegas and about 350 miles south of Reno.  So it's a great place to take a little break and get the blood flowing through your veins again!  And it's FREE!!

I have been here several times, but all the pictures I have are pre-digital.  So on January 14 while driving from Reno to Las Vegas I was able to get some digital shots.

This is one shot I choose for Shadow Shot Sunday and Scenic Sunday.  It is one of many sculptures in this little ghost town.

The Last Supper

Poland-born Belgian sculptor Albert Szukalski completed this sculpture in 1984.  He made the figures by wrapping live models in plaster-soaked fabric to achieve his Apostle o' Shrouds effect. Szukalski, died in 2000 at age 54. Although his Last Supper was built decades before the first Lord of the Rings movie was released, his ghostly white forms resemble the dark Ringwraiths in those films.  What do you think? 

Click HERE, for more Shadow Shots from around the World!

Sky Watch Friday - As the Sun Sets in Nevada

While driving North to Reno on January 4, which by the way is a 7 hour drive from Las Vegas, I saw this beautiful sunset when leaving Fallon, Nevada.

So you know I just had to take some pictures........

........through the windshield!

Traveling is not just the destination, it's the journey!

Happy Friday!

I am participating in Skywatch Friday.

Skywatch Friday - Moon over Las Vegas

A few weeks ago we went to Desert Breeze Park to watch the Cycle Cross International competition and I happened to catch the rising of the moon.  I took a ton of pictures trying to capture this spectacular scene with the Stratusphere Hotel/Casino trying to reach for the moon!

I think I got one.....or two!

I am particapating in Skywatch Friday and hope that you will stop by and see some more great sky pictures!

Home Sweet Home

Let me apologize for not posting any stories lately of my travels while in Europe during the last 5 months.  But on May 12th I headed back to Las Vegas and I have been busy with doctors appointments, grandson's baseball games, catching up with friends and just general sprucing up around the house.

And now I have a wedding to plan!!!  Yes, Stijn and I will be married on July 9th, so plenty to get done before the big day!

I hope you will forgive me for being absent for so long and I promise I will have some more great stories about my trip, like our getaways to Paris, la Clusaz and Wimereux France, and Cologne Germany.

There's no place like home!



Adeus, Ferragudo

The village of Ferragudo

It's hard to believe that our second home exchange to Ferragudo came to an end on February 3, 2011.

We arrived on the Algarve coast December 28 for our part of our second home exchange with Alice and Sergio.  This time they spent just about 5 months in my home in Las Vegas, and we spent just over 1 month in their home.

Home exchanging has lead to some amazing experiences in travel that I probably otherwise would not of been able to have.  And this exchange was no exception!

I hope you enjoyed following me while I explored the Algarve, with it's white washed buildings glistening in the sun.  The traditional Portugese food, the amazing coast lines and historic towns, big and small.

I wonder where my next home exchange will take me???

Driving the Great Northwest - Yellowstone in the Snow

Yellowstone National Park is our last stop before we head back home to Las Vegas.  I have been to Yellowstone several times in years past, always during the summer months, and each time I was in awe of this beautiful National Park.  And this time was no exception.

We left Billings the morning of April 27 headed West on I-90 to Bozeman.  However, we made a detour  to Helena to have some lunch at the "Brewhouse Pub and Grill" with my long time friend of 36 years, Tina and her daughter Ria.

We then made our way back down to Bozeman and headed to West Yellowstone via highway 191.  It seemed that our next day here would be very promising because we had already seen a buffalo!

 

We woke up to snow the next morning!  Certain that the park would be closed today, we took a chance and drove to the entrance,  and much to our surprise, it was open!  Some road closures of course, but not where we wanted to go today.  We decided we would drive the 49 miles to the Mammoth area and along the way we did see some beautiful sites.

As well as a few herds of Bison foraging for grass under the newly fallen snow.

The snow continued to fall and when we came upon a highway crew giving us the option to continue on to Mammoth or turn back because of heavy snow fall in that area, we decided that returning in the direction we came from to see "Old Faithful" was a better idea.

While standing around like fools in the snow waiting for Old Faithful to do her thing, we were informed that we needed to leave as soon as possible or we would all have to spend the night right there!  And it wasn't going to be in the lodge!

We were able to get a couple of pictures, not good ones, but pictures nonetheless.

The next morning we woke up to this............

It was a long day and 743 miles later, we were back home in sunny Las Vegas.

If you would like to see more pictures of our day in Yellowstone just click here, and then the album titled "Yellowstone"

A Home Exchange to Portugal

Oh how I love home exchanging!!!

On November 20th 2009 I received an inquiry for a home exchange from a family in Portugal. It was actually a quite desperate one as they had an exchange confirmed with some other people here in Las Vegas, but ended up cancelling the exchange just a few days earlier.

So lucky for me, the family from Portugal contacted me through "HomeExchange.com" after reading my listing and took the chance that I would be able to do this exchange on such short notice.

Of course I can!!! Why? Because they wanted to come to Las Vegas on December 27th and stay until January 4th. And if you have been following this blog and read my last post, you know that I would be leaving Las Vegas on December 28th for 2 months. So this exchange works out perfect for both of us.

The exchange had the flexibility of a non-simultaneous exchange which means that I can go to Portugal at a later date. So I thought that I would take advantage of my half of the exchange sometime in the fall of 2010. But then Stijn was looking at airfares to Portugal and found some ridiculously low fares from Brussels to Portugal during the time that I would be in Brussels. So guess where we will be going on February 11th? Yep, "Ferragudo Portugal" for about 2 weeks. And the best news is that we will be there for Carnival!! That's Mardi Gras people!!

Well on December 27th I went to the aiport and picked up my family from Portugal and brought them back to my house and showed them where their "Home" would be for the next week.

I wasn't flying out until the evening of December 28th, so I was able to take them up to Mt. Charleston for a little lunch. They loved the snow as they don't get any of the white stuff in Ferragudo.

I hope you keep checking back here on my blog to see how my home exchange went to Portugal!