Road Tripping.....

Just a few pics from my road trip so far.....I've been having a wonderful time visiting family and taking photos on this trip.  I only have one more day before I have to head home to the frozen north but I have to say I am so grateful for this time off work with family and friends.  These first two photos have been featured on Visit Hilton Head's Facebook page.  I've never had any of my photos featured on any page before so I was so excited about that.  Here's the thing, every one of these photos have been taken with my iPhone camera..not one with my good camera.  It's just me and my little iPhone down at the beach at the crack of dawn.  I will miss that for sure...God has given me some beautiful sunrises while I'm here in Hilton Head.  I started my trip in Asheville and then went to Charlotte and ended up in Hilton Head.  I'll be back next week with more about the trip.  So I'm heading home but from the looks of the weather, Winter does not want to leave yet.....

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today is my Dad's 89th birthday(and Valentine's Day) and I just can't let a milestone like that go without celebrating it!  Tonight all his kids, grandkids and great grand kids will get together and celebrate with him.  He moves a little slower now and lives in a assisted living place but to me he'll always be my big strong Daddy who would do anything for his family.  He was a very young Marine in WW2 who seen so many terrible things in the South Pacific fighting.  He never talked about that time while I was growing up, I knew he was in the war but I never knew about the details.  He only started talking about them in his later years.  It makes you realize the sacrifices our men and women in the armed forces make.  The other day he pulled a old photo out of his wallet with six young men in the photo, one was my Dad.  He said they were his best buddies in high school but three of them never made it back from the war. He is the last of the group.  He lost the love of his life in 2001 and he lost his only son five years after Mom died.  He still chokes up about the loss of a child.  He tells me it's not suppose to be that way.  He has good days now and some bad days.  But I am so grateful to still have him here with us and he still knows who we all are, so that it a huge blessing.  Somedays he remembers the past like it just happened and I'm talking like 1940's  past..he can tell you details.  And somedays he's very confused but either way we will all get together tonight and celebrate a man who loves his family and who showed me by example what family is and what integrity is.  I'm a blessed girl because my heavenly Father gave me the best earthly father a girl could have.  Love you Dad and though you'll probably never see this post I hope you know how much you are loved.

The Bucket List of Travel.......

I read once that we should find that one thing we are passionate about and do it.  As far back as I can remember I loved to travel.  As much as I love my home and family, I also have this love of seeing new places and meeting new people.  Once the travel bug bites you, it has you.  When my marriage fell apart a few years ago, I thought all my dreams of travel were finished.  Yea, I know that's silly now looking back, but at the time two things were going through my mind about traveling again.  One was the dream I had mapped out for my husband and I to see the world together in our later years was not going to happen.  I had to grieve the end of that dream and make room for new dreams but at the time all you can think of was the dream you had and wanted so bad.  The second thing was the thought of traveling alone....I knew single traveling was much more expensive than traveling as a double and it seemed so scary.   But God knows our dreams and He cares about them even if they seem small or insignificant to others and so little by little He showed me I could indeed enjoy my passion again.  People wanted to travel with me and also see new places.  I've gotten to see so many places in the past few years and meet so many wonderful people who probably wouldn't have been in my path if the circumstances were the same.  And I'm grateful and thankful that I serve a God who loves me so much that He cares about what I love to do.......

So that brings me to the bucket list of travel.  What's still on your bucket list of travel to do?  This year I do not have any big bucket list of travel plans.  I like to see at least one new place each year so I'm hoping to do that if even in a small way.  Next year, my sister and her travel group (my daughter and I went to Hawaii with them) are planning a European cruise so I'm hoping to tag along on that one.  And the following year I have a really big birthday and I so want to spend it traveling in New Zealand and Australia.  I also want to do a river boat cruise of Europe someday and check out more of Canada. There's so much I want to see and do but like everything I have to pick and choose and save money to do it..LOL
So what are your travel dreams of faraway or not so faraway places include? What are some of your favorite places you have ever seen?  I hope your dreams come true......:-)