We are enjoying a simple but happy retirement together. Well, one of us is more retired than the other. We have been together 31 years. In 2016, Sue turned 70 and Lee Ann turned 60. We will write about our "adventures" from both our perspectives and as a couple. Sue enjoys baking, cooking, walking and her great-granddaughter, Lincoln. Lee Ann enjoys running, biking and learning. She still works part--time at two businesses, Kairos Communications and Cedar Creek Sustainable Planning Services.
(Sue and Lee Ann spent five months planning a vacation to the five national parks in Utah, plus Monument Valley in Utah/Arizona. Everyone should visit the American West. Here is what we saw and did.) Saturday, October 21 – At 7:45 a.m. I was standing in line outside the Poison…
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Please see trip photographs on our portfolio site and video at end of post. We could hear the Colorado River long before we actually saw it, the relentless clash of water and rocks. We were descending Cathedral Wash, a puzzle of multiple levels of ledges and drop-offs, including one called…
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When we entered the Conservatory at Longwood Gardens, it was about 4 p.m. and still light outside. When we walked out into the cold evening an hour later, the grounds were stunningly transformed. Hundreds of trees clothed in colored lights, festive fountains dancing to Christmas carols, lighted red and white…
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Please see our New Mexico photo gallery. The last stop on our RoadScholar tour of Albuquerque, Taos and Santa Fe was another kiva – this one at Coronado Historic Site in the Albuquerque suburb of Bernalillo. A kiva is a sacred room within an Indian pueblo, where religious rites are…
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There are a few places on earth where I feel like my soul is at home. Where the psychic roots run deep, my DNA is buzzing contentedly, and I always feel a welcome familiarity no matter how long I have been gone. One of those places is the Texas Hill…
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Our camping experiences date to Girl Scouts and, for me, a few miserable outings in high school. That was quite awhile ago. But we thought trying again might be an antidote to my desire for a small RV. The two-night outing to Trap Pond State Park near Laurel, Delaware, was…
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Maybe not everyone thinks of pairing bird-watching with African-American history. Well, we do. And near Cambridge, Maryland, you can do just that. We recently spent a spring day visiting the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in rural Dorchester County, Md., followed by a drive through Blackwater National Wildlife…
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“I don’t know why he moves me.” – Mary Magdalene Paraphrasing Mary, I have been singing, watching, rewatching and inhaling “Jesus Christ Superstar” since the Easter Sunday live performance. And I don’t know why it moved me so. After all, I am a huge “Sound of Music” fan too, and…
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A season that starts off with “You are dust and to dust you shall return” seems like a good time to contemplate dying. So Sue and I signed up for a Lenten retreat called “Life After Death: Intimate Union with Infinite Love.” When I was younger, I always pushed back…
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Outside, the wind chill was 8 degrees. The five women who had spent the night at the Code Purple shelter were drinking coffee and eating breakfast, trying to figure out how and where to spend their Saturday. The night before, I had called 911 when a sixth woman, a diabetic,…
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At the beginning of each year, I take resolutions seriously. And when those resolutions start to flag, Lent kicks in. So it is like a one-two punch to focus me on spiritual and other goals. Of course, that doesn’t mean everything sticks. I am always amazed that I can wake…
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