Keep Up with the new Northern Ireland

Break those stereotypes you have of Northern Ireland.  Instead put these images into your head - hiking and walking some of the best trails in Europe. Sure the mountains aren't as high as the rest of Europe but they are steep and rocky. You might be the only hikers on the trail and the only ones at the top enjoying the scenery views. 

Slieve Donard in the Mourne  Mountains is te highest peak in Northern Ireland

 Of course, there is always a reward at the bottom - great pubs and good food.  If the only music you have in your head is  traditional Irish - the jigs and reels you hear on St Patrick' Day. Take a listen.

Why Ireland has 40 Shades of Green

Ireland

It is easy to see from this true-color image why Ireland is called the Emerald Isle. Intense green vegetation, primarily grassland, covers most of the country except for the exposed rock on mountaintops. Ireland owes its greenness to moderate temperatures and moist air. The Atlantic Ocean, particularly the warm currents in the North Atlantic Drift, gives the country a more temperate climate than most others at the same latitude.

Moist ocean air also contributes to abundant rainfall. Ireland receives between 750 and 2000 millimeters (29 and 78 inches) of rain per year, with more rain falling in the west and in the mountains. Most of the rain falls in light showers.

This moist climate means plenty of clouds and fog. According to the Irish Meteorological Service, the sky is entirely cloudy more than 50 percent of the time. There are more clouds during the day than at night, and fog is common.

The cloud-free view shown here is extremely rare. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured the image on October 11, 2010, a time of year when Irish weather alternates between rainstorms from the west and cool, dry weather brought by high-pressure systems known as anticyclones.

Credit: NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team

Kobe Bryant vs. Lionel Messi on Turkis Airlines

Turkish Airlines - ''The best airline in Europe'' continues to fly with the best! Their new TV commercial which stars Kobe Bryant and Leo Messi is now live! - Lionel Messi vs. Kobe Bryant



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQLG37rM5hw

Doha's Hamad International Airport to open April 1

The first phase of the Hamad International Airport, formerly known as New Doha International Airport, is set to open on April 1, according to the airport’s operator, Qatar Airways.   http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-20545-dohas-hamad-international-airport-to-open-april-1/

Geography Quiz2

How's your knowledge of Middle East Geography?

  Iliketolearn.com has a great series testing our geography knowledge of countries, capitals, oceans, rivers, and mountains.  Take this quiz and see how much you know about the Middle East.   http://www.ilike2learn.com/ilike2learn/MidEast.html

Leave Your Comfort Zone and Travel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel        

                                                http://www.amazon.com/Exotic-Marigold-Hotel-Thomas-Newman/dp/B0073FIAK2  is the story of  six English pensioners  who for a variety of financial and medical reasons leave cold and wet England to "outsource their retirement"  and travel to warm and sunny Jaipur, India, There’s a great cast of actors including Judy Dench, Celis Imrie, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Penelope Wilton.  

There are multiple themes and subplots in the film and medical care for the elderly is one of them. Medical travel vacations have been an interesting topic especially for Americans, so it's interesting that Muriel Donnelly’s  (Maggie Smith) reason for traveling to India is that she needs a hip replacement and the wait list on the British Health Care System is months long. She determines that even with socialized medicine that she can’t afford the cost of a hip replacement hence the journey to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Despite the fact that The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is not the luxurious retreat “for the elderly and beautiful” as advertised, friendships develop among the travelers and the hotel owner Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel). While the hotel is not the charming resort promised to these English empty nest retirees, the story is very charming, and there are great street scenes in Jaipur, India.     

The Best Marigold Hotel has been described as a feel-good movie. It's sentimental and funny with a dose of real India for reality.  But the films  biggest message is that it's not too late to leave your comfort zone and explore new places and cultures. Which is exactly the message that we'd like to convey on this blog.

5 Hours of Airplane Landings Captured in 30 Seconds

American photographer Cy Kuckenbaker has captured every airplane that landed at San Diego International Airport in timelapse.

American Airlines new look and image

Travel news from forty-five years ago-- the Gateway Arch in St. Louis is dedicated, The Winter Olympic Games are held in Grenoble, France, the border between Spain and Gibraltar is closed, Boeing 747 makes its maiden flight, NASA launches the first manned Apollo mission...and American Airlines redesigns its livery. So 1968 was the last time the AA planes got a new dress! http://www.aa.com/homePage.do

Yesterday American Airlines introduced its new livery and logo. We think it’s pretty sharp looking.  What do you think of the new look and the slogan “Becoming a New American”?  


Forbes has put together a slideshow of American Airlines logos through history. http://www.forbes.com/pictures/ehlk45gemh/1934/

The C.S.Smith American Airlines Museum in Fort Worth has a treasure-trove of historical artifacts, photographs, full-scale aircraft and engines as well as historic advertising and promotional materials.
http://www.crsmithmuseum.org/home.aspx

French Seaside Style in Quiberon

Our last stop in France was in Quiberon, and quite by chance we booked a beautiful family owned hotel just newly renovated, the Hotel-des-deux-mers  http://www.hotel-des-deux-mers.com/, which we found on www.booking.com

Sometimes things work out better than expected and this was one of those times.  We were lucky to spend our last two nights in France here.  

Quiberon is in Brittany on a peninsula connected to the mainland by a very small tombolo or isthmus.  On one side of the peninsula is the calm bay perfect for sailing or swimming. On the other side is the wild Atlantic. 

The Hotel-des-Deux-Mers was simple and elegant. The rooms are done in white and sea glass colors bringing lots of light into the rooms. The focal point of our room was the sea view.  Our room had French doors that opened to a small terrace with views of the sea and the olive and cypress trees below.

The hotel had been a family summer home in the early 1900’s when the railroad came to Quiberon, and there is still a feeling of it being a family home – with lots of little nooks for curling up with a book and a glass of french wine. There was a beautiful sense of relaxation and calmness inside the hotel. To me, calmness and relaxation also comes from paying a very reasonable rate that included internet and breakfast every morning in the salon.

The other day I was in the decorating section of our local Barnes and Noble carefully considering how to spend a Christmas gift card when I stumbled on the book French Seaside Style by Sebastien Siraudeau.  The room on the dust jacket looked so similar to our room at the Hotel Des Deux Mers that I had to open the book, and this lovely hotel was indeed featured….the epitome of French seaside style. 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/french-seaside-style-sebastien-siraudeau/1100224623?ean=9782080200778

You can also find it on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/French-Seaside-Style-Sebastien-Siraudeau/dp/2080200771/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358484030&sr=1-1&keywords=french+seaside+style

How do you stay on a diet when you're traveling - with MyfitnessPal

Staying on a diet when I’m  traveling isn’t easy. OK, it’s not that easy at any time, but it’s more difficult when I’m away from home.  I always want to try new foods – that’s one of the reasons to travel after all.  Generally we walk and hike a lot more when we’re traveling than when we’re at home, so the output or energy spent is greater than it would be at home – but the intake is a lot greater too! I’m usually pretty willing to try new foods, but  sometimes  I don’t know what it is I’m eating, and it gets especially hard trying to find Gluten Free (GF) food so that often I give up trying to stay on the diet. 

I just discovered MyFitnessPal  http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ a great free app for helping me manage my weight and diet program. I’m using the web version but it’s available as well for Android, Blackberry, and iPhone.

It’s a user friendly app that counts calories and tracks exercise. You register on line with your current weight, height age, fitness level, and goal. MyFitnessPal then comes back with a personalized plan on how you can achieve that goal. The program gives you  information on what your daily intake should be for calories, carbs, fat and protein and tells you how long it will take you to achieve that goal.

You enter the food you ate and your exercise and it does the calculation.  It has more than 1,000,000 foods included in the data base including brand names and supermarket chain products and product packaging sizes.

In addition to grocery items the database has restaurants and menu items. Enter Starbucks, McDonald's, Flemings or nearly any other chain and you'll see the entire menu.

Traveling for business might mean eating at chains but dining when traveling for fun can mean anything from the romantic little restaurants to eating at brasseries and cantinas, or eating off food trucks and street carts or shopping at the local grocery store.  Nearly every type of food comes up in the database with a choice on the portion size.  I found US, Canadian, and UK supermarket brands and chains. There's a bar code scanner for finding packaged foods' nutritional information. MyFitnessPal also includes Spanish/Mexican food and brands.

There is no guess work, just enter whatever is on your plate and the app will give the calories, protein, carbs and fat. My mind is still on France, and because I want to show you that the database has just about everything - I entered oysters. I scrolled down through the database and selected Steamed Pacific Oysters as the closest and best option. This tool offers forums for support and has very active Communities for motivation and support, fitness and exercise, diet and recipes, chit chat, and success stories for bragging on yourself and your weight loss achievements.

.

MyFitnessPal has been rated as one of  the best all-in-one calorie counters and exercise trackers out there.  Now there are no excuses for ditching your diet when you’re traveling locally or globally. 

Dilbert on Airline Ancillary Charges

Prevent Jet Lag Calculator

Jet lag, according to the Mayo Clinic, is a temporary sleep disorder that can affect anyone who quickly travels across multiple time zones. Jet lag is caused when your body's internal clock or circadian rhythms, which tell your body when to stay awake and when to sleep in the old time zone, are out of sync with cues from the new time zone, such as light exposure and dining times.  www.mayoclinic.com

Would you want to miss this because of jetlag?

Jet lag conditions include insomnia, waking early, daytime fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and muscle soreness. Typically traveler’s recovery time is one day per time zone crossed. Many of these are the same symptoms are the same as those experienced by shift workers.  Jay Olson is a researcher at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver who has studied how magicians influence people in a bid to learn more about memory and decision-making. He has just published a study in Scientific American: Mind Matters on how to avoid jet lag. 

  

  

“Most people experience jet lag when travelling across time zones,” Olson says. "Travelers need to figure out when to seek and avoid light based on their own trip and body clock/circadian rhythms." He says that with a few simple steps it may be completely preventable.

Mr. Olson says travelers who adjust their exposure to light prior to travel may bypass jet lag. They can calculate how to do that is the premise of his new, free website, www.jetlagrooster.com.  This website lets people enter their trip details and get a personalized jet lag plan which they can email to their smart phone to pop up with reminders during the trip. 

Fed Ex donates 60th Boeing 727

This past week FedEx Express donated a Boeing 727-200F to California Baptist University for use by its new aviation science program.  The aircraft will be on permanent display at the Riverside Municipal Airport (RAL) and will provide a working laboratory for aviation students.  The plane had been in service for 33 years and is the 60th donation by Fed Ex of a Boeing 727 aircraft. Since 2000 Fed Ex has donated these aircraft to various organizations around the world including museums and colleges for educational purposes.  When you think of community involvement and charitable donations by corporations, this is pretty big, but not as big as the "Baby Jessica" story.

Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130110/DC40822) 

In October 1987, like millions of other Americans, we were riveted to CNN as emergency service crews in Midland Texas worked  for 58 hours to free "Baby Jessica" McClure from an old backyard well where she was trapped 22 feet down in a shaft 14 inches wide. We had a baby just about the same age and had just relocated from Texas. 

Scores of local and state government workers and paramedics worked round the clock to pull Jessica from the well. The government few in a special investigator with the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration and FedEx flew in the drill that ultimately enabled crews to rescue Jessica. The story was followed around the world and the world cheered when the paramedic rescuer came up with Jessica and she was safe.  Since then I've taken an  interest in FedEx's community and charitable giving, from rescuing babies and delivering hearts to supporting disaster relief to local involvement.

   

Best Deal in NYC is the MTA

One of the best deals in New York City is a Metro Card. http://www.mta.info/fares/

The NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) runs the subways, buses, Metro North and Long Island Railroad.

In NYC you can get on a bus and deposit the exact change into the fare box.  If you ask the driver for a transfer, the driver will give you a Metro card that you can use to transfer to another city bus within two hours.  For example you can take an uptown bus and then transfer to a crosstown bus for $2.50.  Not a bad deal.  You can also buy a one ride ticket at a subway station kiosk with a credit card, cash –dollars or coins.

Metro cards are an even better deal and start at $4.50 for a two ride card.  The $10 card is a good deal for weekend visitors to the city.  With this card you get an automatic free transfer between subways and buses and between buses.  You can buy these cards at the newsstand at LaGuardia just outside baggage claim and you can get them at most stationery stores and in subway stations.

  

When our kids were very young, and we didn’t want to give them individual cards we would buy one card and swipe it once for each of us.  This works in some cities, but not in NYC.  The NYC Metro cards can’t be used again at the same subway station or the same bus route for at least 18 minutes.  So if you are traveling with a friend or a family you will each need to purchase your own metro card. Here's the link to the MTA http://www.mta.info/

Taxi’s especially in NYC traffic at rush hour can be very expensive, and wouldn’t you rather spend money in a restaurant in Little Italy http://www.littleitalynyc.com/  or in the shops in Chinatown http://www.explorechinatown.com/GUI/Content.aspx-Page=Discover.htm   For bus and subway information can be found on these links as well as lots of information on festivals, food, and walking tours.

Last fall Roger Wade editor of Price of Travel published a list of the cost of Single-ride public transportation prices in 80 tourist cities.  Take a look and use this as you make your 2013 plans.   http://www.priceoftravel.com/595/public-transportation-prices-in-80-worldwide-cities/

What was behind the Iron Curtain?

p_deep_map_iron_curtain.jpg pbs.org

Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, school children in the US, only learned about The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. "The Iron Curtain" separated what we knew as Europe from the USSR, and we didn't know what was behind The Curtain.  At ages eight or nine we speculated about what the iron curtain looked like - was it like the Berlin Wall or was it more like the curtain on the stage in the school auditorium but made out of iron stretching for hundreds of miles through farms and villages.  You might laugh now, but it just was something that wasn't talked about.

 Iron‑Curtain‑Map.jpg

worldhistoryatyhs.wikispaces.comShare

Once every four years during the Olympics, we'd hear about gymnasts, swimmers and great athletes from Georgia and Slovenia, and Slovakia, and then never hear of those countries again for another four years.

For the majority American children who didn't have ethnic roots in these countries, these places didn't exist in the 50's, 60's, and 70's.  They weren't in any text books and it was almost as if the government or text book publishers thought that if they didn't tell us about them, they didn't exist. 

So for those of us who grew up in that period, we have a lot of catching up to do.....and lots of beautiful places to visit.  Yes, the countries in Eastern Europe do have Tourist Boards. I have no favorites, but here is the link to  Croatia's tourist board:  https://croatia.hr/en-GB/Homepage. 

Here's a little quiz to test your knowledge of the geography of Eastern Europe.

Travel Eastern Europe with this Eastern Europe map game.   

 http://www.ilike2learn.com/ilike2learn/eastern%20europe.html

A Northern Ireland Welcome - for Ohio Family

In your US passport it states where you were born, and mine states Ireland. Whenever I've come through Immigration whether it be Dublin, Shannon or Belfast, the Immigration Officer always says "Welcome Home."  I want to cry and I've just gotten there! I've had some wonderful warm welcomes over the years but few people have experienced the welcome given by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board this Christmas to the Monroe Family from Ohio.

 Northern Ireland Christmas Welcome for Ohio Family 

They won a contest sponsored by the NITB http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/  and when they arrived into George Best Belfast City Airport not only were Roisin Monroe and her children Brandon and Kaeli Ann greeted by their family but they were welcomed by a flash mob - the Belfast Community Gospel Choir dressed as travelers, airport staff and flight crew.  The choir bust into an incredible rendition of “Joy to the World". What a wonderful Welcome Home and what a great start to a family reunion and Christmas.

Passport to the South

Southern Living's latest edition came out today with the advice to "resolve to pack your bags and hit the road."      

In answer to the inevitable question, "Where should we go?" They've put together a Southern Passport highlighting 18 uniquely southern sites, one for every state in the region.  They range from visiting Ernst Hemingway's Home in Key West and a day of deep sea fishing - both on our list to visiting Turner Field and taking in a Braves Game in Atlanta to sipping mint juleps at the Kentucky Derby

If you've never had Maryland crab cakes they suggest trying them at the 18th-century Robert Morris Inn on the Chesapeake. And of course you have Mt Vernon and Arlington Cemetery in Virginia and the Smithsonian in Washington among the 18 southern sites.

Texas used to be our home state and we have great memories of having crayfish, Gulf shrimp and Lonestars on the old Landry's dock in Kemah. Southern Living recommends the Texas State Fair --- which is like everything else in Texas, bigger than whatever you've experienced before.

There are 18 interesting, historic, fun sites. Most have a modest admission fee but some are free. After you visit each site you can visit the Southern Living passport site southernliving.com/stamps to download your southern Passport stamp and post to your Facebook timeline.     

Below are three of the stamps from Southern Living, one from our home state of North Carolina, one from Washington D.C. and one from Mississippi. Take a look at the rest, and hit the road, and max out your Southern passport in 2013.

.

Christmas Gift -- Charleston Tea

My youngest son visited the Charleston Tea Plantation, in Charleston South Carolina just before Christmas and so I was the lucky Mom who received Charleston Tea as part of my Christmas gift.

The Charleston Tea Plantation is on Wadmalaw Island in the South Carolina Low Country. That would be way south facing the Atlantic with its back to Georgia. Before you ask, yes, there is an Upcountry South Carolina, way up in the northwest corner close to Asheville, NC and bordering on Tennessee.  

They enjoyed the tour and tea at the plantation. He's a history buff - hence the visit to Charleston (and Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie and others) and apparently learned a lot about history of growing tea in the "colonies."  The sandy soil and sub-tropical climate of the South Carolina Low Country provide a perfect environment for growing the Camellia Sinensis tea plant which produces both black and green teas. 

My Christmas gift included some Charleston Breakfast Tea which is a full bodied black tea and a Plantation Peach tea - a perfect southern gift.  Accompanying it was a beautiful English china flowered mug that he also bought there, and it came with the Charleston Tea Shopping Bag in the photo. 

If you are a tea drinker or would just like to learn more about the history of tea in this country visit their website:  http://www.charlestonteaplantation.com/

We're listening to The High Kings on the Jam Jar

The High Kings!  An amazing band with an amazing sound and we're listening to it through the JAM Jar. Incredible!  There is nothing like Irish music to give you a boost of energy - especially on a chilly January day.  If you're into Irish Folk music and even if you're not, take a listen to them on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uGiAFEGqxc&playnext=1&list=PLB2399DC8602B1D44&feature=results_main

  

They are a talented group with diverse musical backgrounds. The band was formed by Celtic Woman manager Dave Kavanagh in 2008.

Who's Who? 

Finbarr Clancy is from the Clancy Clan who brought Irish traditional/folk music to the US in the 1960's and brought the genre broad acceptance and into the same league as Pete Seagar and Bob Dylan.  Finbarr is hugely talented playing several instruments (banjo, guitar, flute) and of course has a great voice. He's toured the US and the globe with various artists. 

Darren Holden is a songwriter and musician and vocalist. He toured with Boyzone, starred as The Piano Man (Billy Joel) in the Tony Award-winning hit Billy Joel/Twyla Tharp musical Movin’ Out, and was lead singer with RIVERDANCE on Broadway and on tour. He performs all genres of music from Pop and Jazz to Country and Celtic.

Brian Dunphy has a broad musical background as well. He appeared in a stage version of Rocky Horror Picture show and spent two years singing at The Gershwin Theatre on Broadway in New York and as lead vocalist in Radio City Music Hall. While there, he had the honor of performing the American National Anthem at Madison Square Gardens and appearing on “The Today Show”. He was the lead singer in "Riverdance The Show” and joined The Three Irish Tenors.  

Martin Furey also comes from a family well known in the Irish folk and ballad scene of the 60’s.  Martin plays multiple instruments, including banjo, bouzouki, guitar and whistles. He was successful in Scotland with his band Sam Harlet, and with his sister Aine formed a band Bohinta and their album Excalibur went straight to number one in the French Album charts.

A really talented group of Kings. 

Christmas gifts for travelers

Music is a great traveling companion and  the one language that all people understand. One of the things that we miss most when we're traveling is listening to music. Most hotels, at least in the category of hotel we're staying at, have only a traditional clock radio on the night table. One of the gifts our sons gave to their Dad this Christmas was a JAM Jar and a Jar of Jam. 

The sound from the Jam Jar wireless speakers is incredible. I'm thinking back to the huge speakers that we used to have, that didn't have this sound. It’s mind-boggling to think that this phenomenal sound is coming from a small jar this size. You can see how small it is; it fits into his carry-on computer bag.  The Jam Jar is made by  HMDXAUDIO   http://www.hmdxaudio.com/products.htm

Their Dad also likes Jam (not preserves or jelly) and is partial to Smuckers since their jam doesn't have lumps or clumps of berries.  It was a great gift.  

Music is the universal language of mankind.” 

― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Where words fail, music speaks.” 

― Hans Christian Andersen

  

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” 

― Aldous Huxley, Music At Night: And Other Essays

Oh, the Places WE'LL Go in 2013!

Typically I don't make New Year's resolutions, mostly because I don't want to look back and see that I failed at them.  But I do see January as a good time to look ahead and set goals.  The usual goals crop up:  use the elliptical more, work harder on learning Spanish and Italian, and try to enjoy cooking more, learn more about blogging. Ok, they do sort of sound like resolutions, but they aren't, really.

One thing that we always do together in the days after Christmas is start to think about what we'd like to do  in the new year and where we'd like to go - both locally and globally.

The floats in the Tournament of Roses Parade and this year's theme by Dr. Seuss' "Oh, the Places you'll Go." gave me a lot of inspiration.  Well that and the many travel blogs that I've become addicted to -- especially Matt Long’s   www.landlopers.com;

Barbara Weibel's   http://holeinthedonut.com/;    Sherry Ott’s  www.ottsworld.com; Heather Cowper’s www.heatheronhertravels.com; and Laurel Robbins'   http://monkeysandmountains.com/

If you aren't familiar with their amazing adventures, great photos and podcasts from around the globe, make it your New Year's resolution to click on their websites soon. 

We're not thinking about giving up the corporate life and we're not ready to retire, but we do want to travel more especially now that we have an empty nest. Reading great travel blogs is inspirational, motivational, and a fantastic source of information.

That's me in the photo above working at the dining room table.  I use a GPS when I'm driving to new areas, but I like maps. I know maps and atlases are old school, but I like looking at them and have bags of old maps in my closet. (Now cleaning out the closets would be a good new year's resolution - if I made resolutions.)

The View Down Colorado Blvd

Watching the Rose Bowl Parade who hasn't had the thought California Here I Come......sitting on the bleachers on Orange Grove or Colorado Boulevard, basking in the California winter sun.

The Hallmark Channel and KTLA and the Hallmark Channel especially do a great job  on  parade and band sounds, the bands are amazing - but nobody yet has invented anything that can bring the aroma's and scents of the flowers through the television.

I love the floats and enjoy watching the videos of the production companies building them and watching the teams decorate them on New Year's Eve.  What a way to celebrate.

 This year the theme was especially well represented by all the floats especially Kiser Permante's "Oh the Places You'll Go." And I started  thinking and dreaming about where we might go this year.   We've been looking for a Recipe for Adventure and found one on the Trader Joe's float.

E Trader Joe's "Recipe for Adventure" float  (SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

So we started Dreaming of Paradise

  Dole "Dreaming of Paradise" float SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

We actually had been thinking of  an educational trip and The City of South Pasadena's Sailing a Sea of Knowledge  float caught our eye

City of South Pasadena "Sailing the Sea of Knowledge " (SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz) 

Or maybe we'd go on a Deep Sea Adventure like the one from the City of Burbank

 Fantasy Award: City of Burbank/Burbank. (SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

The only time we've seen penguins is at the zoo - and there they were on Colorado Boulevard on live TV! People say they are as cute in person as they are on TV. 

 Bob Hope Humor Award: Cal Poly Universities "Tuxedo Air" . (SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

But maybe we should travel by overseas and what better place to depart from than LAX where we can make Good Connections.

City of Los Angeles, "Making Connections", won the Mayor's Award for (Most Outstanding City Entry) during the 124th Rose Parade, January 1, 2013. (SGVN/Photo by Walt Mancini/SXCity)

And from there only The Sky's the Limit

  Sierra Madre float, "The Sky's the Limit"  (SGVN/Photo by Walt Mancini/SXCity)

Or should we take the Kiwanis Magic Carpet?

Tournament Volunteers' Award: Kiwanis International " A Child's Magic Carpet Ride" . (SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

Oh where oh where should we go?  China, and cycle through paradise?

 International Award winner China Airlines "Cycling Through Paradise" (SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

Or maybe "Wonderful Indonesia"

President's Award winner Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economies, Republic of Indonesia "Wonderful Indonesia" float   (SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

Since we are in Asia, maybe Korea

As someone who loves parades and marching in them, I was really amazed at the PAVA Korean Traditional Marching Bank.  Korean traditional music doesn't really lend itself to parade marching but the band did an incredible job of blending Korean and American traditions and music. This band has 200 members playing brass, percussion and woodwinds. The band members, color guard and flag bearers all wear Korean traditional clothing 

 No matter where we go, like the people of the City of San Gabriel, we'll Celebrate the Journey

 City of San Gabriel Centennial "Celebrating Our Journey"  (SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

But at the end of the trip and the end of the day......All paths lead home.

HGTV "All Paths Lead Home"  (SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

  

Travel is an education and Everyone Grows - personally, spiritually, culturally, intellectually....and usually around the middle as well.

But when we are home we enjoy watching our garden grow.

  Miracle-Gro "Everyone Grows" float   (SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

Oh, the places you'll go!...... We are fortunate to be Living the Good Life!

We're fortunate and blessed with our family, our friends, our health and the opportunity to travel and get to know so many people.

City of Glendale "Living the Good Life" (SGVN/Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)