France

Typically I write about a where I want to go, I do this because it helps me keep track of the amazing places in the world I want to find my way to some day, I am lucky today because I get to write about a place I will be traveling to in May 2013.  I'm going to FRANCE!!!!  I will be spending five days in Paris and then flying to Toulouse where I am renting a Penichette, a house boat, for a seven day cruise along the Canal du Midi in the South of France. 



Penichette in a lock on the Canal

I have wanted to go to Paris for a very long time and am excited for this opportunity, I am even more excited about exposing my eight year old daughter to my love of traveling and fulfilling her dream of going to Paris and seeing the Eiffel Tower.  I am carefully planning a fine balance between adult interests and those of an eight year old, to include the Louvre, the Eiffle Tower, and Euro Disney.



We are renting a Penichette from Locaboat, on the boat will be my parents, my daughter and me, we will live on this boat as we slowly drift along the Canal du Midi stopping at the small medieval villages along the way, riding our bicycles on the tow paths which parallel the canal and of course enjoying fine French cuisine.  This way of traveling will force us to slow down and enjoy the moment since the boats have a maximum speed of 5 mph.  I am in love with the idea mooring along the edge of the canal anytime we see something interesting or when we pass a small town with a beautiful church worth visiting.  I look forward to rising early in the morning and riding our bicycles into town to buy fresh made bread and pastries for breakfast and laying back sipping wine in the French afternoon spring sun.

Barge on the Canal du Midi

We will cruise through and visit towns such as Carcesonne and Castelnaudry, the home of Cassoulette. This is definitely a place I would like travel and I am thankful I only have to wait six more months!     

Neuschwanstein Castle

What girl wouldn't want to visit a true castle, especially the one Cinderella's castle is based on.  The Neuschwanstein Castle was built for King Ludwig II and construction began in 1868 and wasn't 100% completed until 1892.  Sadly King Ludwig only ever lived in his castle when it was a construction zone, dieing in 1886 before it was completed.  King Ludwig built the castle as a refuge from public life however within weeks of his death his refuge was opened to the public and now has 1.3 million visitors a year.

The castle is on the German/Austria border just inside Germany, I don't know what else is around here and I don't really care, I just want to go see this castle.  I must visit in the winter when the castle and surrounding forest is dusted in snow because this adds to the magic of the castle.

Waterville Washington

It was brought to my attention that I was failing at my blogging.  It is so hard to keep up a blog in addition to my daily duties but with school over for the summer I should have a few extra minutes.

For many years as we drove home from Grand Coulee on Hwy 2 we would drive right through the town of Waterville with out stopping.  Every year I would comment about how cute the town was and some time we should stop and explore it, but we never took the time to stop.

Waterville, which is surrounded by miles of wheat fields, holds the title of the highest elevation for an incorporated town in Washington and seems to take pride in the fact they have high speed internet through the fiber optic program of Douglas County.  Every year in July they hold Waterville days, with tractor pulls and car shows.  The whole town gathers to enjoy the celebration of life in a small town.  There are only about 1,200 residents in Waterville but every summer thousands pass through on their way else where.  

The Chamber of Commerce recommends that when you stop by you should grab an ice cream cone and taking the walking tour through town.

Sleep in a Tee Pee

Last year Danny and I went with my parents on a winery tour in Zillah, Washington, the fun thing about this winery tour is that the transportation between the wineries was on horseback.  We visited the 'Cherry Wood Bed and Breakfast' to celebrate my 33rd Birthday and my dad's 60th Birthday.  Pepper, the owner and head horse lady, was a quirky funny lady who obviuously loved her horses and enjoyed taking care of people.  Pepper lead us to three wineries where we sampled and purchased wine and she even prepared us lunch.

Back at base camp Pepper also ran a B&B, the unusual thing about this B&B is that all the rooms were outside, and they were Tee Pees.  One of the Tee Pees was just finished being cleaned when we arrived so Pepper's husband brought us on a tour.  The floors were stamped poured concert, there was a luxurious bed with a thick puffy down comforter, a cow hyde rug, and beautiful art work hanging from the wooden beams forming the Tee Pee.  Each Tee Pee had an outdoor cooking area and there were outdoor showers, just like in the western movies where your head and feet showed.  I told myself that someday I would come back and stay the night in these incredible Tee Pees, I haven't made it yet so it is still on my list of 'Places I'd Like to Travel'.

Moate Ireland

A couple of years ago Danny began looking into his family history.  He wanted to start a new Facebook group that no one else had thought of and decide to start the 'People Named Moate' group.  While Googling the name 'Moate' he found the small town of Moate, Ireland.  It is located about 50 miles west of Dublin in central Ireland.  Although his family is not from there it is still a pretty cool thing to find a town so far away with your name.



Abandond Moate Train Depot

 In Moate's histroy it was an important market place and Quaker village.  There are still examples of the Quaker houses along Moate Mainstreet.  In 1851 the train station opened in Moate so commercial good could be be brought to and from Dublin.  In 1974 commercial goods stopped passing through and in 1987 so did the passengers, now the train depot sits abandoned. 

This lovely little town really likes it's name and names everything in town after it.  There is the Moate Castle, the Moatete B&B, the Moate Sports store...and so on.

I hope some day to be able to visit Moate and walk the streets and see my name on every building and every sign.

Run a Marathon...In Venice Italy



A small canal in Venice



A year ago, along with my sister-in-law and a friend, I walked the Seattle Marathon.  As we neared mile 17 we all decided that we never needed to do another marathon again in our lifetime!  Then the other day, Hotel Albergo San Samuele where I stayed in 2010, had a Facebook post about the Venice Marathon, I quickly changed my mind and decided I could totally do another marathon if it meant doing it in Venice.

The course begins in the quiet neighborhoods where rich and noble Venetians built their vacation mansions in the 18th century.  Runners then cross the Grand Canal on a pontoon bridge built and put in place especially for the race.  As you close in on the finish line you run past the campanile of St. Mark's Basillica and Gothic facade of Doge Palace in St. Mark's Square.  




Columns of San Marco
and San Theodoro in St. Mark's Square





I would like to think that the scenery would keep me running towards the finish line but I am afraid the scent of fresh baked pastries, velvety smooth cappuccino, and fresh gelato would lure me off course.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

About an hour and a half southeast of Atlanta in Juliette Georgia there is a small unassuming building that played the center of a movie I wish I lived in, The Whistle Stop Cafe.  I read the Fannie Flagg book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe' and fell in love with Miss Ruth, Idgie, Big George, Sipsy, and Smokey Lonesome, but after watching the movie I wished I could live in Whistle Stop and spend my days gossiping at the Whistle Stop Cafe while enjoying fried green tomaotes.



Whistle Stop Cafe, Juliette Georgia



Set just feet away from the railroad track is the beautiful covered front porch and store front to the Whistle Stop Cafe.  Although the book and movie take place in Alabama much of the filming took place at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette Georgia. 

Fried green tomatoes are on the menu along with many other southern favorites.  While there you can stay at the Jerrell 1920 House Bed and Breakfast.  The Jerrell 1920 house was built by lumber felled and milled on the Jerrell property.  The house has been completely restored to the original condition and offers a simple stay.

Story has it that in this small town just out beynd the cafe there once was a pond.  One fall a flock of ducks flew into town and landed right in that pond.  Well, one night the tempurture drop so suddenly that the pond froze and froze the ducks right there in the pond.  Well those ducks flew off taking the pond with them.  Thats what I hear anyways.

I have watched the movie at least fifty times and I still cry at alomost every scene.  I cry when Buddy dies, when Smokey Lonesome is shaking to much to eat his dinner and apologizes to Idgie for it.  I continue to cry when Miss Ruth brings a blanket out to Smokey Lonesome on a cold night and I ball my eyes out when Miss Ruth dies just as though I lost my best friend.  I love the idea of the simple yet complicated life of those who become our friends in Fired Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.