Our 1st Anniversary in Globe, AZ

For our one-year wedding anniversary, John and I traveled across the country for my friend April's wedding. She and her husband Marcus were married at a beautiful bed and breakfast in Globe, Arizona.

John and I enjoyed wonderful views on our drive from Phoenix into Globe. The desert is so pretty, and the weather was sunny and in the high 70's.
After settling into our room, John and I took a quick hike around the bed and breakfast. It was so fun to get to be with John again.
Here are April and Marcus the night before their wedding. They held a traditional Apache dinner for everyone. It was very good, and John and I were able to meet Marcus's Mom and family.
This amazing sunset greeted us around 6:30 am on the morning of April's wedding.
Since John and I had the whole day to ourselves before the ceremony, we visited Salt River Canyon, and Tonto National Monument. The views were terrific. I love exploring new things and places with John.
Here are the lower cliff dwellings once inhabited by the Salado people nearly 700 years ago. They were able to adapt to the desert climate and grow corn, beans, and cotton. Very fascinating to see!

Here, John and I are back at the bed and breakfast, and ready for the ceremony to begin. John always looks so handsome!

April looked lovely, and the ceremony and reception were perfect. For dinner, we had steak and chicken fajitas, rice, beans, and chips and salsa- all delicious. The cake was really good too! White with lemon filling. Check out April and Marcus's really cool cake topper. It's a skeleton bride and groom.

Congratulations April and Marcus!

Audubon Society bee-keeping field trip

My friend Julie Rosenbaum is a new bee-keeper. She really knows a lot, and agreed to give a tour and presentation about bees to the local Audubon Society.

Here, Julie is showing the honey extraction room and equipment.

Outside, Julie really captured the audience's attention! We had 15 people at the field trip, and they all were curious and had great questions. Here, Julie is showing them a solar-powered beeswax melter.

Julie is decked out in her special bee-keeping jacket. It protects her from stings to her arms, face, and torso.

Julie described the anatomy of the hives, and the social system of the honey bees. By using pheromones and a mental map of their hive location, all the bees know which specific hive they belong to. Amazing! Do I have awesome friends, or what? Thank you Julie!

Labor Day weekend with John in N.C.

I visited John in Raleigh, N.C. over Labor Day weekend. He is taking a sabbatical at N.C. State University, where he is studying E. coli 0157H7. Here is the D.H. Hill Library on campus. There is a creamery in the library, where they sell ice cream!

When John and I were in downtown Raleigh, this nice couple asked us to be witnesses to their wedding at the magistrate's office. John and I happily obliged.

Here I am in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Very beautiful grounds and huge! Definitely worth a visit.

Here is John in his lab at the Schaub Food Science Building. He is so smart and always hard at work making food safer for everyone to eat.
My favorite part of the trip to see John was our visit to the North Carolina Railroad museum. We got to experience the lovely forested landscape of North Carolina while riding in an open-air train car. It was really fun. John always has great ideas! We were able to tour cabooses, luggage cars, and an old mail car.

I love you John!

Laura Ingalls Wilder Home, Mansfield Missouri

John and I had a fantastic time during our trip to Rocky Ridge Farm. From Muncie, we drove 8 hours to Springfield, Missouri. The next morning, we made the 1 hour drive to Mansfield, where Laura and Almanzo Wilder lived beginning in 1894. They built and expanded their home over a 20 year period, and lived out the rest of their lives here.

Laura and Almanzo grew apples and raised chickens, among many other things. Not until Laura was 65 years old did she write and publish her first book, Little House in the Big Woods. Seven more books followed during her lifetime, making Laura Ingalls Wilder an internationally recognized author. During the 1940's, Laura received approximately 50 letters a day from loyal fans of her books! Eventually, Almanzo had to install an industrial size mailbox to accommodate the fan mail.

At the Wilder homestead, John and I walked a pretty 3/4 mile trail called Laura's pathway, which led to the Rock House, that Rose Wilder Lane had built as a gift to her parents in 1928. Laura and Almanzo lived there from 1928 to 1935. When Rose moved away, they moved back into the farm house. Originally a Sears cottage design, the Rock House cost Rose $11,000 to have built, and had every modern amenity except air conditioning.

This is a lovely view just beyond the Rock House. The Ozark area is stunning.

Before leaving Mansfield, John and I stopped by the local cemetery where Almanzo, Laura, and Rose are buried.

John and I also made time that evening for a ride on the Branson Scenic Railway. It was lots of fun! We got to ride in a vintage multi-level observation car, and coach car as we headed through the Ozarks and into northern Arkansas.
Below is the beautiful bed and breakfast John and I stayed in. It was built in 1894, and was supposedly haunted (John and I did not see any ghosts, though)

Corydon, Indiana

John and I visited Indiana's first state capitol last weekend. Above is the historic Kintner House Inn where we stayed. It was built in 1873 as a hotel. Corydon was Indiana's capitol from 1816-1825.

This is the original capitol building that housed the Indiana House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Indiana Supreme Court.
Here is the inside of the capitol building. The first floor first served as the chamber for the house of representatives, and later as Corydon's official court house until the 1920's.

This is the second floor of the building, which housed the state senate chamber and the supreme court across the hall.

Washington D.C.

Arlington National Cemetery. Approximately 25-30 funerals take place within the cemetery every day. The deceased must have officially served their country in some form.

Here is a view of George Washington's home, Mt. Vernon, located near Alexandria Virginia and overlooking the Potomac River.

This is the original Smithsonian Museum, the Smithson Castle. Money for the museum was donated by a Brit named James Smithson in the 1800's. James Smithson never visited the United States, but felt disrespected by his fellow country men. There are currently 16 Smithsonian museums in D.C.

This is as close to the White House as we could get. John looks like a handsome secret service man I think.

Check out the bee hives behind me to the left. John and I thought that was pretty interesting.

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. You have our respect, Mr. President.

The beautiful Capitol Building. You can't even tell it was pouring down rain!

A pretty night time view of the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument. The slight color variation about 1/3 up the monument is because construction on the monument was stopped during the Civil War. When construction resumed after the war, the same color stone was not available even though builders went back to the exact quarry as before.

The Lincoln Memorial, dedicated in 1922. Beautiful and awe-inspiring.

Omni Netherlands Hilton, Cincinnati OH

John and I visited the Art Deco Wonder of the Midwest over Thanksgiving break this year. We stayed a night in the Omni Netherlands Plaza Hilton hotel, located in Cincinnati's historic Carew tower. The Carew tower was built in 1930 and is 48 stories tall. It was built in just 12 months!

The murals and gold and nickel plated fixtures are original to the building. They are so detailed and beautiful. Click on the picture above for a better look at the detail.

This is one of the orginal dining rooms that is still in use today : The Orchids at Palm Court. John and I got to eat our breakfast here.
The entry way to the hotel lobby is quite grand. The marble floors and walls were once covered up with wood paneling and linoleum in the 1960's as a "modernization" effort. Can you believe that?!

View of one of the murals from the second floor. The Brazilian Rosewood used here and throughout the dining room and lobby areas is very beautiful, and today is on the the endangered species list.