MYKONOS

Mykonos  is the island of the windmills.  It is the party island, and the island that the rich and famous come to for vacation (that is obviously why we are here! ) We are staying at the incredible Cavo Tagoo looking directly at the sea and the sunset.  A fifteen minute walk to the old town where the restaurants, nightclubs, jewelry stores and souvenir shops abound.  We have walked and hiked every day here to walk off the wonderful breakfasts that are served.  Four of us spent the day yesterday at the island of Delos where according to mythology, Zeus' illegitimate twins (Apollo and Diana) lived.  The site is 2500 years old and some of the buildings still have walls.  It was a very interesting tour and a wonderful boat ride to get there.  Dinner last night at an incredible restaurant called Avra.  The Avra salad must be recommended to anyone coming to Mykonos.  Tomorrow we leave for one final night in Athens then home tomorrow.  I have never stayed in a place as incredible as this hotel, and doubt that I ever will again.  Truly an experience I won't forget.

SANTORINI

The island of Santorini is in the middle of the beautiful Aegean Sea.  The major town is Fira and that is where we are staying in the Aressana Hotel.  Sadly, we are not in a room with a view, but how can we complain, we are in the Greek Islands.  The weather is beautiful, albeit very very windy.   We are supposed to take a sunset cruise tomorrow evening.  Perhaps I will be feeding the fish, but I am game to try anything.  Speaking of fish, have you ever heard of Fish spa? Today, I had my feet exfoliated by GARRA RUFA fish.  Yes, they ate away at my dead skin and I now have feet as soft as a baby's bottom.  Here are some photos of the beautiful island, the white buildings and blue church roofs and window frames.  Incredible! 

 

ATHENS

We spent only one night in Athens at the start of our vacation.  We arrived at the Hotel Electra at about 2:30 in  the afternoon after virtually no sleep on the flights.  We soon discovered that our three hour walking tour of the city was to begin in 15 minutes.  All we could think about was taking a nap, however, once we started walking we all perked right up.  There are no riots or demonstrations or people lined  up outside the banks to withdraw all their money.   The tour culminated at the Acropolis and the Parthenon.  What amazing architecture.  We took some great photos of the lights on the Acropolis from the hotel that evening.  Found a great little restaurant on the way back to the hotel for our first Greek meal which we shared with four others in our group.  

Thanksgiving

The last camping of the season and are we lucky! It could just as easily have been 35 degrees and rainy, which would have been no fun; but, sun, blue crisp skies, 60 degrees. Diana and Peggy rented a cabin right on the lake, but, unable to secure one of those, we decided to take a chance on camping. Turkey dinner made in the little camper stove would have been tough, but the cabin has a full kitchen. Mimosas while cooking, turkey, stuffing, (and dressing as Nancy won't eat the stuff in the bird) mashed potatoes, baked macaroni and cheese, butternut squash and apple casserole, broccoli casserole, peas, onions, cranberry relish, jello and carrot salad, gravy, rolls and apple pie with ice cream! Isn't that just NUTS for 4 people.....and we get to do it all again this evening.


There is wonderful hiking for all of us -especially the dogs- to enjoy, not to mention the lake. I think our kids would break the ice to reach the water so they could swim.
Today we are thankful for our health; our wonderful friends and supportive families; the jobs we have that allow us to have plenty of time to enjoy the wonderful place we live and places we visit; and two dogs who are well behaved and make us smile every day.
So tomorrow we will go home, winterize the camper and cover it up for four months. Time to hibernate a little and enjoy Virginia's next season.

Location:Lake Anna State Park, Mineral Virginia

A Fall Visit to the Beach

Just came back from a fabulous five days at the beach. There is really nothing like the beach in the fall when the air is clear, the
colors sharp and the bugs hibernating. This will sound like a dating website, but "I love long walks on the beach, pink sunsets, romping dogs, evening fires, golf (when I am playing well), and good friends." and the birds,


did I mention the birds? Wood storks, egrets, heron and the ducks splashing and playing in long lines. This long weekend (or short week) was all of that.

Location:Huntington Beach South Carolina

New York, September 2011

1000 Islands, St Lawrence River, New York, September 2011

We are here in NY on our fall vacation in the 1000 Islands Region. Our first stop is Jacques Cartier State Park. It is a beautiful park, sitting right on the St Lawrence River. The site is perfect, we can sit and watch the boats go down the seaway or let the kids play in the water right out the door of the camper. The weekend had the park about half filled, but now that it is mid week, there are very few of us here. It is lovely to not have to have the dogs on ropes. Today we played 9 holes of golf at one of the state parks that is a golf course a few miles from here. It was an easy course but lots of fun. We will plan to do it again before we leave this area. Expecting some rain tomorrow so will go out for a drive to see the area. The dogs are doing very well, we take them for a big run twice a day and they are loving all the chipmunks and squirrels. It is great to camp at this time of year when there are so few other people in the campgrounds. We can be comfortable letting the kids just run and run.











FALL 2011 Chapter 2

The Thousand Island Region is (obviously) named for the multitudes of small islands in the St Lawrence River mouth. Actually, there are 1864 islands--to be an island, the ground must be above water 365 days a year and there must be two living trees on that island. Many of the islands have wonderful "weekend cabins" that to you and me are castles. Nancy and I took a cruise to see many of these millionaire mansions. It was the first cruise for both of the dogs. I don't think they would tell you it was the finest part of their vacation, but they survived. We stopped at Hart Island to see Boldt Castle as well as a farmer's market and wine tasting festival. All was going well until we tried to walk Annie past the alpaca pen. She freaked out....... You would think a bear jumped out of the woods behind her. I don't think she ever saw it, but her nose sure knew something was different. Here are a few photos from the day, the glorious and the understated island homes.






FALL 2011 Chapter 3

We made the decision to drive south as we left the St Lawrence River to a park that was recommended by one of our fellow campers. We are now at Green Lakes State Park just outside of Syracuse NY. It is named for the two glacial lakes that are central to this beautiful park. The lakes are protected, surrounded by trees with no boating or fishing. They are the most wonderful turquoise green color when the light refracts through. It is a combination of the limestone, the depth of the lakes and the bacteria in the water that combine to make the result unusual but fantastic. The campground is nothing to write home about, but the park is very special. There is a Robert Trent Jones designed golf course here which is amazing. For $12 we played the most spectacular course we have ever played. Difficult? yes! The ball was always either above or below our feet.... but ... Wow! The weather has not been too good; nice yesterday as we played golf, rain last night and then again today till about two when the sun came back out and we played another nine holes.



FALL 2011 Chapter 4

Our final three days have been spent in a very familiar place that just feels like home. The Finger Lakes is one of our favorite vacation spots in the autumn, and it did not disappoint us again this year. The weather promised to be rainy all week, so we thought it would be a good place to go as there is always something to go and do. All and all, the weather was not too bad with rain on only the final day. It is a beautiful big campground with wonderful spacious sites, plenty of open space to walk the dogs, and green green grass everywhere. We went shopping at the outlets in Waterloo in Thursday, typical outlet mall; nothing exciting to report except that we each spent some money on things that seemed very reduced in price. (seemed being the important word here). Friday, the rainy day, was spent cruising around and wine tasting. I had fun, can't really say the same for Nancy as she was sitting in the car, in the rain most of the time with wet dogs....... Keuka Lake is really the most beautiful place with rolling hills and incredibly picturesque vineyards reaching down to the water's edge. I am sure we will come back to this spot many times in the years to come. The leaves were not very colorful this year, really just starting to turn, but the ride home produced some stunning color.