Category Archives: On The Road

From Munich…

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We arrived after an overnight flight to Munich in the morning. We are staying in an apartment and got checked in by midday. Before long we were out walking around to see the sites. It was rainy, but nice. These shots were taken from the bell tower of St. Peter’s church.

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There are many, many churches in Munich and many of them are Catholic. I feel right at home :-).

Today we went on a tour to Neuschwanstein, the castle build by King Ludwig in Bavaria. I have wanted to see this castle since I was a girl so it was great fun. Below is Mario, our guide.

Mario - tour guide

We stopped at two lovely churches, one Baroque and one Rococo, on the way to the castle.

Neuschwanstein is the castle that Cinderella’s castle at Disneyworld is based on.

Neuschwanstein

If you are interested in the castle, you can find better photos than I took online. The best shots are from from the bridge behind the castle that is closed for repairs. Deep sighs on our part. No matter—it was a beautiful day, no rain, cool weather, and great company!

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We stopped for cheese, sausage, and beer at a cheese farm on the way back to Munich. I’ve never seen cows this color before… they were more taupe than brown. They all wore bells and it was fun to sit by them as we ate a late lunch.

Bavarian Dairy Cow

Elder

Tomorrow we head to Salzburg!

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade…

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We walked a few blocks from Jeff’s apartment to 64th Street and Central Park West. We got there an hour before the parade started and there were already lots of people there. None of us are committed enough to parades to have gotten there in time to be in the front row.

Anything below head level was hidden from us, but luckily most of the good stuff is tall or floating. The Macy’s stars were first…

Followed by a turkey float…

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My favorite was Adventure Time…

Jeff is in the kitchen cooking. I have been decorating their Christmas tree, and Steve is having a nap. What a great Thanksgiving!

Images from my quick visit to Quilt Market…

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I stopped long enough to take a photo of the construction in the daylight. Downtown Houston has been looking better every year. It’s more crowded, bustling, cleaner, and there is a lot more that is interesting to look at. I suspect that next year the Convention Center is going to look better than it ever has.

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I took the next two shots before market opened so the folks you see here are vendors. It will be a lot more crowded once the doors are open and shop owners start walking the floor. It will be even more crowded when Quilt Festival opens. The booth occupants will change, the floor plan generally remains the same.

The opening in the far, white wall goes to the quilts. Aisle 1 starts there…

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Turn and look in the other direction and wayyyyyy down there is aisle 29. This is an event that requires good, sturdy footwear.market-03

C&T had our new book, Wool Applique the Piece O’ Cake Way, prominently displayed!

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I didn’t stop to photograph many booths because I was moving fast. I did stop at Art Gallery Fabrics because of this wall:

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The fabric designer showcased here is Maureen Cracknell. I was lucky enough to get to visit with her for a little bit. She is a lovely young woman who has designed some wonderful fabric. She also has a great eye for display!

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It’s not just that the butterflies are pretty, it’s the way the colorless butterflies flow into the colorful ones. They enhanced the fabric that was displayed with them.

In a similar way, RJR used origami cranes…

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I didn’t know until just now that there is an RJR Quilt With Love blog! Click here.

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If you go on social media and look for #quiltmarket you’ll find lots more photos. Tomorrow I’ll post a few quilt images.

More from the Iowa State Capital…

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The library inside the Capital smelled like old books, which is a nice smell! It’s a tall space with two amazing spiral staircases. 

   
The books were pretty on the shelves. I would have taken many more photos but we didn’t get to stay long. 

 
Also seen on the tour were mosaics which made me want to play with tiny tiles…

  
And spiral stairs to climb up and down to the dome. I got a little dizzy and my thighs are still sore. 

  
We got to look outside from one window when we were high in the dome. I guess squirrels don’t come through the gap in the screen…

   
I was surprised to find the signs of the zodiac painted on the ceiling on the ground floor. 

  
There were quotations in many places. Every politician should take this one to heart…

  
And then we went outside where I had noticed a gold building. It was, not surprisingly, built to reflect the Capital!

   
   
I think this last photo may be my favorite one of all. 
 

The Iowa State Capital Building…

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I was told that this was a must-see Des Moines site so yesterday morning Catherine and I went to see it for ourselves.

If you are in Des Moines, you are likely to see the capital’s golden dome gleaming from far away. We took the tour so I can tell you that that is real gold leaf, thinner than a hair, and that it has to be re-applied every 20-25 years.



The architectural details, both in and out, are really amazing and, now that I think about it, the whole place was really clean!

If you look down you’ll notice that the tile designs in the floors are varied and quilt-like…


  
  
But when you look up, your jaw will drop.



If you take the (free) tour, you get to go up to the the balcony high in the dome, just below the banks of lights that illuminate the space. I was standing there when I took the following photo, looking up…


…and then looking down to the floor far below, where the ‘x’ is. That’s a person walking away, to the right of the ‘x’.


Even the smallest details were not forgotten…

door hinge

door hinge

 

thermostat

thermostat

 

window pull

window pull

 

sconce arm

sconce arm

There’s more to share tomorrow but for now let me say that this really is a nice place to visit. Way to go, Iowa!

From Kiluea/Volcanoes National Park

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We hiked today, and my feet are sore. I’m happy to report that after Steve’s MaiTais and dinner, they are less sore :-).

We hiked in and around Volcanoes National Park, and across Kiluea Iki. Luckily we got to the park before the crowds and parking was easy. And it was not terribly hot on the hike across the crater.

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There was some posing for interesting photos…

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The next shot was taken on the walk out and back up the side of the crater. We walked down the far side that you see, across the flat part, and up the other side.

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Steve, Amanda, and Keith were brave, almost looking over into a crevasse…

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There was some stopping to at least attempt to smell the flowers…

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That’s ginger, by the way. An invasive non-native that needs to be eradicated. It is also pretty.

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We hiked Devastation Trail… there’s a story that goes with the name but darned if I can remember it.

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Off in the distance, you can see the steam erupting from Halemaumu.

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Back in the day, Steve and I and students could (and did) hike out to that spot, but not now. It’s too dangerous. This is us, then. That sign is probably still there…

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Here we are today, 11 years later and still going strong :-).

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Tomorrow we are heading to Puna Lu’u, the black sand beach!