There are 129 national monuments and it may come as a surprise that many of them are not in Washington, DC. Some are places or landscapes, in other parts of the country, rather than constructed monuments. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate treasure hunt to find all 129 national monuments?

C&O Canal. It was a day to go outside. The C&O Canal in the Carderock Recreation Area was the destination. Turns out, we also discovered the Billy Goat Trail along the Potomac River. As much as I love winter and long for a beautiful peaceful snowfall, we embraced the warm December day and headed out on the backroads of Maryland.

We unintentionally picked one of the hottest days in early July to further explore Maryland’s back roads. Our destination for the day, Historic White’s Ferry in Dickerson, Maryland. The temperature was right around 92 degrees. I don’t know what the actual humidity level was but I’d stand by guesstimating off-the-charts. Summer, in the Washington, DC region feels swampy and mosquitoes reign supreme. The surrounding countryside in Maryland and Virginia is beautiful, but it’s hot and sticky too.

I’m not one to have a “bucket list” nor do I proclaim New Year’s resolutions. I’m finding the older more experienced I get the less I worry about long-term planning, or pretty much making any plans at all.  Perhaps it has something to do with retirement and the level of flexibility and freedom it offers.  Or, maybe, it’s just because I’ve stopped worrying about what might happen, opting instead to live in the here and now.

It’s a fairly bold statement, “Why Everyone Should Visit Ashland, Oregon” but sometimes you just gotta make a big statement.  And, as long as you can back it up, why not go bold?

I’ve always said that walking in the path of those who came before us is by far the best lesson travel can teach.  Graveyards, in particular, are treasure troves of stories. Walking across a civil war battlefield in Franklin, TN you’ll learn the story of Matilda Lotz, or Glen Worthington whose civil war story unfolded near Frederick, MD.  These are moments frozen in time.

Washington, DC has been getting more than its fair share of headlines in this time of political and seemingly social revolution.  Is there anyone in the world who does not know where Washington, DC is and/or the fact that the city is synonymous with politics?  It is after all the heart beat of the United States.  But what many may not know is that the city itself has a lot to offer.  And, while tourism to the nation’s capital may not exactly be trending right now, don’t let the politics of the day keep you from visiting.

What can I tell you about Niagara Falls that you don’t already know?  Probably not much.  But what I can tell you is it’s true what they (who’s they?!) say, the view from the Canadian side is the view to see.  Okay, I say that even though we didn’t visit the falls from the US side, but when you’re on the Canadian side, there’s no arguing the point.

When you think of spring, what comes to mind? Cherry blossoms maybe? The start of a new year, a new season or maybe, new beginnings?  I’ve always tended to wonder why we don’t celebrate the new year on the 1st day of spring, it seems so much more fitting.  A new year with the onset of spring daffodils sounds so much more serene than a new year in the dead of winter.

“One day I heard someone talking about ‘sifting sand’. I liked the sound of those words and scribble in my notebook ‘old man sifts sand’ tells stories…’ and forgot about it.

Then one day I was on a beach, watching the sand trickle through my fingers and thought, what if every grain held a story. And what if someone were able to tell those stories by sifting the sand?”  –   Wikiquote