Camping in Style

Resting after hiking a trail in The Great Smokies, hubby and I posed for a photo shoot. The hike down was hectic and dangerous. See those dark clouds above us, well they cut loose and one really doesn't want to be up high on a ridge with lightening and thunder. We hurried making our way down, but at the same time had to careful with the wet slippery trail when the skies let loose. I was really glad we had purchased good Camping Gear. Good hiking boots kept me sure footed so much more then a pair of sandals or tennis shoes would have in those conditions. When the wind kicked up and it got cold, I was able to quickly zip on the bottoms of my pants.
Having Quality Camping Equipment makes or breaks a camping excursion. Though this picture shows a bright sunny pretty day, the night before was something else entirely. We were camping out in Rocky Mountain National Park. We were dry and secure while others around us weren't so lucky. Some tents blew badly in the winds, some tent poles snapped making the tent collapse. Our Dome style tent with vestibule kept us safe, warm, and dry.
It's important to have the right equipment for the journey. Tents, backpacks, sleeping bags, air mattresses, stoves, lanterns, heaters, fuel, water bottles and purification systems needed for hiking, camping, fishing, and climbing can all be obtained though Camping Gear Outlet. When you have the right kind of quality equipment you really can enjoy the journey, you feel safe, you feel secure, you truly feel protected. Communing with Mother Nature is a wonderful way to de-stress in our overly busy lives.

Doesn't matter if you're going for a night or going for a week in the back country, you want and need quality equipment and tools to make your journey interesting, fun, and rewarding. And let's not forget clothes, yes even the right clothes can make a difference in your comfort. Outdoor clothing needs to be comfortable, strong and durable while also being purposeful. Don't over look the importance of food and the right tools and equipment to prepare it either. You don't have to be Eulle Gibbons and stalk The Wild Asparagus, you can eat pretty well if you plan ahead and purchase the right camping equipment for cooking a good hearty and healthy meal.

Flat Stanley and his cousin, Flat Joe

LOOK, he's here. I told you a few weeks back my cousin Joe was coming for a visit, here he is! I'm sooooooooo excited. I want to introduce him to you....People this is Joe, my cousin. Joe, these are all the people I've been telling you about.
Come on Joe, we'll unpack your suitcase later. We've got places to go, people to meet, and things to do. We'll make it an early night since you came so far; you'll be tired probably. Joe traveled special priority mail all the way from Summerville, South Carolina. He traveled 516 miles, wow. The car ride was 11.5 hours long.

He's telling me all about Summerville, sounds like a place I'd like to go someday. Summerville's called "Flower town in the Pines". Doesn't that sound pretty? He says it's pretty with flowers everywhere, but mostly Azaleas. People have Azaleas in their yards, but there's also planted in lots of public gardens. In fact there's an "official Azalea Park" that tourist come to visit every Spring. They have a farmers market on Sat. mornings with lots of wonderful fresh produce. Even though they're near Charleston it's a cozy town and not a busy busy hectic kind of place. They have lots of parks and plenty of recreational areas. They even have a large sports complex with lots of things to do.

When the little town was rebuilding after The Civil War, they were hit with an earthquake in 1886. But that didn't dampen the spirits of the neat people who live there. They continued to build a prosperous wonderful community to live and work in.
I'm gonna help Joe unpack and settle in now, but if you want to read more about Joe, look at his web address above. Be sure and come back soon, so you can read all about Joe's adventure here in Ohio with his cousin, Flat Stanley....that's me course!

And, don't forget you can read all about my other adventures HERE.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words!

We've all heard the saying "A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words", so regardless of the size or style of camera you use Don't Leave Home without It!

Is your camera fully charged? Do you have extra batteries and or a battery charger packed so you don't miss a special picture or memory because you're batteries are kaput? Do you have an usb plug if you need that for your computer, or an extra memory disc or stick?

Where are you packing your camera? Personally I like the camera in my purse or in my carry on bag even if I'm not flying. Why? You want it close at hand in case there's a photo opportunity before you reach your destination and get unpacked. Batteries add a fair amount of weight which can be a problem if you're flying. Two suggestions, use rechargeable batteries instead of lots of batteries to carry and throw away. Have one set charged and in your camera, a 2nd set charged and packed. When you remove the first set from your camera to put in the charger you still have the 2nd set ready to go. Or, if you use the throw away batteries; have one set in your camera and buy others as soon as you reach your destination instead of buying them at home and packing them. Yes, I know in most vacation resort locations you'll pay more for the batteries; but not as much as paying for a heavy bag.

I much prefer to be green and use my rechargeable style batteries.

Make sure you have your camera strap, either one for around your neck or one for your hand....and USE IT! Don't fall victim to a camera being dropped because you have a strap and don't use it, or didn't bother to put it on the camera when you purchased it.

When photographing your memories, enjoy yourself. Don't spend lots of time arranging people to get the "perfect" shot. It annoys everyone involved. Just take a picture and keep moving. I've heard people say (particularly those with a camera that needs lots of adjustments etc.) that taking photo's is time consuming, and adds stress to the vacation. Don't let it be, click and move on. Don't spent valuable time you could be exploring making sure everyone in your picture is standing in the exact location. Saving memories and sharing the fun is what you're trying to accomplish.
Read all Thursday Traveling Tips Here

Sunny Smiles in Cancun Mexico

When you first think of Cancun Mexico you think beaches and beautiful bodies, right? A beautiful smile completes the beautiful body and it too can be found with Cancun Cosmetic Dentistry in Mexico. Most of us really don't like going to the dentist; but how about combining a fabulous vacation in sunny Cancun with needed dental work. Wouldn't that make the whole experience totally different? Of course it would. Dental Tourism, bet you never thought of that; but you should. Why? You can have Laser Whitening, crowns, bridges, implants and denture work done for up to 70% off in a very modern facility while you enjoy time on the beach with family or friends.

Dentist in Mexico is easy, affordable, and can be tailor made to meet your needs. They have the ability to work with your insurance, have a fully functional lab right on site which means no waiting. They are proud members of The Medical Tourism Association, and have 20 years of experience in the field to offer you. Payments are easy with Visa, American Express and or Master Charge.

To aid you their website is complete with information regarding pricing, hotels in the area broken down into low, medium , high budget and luxury. You pick what's right for you. Additional information is available about travel and airlines. Still have questions be sure and check out the FAQ area, or make direct contact.

So smile, pack your swim suit and sunscreen.

Flat Stanley finds Fleur-de-lis

Hello, time for more Friday Fun with Me, Flat Stanley. I'm not in this picture because I wasn't tall enough to climb up here. But, I am here just the same. I was walking down the main street in Worthington in search of cool stuff to show you; when I stopped at this empty building. There used to be a wonderful florist in this building. They moved to some new shopping center...phooey. I like old buildings. Look at this one.
PLEASE remember you can click to make this picture even bigger. Look at the neat design above the window way up there. On the red ribbon it says Flores Boni. I quess that means flowers in some other language. The two big dancing horses look like they're kissing the crown. And on the crown is a cross. Above the crown is a Fleur-de-lis. The circle divided into 4 parts between the horses has what looks like a snake, a heart, a cross, and flower.

Words and pictures can tell a story. I looked up each of these items when connected to a family crest and found the following interesting information:
Cross means Christianity
Snake means wisdom
Heart means charity and sincerity
Crown means royalty
Horses mean readiness for all employment for King and Country
Fleur-de-lis, is the floral badge of France

So I might be able to say the story behind this building has to do with a French Florist who was a Christian, who was smart and served his fellow man with sincerity?

Since we do know that a long standing floral business was in this building my story might not be too far off. I did a little more digging and found the original owner of the business was named Charles Lee. When I first knew of this business it was named Maple Lee, then it was purchased by others ad the name changed but always had as part of it's name Maple Lee.

Do you have any neat old buildings around you? Look up, see if they have any neat designs like this might tell you a story.

Could you pick some words that describe you and your family and draw your own family crest?

I made you a word puzzle with words from the story about my interesting empty building. Have fun!

Word Search Puzzle

X T S E C G E G T D D D D V R A R W
A E H I L F L O W E R O Y A L T Y F
F E E Q F F W U T M M C P R E T E L
E S A W C S N S A T S N R F I H O E
T T T O E R H O K V W U C N P Q K U
O L S I D S O A K O E S A H S A I R
E A T P T T N S R E E I L E N N N D
H O A O T A F C S E T A F S Q R G E
C D T S G F N I H S C H L C S E S L
E F U Z Z S A B I R L E O R E E D I
D I G S J I L R P C H A R I T Y M S
D J H H O N H H I J N R E X A E I X
W E W R J C G G S O T T S F Z Z H A
N I W F E E A O T D T E B T P O J S
A D Q Y O R D S I A S N O U E N U V
U E P O H I C A J R I Q N E D H T F
F N D F D T N J O O L D I W Q D N F
A Y A M F Y C H V P Q L W E S E R S There are 13 words hidden above, see if you can find them:
Horses
Crown
King
Cross
Flower
Royalty
Christianity
Snake
Charity
Heart
Sincerity
FloresBoni (normally written Flores Boni with space)
FleurDeLis (normally written Fleur-de-lis)
spaces and hyphens weren't allowed in the puzzle making.

Until next time, Flat Stanley out. See you again on Friday Oct 3rd.

Did you miss some of my other adventures? If so, click here.

Odd folks I see the word puzzle when looking at this in edit mode; but seeing it now after it's published it isn't showing up for me. I'm not sure if it's showing up for you? If not, I've not clue why. This has worked in the past. I'll have to try a different method next time. Sorry

JAN UPDATE
Spoke with Jan yesterday am and she had had a tough day, pain wise the day before. She said she had tried to do the day without pain meds and decided that wasn't a good idea. Am hopeful yesterday went better. She planned to take it a bit easier. Please keep checking back.

Traveling Tips on Thursday

There are many traveling tips, this however is the first in what will be a series for you. I've very cleverly titled these tips..."Traveling Tips on Thursday". Now let me explain. It's not just on Thursday you want to practice these traveling tips; but it is Thursday you want to be sure and swing by to learn what they are.

That's me behind those cool shades leaning against the street sign. Why you might wonder am I leaning again the sign post? It says "Mader" Dr. You see that's my maiden name. This sign post was spotted in Bucyrus, Ohio as I traveled with my sisters to Port Clinton for a girls weekend.

So, what's my first tip for you all when traveling? KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN, and PAY ATTENTION. And once you do see something, take the time and stop. It's often the journey and not just the destination that makes for lasting memories.

I've done some family genealogy and knew there were Mader's living in this town; though I didn't know we had a street named for us. Note to self, do more research and find out the who, what, when, where, and why of this sign.

Grab this hand badge for your blog to remind you to swing by on Thursday for your Traveling Tips. Please use Traveling Tips all 7 days of the week, they do not expire, they roll over AND over again.
Clicking on the badge here will take you to it's dedicated page.

Traveling on Southwest Airlines, Flying with Pets

Continuation of Award, click here
Southwest Airlines is always my first choice for flying, and luckily it goes to most of the locations I've traveled. There are many pluses to choose Southwest over other airlines, in my opinion. Southwest has good rates, excellent customer service, is the only airlines not charging for luggage, you can earn free tickets, you can if necessary change your plans and not be penalized for changing your ticket, your flight if not used is good for one full year, they donate to Ronald McDonald Charities, they have an earlybird check in program for only $10.00 on line, AND they have the P.A.W.S. program where you can bring your pet with you.

Things you need to know about flying with your pets:

You do need to reserve a spot for your pet, by calling 1-800-1-FLY-SWA. You can NOT make your pet reservation on line. The cost is $75.00, and once made needs to be picked up in person at the ticket counter.
Your pets does not earn reward points
You do not get a refund if you decide not to travel with your pet
There's generally a limit of 5 pets per flight (there are sometimes alterations to this)
Only 1 pet may travel with you
Your pet must be a small (cat or dog) that fits into a small carrier. The pet must be able to stand up and turn around in the carrier.
The carrier must fit under the seat
Pets can not travel in the cargo area, they can only travel with you in the carrier under the seat
No minors may travel with a pet solo
Pet carriers do count as a carry on bag
Carriers can be hard or soft sided, must be well ventilated, and leak proof
At no time during the flight may the pet be removed from the carrier, not before, or during. Not while in line at the gate. The ONLY brief time the pet may be held is when you go through the security
ASSISTANCE DOGS do not count as a carry on bag
Airports do one at least 1 area where your pet can go potty; but no flight or seat will be held while this takes place. The program P.A.W.S. stands for Pets Are Welcome on Southwest.

I've earned a free ticket, though I've not used it; so has hubby. Our daughter's earned several.

I'd also like to add the only airlines where the staff seems to enjoy their jobs is Southwest. They always dress for the holidays, decorate the gate area and or counter. So, whenever possible I fly Southwest.
(Above dogs are Maddie and Annabelle, they belong to my SIL. I think they would be too large to fly from the carriers I've seen). I checked with Jan and they each weight 17 pounds. She and I discussed whether they would fit in a carrier be able to stand up and turn around etc. It would be iffy, we think.

Jan update as of 8:30 ish Tues 24th, she tried to go a day without pain med; except for taking it before bed. She was in pain and wonders if that wasn't such a good idea after all. She had trouble trying to get comfortable last night and didn't sleep well. Sounds like she might have done too much yesterday; so hopefully will take it a bit easier today. Her follow up with the Doctor is Sept 1. Her computer is fixed; though she may not still be using it. Sitting is painful, so she moves around a bit and lays back down/or sorta in a recliner. She appreciates the good wishes, and the prayers.