By Eilene Lyon I recently spent a week in Sacramento at the National Genealogical Society conference, where I gave a well-received presentation, “Immortal Words: Keep your family history alive with a lively blog.” This was my second visit to the city in recent years, but on this occasion I had a little more time for... Continue Reading →
Tracks Across Borders
By Eilene Lyon On a recent camping trip, I took the opportunity to discover portions of Colorado’s newest scenic byway (which continues into New Mexico). Called “Tracks Across Borders,” this byway follows the historic route of the narrow-gauge Denver & Rio Grande Railroad between Chama and Durango. (I’m one of those people annoyed when state... Continue Reading →
The Interior West
By Eilene Lyon RVing has taken off this year, more rapidly than Covid-19 infections. It’s a relatively safe way to travel, because you take your lodging and kitchen with you, minimizing the need to spend time indoors in potentially dangerous places. The Putterer, Sterling, and I packed ourselves into our new (used) Ford van and... Continue Reading →
Homeland
Week 30: #52 Ancestors – The Old Country By Eilene Lyon Though I have ancestral origins in England and Wales, perhaps a touch in Ireland, an overwhelming number of forebears came from Germanic regions of Europe. I’ve traveled there several times. On one trip, we specifically visited Heidelsheim and Mainz, because I knew my Springer... Continue Reading →
Back on the Bayou
By Eilene Lyon We picked up a rental car at the New Orleans airport and headed to our hotel – a reasonably priced national brand right on St. Charles in the Garden District. For our brief stay in the city, we could take the trollies wherever we needed to go. We took the St. Charles... Continue Reading →
Louisiana Wild
By Eilene Lyon Since we won't be traveling in the foreseeable future, I decided to look back at a trip we made in April 2012 to Louisiana - our first visit to the "deep South." It coincided with the migratory bird festival on Grand Isle. And since this past Saturday was World Migratory Bird Day... Continue Reading →
Biking Dalmatia
By Eilene Lyon After spending two relaxing days in the old city of Dubrovnik, we took a cab on Sunday afternoon to the harbor at nearby Gruž to board our home for the coming week, the Harmonia. The ship is family built/owned and under contract to the German company, Inselhüpfen (Island Hopping). Though many Harmonia... Continue Reading →
Biking to Vienna – Part 2
By Eilene Lyon Part 1 After a lovely breakfast in the castle at Bad Kruezen, we breezed downhill on the bikes back to Grein where we visited the Stadttheater before heading out again along the Danube. Established in 1791, this is the oldest original theater in all the Germanic countries. All of our short rides... Continue Reading →
Biking to Vienna – Part 1
By Eilene Lyon On our last morning in Salzburg, we went to pick up our biking gear for a six-day ride to Vienna. That’s when we learned we hadn’t received our vouchers and itinerary from the desk clerk. We had very little time to peruse the materials, drop off our suitcases to be transported to... Continue Reading →