I've always loved traveling but I haven't had the time or the funds to do it as much as I'd like. Since I retired in 2017, traveling has been a big part of my crossing off "bucket list" items. Unfortunately, covid put a stop to a lot of travel and so that has been more of a problem.
From my early twenties, when I purchased my first Harley-Davidson motorcycle and started riding my own bike instead of being a passenger, I have loved the call of the open road.
This is a picture of my and my Fatboy (that's the model of Harley, lol) on my trip to Chatanooga, TN for a Harley convention. You may have read about one of my adventures on this very trip where I talked about my "most embarrassing moment" due to a wardrobe malfunction!
This one is a picture of me on my best motorcycle trip ever! A group of us took our bikes to Montana and toured Yellowstone National Park, Glazier National Park, went up into Canada, and down into Wyoming. It was a dream trip that I will never forget.
Sometimes I travel with my mom. This is from a cruise vacation that I took her on as a Christmas gift. No, the cruise wasn't on this bamboo raft, lol. This was an excursion we took while docked in Jamaica.
Most of the time though I travel with my husband, better known on Hive as @crypt-skip. This was from our honeymoon cruise to Hawaii and here we are on a catamaran for a whale-watching excursion.
Probably one of the more thrilling travel events was this trip to Virginia for white water rafting. This is the actual river that the movie "Deliverance" was filmed on. The tour outfit that we took this trip with sold t-shirts in their store that said: "If You Hear Banjos - Paddle Faster!"
Another unique experience we had was taking an Amtrak train trip from Chicago, IL to San Francisco, CA. This is a picture of @crypt-skip filming the beautiful scenery in Colorado from the observation car. We saw some really extraordinary views that you would never see traveling by car. But a sleeper car in a train was not quite the thrill I thought it would be, lol. I'm glad that we did it once, but I don't think we'll be repeating this particular mode of travel.
Another of my favorite trips, combining TW0 hobbies, was to go horseback riding in southern Illinois in the Shawnee National Forrest. I owned a horse as a teenager, and I've always loved riding. It's a special treat when I get the opportunity!
This one was from a trip to Cancun, Mexico that we took with my son and daughter-in-law. It's a welcome thing to get away from the winter weather and go somewhere warm and sunny. International travel is a lot more of a pain in the rear these days, though.
A trip that we took last July was to Seattle, WA and here's a shot of @crypt-skip on a hiking trail in the Olympic Mountains. We encountered a black bear not far from where I took this picture. Thank goodness the bear was more interested in the berry bushes than us! We loved Seattle and plan on returning sometime in the future. Riding the ferries to the islands was a really fun experience.
Travel is a great way to broaden your horizons and take yourself out of your comfort zone. Seeing new places and meeting new people is one of things I looked forward to in my retirement. I'm very fortunate to have some opportunities and to have my best friend at my side.
This was an entry for the Ladies of Hive, talking about a favorite hobby. All the photos in this story were taken by me or a family member or friend.
As a part of the contest, I'd like to invite @plantstoplanks to join Ladies of Hive, if you are not already a member!
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