Road Trip! by Tracey J Lyons

Well this month's post caught me off guard! Why? Because I'm on a road trip with my husband. A road trip that everyone who knows us wasn't too sure would happen. You see we are, finally, after being together for over 40 years, driving from upstate New York to Florida. Now, we know many, many people have done the I-95 corridor before us. And we also know that many, many family and friends think only one of us will be returning in my RAV 4. LOL!

So...the trek began four days ago.

Yes that is my all important tea mug that you see perched precariously on the dashboard. A souvenir from another  road trip to Bisbee, Arizona. 

The car was packed. Okay not to organized, but I know where everything is.

And off we went on our 1,371.4 miles (one way)!! Or 20 hours in the car with my husband! Wait what did I agree to??!! 

Honestly, so far it's been a great trip. My husband, TJ , and I have talked books, kids, grand-kids, parenting, grand-parenting, in-laws and out-laws. We've even managed to solve a few of the world's problems.  But more importantly we've stopped along the way to visit friends we haven't seen in over a decade and friends who moved away from us as few years ago. And... we've set aside our crazy lives to reconnect with each other. This is becoming one of our most memorable trips. Something we can check off of our bucket list. 

I'm glad we decided to take the plunge and do the drive. We've been plotting and planning our trip back. I know I'm stopping at Georgia Peach World, exit 58 off of I-95. 

Special thanks to B & K Weiss, and R & D Spano for hosting us along the way! 

Tell me, have you ever taken a long road trip? I'd love to hear where you went!! 

A Love For Lizzie 

Print June 18, 2019

digital July 1, 2019

TraceyJLyons.com 

The Big Apple or the Big Easy - Jolene Navarro

Hello, Jolene here. With summer vacation just around the corner, my husband and I are talking about places to go. All my stories are set in my home state of Texas. The small towns of the Hill Country are in my DNA, but I love to travel beyond our borders. 

My father was a commercial airline pilot, and growing up we traveled a lot.  On the other hand my husband grew up on a ranch (ranchers do not take vacations) and was one of eleven children. Needless to say traveling was not done, so I love to take him to new places. 

We've been talking about our favorite places and maybe revisiting one of them. New York City and New Orleans are right on top. My husband was surprised by how much we enjoyed our experience in New York. The energy and vibe of one of the biggest cities in a very land locked piece of property was amazing. We got to dance in the rain in Times Square. I was able to see works of art I’d only studied in art school.

 We found a family diner off not far from our hotel on Wall Street. My husband was exited to discover  burgers under 5.00 plus the owner spoke Spanish. 

We found this gem of a family diner off Wall Street. Home cooked food with very good price.

Just the history alone was mind boggling. I have to say the people were super friendly and even when we got a bit confused in the subway there was always someone willing to help.

Lower Manhattan – It amazes me that so many people can live in such a small space. It looks as if it could just fall of the little piece of land.

In the city you can hardly see the sky. From the river it looks like another world

Central Park

The human spirit is amazing…you can see it and feel it in large doses all over New York, but no matter how many building we build we still are drawn to nature. Central Park is an oasis in the mist of a man made jungle. Did I mention the history everywhere you looked?

Then there is the southern city of  New Orleans. 

Reid, my hero in The Texan's Twins is a native of New Orleans. Katrina relocated him to Houston as a kid. I listened to hours of videos to hear the voice patterns of people from this beautiful city. It was fun and if you read, The Texan's Twins I hope you can hear the sounds of the city in Reid's voice. 

The Texan's Twins - Jolene Navarro

 A big city with a completely different feel from New York. Relaxed, happy, laid back and ready for a good time.  We were sent to New Orleans with a Smithsonian Educational grant and I wasn't sure what to expect. I’m not a party person so I wasn’t sure about New Orleans.  We fell in love with textures, people and food.

Waiting to enter the unknown in New Orleans.

On the way to Pirate Ally in the French Quarter’s of New Orleans.

There is so much art and creativity in New Orleans

Anyone who has ever been to New Orleans will tell you to stop by the Cafe Du Monde, any time of day or night.

So many shops had a cat in the window. This one was watching over a weaving shop

You can’t go to NOLA without at least one visit to the cemetery. This was taken at Lafayette Cemetery No 1

Taking the Paddle Boat down the Mississippi while listening to live music was a wonderful experience. Warning: save your money and skip the dinner.

We stayed in the French Quarter and walked everywhere, even late at night we felt safe. We stepped onto Bourbon Street for about five minutes, that was enough.

The history, art, music and people made this a trip we want to make again. 

Have you been to both of these cities? If you had to choose one which would it be: New York or New Orleans?  Maybe neither? LOL

 Do you have a favorite city that you would visit over and over?

Catching Up After Vacation

Hi Everyone! Danica Favorite here, and I'm just giving you all a quick catch up after my vacation. Our family went to Scotland to celebrate my husband having a milestone birthday, and we had a great time. It was fun traveling as a family and getting some time off to relax. And of course, we got to see Scotland. 

Here are a few highlights from our trip:

View of the River Ness from Inverness Castle

St. Magnus Cathedral

Dunvegan Castle

Eilean Donan Castle

Chapel at Mount Stuart House

Dunrobin Castle

Highland Cow, or as they say, Heilan Coo. 

I want one!

Urquhart Castle

I got to commune with my people!

The highlight of our trip: 

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Hopefully, this gives you a taste of our trip. We spent twelve days and took hundreds of pictures, so it was hard to narrow it all down. Sorry about the formatting. I tried messing with it, and then I got tired, so I'm going to bed! 

Have any of you ever been to Scotland? What was your favorite part? If you haven't been to Scotland, what would you most like to see? 

About Danica Favorite:

A self-professed crazy chicken lady, Danica Favorite loves the adventure of living a creative life. She and her family recently moved in to their dream home in the mountains above Denver, Colorado.  Danica loves to explore the depths of human nature and follow people on the journey to happily ever after. Though the journey is often bumpy, those bumps are what refine imperfect characters as they live the life God created them for. Oops, that just spoiled the ending of all of Danica’s stories. Then again, getting there is all the fun.

You can connect with Danica at the following places:

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/7HCXj
Website: http://www.danicafavorite.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/danicafavorite
Instagram: https://instagram.com/danicafavorite/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanicaFavoriteAuthor  
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Danica-Favorite/e/B00KRP0IFU
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/danica-favorite

Risky Transport by Christine Johnson

Have you ever found yourself facing a mode of transportation that has you second-guessing? As someone who has found herself face-to-face with a bear while hiking and plowing into heavy seas with a sailboat, I’ve had my share of travel adventures and misadventures.

Sometimes, though, I know beforehand that it’s something I do not want to do. Naturally, those “no way” modes of transportation are precisely what my husband is dying to do.

First he insisted on parasailing. “It’ll be fun,” he said. I saw instead the potential for an ugly crash landing on the deck of the boat. Yep, me splattered with broken bones. Only after grilling the captain, did I agree to go. Yeah, it was fun. I loved it. Hubby? Let’s just say his knuckles never stopped being white.

Next up, whitewater rafting. When they made me sign a waiver that they weren’t liable even if I died, I had to ask how many had died on their tours. Well, none yet, but there’s always a first time. Don’t you love a kidder?

Next he wanted to take a helicopter ride through the mountains. Really? Hadn’t he read the same newspaper articles I did about tour helicopters crashing? I might have a chance over water but not over the northern Rocky Mountains. 

The writer’s mind automatically thinks up all the possibilities and settles on the one that will most dramatically change the story and affect the characters. That’s great on paper but not so fun when I’m the one signing off on the waiver.

Yes, I did all of these, though it took a lot of praying and reassurance from the Lord before agreeing to the helicopter ride. And you know what? None of the bad stuff happened. In fact, each adventure was fun and at times exhilarating. The moment the helicopter landed following the tour, I turned to my husband and said, “Let’s do it again, right now.” How else could I see God's beautiful creation from this perspective? 

Lately the Lord has been showing me that I need to trust Him completely. It’s not easy for this constant what-if thinker, but He has always come through. He is faithful. I’m the baby, uncertain whether to try that first step or not. Thankfully my Heavenly Daddy has big arms and unshakeable love.

In our books, our heroines all take a leap of faith, whether it’s women answering a mail-order bride advertisement, such as in my Love Inspired Historical Boom Town Brides series, or a poor woman spending everything to go to a new land to make a new life, such as in Honor Redeemed (Revell).

What leap of faith have you made that turned out to be the best decision ever?

Christine Johnson

Honor Redeemed (#2, Keys of Promise, Revell, July 2016)

Mail Order Mix-Up (#1, Boom Town Brides, LIH, April 2016)

Mail Order Mommy (#2, Boom Town Brides, LIH, Nov 2016)

http://christineelizabethjohnson.com

Travels that Inspire by Merrillee Whren

My husband and I have taken a couple of trips recently. In April, we went to the practice round of the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. We went to the practice round because you can take photos, which you can't do during the tournament itself. The golf course is beautiful. Here are a couple of photos that I took.

At the beginning of May, we journeyed back to Ohio, where we visited friends, before attending the Kentucky Derby. As we drove up the road to our friends' house, I was thrilled to see that their dogwoods were in bloom. Here are a couple of picture I took during our visit.

The first photo symbolizes a decision. Which fork will I take? The second photo symbolizes a journey into the unknown. What lies ahead?

After we visited our friends we spent the day before the Kentucky Derby exploring Cincinnati, the city where we met and got married. We did a number of things that we never did while we lived there. We walked along the river front on the banks of the Ohio River. The river walk wasn't there when we lived there before so we had an excuse for not having done that.

We also visited a cemetery. When my husband said the number three thing on the list of tourist attractions in Cincinnati is a cemetery, I had to laugh, but after our visit I understood why it is number three on the list. Here are just a couple of photos I took in Spring Grove Cemetery.

Whenever I take a trip, I always wonder how I can work that into a book. What kind of story do you think I could write that would incorporate these places?

I will give away the first two books in my Village of Hope series to one person who leaves a comment. I will draw the winner on May 18, 2016.

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My Summer Vacation(s)

Hi everyone - Winnie Griggs here.  July was a crazy busy month for me, but in a good way.  At the beginning of the month we took a six day family vacation to Hawaii.  It was my first time there but I hope it's not my last!  The scenery was breathtaking, the beaches were beautiful and the food was wonderful.  We visited Pearl Harbor, went to a luau, toured volcano formations, visited secluded waterfalls and saw amazing foliage.

One of my favorite things that we did though, was take a helicopter tour with the doors off.  It was so exhilarating and the views were fantastic.

After a week back at home I took off again, this time for New York with my three daughters.  I'd been there before but it was the girls first trip and we determined to fit as much into the three full days they'd be there as we could.  And I must say we made a pretty good run at it.

Once they headed home it was time for me to turn my focus to the Romance Writers of America annual conference, which had me spending another six and a half days in New York.

And there you have it - my busy, fun, exhausting, exhilarating July!  So how about you - did you have the opportunity to do much travelling this summer?  What is your favorite or dream destination?

Beach Time by Christine Johnson

Having grown up half a block from the beach, nothing says “summer” like the beach. As a kid, my brother and sister and I ran down the gravel road barefoot so we could drop our towels on the sand and splash into the water. The last one in was chicken! We didn’t care if the water was cold. It was just plain fun. Here’s a photo of our childhood beach on Lake Michigan.

These days, I’m much more particular about the water temperature, but I still love a beach. I enjoy walking the shore to collect stones or shells or “treasure” washed ashore. I once found an old key and wondered what it unlocked. Unusual stones end up in my growing collection. The ocean provides countless wonders to this freshwater gal, whether calm or stormy.

Beach at Fort Zachary Taylor on Key West

Beach near Cape Hatteras

  

But sometimes I just like to sit in the shade of an umbrella and read a good book. In my Key West-set book with Revell, Love’s Rescue, the shore symbolizes both her dream and all she has lost. Naturally she must go there.

Do you have a favorite beach? Is one on your wish list to visit? What’s your favorite thing to do at a beach?

Christine Johnson

Love’s Rescue (Revell – June 2015)

Love by Design (LIH – May 2015)
http://christineelizabethjohnson.com
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