Winter bashed Northern Colorado this year. We’re not used to endless days of arctic cold, snow, and cloud cover. Colorado claims 300 days of sunshine a year with average January and February temperatures in the low 40s ℉ (4 ℃), and we grouse when we don’t get them. Yet there are regions like Finland, where arctic winters provide great enjoyment …
As I sit at my computer in a warm house this January wintery morning, I look out my window at the white, pillowy snow that accumulates, blanketing our neighborhood with more than eight inches of snow and still mounting. The snowstorm transports me to another era when tremendous cold and miserable snowstorms impede the progress of a regiment of men …
If you’ve read my travel/history blogs, you may know that I developed some insights about traveling Europe while attending an international college in Wales as a high school student. I’ve never taken the opportunity for granted since I came from a modest family. They made a great sacrifice by sending me to the United World College of the Atlantic (aka …
It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” so goes the Christmas song popularized by singer Andy Williams in 1963. According to Wikipedia, the music has continued to make the top 10 list of most favorite Christmas songs every year since Andy Williams crooned it. Christmas is my most favorite time of the year for many reasons. I’m one of …
If you’ve read my History and Travel Adventure blogs over the last several years, you know I’m fascinated by world history and relish opportunities to travel. Both have been a part of my DNA since I was a child and became even more pronounced when I attended an international college for my last two years of high school, the United …
Our family decorates the house for Christmas each year on the day after Thanksgiving. It’s become a tradition. Carols play in the background while a fury of activity ensues. Everyday household décor is removed and replaced by candles, garlands, snow globes, and poinsettias. We rearrange the furniture in the family room to set up the Christmas tree in front of …
In the first of a two-part series, What Was Life Really Like on the Oregon Trail?, we considered how the pioneers really fared on the Overland Trails and the hard facts of life for those who emigrated west by wagon train. As a historical writer of Gilded Age fiction, I want to dive deeper into my novelette, The Sojourner’s Quest–a …
In September/October 2022, I took a road trip with my husband in a 300 hp Jeep Grand Cherokee to visit friends and family and sightsee the Midwest, Blue Ridge Mountains, and Eastern Seaboard. With autumn upon us, we packed the SUV with clothes and extra gear for inclement weather. A small ice chest and picnic basket held a stash of …
On a recent trip through the upper Midwest and eastern parts of the United States, my husband and I visited many fascinating historical sites. We toured some with self-guided audio devices, others by reading the informational placards, and others by following and listening to knowledgeable docents. Each place had a unique and compelling story to tell that illuminated the history …
In 2007, our family visited New York City during Spring Break to enjoy the sights and attend a few Broadway shows. The trip held many fun and fascinating moments, but the most moving for me was touring Ellis Island. The former immigration station had received and processed my Hungarian grandparents in the early 1920s, and as I walked the same …