Oh Glory

As you can imagine, this weekend has been packed with all sorts of fun.

But remember, This is The Brighter Side of the Grave.

So no weekend excursion would be complete without a visit to a cemetery to go right along side of all the action. We are getting some incredible photos that I can't wait to share with you.

But it will have to wait for now. Because we're not done yet!

You know how I love to drive. Well, I have to admit that we flew from Detroit to Boston. And truth be told, I didn't even drive to the airport. And I won't be driving any time soon either.

This afternoon, we will be boarding another ship. Yes, I know this is the third one in three years.

Carnival Glory

And just because we love a good adventure, we decided to cruise with Carnival this time around aboard the Carnival Glory. (Watch for it on the news)

I love to wake up each day with something new to explore and not have to unpack all my stuff at a new hotel each day. Some people think that cruise ships are like some sort of tourist parade where the mindless passengers invade a town, wreck it and run away. But I've found that everything in life is what you make of it. Each day, I look for a new adventure. Something different. Something that I can only do at that port.

You'll have to stay tuned to find out what we are doing at each place that we visit. But I will tell you that our first stop will be in Portland, Maine on Monday.

Then we'll be heading over to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada on Tuesday for a little adventure including something to do with reversing waterfalls.

An Adventure to Glory

What an odd month May was. It was absolutely beautiful in our little corner of the world. Each day brought more warm sunshine on my face. The thing about the funeral business is, when the weather is good, people tend to stick around a little longer. That translates to very few deaths. 

With all the funeral homes that we work for, there still was very few days that I got to get up in the morning and bury someone.

 Oh, there were a few days when the skies opened up and spread a little rain on the gardens. And you can bet, those were the days that I had to stand out in the parking lot telling people how to line up behind the car before them.
But for the most part, it was a wonderful month to be alive. The time off afforded me the opportunity to visit my mother's grave in up state Michigan and the grave of my mother-in-law in Wisconsin. May, as you know is when both our mothers died and is also when we celebrate Mother's Day. So it was nice to be able to do both of those. We were able to make it all the way to Minnesota for the most memorable wedding that I've ever been to. And finally to visit the Wisconsin Dells. What an amazing place.

 But here we are, it June already. This month has started out pretty violent weather wise. And you know, that means that I've been working my butt off with funerals. But after the funeral this morning, Edward and I are going to escape on one more little adventure. "An Adventure to Glory" we're calling it.

I will recap all the fun after our return, but you will have to be patient because it's going to be a while.
Along the way, I will post where we are going next but you'll have to tune in later to hear about our adventures.

Can you guess where we are starting out by the photos above?
If not, the photos below are a sure give away. We planned this trip as a big birthday adventure for my loving husband. This year is quite a big number when it comes to birthdays and we wanted to celebrate it right.
When we found out that our first destination city was having their Pride celebration on his birthday, we knew then and there, this was where we would start out for our Adventure to Glory.

You see, back in 2005 after having been together for nearly 7 years, Edward asked me to marry him. Gay marriage had just become legal in Ontario, Canada right next door to our backwards state. We made a lifetime commitment to each other during the Toronto Pride Celebration with two of our close friends at our side. We then celebrated with a small parade where over a million people were in attendance. So, for this momentous birthday, I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than to invite another million of our Boston friends to hit the streets and party along with us.


Then after the incident with the Marathon, I think Boston has a little more to celebrate than just Ed's birthday or Gay Pride. I can't wait to witness Boston Strong first hand. Our hotel is two blocks from the finish line of the race. A place that has been a symbol for strength and endurance for many years. A place that should be celebrated. It's now a place where Bostonians can come and say "We are stronger than this!" A place where people can be proud.


So, for this years big adventure. We are starting out strong and proud. Stick with us as we journey to some wonderful historic lands and delight in the people that we meet along the way.

If you're in the Boston area this weekend and would like to meet up for coffee, comment below or email me and we'll work out the details. I love to meet my readers.

Dells Part 2

As promised, we've tied up the boat and donned our land legs.




We've come to explore The Witches Gulch.

Again, these formations were formed by ice, not water.
But there is now water running beneath the walkway that you see in the pictures.
A creek, if anything. But a beautiful creek.

To traverse these rocks would be next to impossible without the walkway.

And when this area was named, it was believed that witches were evil, devil worshiping, beings that were looking to destroy anyone who came upon them.

Or something like that.

Many people went out to explore these rocks and never came back, so there must be an evil witch living out there.

I'm sure that it wasn't because it was a dangerous natural phenomenon.

It's much easier to explore now. But there is something very scary at the end of that walkway.
Very scary, in deed!

NO! It's not Stew and Ed!

It's a concession stand!

We were saved by the fact that it was before Memorial Day and the stand was closed.

Another point of exploration is on the opposite side of the river. Here we were treated to a wonderful German Sheppard who loves to jump back and forth from the cliff to the rock formation.

It's not really dangerous for the dog and he totally loves the attention.

Looking North up the river....

Some place in a box full of old photos,
taken on a 126mm box camera, no doubt,
Ed has a picture of his young mother
tucked into this same cave.

Because this type of sandstone is so porous it is possible for all those trees to grow in them with no dirt on top like you'd see with granite cliffs.

It was very odd to walk through these towering formations, thinking they've been like this for thousands of years.

The state of Wisconsin ensures that they are protected and will last for many, many more years. But you never know what nature has in store.

A few years ago, one quiet April morning a famous rock formation (Minors Castle)
on Michigan's Northern shore crumbled in half, teaching us to appreciate what we have now because there are no guarantees.

A lesson we can apply to our everyday lives.

Thanks for coming along on this adventure across Middle America.
After dinner in the Dells, we got back on the road.
After we made it through Chicago, I thought,
'It's only 5 more hours to home, I'm awake and the road is clear'
So we finished our journey around 2:30am.

As you know by now, I love to drive. 

I don't want to miss a thing.

I want to take my time and enjoy everything this earth has to offer me.

I want to meet the people that call it home.

To me, the earth is like a beautiful birthday cake.

It excites me every day.

The earth's crust is like the frosting.

And YOU, yes YOU are like the bright, bright burning candle on top.

Thank you for your light, your love and your warm hearts

 that make this world such a wonderful place to explore.

Keep your eyes open, because you never know where I might pop up next......

Dells Part 1

The trip home was to be, as the trip to Minnesota was. A long drive.

We had decided on the drive over that we wanted to stop in the Wisconsin Dells on the way back.

Edward had been there some 40 years ago and I'd never had the pleasure of experiencing the natural wonder.

The Dells are natural sandstone carved out by the Wisconsin River as it makes it's way to join up with the mighty Mississippi.

So a little more than 4 hours into our 11 hour drive, we pulled off the highway to have a look around. After a slight mix-up with directions and a quick hot dog from a stand at the side of the road, we found ourselves on a two hour river tour.

The cute young guide had clever names for several of the rock formations, but don't ask me to repeat them all. I was more interested in the formations than what they resembled.

But I believe there was a reference to a ship yard here.

I was fascinated with the angles of the rock.

I expected them to be parallel to the water. But that was not the case.

This is sandstone and these formations were made more from frozen glaciers than by running water.

The story goes that a natural dam formed in the glacier. Then when the pressure from the ice forced it to break, the entire Dells were formed in less than a month by the advancing ice.

And you think you're under pressure at work.

It's always amazing how much force can be behind water and ice.

I think there's a chimney rock in every state. Here is Wisconsin's.

And here we have the Indian Chief.













And speaking of the Indian Chief, a fun fact for those that have never noticed it. The Mississippi River divides Minnesota and Wisconsin. If you look closely, you can see that same Indian chief peering from Wisconsin into Minnesota at the Northwest corner of Wisconsin.

Something else you can see on this map is how crazy I am.

Look at how far I drove in one day!

Then turned around to do it again. 

( Cause it was so much fun the first time )

More pictures tomorrow from where we got off the boat and explored the tight crevasses in the cliffs.