the turquoise trail

{texas} After my refreshing visit to Balhormea State Park I continued north through Pecos, which is very much an oil & gas town - I saw nothing but transports and pickup trucks for miles!  There were lots of oil wells and little camps along the way north, where I crossed the New Mexico state line.. {new mexico} Welcome to New Mexico! ...and spent the night in Carlsbad.  I didn't take the time to explore too much of Carlsbad, but I enjoyed a relaxing evening catching up on emails etc., then got an early start to Carlsbad Caverns.  I was undecided over whether I should take an organized tour or just explore the 'big room' & main cave on my own, so I wanted to be there at 8am to get some more information.  When I arrived I realized that the self-guided cave tour covers quite a lot of area and takes about 2.5 hrs, so I decided that would be enough. The trail to the natural entrance opened shortly afterwards, so I headed off on the 2km hike descendin...

Week 7: My favourite part... I really enjoyed Peggy's cove.. even in the fog!  Miles... 594  Day 41: Lunenberg, NS 13 miles   This morning was another grey, drizzly morning and as such it was also a lazy morning.  It did, however, clear up around 11 which I took full advantage of by heading into the town of Lunenberg to wander and explore the historical town; there were plenty of unique shops and historical buildings to enjoy.  I headed back to the house mid-afternoon and took the opportunity to catch up and make a few calls. I found myself a new book and it wasn't long until my friends S &R got home.  I spent a relaxing evening catching up with them and reading..  Doors of Lunenberg Day 42: Lunenburg, NS  158 miles   Started this morning off with a cup of tea and some toast, then headed northeast along the coastal road.  I stopped off in a couple little towns along the way, getting a tea in Chester and lun...

Week 1: My favourite part.. Getting to see old friends! Total miles.. 607 Day 1: Lynden, ON to Oshawa, ON 102 miles   It's finally starting to feel real!! I said my goodbyes and left home at 9:30 this morning... Stomach full of butterflies and a huge grin plastered on my face. From Hamilton I headed into Toronto to meet my roommate from college for lunch. I just barely got seated in the restaurant when the torrential downpour started. We had a delicious lunch and had much to get caught up on; by the time we finished up the rain had cleared! Impeccable timing if I do say so myself. I still had a bit of time, so we went for a walk along the harbour front before I headed out for my cousins place in Oshawa. In my wisdom I thought I would avoid the highway, but that backfired on me in the form of closed roads and plenty of traffic. It took me a solid hour to get myself out of that mess, but I finally arrived in Oshawa shortly before 6. Enjoyed a wonderful evening with the...

{Sunday October 12th} I got up around 8:30a this morning to a lovely view of the river. I had a shower, and then enjoyed a cup of tea looking over the water in a stellar leather armchair.  Shortly, it was time to get ready and get packed up again. We went downstairs to load the car (without dropping any keys) and met Maeve around 10:30a.  From Chris's apartment, it was a short drive over to Pearl and Tommy's where we met for church this morning. We had a lovely meeting, and met a man who had travelled well across Canada as a country singer in his youth.  We stayed at Pearl and Tommy's for a delicious roast lamb dinner, complete with all the fixings. It was awesome to have some lamb!   We spent the afternoon with them and Maeve, and then headed out shortly before 4p to go to a gospel meeting about an hour south of Belfast, on our way to Dublin.  We got as far as the motorway (barely 1km), before I knew something was wrong. I pulled over to the sid...