Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

We whipped through Lincoln City and Florence because my friend was keen on a buggy ride over the sand dunes.

We booked a tour with one office and when we arrived, were told the other people in the group were going to be an hour late so we’d have to wait till they arrived. Excuse me! We weren’t late, we chastised the woman and demanded our money back.

Oregon’s beaches

Driving south into Oregon State, we passed over the Columbia River and through Astoria. I had somehow held a very different image of what the area would look like. Instead, I discovered beautiful countryside, quaint towns and quiet beachside resorts.

Long Beach, Washington State

Photo: Whale skeleton, Long Beach. Photo courtesy: From Texas with Love – wikimedia.org

A friend suggested we drive south over the boarder into the States for a late summer trip before it was time to head back to work. I jumped at the opportunity thinking we’d fit in some beach time and a swim in the surf. We left sweltering thirty degree Vancouver and skipped through Seattle to Long Beach.

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art

My daughter wanted to shop with no desire to visit an art gallery, so we spent the morning absorbed in our own addictions.

The Empire State Building

I believe most people visit the Empire State building for the view at the top. While it was spectacular, I was waylaid on the way up by the tasteful Art Deco interior.

New York City

We roamed the city where every corner or square I passed had a name I was long familiar with: Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Sotheby’s, Madison Avenue and on it went. I imagined some of these locations to be larger than life and was disappointed to find Rockefeller Center, for example, squeezed into a tiny space amongst high-rise.

New York’s Central Park

It was November so the trees were tinged with autumn colours as we started from one end of the huge park and slowly meandered to the far end. In spite of its beauty and size, it was impossible to escape the sound of traffic.

New York’s Brooklyn

One of my daughters raved about New York but it was never a place I wanted to visit. I’d rather be surrounded by trees than high-rise. But when she suggested we meet up there for the Remembrance Day, long weekend, I was soon on a flight that crossed the continent.

We hung out in Brooklyn for a day which appeared other worldly with an overload of Jewish men in traditional garb, posters in Hebrew and even buses with Hebrew calligraphy along the side.

Time to hit Saskatchewan’s big smoke

I drove north to Saskatchewan’s capital not expecting much after the country I’d passed through but Regina was a beautiful city. It was summer so the lush park that bordered one side of a lake, was an ideal hang out. The city was clean and yes, there were signs, so easy to find my way around.