About Me

Monday, December 30, 2019

Happy Holidays!

I hope, those who celebrate Christmas and Hannukah had a good time. I went to my BFF's niece for Christmas Eve. We all had Christmas Pajamas on and it was fun.

My BFF's nephew has two dogs and one of them is a bit difficult and overprotective when the nephew is around. Well he came to me with a friendly tail wagging and I bent down to pet him but he bit my hand! It was not too bad but it hurt like hell the first hour or so. My little wound is healng rather well. The whole family was horrified but I made sure to tell them it was my fault knowing that the dog had a temper. I also did not let them know how much it actually hurt and put a brave face on. Lol! They told me now I am officially inaugurated to the family since that fellow bit almost everyone in the family and one even had to get stitches.

Christmas Day wat at my BFF's and we had a very god time.

We have some plans for tomorrow and the next day. We also have a New Year Party on Tuesday. During the weekend, we will be in Killington for one night. Then I will be returning home on Tuesday. Due to the time difference, I will be arriving on the 8th of January.

My adventure is almost over. I had an excellent time with my friends and on the road. I am so thankful for every experience I had while here. I will cherish every moment of it.

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year!


Thursday, December 19, 2019

Greetings!

I have been very busy having a good time, I did not have any time to post.

My BFF and I had been doing a lot of shopping lately. She, for the Holidays and I for the family and friends back home. Budgetwise, I must say, I am doing rather well but there is still some time before I go home and since my friend will be out of work starting this Friday till January 2nd, there is still plenty that we would like to do.

Today, we will go to the Woodbury Commons Outlet together. It is very cold out there so, I do not know for how long we can last.

My BFF and I had been binge watching Midsomer Murders, Father Brown, Poirot and Miss Marple. We both love the British Period Mysteries.

I have returned the car I had on the 14th. The weather was bad enough so, I decided not to rent another car especially, my BFF will be home starting Friday. The original plan was to drive her to work and use her car but, it was too icy, I did not want to take the chances especially with her having so many insurance problems because of her daughter's driving record.

I am still thinking of getting another car after the Christmas break till the day I leave. I had some cabin fever lately due to lack of a car and bad weather.

A week ago we went to the Train Show at Botanical Garden and here are a few pictures and videos:







Monday, December 2, 2019

Charlotte, NC

Today I have said my goodbyes to another long time friend of mine and her family. I am now in Charlotte. I wanted to see McAdenville but the lighting ceremony is unfortunately tomorrow. Nevertheless, I took some nice pictures. Some are a bit blurry but I was basically driving and could not stop.





I also went to see the Charlotte Motor Speedway Christmas Lights.




Friday, November 29, 2019

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Pictures!

I thought I would be posting regularly about my big vacation adventures here but, it is very difficult.

On the days that I am mostly driving, I get exhausted and do not feel like posting. During the days when I am visiting with friends, we have such a great time that I again get exhausted during the day and do not even open the cover of the laptop.

Well, after I left upstate NY, I stayed one night at Winchester VA, one night in Roanoke VA and two nights in Savannah, GA. The first two days, I basically drove and rested whenever I made it to my destination.

I had a very good time in Savannah. I got on a trolley tour and saw all the historic sites and enjoyed the beautiful day. Then I left for Florida to see a long lost friend that I had not seen in 27 years.

He and I worked together in NY and he was my mentor for a while. Before the days of cell phones and Facebook, we lost track of each other but, I never forgot him. About 7 years ago, I found his daughter on Facebook and sent her a message but, never received an answer back. Almost a year ago, she reached out to me saying that she never saw my message since, she was taking care of her new baby at the time and my message got buried under a pile of other messages. She was so sorry but, I told her that the important thing was that we found each other and I wanted to get in touch with her father.

Since then we talked to each other every week over Whatsapp. When I told him about my intended big vacation, he wanted to know if I would go down as far as Florida to see him. How could I not?

So, I am here in Florida on my fourth day. I will be leaving here on Monday and I spent a good deal of time with my friend, his wife and nephew. It was nice to catch up on several years worth of life events.

As I type this, I am doing laundry at the hotel. Lol! Finally, I was able to get my act together to post.

So, here are the pictures I mentioned in my post heading:

Roanoke, VA

A library on wheels from Virginia Museum of Transportation


The Detroit Electric Car Virginia Museum of Transportation

Dining in style on a train

Savannah, GA

Golden dome of  Savannah City Hall



Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Traced my footsteps

Yesterday, I have decided to visit my old neighborhoods and the places I liked to go. It has been very nice to just drive around to try to figure out what has changed, what has stayed the same. Although the weather was not great, I still had a good time.

I am upset that many stores I used to shop at are closing. I liked JC Penney and Dress Barn and was always able to find reasonable stuff in my size. So, yesterday I decided to go to Dress Barn and found out that all stores will be closing very soon. I spent a good deal of time but did not find anything that I liked except for a nice soft sweater. The quality used to be a lot better. I really wanted to buy jeans but, could not find any that I liked.

Talking about pants, can someone please tell me what is the point of jeggings and skinny pants in sizes 18 and up? Anything I grabbed turned to be either of those and I am a size 20 with long legs and a big butt. Why on earth would I need pants that will stick everything out that I want to keep to myself?

One of these days I will go to JC Penney and see what they have available.

As I do some consulting work for textile companies, I know how little their costs are. So, paying USD 29.99-49.99 for what can be called a basic T-Shirt makes me cringe. The per unit cost is usually not more than USD 5 even for things that have beads and trims. I ma trying to spend as little on clothing as possible. It is such a waste. I would rather spend my money on travel.

Last Sunday, my BFF and I went down to NYC to see the Vessel. It was not very cold that day so, we had a good time taking many pictures. I will share them in another post.

Today I am not feeling 100%.  I feel like I am coming down with a cold which is bad because I need to leave for my road trip this Saturday. So, I just took something to help with how I feel and I am thinking chcken soup. I am also taking Vitamin C.

Spoke to my family yesterday. Mom is moving to my sister's apartment which is a very large and comfortable 4 bedroom unit. She and my uncle will be better of there. Mom was tired of her own place. When I get back to Turkey, we will put her place up for sale and try to buy a new place for my sister and BIL. We are not in a rush since they are living in Izmir due to work for the time being and I do not see them going back to Ankara any time soon.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Pictures from Upstate NY

I am having a real good time doing some shopping and sightseeing these days. We may be headed to the Woodbury Commons Outlet this afternoon with my BFF and her daughter.

Today I did my laundry and folded and put them away. It is getting seriously chilly and my hosts have this pretty cool pellet burning appliance installed in place of the fireplace.

Last night we were watching TV snuggled up in throw blankets while the pellets were burning when we realized we were getting the first snow of the season! It did not stay on the ground for very long but, it was pretty coming down.

Here are some pictures I have taken:
Bear Mountain 
Last weekend we went to Bear Mountain and had lunch over there. We also walked around the lake and enjoyed the beautiful Fall day.

Bear Mountain
Bear Mountain Hike around the Lake
Love the trees turning red



On the way home