Trek Along With GiGi

🤦🏼‍♀️🥶

Chiberia in full swing 🧊 According to the National Weather Service, an Extreme Cold Warning is in effect as wind chills plummet to -40°F—making Chicago officially colder than the coast of Antarctica right now 🌬️🚨 While it’s a ‘balmy’ summer day in the 30s for the penguins, Chicago is pushing into temperatures colder than the surface of Mars! Frostbite can hit in under 10 minutes, so please don’t just bundle up—stay inside! 🧤🏠 via— @360chicago #chicago #chiberia #winter

Oh what a day…a great Blue Mountain adventure. Started at Featherdale Wildlife Park. Where we got up close and personal with kangaroos and koala’s. We then explored the Blue Mountain area via cable car and the railway. Highlights below. Ended the day with Don’s Birthday dinner of Dino ribs😂😂, night life at the harbor and fireworks!!

Well sometimes when I trek along it’s important to NOT ignore your GPS when she says make a U turn. She kept saying it so I turned her off. I continued through the hair pin turns in the mountains just enjoying the road less traveled. While it was so pretty and tranquil…after a while it really didn’t seem to be leading to anywhere of significance. So I turned her (GPS) back on. I’m sure if she could talk she would have had a few things to say to me like…I told you to make a U turn 4.5 miles back now your in for a real ride. However what she did do is take me down a gravel road where one sign said “don’t turn here the GPS is wrong” so I didn’t. This time I stayed the on the gravel bumpy road along a creek ( no pic - no place to pull over - on way gravel road or at least it was at the time) that sounded lovely and kept me calm as I rocked n rolled. There were some houses along the way however not sure they’ve been lived for awhile. I’ll admit I was sweating and a little nervous but excited about the adventure…she did me right and I finally got back to a main road exhilarated that I made it safely. Oh BTW I was very happy to see a Tennessee rest stop shortly there after 😂🙏🏻. On the main road again!

Well we’ve been “hanging out in Greenville, SC.” Falls Park on the Reedy was so beautiful and the TD Saturday Market was incredible. Today we took a wonderful drive up to Sassafras Mountain which in on the state line of South and North Caroline. We could also see Georgia and Tennessee from the observation deck. Breath taking views of the surrounding 🏔️🏔️. Happy Birthday to Sherri…🍸here’s to many more adventures together🏝️🛳️✈️

What a beautiful drive through Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and into Greenville! Had a wonderful dinner and did a little exploring of the downtown area. Checked out an art gallery and a great bookstore!

A must stop when heading south Buc-ee’s and it was packed but the service was incredible. Then as I was exploring the area the sunset was beautiful!

On the road again…heading to meet a friend in Greenville, SC. First stop is a very busy Costco gas. Love being on the road and do some trekking!

Sunday sea day gave us some gorgeous weather, relaxation, delicious martini’s, geography trivia, and movie by the pool. Looking forward to our first port…Bergen, Norway!

Oh what a trek we had today exploring Amsterdam! It took 13 hours, 23k steps, trains, bus and avcanal sunset cruise to make it a great day/night! Here are few highlights. Started at the Zaanse schans with windmills and where wooded shoes are made. Next stop was top of Sir Adam Hotel 360 degree lookout of Amsterdam…incredible. On to a sunset cruise on the canal with wine and cheese. Ended with an evening visit to the Red Light District and some yummy French fries with garlic Mayo!

Delayed flight out of O’Hare didn’t get us to Dublin on time to catch our connection to Amsterdam. So we were 5 hours later than originally planned. We did very little exploring today. However tomorrow will be filled we more exciting adventures. Then we board Ms. Rotterdam on Saturday 🚢

My solo trekking covered 3938 miles, 8 states, 3 audio books, 2 sleeps in the car, 2 cabins, 2 hotels, 3 National Parks and lots of mosquitoes as well as moths all making for some interesting experiences. The last couple days of my adventure were in Deadwood, Custer and Wind Cave NP where the bison were out grazing.
Some great learnings:
1) that I can do it and will do it again
2) what worked and what didn’t
3) how to handle challenges (had a few)
4) we have some beautiful our National Parks that should be visited
5) and did some needed self reflection
It really gave me some time with myself (pretty good company) and met many friendly people. Spent some quality time with my friend that I haven’t seen in a couple years and a couple of my favorite family that live in Des Moines and Moline. We talked family reunion. Wrapped it up with a M&M chocolate shake 😊. While this trek has come to an end…stay tuned for my trek through Norway, Iceland and Scotland later this summer.