Hilaree Nelson:  Mountaineer, Adventurer, Skier and Tellurider

Hilaree

“We all need a little fear in our lives. If you don’t have it, you’re not overcoming anything.”

I heard those words on CPR (Colorado Public Radio) as a segment of an interview with Hilaree Nelson played the day after her body was found in the Himalayas. She perished on September 26, 2022 as she started to ski down Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world. After having summited this monolithic peak with her partner, Jim Morrison, she sadly triggered an avalanche that swept her away.

Her thoughts on fear have resonated in my head ever since. So this is how Hilaree Nelson became so fearless.

I first heard about her disappearance on NPR (National Public Radio) earlier in the week. Somehow I had missed the update on KOTO, our local NPR-affiliate here in Telluride. It didn’t take long for me to realize, however, that our small mountain community was steeped in grief.

“She was a regular Telluride local,” said Ben Kerr, Station Manager and Program Director at KOTO. “Anybody who can accomplish what she did and maintain that sense of humility is amazing.”

Ben and I talked about Hilaree as I sat down in the studio to listen to a Travel Fun interview she did with me on March 12, 2015. In the podcast we sound like two Telluride gals chatting about travel and adventure almost as though we had met up for an après ski. It was an après ski of sorts because we taped the interview fresh off the slopes during an extraordinary snow week.

We were especially happy to talk about women and skiing, since Hilaree (then O’Neill) had just participated in Telluride Women’s Week, a long-running ski camp for women (actually the first in the country) at Telluride Ski Resort

For a big dose of inspiration on how to live your best life, listen to the half-hour podcast below.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM MY INTERVIEW WITH HILAREE NELSON

On Everest and Lhotse

Hilaree talks about her epic 2012 adventure when she linked two peaks:  Everest and Lhotse. “It was sort of a never-ending day,” she says. Pringles washed down with instant coffee mixed with protein shakes fueled Hilaree as she went almost fifty hours without sleep.  But it was mostly the exhilaration she felt around that expedition that enabled her to accomplish this remarkable feat.

Going for It

The Zone You Get In Before a Big Adventure

“I can do it,” Hilaree says. She also emphasizes research and gaining as much confidence and knowledge about something before diving in.

About Butterflies

“I like being uncomfortable,” she says. “I like having a big dose of fear.”

Hilaree Skiing Telluride; photo by Brett Schreckengost

Why Telluride

“I couldn’t get enough of the peaks around here,” Hilaree says as she refers to the Fourteeners in the area.

The Motivation

Hilaree and I talk about self empowerment through sport, a theme that has been a big part of my life the past two and a half decades. (It’s also underscored in my travel memoir, A Tour of the Heart:  A Seductive Cycling Trip Through France.) “It’s really empowering to push beyond our own walls,” she says. “I get that through being uncomfortable.” You’ll also hear that Hilaree’s adventures offered her a certain level of silence…both externally and internally.

Regarding Chamonix, France

“It’s French but very international…it was very eye-opening for me.” In our interview, Hilaree talks about this whole new world where the commonality was the mountains. Chamonix is also where Hilaree honed many of her roping skills. 

On the French

Hilaree came to appreciate their frankness but was also happy that although she learned French, her language skills were not quite strong enough to engage in conversations about la politique. This extraordinary athlete also loved indulging in many luscious aspects of French life, including les pâtisseries, other French foods and wine. She also very much enjoyed the French people’s appreciation for leisure time. 

Advice for Someone that Wants to Have More Adventure in Life

“Figure our what your passion is,” says Hilaree. If you’re really into wine, for example, she recommends going to France in the fall–during les vendanges–to pick grapes.

Cheers to you Hilaree Nelson! Thank you for being such a force and for seizing the day.

Ballard: One of the Views Outside of Hilaree’s Window in T-ride

Manchester Memories:  Nostalgic About Fall Foliage Trips with Mom

Mom and Me Shopping in Vermont in 2017

I grew up with five brothers and no sisters. My parents had four boys in a row, then me and many years later another boy. With this configuration, I was destined to be either a tomboy or a girly-girl. My mom was a little of both. But since she finally had her long-awaited daughter, she wanted to make sure I became as much of a little lady as possible. And what’s one of the most feminine pastimes? Most would agree that shopping and going out for lunch rank high in that category. Yes indeed, a tremendous amount of female bonding takes place over browsing the boutiques and chatting about life over a delicious lunch of quiche and salad.

There’s Nothing Like Vermont in the Fall

We lived in Troy, New York, just fifty minutes from Bennington, Vermont, close to the New York/Vermont border. Manchester is less than a half hour from there, so in all it would be about an hour and fifteen-minute trip. As soon as we left our house and headed east we plunged into delightful countryside, passing small family farms and traversing quaint villages as rural upstate New York morphed into bucolic Vermont. Rolling through once verdant landscapes kissed by fall’s golden sun and chilly nights, we delighted in viewing an artist’s palette of every variation of red, yellow, burnt umber, sepia and chartreuse. The brush, fields, flowers and trees all revealed their autumn splendor.

As if this festival of colors was not enough, most every house and business was done up with often fabulous displays of pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn (now known as Ornamental corn), cornstalks and sometimes a smattering of ghosts. Here the scarecrows were authentically clad and many had also served a purpose in the fields where crops had been freshly harvested. Today, these colloquial scenes have been souped up with giant plastic blowups in the form of spiders, ghouls and other representations of today’s exuberance over Halloween.

Yet the sincerity of these Vermonters remains true; fall is a time of sensory celebration. As many in the world know, autumn in Vermont stirs all of the senses.

Sure, the traffic through these country roads and towns has increased over the years. But when you’re on a fall foliage tour, leaf peepers don’t care much. That was the case for Mom and me when we had encountered a few jam ups some years back. Those slowdowns provided us with the opportunity to take a closer look because driving to Manchester meant enjoying the sites and scenery along the way. One could take a week going to Manchester from the capital district area of New York, a route followed by many New Yorkers, including those coming up from the city.

Peppered with antique shops, farm stands, all kinds of specialty shops and places to enjoy a bite, this near-famous Route 7 could easily be considered one of the top shopping and touring thoroughfares of New England. 

Mom and I Hitting a Vermont Country Store

When Mom and I were making Manchester our final destination, we’d typically only allow ourselves to stop at a handful of spots because we wanted to save a chunk of time for this oh-so happening Vermont town. Our goal would often be to arrive at The Equinox, an inn that has existed since 1769. Spotting the tall and stately columns in the front of the inn signaled that we were stepping back in time. Lunch within this bastion of tradition was always very special. Today, known as The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa, this historic property continues to evolve and is now a destination hotel and a Manchester landmark more so than ever.

The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa in Vermont

After lunch we’d mog around the center of Manchester, popping in and out of shops to our heart’s content. By 1977, Mother Myrick’s also rose to the top of our list of must-sees in Manchester. This confectionery began as a small fudge shop and now ranks as a first-class purveyor of all kinds of yummy sweets, including baked goods. People from all over the country order from their online boutique. Mom’s favorite was their buttercrunch, a handmade toffee made with Cabot Creamery butter. So many memories are wrapped up in foods. I’ll have to procure some for myself soon. Is candy a food?

Mother Myrick’s Fudge

Northshire Bookstore also opened during this era in an historic building that operated as an inn for over a century. One of the best-known small independent booksellers in the country, Northshire Bookstore has grown throughout the decades both in size (10,000 feet) and stature. Browsing here offers a delightful experience. In addition to being a general bookstore, they also showcase a curated selection of magazines, cards, stationery and all kinds of Vermont-made goods from comestibles to crafts. They, too, have a strong online presence and their author’s events are first-rate. 

Northshire Bookstore

We would usually leave the town center at a reasonable hour to save lots of time at the now defunct Jelly Mill, a huge old barn filled from the floor boards to the beams with an immense selection of gift items. Seeing this beloved establishment close its doors after so many years was sad but thankfully its disappearance allowed smaller boutiques to shine. Manchester Woodcraft and Above All Vermont are a couple of the shops that make this lovely Vermont town worth the trip. 

As time went on and the influx of travelers to Vermont’s Green Mountains grew, so did the shopping scene in Manchester. By the eighties, outlet shopping had become big here and soon Mom and I were spending less time at lunch and more time scouring the discount stores. Favorites outlets have long been Pendleton (for gorgeous woolens), Marimekko (for colorful prints), Le Creuset (for super sturdy cookware from France) and Armani (for fabulous Italian fashions). 

We’d sometimes stop into the Orvis store to pick up Christmas gifts for the brothers that liked to fish. (The Orvis family, who once occupied a wing of The Equinox, founded this esteemed company in Manchester in 1856. Known as a world leader in fly fishing, their goods embody the spirit of the Vermont way of life. So it’s only fitting that you’ll find two Orvis stores here, the main one and an outlet.)

Mom and I would pull into our garage past dark with a car stuffed with a prized selection of goods and gifts. Typically we’d only bring the Vermont cheeses, sausages, maple syrup, cider, apples, cider donuts and other goodies into the house. The rest would be stashed away for our own pleasure or for future gift giving to others. Either way, all that we purchased had so much more meaning because of the manner in which we did our shopping and the charming places where our treasures were found.

One of My Books on France, a Travel Memoir Entitled
A Tour of the Heart:
A Seductive Cycling Trip Through France

These trips with Mom were repeated year after year in the fall as well as during other seasons. They left an imprint on me so indelible that I developed an aversion to big cookie-cutter stores. No, I needed to shop in places full of character and charm, even if I only picked up a thing or two. 

From Vermont Country Stores to Paris Big Names

With these seeds planted, I eventually founded a shopping service in Paris, France called Chic Promenade. During this time in my life, I organized visits behind-the-scenes to the big names, so that people could learn the story of revered French houses such as Dior, Nina Ricci, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and many others. Chic Promenade also helped visitors discover the lesser-known boutiques of Paris, establishments full of history and tradition that provided a unique experience as soon as you passed through their door.

Before I even conducted my first tour, I began to write about these boutiques as well as the special places of interest, neighborhoods, restaurants, hotels, spas, tea salons and wine bars you’d want to incorporate into all kinds of shopping and touring excursions. In all, I have authored four books on shopping and touring in Paris and the French provinces.

It was a proud day when Mom and I went to Northshire Bookstore for my author’s presentation of one of these books. My passion for shopping and touring in Vermont had come full circle.

Thank you Manchester. Thank you Vermont. Thank you Mom. Merci to all for providing me with such inspiration. I’m sure you’ll find your own form of je ne sais quoi in Vermont when you go as well.

15 Dec 2020, 1:49pm
Being Green Discovery Map Food & Wine Shopping Travel
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Favorite Online Shopping Recommendations 2020

Keeping It Simple with The Earthling Co.

I’ve been seeing photos on Facebook of people with their Christmas trees up, presents wrapped and sent, cookies baked, cards written and all kinds of other folderol completed. Now they just seem to be sitting around waiting for the full-on merriment of the holiday season to begin. 

Well, I’m not one of those persons. I still have pumpkins and gourds in my house and only a few festive preparations accomplished. But I typically do don my interior with lots of red and green and then I leave it up until the end of winter! (It’s an alpine thing.) When it comes to shopping, I somehow seem to pull that off, too. Thankfully there’s not a whole lot of gift giving going on between my family and friends and overall, I try to keep it simple. I have ordered some things online (one for you, one for me) and have another order sprint lined up for today and tomorrow. So if you have some shopping to button up, throw it into gear so that you can send your purchase via standard shipping. Otherwise, you’ll have to opt for priority mail (which is how I typically send my own packages in any event).

Since the pandemic, we’ve all been doing a lot of online shopping. Like so many, I’m taking advantage of the one-click shopping on Amazon more so than ever. But oh, the emails they send out! (No, I don’t feel like reviewing those Home Techpro Rug Grippers that I have not yet found the time to adhere to my throw rugs. I’m sure there’s a way of turning off all of those notifications but I haven’t found it yet.) And then there’s Duluth Trading Post, Pendleton, One Kings Lane and an endless stream of online store emails that clog my inbox whether I’ve made a purchase from them or not. It all has become a necessary evil though.

Tesalate Towels

I’d like to highlight, however, a few quaint online boutiques that I’ve ordered from these past months, unique emporiums that offer terrific gift ideas for you and those on your list. (They’re small-ish, which means they don’t send out as many mailings as the biggies.) For brightly-colored beach towels that are great for any kind of outdoor or indoor fun, go to Tesalate. With a sea of patterns, a sand-proof material, and the possibility of buying one sized for two, the beach towels from this Aussie company will brighten every day as well as every situation for you. 

If you love the earth and want to try harder to protect it, order your soaps, shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers and the like from The Earthling Co. I was saddened to learn that due to COVID-19, there’s been a dip in recycling. Ugh, just think of all of those plastic bottles, caps and bags washing up on our shores or just collecting in our lakes, oceans and in the bellies of marine life and birds. I finally made the plunge to switch to bars for most of my toiletry and kitchen products and was delighted to discover that they work quite well. Plus, they keep my conscience clean. Give them a try!

My Ruggable Rug Brightens Up My Kitchen Almost as Much as My Kitties

Many of us have been focusing on beautifying our homes and gardens these past months. I’ve brightened up my home with some rugs from Ruggable. I love their cheery designs and best of all they are super easy to clean. That’s a big must for people like me that have lots of pet traffic. (See if you can find three cats in the above photo of my kitchen.)

Ruth’s Toffee

Ooo la la: A French Lady’s Dream from Henri’s Reserve

The Real Deal from Alpen Schatz

Last but certainly not least, I encourage you to click through to my Online Shopping page where I feature some of my favorite boutiques. This is online shopping par excellence, or in other words, for those that like the charm factor. If you type in the coupon code, Bonjour, you receive a 10% discount. From delicious homemade candies by Ruth’s Toffees to the best-ever handcrafted toys for cats and dogs by Purrfect Play to champagnes from top boutique vineyards curated by Henri’s Reserve and more, you won’t be disappointed by ordering from these unique purveyors. Many also offer e-Cards, which is also a great way to shop online. Keep in mind, too, that gifts don’t have to arrive by Christmas Day; the Christmas season all the way through the new year is most welcome for most, especially since shipping is so clogged up these days. Champagne for the New Year? Pourquoi pas? 

Alpen Schatz remains one of my perennial favorites for all kinds of finely-crafted gifts, including home décor items, clothing, fashion accessories, pet collars and more from Europe. Alpen Schatz means alpine treasures and shopping in this treasure trove of a boutique will give you that festive touch all year long. Great news:  There is now a UK-based site for all those that want to order across the pond. Be sure to type in the Bonjour coupon code.

Map of Florence by John Petach

For a travel-oriented piece of art, see my write up on John Petach, also at my Online Shopping page. Now that we’re not traveling as much, offering art fashioned from a map of a beloved destination seems more appropriate than ever. Scroll down on my Online Shopping page to learn more about John’s work and be sure to type in (or mention) Bonjour for the added 10% discount. 

For more travel-inspired online boutiques, check out my Discovery Map story, Navigating Online Map Gifts.

And once you’ve completed your shopping, you might want to kick back with a hot chocolate or wine and read more travel-inspired stories from some of my Map Geek posts for Discovery Map. My last two are particularly holiday oriented. 

Whatever you do, don’t stress. It’s not worth it. Famous last words–I’m just looking forward to putting up a few decorations and tossing my pumpkins out into the garden for any critters that can make use of them.

Happy shopping!

Purrfect Play Paradise

Giving Thanks

Thank you!

Hello, it’s me. I’m still here. I have composed many blog posts in my head to you these past months but it has been hard putting my thoughts in writing. Like so many people these days, I’ve been rather overwhelmed with life. And yet there have been many bright spots, a lot that have involved enjoying wonderful meals at home, tuning into concerts and movies online, embracing paddle boarding and picnicking and other low-risk activities, mostly with Steve, my partner of twelve years, and our three kitty cats. I’ve also poured much love and energy into cultivating my garden and settling into my little house. I’ve done some writing, mainly for Discovery Map and, in fact, I recommend you check out their Map Geek Blog where you can read stories that I think you’ll find to be both entertaining and informative.

I know how to make the best out of every day and every situation and I try hard to do just that. Thank God! Sometimes though it’s more of a challenge than others. Focusing on gratitude even in the darkest times helps a lot.

Summer Fun

As you can read in my recent Caring Bridge post, entitled Hoping Against Hope, my brother, David, continues to battle cancer very hard. He truly is an inspiration and there’s no doubt that his positive attitude has buoyed many of us up when we have felt great despair. 

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t such a feeling person but there’s no doubt that vulnerability can also be a strength. It definitely fosters compassion.

Like so many, I hold my feelings in my gut. I’m hoping that I’ve hit the reset button on that–at least for the most part. As I wrote in my Caring Bridge post, learning last May that my brother still had cancer thrust me into a high state of anxiety. I thought that after his laryngectomy last February that he’d be cancer free. By early August my stress began to manifest itself into severe abdominal pain. It took a while to figure out the cause of it and lots of Oxycodones and wines to manage it but it was finally corrected the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. That’s when I had a hysterectomy and aside from some post operative pain and discomfort, I could tell right away that the surgery had worked. Time to say goodbye to the Oxies, the heating pads and hot water bottles and to enjoy wine purely for its taste rather than largely for its medicinal benefits. (I had even gone so far as to buy a bottle of whisky recently; anti-inflammatories just weren’t working.)

I am so very grateful for having had this surgery. It almost didn’t happen. I’m sure you’ve heard how overloaded our hospitals are due to COVID  and that there’s a big nursing shortage (since many are in quarantine). Well, I can tell you that it’s real. My doctor, Dr. Kimberly Priebe, called me about four days before I was scheduled to go in and explained to me how Mercy Hospital in Durango, Colorado–like so many of our hospitals throughout Colorado and the rest of the country–was loaded with COVID. She explained to me that if I went through with the operation, she’d want to keep me off the floor and have me stay overnight in a hotel rather than in the hospital. The plan was for her to check in on me there and to keep me as far away from COVID central as possible. With the help of Steve, it appeared that I’d be reliant on a sort of “Little House on the Prairie” nursing and doctoring, straight out of the post-op recovery room. “And that’s provided there aren’t any complications and that you meet all the criteria for being released,” my doctor emphasized.

This all felt daunting and pretty scary, adding stress to a situation that was to be more than just a walk in the park as it was. I’m so grateful for all the support and advice I received from loved ones and particularly a couple of close friends from the medical world that helped me to eventually give my doctor the greenligiht with confidence. “You need to get this done. You have to trust that the medical professionals will keep you safe,” said my brother Frank. It wasn’t an easy decision, especially knowing that all of my doctor’s other surgeries for that day had been cancelled, including for a woman that had Stage 4 uterine cancer. But I persevered.

So Steve and I drove over two hours to Durango in a snowstorm the Monday night before, sanitized our hotel room (with a complete spray down of alcohol) and stocked the fridge with the food and drink I had packed into our cooler. Steve brought a thermometer as well as a blood pressure monitor; he was ready to handle whatever situation was going to be thrown our way. (He also had all of his ski gear because I insisted that he hit Wolf Creek the day of my surgery, since there was no point of him stepping foot in the hospital. He lucked out because it was a powder day. He talked to my doctor slopeside and then later picked me up at the end of his ski day!)

Thankfully all went seamlessly and I am so very grateful that I was able to have the surgery because I can’t imagine having had to go on much longer with such pain. My wonderful doctor lobbied for it to happen because as is the case with most of the hospitals in Colorado now, mostly only emergent surgeries are scheduled these days. I’m also very grateful to the entire medical staff because I know they are all working extra hard in order to make up for the shortages.

This brings me to a full-on plea to all to wear your mask and take all of the recommended precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Please, if you are a non-masker or if you tend to be lax with your social distancing and such, know that it is very real. My heart goes out to all of our medical workers that have to be exposed to this virus in order to help us. Just walking into the hospital for my pre-op bloodwork and COVID-19 test a few days before my surgery gave me the willies. 

I have, in fact, felt heaps of gratitude to all healthcare workers and their support staff the past few years as I’ve assisted my brother with his cancer battle. I am in awe of their skill, hard work and commitment to their patients’ well being. In all of our countless interactions, I think we only encountered a handful that were less than pleasant and maybe one that was incompetent–or at least made a significant mistake. These people truly are heroes and I salute them during this period of giving thanks and forever more.

It seems as though the reset button has been hit for my brother, David, as well. We all have the power to promote healing within ourselves but there’s no doubt that we need help (sometimes a lot of it) from those in the medical profession.

I am grateful for modern medicine and all of our healthcare workers. I am also very grateful for the friends and family members that have supported me throughout these trying times. 

I just received my pathology report and there’s no cancer. Plus, it has been almost ten days since our little Durango jaunt and Steve and I have seemingly not caught COVID. All is well.

Here’s wishing all of you good health and healing!

Steve & Me this Summer

All Kinds of Armchair Travel

An Excellent Read that Takes Place in 20th Century China

As I outlined in my Discovery Map post, Traveling from Home, there are many ways to transport yourself to other lands through books, music, virtual museum tours–you name it! I’m sure you’ve discovered many as you’ve sheltered in place these past weeks. I don’t know about you but I have not been at all bored. All I need–at least in terms of armchair travel–is to experience something that evokes a strong sense of place. My favorite medium is books, which is a good thing because I don’t even have a TV (by choice).

Here’s a cool site where you can locate a book–fiction or nonfiction–by its locale:  Trip Fiction. Want to read something that takes place in Hawaii? Or how about Germany? Africa maybe? Trip Fiction will suggest to you the titles that tell stories that take place in those lands and many many more. Check it out!

My Travel Memoir: A Tour of the Heart

As for me, my favorite read of late has been The Good Earth, by Nobel Prize-winning author, Pearl S. Buck. It’s a classical novel of Pre-revolutionary China and I can tell you, it puts you right there in China as you follow the farmer, Wang Lung, and his selfless wife O-Lan on their triumphs and travails. They had far more of the latter than the former, so needless-to-say, this story makes you grateful for the life you have today no matter how challenging it might seem right now.

On a much lighter note, I can’t help but recommend my travel memoir, A Tour of the Heart:  A Seductive Cycling Trip Through France. I promise it will whisk you off to Paris and the French provinces where you’ll be able to sample lots of excellent food and wine along the way. As a gift to you, dear reader, I am offering the eBook version free tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday. If you haven’t read it yet, please do check it out. Tell your friends, too.

May you be safe, secure, entertained and informed during these COVID-19 times and always!

14 Aug 2019, 4:58pm
Discovery Map Travel:
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Top Reasons to Go to Baltimore, Maryland

A Crab Feast in Baltimore

I can’t believe I haven’t posted a blog in two months! That might be the longest I have gone without putting up a story at Bonjour Colorado. I wish I could say that I have been on hiatus, cruising the Greek Isles. But no, I have been on a very different type of journey. 

I had a hip replacement in early July. The surgery went well but the recovery was a bigger deal than I anticipated. Plus, I wasn’t very productive leading up to it because the pain level had hit quite the crescendo. I will be writing about this experience very soon. And you can bet I will give the story my best travel writer/ski instructor spin.

Baltimore’s Renowned Row Houses

It hasn’t been easy getting back into the writing mode but fortunately I broke the ice a couple of week’s ago with some of my Discovery Map entries. The nasty remarks I heard about Baltimore from Donald Trump a while back, catapulted me into writing up that destination. I love Baltimore and have visited there a few times. It’s a wonderful city! I have a real sweet spot for historic Fell’s Point in particular. 

Next time I go, I want to explore the Inner Harbor more and top off the visit with a terrific crab meal at one of that area’s renowned seafood restaurants. Know that blue crab season is going off right now (through fall), so let that be one of your top reasons to plan a trip there within the upcoming weeks.

Mural Commemorating Baltimore’s Own Billie Holiday

For more highlights of this vibrant city and why it’s a terrific destination, read Eating and Drinking Your Way Through Baltimore and Historic Baltimore. 

Go ahead, and show them some love.

Baltimore: A Monumental City of Monuments

13 Jun 2019, 5:30pm
Discovery Map Travel:
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Top Reasons to Go to Niagara Falls U.S.A. and Canada

Niagara Falls

School is almost out and that means VACATION for many families. Why not go to an iconic North American site such as Niagara Falls? And when you go, be sure to hit both sides because as you’ll see in my Discovery Map Niagara Falls write ups, there are great reasons to visit Niagara Falls U.S.A. and Niagara Falls Canada. Do click through to check them out; read Niagara Falls Facts, The Almost Complete Guide to Niagara Falls USA and The Almost Complete Guide to Niagara Falls Canada.

Have fun!

The Great Niagara River and Falls

Discovery Map and Me

Using My Discovery Map in Southampton

You may have noticed that I’ve been posting links to Discovery Map stories here at my blog for just over a year. Wait, don’t tell me you’re not familiar with Discovery Map? I bet many of you are–either through my blog posts–or having actually used one of these cheery, hand-drawn maps on your travels. If you’re not familiar with Discovery Map, I suggest you become acquainted with them. They have a presence–yes, in the form of super cute and handy foldout maps–in some 125 destinations across the U.S. and abroad. 

Good news is that Discovery Map is actively developing their web presence. That’s where I come in. They are expanding their website in a variety of ways, including showcasing written descriptions about their destinations. There’s not much room for that on the actual maps but the sky’s the limit on their website. 

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    This blog is a personal blog written and edited by Maribeth Clemente. This blog sometimes accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content. The owner of this blog is sometimes compensated to provide opinion on products, services, Web sites and various other topics. Even though the owner of this blog receives compensation for certain posts or advertisements, she always gives her honest opinions, findings, beliefs or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blogger's own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question. This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.
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