Since we have been married (2003), Hubby and I have taken five big road-trips.  In 2006, I played with my local orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York (summers there have slots open for student and amateur orchestras to play for the local audience-our concert got standing ovations).  After the concert, we rented a car and drove to Upstate New York for some sightseeing.  We had a marvelous time, and some new experiences.  We took an evening sailboat ride on Seneca Lake, toured wineries on Keuka Lake, and attended an Independence Day fair in the state capitol of Albany.

That’s a sailboat on Seneca Lake.

Along the Seneca Lakeshore, we saw some characteristic waterfalls, where the river cascades down hills made of layers of slate.  We saw these all over the region in different places.

This is Sarah’s Falls, in the town of Montour Falls where we stayed for a few days.

This is Hector Falls, near Seneca Lake.

We also visited the famous auto-racing town of Watkins Glen.  The racetrack was not in use, but we did pass by it.  We also visited Watkins Glen Park itself.

Notice the sides of the canyon, made up of the local slate.

We spent a couple of days in the Saratoga Springs area, including July 4.  You might know that the area is well-known for its horse-racing.  Well, the city of Saratoga Springs has some public art that reflects that.  Businesses put a decorated horse statue outside for the public to admire, and every one is different.

We visited the Corning Museum of Glass, many wineries, and took a paddle-boat tour on Lake George.  We really loved the area, and hope to be able to return soon.

In 2009, we packed up our musical instruments (violin for me, clarinet for Hubby) and drove down to Mammoth Lakes, California for an adult music camp.  On that trip, not only did we get some music-making in, we got to tour the area with our fellow campers.  One place we visited was the Devil’s Postpile National Monument.  That trip was a bit scary, as our bus got stuck on a narrow mountain road.  But we made it!

You can see the hexagonal tops of the columnar basalt “posts”.

One day at the end of the camp, when we gave our final concert, there was a thunderstorm passing through, and when it was done it left something beautiful.

In 2010, we took our longest-ever road trip, to Michigan and back, for a Hillsdale College “hostel”.  We passed through numerous states, and saw wondrous monuments, landscapes, and attractions.

We drove through Yellowstone Park, and this was a sight in the distance.

It’s a rock formation called Devil’s Slide.  It’s awe-inspiring, to think that those vertical layers of the rock were originally horizontal, at the bottom of a huge lake in prehistoric times.

What would a trip to Yellowstone be without the requisite buffalo?

And at a rest stop by Soda Butte Creek, we saw a little fellow who thought we were bringing him lunch.

Speaking of the Devil…

That Devil guy sure gets around, doesn’t he?  He has his Postpile, his Slide, and his Tower, all in the American West.  We spent a whole day around Devil’s Tower on our way home.

In October of 2013, we drove to Las Vegas for a Ricochet national meetup.  Hubby had never been to Vegas before, and I had not been since 1974!

We decided that if we ever go back, we will try to stay at New York, New York.

This is a view of many of the casinos on the Strip.

On the way home, we visited the Grand Canyon.  Hubby had never seen it, and I had not been there since 1987.

Our last road trip was this year, in April, when we drove to Colorado and back.  We saw some familiar sights, and some new ones.

Intake Center ruins, Minidoka Concentration Camp, Idaho

The two remnants of the Minidoka concentration camp, where President Franklin Roosevelt placed law-abiding Japanese-Americans during World War II was new, and quite disturbing.

The big petrified tree trunks were new, too, and very instructive.  It’s pretty cool that Nature preserved those prehistoric trees for our inspection, and enlightenment, today.

And the snowy mountains in Wyoming were just beautiful.

Our next road trip will be this October, when we are planning on driving down the Oregon Coast.  Stay tuned for a travelogue when we get back!

Here’s the Link to Terri’s Original Post.