Thursday, January 09, 2014

Thursday Thirteen—where our friends are traveling according to their Christmas letters

Our Christmas card for 2013 was a painting by my husband of Colorado in the snow.  His card paintings are always so lovely, some people collect them. However, I can’t find this year’s card, so here’s last year’s, the little museum at Lakeside, Ohio which used to be a Methodist church.

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I always enjoy hearing from friends and family at Christmas—cards and letters on paper, some actually handwritten. E-cards are OK, but don’t excite me too much.  That’s the direction many are going—it saves time and money.  Many of our friends are retired, so they carefully plan their resources and time around travel. This isn’t all, but they were on the top of the pile.

1.  John and Sue in Washington went to the hospital, both of them, he in January and she in December—hoping for a healthier 2014 with possibly a trip to Ohio in May.

2.  Gayle and Bill’s grandchildren went off to college in Colorado and South Carolina.

3.  Howard and Betty went to Istanbul and other interesting places in Turkey to be awestruck by ancient ruins. Also New Hampshire and Maryland for family visits.

4.  Martti and Riitta of Helsinki probably hit the jackpot with Copenhagen, Thailand, Rome, Kuusamo (Finland), Sardinia, Spain (liked it so much they bought a home there), London, Nashville, and finally traveled here to Columbus to visit us in December. And we’re so glad they did—we had a wonderful visit.

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4.  Jim and Jerry were in Michigan, Lake Wales, Tampa, Sarasota, North Carolina, and had some time in the hospital.

5.  Sandy and Alec went to Scotland and Charlotte NC.

6.  Rich and MaryAnn were commuting between Lakeside, OH and Bloomington, IL,  with visits to Piqua and Cincinnati, Ohio.

7. Bob and Janet went to Springfield, IL and visited the Lincoln Library and Museum, also Florida, a cruise to the Greek Islands with a stop in Turkey, then Rome, 8 Mediterranean Islands, then to Columbus, Ohio, and Pasadena, California for family visits.

8.  Sylvia and Dave clocked some time in Reno, NV, and Amarillo, TX.

9. Frank and Dianne also went to Springfield, IL to see the sites, and South Carolina as well as local trips to festivals in Illinois.

10. Linda visited Zion National Park in Utah, Catawba Is. in Lake Erie, Hilton Head,  and The Cove in Ashville, NC which she says was the highlight of the year.

11. Helen went to New York City and said the Christmas decorations were outstanding.

12. Eleanor’s plans to travel to South America were cancelled, but she’s thinking perhaps a vacation place in a warmer part of the country may be in her future.

13.  Jan is planning a trip to France, with 3 days in Paris and a river cruise.

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Thirteen, check here.

7 comments:

Alice Audrey said...

That's a painting in the card at the top? Wow. He's talented.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow. That painting is really beautiful. Your husband is very talented. I haven't traveled in so long I've forgotten the last place I traveled to. I really need to get out more. LOL. Happy Thursday.

Heather said...

I'm envious of all that traveling. The only place I've been this past year is northern Illinois, and all I got to see of that was my sister's house. Happy 2014 and thanks for visiting!

jennifer anderson said...

wow they are so lucky and sound so upwardly mobile!

Anonymous said...

Your husband paints a picture and you use it for your Christmas card? How cool is that? Sounds like he's a keeper.

http://otherworlddiner.blogspot.com/2014/01/yep-its-freezing-or-revenge-of-polar.html

Shelley Munro said...

The painting is lovely. Your husband is very talented.

Unknown said...

The painting looks very beautiful! You could have included the cruising pictures also. I’m a big time fan of river cruising .