Photos – Journeys with Eileen Diane

Armchair Traveler ~ US National Parks ~ Photos

July 6, 2020July 6, 2020Journeys with EileenDiane

One of my favorite Armchair Traveler books contains gorgeous photos and essays about many of the incredible US National Parks. When I browse the book I remember past journeys (my favorites include Denali, Glacier, Mt Rushmore, Shenandoah and the Grand Canyon) and plan new adventures (Grand Teton, Yosemite, Crater Lake are on my list).

In addition to books and maps about various National Parks, there is a wealth of information on line: https://www.nps.gov/index.htm Remember when you plan your trip to a National Park, some are far more crowded than others and going in spring or fall is less crowded than the summer months.

Each park is very special and unique. While there are travelers whose goal is to journey to each park, there are others (like me) who prefer to return to a favorite park. I find that each time, I discover new vistas.

Be creative and have fun as you “armchair travel” using photo books, guidebooks and online sites. You could well be planning your next journey.

Take the time to put the camera away and gaze in wonder at what’s there in front of you ~ Erick Widman

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things ~ Henry Miller

Savor your journeys… real, imagined or virtual, near or far.

Quotes ~ By the 4 US Presidents Sculptured on Mt Rushmore ~ Photos

July 1, 2020July 1, 2020Journeys with EileenDiane

Last year, I traveled to awe inspiring Mt Rushmore in South Dakota, which is a fabulous area to visit (including the nearby Crazy Horse Memorial, Badlands National Park and the SD Air and Space Museum). This year, the Independence Day fireworks celebration should be spectacular.

Savor your journeys… real, imagined or virtual, near or far.

George Washington: Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience ~ Human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected ~ Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit your judgment to others with modesty ~ Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.

Thomas Jefferson: Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you ~ Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom ~ The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do ~ On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock.

Theodore Roosevelt: Do what you can, with what you have, where you are ~ Believe you can and you’re halfway there ~ People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care ~ Knowing what’s right doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.

Abraham Lincoln: I will prepare and some day my chance will come ~ And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years ~ Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing ~ You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

State Flags

Mount Rushmore

From May 2019:

Road Trip: Western Washington to Mt Rushmore ….. Mt Rushmore National Memorial, Keystone, South Dakota

Quotes ~ Flowers ~ Photos

June 28, 2020June 27, 2020Journeys with EileenDiane

If your heart is a volcano, how shall you expect flowers to bloom? ~ Khalil Gibran

The earth laughs in flowers ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead ~ Oscar Wilde

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable ~ Joseph Addison

Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities of the world ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’m an introvert… I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky ~ Audrey Hepburn

I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers ~ Claude Monet

I hate flowers – I paint them because they’re cheaper than models and they don’t move ~ Georgia O’Keeffe

Quotes ~ Gardens ~ Photos

June 25, 2020June 24, 2020Journeys with EileenDiane

Flowers are happy things~ P. G. Wodehouse

I don’t like formal gardens. I like wild nature. It’s just the wilderness instinct in me, I guess~ Walt Disney

Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts~ Sigmund Freud

Some men like to make a little garden out of life and walk down a path~ Jean Anouilh

Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!~ Sitting Bull

Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them~ A. A. Milne

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair ~Khalil Gibran

Quotes ~ France ~ Photos

June 19, 2020June 18, 2020Journeys with EileenDiane

We’ll always have Paris ~ Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca

I wanted to get far away from those who believed in cruelty, so then I went to France, a land of true freedom, democracy, equality and fraternity. ~ Josephine Baker

America is my country and Paris is my hometown. ~ Gertrude Stein

Everything ends this way in France ~ everything. Weddings, christenings, duels, burials, swindlings, diplomatic affairs ~ everything is a pretext for a good dinner. ~ French playwright Jean Anouilh

France has the only two things towards which we drift as we grow older – intelligence and manners. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast ~ Ernest Hemingway

Just add three letters to Paris, and you have paradise ~ Jules Renard

A walk in Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and the point of life ~ Thomas Jefferson

Paris is always a good idea. ~ Audrey Hepburn

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Armchair Traveler ~ Road Trips

June 16, 2020June 15, 2020Journeys with EileenDiane

I think now is a perfect time to be an armchair traveler and what’s better than a road trip? You can fantasize about your trip from where to go (nearby or a faraway destination, using a rental vehicle) to your vehicle (your car or rent a motorcycle, an RV, a convertible ~ your dream vehicle ~ this is your armchair travel!). Now, take off, using your maps and guide books as you peruse your armchair journey.

Pick out not only special sights (a national park? an historic area? a mountain top? a city you have always wanted to visit), but also side trips to small towns, secluded beaches, local spots. Read about a hotel you have always wanted to visit or a special restaurant (you can check menus on-line and prepare a special dinner).

Have fun exploring …. be creative as you “journey” using your maps and guidebooks … who knows – you may well be planning your next trip. A road trip ~ where you can be spontaneous, take side trips, explore and enjoy your journey.

Below are photos from a favorite guidebook which I used last year when planning my road trip to incredible Mount Rushmore. Plus, a photo of my favorite navigator (Shadow) who accompanied me on two road trips when I moved to/from South Carolina.

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Savor your journeys… real, imagined or virtual, near or far.

mapping next day

Quotes ~ Italy ~ Photos

June 11, 2020June 10, 2020Journeys with EileenDiane

You may have the universe if I may have Italy. ~ Giuseppe Verdi

Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy. ~ Bertrand Russell

The Creator made Italy by designs from Michelangelo. ~ Mark Twain

Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life. ~ Anna Akhmatova

I love places that have an incredible history. I love the Italian way of life. I love the food. I love the people. I love the attitudes of Italians. ~ Elton John

Venice, it’s temples and palaces did seem like fabrics of enchantment piled to heaven. ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go. ~ Truman Capote

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Quotes ~ About the Ocean ~ Photos

June 8, 2020June 6, 2020Journeys with EileenDiane

The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble. Blaise Pascal

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. Mahatma Gandhi

The ocean is a mighty harmonist. William Wordsworth

How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean. Arthur C. Clarke

We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came. John F. Kennedy