Happy Monday! We’ve been traveling for over 4 months in our RV and we’ll be home in just a few days. We’ve traveled to 19 NEW states on this trip (we may have visited before, but we’re counting those we’ve “camped” in, in 2025). We’d often say, “Another state – another sticker”! We experienced a lot of NEW things and learned some NEW things. Too many, really, to list. So, I thought I’d highlight a few (26) in an A-Z style. Here goes:

A: Acadia National Park. I had been there before, but my hubby had not. So off we went! Beautiful area! We timed our travels to be there in the fall when the colors were at their peak.

B: “Bridging”… I learned a NEW term! One afternoon, as we traveled around Vermont, looking at many of its historic covered bridges, we were listening to a podcast about them. The president of the Vermont Covered Bridges Society used this term. She would say something like, “When I go bridging, I always…”

C: Cyclorama. We saw this cyclorama at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A cyclorama is a large, curved backdrop or wall used in theaters, film sets, and studios to create an illusion of open space or an infinite background. This 360-degree scene on the cyclorama at the Gettysburg visitors’ center was painted by a French artist in 1883 and traveled to exhibitions like the Chicago World Fair.

D: Doubleday Field. While in Cooperstown, New York, we visited Doubleday Field, which is right next to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

E: Erie Canal. We rode our bikes on the Erie Canal tow path, and it was extra cool since this year is the canal’s 200th anniversary! This is the canal in the cute town of Spencerport.

F: Followed around by a guinea hen! As we visited a botanical garden in Rhode Island, something that looked sort of like a small, funny-looking turkey or pheasant was following us around. We later found out it was a guinea hen!

G: Graveyard for ice cream flavors. We stopped by Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory, and on the grounds, there is a graveyard for flavors that have “died” out (discontinued).

H: Hyde Hall covered bridge in New York is likely the oldest documented existing covered bridge in America. It was built in 1825.

I: Islands. We saw so many islands from the vantage point of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia NP. Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the eastern seaboard.

J: Jello museum. Who knew there was such a place! Interesting!

K: Kennebunkport, Maine. We visited Kennebunkport and really appreciated the fact that the town provided free public parking, which was spacious enough for large vehicles. Our large truck isn’t the easiest thing to park – especially in tight, crowded, touristy-type places. Although the parking was about .25 miles from the main street, we didn’t mind walking at all! Other small towns should follow their lead!

L: Longwood Gardens. We were lucky to visit on the opening day of their Chrysanthemum Festival. We were glad we took the tour, since the guide provided so many interesting facts and insider information about the gardens. Highly recommend!

M: Menno-Hof. We visited this museum in Shipshewanna, Indiana, and learned a lot about the different sects of Mennonites and the differences between the Mennonite and Amish religions.

N: Natty Bumpo. I found it interesting that around Cooperstown, New York, they had historical markers featuring fictional characters from the books of the famous author, James Fenimore Cooper.

O: Old cars! When we were staying in Lake George, New York, we had no idea that there would be a national car show that weekend. So many antique cars and hot rods in town that weekend! We enjoyed the parade, with many of them showing off and revving their engines for the crowds.

P: Plymouth Rock. We, of course, had to go see Plymouth Rock while in Massachusetts. It was interesting to learn (or relearn) much of the history of this area.

Q: Quoddy Head Lighthouse. I love photographing lighthouses. But bonus: this is the farthest east point of the continental United States!

R: Rock ‘n Roll. We visited the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Lots of history there, and a very well-done museum.

S: Sunsets. It’s pretty fun to park our RV near a lake and have fantastic views of the sunsets!

T: Thinker. I learned there are approximately 28 bronze casts of “The Thinker” sculpture. This one, at the Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio, was vandalized in 1970, and it remains unrepaired.

U: Unique museum. We visited the Bigfoot Museum in West Virginia, and learned a NEW (to me) word:  “Cryptids are animals or other beings whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. Cryptozoology, the study of cryptids, is a pseudoscience claiming that such beings may exist somewhere in the wild; it has been widely critiqued by scientists.”

V: Variety of Mums. I had NO idea there were so many varieties of mums!

W: Walking the ‘Cliff’: We walked the famous Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island. It’s famous because of all the huge mansions that are right next to the walk.

X: eXtra sandy feet. After walking on the Cape Cod National Seashore, we had eXtra sandy feet!

Y: Yellow. One thousand yellow mums! Getting them all to bloom at the same time is serious business!

Z: Zone. The topiary zone inside Longwood Gardens was fun to walk through!

Whew! That’s it for today. My phone’s camera roll has tons more on, but those will be for another day.

I hope you have a great day and get to do or learn something NEW today!

Happy Thursday! I recently read a post at Deb’s World about embracing creativity. She wrote about how she doesn’t particularly view herself as being a “creative”. But as she thought more about the things she does on a daily basis, she discovered that she (and everyone) embraces creativity differently and uniquely. I agree.

I also don’t view myself as being creative. But I’m a huge wannabe creative!

Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognise ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others.

I suppose the more one attempts to be creative, the more likely they’ll gain and/or strengthen their tendency to generate ideas. I have a little sewing table in my laundry room and above that table I put the quote attributed to Albert Einstein that says, “Creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” Haha! That’s typically my style of creativity. Finding something I can be inspired by, and basically copying it. Sometimes (but not always) I can put my own spin on it, to make it more of my own creation. It just depends.

Take poetry, for instance. My mother was a prolific poet. Me – well, I can never think of the right words! Therefore, below is a poem generated with AI! My contribution was creatively giving AI the prompts to get started, based on the photo I recently took of these roses, (still in bloom in November!), in a little town in Kentucky.

Frost whispers secrets the twilight keeps.
Yet there—against the fading gray,
A pink rose blooms, defying decay.

Its petals blush with summer’s song,
A tender flame where nights grow long.
Soft fragrance drifts through brittle air,
A promise kept, though time seems spare.

The world turns bare, the branches lean,
But roses dream of what has been.
And in their bloom, a truth is shown—
Beauty endures, though cold winds moan.

So let November’s silence fall,
The pink rose answers winter’s call.
A fleeting gift, a fragile sign,
That hope still blossoms out of time.

And here’s a haiku to complement the longer poem, distilling the mood into a fleeting moment (also AI-generated):

Pink roses linger,  
November frost breathes silence—  
Hope warms the cold air.

With AI changing how we do things at a rapid pace, particularly some traditionally “creative” things, AI is being discussed quite a bit. What are your thoughts about AI and creativity? How is AI going to play into people’s creativity? I’d be interested in knowing your opinion!

I hope you have a great day and do or learn something NEW today!