You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'travel' category.
It’s completely awesome to be named “Royal Lady of Autumn Leaves.” Just ask Pat. Meet her in person at our booksigning at her shop.
 |
| In her role as Royal Lady, Pat, owner of A Book for All Seasons will be traveling throughout the Pacific Northwest, representing Leavenworth at the festivals and parades around the region. |
A Book for All Seasons owner Pat Rutledge named Royal Lady of Autumn Leaves for 2009
As the 46th Royal Lady of the Autumn Leaves I want to welcome you to the Bavarian Village of Leavenworth. I know you will be thrilled with the wealth of activities we have in store for you. Whether you are looking for a quiet stroll through downtown, shopping and browsing boutiques or you’re revved for some whitewater rafting, hiking or skiing, there is no end to the possibilities for having a spectacular visit here. Come in the spring when the hillsides and mountains are ablaze with hundreds of thousands of balsam root flowers.
Surely you will want to visit us in the fall, as we host Washington State’s Autumn Leaf Festival in September, followed by three weekends of Oktoberfest.
Winter will dazzle you with our snow frosted mountains and town twinkling with millions of lights, making our Christmas Lightings one of the most magical weekends you will experience.
From shopping, to theater, from wineries to restaurants, from lodging to music, to the great outdoors of climbing, skiing and rafting ‑ Leavenworth offers all these world class experiences wrapped up in our own Bavarian hospitality.
Like Renee Zellweger’s famous line from Jerry McGuire,” You had me at Hello”, we are hoping Leavenworth will have you at Herzlich Wilkomen.
Royal Lady Pat Rutledge
…and not leap to your feet!
This video was made in the Antwerp , Belgium Central (train) Station.
It’s out! Just Breathe is out in paperback and I’m so excited. All month long, I’ll be giving away cool stuff to people who comment on this blog–copies of the book of course. And things to pamper yourself with. And books by my friends, and ARCs (advance reading copies) of books I’ve been sent for endorsement. So check in early and often, readers!
Here’s my sophomore attempt at a musical slideshow. The images are from a magical trip we took to the Point Reyes National Seashore for our 25th wedding anniversary. Enjoy!
Today’s drawing question–Where in the world do you go to just breathe? I’ll pick the winner using www.random.org.
Today’s prize–a copy of Just Breathe and a sweet basket of ginger white tea bath & body products. Perfect for reading in the tub!
Sister, niece and I picked the hike labeled “most difficult” in Snow Canyon. No wonder we were the only ones on the trail. Big payoff, though. Check out these shots of us scaling the volcano, looking down into the crater and out across the white rock and red rock canyons.
top o' the world
photo by Hall Anderson
Now this is what you want every author appearance to be. Avid readers, good-hearted fun, friends old and new. Thanks to Charlotte Glover of First City Library, to Parnassus Books, to Hall Anderson, photographer, and Leila Kheiry, staff writer, of the Ketchikan Daily News. A historic room at the New York Hotel, a walk along Creek Street, and all was golden. Best lagniappe of the trip–the lovely and talented Stef Ann Holm just happened to be there doing research for a book. I’ve known Stef Ann from 1980-something and I just love her and her books. Her new one, All that Matters, will be out any day and I cannot wait!
forbidden by the TSA 
Travel tip: Don’t even THINK about bringing an ulu chopper in your carry-on bag. Nor can you have a little snow globe with flecks of gold in it. And anyone who knows me knows I never bring more than one small carry-on bag. I hope the TSA is enjoying my souvenirs.
Things that made it back in my carry-on luggage: a “spawn till you die” t-shirt, a pair of hand-made earrings, several books on Alaskiana and lots of great memories. I wasn’t tempted by the reindeer hotdogs, trust me on this.
We like the sign. The meat...notsomuch.
New York Hotel in Ketchikan
I don’t care what anyone says, that ultra light 6-lb laptop you bought for travel is gonna end up weighing your luggage down by an extra 20 pounds. I don’t know why this is, but I found the perfect solution at TigerDirect. I’m in LA for Book Expo America, and I’ve brought along the Asus eeepc. It’s about the size and weight of a paperback book and I’m already swooning. It sells for around $330. Having light luggage again? Priceless.
Today’s guest blog comes from Theresa Rizzo, a good friend and wonderful writer. Meet us both, along with Karen Joy Fowler, John Shors and many others at the fantastic Readers in the Rockies conference, June 20-22. There’s a writers’ conference, too, all organized by the Crested Butte Friends of the Library.
“You will find true success in those efforts that captivate your heart and soul. Belief fuels passion, and passion rarely fails.”
I don’t actually travel that much because the writing schedule doesn’t allow it. However, after updating the schedule of appearances on my web site, I sat back and thought, yikes.
I’ve taught myself to travel light. Not out of any particular virtue, but because waiting for checked luggage to appear is too tense for a traveler who has to catch a ferry. Those extra ten (sometimes more) minutes can mean the difference between catching the 8:I0 and the 9:00pm boats. Doesn’t seem like a huge difference, but at the end of a transcontinental journey, trust me, it matters. So my rule is that I have to fit everything for a trip of any length into a carry-on-sized rollaboard, and a largish shoulder bag. This includes my purse and laptop. If it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t come. My mother–who has been known to fly from Sydney to Seattle with nothing but a pocketbook–sometimes says, “Bring twice as much money as you think you’ll need, and half the clothes.” She’s right, of course.
Anyway, I would love to meet you! I have upcoming appearances in Bainbridge Island, Washington, Seattle, Los Angeles, Crested Butte, Colorado Ketchikan, Alaska, Sacramento and Cannon Beach, Oregon. Please see http://susanwiggs.com/schedule.shtml for details on these and other events.
…we passed by the place where Tater Tots are made. I guess it never occurred to me before that “Ore-Ida” comes from the fact that it’s located on the Oregon-Idaho boundary. Who doesn’t love Tater Tots?
