Today’s Thoughtful Thursday question asks what I’m looking forward to doing this year.  It was a great question to come after my post yesterday about goal ideas for 2012.

But wow, what to choose?  I have so many things I want to do in 2012.  Eventually I realized that the two things I’m looking forward to were not on my goals list.  That’s not a problem – I can add them to the list.  I forgot to put NaNoWriMo on there too.

So here’s what I’m looking forward to doing this year:

• Exploring
• Reading outside on the deck

Reading outside on the deck is about as easy as it gets.  All I need is some good weather (or shade) and something to read.  It might be on my iPad, it might be from the library, it might be a magazine or even an instruction manual.  Not that I like to spend much time reading instruction manuals.  Boooooring.

But the exploring will take more thought.  My favorite boy toy and I took two short trips last year, to Chadd’s Ford, Pennsylvania and to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia.  We went to Chadd’s Ford to trace the footsteps of N.C. Wyeth and his family.  We went to West Virginia to chase the fall colors.

Both trips were fun.  We hadn’t done that kind of travel for years.  Extra money has usually been spent sending my boy toy on photo trips and vacation time spent visiting with family.  It’s also expensive to stay in hotels, eat out, and kennel the dogs.  But oh did we enjoy it.

I’m not sure I’d go back to Chadds Ford.  The Wyeth’s were actually not as big a deal as I expected and the accessibility was very restricted.  I would go back to Harper’s Ferry.  The picture taking wasn’t quite as good as we’d hoped for, but we just enjoyed being there.

By the way – I’ve made a new friend in Harper’s Ferry since returning from there.  Steam From Harper’s Ferry is a “Victorian/Steampunk themed gallery and print shop” and her blog has detailed historical write-ups about the area.  Check it out!  I’d love to learn about stuff like that from where I live.

So here’s some ideas I have for where I’d travel to next:

• Concord Massachusetts to retrace Henry David Thoreau’s stomping grounds.  I was there 20+ years ago for a short visit but have never been able to go back.  KittyHere was there earlier this year and said it was a beautiful area to visit.
• Outer Banks in North Carolina – I’d love to see the ocean.  We were going to do it last fall until the hurricane created so much damage.
• There are several botanical gardens along Highway 85 as we go to our daughter’s house, in North and South Carolina.  I’d love to visit them.
• Charleston, South Carolina – I went here on a business trip years ago and was sorry I didn’t stay over the weekend to check it out.
• Chincoteague Island, Virginia to see the wild ponies (anyone remember reading Marguerite Henry’s books?).
• Savannah, Georgia – it’s supposed to be beautiful there.
• Callaway Gardens, Georgia – also supposed to be pretty.

Locally, there all kinds of exploring to do, but I don’t generally keep a running list of those.  My boy toy and I are of the “let’s go out for breakfast and then decide what to do”.  Plus, we still have our passes for Williamsburg and the local botanical garden to use.

I know we’ll go exploring frequently.  Whether we go for several days, I don’t know.  But my list is ready if we decide to take off!

Next Thursday’s topic is how I would like to change the world.

Today’s  small stones is under the photo.  Interested in learning how to use a hyperlink?  A Daily Life tells you how to add it to your posts.

My Mom loved yesterday’s photo!  She thought it would be funny to see the min pin all by himself in the great big bed.  Well you know what, I took a picture of that too.  Here’s you are – 100 pounds of dog in one bed, and 7 pounds in the other.  Because eeew!  Who wants to touch a min pin??

Today’s small stones:

I opened the linen closet today to take out a washcloth for my shower.  I love having clean towels and having a clean washcloth to use each day.  It’s a big stack of washclothes when they’re clean – about 20 – because I use a clean one every day and I only do laundry every other week.  Their texture is rough when they’re dry, a good way to dry my eyes when that first burst of water hits my face.  What a pleasure though to open the closet door each morning, see that stack of clean washclothes, and smell the freshness of the towels in there.

Life Lessons 2012 goals Chadds Ford dogs exploring Harper's Ferry miniature pinscher postaday2012 reading outside riverofstones2012 setting goals small stones Thoughtful Thursdays wandering wash clothes