slidergirl

I just got back from a month-long canal barge and land trip to France and Italy. Did it in a carryon and a small backpack. It was scorchingly hot the whole time - from 95 to 103 in the daytime. I did have to a little more laundry at night because I was sweating so much I had to change shirts a few times during the day, But, hand laundry at night is just part of my travel routine - been doing that for years It doesn't take more than maybe 5 minutes and I use clothes that are overnight dry-able. The dresses took (first time taking dresses) 2 days to dry, but that was OK because I didn't need them everyday. On land trips, I have been known to visit a lavanderia and do clothes. Interesting from a sociologist's POV and i've met some lovely locals. It is also a nice way to relax, put on the headphones and listen to music or read.

Lois - good to hear you are enjoying the land portion of your trip. The Alyeska is probably nicer because it is also at a ski resort so it is usable year-round and not just for tour groups. I got back home last night. Yes, I'm now crashing on the sofa. I thought I had taken a picture of the parking aisle sign when I left on the 12th. I knew I got on the shuttle at stop 1 (what I usually try to do). Well, when I got off the shuttle and went to look at my sign pix, it wasn't there!!! I spent a good 30 minutes wandering around the area looking for my KIA. Not the first time that has happened to me, but the first in a long time. I had some yogurt in the fridge that was still "GOOD" so I had it with granola and a cup of coffee this morning. I've got to go to the market today!!! Again, I thought I packed really light, but still came home with things not worn: pink long sleeve linen shirt - just never went anywhere cool enough or needed to dress up blue long sleeve linen shirt - same bathing suit & sunscreen shirt - we didn't sit out or go to a pool for girls' weekend - we just sat in the house or went walking around town. no one has a pool where i was in PA. rain jacket - lucked out and the rain only happened during the night or when I was just hanging out at the house. denim jacket - one little kid wore it at an outdoor dinner in SoCA. I took it with me to the wedding reception (it was outside at a farm), but it stayed in the car. Again, it was too warm for me to wear. Yellow Laguna Surf hoodie - I bought it on the girls' trip, but never had weather to wear it. Sweaty Betty leggings - I just was too lazy to put them on to hang out in on the girls' trip - just put on my jeans shorts first thing in the morning and kept them on until I went to bed. Smokey Bear trucker hat - just didn't have anyplace to wear it. I ended up wearing my Gigi Pip hat when I needed a hat. OOTD: running shorts and a Tshirt. Add a bra under the Tshirt when I go to the market, and add my trail runners. This trip to SoCA, DC and Pennsylvania was definitely a jeans, jeans shorts and T-shirt kind of trip. Right up my alley!

Thank you for sharing. I'm like @cruisemom42and @purduemom1 - I travel light and I don't think my "fashion style" would lend itself to a Cunard cruise. I'm a very casual dresser. The ladies here convinced me to buy and take a few dresses on my month-long European vacation. While I did wear them and liked having them in the scorching heat, they would probably not qualify as Cunard-worthy. I'd be out and about during the daytime and hanging out in my cabin at night, I'm afraid. Your choices were nice for a dressy line, though.

I spent the afternoon in DC, walking around the Capitol Mall area. Took a photo of the fenced off Supreme Court-somehow my middle finger got in the way 😉 Best of the day was spotting an albino squirrel! He was hanging out on the Mall grass and trees with the other squirrels. Totally white and had pink eyes. I stopped in at this little bakery in the next town from us that my niece said had the best donuts. She wasn’t kidding. Bought a cream-filled one to eat with my coffee on the road and one for a night snack. They also had raisin-filled cookies that I loved as a kid so I had to buy a bag. They are soooo yummy! After walking around for a few hours I went back to the hotel and absolutely crashed. Slept from 6 to 11!! Got up and had my donut for dinner, changed to my sleep shirt and went back to sleep until 7 this morning. I REALLY needed that! My flight home is at 5, so I am just being lazy for now. I’ll grab some lunch somewhere and do a little something in places with air conditioning before I go to the airport.

I hope you like it, too! If you need leggings, try the Stella. They are what I wear multiple times a week for work. Super comfortable.

Thanks. The moonshine mix was 190proof grain alcohol, vanilla vodka, orange juice and something else. Really tasted like a creamsicle. A tasty but sneaky mix!!! The farm does a lot of the events around here. They have some gorgeous Percheron horses that the owners show.

Josie (the lab) and Bella (jack russell) came to the reception for awhile. They are both sweethearts. Not sure the bride’s teenage bro & sis will remember- both were drinking quite a bit. I know sis barfed 2x after the party. She’s only 15 but mom & dad let her drink. Bro left for college this morning so he was probably hung over. Teenagers- what are you going to do… Dinner tonight and say ‘bye’ to everybody. Leaving in the morning for DC. OOTD: Jean shorts and black Woolx tank, changing to white & blue long sleeve T. And the hi tops.

Yep. I use Lush solids.

The wedding was very nice. My grand niece’s dress was gorgeous. The weather stayed sunny and warm. The reception was at a local horse farm. Everyone was up dancing and drinking. I am now a fan of creamsicle moonshine. Those shots went down very smoothly. They really tasted like creamsicles. They had specialty drinks named for their two dogs. Cute. I lost count at about 6. Interesting mix of music- country to hip hop to classic rock. A fun filled 7 hours of reception fun. The photos were from around my SIL’s house. A lot of Amish and Mennonite folks bought farms around here maybe 20 years ago to get away from the touristy Lancaster area. I wanted to post a pic of me all spiffed up but I can’t do it tonight for some reason. I‘all try tomorrow when I’m sober… I couldn’t post last night. I’m still whooped from the moonshine last night- not hung over but really slow. 2 cups of coffee and a bottle of water helped.

Spent today driving around the old ‘hood. Stopped at the local Mennonite store to pick up some honey and salivate over the produce. We have ox roast sandwiches and just picked corn on the cob for dinner. Some random sights.

Helped decorate the church yesterday. Today we all gathered to have a birthday party for one of the little kids. Went across the road and visited the new babies at the dairy farm. Played with my dog nephew Winston. Tomorrow I’m going to drive around and see some old places, hit up some farm stores. OOTD: Jean shorts, black Woolx sleeveless T, high tops.

I take Alpine Start Instant Coconut Latte with me when I go camping. I think it’s pretty good.

GF trip over. We were a bunch of lazy old women. We binged The First Lady on tv. Went out for breakfast once. Ate in the rest of the time. Gossiped and caught up on our lives. A good time. Another girl and I stayed 2 extra days at another’s house. Went out for dinner (Mexican), brunch and then dinner with the daughter who loaned us the house. The 3 of us binged on Yellowstone- we finished up at 3am last night!!! We couldn’t stop. Got up at 7am to clean the bedroom and bathroom I used and get ready. Sitting in the airport now waiting to board in about 10 minutes. Report in later. OOTD: jeans, gray T-shirt and my pink hi tops. Oh, and my hat.

For some reason, I've come a fan of the Aperol Spritz. Goes down easy, it's refreshing after a scorching hot day. To me, it's not strong at all like a cocktail and not as intense as a glass of wine. And I could drink 2 and not feek drunk... I wanted to try a Compari spritz, but 'Aperol' kept coming out of my mouth when ordering.

I was in Bordeaux Aug. 1-4. one of those days I took the train over to Arachon Bay. No indication of any fires on the way or once I got to Arachon. Living in the Mountain West and asthmatic, I am very sensitive to smoke. I didn't see or smell any smoke. The skies over Arachon were nice and blue. Other than being scorching hot in Bordeaux and Arachon, it was a very nice time. I've included 2 photos - one of part of the Arachon beach and one of Bordeaux, with the AMA Amadolce docked on the river, Hopefully this will give you just a glimpse of an idea of the skies.

Anita - if I listened to the "appropriate for my age" babble, I wouldn't have 90% of my clothes!!! I'm not a matron and I refuse to dress like one. 😸 Dress in what you like and what makes you feel good and what makes you happy.

oh man, I'm sorry 'bout the ulcer Lois. The hits just keep coming for you. I just hope this is the last issue a loooooong time for you!!

It was just the 11 of us plus the crew. it's not a working barge. Think of them as a tiny river cruise ship. If you go to the Croisieurope website and look at the Provence Rhone trip that goes from Arles to Sete. the barge we had was the Anne Marie. It will hold 22 guests, but the company i went with chartered the whole thing. The staff changed up the dining room to be one long table for us. The food was excellent! The staff was fantastic and just so engaging with us. They handled us 11 drunk old women just fine. We had some excursions that were tailored just for us, as the company likes to feature female owners and the role of women in the spots we visit.

That is why i wrote that they need to contact their embassies/consulates for Egypt.

Finally got an idea of what I will pack for the girls weekend. The hostess said shorts & Tshirts and flip flops are all that we need. No fancy dinners - she said everyplace in San Juan Capistrano is casual dress. So, i'll just do my jean shorts, one pair of my new linen shorts, a couple of my Woolx tops and maybe one of the new linen shirts. oh, and the bathing suit and rash guard. if i don't wear it there, I'll surely wear it back East for the wedding week. Talked last night to one of the girls. Out of the blue, she asks if I want to go to Paris with her and her hubby in November!!! Sure, let me grab some money out of the air... The 3 of us did a 3 week-er a couple of years ago in Barcelona, Tuscany and Paris, so we know we are comptable travelers. I think they liked they had their personal photographer with them 😸 As much as I'd like to go, there's no way in he!! that I could afford it!! All laundry is finally done! I ran out of spots to hang things! Now I get to iron those linen things I will take with me. And, pack again... OOTD: running shorts and one of my Athleta Tshirts. p.s. Cynthia - if you need a hotel in Bordeaux, I will recommend where I stayed - the Hotel de Tourny. nice litle place, the single room was rather spacious, a more modern/clean decor that I'm used to and a helpful front desk staff. The location was perfect and I could walk everyplace from there.

Woolx should pay me as an influencer 😸 The shirts feel nothing like what you think of wool. The lightweight ones feel more like silk, i'll say - very soft and not an once of scratch to them. I started with their leggings a couple of years ago and expanded into their shirts and the other month, their dress. I have a couple of the heavyweights shirts and hoodies, too. But, the lightweight shirts are another whole world. i've got short sleeve, Vneck, those Bella tanks. i can wear them alone when it's hot, as a base layer when it's cold, and just with a cardigan over when I go go work. P.S. they have a 30% off sale right now.

Wow Lois, I'll think good thoughts for you!

I wear my bras under the shirts. they are very lightweight but opaque. The ones I took with me were the Bella "tunic" top. Not really long enough to me to be called a tunic, no longer than my other Tshirts but have a curved hem. The Lexie dress is made of the same lightweight wool as the Bella tunics. Don't let the idea that they wouldn't be cool because they are wool fool you - they were better than any of my cotton Ts!!

Absolutely have your friends check with the authorities in Israel and who they can find for Egypt. I know it is a very delicate situation. back in the day (last time 2009), I had my passport stamps for Israel put on a separate piece of paper and kept in my passport because Egypt and some Middle East countries would not allow you to enter if you had an Israeli stamp. And, for awhile, vise versa. That was with a US passport, so I could imagine some difficulties may arise with an Israeli citizen with an Israeli passport.

As I unpack from my trip, here's a few things that I never wore: nice black pants - didn't need them on the barge and it was too hot at night to wear them 3 cotton Tshirts - it was just too hot to wear cotton plus the sweat would show all over. white button down - it was too hot to add this over a tank even unbuttoned. denim jacket - never got cool enough for a jacket trail runners - well, I wore them once at ranch but I could have done without them scarves - too hot to have something around my neck, even at midnight. long sleeved T - too hot to wear, even on the barge at night. This particular one couldn't roll up the sleeves to make it usable in the heat. ' the long linen pants I bought in Aigues-Mortes with the shorts and 1 shirt: I didn't do anything that I felt like wearing them. If I was going to wear pants, it would have been these instead of the black pants. Now, I did buy 3 linen shirts and 3 linen shorts on the trip and wore them a lot. The linen shirts made up for those cotton Tshirts. The black Chicos shorts and the shorts part of my 3-way zip pants were worn, but they were very hot because of their fabric. After I picked up the first pair of linen shorts, I saved the Chicos for my evening wear. Things I wore a lot that I brought with me: Again, I'm going to sing the praises of my Woolx shirts that I took. They were so pleasant to wear in that heat - never stuck to me. Easy to wash & dry. And, they didn't stink after a day of intense activity. The dresses - OK, you all were right and I'm sold on them. That Faherty dress, the Isha, that we all liked, was sooooo worth the money! I started wearing it for dinner on the barge, but then I wore it out in the cities a few times. I did a quick wash of the armpits at night and let it dry. The Woolx LBD was just like my Woolx shirts - sooo nice. I left it to wear for the concert. Even though I was sweating all over, it didn't show and I didn't stink! I may use this in the Winter with a pair of leggings for work! The denim linen dress I picked up from Sundance with my $50 discount was a nice evening dress to wear around towns. I kept it for evening since it would show sweat marks in the day. My American Giant sleeveless T dress - it was cool, but its color showed every bit of sweat on every part of my body. I'm still not sold on dresses for everyday wear at home, but they were definitely good to have on the trip. Next, I'll maybe do the same with the miscellaneous stuff I brought with me.