Beth, I made pickles first and then I finished dehydrating my tomatoes from yesterday and then I finished my yellow tomato sauce and THEN I made one batch of Multi-purpose Seasoned Tomato Sauce. By the time I finished it was around 2 p.m. and we hopped in the car and sped down to the Southlake Central Market to check out their produce selection. I was a little disappointed. They didn't have nearly as many heirloom winter squashes, pumpkins and gourds nor did they have as many heirloom tomatoes. However, they did have pickling cucumbers, so I bought another 5 lbs. Since I made bread-and-butter pickles today, I'll make dills tomorrow. Best of all, my own pickling cukes are about to reach pickling size, so I'll be able to make stacker-type pickles about Friday or Saturday. We also picked up a 10-grain store bakery bread that we like and a few other veggies. Then, it was off to Green Sprouts Farmer's Market a couple of miles up the road. It really is just a smaller, more affordable version of Whole Foods or Central Market, but I mean really, really, really smaller and not much selection. They had some great prices on produce, but a lot of their produce was overripe and I didn't purchase anything there. But, I did get visiting those two stores out of my system. The next time I want to go to Central Market, I'll go to Fort Worth because it has a better selection by far. I don't know this for a fact, but it seems bigger than the one in Southlake. It might be that the Fort Worth store has more autumn pumpkins and winter squash outside because they have a big covered patio type thing in front of the store where they often have musicians and cookouts when the weather is good, and I didn't see anything like that at the Southlake store. The only advantage the Southlake store has over Fort Worth is that Tim can stop by it on his way to work at DFW Airport if there's something I "need". I got home in time to spend an hour in the garden while my sweet DH grilled chicken and sausage and made dinner. I had used up all my tomatoes today making the multi-purpose tomato sauce, but I got to pick another 6 tonight, so I'm OK. Moni, I think Tulsa might have a Whole Foods or Wild Oats which are sort of similar to Central Market but more heavily focused on organics and less focused on gourmet-type fare, although there is a lot of gourmet type stuff, especially if you like artisan cheeses and breads. I'll do some research and see what I can find out about Edmond-OKC-Tulsa. Surely something in that area has a 'health food store' with a good selection. I have found they usually have the best produce in terms of variety and selection. Today I was looking at all the fingerling potatoes (six or eight varieties) at Central Market and making a mental note to buy some in December to sprout for spring planting. Two road trips in two days. I've got to stay home and weed and mow for the rest of the week or the yard and garden will be a jungle. Jan, I'll link Pendery's below. The web site is great, but if you're ever in the Fort Worth-Dallas area, you have to visit the store for the sheer pleasure of inhaling all the lovely aromas of the many spices and herbs. Don't miss their chili mixes. They are great and come in many combinations. I love that Pickling Spice and Italian Seasoning Mixes too---they look like real spices and herbs, not just ground-up powders. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Pendery's Spices

The worst cobblestones I've come across were at Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro. I fell flat on my face at one point tripping over a cobblestone, and I then went directly to a shoe shop to buy better sandals, which I still have. For Mexico, I prefer Oaxaca City (near lots of fabulous ruins), Guanajuato, San Cristóbal de las Casas, and Mérida. Oaxaca and Mérida have the best artisan markets in Mexico (outside of Mexico City), and a trip to Teotilán Del Valle, Oaxaca is worth it to see the weavers and their shops. If you are in Mexico City or Cuernavaca, a side trip to Tepoztlán is worth is for its market and the scenic beauty. I think the market there is only on week-ends. San Miguel de Allende is certainly a bit easier to get to from the U.S., but Mérida has direct flights and is close to many fabulous Mayan ruins, plus it is not far from Cancún, although I prefer to visit Cozumel for the beaches. Oaxaca City has direct flights to and from Los Angeles, and so it is easy to get to as well. For me, it is easier to get to Cabo San Lucas and San Miguel, but both are equally Americanized, which is a minus for me. I do not need to speak English in Mexico and don't even like to hear it there that much. I do have friends that own property in San Miguel, but I have not seen them in quite a few years. I've never traveled to Mexico without staying at least a week. According to Los Angeles Magazine, the best way to get to San Miguel from here is to fly to León, Guanajuato and then take a 90 minute taxi. I think I would rather rent a car in León and drive from there. That way I could also visit Guanajuato again. Thanks for sharing the photos.

What a lovely trip! Such wonderful pictures. Thank you for taking us along. I am definitely more of a 'just be' on vacation type. I do not like having my days planned in advance. I have a question for you solo international travelers. Do you speak the local language? DH wants to go to Spain next year for a convention of one of his hobbies and wants me to go. I have less than zero interest in the hobby, so I would be on my own for several days while he is at the show. I do not speak the language at all and I'm not comfortable wandering on my own when not speaking the language. Yes, I know, plenty probably speak English but still it makes me uncomfortable. I have been thinking about planning a trip to Europe next year. DH has been lots of times to different countries. He used to travel often with his dad who was a film maker and would go to Europe once a year to show his movies in film festivals. I have never been anywhere in Europe. I know, I know. I've just always selected beach vacations over everything else. But I will be retiring this year and I'm thinking a European vacation when I am not coming back to work would be nice. I'm thinking 3 days-ish in Paris and then 10 days-ish in Italy. Not a clue how to plan this even though I can plan a beach or cruise vacay in my sleep! All this to say I will be looking for dani's post to follow along!

HH, I love the idea of the kids being responsible for a portion of the trip. Our Boston itinerary was influenced by DGD1 wanting to see the USS Constitution. Somehow, it had been mentioned at school. This fall we are going to Utah and one of the things we are going to see is the Golden Spike National Historic Site, because she’s learned about it in school. I love when I can make history a little more real for them. One of the projects for 3rd graders at DGDs’ school is the Parade of States. Each girl is assigned a state which she then researches in depth. Toward the end of the school year, they present their reports (complete with appropriate costumes, I’m told). I can’t wait to see which state DGD1 is assigned. There may be a research trip on the horizon!