adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{January 2, 2026} What a trip! What a year!

Oh, my friends, so much has happened since we last spoke! But where do I begin?!

There were motorcycle trips, family trips, father-daughter trips, local trips, international trips, auntie-niece trips, friend trips, cross country trips, graduations, birthday milestones, college, vow renewal, oh my! We met new people, reconnected with old friends [notice I didn’t say old people!], put some miles on the vehicles, retired other vehicles, dreamed, worked, didn’t work, worked again, all within the span of 365 days. That’s a year, right? We all know math isn’t my strong suit, but I do know that much.

I’m going to tell you some stories of travel, of milestones, but that will take time and I want to jump right in, so… I’ll give you one or two milestones per month and then I’ll tell you more as the year goes on, sound fair?

January 2025: PSM and I spent the last year of 2024 and the first week of 2025 in Hawai’i. GES, ACS, MGS, and EMS joined us on the Big Island for a week, we got to see Mauna Loa erupting, toured Volcano National Park, swam with manta rays, we rang in the new year riding motorcycles up some challenging roads, and before we left, did some stargazing at the Mauna Kea observatory, before biding farewell again to our beloved Hawai’i. ACS turned 54, I always say he’s my older younger brother!

February 2025: I drove to Atlanta to participate in the Hot Chocolate 15k again, and each year I say I’m not going to do it again, and what did I do? Signed up for 2026! I got to visit with some friends and family in Atlanta and on my drive there and back. We took a family trip to NYC with dad, GES, ACS, EMS, and MGS, went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, walked through Central Park, went to a revival of Chiacgo, attended a memorial for a beloved family member. End of February, PSM got a new motorcyle.

March 2025: EMS turned 18! O M G!!! What a celebration! Where does the time go?! We explored Strasburg and discovered so much about the railrold and Pennsylvania’s impact! We even participated in a murder mystery train ride! We rode our bikes to Gettysburg and went to the National Military Park Museum, what an experience! And… they had air conditioning! That may have been the best part! PSM took said new motorcycle to Daytona Bike Week.

April 2025: SDL, Miss A, and I went to Amsterdam to celebrate Miss A’s 15th birthday! What a trip that was! The day I left for Amsterdam was my last day with IBX, I was a free woman! Came home in time to celebrate Passover with the family in Boston. While I looked for a job, I took the dogs for lots of walks at the Reading Arboretum, even got to take some friends with us! Spring was just beginning! We drove our two beetles to Volkfest, VWs for miles! We participated in a Biker Blessing with the Lebanon Valley Motorcycle Club. Not to mention trying new restaurants and distilleries here and there, but that’s every month!

May 2025: MGS turned 15! Just wow! Another great celebration! Dad and I flew to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet GES there for our first father-daughters trip! Dad even got to hang with the pilots on the way back! I finally got to pet a Scottish Highland COOOO!!! We toured Edinburgh and Glasgow, what an AMAZING trip! So amazing, we decided we needed to do another father-daughters trip again in 2026! I’ll keep you posted! We did a ladies carnival motorcycle ride with friends, a memorial day ride to the National Cemetary, then we had one of our trees cut down in our backyard. Went to Boston to…help throw my BABY sister a 50th, yes, I say BABY SISTER FIFTIEITH birthday party! That’s a WOW! And boy was she surprised! The same weekend, we took pictures with MGS after she got ready for THE PROM!

June 2025: Rode my motorcycle to Boston, first solo trip on a motorcycle that far! MUCH to celebrate! MGS graduated high school! We had a graduation party for said graduate! We got to celebrate my sister’s 50th birthday! I got to hug and kiss her on the date of her birth, and remember when we brought her home from the hospital in 1975! Then I got on my bike and rode home in the rain, as soon as I got to New Jersey, the sky cleared up, go figure! We had a new roof put on ourhouse, part of the reason we had to remove the tree in May. A classic car show and more motorcycle rides. Towards the end of June, we drove to Boston to surprise our friend’s son-in-law who was being deployed, it was great to spend time with friends and family, on the way back, we stopped at Tree House Brewing Company to bring some goodies back to one of the guys at Hernley’s Indian Motorcycle.

July 2025: Did I mention one of the great things about being between gigs…being able to meet dad for lunch during the week, exploring new places to meet and eat! PSM had a birthday, not telling you any more about that! I rode to spend a weekend with CWB, then rode my bike in the blistering heat, no thank you, then I rode into Manhattan to see Jinx Monsoon, one of my favorite drag queens, in The Pirates of Penzance, a show my grandmother took me to as a kid! And…I found vegan NY style pizza at Zillions Pizza! OMG! At home, we had our 4th bay cemented and finished out the blacktop on the driveway. I also got to swim in our neighbor’s pool, loverly! And best of all, well, so much is great, but…July 31, 2025, just over 3 years since I bought Eunice, my 2022 Indian Super Chief Limited, she hit 20,000 miles!

August 2025: We rode to the Berkshires in Massachusettes to spend dad’s 83rd birthday with him! It was great! We went to the Normal Rockwell Museum, The Clark Art Institute, Ventforth Hall, Chesterwood, Tanglewood for a concert, The Red Lion Inn for his birthday dinner, the Berkshire Botanical Garden, Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio, and Williams College of Art. We were only there only 5 days! At home, we had the entire area where the tree had been done over into a beautiful landscape. K&D N came to visit for a weekend, PSM got DN on the back of his bike and KN rode mine, first time DN had been on a bike in a long time, she enjoyed it and felt safe! Here’s hoping for a weekend trip! We rode up to Wellsboro, PA, the Grand Canyon of PA with the Lebanon Valley Motorcyle Group, got to walk on the Kinzua Creek Skywalk, wow! The last week of August, I drove with a friend I met recently at the park with her dog, Oscar, across country to help her move from PA to Shelton, WA. We loaded up the trailer, suv, the dog, and the cat, and we were off! We even got to celebrate her birthday when we got there! We became fast friends and travel companions, and I’m happy we’re still friends! And JM, our nephew, started veterinary school in St Kitts! Good luck to him! We’re coming to visit, promise!

September 2025: First weekend of September, PSM and I rode up to Jim Thorpe, PA with some friends and took the scenic railroad to see the fall folliage, it was stunning! Unforatunely, I got some heartbreaking news the same day, it was rough riding home and for a while after that. Second week of September, we rode with RC to Ocean City, MD for Bike Week. Great ride down and back, some fun rides in between, and RC’s son joined us for part of it. I got to put my feet in the ocean on many beaches, we went to Assateague State Park to see the beach and wild horses. We got back and went to the famous Hinklefest, then discovered a new place for dinner. PSM started a new position at Bayer! Wahoo! He’s going to be traveling from time to time! Our friends D & M came for a weekend and we did some riding, went up to Hawk Mountain and saw some amazing birds, took them on some fabulous back roads, truly spectacular. I snuck in an interview for a long term training gig. Towards the end of September, we went to Boston for the holidays, then a car show in Myerstown. Since we’re adding birthdays, I turned 54, seriously?!

October 2025: I drove to Boston for the holidays and the Jimmy Fund Walk. I got to see PSM’s family that were in for the holiday, split my time between my our families, I represented! While I was there, I got the call that I got the gig! I will now be commuting from Lebanon, PA to Long Island, NY! Got to see EMS play in a college futbol game, she was great! Did the Jimmy Fund Walk with ACS’ Pink Warriors, and found the placard that dad and I were quoted on! Went out one night before I left and celebrated September and October birthdays with my sister’s friends, they’ve adopted me! I started the new gig by spending a week in NYC watching some training classes. On the way home one Friday, I went to a celebration of life for a friend that I had lost, his birthday is coming up in February, smiling. PSM and I went to the Golden Age Air Museum and took a ride in a bi-plane! I am SO proud of him! His brother and s-i-l drove their RV to PA and we met them in Bethlehem for brunch and then we toured the National Museum of Industrial History. PSM got a new truck! She’s pretty!

November 2025: We started November off by dancing the night away at the LVMC Halloween Party! PSM had his runes read at The Drunken Smithey’s Faerie Fest, we had some of the absolute best pancakes we have ever had at The Brickerville House, then drove to New Hampshire for the week of Thanksgiving, enjoyed some snow, baked several mock apple pies, visited his uncles, spent part of Thanksgiving with his side and the other part with my side. We also got to see K&D N, we love spending time with them, even got to see one of their kids while we were ther, where does the time go?! PSM was traveling so I had the dogs with me in NY before we left for Thanksgiving, they kept me company, they were great in the car there and back. We’re not sure what happened on the way to NH, but it turns out Bee might not be great for long car rides anymore. They were definitely happy to be home!

December 2025: Back and forth to Long Island, some of my travel days were awful! 4 hours there, but 5-7 hours home, no thanks! All good, we worked out a decent travel schedule for me! The best part about going back and forth, I stop at dad’s on the way there or the way back home. Sometimes it’s for lunch or dinner, sometimes it’s just to say hello and get a hug, whatever it is, it’s worth it! GES & ACS celebrated 21 years of marriage, I can’t wait for them to see what we got them! It didn’t make it in time to send to them before we went on vacation, but dad is taking it to them this weekend! Speaking of leaving…PSM and I drove to a Doubletree near JFK on Friday, December 19th, and VERY early Saturday, December 20th, we started our annual 2 week end of year holiday in… Grenada! What an amazing trip that was! The weather, the sand, the surf, the ocean, the fish, the people, both the locals and our fellow vistors, and the food. I will tell you all about it, promise! We brought in the new year at the top of a hill and it was spectacular! Some of you who are reading this as we speak are new friends we made when we were in Grenada. The funniest question I got from someone…what’s in Grenada besides you two?! Well… I’m gonna tell you…but not tonight!

For now, I am going to sign off and grab a few winks, it’s late, I’m a little knackered, my fingers are a little sore from ‘talking’ so much! I have to tell you, I’m excited to be talking to you again and I look forward to a long, happy, and healthy relationship!

A Happy, Healthy, and Wonderful New Year to you my friends! May 2026 bring you all you hope for and more! Good night!

{February 11, 2024} It was a long long long day! Goodbye, hello, goodbye, hello.

It was a good day, but a long one! Mostly a long drive.

I got up, said goodbye to JCT, JT, mom, and Oscar, the pug. Oh, I haven’t told you about Oscar yet, have I?! I didn’t tell you about the other four legged fur babies I got to hang out with this week, I didn’t! Tomorrow it is!

Well, back to today! I got up, said my goodbyes, and was on my way, I had a long drive back to PA today! I let PSM and dad know I was on the road, and I let MM know as well, I was going to have a stop in North Carolina to see him on my way in about four hours! Score! Podcast on, butt warmer on, let’s go!

If I were to drive straight, from JCT’s house, it’s 10 hours 58 minutes. Was I going to go straight home? Nope, the drive time is the same, but the time I’m on the road, not so much! I left about 840a, I would have been home before 9p, that would be loverly. I’ve done 12 hour drives, no problem, especially if it’s light out. I drove from St Louis to Denver a few times, about 12 hours, leave at 8a, especially gaining 2 hours, get there about 7p, it was great. This was not that!

I started my drive with a stop at Starbucks, drove to meet MM at a place called the Famous Toastery, not far from MM in South Carolina. We had a great visit and a good meal. I met him about 12p, told you, just about 4 hours, I left him close to 2p, a little later than I wanted, but we were having such a good time!

Goodbye hugs, we could have talked all day, I love that about my friends! Stopped for gas before I got on the highway and I was off! I listened to a podcast, then another, and another, let’s just say I pod-casted until I got home! I stop about every half tank, that gets me a good ways, I get to get out of the car, stretch my legs, fill up, bio-break, maybe get a snack, it helps the time go. Sometimes, a stop at a rest stop, same except for the gas, of course!

Oh! One of the things that I love, when I’m driving and using Google Maps, each time I cross a state line, it pops up a Welcome To! I’ll grab a few pics for you next time! I crossed from GA to South Carolina to North Carolina to Virginia to West Virginia to Maryland to Pennsylvnia. I could be going out of order, I have no sense of direction, ask anyone! But I know I was in those states! HA HA

It was raining on and off all day, so no top down, boo. I talked to a few people, but mostly it was me, podcasts, the road, and Annie, my beetle bug. My one stop for food was at a Taco Bell, I love running for the border! The thing I love about Taco Bell is that I can eat there! The rice and beans are vegan! Wah to the hoo! I ordered a black bean crunch wrap, but I ordered it fresco, which means no meat. Not sure what happened between me placing the order, I saw it on the screen, and actually making it. I got a little way down the road and two bites in when I realized this was a beef crunch wrap, no bueno! I can tell you, I haven’t had beef in over 25 years, no matter what I’ve tried throughout the years, this was not one of them and I did not have a good reaction! I turned around and went back, they made me a new crunch wrap, but it took a long time for my body to get over that one, it wasn’t fun.

On the road again, got to get back on the road again. By now, it was definitely full dark, but I’m still doing alright, it was about 730pm. I was back on the highway and moving along, doing great until about 930p and the day was starting to catch up with me. I pulled into a Love’s Travel Stop, it’s a gas station, truck stop, travel stop, they have showers for truck drivers, well, anyone who wants to pay for one, food, beverages, car supplies, and there’s usually some fast food restaurant attached. The restrooms are clean, it’s bright, and I even signed up for a Love’s card finally, I’ll at least get a discount on gas from now on and points to boot!

I had about an hour to go! Back on the road, and I can do it! PSM called about 1015p and I was just getting off the road, almost home! Wahoo! I pulled into the barn about 1030p, unloaded my laptop bag and my duffle and headed into the house to be greeted by the pitter patter of a Ruby and a Bee! I dropped my stuff, immediate bio-break, I felt bad for the dogs, they were trying to get in there with me! Came out, got covered in kisses and nuzzles, then came up for air, said hello to PSM, grabbed the dogs and took them upstairs for a cuddle.

PSM came up about 30 minutes later, not sure if I was awake or not! Put the pups in the crate for the night, I managed to get in my jammies and I don’t know if I’m sleep writing to you now!

A great trip, but I’m beat! Good n…..zzzzzzz

{January 31, 2024} St Thomas Day 5: Do it all Snorkel

Sounds like a fine offer, ok we will! Let’s Do It…All! Snorkel!

The days started beautifully with a beautiful sunrise, not setting an alarm, yeah, I’d say beautiful! We had our next snorkel trip booked for 1pm, so we decided to head down to Charlotte Amalie first thing, to see what we could see and we saw!

We were looking for a place for breakfast, specifically at the moment, some decaf coffee for PSM, someone recommended the Parley Cafe and when we found it, we were very glad we did! It was cozy, bright, tropical, everything it should be, and…smelling y u m! We got tea and coffee and two home made pastries, oh yeah!

I texted my dad and my sister, who were in London at the time, what are the odds, I’m on an island in the Caribbean and in the cafe I walked in to, Paddington Bear is on the tv and they’re in London, maybe close to Paddington station!

After a light breakfast, we walked around Charlotte Amalie, a few more people, still not crowded, but the shops were open, the nice thing, not crazy busy since there weren’t any cruise ships in this morning. As with all our trips, we always look for a motorcycle dealership to get a t-shirt. The Harley Davidson dealership, which was a store, was closed, but their merchandise was being sold right around the corner, of course we had to go!

We picked up a shirt or two, I got a magnet and a sticker, and we both got water bottles and some stickers for the bottles so we could bring water with us wherever we went. We have a serious metal water bottle collection, but….we buy them where we travel, it’s a great memento of our trip and they usually have the logo of where we’ve been. I’ll show you our collection some time! Oh brother! We walked around, enjoyed the sights and sounds and then headed back towards Red Hook, we had a boat to catch!

We made our way to Red Hook to Ocean Surfari where we booked the Do it all Snorkel trip! We checked in, got our tickets, and waited for the go-ahead to head to the boat. And now it’s time! We got down to the dock, relinquished our shoes, handed in our tickets, and boarded the boat, the Reef Safari. We got the lowdown from the captain and first mates and we were off! They offered water, soft drinks, juice, no alcohol until we did our first snorkel, so they could tell what type of swimmers we were like and if we were different after a drink! ha ha. They had these cool cups that turned blue if the drink was cold! yes, we took a few, they said we could!

We headed over to Cruz Bay on St John pick some folks up, Ocean Surfari has locations on both islands, then it was off to our first stop. We geared up and got ready to jump in the water. It’s funny, you never know what the temperature of the water is going to be when you jump in, even if you were just in the water earlier, or know that the water is perfect where you are. But nothing to fear, jumped in and ahhhhh… the water was perfect temperature, it was clear in some places, cloudy in others, but just being in the water is enough for me!

I love my GoPro, but I don’t know if I get the most out of it! [I have a GoPro saga for you in another post!]. But I’m so happy not to have to deal with or worry about using my phone under water, no matter how waterproof my waterproof case is!

Back on the boat, off to the next location. We get about 45 minutes to an hour in the water in each place, not too shabby! PSM and I swim together, separate, come back together, swim, point things out to each other, just explore and love being in the water! There weren’t a lot of fish, it was mostly coral, but the coral was stunning, I’m just happy being around Mother Nature and Trident, what more can I say!

Back on the boat, the rum punch and painkillers were flowing as we headed back towards St John, but first…lunch at Pizza Pi VI in Christmas Cove of Great St. James. This was a floating pizza restaurant and it was great! You can see they have seating tied off the boat and we were stopped and the pizza was delivered to the boat! We had plain cheese and pepperoni and the pizza was pretty good! Yes, I ate it, when in Rome and all!

After lunch, we made our way back to St John to drop folks off, then back to St Thomas as the sun was setting, it was so beautiful, we had rain on one side and sunshine on the other, a very rare occurance indeed. The sun took her time setting and it was so worth it, the captain played music and told stories about the area.

One of the things I love about island life is the holidays, people light up their palm trees and boats, just imagine being on the water, after dark and people have their boats trimmed in different holiday lights, what could be better to put you in the holiday spirit?!

All in all, a great day, what more could you ask for? And now…I’m going to go to bed and dream about the ocean, pizza, coral, fish, boats. Mmmmm night!

{January 18, 2024} St Thomas Day 3: Boat Trip, Snorkeling, Margaritaville, Jeep, Mexican and Tequila

It’s day 3 in St Thomas for us, December 24th, Christmas Eve, and our first excursion! It’s a jammed packed day, ya ready?

This was the first excursion we booked, don’t even remember the company, but we were supposed to go on the snorkel cat catamaran, but it turns out the catamaran was only going to two stops, so we opted for 3 and ended up the Breakaway. I’m wrong, just looked it up, and it’s New Horizons! The trip left from Margaritaville, we got a taxi up to the resort, found the launch point, got checked in and took a look around. A beautiful property, but, shhh…we thought our beach was better! We spent a bit watching the pelicans flying and dive bombing into the water, what a site to see!

And now we’re off, have our snorkel gear in hand, one of the things we always travel with when we’re going somewhere we know we’re going to swim. The great thing is we pack so little clothing, everything fits in our travel backpacks. We LOVE the ones we have from eBags, they are the Mother Lode Travel Backpack, I need to do an entire post on the eBags we have, I might sell you on some! The reason I mention them is we can fit all our clothes for the two or three weeks we’re traveling and our snorkel gear, which includes mask, snorkel, fins, waterproof bag, and travel towel. I’ll talk some time about how we pack, apologies for the digression!

We were on the boat, I took my Dramamine when we were taking off, they recommend about 30 minutes to an hour before you go, I take it when we take off. I don’t have a problem being on boats, I live for it, what I have a problem with is the not moving and just rocking, even ever so gently, I do not do well with that, I’ll tell you about that another time! But…I was set. The ones I bought were chewable, ick! They did not have the sweet, orange flavor they boasted. Needed to be washed down with something!

As we took off, we were offered a light breakfast, juice, water, pastries, and fruit, nothing too heavy before we were going to get in the water. The sky was crystal clear, we were even treated to a rainbow, can’t beat that! We sped along, good crew got us up to speed on what we needed to know when we arrived and the music was terrific.

First stop the water was clear, in some places, and not so clear in others, but it was so amazing to be in the water again. I missed this so much! It’s been about two years since we were in the water, and snorkeling, can’t wait this long again! Not a huge amount of fish where we were, but the coral and sea life that was there was terrific!

Back on the boat and a bit of lunch and the drinks started flowing. They said they wait to give us drinks until after the first stop, so they can see what kind of swimmers we are! And if we swim differently after a beverage or two! Second stop was great! There were honu, the Hawai’ian word for sea turtle. All of the honu had passengers! Remoras, I thought they were baby sharks, but not to be! Sorry some of my pics underwater aren’t the clearest, it all depends on where you are and if it’s sunny or cloudy what you’re going to get.

After another beautiful stop, and oh my the water temp was just perfect, you know that feeling you get when you’re just not sure how it’s going to feel and then you jump in and all is right with the world. Well…let’s just say…every time we swam, all was right with the world!

After the last stop, it was back to shore and Margaritaville. We thanked our crew, in voice and cash, then went to change. The one thing I’m not always a fan of is riding back in my wet bathingsuit, only because later in the day it does get chilly and you’re brrrrr a little. We changed into dry things and went into the bar/restaurant to wait until our rental car from 360 Car Rental, really beautiful blue 2023 Jeep Wrangler, was delivered. Can you beat this view? This was the window at the restaurant looking out onto the lagoon/beach. If I didn’t take the picture, I would have sworn it wasn’t real!

We ended up talking to two nice couples, very different individuals. One couple was older and a little limited in their mobility, but ready for adventure, he was a former airforce pilot and she was a huge movie buff like me! the other couple were bikers, PSM had lots to chat with them about!

Once we got the car we headed out and went down to Red Hook for dinner, at Agave, Tequila Bar & Mexican Kitchen. We sat at the bar, which is where we tend to sit at most places. There’s usually availability, the bartenders are pretty cool, and sometimes we get to chat with people hanging out like us. We had two outta three, worked for us. The bartender was great and helped PSM find some things he enjoyed. They had a deep conversation about tequila, whiskey, bourbon, and some other things, he concocted a new drink and had PSM try it, too cool. He also gave him a to-go cup for whatever he was drinking when we were leaving, gotta love that!

It was one of the better meals we had while we were there, I have to say! The gucamole and salsa were both made in house and a real treat. PSM had fish tacos and I had veggie tacos, both were really good and a pleasant way to cap the evening.

After dinner, we walked around Red Hook, then headed back to the hotel to shower and collapse. It was quite the day, not sure we could have fit more into the day! Not sure what’s going to be available tomorrow because it’s Christmas day, but we’ll definitely enjoy whatever it is we end up doing! Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

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