Author: Penny Hansen

I recently spent a weekend riding my 21-speed bike on the Sam Vadalabene bike path in Illinois. The Sam Vadalabene Great River Road Bike Trail has approximately 20 miles of level paved trail that parallels the Great River Road. Sam M. Vadalabene, an Illinois State Senator who supported the trail, is the trail’s namesake. The asphalt bike path runs just over 20 miles between Pere Marquette State Park and the outskirts of Alton, Illinois. Lodging in Pere Marquette State Park I stayed at the Pere Marquette Lodge in the Pere Marquette State Park, just 5 miles outside of Grafton,...

Schools are back in session which brings back memories as one of the first assignments every fall: either tell or write a paper on how I spent my summer vacation.  So I thought I would tell you that my summer vacation this year took me to Scotland and Ireland.   Scotland by Car This was a trip for our daughter’s’ High School graduation, so off we went first to Scotland for five days.  We rented a car and drove hundreds of miles around the island to try and ‘see it all.’  We stayed at bed and breakfast locations hoping...

Yes please! I like both ocean cruising and river cruising.  I went on my first river cruise in December of 2016 and then more recently in April of 2017.  First let me say that cruising is in my humble opinion a great way to travel because I get to unpack once and see lots of ports or cities along with food, beverage, and entertainment.  The type of cruising depends on you personally and what you want to experience. Lately river cruising is experiencing a boom; they are definitely today’s latest trend.  Let me outline for you some of the...

Iceland in February Really…I never had Iceland on my radar, and especially never considered it as a February vacation. My ideal get away when it is cold here in the Midwest is warm sunshine, ocean, beach, drinks with umbrellas; you get the picture. However, an opportunity arrived in my email that invited me to travel along with other travel agents to come explore this island. Once my interest was piqued I decided to go see this magical place that boasts the chance to see the Northern Lights. Iceland did not disappoint. It is an island of sharp contrasts, from...

Bonjour! My husband and I spent a week in Paris with another couple this past November, and I felt like a local before the week was out. I feel this was due to the fact we stayed in a condo in Vincennes which is about 6 miles outside the heart of Paris. Every day we walked 1 mile to catch the subway to take us to Paris for our sightseeing adventures. Then, of course, had to repeat the 1-mile walk back to each night but on the way home, we would pass bakeries and get a baguette for that...