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Hello. It's me, Margaret Porter Larson. I am posting a few photos so my family can see my wanderings. I will be posting past trips soon too. I hope you enjoy the tours.

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Boston to Nova Scotia to Chicago : Dick and I had to go to Reno for a board meeting so since we'd purchased tickets to Norteamerica, we decided to make it a multi-city gig. We went to visit Ryan and Cara in Boston, then headed north to see Hilary in Newburyport, then on up to Nova Scotia for a bicycling trip, then on to Chicago for a few days in that great city. Here are some photos. As I look at them now, I realize that I was a lazy photographer on this trip ... just was having so much fun that I forgot to pull the camera out of the bag. I hope you enjoy what's here.

Boston to Nova Scotia to Chicago

Dick and I had to go to Reno for a board meeting so since we'd purchas ...

Updated: Aug 12, 2008 7:18pm CDT

INDIA : What can we say about India? There are really no words to adequately describe it, and we only saw a tiny party of the diverse country that it is. We toured the northwestern portion of India called Rajasthan, took a three day ride on an historic train, headed down to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, drove to the temples at Khajuaraho, then over to the holy city of Varanasi. We flew into Delhi on February 3rd, rested up a few days, then joined our tour group for a wild ride through these places, returning on the 22nd. It was only 21 days, but it seemed like six months. India is a challenging place to visit, even with the comforts that were afforded us. Upon reflection now, though, we both agree that it was both a privilege and a joy to see a part of this amazing country of contradictions. The people of India are open and friendly, but the extreme poverty of the country seems cruel. The beauty of India is at home up against its absolute filth. There is a meditative quality amid the constant din and clammor of everyday life, 24 hours a day. There is holiness up against what we westerners consider profane. As I said, words cannot describe it. So, enjoy the photos. A note about that: I guess I incurred some bad karma along the way because when I returned from the trip and tried to download my photos, my camera card registered a "card error" and told me that I had no images! After freaking out, I ran into my friend Bob Welch and, being a well-studied techie, he kindly took my camera card and was able to retrieve most of my photos from a corrupted disk. I am so grateful to him. It might be a good thing that only 75% of what I shot is included here, though, as the photo trip that I prepared for you is long. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

INDIA

What can we say about India? There are really no words to adequately d ...

Updated: Feb 26, 2008 5:37pm CDT

Sister Trip New England (new) : My two sisters - Mary and Cynthia - and I took a pilgrimage to our mother's home country, New England. Her name was Kathleen Agnes Weare Porter and she passed away in November of 2005 after a long struggle with Alzheimer's. We thought it'd be a healing trip ... we could reconnect with her surviving family members back there, many of whom we had not seen for years. And, we could visit her childhood home and experience her in spirit. It turned out to be just that, and a bonding experience between us three girls.

Sister Trip New England (new)

My two sisters - Mary and Cynthia - and I took a pilgrimage to our mot ...

Updated: Dec 28, 2007 4:27pm CDT

My Smug Mug :

My Smug Mug

Updated: Oct 07, 2007 11:32am CDT

France 2007 : Dick and I went to France (again!) for 25 days. The impetus for the trip was a bicycle trip through Provence with our cycling mates Marilyn and John (the Colorado contingent who are solid cyclers, always well-trained and thoroughly prepared for such a challenging journey) and Jan and Russ (the Idaho contingent of cycling enthusiasts ... the former is always fit as a fiddle; the latter is an expert cycler who rides those 100+ mile days with nary a whimper). Dick and I comprised the Mexico contingent and we rounded out the group in the 'pudgy' category ... we're the ones who can manage the routes and, more importantly, the resulting pain and fatigue each day. What I appreciate about our cycling mates is that they are willing to put up with all our whining, they're expert route planners and navigators, and they like good wine at the end of the day! Oh, and the butt balm that Marilyn shared was greatly appreciated. We've gone on several enjoyable bike tours with this foursome but I must say, this one was the best. We had great weather in Provence and didn't see a rain cloud until the day the tour was over. About the trip - I discovered that Dick and I had some frequent flyer miles set to expire so we used those to purchase our plane tickets across the Atlantic. The only dates available for use put us in Paris two days before the bike tour started, and sent us home nine days afterward. Quelle dommage... to have to spend 11 days in Paris on either side of the main event. We trudged on in our difficult duty and did our best. It was rainy and cool in Paris on either end of the journey, but that was okay. When Dick and I are in Paris, we mostly eat, drink, sleep and play all-weather table tennis in the parks, so weather doesn't stop us from enjoying that wonder of a city. (All-weather means you have to play even though there may be rain and wind.) I took along my new Canon Rebel XT, which was way too heavy for a bike tour, but what the heck. I needed to learn how to use the darn thing and so what you're about to see are more experimental shots than anything. My goal on this trip was to learn to use the creative modes on the Canon and shoot as many shots with natural light as I could, as in, sans flash. I didn't capture the whole trip as I was either too tired to haul the camera out of its bag, or too lazy to take it along. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy the photo tour. Sending my love to you all.

France 2007

Dick and I went to France (again!) for 25 days. The impetus for the tr ...

Updated: Oct 06, 2007 6:21pm CDT

Bolivia, Venezuela & Curacao : Dick and I had an interesting time on our Inland Press Association trip to Bolivia and Venezuela, with a few days' "reprieve" in Curacao. We visited embassies in Bolivia and Venezuela as well as press associations, newspapers and TV stations. The latter are under siege with the long arm of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - which stretches across both countries - set and ready to close down all media critics. Our group gave them encouragement, at least, and we made the front page of the newspaper in Puerto Ordaz, VZ. Both countries are beautiful, the people friendly, save for Caracas, Venezuela, which is sweltering and rather ugly. Although we can understand why the people of both countries have voted in leftist/socialist presidents - the former "democratic" rulers were often corrupt, the rich got richer, and nothing was done for the poor and disenfranchised - the situation is worrisome. We met dozens of people who love their countries, value their freedoms and fear the loss of them. Here are a few pictures; enjoy the tour:

Bolivia, Venezuela & Curacao

Dick and I had an interesting time on our Inland Press Association tri ...

Updated: Feb 04, 2007 1:53pm CDT