Tag Archives: travel

Winnebago Dreams

10 Wednesday Dec 2014

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covered wagon travel
For many years I dreamed of the day when I could hit the road and see a little more of the world, taking right up where I left off BC (before children). I was sure that as soon as they were “grown and gone” I would sell off everything I didn’t need and buy a Winnebago so that I could travel around the country seeing what I could see. That was going to be my answer to the eventual empty nest syndrome. It was going to be…

Well, the children are grown and gone. I down-sized quite a bit, but I still have a garage full of “stuff” I couldn’t bear to part with – yet. And there’s no Winnebago, or covered wagon, in my driveway.

My little HHR has been the stand in, and it has done a great job taming the miles that I have put in so far. But, in the midst of all my travels, I have made an unexpected discovery – I love to “go”, but I’m not all that crazy about the driving these days. It all starts out well enough, I do enjoy seeing the beauty of my surroundings and all of the interesting scenes flying past my window, but after a few hours of being under the wheel I’m suddenly over it and I just want to ‘be there’ – wherever ‘there’ is.

I can remember a time when I would just jump into my car and take off, without a moment’s hesitation. I lived for the pure joy of having someplace to go and the adventure of getting myself there. The prospect of driving for sixteen hours straight didn’t faze me. And then one day, things changed. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but it happened.

Perhaps it was around the time that my ophthalmologist suggested bifocals, or maybe it was the year that I surrendered to the rebel gray and stopped coloring my hair. Now that I think about it, it very well could have been right around the first time some smarty-pants teeny bopper cashier slipped a Senior Citizen discount onto my receipt without asking if I qualified.

These days, I don’t just jump in my car and take off, I carefully calculate time and distance and mood before I embark on one of my adventures. And surprisingly, I have found that I’m not above changing my mind at the last minute and staying home. I’d like to blame my e.m.PD, but I have a sneaking suspicion that getting older is the more viable culprit that makes me less inclined to venture too far from the comforts of home.

Needless to say, I’ve decided to put the Winnebago dream on hold for the present time. At least, until I meet a travel buddy who loves to drive, or they invent autopilot for motor homes.

It could happen.

Rear Views

19 Thursday Sep 2013

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Rear ViewDon’t look back. You hear that all the time. The past is the past, don’t waste your time looking back. Just put one foot in front of the other, and keep moving forward. These sage words of advice are meant to motivate you, to keep you moving in the right direction, to keep you focused on achieving your goals – your success. Whatever success happens to mean for you. Contrary to this popular advice, I have found that it can be fun, and enlightening, to see what’s behind you – especially if you can do it without actually looking back.

Over the past year I have made several road trips, traveling between Alabama and California, utilizing a variety of routes and rest stops. The trips were long, but they were quite enjoyable, and I saw so many wonderful sights on my journeys. They were opportunities for me to get out and about, and see what I could see.

Most of the trips were solo, so I had a lot of time to contemplate life, and try to discover the solution for world peace. But, there is only so much that one brain can take, and I had to find other means of entertaining myself during those extended periods of time between one destination, and the other. Who knew snapping random pictures could be so energizing and therapeutic?

The photographic techniques used here are simple: Point. Click. Wait until you get home to see what wonderful surprises await you. This is also known as the “keep your eyes on the road and at least one hand on the wheel” technique. My results generally run the gamut from half-way decent, to blurry mess, to what on earth were you pointing at when you snapped this.

I have assembled some of the results of my randomness in a collection that I call Rear Views. I see so many parallels and analogies for life in these images, but I am going to resist the impulse to describe them to you.  Show, don’t tell. Besides, we have already established the fact I don’t always see things the way most people do. And I’m OK with that. The photographs in this collection have been labeled RearViews a to z, but they appear in random order. If you’re interested, I invite you to buckle-up and enjoy the ride – see what you can see – and then share it with me.

The Longest Move

23 Tuesday Jul 2013

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The Long RoadThis has been my longest move EVER – and it isn’t over yet. I’m not actually referring to distance, that trophy would go to my Germany move back in the late 80’s, and returning stateside in the 90’s. What I’m referring to for this move is the amount of time invested.

Earlier this year, near the end of January, I started to feel compelled to hit the road again. I had finally emptied my nest and figured the best way to keep it empty would be to move it. I love, love, love my little birdies, but I want to discourage any ideas they might have about moving back in. Don’t judge – it’s for their own good. Besides, after nearly eight years of aging in place, I was more than ready for a change of scenery.

My family has always referred to me as a “road warrior” because I would pack up and hit the road at the drop of a hat. Sometimes it was a permanent relocation, sometimes it was just a road trip to see what I could see. I loved the excitement of a new adventure and I didn’t care if I had to roll solo. In fact, I rather enjoyed those trips with just me, myself, and I. It gave me time to think, and I didn’t have to deal with anybody’s needs but my own. For an added sense of security I would occasionally dress one of my large Teddy bears in a shirt and tie, slap on a hat and sunglasses, and strap him into the passenger seat. And yes, we (meaning me) would talk off and on during the trip if one of us happened to be in the mood for conversation.

But I digress. In the past, I always had a solid plan in place before I hit the road, even if it was a spur of the moment thing. This time I only had a vague idea of where I could end up if nothing better materialized in the interim. This was both disconcerting and exhilarating, but it allowed me to keep my options open. Initially, I figured I would land on the West Coast until I could decide on something more definitive and permanent. So, for two months I packed, and sorted, and discarded, and packed some more. That whole down-sizing thing was a lot harder than I expected. But, I finally got the things I couldn’t part with stashed in a storage unit, sold a lot of stuff at a moving sale, and donated the rest – almost two truckloads. It’s amazing how much “stuff” gets accumulated over the years, especially for a border-hoarder such as myself.

Finally, after months of preparation, and packing, and storing, and tying up loose ends, I crammed my little HHR to the roof with my “necessities” and hit the road. Picture a covered wagon headed west during the land rush, or the Beverly Hillbillies heading down Santa Monica Blvd – minus the loaded bank account. For the past three months I have been living out of my car, heading westward on my latest adventure. Thanks to the generosity of family and friends, I didn’t have to live in my car. So, I meandered through my list of “places in Texas where I might like to live instead of going to California”, stopping here and there to see what I could see. For a while it seemed as though every time I managed to wedge a door open, it unceremoniously slammed shut, right in my face. I was beginning to think that it was time to accept reality and make my way out west – do not pass GO, do not collect $200. Then, I happened to find myself in the South Plains of Texas. Definitely not on the aforementioned list, I was just passing through on my way elsewhere. I decided that since I was in the area, I might as well see what I could see. And the doors opened. In fact, doors are opening all around me, no wedging required. In a few weeks I will go back to Bama and retrieve the rest of my things from storage, and this move will be complete. Finally. Meanwhile, I’ll be roughing it – foraging for food in the nearby woods, writing my posts by moonlight, and sending messages with a smoky blanket. Just kidding – a little.

To sum it all up, and make a long story longer, I guess I just want to say that I’m glad I was open to unexpected opportunities. God has blessed me above and beyond my expectations and I am grateful. I don’t know who originally said this, or remember where I heard it, but there really are times when you think things are falling apart, and they are actually falling into place.

Triple A

01 Monday Jul 2013

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Triple A

This is going to sound like a paid endorsement, but it isn’t.  This is a “because I really like it and want to share with you” post.

I was prompted to write this particular post because my son is going off to college, and he’s taking his car.  Setting him up with Triple A was sort of a no-brainer for me.

The official name of Triple A is American Automobile Association, or AAA for short.  I joined this “motor club and leisure travel organization” in 2004, during a time in my life when finances were extremely tight and I had to make tough choices on where to spend my very limited funds.  Each year since then, this has proven to be a very good choice for me.

AAA has several membership and service levels, but so far, the basic (translation: least expensive) option has met my needs.  I would guess that when most people think of AAA, they probably think of it for the roadside assistance.  I have had to call on them for those services a few times in the past, but I find the greatest benefit in the discounts I receive as an AAA member.  Every year, the savings from those discounts have more than covered the cost of my annual membership fee.

Truth be told, I’m not one of those people who will go too far out of their way to shop at a place just because it offers a particular deal, but, if I happen to need the service anyway, and there’s an offer for an extra discount – BONUS!

In past years I have used their discounts for air travel, hotel stays, rental cars, moving trucks, and storage.  So far this year I have spent six nights in hotels, with an average savings of six dollars per night.  At Universal Studios I saved 10% off my lunch, and my Uncle used his AAA card to purchase the theme park tickets at a savings of fifteen dollars each!  I even managed to save twenty-five dollars on two car rentals, and the year isn’t over yet.

TripTik(R) is another service that I have found useful.  If you are a pre-planner, you can let AAA know where you want to go – at least ten days in advance, and they will create and mail a detailed set of text and graphic driving directions to you.  If you’re anything like me, with a penchant for doing things at the last minute, you can print your own TripTik(R).  I just saved the PDF file on my computer and then picked the pages I wanted to print – the pages that described a couple of tricky turns and complex interchanges.

I readily admit that I have barely scratched the surface in taking advantage of the wide variety of discounts they offer, so I can’t address everything.  You can visit the official AAA site for yourself to see if any of their services meet your needs.  A lot of the discounts are state specific, so be sure to indicate your state of interest.  Don’t bother telling them Gert sent you, they will have no idea who I am.