September 29, 2008 Addendum

I read an article today that pretty much sums up my feelings about travel. It told about a new Ken Burns project. For those that are unfamiliar with his work, Ken Burns is a film maker who has produced many landmark PBS documentaries on such topics as the Civil War, jazz, baseball, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mark Twain, Congress, WW II and the Brooklyn Bridge. This new project is called "The National Parks: America's Best Idea". Burns says that almost all of his work looks at the way American geography connects with the American character. I'm looking forward to the series. In speaking with the article's author, he describes his own first experience with the National Parks at Shenandoah National Park in VA.

"My family life was horrifically tragic," he begins. "There was never a moment when I wasn't aware that my mother was tremendously sick with cancer. I was told when I was 6 or 7 that she was going to die within six months. She died a few months short of my 12th birthday. I didn't have a childhood."

But one weekend when Burns was 6 or 7 and the family was living in Delaware, his father met him after school and drove young Ken to spend the night at his grandmother's house in Baltimore. The next morning before dawn, Burns' father woke him and they hopped in the car.

"We drove from Baltimore to Front Royal, Va., which is at the top of Skyline Drive, at the top of Shenandoah National Park," Burns recalls. "The Skyline Drive runs down the spine of the Shenandoah Mountains, and it is spectacular. We drove through tunnels, which I'd never done. We drove through clouds, which I'd never done. We saw deer on the road, which I had never seen. We saw a bear. We stayed in a little cabin, just my dad and me. We had a campfire. We took a hike to see a waterfall, which I had never seen. We turned over logs and saw these bright orange salamanders. And they scampered away, and I caught one.

But then he gets to the heart of the matter--what I tried to say in my own way earlier today.

"And I will never forget the thrill of it. ... It isn't just these places. It's who you see them with."

September 29, 2008 Telephone poles

35 years ago today, Ray and I made vows to each other to stay together through good times and bad and to respect each other forever. Boy, that sounds like a LONG time. But, in retrospect, it has passed like a flash of lightning.

It's only fitting that our "honeymoon" trip was before the actual "I dos"--hitchhiking through Europe for the summer of 1973. That trip was made with a total of about $1000, and we tented and ate cold food for the most part, and loved every (well, ALMOST every) minute of it. (There was the time in the rain in England...)But I'm digressing. In 1975, we did our 3 month cross-country trip (in our almost new VW bug), an introduction to the wonder that is this country. Then came the kids. It wasn't until after Lauren died in 1988 (Can you believe it was 20 years ago?), that we came to our senses and said to ourselves "If not now, when?" So, when Alex was 6, we started to travel again. Each year we went to someplace different. Ray and Alex would drive out a week or so before I would fly out, and they would meet me at our first travel spot. We would travel around a bit for 2 weeks, and then they would drive home afterward from the place they dropped me at the airport. What a great time! Over the years, we traveled to places like Mammoth Caves, Smoky Mountain, Arches, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Sequoia, Theodore Roosevelt National Parks and more. We even saw the wonders (!?) of the International Peace Garden. Over the years we've visited 33 of the 51 National Parks (several more than once!) in the lower 48 states, and 25 of the 75 National Monuments, and scores of other cool places (ever been to the Porter Music Box museum??? or McCook, NE??)

We have hiked miles and miles through New England and the northeast, and all over the states, as well as Europe. There was a time in 1973 in England when I was just about ready to give up on the day's hike. We had been on the go all day, and had a steep hill yet to climb, with all our traveling possessions in our backpacks. We still joke about it now. Ray's encouragement to me then was: "Come on! Just get to one more telephone pole!!" In other words: Don't let the size of the hill overwhelm you, just make it to the next telephone pole, then the next. We did make it up that hill.

So, this note comes as a public thank you to my travel, hiking, PB&J, cold-beer-on-a-hot-day, crazy eyebrow, good times and bad times partner. The good times have been wonderful, and the bad times have been bearable because we were together.

And I thank our parents, Larry and Eva, Ray and Anne, for modeling for us what the best of commitment, love, and marriage is.

Love you forever, Ray. I don't need any encouragement now, and the road seems so easy to walk as long as I am with you. I can say with a great deal of enthusiasm now: On to the next telephone pole!

September 3, 2008 How do you vacation?

Some time ago, before the "do not call" list was started, we were solicited for and decided to go on one of those time share offerings--come and listen to our pitch and tour our condos, and we'll give you dinner for 2 at a place of your choosing. We get a kick out of showing up and telling the sales person we talk to that we have no intention of buying, and that we just came for the dinner. I guess we just hope (s)he'll give up and just give us the bonus without the need to bother shepherding us around the place. That tactic has never worked, but it's worth it to see the sales person's face when you use it.

So having given our sales person our opening line, we waited for his response. I'll always remember this. He really didn't address our disinterest in purchasing his timeshare offering, but instead soldiered on:"How do you vacation?" We had all we could do to not laugh in the guy's face. We really had never considered using the word "vacation" as a verb to describe what we do. The rest of the conversation we had with this gentleman is really of no consequence (suffice it to say that we don't, and probably won't ever own a timeshare). But I thought it might be interesting to know what other people like to do on vacation. More specifically, where do you like to go, if you travel? And why? Maybe you prefer to stay home? So, I'm asking you: "How do you vacation?" Just click on the Comments button below.

August 26, 2008 Bad times for Winnebago

Ray had mentioned this to me recently, so I checked it out. The news for Winnebago Industries is dire. Winnebago sales are down drastically. Revenues are down 40% from a year ago, and shares have lost 60% of their value over the past year. Apparently the high price of gas and an uncertain economy has caught up with the motor home industry.

Interestingly enough, motorhome sales in Great Britain are up 50% . It seems that they are opting for adventures close to home over airline vacations.