Tag: Travel

Road Trips

We are getting into our packed Subaru early Sunday morning and heading to Indiana. That will be our first stop on a two week, 3,000 mile road trip to Quebec, Canada. I love road trips. Or at least I used to. We went on many long road trips when our boys were young, to national parks to camp and hike. We have many wonderful memories of those vacations. It’s been awhile since I’ve been on a road trip however and times have changed…we didn’t have GPS systems, cell phones or even email, and certainly not Facebook and we didn’t listen to books on tape (nor were there movie screens built into our van!) Now we have all of these, and more, available to us and it will be interesting to see how it changes our road trips. Of course we won’t have the boys with us. HA!

I anticipate my favorite part, the early mornings; getting coffee to go and driving along the empty roads in the early morning light as dawn breaks. We will have a picnic lunch at some wayside rest along the way and stop driving for the day in late afternoon. We will stay with friends and family on our way to Quebec and on the way home we loaded our tent underneath the luggage and hope to find some nice campgrounds.

I love to travel by road, air or train. Anticipation is a big part of traveling. It’s so fun to think about the destination and possibilities, and then actually see new places, meet new people and learn about other cultures.

Normally I try to leave technology behind on vacations, which is getting harder to do, but I may post a few times while we are traveling since we do have the technology.

Until next time a few travel quotes:

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless then turns you into a storyteller.” Unknown

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” Henry Miller

“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.”  Anita Desai

“When was the last time you did something for the first time?” Unknown

Surprises

It really is fun to be surprised, when you truly are surprised.

M&A HouseA week ago my son and his wife invited us to a picnic in a wonderful neighborhood park in the cities. They suggested we go for a walk before we eat and so we did. I mentioned to my husband on the way up that I love the charming houses in this neighborhood so it was fun to stroll along the tree shaded sidewalks to get a closer look. Right on cue (little did I know) I said, “I love these charming houses, wouldn’t it be fun tour the inside of them?” and they said, “Yes, let’s go in this one.”

I was confused but then realized the house was theirs! They had bought the house and had already moved in three days before. It truly was a surprise. We were all excited and it was great to go inside this lovely house.

My older son surprised me one other time…on a special birthday a few years ago. He invited me to go to London with him on a mother/son trip. I loved the idea and we made plans. After flying first class, we arrived in London and taxied to the hotel. Later we learned the tube was so much easier and cheaper! We took a train out of London the first day to spend time walking around Oxford, because my son studied there for one semester back in college. The next day we were going to stay in London and I was in for a surprise. We ate breakfast at the hotel. I had a traditional English breakfast and my son had a bowl of muesli. When he went up for a second bowl I just got another cup of coffee while he ate. Then he went up for a third bowl but I didn’t think anything of it…just that he was hungry and we were not in any hurry. And then my younger son walks up to our table! Surprise! I could hardly believe my eyes. I cried. My older son had arranged for his younger brother to join us from Africa. He flew him from Mozambique to England to surprise me! They did!!!  What a wonderful gift…to be together in a cosmopolitan city with my two sons. I have no words to describe the feelings of excitement, pride and love I felt. And my husband had graciously kept the secret and helped the guys with their plan. It was the best birthday ever.