IT

IT started when I was a young girl.  What is IT?  IT is my lust, my desire to travel and be on the road.  IT is my love of looking at maps and seeing where roads go....hence my discovery that Hwy 281 goes all the way from Mexico to Canada.  IT is also my love of anything "western."  I was the child of the 50's and 60's so western TV and movies were my form of day-dreaming.

There is a vague memory of my dad showing me on maps where he had traveled as an over-the-road truck driver.  I remember being jealous when he left and I could not go with him.  In sixth grade, a series of books that were biographies of American Indians and other historical people came into my life.  The books had orange binding (funny how I remember that) and I read every one of the dozen or so we had in the school (Oak Hill) library in the Big Room.

In my late 20's, 1979, I took my first road trip with my sister, Romey.  I remember we left Wisconsin the day after my 10th high school class reunion at the Bon Ton!  Uffda!  We were both poor so we slept in the back of my Chevette!  Across South Dakota to Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Deadwood and then into Wyoming to Cody and Yellowstone National Park.  We left Yellowstone by the north entrance and we stopped at my grandmother's cousins place in Big Timber.  Heading home, we were broke and tired, but the travel bug had gotten IT's hooks into me.

The same year a book, "A Walk Across America" by Peter Jenkins was available.  I loved reading about the places he walked and people he met.  I think it was after reading his story, that I decided to take another road trip by myself.   So it was, in April, 1980, I took off.  I had some planned stops along the way, college friends in Minnesota and relatives in St. Louis, but after that it was a daily decision on what road on the map I would take.  I was still "poor," but I upgraded to a pup tent to sleep in!  I went through Arkansas (that is only time I have been in that state), Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada.  I remember in Texas, I was camping in El Paso and these two young guys from Houston set up camp next to me.  I was surprised when they said they had traveled all day to get there from Houston.  What? I was used to getting through two states in a day's travel.  They informed me that the distance from Houston to El Paso is the same as between New York City and Chicago.  Out came the maps to they could prove their point.

On this trip, when I finished with my fun in Las Vegas, a decision had  to be made.....was I going to go to Colorado or California?  Both states I really wanted to see, but Colorado won out.  So I went through the Four Corners (Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado) through the Rocky Mountains to Denver and up to Loveland.  A former housemate from Minnesota had moved to Loveland, so I paid her a surprise visit.  The next day, while she was working, her friend took me up to Estes Park to see the Rocky Mountain National Park.  Even though it was a foggy day, I was hooked!  I went back to Estes the next day and found a job as waitress (I had started waiting tables before this trip to make extra travel money).  Then as luck would have it, another new hire at the restaurant needed a roommate.  Voila!  I was now working and living in Estes Park.  This is still one of my favorite places to see and be.  That summer I got out the maps again and would often explore the roads of Colorado.  By August, I was homesick and went back to Minnesota.

A couple of years later, 1982, the travel bug was making me itch like crazy again.  So when a former co-worker turned best friend, Diana, was going to move to California and told me we could use her uncle's place free of rent for the summer.... it didn't take me long to decide to hit the road for the "other" state I missed out on before.  While I was in California for over three years, I would often take time off and explore the state and go to historical places and parks.  Many of my co-workers and friends there often exclaimed, "You have seen more of California in a year than I have my whole life."

In 1986, I made another road trip from Wisconsin to Georgia.  This trip was for love!  :)  I moved down there to be with Paul, now my husband for almost 26 years.  Due to the circumstances of our long-distance relationship and having not spent more than a couple weeks time total together, it was a big risk.  But I knew that if it didn't work out, I would make the best of it and decide to stay or leave Georgia...no big deal.  I had moved across the country a couple times by now.

We lived in Georgia for over twelve years and luckily I found a travel mate in my husband, who loved to explore the roads of Georgia, Tennessee, North & South Carolina just as much  I did.  During those years, we made numerous road trips between Georgia and my family in Wisconsin.  In 1999, we moved to Wisconsin and stayed there for seven years.  This time, it was Paul that was the perpetrator of the move to Texas.  He was a Winter Texan that decided he wanted to stay.  Another move across country....to the far end of the country....seven miles from Mexico!  Here we have explored areas of Texas and we have a subscription to Texas Highways which provides lots of info on places to go and see.  We have taken Highway 281 up to Hill Country a number of times.

Another subscription I have for a couple of years now is "Cowboys and Indians."  This has re-ignited my love of the West!  Remember the trails of the western expansion?  Santa Fe, California, Oregon. I am going to be crossing these trails on this trip! Remember the Chisholm trail where cowboys took cattle from Texas to Kansas and Nebraska.  I am going to be following that trail on this trip!

A few years ago when I started thinking of retirement, I knew I wanted to travel.  One day as I was looking at the Texas map, I started following Hwy 281 and saw that it went through all of Texas.  Then I got my Road Atlas and found it went through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota to the Canadian border.   Hwy 281 starts in Brownsville which is 54.4 miles from my house in Pharr. I can see and hear the traffic on 281 (named Cage Boulevard in Pharr).  So IT's appropriate that my road trip be along Highway 281.

Now that I have given you some of road trip history, you will see that even though I am over sixty years old and could be settling-down....it ain't gonna happen!  On the road again as I let IT possess me once again!

Travel

Anyone that knows me well, knows that my theme song is Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again." I love to travel & explore new roads and re-visit old roads. Next month, Paul & I will be in Arizona for a week. We're going to the Grand Canyon for a couple of days. It was ironic that today at work, I spoke with two other people going to the Grand Canyon within a few months. Neither Paul or I have been to the Grand Canyon for 30+ years, so we're looking forward to it. What's comforting, yet amazing is that the canyon itself will be just the same. It's the rim area around it that will have become overgrown with hotels and businesses, right? Time will tell.

Our neighbor has been bringing over their RV magazines as they finish reading them. They lived full-time in an RV and then sold it all. Then they built a house here in our subdivision and within a week, they bought another RV. :) They realized it was in their blood and couldn't resist buying another. I know that RV'ing has been in my blood for years, just don't have the RV to fulfill that dream/desire. My dream wish was for a little gypsy wagon to pull behind my car. I do want to go a little faster than horses. I'd park it in canyon by a slow-moving river and watch the sunset (probably have to take a few photos) and then watch the moon and stars put on their nightly show. No mosquitos, just coyotes howling in the distance. Oh my!

We are fortunate that we have options for the life we have ahead. We can go down any road we want and stop when we want. The open road awaits us, I wonder what's around the corner??

Update on Peace

Well, it's been about eleven months since I started the Peace Project. The project of getting peace and balance into my life. Right now, I do feel balanced in my life. Maybe, not in all the ways I projected I would be balanced by now, but it's OK! Life is pretty darn good.

Physically, I'm not at the weight or height that I planned. Emotionally, I still get stressed out about work, but that's gotten a whole lot better. Especially when I remind myself that my co-workers "will know I'm a Christian by my love." Spiritually, I've made leaps and bounds rather than crawling on my hands and knees through the rough road of life.

Writing this blog has been a demon and a god-send! It has exposed things about myself that I didn't want to share, but needed to share! It has allowed me to get my thoughts and feelings "on paper" rather than rolling around in my head for hours or days, it's served as a release. I know that I'm not the most prolific writer nor very good, but I feel glad that once in a while something that I have written has touched someones heart or soul. Maybe the reader is encouraging me on
my peace journey or they can identify with what I've written, there's a camaraderie between us.

It sure has been an interesting project. It sure has been an interesting journey. But then again, I sure have led an interesting life!! Just today, I was sharing how I met hubby with my co-workers. Some people have spent their whole lives within 10 miles of their birthplace and sure must be interesting. I know that's not for me, adventure and new sights gets me a-going! Anyway, there were a few mouths dropping when I talked about living in California & hubby in Louisiana and then we lived in Georgia, etc, etc. I can not imagine life without thinking of or planning the next adventure!

Tomorrow, starts the next adventure. No, we're not moving already!! We're going on a road trip to New Mexico. I've heard that in west Texas, a person can "legally" drive 80 miles an hour. Can't wait! :) See you when we get back in June! Yes, we plan to have fun!! Peace.

Roads

I'm an emotional eater. When my emotions are even-keeled or on top of the mountain, it's easy to eat what I need. But when I fall down that valley, I struggle to climb my way out. It's probably not a "valley" as much as it is a ditch. You know, those engravings in the earth along our roadways that catch the rain water, garbage from cars, and grow weeds. When I get in a funky mood like Sunday, it feels like I have fallen into one of those ditches, yuck!

Surprisingly, sometimes all it takes for me to get out of that ditch is get up on the roadway or have someone pull me out of the ditch to the road. Hubby did that for me on Sunday. He said, "OK, get in the car, we're going for a ride." :) I'm smiling just thinking of it! We got in the car, took a Texas map & went over to a small fishing village on the Gulf coast that I had not visited. We have this fun saying that gets my adrenaline going, not sure about hubby's but he seems to enjoy it. "New road, new road!" That means we're on a roadway that we have not been on before. We enjoy seeing the countryside and what it has to offer. Sometimes it's sagebrush and cactus, other times it is fields of sugar cane and now and then we see cattle. We even saw a barn that resembled a Midwestern-style barn, painted red and gambrel roof.

I have a self-proclaimed theme song, "On the road again" by Willie Nelson. It's been my favorite for years. I enjoy traveling the roads in a car and recently I have taken to the "roads" on foot, in my walking shoes! It's a different kind of traveling. It's hot and sweaty versus sitting in an air-conditioned car. It's moving down the road using my own fuel and energy. I have done my stints at walking before with moderate success. However, I fall out of the habit very easily and then it's months or years before I start walking regularly again. There's a saying that is often tagged onto me, "No moss grows under your feet," a tribute to my many moves around the country. However, I have allowed "moss" to grow under my feet by being a couch-potato! That "moss" has added poundage to my body and caused muscles to atrophy, both conditions of which I no longer want, much less need.

What roads is this project taking me down? What hills, valleys, curves, ditches will I encounter along the way? How many others will I meet on the roads?