Still on the road — it’s amazing how much sitting in a van for 12 hours really tires one out. Nothing to take pictures of in Elkhart IN, but here we are. See you tomorrow!
Tag: travel
Big Audacious Goal Alert
Eight days till my Big Audacious Goal of blogging every day for a year is realized! The only problem is that, starting tomorrow, I am on the road for my annual disaster training exercise in New York State. (As a reminder, I do casualty simulation for this and another exercise in October.) This means two days in a van in each direction, and a disrupted schedule. If there was any time I could fail, it would be this week.
I am probably going to write short blogs those days, because I will likely be writing some of them from the van, and I am the sort who gets carsick if I do too much writing in cars. I will try to keep it interesting enough, though, and write a minimum of “contractual obligation” posts.
Maybe I’ll take pictures. I don’t take pictures often enough. I’ll try not to get gross casualty simulation pictures, though.
My First Time Camping
My first time camping was in college. I had gone with a friend of mine to Illinois Yearly Meeting (an annual meeting of Friends, or Quakers). Lodging at the Meetinghouse was primitive, rustic two-person dorm rooms. My friend Joan and I decided we would camp in the camping space across the road from the Meetinghouse.
Joan and I put up the tent (not a fancy one like we have nowadays) and we spent the day in activities. The tent was still standing by bedtime, which was a good sign. When we settled in, with our belongings tucked around us, it was a crowded time in the tent and we were tired. Not too tired to notice that my head lay on a tree root.
It stormed all night. Illinois thunderstorms are particularly resonant, so I couldn’t sleep very well. I finally fell asleep after the storm quit. Scant hours later, I woke at dawn, and noticed my air mattress was … floating.
“Joan?”
“Mrrph.” Joan was not a morning person.
“Joan? I think the tent flooded.”
Joan jumped up, and we assessed the state of the tent. Yes, it had flooded at one end, as had the entire campground. We were surrounded by dismayed people noticing that they, too, had taken water in their tents.
Joan and I did the only thing we could — we busted up laughing. We sorted out our clothing (mostly dry) and hung our tent and sleeping bags in the tree to dry. Needless to say, we slept in the dorms that night.
That was my first time camping. The fact that I’ve camped more than once is a testimony to my perseverence. Or my short memory. One of those two.
My Most Ideal Day
I don’t ask for much, and this includes ideal days.
My ideal day usually happens on a Saturday or Sunday. The best of these days happens in Kansas City while on a mini-vacation. My husband and I wake up in a hotel room and stretch and yawn, then get dressed up for a day of wandering.
My favorite breakfast is at Eggtc, which is a breakfast restaurant in the KC area. I usually order something bad for me, although sometimes I eat the avocado toast. From there, we go to Broadway Cafe, with the goal of some writing time. I like the Cafe’s coffee, and so I drink less coffee at Eggtc to make sure I don’t get over-caffeinated.
We stay at the Cafe for a while. Part of the reason we’re in KC is for a writing retreat. We probably stay there till lunch, and then go to lunch at Choga in Overland Park. we don’t get to eat Korean food often. We usually order dolsot bibimbap, which is a sizzling rice bowl with Korean vegetables and bulgogi.
After this, we go to Whiskers Cat Cafe and play with the cats there. Mind you, we have three cats at home, but it’s fun playing with the cat residents there, especially the kittens in their enclosures. After Whiskers, we may go back to the room to rest, or maybe to the Cafe again. Dinner is likely to be ordered in through Door Dash.
It’s not an exciting day, but it’s ideal as far as this old lady is concerned.
Traveling
We’re traveling back today, so this is going to be a short entry. I would have skipped it but I don’t want to break my posting streak.
I’m going to have time to work on classes when I return. More days with a flexible schedule will be welcome. Spring semester will get here soon enough.
Road Trip Stop
I am currently at the Hotel Millwright in Amana, Iowa enjoying a bit of history and some excellent root beer.
The Amanas were a religious community who lived self-sufficiently for over 100 years through farming and crafts and factory production. They disbanded their communal experiment in 1932. Their main trade now is tourism, as they have much of the old infrastructure still.
The Hotel Millwright is at one of the old woolen mills. There’s a lot of history represented with old looms, pyramids of thread spools, and sewing machines throughout. There’s floors are polished concrete and exposed ductwork gives it a hint of industrial feel while still being welcoming.
The restaurant on site, the Tavern, serves upscale burgers and imaginative entrees. I had cinnamon bread French toast and it was divine. I can’t recommend this place enough.
My favorite cars
I have a few favorite automobiles — in fact, every car I’ve ever driven (with the exception of rental cars) has been my favorite.
My first car was a gently used Saturn SC-2 in plum. I loved its fiberglass body and its look. It drove well, and it had excellent gas mileage. It got totalled by an airport limo when I was struggling on a snowy overpass. (Note: I didn’t learn how to drive until I was 32, and I didn’t have parents putting limits on my meanderings, so I drove 5 hours away into a snowstorm.)
My second car was a 1994 Honda Civic hatchback in red. That was a darling car. I bought it gently used and drove it for 13 years until the engine blew its head gasket twice. This is a young demise for a Honda, but a student from a mechanic family told me it was a weakness of the 94s.
Third and fourth cars were Honda Fits, which I am still certain are the best compact vehicles ever, even though they were discontinued in the US. With their adorable looks, their flexible space, and good mileage, they’re everything to want in a small car. The white 2007 is no longer with us, but we still have the 2009 red one. I think red is the best color for a Honda Fit.
Our newest (used) car is a Honda HR-V. Not the biggest of the SUVs, it’s like driving a tall Fit. It’s in that serene blue that you saw in SUVs around 2019. Very comfortable to travel in. More padding on the seats than a Fit.
So it seems that I make excellent choices in cars if I like every one of them!
Christmas Vacation
We’re on our way to Christmas vacation tomorrow!
I’ve spoken of this before — I’ll be going to Starved Rock State Park in Illinois, to spend five days in a cabin celebrating the season. The holiday comes with nearby Utica (‘North Utica’ according to the maps) and Ottawa, towns that have managed to not be too touristy despite their existence as a day trip out of Chicago. I often call Ottawa a great campus town without the campus.
The park (as you can see here) is scenic in the winter, with frozen waterfalls and canyons throughout. Hiking is a little hazardous without good boots, however, because sandstone bluffs are bad to fall off of.
The area has a good Christmas feel. The downtowns don’t have a lot of missing businesses, the streets are decked with lights, and last time we were there there were ice sculptures melting on each corner. They might have snow when we arrive there Saturday.
Ottawa is a great place to eat. Among our favorites are Lone Buffalo (a brewpub), B.A.S.H. (Upscale casual fusion — the name stands for Burger and Sushi House), and Sunfield Restaurant (breakfast). There’s also an indie coffeehouse called Jeremiah Joe’s. There should be more, but there are not.
One place we’re going to discover while we’re in Ottawa is the Cheese Shop. Yes, that is its name. It is, not surprisingly, a cheese shop and deli. I encountered it many years ago on a hike on the Illinois-Michigan canal path. I dropped off the path and ended up right at the Cheese Shop. But it’s hard to find, tucked over in obscure Ottawa side streets. I haven’t been there in, say, 20 years but it’s still there. They might have the famous Polancic tenderloin sandwiches (a local delicacy) for lunch.
There’s also decent window shopping in Ottawa and Utica. I’m not much of a shopper, but I love window shopping. There’s a decent bookstore in Ottawa; a winery in Utica, various little shops.
We’re going to visit my sister and her husband while we’re there. Not a lot, because my sister is more of an introvert than I am.
It should be a busy few days, but I expect some time in the cabin to watch the fire in the fireplace, or in the Great Hall to enjoy a bigger fire and people-watching. Hopefully some time to write, as my next Kringle adventure will take place there.
Happy holidays!
Me and Automobiles
One thing that people don’t know about me is my relationship to cars and driving. I learned how to drive rather late in my life (age 32). This is not usual for the US where a driver’s license at sixteen is a rite of passage.
I was different. Behind the wheel of a car, I was a hazard. Among the things I managed in driver’s ed: stopping in the middle of the railroad tracks to check for trains, butting the car into a snow drift in an otherwise empty parking lot, and making a 180-degree turn into a parking lot when all I intended was to turn the corner. Needless to say, I did not get my driver’s license in high school.
I took drivers’ ed again, and that time got through it. I didn’t, however, get my driver’s license because my parents were too scared to take me to the testing facility to get tested. I didn’t blame them. Eventually, when I had taken a break from college, I got the license but never drove on it, and my skills extincted. It didn’t help that I got hit by a car in my late 20’s, breaking my leg and resulting in a bar in my left tibia to hold it together.
When I was in college and grad school, I lived in a city with excellent public transit, so I didn’t miss having a car. It wasn’t until I lived in Oneonta, New York, my first teaching job, that I felt the pinch of not being able to drive. Oneonta was a rural town in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, and there was an arts scene in the area — all spread out from Oneonta to West Kortright to Delhi to Franklin. Only accessible with a car.
I took driver’s ed with the best person I could have found, a laid-back man named Lee Fisher. He taught adults how to drive, and thus he knew how to deal with people who struggled to drive. It turned out that, when I drove, all the little pieces of driving wanted to happen in my head all at once. Think of all the actions needed for a right-hand turn: slowing down, activating the turn signal, braking at the stop sign, looking both way, accelerating slowly while turning the wheel, straightening the wheel … my mind couldn’t sort them in order. I learned to drive by reciting all the moves in order just before doing them. When I no longer needed to say them out loud, I went to get my driver’s license, and succeeded.
I didn’t let those skills extinct, instead getting myself a car to drive. I made a lot of mistakes, had a couple accidents, and spent a couple years in the assigned risk pool with expensive insurance coverage. But I got used to driving.
I have never become an excellent driver. I balk at interstate driving, although I can and will do it if necessary. But driving is a part of my life now.
An Upcoming Writing Retreat
It looks like my summer vacation* is about to end. I have a little over a week until meetings start. In fact, next weekend is my last weekend before school revs up. But I will have a writing retreat in Kansas City that weekend!
Writing retreats are when I spend a weekend some place with cafes where I can spend a good part of the day writing and where I can eat excellent ethnic food. My husband gets coffee and ethnic food out of it**.
I’m working on short stories right now. The stories I’m working on reside in the Hidden in Plain Sight universe, to be published in a future collection. I’d rather write stories for competition/publication in journals and the like, but I don’t feel inspired. To read the first collection and get an intro to the universe, look here.
I will come back Monday just in time for meetings two days later. And the first day of meetings lasts all day and is followed by a picnic***. Summer needs a last hurrah.
* Such that it is. I work all summer, but at least I get to set my own schedule.
** My husband doesn’t write anymore. I wish I could get him to write again, because I think he needs a flow activity in his life.
*** The first day of meetings is not a picnic, however.
Words Like Me 