I was born and raised in California. I was not even out of this state, that I can remember, until I was 17 years old (I have been told by my family that I was in Topeka KS for a year when I was 2 or 3 years old). Since I grew up, I have only been to a few states, most of them in the west and south. But what I have been blessed to see in these states has been beautiful. I want to see more.
In the early 70's I subscribed to the National Geographic Magazine. Through them I was introduced to the beauty and majesty of our country. One of my favorite channels on television is the National Geographic Channel. Whenever they have a show about a national park I watch or, if I am not available, I record it for later viewing. In 1973, while living in Oklahoma, we went on vacation. We drove from Tulsa to Denver, went "up the Mountain" as far as the Coors plant, toured "Red Rocks," went south to the Garden of the Gods, the Royal Gorge, and wound our way further south to Carlsbad Caverns National Park before returning home. That was just an appetizer.
A few years later, we traveled east to visit Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. And then there was camping along the Illinois River with canoe rides several times a year. But that was just a sampler. We were always on a short deadline. Hurry up, we have one day here and one day to get there. Sometimes it was only a few hours allotted to a specific event/tour. Not good enough!
Everyone that I know says that when they retire they want to go to Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, etc. For decades I have said that I want to see the United States. How can I go and visit someone else's country until I have seen my own country? I want to read all of the signs that Park Rangers have spent time writing and posting. I want to take my time. I want to take pictures that I probably will only look at once or twice before I get home. But I want to be able to say, "I was there. I saw that."
With that in mind, several years ago I bought my first Recreation Vehicle, a 22' long, 1998 Chinook, Concourse that I named "Claire's Baby". It only gets 10 or 11 miles per gallon and is suppose to sleep 4, but when the Jack-knife bed is made and the short dinette bed is made, almost the entire RV is a bed. We have slept 4, but you really have to know each other well. And yet, it enabled us to visit sites and see things that many Americans never see. My daughter, Julie, and I have traveled to Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Death Valley, and Mojave Desert National Parks (all in California). In 2006 I met my other daughter, Jennifer, and her family at the Grand Canyon, we also visited Sedona and Montezuma's Castle in Arizona before coming back to San Diego.
In a few months, September, I am finally going to retire. So, I recently traded the Chinook in for a 24' long 2011 Winnebego View; a diesel that is supposed to get 21 to 27 MPG (or so they claim). With the current price of fuel I will be happy if it gets 20 MPG. It has two slide outs so the queen (moi) has a queen sized bed. I no longer have to sleep sideways in the dinette so I can stretch out. In addition, the passenger has a full size bed. Rather than a Jack-knife sofa bed; it is a hide-a-bed with an full-size air mattress. It is only two feet longer than the Chinook but feels much roomier.
I took my new ride to work one day for several reasons: to show it off, I was leaving after lunch to visit a County Park for a few days (check in time is 2:00 pm), and it was easer to leave from work than double back to the house. Naturally, I had to give tours. I should have charged a dollar a head - but didn't. One of my friends said there was no comparison between the two vehicles. I said that I was going to name her the "Tosh-mobile." He said that it was more like the Taj-Majal which morphed into the "Tosh-Ma-Haul" because it is going to haul Ma Tosh around in style.
I plan on getting into it and driving off into the sunrise (sunset won't work because the ocean is that direction). I want to see the US and I have friends & family all over the place. I think I still have family in Kansas. I know of one cousin that moved to Illinois. Family now live in St. Louis, the greater Tulsa area, and Dallas. One long time friend sold her house here and moved to Ohio to be close to her family. Another long time friend moved to Little Rock, for the same reason. One friend and her husband retired to Florida. So, besides the National Parks this blog will discuss other places of interest in the United States from my viewpoint.Come travel with me
Awesome Claire, and I love the name....woot woot.
ReplyDelete