In class yesterday morning Forrest provided an introduction to a series he is going to do that covers a group of people as they travel. A discussion of vacations and road trips came up. As often happens, what I was thinking becomes this post.
The idea of a road trip actually does not appeal to me. I traveled in cars quite a bit as a kid, and that memory of being in a car for extended periods of time would make a road trip more of a chore than a vacation. Perhaps if I lived in a more exciting region (like along a coast) I could come up with a good reason why a road trip would be fun, but I would still be more excited by a destination than a journey.
I could probably count the number of real, actual, not-to-visit-family vacations that I have taken in my life on one hand. I could actually probably count them on two fingers. Maybe one finger. Regardless, I haven't really been a person to travel the world or the country without a non-leisure purpose. The past couple of years I have been a little more negative because of that.
To address this Golden and I were discussing maybe taking a day or two off in a month or two and just going somewhere, but it has to be real close and relatively cheap. Any ideas on where we can go to get away from it all without going away from it all (the KC area)?
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Is it possible to describe a personal blog without it sounding self-absorbed?
The title Off the Bridge is to reflect that I created this blog in part due to peer pressure. When I created and named it I did not anticipate still using it years down the road.
I generally post my thoughts on topics that have been floating around in my head in the previous days. I hope you find something interesting. In any case, thanks for stopping by.
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10 comments:
I think your idea of a road trip is not in line with the "spirit of a road trip."
You are right, traveling in the car for long periods of time is not fun. But a road trip is just not traveling in a car. You got to be creative and make your own fun. You got to take in the context, enjoy it, explore it, and discover it. It may take a little homework.
There is a sense of spontaneity - you are not stuck to a strict schedule. A roadtrip is about making the journey as fun as the destination.
I guess I learned this from my dad who has an adventuresome spirit. When we would travel to visit grandparents (we didn't have tons of money, so we had no fancy vacations), we would stop at the cider mill, or the wildlife reserve, or the largest ball of twine, or wall drug, or the scenic views. I admit, as a kid I got kind of annoyed with some of the stops, but now I look back and am thankful for those times.
I think it's time to take dust on a road trip.
When you say not far, how far is not far? For me a 4 or 5 hour trip is not far. I really liked Minneanapolis, I'd like to go back sometime. :) But I also liked the drive up I 35 to get there, it's beautiful farm country.
When I really think close, I think Great Wolf Lodge, when I think family. I think swanky down town hotel when I think dash and I. Talk about close, and there's not I 35 involved! Are you wanting somewhere in between the two?
Have you considered a nice visit to your state's capital! It may not have the Ritz, but it does have historical value! Plus when your kid asks...can we go you can say...You've been there before! LOL
I don't really like being spontaneous. When I have structure I know what to expect and I don't have to feel responsible to pay attention for something that might be fun along a rural route. :)
I think we are trying to stay in the general KC metropolitan area. Golden wants to go to Great Wolf Lodge at some point. How expensive is it, though? Remember, I'm a tightwad. :)
Listen to yourself:
I don't really like being spontaneous. When I have structure I know what to expect and I don't have to feel responsible to pay attention for something that might be fun along a rural route.
What is it that you fear? Really, there is no responsibility. It is just the right to change your mind, to make an unexpected stop, because you see something that might be worth checking out.
But you are in luck, if you like structure, that is where your research comes in handy. Study about the region that you will be traveling to and find some cool things to do.
Vernal and I took a wonderful 2-3 hour trip through the flint hills of kansas to cottonwood falls. I researched our path of travel and found some great hikes along the way with historical significance, and old town with a drugstore that has a soda fountain that still makes cherry phosphates, toured the oldest standing courthouse west of the mississippi, found a top notch steak house and hotel, and took a hayride through the flint hills given by the mayor of the town. He was able to give us a lot of history of the region.
Dust, My coworker suggested a cheese mill in Odessa, MO. What about Lawrence? Let's also investigate the cottonwood falls Forrest mentioned.
We have a book called Daytrips from Kansas City - check it out on Amazon. Border's and B&N both carry the book here in town. I think you can also find it at the library.
The book is full of ideas for drives and destinations in a 2 hour radius of KC.
a book you can check out for free to help plan an inexpensive trip - a tightwads dream.
come to think of it.... T and I talked about the cottonwood falls thing a few times but never got out there ... how can you go wrong with a steakhouse at the end of your journey?
Oh gosh! That was the best KC strip that I ever had - from local farms.
We stayed and ate our steaks here:
http://www.grandcentralhotel.com/
Another place in cottonwoodfalls:
http://www.stonehousebandb.com/
www.skyways.org/towns/CottonwoodFalls/
http://www.chasecountyks.org/
This is weird. My grandmother is from Cottonwood Falls every year I had to driver her out there and eat at the hotel. I knew it was featured some place and it's a sweet town, but who knew others wanted to go there?! I don't think I've done all that other extra stuff because we just always drove out and picked Grandma up or left her at Aunt Ruth's house.
Roamer have you read the book "Prairie Erth" by William Least Heat-Moon? I listened to it on cassette from the library before I took my trip. For those of you who have not read the book, it is a non-fiction book written about that region (cottonwood falls gets a lot of attention) and it's people and history. Parts of it are facinating, it might be a little slow to read.
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