All Gased Up and Ready to GO!

Let's talk about traveling

One time I heard somebody say that "the travel part of travel is the worst part." I thought the idea was good but it needed developed a littel bit, so on a facebook post the other day I said it this way:

The travel part of travel is the least fun part of travel up until the travel itself returns us home... Once there, we are torn between the comfort of our favorite pillow and knowing where everythng is against the angst of returning to an inescapable parade of responsibilities. The paradox lives on until the travel-bug bites again.

Traveling is a fascinating part of the American lifestyle.

One thing that strikes me is how we take the sites in our own back yards for granted. For example, we live near the beautiful Rocky Mountains, but there have been years in which we scarcely visited them at all. I know people who live inland in beachtowns and they tell me they don't feel a need to visit the ocean. People who live in Washington DC know what is there but they don't see any urgency to delve into the details. Most Arizonans vistit the Grand Canyon at least once, but do they really lend it the awe that strangers do? And so on.

In my own case, I have lived in Colorado for nearly 60 years (yikes!). There is a famous silver mining family, Horace Tabor, who put our state on the map 120 years ago. One of his famous mines is just an hour and a half away in Leadville. I visited that town and enjoyed a tour just two years ago. What the heck took me so long? The same thing goes for other Colorado destinations.

I could have ridden the famous narrow-gauge train between Durango and Silverton anytine in my adult life, but I finally got around to it 3 years ago. I have not been to Aspen for 35 years. Now Steamboat Springs has become a popular skiing destination, but I would barely recognize it. Central City and Black Hawk have become middle-sized casino towns, but I have only been there once and that was about 10 years ago. I have not visited the Denver mint for 40 years. We have an art museum which was opened in the 70's. I went there the first year and the walls were nearly bare; I have never gone back. All sorts of small towns have regular fun local events but color me absent.

In case you are wondering we also have the great sand dunes, the Coors brewery, a great downtown area, and hidden cliff houses in Mesa Verde. And a whole lot more, but you get the point.

There are other cool places and activities close by. I have never attened the Cheyenne Frontier days in Wyoming although the action is a mere 70 miles away. Just a scant 5-hour drive from here is the world-renowned Mount Rushmore but I finally visited it for the first time a couple of years ago. While others have come from far and wide to see giant busts of the dead presidents I guess I was just busy visiting whatever it was that those same people ignore in their part of the world.

Then there is Yellowstone National Park which is within a day's drive. Perhaps it has always been so close, it just never seemed exotic enough or something. I feel like I have betrayed Old Faithful and Yogi Bear.

As the years drip by it just seems I never get around to the neat things that are within a tank of gas away, but I always seem to have enough time to watch plenty of reruns on TV.

Traveling leads to all sorts of adventures, and Americans are blessed when it comes to the opportunities and places we can enjoy; but perhaps we ought to take another look at the beauty in our own neck of the woods once in a while.

I am certainly going to do that, right after I watch a few hundred more reruns of The Simpsons. Sigh!

To tell us about your travel adventures or thoughts on the topic, just register as a "follower". It just takes a minute and you are ready to go.