Channel the Yoda

Friday, June 22, 2012

NO WORKING TOILET on the MIDNIGHT EXPRESS

I took the MIDNIGHT EXPRESS BUS (Red-eye) from Penrith, England (Northern Lakes District) to London, England.

It was a 6 1/2 hour bus trip with no working toilet which I was lucky enough to get a seat next to and even more lucky to be the jerk who had to say, "Aye, toilets broke Mate. Sorry," to anyone who yanked on the door. 

Apparently I also took up a British accent while out there or maybe that is just how my memories replay in my brain.

The man behind me, wearing a matching stonewashed denim jacket and pants, had only one booming volume when he called his mate EVERY HALF HOUR to give an update. As we got closer to London, his friend called him every 10 minutes! His ring tone was, "My Milkshake Brings All the Boys..."   

Across the way, a young couple was all arms and limbs while engaged in a serious lip lock session.

My seatmate didn't say a peep to me or anyone. I liked her.

It's not the luxury of the EXPRESS that sells it. It's the few stops (faster), overnight run (don't lose a day in travel), and price (CHEAP!)

The tickets do sell like hot cakes! I was the last one to buy a ticket and it was 2 nights before departure.

Take it for the experience or it's fast service, IF YOU DARE!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

SHOWCASE SINGERS, ROADTRIPS, and a LOST KITTEN!

When I was a teenager I belonged to a Statewide Show Choir named the Showcase Singers. Every summer I would travel to Madison, Wisconsin for a week to practice and then to West Allis, Wisconsin for a week+ to perform on a stage at the Wisconsin State Fair.

Yes, I sang. Yes, I danced. Yes, I ate pork chops on a stick and drank freshly squeezed lemonade with extra lemon and less sugar--always with my modifications--every summer for 4 years.

I would road trip down, picking up other Showcasers along the way. We would make gas station pit stops, fast food drivebys, and on one or more occasions, Lake Michigan and Geneva pauses, all depending on where my wandering heart wanted to go prior to arrival at camp, and post my departure to home.

It was a freedom I was allotted mainly because I would give the date I was leaving and the date I was coming home without receiving many questions. I was a good kid who had and has an affinity for the open road.   

Of course I think back to when I believed it safe to sleep at a rest stop or get lost in Milwaukee. Or considered it funny to drive circles in a cul-de-sac in Pewaukee or go for a run at dusk in a housing development where all houses looked the same and GET LOST! They found me by driving around screaming, "NERMAL!" like I was their lost kitten. I guess I was.

I never left the state though. I knew my boundaries, the Wisconsin state line and no further.

I bet you are wondering how these excursions were funded. I worked. I worked a lot, and used all my money for gas, tune-ups and food for trips. I know I should have been saving it for college or whatever kids save their money for in high school but I wouldn't flip one mile on my travel life odometer for the dollar spent or at the current gas price of $3.79 a gallon.

On August 11th-12th I will be making this same trip down to the Wisconsin State Fair to reunite with my former Showcasers and support, with applause, the current Showcase Singers performance (on the main stage!)

Along the way, I'm stopping for cheese and a bloody mary.

Gnome saying? Gnome saying.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

A LIFE REMEMBERED IN FONDNESS

When I look back at this last year...it is not a blur or whirlwind of constant motion. It is a settling feeling of experiencing all that I can and all that is available to me.

I love to travel. Since I was 8 years old I have wanted nothing more than to see the world.

That feeling is reinforced by my current not travel situation. By not, well, it is the tried and true process of loss that creates a stronger appreciation for all that I have seen, felt, done, and worked my butt off to afford.

My unsolicited advice...

Go to Wales if you get the chance. It is beautiful.

Canoe a lake at dusk and get stuck in a bog with bullfrogs.

Take a Highlands Tour of Scotland and hike next to Nessie.

Travel by bus around South America and eat at El Toro Pizza in Cordoba, Argentina, at Midnight.

Eat at the McDonald's in Penrith, England; it is next door to a haunted castle which is considered their city park (Haunted McCastle'd).

Sing "Islands in the Stream" in 2 part harmony with a new friend, in a Czech restaurant, drunk off their beer.

Drive on the wrong side of the road in Ireland! Of course it's the right side of the road for them. Beware of tractors and roundabouts.

These are just snippets of my time; memories that float around my brain when slinging drinks. I smile when I think back in time and it is my life I remember with fondness...

Thursday, June 14, 2012

MY PURSE FLOATS!

We tipped the canoe.

My purse floats. It's leather!

The to-go sandwich is fine.

iPhone survives--durability is surprising.

Only half my body is wet. Still.

But we continued our trek into lily pad land at sunset anyway.

Light waves against a quiet boat with 2 giggling folks.

Stuck in the bog, said "Allo" to Jimmy Hoffa.

Thats the trip up-to-date and what I have to say, mates.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Monday, June 4, 2012

CAIRNRYAN, SCOTLAND

Scotland floats in and out of my thoughts today.
Definitely not the first time of its arrival to the forefront of my brain but today I can't stop thinking about how EFFING BEAUTIFUL it is!

Pardon my ill-word choice but imagine vast solitude with an untouched view of sprawling farmland, grazing sheep, craggy hills, and ocean waves; all mingling with each other on their normal day to day.

Shore, Cairnryan - geograph.org.uk - 1298522.jpg

"Cairnryan is a small Scottish village in Dumfries and Galloway on the eastern shore of Loch Ryan. The village is important in maritime history."

Courtesy of Wikipedia.com




Sunday, June 3, 2012

WHERE DID MY GERMAN GO? OH NEIN!

After the dust settles and life finds its normal rhythm again or what becomes a new normal rhythm, one can be faced certain challenges post travel.
1. Diet. Diet? Exercise...

There was no diet in play where our traveling was concerned for the most part. Not because healthy isn't in or a big part of our daily lives, but because we were traveling so fast and walking so much we needed to eat whatever was convenient for the most part.

Also, when in Rome, eat, drink and be merry like the Romans or well, the Irish. We drank our share of Jameson, ate the lamb stew, french bread and soup, and the Guinness somehow found it's way down our throats warming the tummies.

Work outs, a normal part of our daily home routine, not so ingrained in the travel schedule. There was 1 ten-mile hike, 1 mountain climbed, 1 two-mile run and tons of walking and dragging luggage everywhere.

Did we gain weight on the 3 week trip to Ireland?

Not really.

Two months later...

I'd say all 3 of us are struggling with one form or another of dietary/exercise program.

When on vaca, it's hard to well, leave the mentality, even when you've left the country of travel and are back home.

2. Work. Eek. Work?

Hmm...has traveling made me lazy towards work?

Had living in Chile without a job for 2 months, just enjoying a day to day activity of eating, laughing, traveling and breathing, made it difficult for me to work 2-3 jobs again?

Very possible. It was the first time EVER since I was 9 that I wasn't working.

The days just melted into each other. Some of my journal entries have question marks on the date.

I felt recouped when I came back but I also found it hard to multitask or do more than 3 things in a day. I WAS ONLY THERE FOR 2 MONTHS! 

Yet breaking that mentality took 6 months.

And now I still find it hard to jump back into work. It use to be something that was considered a given but by not doing it for 2 months it became more of a, "eh, I guess I should."

Wow, I was so German before Chile, with my work being number 1 in my life...

3. Staying Put for a Bit.

Easier than expected for this Compulsive Traveler. I'm assuming it's because I'm:

A. Broke.
B. Tired.
C. Laundry!
D. Need to recoup brain cells.
E. There are other activities that I find enjoyment in besides travel (GASP!) like ROCK CLIMBING, CAMPING, SQUARE DANCING, GOING TO MOVIES, COOKING, RUNNING, BLOODY MARY'S IN THE AFTERNOON, CANOEING, GARDENING, HIKING, READING, WRITING, no arithmetic, that I would like to put some time into.

There will be more travel soon, do not fret. In fact, we leave for Trego, WI in less than 2 weeks. There is a cabin-esque waiting for us.

But otherwise, it's back to getting re situated into daily to-dos and what-nots.

Speaking of what-nots, TIME FOR WORK!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Strangest Deaths...

The things I read:

"Death by Bottle Cap

American playwright Tennessee Williams [wiki] died in 1983 after he choked on a bottle cap in his hotel room. Yes, he had been drinking.

Death from Stubbing One’s Toe

Famous Tennessee whiskey distiller Jack Daniel [wiki] decided to come in to work early one morning in 1911. He wanted to open his safe but couldn’t remember the combination. In anger, Daniel kicked the safe and injured his toe, which later developed an infection that killed him!

Moral of the story? Don’t go to work early.

Death by Belly Slam.
British pro wrestler Mal “King Kong” Kirk died underneath the big belly of Shirley “Big Daddy” Crabtree.

Death by Sheep
In 1999, Betty Stobbs, 67, of Durham, England, took a bale of hay to feed her flock of sheep on the back of her motorcycle.

Apparently, the sheep were very hungry. About forty of them rushed the hay and knocked her off a cliff into a 100-feet deep quarry. Stobbs survived the fall only to be killed when the motorcycle, which was also knocked off the cliff, tumbled down after her."

Courtesy of Neotorama
http://www.neatorama.com/2007/03/12/30-strangest-deaths-in-history/

EXTRANO CHILE

Chile has been on the mind lately...

Is it time to begin planning a trip to South America?

My brain wanders to Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and of course...

ANTARCTICA AND EASTER ISLAND!!!

PATAGONIA!

So I guess what I'm saying is:

"Hola Chile! Como Estas?"

It has been too long my friend.