I Miss Traveling....

I miss traveling so much.  We used to travel so much for the first years of our marriage all over the whole USA and we would stay in places for months that we fell in love with.  I remember we used
to watch the news and where there was a snowstorm.... that's where we'd be that night sitting in a hotel room drinking hot chocolate and watching it snow.  It was so romantic and so ...fun and happy! 

 I learned to love rain from Skip's love of rain.  We would go buy hot coffee and drive along drinking and looking at everything while we talked.  Rain... used to depress me... Skip taught me to love it. 

Later, Skip drove a tractor-trailer and I went to truck driving school to learn to drive with him.  I drove for 3 years with him (I did work in an office at the hospital for years prior) and our tractor-trailer was like a motorhome.... color tv, refrigerator, comforters and pillows and rugs and all was cosy and beautiful.  Wherever we were ... we were in comfort but, we stayed in hotels/motels from time to time.

  We saw real blizzards and white-outs and
dust storms and storms that began all of a sudden, tornadoes, and big winds and saw where earthquakes had been in California.  We saw so many things that no one sees around here and could never imagine.  We drove on passes in the mountains on solid ice down long mountains such as Stephens Pass in Washington state.  Ice and snow was piled high on each side of the icy roads as high as the truck.  Sometimes it was too exciting!

I remember we were going down Stephens Pass, Washington and I stayed quiet and I was sitting in the passenger seat while Skip was driving so carefully down that icy road.... down the mountain.  I began crying softly and saying to Skip 'I'm never going to see our pups and our home again'.  He began laughing and said 'you sissy, you'!  I began to laugh.  It was 70 miles of pure ice 'downhill' and we drove so long for a couple of days seeing nothing but, white snow.  I understood what snow-blindness meant after that.  I also, learned that too much white... is just too much white.  :)))))))))))))

I saw people ice-fishing in Nebraska with holes cut out in the middle of frozen lakes.... the big, thick round chunks of ice sitting there that had been carved out to put a fishing line in.  I saw sled dogs pulling men in Washington and they had ice on their beards and mustaches.  I saw many, many
wonderful and special sights that I'd only read about as a child.  I could imagine wagon trains traveling in the deserts and almost see them as we traveled the high and low deserts.  There were flash floods and people got swept away because they had no idea that a flash flood could happen in an instant... and sweep everything away so fast in its path.

I never talked about the things I saw very much.... people can't imagine if they've never been anywhere.  We saw mountains and when one looked down... the houses looked no bigger than a little box.  Sometimes, it was scary traveling because of the weather, and snowstorms... sometimes we saw such wrecks with many cars and wreckage going down sides of the mountains.  I saw many sad things as well as happy things.

We met so, so, so many people of every walk.... some we liked, some we didn't like.  They all had a story to tell.... some were people who scammed, some were homeless, some were rich, some poor, most were good people though there were some times one had to be really alert.  One can lose their life if they didn't pay attention around them, not all people are good.  I used to think that 'I can't believe people would do the things they do'..... they do, without a heart or conscience. 

This is only a little fraction of my memories of traveling.  I really miss going everywhere and keeping a pulse on 'everything' and knowing and seeing things I saw on the news in our travels.  We are like everyone else today..... we don't have the extra monies to travel anymore.  How I miss it.  I'm thankful to have my 'million' memories of years of going places.  I can look back and see things in my mind.

We used to meet Tommy out west during the trucking days just anywhere.... and I would be so excited to hear his voice on the CB calling out to us.  We would turn the truck around and go meet him and we would all be so happy to see each other... it was usually in California somewhere, or Arizona or New
Mexico or the big state of Texas and in Louisiana.  What happy, happy times those days were.  I miss you, Tommy.  I miss you with my heart, I miss your beautiful, golden sunshine of a smile, Son.  You always had the kindest expression in your eyes.  I always knew my son loved me as much as I loved him.  This will be our 2nd Thanksgiving without you.... I know how parents feel who have lost their child... now.  I'm thankful that I can smile and laugh about things you did or said... because those are
things worth remembering from a very real and very alive 'Tommy'.  You and Skip were always so funny and always teasing me.

Memories...................................................................................................................................................
so many that I can't possibly ever write them all.  At least I won't give out of things to write about.
Happy Thanksgiving to whomever reads this... and Happy Thanksgiving to us and our Pups.