Friday, March 21, 2014

Friday Five ~ trips

This week's Friday Five is brought to us by Janintx @ RevGalBlogPals:
"Last week and this week, I am driving long distances in Texas, first to Houston and today to Austin from Corpus Christi:  both times to meet relatives from Canada flying here.  This makes me think of trips taken in my life:  vacation, moving, visiting relatives, visiting friends, seeking a new home, going away to school, and probably many more.  For today’s Friday Five, tell about five different trips you have made in your life due to different reasons, modes of travel, or whatever category you choose!  Since I will be traveling, I will check in on your 'travels' when I reach my destination.  Happy and safe travels!"
1.  Vicarious trip
My roommate Donna is traveling to St. Louis right now.  She left Chattanooga Thursday afternoon and drove about halfway before stopping at a motel for the night.  When she called to tell me where she was staying, I was on my laptop and used Google to pinpoint the location and even tell her what restaurants were around her!  I told her about a lake behind her motel, which she hadn't noticed.  Looking out her window, she could see it.  We live in an amazing and mind-bending time.
2.  Bookish trip
Last August, I was reading a novel set on Nantucket Island.  Never having been there, I googled both maps and photos of the place.  Mostly I wondered if there really was a Lily Street in the town within walking distance of a street called Easy Street.  There is, and I discovered that's only a half mile walk from Lily Street.  It made what I was reading more real, and I've done the same thing with other books occasionally since then.  Click the link to see why I felt like Sam Beckett, "leaping" from one time-place to another.
3.  Curb trip
In December 2012, I managed to trip on my way into a restaurant and landed on my right elbow.  Do you have any idea what that does to one's shoulder?  My next trip was in an ambulance to the nearest hospital, a mere mile away but costing over $1100.  See my "vacation photos" from that "trip" and a short explanation of the photos I took (even doing it all with my left hand).
4.  Trip to Florida
When I was seven and had just started the second grade in the autumn of 1947, my Aunt Bonnie took me on a train to Florida.  I felt "sea sick" from the rocking train and was taken to the dining car to suck on a lemon.  I remember "Flagler," but can't tell you if it was the name of the train or the destination.  A recent hurricane had hit Florida, and strong winds pelted sand into my skinny bare legs something fierce when we went out on the beach.  We spent most of our time inside the tourist home, playing games.
5.  Trip above the clouds
Flying to Connecticut in 2001, all I could see of New York City out the left window was the tops of the Twin Towers sticking up above the clouds into the open skies where my plane was.  That trip was the last time I saw the towers, since they fell in September of that year.

2 comments:

Terri said...

The internet is indeed a fabulous tool for learning more about the world around us!

altar ego said...

I have a friend who is an author, and she very meticulously visits and annotates a location that she uses in her writing. How fun to do that as a reader!

Your curb trip sounds excruciating. Love how you thought to document the ambulance ride! I often do that same, but lately have been taking far fewer photos of "the daily."

Your post reminds me of similar occasions and trips, too, so thanks for jogging my memories!