sue – Page 3 – The Destinators

Something a little different… deux

Last year, we planned something a little different, and it went, well, the way plans often go. Planning to explore the Southwest US in the fall, we reached LA in time to learn my mom needed surgery for her broken hip – in Florida! The last 2/3rds of our trip were replaced by an about-face and a coast-to-coast dash across the South. Everything worked out in the end and it was a fine trip. And certainly a little different…

This year’s trip planning was easy – let’s go back and finish last year’s plan! So, is this still something different? Or more of the same?

Home

Well, it wasn’t the trip we’d planned – exploring the Southwest – and we saw enough to know we want to go back there to catch the people, national parks and other cool places we missed. Although we’d visited much of the Southeast before, we did manage to see a few new places and enjoy new experiences, as well as help out my mom. We learned that if necessary, we could get across the country quickly. And we confirmed that the concept of traveling in the fall with a careful reentry into New England after the first snows was not only doable, but adds a different kind of beauty and fun with just a few adaptations of the usual RV logistics.

Big Cypress National Preserve

As we left Everglades National Park, we drove west through Big Cypress National Preserve. It’s another million acres of wetlands, though deeper and with slower moving water. Yes, the folks at Cypress are proud of their swamp! The National Preserve status allow for more recreational usage (compared to a National Park) so fossil fuel exploration and extraction, hunting, and off-road vehicle use are all permitted. There are also parcels of land withing the preserve that are privately owned, and traditional uses by the indigenous Seminole and Miccosukee tribes also take place.

The Florida Keys

I think people are often drawn to beaches or to mountains. There’s no doubt that Doug and I are drawn to mountains. We’ve not vacationed in the islands (Newfoundland doesn’t count) or on beaches in our 40 years together. Of all the times we visited my parents in Melbourne, FL – their chosen retirement location – in the past 30 years, we’ve likely actually intentionally gone the 4 miles to the beach a handful of times. (Except for ice cream – my mom’s and my favorite ice cream shop is a block from the beach.) So let’s just say that the Florida Keys have not been near the top of our bucket list. Still…

Everglades National Park

Slash pine ridges along the saw grass prairie of the Shark River Slough

Although we were glad to help my mom through her first-ever experience with surgery (at age 91!), we had to defer the latter 2/3rds of our planned southwest adventure. By the time my mom was stable (which happened very quickly, given the possibilities), there was no longer enough time to get back to any of those southwest plans. But we didn’t really need to rush home. Could we find a different adventure? What if we had planned a trip to the southeast… Is there something we would explore in Florida that we haven’t yet visited on our many family visits to Melbourne? This was a no-brainer – Everglades National Park!

Melbourne, FL

Post-op day 6 – escape from the hospital!

Here is a PSA from my mom, Theresa:

Walk 2 miles every day. That’ll keep you feeling and looking young. And if you ever fall and break your hip, it’ll make everybody shake their heads in disbelief and say wonderful things about you when recovery from your surgery takes a few days instead of a couple of months.

Get Your Kicks… part 2

It was when we got close to Los Angeles that the Little Old Lady From Pasadena earworm started. We visited Pasadena, and everywhere we went – guitar store, a restaurant, our friends’ home, the Rose Bowl – we found ourselves crossing the famed Colorado Boulevard – yes, the very road terrorized apocryphally by the little old lady in that song.

Pasadena, CA

When we moved to Connecticut in 1990, I worked on a team at The Travelers that was lead by Dwight. A firm believer in team-building, he and his wife Colleen hosted several team dinners at their home in Essex, CT, and we got to know Colleen as well. For the next few years, I thoroughly enjoyed the ground-breaking work we did in managed care. and I learned so much – about the healthcare/health insurance business, business politics, project management, people management, team-building – all skills that served me well when I later started my own business. Thank you, Dwight!

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

The Great Western Divide of the Sierra Nevada and
headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River

Sequoia National Park was established in 1890. This park includes Mt Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 states at 14,505 feet above sea level, as well as 5 of the 10 largest giant sequoia trees. General Grant National Park was also established in 1890 to feature and protect giant sequoias, including the General Grant Tree. In 1940, in an effort to protect more of the unique resources of the area – the 14,000-foot peaks of the Sierra Nevada, Kings Canyon 10,000 feet below, as well as old-growth forests and other large groves of giant sequoia trees – the Kings Canyon National Park was created, incorporating General Grant National Park. Since 1943, the 2 national parks comprising nearly 1 million acres have been adminstered together as Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.

Get Your Kicks…

Get Your Kicks on Route 66 is the classic 1946 R&B tune about motoring west from Chicago to LA, written by Bobby Troup and first recorded by Nat King Cole. Most of Route 66 has been replaced by the interstate system, although some original segments of the road remain, in varying conditions of drivability. The towns along the old route 66 are proud of their heritage and vestiges of earlier times – gas stations, motels, diners – remain alongside the interstate.