Getting there is only half the fun
That nutty Mitten... always with the drama! His surgery was in the afternoon on Christmas Day, and was home in time for the Packers game on Sunday, none the worse for wear. He can't bowl for about six weeks, but the doctor said that he will be fine for the beginning of school on January 3rd.
December 27th's Favorite Thing - Travelling
If you follow my blog, and if you know me at all, this favorite shouldn't surprise you. I love travelling for the most basic of reasons... to leave it all behind.
Most of my vacations have been for the national bowling tournament, which I attended the first time as a 21 year old in 1989 in Wichita, KS. I learned a lot on that trip, including to spend a minute or two to determine the best route. My buddy, Carl, and I drove through Chicago (at least we took I-294 to I-55) and St. Louis into Kansas City then into Wichita. But if we had just taken the Rock freeway into central Illinois, we'd have saved a half hour and possibly hit less of St. Louis' rush hour. And if we had taken the Rock into Illinois, then I-88 to I-80 near Iowa, and caught I-35 out of Des Moines, we might have saved as much as 90 minutes. Getting into Kansas City that night (around 10:30 PM) was near the hotel desk clerk's shift change, and she offered to take us to the best pizza in town... the rest of the story will never, ever, EVER make it onto the internet.
And it isn't the bowling that makes my trips to the national tournaments great. Things that I would have never done if not for bowling tournaments...
- Attended a Mardi Gras parade (Mobile, 1994)
- Took a ride on the Great Salt Lake and drove through the Bonneville Salt Flats (Salt Lake City, 1996)
- Saw Niagara Falls, went to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, attended a Cleveland Indians game and went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Syracuse, 1999)
- Drove through Yellowstone Park to Old Faithful, but did not see it erupt. Also went to the Little Big Horn battlefield (Billings, 2002)
- Drove around Lake Tahoe, and went to the now-closed Ponderosa Ranch (Reno, 2004)
- Had dinner at a Biloxi casino that was later obliterated in Hurricane Katrina and walked around the French Quarter (Baton Rouge, 2005)
- Toured the USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier (Corpus Christi, 2006)
- Saw Blood, Sweat and Tears and saw the Independence Day fireworks (Albuquerque, 2008)
- Drove through a blizzard in the mountains between Lake Tahoe and Carson City (Reno, 2010)
And again, those are only things I did while in a city for the national tournament. I've also had great times with my family in New York City and Las Vegas over the past few years, and also My-Sugar-Na and I have done some other trips just by ourselves, and not once have I been glad to be home. Life in the real world kinda sucks, but vacation is Captain and Cokes and photo ops.
I know that there were times where I overspent my budget, and there are times I probably shouldn't have gone in the first place. But the enjoyment I get while on vacation, and the photographs and memories that I still have should still be there when I am too old to remember my wife's name.
And I think that is worth being a little short on cash for a week or two.
On the First Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Baseball's Hot Stove League
On the Second Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - A handful of chopped pecans
On the Third Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Memories of my past
On the Fourth Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Jim Steinman lyrics
On the Fifth Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Christmas tree smell
On the Sixth Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Watching forbidden football
On the Seventh day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - The airplane taking off
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