HITTING THE ROAD

My wife, Cindy, and I have become compulsive travelers. In fact, tomorrow we are heading to Atlanta to see Paul McCartney. I haven't even bought tickets yet. Gotta jump on that!

I am quite inept in my travels. I will admit that I frequently leave articles of clothing behind. A few times, I lost my phone. For instance, I remember getting off a plane in Nashville only to discover I had left my phone on the plane seat. In case you didn't know, you cannot re-enter the airplane after exiting. I told the Airline Attendant I was part of the cleaning crew. She said, ”Good try.” I immediately pulled up my iPad to watch my phone moving away from the airport at 60 mph. I guess someone thought they needed it more than I did.

I have missed many flights. Most of the time, I was trying to cut it too close to departure time. They mean it when they say the doors close 15 minutes before takeoff. Many times, I arrive at the boarding point only to realize I can't find my ticket. I fumble around, and divinely it appears in my pocket. I have a solution. I now give my ticket to anyone traveling with me. I haven't given it to a stranger for safekeeping, but maybe soon. I did have an employee who asked if he should put this ticket-holding requirement in his job description.

I get asked a lot, “How was your trip?”  Often, I didn’t know the person asking even realized I was traveling. Most of the time, this question comes from someone seeing on Facebook that Cindy and I are standing in front of a common tourist attraction, and I can only guess that my wife posted the photo. I'm not on Facebook, so I'm often startled to learn how someone found out about our travel. Facebook has a way of divulging all humanity's secrets.

Over the last 120 days, I have journeyed over 80 of them. Only a retiree could pull that off.

I've listed some of my destinations. You are welcome to reach out to me for my thoughts on a particular destination or to share your travel experiences. What were your destination highlights? Or epic failures? Sorry, but I won’t share stories about visiting my children. I don't believe they are advertising for guests. Let’s share travel stories!

 Backroads  Bike Trips Include: 

• San Juan Island, Washington state

• Bordeaux, France

• Portugal

• Vietnam

• Croatia

Golf trips include many courses in the following spots:

• Ireland

• England

• USA:   

  • NORTH: The National Golf Links, Skinnecock, Winged Foot, NY

  • SOUTH: Ohoppee, Congaree, Palmetto, Doral, Succession

  • And many others, but not Augusta National

Concert Venues include the following:

• Red Rocks Colorado

• The Sphere Las Vegas

• The Beacon NYC

• The Fox Atlanta

• Majestic Dallas

• Dickies Fort Worth

• Orpheum

• Bourbon and Beyond  Louisville

• Charleston several venues

• Charlotte - all over the place

• Savannah - a couple of stops                                                 

Hunting Trips Include:

• Brays Island

• Gillisonville, SC (my Farm)

• Almost Heaven

• Flying B, WY

• Sweetwater, WY

• South Africa, Namibia

• Alberta 

• Saskatchewan          

And the best trips: Family Visits!

• Haley, Mike, Mason, Mary, Margaret

• Drew, Shelly, Eleanor

• Gray, Kitty, Graham

My favorite trip is my next one.

See you soon.