Winter Vacation was inspiring, for writing and life in
general. My husband and I took his
father, who I care for at our home, and drove from Texas to make a half
country, video racing game loop back home.
From Texas to Louisiana with a stop off at a casino to stretch our legs,
of course. From Louisiana to a ginormous
outlet mall in, again to stretch our legs.
It’s very important to stretch your legs when driving long
distances. After the shopping trip, we
aimed the grill of my truck toward Atlanta, Georgia to attend a work conference. Atlanta was lovely, rich in heritage. We stayed mostly in the downtown area, saw
several local attractions, and had a really good time.
With work out of the way, we could play. Disney World, which I absolutely adore. Their Food and Wine Festival was par none for
experiencing tastes from around the world.
After our time with the giant mouse, we traipsed along Florida and
Georgia’s Antique Trail, heading up toward Tennessee.
Our original plan was to take a real scenic route back to Texas by way of Oklahoma to see family
and do a bit of gambling. Fortunately,
it didn’t work out that way. We stopped
at Welcome Centers as we passed the state lines and found so many interesting
places we wanted to visit. This gave us
a more precise navigational direction to head as the plan was to drive straight
through and watch the scenery through the windows. We found a fantastic train museum in Alabama,
and spent the day there.
The next day, we crossed the border into Tennessee and
stopped at their Welcome Center.
Whoo! You would not believe this
place. It was on an island at the top of
a peak the overlooked all the surrounding water and mountains. I hadn’t seen many mountains before and the
view was spectacular. The early winter
leaves were ablaze in reds and golds with deep emerald patches covering the
mountain sides. The vibrant colors reflected
off the water. We sat in their waterside
park for several minutes simply taking in the view. The pictures I got were as unforgettable as
the memories.
It was late, so we booked a room online. The next morning, we walked out the front
door to see clouds floating just overhead of our mountainside hotel. The three emerald, gold, and red covered
mountains were mostly visible with two in front and one behind where we
stood. The view from our modestly
priced, I’m too tired to drive further hotel, was breathtaking.
We went to breakfast in the lobby, and the manager told us
we couldn’t leave until we saw Ruby Falls and Rock City. After seeing the brochures, we agreed and
extended out stay. We saw those places
on Lookout Mountain and rode the Incline.
It was so worth it, and I will be going back. Our time was a bit limited, but there is so
much I still want to see and do along the crazy route we took.
From Tennessee to Arkansas, where we traveled to the top of
the Brass Pro Shop Pyramid and looked out over the mighty Mississippi
river. From Arkansas to Oklahoma, to
have a picnic with my family, and then a stop off at the world’s largest
casino, where I actually won a little.
Woohoo!
The entire trip was an amazingly, unforgettable experience. Why did we take this wild, roaming trip
instead of just taking a plane to the conference and back? Memories.
Not just for me and my husband, or for my father-in-law who has dementia
and begged us about a vacation until we were ready to box him up and put him on
a plane, but for all of us. We don’t
know how much longer his health will hold, and even if his health remains
stable, his mind will not. It’s been a
couple of months now, and he’s already forgotten huge parts of the trip, but we
have him in pictures smiling and laughing and living. Those are priceless to us, and will be long
after he is no longer with us. We show
him the pictures and video, and he sees himself, and sometimes he remembers
bits and pieces, and he laughs, which he rarely does spontaneously any
more. He forgets how and why to laugh,
and sometimes he forgets who we are. The
pictures and video help him remember.
We gained so much by taking the scenic route, I wonder who
would gain from going someplace they hadn’t planned to go.
Happy Reading, Writing, and Adventuring,
Carolyn Haven
