On Wednesday, remembering how long Bill and I have been together, I thought about all the road trips and vacations we've taken over those 38 years. Tens of thousands of miles under our wheels. Vancouver, countless times; Pacific Rim/Ucluelet/Tofino, countless times; Ontario and Quebec, many times; the US: Boston, Cape Cod, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Maine, Vermont, Denver, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, El Paso (into Mexico a few times here), Dallas, Corpus Christie, Brownsville, Tucson, Gallup, Cheyenne, Helena, Minot, Fargo, Duluth, etc. etc. All the stops along the way.
Sept 22, 2017
This was our last road trip. We had intended doing the Lake Superior Circle Tour. We made it to Duluth, but after a couple of days we needed to return to Canada because of Bill's health. I was very sad about that; it would have been an epic adventure.
The boys were excellent travellers on this trip. Our first road trip with Chopper was in 2014 a few weeks after we adopted him and he wasn't a good van passenger at all. But this trip, both boys were perfect.
Bemidji, Minnesota
When we road trip, we are never in a rush. We drive and if we see something interesting or intriguing, we veer off and go investigate. That is how, decades ago, we ended up in Dayton, Ohio at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum. It was such a great museum, we purposely detoured to it a few years later. Same as how we ended up in Bisbee, Arizona! Then we found the Pima Air & Space Museum. It was great.
from 2002 Vancouver Island vacation
(lol, that camera was a VERY early digital camera. Resolution of a potato.)
We had lots of (mis)adventures, too. Like that time in Texas when the FBI seized my camera and film because Bill took a photo of something he shouldn't have. Ha! We managed to talk our way out of that one and they didn't destroy my film. I have that photo here somewhere.
EDIT: here it is!
the "forbidden" photograph
It was January 1991. We were in Corpus Christie, TX. Notice our blue truck on this side of the security fencing. Past the sign that said "NO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS BEYOND THIS POINT". Desert Storm/Shield/Gulf War was underway. The military was very particular about people coming onto their bases and taking photographs of anything. They were more concerned with what could be seen in the backgrounds of photos, as well.
Bill's RCMP ID literally saved us that day. The MPs detained us and they had two FBI agents come and talk to us (separately) and finally we got my camera back, and they let us go on our way.
My cameras have always been my best memory keepers.
Now our circumstances and life situation have changed and Bill's days of travel are over. I have been giving a lot of consideration to going back and finishing our last trip on my own. I'm not afraid of solo travelling; I am pretty street smart and have a very good "gut" and sense of intuition, as well as observation skills. Me and Leggy.
If I was able to, I'm not sure if I'd go in May, or September like our abbreviated trip. It all depends on Bill's health and condition. I wouldn't necessarily feel okay about leaving him for possibly two weeks. It is day by day, currently, as his health declines. This week, however, he had an excellent week! It's been a windchilly week, but seems to be warming up more now.
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