I think I really re-discovered summer this year and all it's wonders... but I still can't believe it's over. When I was little, I thought summer was so long. And since I spent so much of it away from home with my dad and his family, or traveling with my mom and her husband with his kids etc.., I never thought summer was about being home at all. It was about traveling and seeing things. Although I am sure we were home a lot, it seemed like we were mostly in a camper or a boat, or at some distant aunt or uncles house. This is probably why I love to travel so much.
The journey was the magic....I could just stare out the windows and dream about peoples lives as we sped through town after town. Or look to the sky or road for infinite repeating patterns of yellow stripes or clouds whisking by .... putting me into a trance.
One of my favorite places was in the camper bed above the cab of my step dad's truck. But with so many kids older than me, I never got first choice., Sometimes I was allowed to squish in with all the big kids along the top looking out the long rectangle window. I loved this and pretended I was flying. But I also spent a lot of time hanging my feet out the back of my dad's station wagon or at the front of our boat ...singing "I'm a rhinestone cowboy" or anything from Saturdays warrior and Sound of Music that my sister and step siblings could recall , at the top of our lungs. Somehow we always had our heads out the windows or were hanging off the edge of a truck or boat or car...
These are the moments that I really remember enjoying ... and sometimes, when I blocked out the noise and stared up, it was just all about the clouds!!! I really love clouds. Probably only something a few people know about me. But not all clouds. Just the fluffy ones that have the dark blue skies framing them. The sun must be just so as to almost darken the earth with shadows- but at the same time, highlight every details of the clouds. I don't know what it is about the contrast of the clouds against the blue sky that I love so much,......but I do know that whenever I am somewhere in the world enjoying the view..... the clouds make the difference in experience. I enjoy the mountains, the ocean, the river, the swimming pool, the car ride, the airplane ride etc.... so much more when I see my clouds.
At this time in my life I don't really consider myself someone who travels tons, especially since I married and settled down. But I do love to travel. And I think I traveled more than usual this summer so it brought back a lot of fun memories of adventures I have had traveling. And it also helped me find some things out about myself that I had forgotten.
For instance, at the beginning of the summer I took my two son's to Washington DC and New York. This was a big deal. Especially since I usually rely on my husband so much when we travel, to be the guide and the driver etc...
This trip was just me. I was a little nervous just going off alone and I think my boys wondered if I could even read a map. I felt like great timing to take them, Mr. C had just finished the year studying about the president's and the US Government. He also learned about the Revolutionary and Civil wars, etc.... Well, I knew I could read a map, but, they didn't,I think they think I can only make lunches, clean and read books, so it was fun to actually show them that I could do hard things like.... take them safely on a plane far away, and then rent a car and drive them around in a strange city and find my way without the aid of Dad.
It was fun when it clicked and they realized that I really did know something about the world and that I really did have a life of travel before I got married. They must have been surprised at my sudden knowledge of trivial facts!!! However, I had a hard time convincing them that the NY subway was safe..and we walked around the first half of the day in the pouring rain before they finally trusted me. After that they really thought I was cool and it felt good....It was fun to actually show them places I had been before and help them experience a different type of life tempo and culture... WE saw so much....these are the things my boys liked...
Suburban Virginia teeball - yes they have sports in all states
Robert Hansen the spy's house
toll roads
Udvar Hazy Aerospace Hanger
The Mall Museums -wow!!
Spy Museum
Real Art-all the presidents and all the famous paintings!!
Union Station
Congress in Session - private tour of the Capitol - watched Ted Kennedy give his speech on the Immigration reform bill - saw Trent Lot and John McCain
Arlington Cemetery
Mannasses Battle Field
Amtrak to NY at 4:30 a.m.
Rowing teams on the rivers at dawnPenn Station
NY Bagels
NY Pizza
NY Hot Dogs
Subway Entertainment
Natural History Museum
Canal Street
Staten Island Ferry/Statue of Liberty
Walked the Brooklyn BridgeNY Stock Exchange
Ground Zero
Empire State Building
Times Square
Magnolia Bakery and Sarah Jessica's house (hee hee)
Little Italy
and more than I can list!!To just name a few things we did... then when we got home it was the second week of summer. A lot of the travels this summer were short trips after that, like to the Arches National Park in Utah and to the mountains for camping,etc.... or some of the kids had sports or dance camps etc.. and then finally just before we had to get home for the boys to start football...we went to Mexico and SoCAl, that was the best.
I guess I just didn't get enough though, and thought we would add one last trip on at the last minute after school started. So over labor day weekend my extended family invited us to Southern Utah for the weekend. And of course I thought it would be a great last chance to fit in a mini vacation before winter sideswipes us. But with the boys engulfed in football i just took the girls. We had a lot of adventure on our hikes. We had a rattle snake cross our trail, we saw a crazy squirrel, saw waterfalls and lizards and deer with big ears. At one point we wanted to ride the horses, but we decided that we would wait and go back another time to Zions when Dad and the boys could do that. Again, it was fun to hike and drive and explore a new and exciting place, go shopping and eat at fun places. We love southern Utah!! But most of all it was beautiful.
And the clouds were absolutely the best I ever remember seeing....
