Travel!

I am so glad that some of my loyal followers were concerned last week when I did not write all week after Monday. I have been trying to write on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but last week my wife and I took off and went someplace where there was no internet access---Laughlin.

You are thinking why would anyone want to have internet access when there is so much to do in the small sin city? I have become so used to checking email and doing other things daily, that it was somewhat of a bother to not have it. Also, I find it interesting that hotels charge these enormous prices for room rental in these vacation places, but supply no internet, but the hotels that charge $29.95 a night charge nothing.

The trip was relaxing, but not very profitable. After all, when one goes to a casino, one cannot really expect to win. Break even, maybe, but overall the odds are against you. Even the buffet’s are extravagant in price, and a person ends up eating their weight in one meal. I did, however, persevere there and did not eat at but one buffet, then I stuck to the vegetables and little meat. Overall, the week cost me about one pound on my diet. Not bad.

During the day, we often drove around the countryside to small towns via backroads. There are some really beautiful sights once the road less travelled is taken. Oatman, Arizona, Needles, California, and Searchlight Nevada are small towns with a great deal of character. My favorite place on the trip, though, was the small bump in the road called Nothing, Arizona. There is nothing in Nothing. There used to be something, but now there is nothing. The name enthralled me. Imagine telling people that you went to Nothing on your trip. “What did you see?” they might ask you. You could reply, “Nothing.” And you would not be lying. Nothing used to have a population, but the gas station burned down, and the people moved, now the census is…you guessed it… nothing.

How many times have you explored the countryside near where you live? I mean just gone out and decided to turn right or left on a whim and seen where that took you? My brother and his wife once took their entire vacation that way. They traveled the back roads between their house in New Salem, Illinois, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Quite an adventure. That, my friend, is living.

No ideas, or preconceived notions about the people or the places. Just the people and the places to heighten your senses of the humanity. See how the other half lives. Or, to paraphrase Gene Roddenberry, “Explore strange new worlds, seek out new places, boldly go where you have never gone before.”

Happy Trails.
Doughnut

p.s. As I write this, I have learned of the death of a friend, Dr. Bob Basler. Bob, who was born in the early part of the 20th Century, about the same time as my parents. He lived through Germany in WWII, serving in the Luftwaffe and then came to the US where he served his knew homeland in Korea. He was quite a fascinating character who truly wanted to help his fellow man. Bob saw many things all over the world in his 90+ years and he was on of the most learned men I have known. I lost touch him over the years, but I never forgot his sense of humor and his laugh. My condolences to Renee and Chris and Cari and the rest of the Basler family.