The Trip of a Lifetime

Yes kids, it's that time of year again. Time for the Dixon Family Walkabout.

And lemme tell you- the level of fear in the boys' eyes as I fanned the 25 pages of Mapquest routes and 50 pages of printed out info concerning our hotel reservations, park information and other assorted places we're going to stop has never before been seen.

I believe I may have outdone myself.

And that's saying a lot.

I came to my roadtrip-planning mania genetically, through my mom. I didn't get her perky little nose with freckles sprinkled across it, but I did get this.

As kids, we took road trips to wherever the NPPA's convention was being held- National Press Photographers' Association, my dad was on their board for a time. As a board member's family, we got breaks and freebies once we got there as far as hotel and whatnot, but we just had to get there. Press photographers don't make a whole lot of money.

So we'd roadtrip. We roadtripped to Pittsburgh and we roadtripped to Florida. We trained to LA, losing a/c just as we got to Arizona on our way back. We took a cooler of food and ate lunches at rest-stops and roadside parks. We traveled on the dust of a shoestring budget, but we went EVERYWHERE.

My first husband didn't understand this. His family was much more well-off than mine, but they went to the same cabin on the same lake the same week of every summer. He declined to do the Yearly Road Trip.

We don't speak of my second husband.

Ward has always been into road-tripping. At 16, his parents let him drive, alone, to Cape Canaveral to see the liftoff of the first manned spaceship. From Texas.

At 19, he took his baby brother (aged 13) to Yellowstone.

His first wife was not into road-tripping.

We're a match made in Heaven, ya'll.

We've been all over, several times. Alec has been road-tripping since before birth. After one trip to Wisconsin we found out when we got home that we'd had a stowaway. He's got 34 states on his list of 'States Visited', and this year, we're fixin' to add another 8, leaving only Alaska, Hawaii, the far Northest tiny states, Florida and Michigan.

You know- those states that aren't really 'on the way' to anywhere.

We all three of us have the desire to 'go', even though I'm mightily terrified of flying and I know that I'm going to have to get over that soon- there are too many places we want to see that require it...we're running out of contiguous states.

People ask me, "So where are you going?" and I say, "Everywhere".

They sigh and try again. "What is your destination?" I answer, "We don't have a destination- we have a turn-around point."

Because that's the great thing about driving. You can see a ton of stuff on the way there and home. A ton.

Check out www.roadsideamerica.com for just how much there is to see. I've found things within 20 miles of our house I never knew existed. I figure out where 'lunchtime' will be on our route and key in that city's name. It's awesome. We've lunched at the World's Largest Ball of Twine (Cawker City KS- and Alec got to add to it), the Sock Monkey Museum (just west of Chicago) and in front of Santa Anna's leg (Springfield IL).

Because that's the sort of fabric America is made of, ya'll.

A few years ago I figured out that for LESS than the cost of a Days Inn or Econolodge, there are places to stay the night that add to the trip instead of merely being a place to crash and shower. Look up hotels in your desired area and then scroll way, way, way down past the chain hotels and motels and you'll find the independent mom and pop lodgings- there's even a website for that- www.momandpopmotels.com . I generally check the reviews at Travelocity to make sure they're not 'rent by the hour', but so far we've been nothing but thrilled with the places we've stayed.

We've stayed in a yurt in Arkansas, a llama farm in Wisconsin, and this year we'll be staying at 2 pheasant hunting lodges...it's off-season. Although we had to really think twice about what would be better- a Days Inn right on the interstate or a cabin in the middle of the Kansas rolling hill prairie...hmmm...life is chock full of tough choices...

We stay in a lot of historic hotels. They're generally located conveniently and the staff usually consists of people who know the history of the place and love it. We'll be returning to one this year- the Kalispell Grand in Montana. It costs less than the Kalispell Motel 6 and is just a few blocks away from it. Motel 6? Or...this? www.kalispellgrand.com From the Canadian border to New Orleans, so far none of them have let us down.

While most of the time the Travelocity reviews are spot on (and brutally honest) I have to laugh at some of the reviews regarding historic hotels; a lot of them on the National Historic Registrty. 'Everything very out-dated', 'In desperate need of updating', 'Small rooms', 'Shabby'...Apparently some people are unaware of what 'historic' means.

We travel instead of. Instead of going to the movies or going shopping. Instead of paying for haircuts and manicures. Instead of participating in almost any other hobby other than Alec's guitar and art lessons and my going to guinea pig shows. We do without so we can do this, and we have the blessing of having Joe to care for the farm while we're gone and who very generously adds to the travel fund because he knows how important it is.

Even on a shoestring, it ain't cheap. But it's important.

It's important because it gives perspective. Humans get entrenched in their little worlds and come to believe that how it is within their field of vision is how it is everywhere. Oh, sure you see all sorts of stuff on TV and the internet from all over the world but it's not real. It's on the TV or internet like soap operas and 'reality' shows.

You have to Be There.

You have to Be There to get a feel for a place; feel the weather, hear the sounds, smell the smells and eat the food served by the very real people who live there- people who are different from the people at home while being the same as all humans are the same- to feel the connections and differences all at once.

It's important to realize that all the above cannot be achieved by staying in chain motels and eating at chain restaurants and only seeing the 'touristy stuff'. Oh, sure the accents of the clerks will be 'funny' and there will be minor regional differences on menus, but other than that...it's as enriching as just watching it on TV.

Empty brain calories, ya'll.

And time is short. Our family knows that time is short at all times and in the best situations. I'm typing this as Ward gets his yearly 'noes to tose' PET scan, lab work, and chest X-ray to be sure he's still OK, that he's not harboring a stowaway of his own in there...a very unwelcome one.

Even without that spectre, just the normal stuff of living- will I always have the ability to take off a few weeks in a row to do this? Will we have the money to do so? Alec is 14- he may have a summer job starting next year and not WANT to go...

Life is change. For good or bad, life is change and it changes in a literal heartbeat; a fact that's been pounded into us over and over and over again.

So look out, America- the Dixons are hitting the road again next week for over 6,000 miles. Seeing friends along the way, stopping at five National Parks and at least as many obscure attractions, eating out of our cooler or at locally owned places and staying in historical hotels and motels along the way- places that are literally one of a kind in all the history of everywhere.

The Trip of a Lifetime...but we know they all are.

Field Trip...Home School Style

So we took a little train ride last month.

There was a get together at a friend's house we wanted to go to and we thought, "Why not take the train? It'll be fun!"

Just a little train ride.

So we left out of Mineola TX one fine evening, fresh and eager.



See? Eager.



'Round about midnight, we pulled into Little Rock and dropped off a few and picked up a few. The boys slept through that.



Right after dawn, we passed by the St. Louis arch.



Then we traversed Illinois...the long way from bottom to top.



Finally, we got to Chicago.



We got off the train in Chicago and got on the commuter train to Sturtevant WI, which is right outside Racine WI.

Racine WI is where I was born and lived till I was 35. It's right on Lake Michigan and a pretty city during every season but winter...which lasts from October 1st thru May 31st.









We spent the night in Racine, and while there, of course, we visited family- my brother and son and their lovely partners.



And my parents.



And an old friend from high school. Old friend. I'm not sure how he got so old since we went to school together.



And then we got back on the train.

Back to Chicago, where we had time to explore Union Station before our next transfer.



We slept our way across most of the dreariest parts of northern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio and woke up to Cleveland.



Here's where it sorta went downhill. Most of the time Amtrak will run a bit late and by 'a bit' I mean anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours late. This is not, as you hear so often, the mis-management of Amtrak. This is because the tracks themselves are owned by the freight companies and the freight companies treat Amtrak like the redheaded stepchild and restrict which tracks they may run on and when. Hence...sitting on the tracks waiting for stupid freight trains to mosey on by, while passengers on the Amtrak train sweat out whether or not they will make their next connection.

So the train went from leaving Chicago on time on the nosie, to an hour late, to two hours late, to "Holy Shit We Are Never Getting to Albany" late.

Somewhere in there our train car was overrun by several Amish families- 22 of them from about mid-thirties down to "I think she had that baby on the way to the train" little. They were delightful. And darling. And very well behaved.

Somewhere in there our train was boarded by several border security (I never think of the Canadian border as...foreign) and they asked everyone where they were from and where they were going. Several rows in front of us were 2 women who spoke very broken English. They conversed to each other in their native language- Russian. They were outstandingly pretty. They couldn't answer the questions. They were smiled at and the security guys moved on to...the Hispanic English teacher from Chicago, who got everything but the spotlight shone in his eyes during interrogation. Eventually they wearied from this exercise in National Security and left.

Finally...four hours late, we pulled into Albany.



And our reason for being there...a few days in a 1700's farmhouse



Surrounded by blueberry bushes in full fruit



And this balm-for-the-soul environment







And good friends.



From there it was just a short trip to New York City, where none of us had ever been, and a prettier route I cannot imagine as it went alongside the Hudson River the entire way.






I was sorta excited to be able to SEE New York City without having to DRIVE or FLY into New York City. Unfortunately, just before the train gets INTO New York City, it goes underground, giving this lovely view all through town.



Once in Penn Station I realized...it's fucking huge. I've been all over the US and we're absolutely comfortable in Chicago and Houston- numbers 3 and 4 in size of US cities, but this? Fucking huge. Luckily, we were met by friends who steered us outside long enough for a photo in front of (within sight of) the Empire State Building. We were outside less than 5 minutes, but can now say we have been IN New York City. Where? Oh, Midtown.



This is New York City.



This is literally ten minutes south of New York City. Looks a helluva lotta like Illinois.



Ahhh...Washington DC, where the capitol building hides behind the congressional offices.



The Washington Monument is covered in weblike scaffolding, appearing rust brown instead of marble white



And just across the Potomac River is the Creepy as Fuck Masonic Temple, proving once again that Separation of Church and State is a good thing...because it could totally kick the ass of any building or monument in DC. I mean...lookit it.



We slept through most of the dirt poor charming Southern Seaboard states and woke up to Atlanta.



This leg of the trip was the longest stretch on the train. Thank God for coffee.



By now Alec had decided he was never getting off of the train and pretty much just carved himself out a lair.



Birmingham Alabama may have some redeeming qualities. Or not.



Rural Alabama is just like you'd imagine it...if you ever imagined it. Camaro up on blocks, something in smoker and kudzo marching in to take it all over.



Coming through Mississippi, kudzo really hit its stride and the True South welcomed us home.



'Round about sunset we crossed over Lake Pontchartrain.



And right AT sunset we came into the train yard in New Orleans...sunset to sunset, 7 days from Mineola TX to New Orleans LA via St. Louis, Chicago, Cleveland, Albany, NYC, Baltimore, Washington DC, Atlanta, and Birmingham.



Pulling into the station, where we got off the train after just shy of 3,500 miles.



Ahhh...New Orleans.







Ward went to Tulane and said he didn't feel like he was really back in New Orleans till we saw this-



So that was our Dixon Family Road Trip...more of a Track Trip this year. The boys found out they like train travel as much as I do as we traveled through fifteen states and ten major cities, crossing two arterial rivers and skated alongside three of the Great Lakes.

History, Family, Friends, Food, Adventure, Culture, Good, Bad, Ugly- America.

Don't discount the train as a way to get from point A to point B, especially if you have small children who would appreciate being able to run around while the vehicle is moving, or if you are traveling alone- I've met one unpleasant person on a train...ever... in over 40 years of train travel, or if you are older and don't really want the killer 15 hour days of a long distance road trip anymore.

The train will rock you to sleep, take you places automobile roads don't go, and do the driving through the big cities.

www.amtrak.com

Tell 'em the Dixons sent you.

Clickety Clack Part One

The sun is setting out of the left side of the train and the clouds reflect it on the right.

We're crossing Holmes Lake, a tiny little blue splat between Marshall and Jefferson TX. Looks funny to see the moving blue orb that is my phone blinking on the iPhone map out in the middle of nowhere- no highway, no road, nothing a car could drive on.

Train tracks are like that sometimes.

Sparky And Gomez are across the aisle- both surfing the web on their phones although Sparky is taking photos with his more than surfing.

We've been to the snack car via the observation car and are pretty well settled into the coach seats for the night- grandmother, mom and very excited 3-ish year old boy in front of us and several young adults in various stages of napping and/or movie watching behind us. The observation car was a melange of older folks playing dominoes at the tables and little kids draped over the lounge chairs.

Other than the train being about an hour late, which is actually pretty on-time for Amtrak, the only snag in our vacation plans thus far was the rental car company calling us while we were eating dinner in Mineola before the train came...so already about 60 miles from home.

They wanted to confirm our reservation and that we needed pick up/drop off at the train station in Sturtevant tomorrow.

Oh. And to be sure I knew that if I want to use my debit card I'll need my most recent pay stub and 2 paid utility bills.

What the hell?

You're telling me this NOW? Less than 24 hours from when I need the car and when I'm 60 miles from home with no way to get that stuff?

Why yes. Yes they are.

Of course I don't need any of that mess if I pay with a credit card instead.

I don't have a credit card.

Joe had taken us to Mineola and started handing me his credit card but she said that as long as the credit card name matches the name of the primary driver, all would be well. He put it back in his wallet in disgust.

I said no worries, we'll just go to an ATM and get cash.

"I'm sorry- we don't accept cash".

What the fuck.

The boys started looking concerned.

"Never fear", I said. "I'll fix it once we get on the train".

Here's what I found out.

Yes, it IS Enterprise's policy but boy they sure are sorry whoever booked the car didn't mention that to me. Too bad they can't help with that. The funny part is that we've rented from Enterprise- recently- and paid with this self-same debit card without issue. Weird, but ultimately unhelpful.

According to the websites, both Avis and Hertz WILL accept my debit card without the bullshit idiocy restrictive rules of Enterprise.

Both open up at 7:30 tomorrow morning and by 8am I should have us a car.

So just a minor glitch. Nothing to fret about.

I know the world is going to hell. My heart is heavy with the current events of the last few days here in Texas and in Florida.

But right now the train is clacking and creaking, rocking along gently; the world's largest cradle. The scenery outside has gone from dusky to navy to turned off for the night. The whistle's blowing and the boys are settling in. I got 4 hours sleep last night and the reclining seat sure is comfortable.

I'll fix our rental car situation tomorrow. Sometimes all I can fix is what's right in front of me.

Sometimes that's all anyone can do.