Travels

This morning I got my I'm coming today! note from AB. I told her it was like Christmas this morning, waking with the anticipation of my wonderful friend rolling into town on the train from D.C. I posted this image in honor of her, although she may not exactly appreciate the photo I selected (she informed me that she fell down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial last night in the heat of monument admiration mixed with nostalgia and some drinking). I want to take this moment to pay a tribute to travelers. In my short life I've seen more than my fair share of our continent's resplendence. When Craig was on the east coast working in Hartford, I flew to see him once a month for that entire year and a half. We consumed as much of New England as we could in that time: Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, New York City, New Hampshire, Vermont. We drove to Maine. We wandered through Mystic. Together we've seen Toronto and Montreal, Montreal twice. Then Craig moved to Syracuse and I to St. Louis. I flew to see him in Syracuse as often as my checkbook would allow. We spent an afternoon at the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence Seaway. We drove along the finger lakes. He came to St. Louis and I showed him Forest Park, Busch Stadium, the Arch, the Fabulous Fox. We've been to Phoenix, to Vegas. We lived in Atlanta. We spent my birthday last year in Nashville. See how these trips add to the sanctum of my experience, these memories? And we've barely made a dent in this country let alone another. Today my friend AB travels by train solo from a weekend in D.C. to a place she's never been. Is it any wonder we are friends, any of us who itch to see this world? Last night I dreamed of a subway tunnel. The train was not near and evidently could not be located. I stood amidst slanting cold damp concrete with several others, searching for something that could not be found (could a dream be any more literal or representative of my love of travel?) It's been some time since Craig and I went on a trip, but I say that, and isn't moving to a new state much like its own fantastic trip, extended stay included? (I am constantly thinking about this, I realize.) There are times where I slow down, my mind slows, and the inspiration isn't as free-flowing. I consider myself to have a decent range of words from which to choose if I want to speak, or to write. But when the pattern begins to repeat itself, become stale, that's about the time (which I know I've mentioned before) when I desire to get up and move. An old friend of mine once wondered if it's running from something. I like to think of it as running toward something. I apply this theory to relocation and vacation traveling alike. The constant musing of a person depends on variation, on a spectrum filled with unique color selections. Today I'm admiring AB for climbing aboard a train in a way she's never done before. She's got about 2 and a half hours on a train that will carry her from our Nation's Capital to the Capital of the Confederacy: how amazing and swelled with adventure is that! There was once a time when Craig and I had never been to all of those places I mentioned. But now we have. I didn't even include Chicago, or Indianapolis, both places where we have family. Or Ohio, where we have friends. Or Detroit, where we first met. I do lean on the arrogant side when it comes to what I've seen, but wrapped up in that is the feeling that I'm so fortunate. Not only have I been able to see and do all of this, but I've loved it all along the way. One day I will launch a project similar to what my mom did with my baby photos: scanning all of my photos of trips with Craig, burn a DVD, set it to music. I can only imagine, Craig and I will sit and weep over our good fortune for where we've been. Here's to travel, to loving travel, to living the travel life. And here's definitely to AB, who took her first Big Girl One Way Amtrak Trip today.