We were the country kids. I was painfully shy, awkward and resisted wearing jeans to high school. City kids didn't. "You will wear them," Mom said. "If the bus breaks down, you'll be glad you're warm." We did. It did. South of Colon we had to push it out of a snowbank. But we were warm!
Leona's husband, Richard, and Alice share the same birthday. Over Leroy's roast pork and wild rice and mushroom stuffing we shared our travels. A big-game hunter, Leroy and Alice travel to Africa each year. Alice said, "The Doma Safari Camp is about three hours out of Harare, Zimbabwe in the middle of nowhere. Electricity is generated for about two hours at sunrise and in the evening just long enough for meals. Staff launder our clothes daily and hang them out to dry. Each piece is flat-ironed and folded." Less luggage. Even better than wash 'n wear.
Leroy cooked cashews, raisins and carrots so small I thought they were fava beans. Delicious. Richard and I lived two miles apart as kids and never knew each other until high school. His family hatched thousands of chicks. And I thought two-hundred hogs a year was a lot of work. Richard and Leona visit their daughter in Sweden and have traveled to Alaska where the cabbage grows as big as bushel baskets.
While in Australia I witnessed a preservationist sharing his passion for saving the koalas while it soaked his suit. I wonder if he changed his mind about them. Leroy sent home two of his homemade cinnamon pecan rolls for breakfast. Mine didn't make it to daylight. Krysia loved hers. Alice, he is a keeper!
Leroy's cloud dessert was cream cheese sweetened with Splenda. Piled and mushed in the center it resembled Ireland, but wasn't green. He cooked blueberries sweetened with Splenda for the center. Yum! I ate mine slow.
Traveling tests our ability to adapt, overcome and improvise. Often times it's a huge hassle, but we love to learn, see and do and will keep traveling. Good food, good friends and talk of world travels made my day. Happy travels to you, too.
copyright 2008 Red Convertible Travel Series
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Friday, March 02, 2007
Taking our spaghetti for a ride
We had a whiteout blizzard yesterday that dropped a foot of snow. High winds continue rearranging it. Footage of nature's gift to Watertown, NY, puts us to shame. They wouldn't be impressed with our piddly nuisance amount even though it closed the interstates in Eastern Nebraska and 100 miles into Western Iowa. Omaha's Westside High's girl's basketball team HAD to get to Lincoln for the state tournament. Forget hell an high water, they maneuvered snow closed roads and whiteouts to make it, play and win. It will be talked about for years.
When Minnie and I traveled through southern Canada we noticed few garages. A local said it was no use. When snow piled up they couldn't open the doors. Radiator heaters stood ready. Ropes connected houses and barns. Some houses had built-ons connecting to the barn. Rachael Ray says another month of winter means four more feet of snow and three more power outages. We thought it was rough when Minnie lived in St. Paul, Minnesota with its two seasons: shovel and swat. Further north is worse.
Fall foliage of the Northeast was our destination in '98. We had all kinds of plans to see, do and taste, but that's another story. I will say Cracker Barrel in Watertown was the first Cracker Barrel we've stopped at that had a Reuben sandwich. It was good. So was Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream at their plant. We'd reserved a condo at Smuggler's Notch, Vermont, and another at Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. Kitchens mean we take food. Since it was fall we packed fresh tomatoes unaware they could be confiscated, not leaving the US, but getting back in.
Northwest of Watertown, NY we crossed over the St. Lawrence River's high arched bridge onto an island for customs processing. There was no getting off unless approved. I was driving. The official looking official asked where we were from. Before I could answer Minnie hollered, "Wahoo!"
I gasped.
He asked, "Where we were going?"
She burst out, "Smuggler's Notch, Vermont!"
I cringed
"Are you related?" .
"Sisters!"
He bust out laughing. "I'll bet you two have a lot of fun. Get out of here."
We say Minnie confettied customs.
As for our spaghetti and tomatoes, we never took them out of the box, they were just along for the ride.
copyright 2007 Red Convertible Travel Series
When Minnie and I traveled through southern Canada we noticed few garages. A local said it was no use. When snow piled up they couldn't open the doors. Radiator heaters stood ready. Ropes connected houses and barns. Some houses had built-ons connecting to the barn. Rachael Ray says another month of winter means four more feet of snow and three more power outages. We thought it was rough when Minnie lived in St. Paul, Minnesota with its two seasons: shovel and swat. Further north is worse.
Fall foliage of the Northeast was our destination in '98. We had all kinds of plans to see, do and taste, but that's another story. I will say Cracker Barrel in Watertown was the first Cracker Barrel we've stopped at that had a Reuben sandwich. It was good. So was Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream at their plant. We'd reserved a condo at Smuggler's Notch, Vermont, and another at Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. Kitchens mean we take food. Since it was fall we packed fresh tomatoes unaware they could be confiscated, not leaving the US, but getting back in.
Northwest of Watertown, NY we crossed over the St. Lawrence River's high arched bridge onto an island for customs processing. There was no getting off unless approved. I was driving. The official looking official asked where we were from. Before I could answer Minnie hollered, "Wahoo!"
I gasped.
He asked, "Where we were going?"
She burst out, "Smuggler's Notch, Vermont!"
I cringed
"Are you related?" .
"Sisters!"
He bust out laughing. "I'll bet you two have a lot of fun. Get out of here."
We say Minnie confettied customs.
As for our spaghetti and tomatoes, we never took them out of the box, they were just along for the ride.
copyright 2007 Red Convertible Travel Series
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