“Three secrets to success: Be willing to learn new things. Be able to assimilate new information quickly. Be able to get along with and work with other people.” Sally Ride

Seems a good time to depart for yet another trip. We are heading off to circumnavigate, what in Alaska, we call the lower 48. The contiguous states which exclude Alaska and Hawaii. Seems appropriate to explore one’s own backyard a bit. I have always wondering why people at point A want to go to B, and the people at B want to go to point A. For those that travel the explanation is easy, to see what is there and how things are the same or different, better or worse. Then there are the people,at C and D who just want to go anywhere else. Finally there are those who choose to not physically travel through space but travel through time but staying out and watching the changes occur in a space over time.

As I get older I find home is pretty nice too. Hence a trip in the United States. I visited the south in 1962 on a cross country trip with uncle and cousin. 1962 is important because it was not until 1964 the civil rights act was passed, giving people rights across the board. But in 1962 I saw refusals to seat and or serve people, separate bathrooms, water fountains, etc. and relatives of my uncle and cousins who wanted to go do damage to various people. It scarred me as I had never seen such things, and I have developed a hatred of the south since, not changed in the past 60 years. They seem proud of their heritage. Except for numerous trips to Texas, and a few days in new Orleans I have not been back. Not that the few days traveling through on a train will show the true south, but trains are not noted for their routes through rich countrysides, the poor and industrial areas are more the norm. We shall see.

When I was 15 I did my first reasonably big bike trip, which was a group ride, of a month, from Philadelphia into Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Washington, D.C. including the C&O towpath. I took the 2 day train ride solo from Ogden, Utah to Philadelphia, returning to Utah from Washington, D.C. it was an awesome experience on my own, learning that sometimes, “they” do and think differently. I considered myself the only one from the west and wondered why the group insisted there were two from the west. One fellow was from St. Louis, and I always considered, and still do that to be east. Different viewpoints! The group leader on that trip of 10 sixteen year olds was 23 years old.

In 1993 Jeanne’s and I took the train from Perth, Australia to Adelaide across the Nullarbar desert. Again an awesome ride of 3-4 days. I remember awaking for sunrise and watching the red kangaroos racing the train in the relative coolness of morning. And the people from all over the world, all singing and getting along.

Then there were the short trips, Great Britain, Scotland, the Chunnel to Paris, and trains about Germany, and Thailand. Seems everyone complains about their countries train service, no matter where and the United States is no different, but I find it a wonderful way to travel.

Some have asked if it is not boring. Oh my gosh, how could it be boring? Always new scenery, constantly changing horizon, time to ponder whatever one ponders. Too short. But then I find sitting on this airplane at 35000 feet over the pacific flying to Seattle and onto Portland, Oregon, exciting. The clouds in a bazillion different formation. Way exciting! Trying to figure out where we are without a gps, just dead reckoning and a sort of memory. Plenty to occupy one’s mind.