Tag: travel

To Drive or To Fly?

To say I am a logistics dunce is an understatement. Creating schedules, arriving at informed decisions around dates and times, brings on a headache every time. 

I stand in awe of those who fit together master schedules for schools, making sure each child in every class in every grade gets the required amount of time for the core subjects as well as physical education, music, library, and art, and builds in time for lunch and a recess as well. I’ve watched the process and trust me, it’s incredibly difficult. Never did I complain about scheduling lest someone hand the job over to me. 

But I digress. My current problem is trying to figure out whether it’s more cost efficient to drive or to fly to my daughter’s home in Illinois. If I were working it’d be a no-brainer. I’d need to fly to cut down on lost time at work. But, that’s not an issue.

Help me figure this out:

Flights: The lowest priced flights start at $456, but they have multiple connections. I hate multiple connections.

Driving: The distance from Havana, FL, to Rapid City, IL, is 1004.6 miles. Let’s call it an even grand.

My car averages 27 miles per gallon.

Studly and I used all of our hotel points on our last vacation, and I’ll need to stay two nights on the road. Let’s say I’ll spend about $120 per night.

If I choose my meals carefully I can eat for an average of $10 per meal. If I eat 10 meals on the road that’s $100. Let’s add in some snacks and call it $130.

Have I left anything out? 

There’s no prize for figuring out my best option, and I’ll most likely do what I want anyway, but if this stuff turns you on, go for it!

Peace, people!

  

Not in (AR)Kansas Any More

There’s no place like home….

  

Interstate Parking Lots–a Sonnet

more than 800 miles stretched before us
upon leaving home early this morning
with 300 strong horses to serve us
we conquered the road, 4 wheels a’turning

but summer’s freeways hold pitfalls galore:
roadwork, collisions, detours, and potholes
soon our horses could stretch their legs no more
the brakes were applied more than our throttles.

with technology we looked to the skies
and soon plotted a course for our horses
our new path allowed those miles to fly by
thanks to heaven for satellite choices!

our route now is open; traffic is clear
the steeds are running in their highest gear.

Studly Doright is responsible for much of this poem, most of which was composed as we sat in bumper to bumper traffic on I65.

Airport Musings

Gate changes and delays
harried young mother
wearing infant son
towing another;
frazzled.

Distraught debutante clicking
three-inch louboutins;
furious glimpses of
red against gray
tiled floors.

Hawaiian-shirted tourist
clutching camera close
strap flapping on
printed purple
hibiscus.

Hipster dude in black framed
glasses, reading kerouac
while moving his lips
to the pure beat of
a lost generation.

Elderly passenger, bound
for Tokyo; cancelled
flight, long missed
connection results
in frantic call.

  

Things to do When Your Flight is Delayed

  1. Play Words With Friends
  2. Find hidden patterns in the carpet and follow them until you reach a wall
  3. Make up stories about your fellow passengers
  4. Eat
  5. Eavesdrop
  6. Read every sign backwards
  7. Read every sign in pig Latin
  8. Check your email
  9. Eat
  10. Read a book
  11. Count ceiling tiles
  12. Trace the alphabet with your foot
  13. Begin thinking in a British accent
  14. Eat
  15. Decide the man sitting beside you is an escaped convict. Move to another chair.
  16. Count designer handbags
  17. Google “escaped convicts”
  18. Google yourself
  19. Create a Venn diagram of escaped convicts and delayed airline passengers
  20. Eat
  21. Read a book
  22. Start a new game with a random person on Words With Friends
  23. Play “Dumb Ways to Die”
  24. Play repeatedly without improving
  25. Make a stupid list 
    ansfer-tray

Life’s Little Lessons #5

Be sure the pants or skirt you packed to travel home in after a week of dining on Texas’ finest cuisine have a bit of elastic in the waist. #cannotbreathe #fatandhappy.

All My Bags are Packed

Truly my bags are packed. I’m off to Texas tomorrow for a Doright family reunion. 

Positives (in no particular order):

  1. Seeing my children and grandchildren. Hugging will happen.
  2. Hanging out with Saint Helen. 🙂
  3. Visiting with the Doright clan, especially Studly’s sisters and his brother.
  4. Saint Helen’s cooking. Yummmmmm!
  5. The Doright Family Auction–always a hoot.
  6. Getting to see my Aunt Nedra and Uncle Richard.
  7. Touching base with old friends.
  8. Eating Tex-Mex food. 

Negatives:

  1. Getting up at 4 a.m. To make my flight. Ugh!
  2. That’s it. No more negatives. Going to bed now.

Peter, Paul, and Mary: Leaving on a Jet Plane. This song always makes me cry.

http://youtu.be/c8jEapecSqc
Peace, people!

Nana’s Visit

I wrote this piece for my grandchildren Garrett and McKayla several years ago. Parts of it are even true. 

Nana’s Visit

“Nana’s coming, Nana’s coming!” sang Garrett as he ran in circles around the room.”
“Nana’s coming, Nana’s coming!” echoed Little Mac following closely behind her brother.

Mama covered her ears with her hands.

“Enough, you two!” she exclaimed. “You are making me crazy!”

Garrett giggled. So did Little Mac.

“When will she be here?” Garrett asked, jumping up and down.
“Yeah, when will Nana be here?”asked Little Mac, hopping on one foot.

“Soon,” smiled Mama.

“Are we going to the airport to pick her up?” asked Garrett.

“No, not the airport,” Mama said.

“Are we going to the train station to pick her up?” asked Little Mac.

“No,” Mama shook her head. “Not the train station.”

“Hmmm,” said Garrett.
“Hmmm,” repeated Little Mac.

“Is she riding a bus?” Garrett wondered.
“Yeah, a bus!” shouted Little Mac. “A school bus!”

Mama laughed, “Nope. Keep guessing!”

“Then she must be driving her car!” whooped Garrett. “We can ride around with the top down!”

“Wheeeee!” squealed Little Mac.

“Still wrong,” Mama said. “She isn’t driving her car either.”

Garrett frowned for a moment. “I hate to tell you this, Mama,” he said. “We are all out of guesses.”

“Yeah,” said Little Mac, crossing her arms and frowning, too. “All out of guesses.”

Just then, Mama put a finger to her lips. “Shhh,” she said. “I think I hear something outside our house.”

Garrett and Little Mac raced to the front door and into the yard just in time to see a shiny red motorcycle pull into their driveway. The rider turned off the motor, pulled off her helmet and smiled.

“Nana?” asked Garrett.
“Nana!” squealed Little Mac.

Sure enough, it was Nana.

  

New-to-me

Places I’ve never been

Are my favorite destinations

I cannot wait to place my

Feet on new-to-me land.

Don’t get me wrong;

I’d have been a terrible

Pioneer.  

 

Scared of snakes,

Petrified of the unknown,

Reluctant to venture 

Outside the camp’s 

Boundaries.

Still, there is a large

Part of me that needs the

Thrill of driving on 

New-to-me roads, of

Treading on new-to-me

Sidewalks, of eating

New-to-me foods.

  Like an overgrown 

Child on a raucous

Rollercoaster,

For the very first time:

Hands in the air

Stomach in my throat

Wheeeee!  

Antigua, here I come.

Peace, People!