Destination

There are few things I love more than a good old adventure. I remember my father walking into the living room almost every Saturday morning, when I was a child, and telling us something along the lines of, "Pack a bag! You will need 2 changes of clothes, a swimsuit and hiking boots."

We called those days "Adventure Days"

I loved how spontaneous my parents were! I remember getting so excited thinking about all the places we could possibly be going. Sometimes they were short trips. A day trip to the zoo, or to a museum. But other times, my favorite times, were always out of town.

We would all scurry around the house for about 20 min after my dad made the announcement of Adventure Day. Once we had everything loaded into the big brown and tan suburban, we would get on the road. My dad never spoiled the surprise of where we were headed. We would spend hours trying to guess our destination. Little did I know, but my dad was teaching me that sometimes, it's not about where you are going, but who you are going with and the anticipation and excitement that comes along with an adventure.

Boy were my parents brave. Not only did they take us on small adventures, but on large ones as well. And please remember, at the beginning of our traveling years, I was 2, Rebecca was 4, David was 6 and Heather was 8. I don't know how they did it, but they managed to backpack, camp, bicycle and road trip without ever losing a child. Kudos, mom and dad. Seriously.

So this all has me thinking about all the places I have been to. The many locations from which I have viewed the same sun set.

Here are a few of my favorites.

(Grand Canyon National Park)

(A waterfall we found on a hike down to the Colorado River, from the South rim of the Grand Canyon)

(Petrified Forest National Park)

(Santa Fe. Oh, and apparently I love to wear bandanas when I travel)

(Pensacola, Florida)

(Colorado)

(Chotebor, Czech Republic)

And don't worry, Texas. You will always be my first love.

Okay, I could keep going but for now Ill leave you with that. Well, that and a little quote I read from Mark Twain.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."