Memories of Travels!

Being Knighted at Warwick Castle, England, 2010

Leaving Long Island, New York

Last night's post about Epic Journeys made me think of the memorable travels I have had the opportunity to enjoy in my life.

Cape Cod; Aunt Nancy, Mom, Basil, Me

Thinking way, way back, I remember one of my first travels when I was around five.  Grandma and Grandpa had a regular place they liked to rent in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  It was a small two or three bedroom cabin about four or five houses down the road from the beach.  I remember the walk to the beach was long for a five year old, but short enough for me to enjoy pulling my wheeled "truck" full of sand toys along with me to the beach.  I remember the tall pine trees that surrounded the cabin and one particular night where everything smelled horrible because a skunk sprayed near the cabin.  Of course I remember the salt water taffy that my mother loved to bring home with us.  One year my grandparents surprised me with a rocking horse from the area for Christmas.  To this day that rocking horse is hanging in my friend LWAC's garage awaiting room in my home.  One of my fondest memories of my childhood was traveling from home to my grandparent's home in Merrick.  The final leg of the journey was down a tree lined cement road that would drive our dog, Basil; my first, absolutely nuts due to the prospect of being able to run around the yard at grandma and grandpa's.  I remember every detail about my grandparents home; especially since we moved into that home when I was eleven or twelve.  But my fondest memory was going to Friendly's ice cream for an ice cream cone with my grandpa!

Me and Grandpa at Friendly's!

 I do not remember too much about my grandpa since he died when I was seven years old.  He needed a bypass surgery; a risky endeavor in 1978, and did not survive the operation.  He and my grandmother both died from heart conditions.  This is the main reason why I decided to be an athlete when I was a teenager, to take care of my heart.  My grandfather was an artist for the advertising department at Met Life and rode the train (Long Island Rail Road) into New York City every day.  My grandmother was a probation officer for Nassau County.  They worked hard, lived well and took great care of their family.  They enjoyed traveling and took many exciting vacations every year.  They actually took separate vacations once a year.  I remember the year my grandfather went to Italy and my grandmother brought me back souvenirs from England!

My first trip to Disney!!!

There was one year, after my grandfather's death, that I remember my grandmother flying us all to Florida for an exciting trip to Walt Disney World!!  I remember many great and exciting details from that trip! Especially spending some personal time (about 5 seconds probably) with Winnie the Pooh and his friends;  Memories are more colorful from my younger years!  The grandest memory is of our time at the contemporary resort and the great space station with the monorails running in and out of the building all day long.  There were a few short trips to upstate New York to see family and a random trip or two to New York City, oh, and even one to the eastern tip of Long Island, but there weren't any major trips until high school.

The big dork, me, in Hollywood, California!

During high school I had several trips to some snowbound areas for ski adventures, but the greatest trip of my high school life was when I traveled by airplane to visit my godmother in Los Angeles, California.  With vivid detail I remember Dorothy picking me up in the airport and transporting me across the mountains and through the "valley" to her condo in Studio City. This was the first trip of my life into a foreign land.  And what a strange and wonderful place this California was.  We went to some very different and interesting places during my short stay.  Universal Studios was one of those fun places.  My first "adult" experience in a theme park.  Quite fun, and embarrassing I must say.  Embarrassing, because I was a "cool dude," too cool to be seen with my dorky godmother (what an ass I was!  Seriously!  Look at me in the photo!  And I look like a tame dork in this photo!).
 California was such an eye opener and I really enjoyed being there!  Then time was changed by my educational pursuits.  Spent a great deal of time either visiting cousins in upstate New York or traveling to and from school in Cortland, New York.  I loved the mountains so much that I decided to leave Long Island, but I did not want the harsh upstate New York winters!  After visiting relatives in North Carolina, I decided that was the place to be!  After College I moved in with cousin Peter in Raleigh, NC for a short period of time.  Cousin Randy, also in NC, and I traveled to Asheville on vacation; here I learned that mountains, forests and hiking were the greater things in life I had been missing all along!  After this journey, she and I decided to move to Asheville.  She soon found the love of her life online and moved to Connecticut after marrying Dawson and I remained here in Asheville!  I guess I missed California, because the next great adventure of my life took me on a multi-week journey across the United States with a station wagon and tent!!
I spent a year in California enjoying the mountains and the ocean all in one day (literally many times!!!!!!!!!) and them traveled back to settle in Asheville, North Carolina.  Here I finally found my passion an my wife and a beautiful lifestyle.

Me and Hyper at Zion National Park!

Have traveled to New York and Florida many times to see family and in the process have toured many fun places in Florida!  I have run out of time, but want to remember some of the fun places I have been:  Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Edisto, Hunting Island (every year), Savannah, Little Talbot Island, Emilia Island, Cape Canaveral, Disney, Disney, Disney, Ft. Lauderdale, Key West, Key West, The Carribean, The Bahamas, England,  Atlanta, Oh, and Costa Rica!!  Some day I may blog about these places, or not, but I do want to not that traveling and experiencing new places has been one of the best experiences of my life!!