Can I Share My Lessons With You?

With this being my first full post after my road trip I thought I might share with you what I actually learned. Have you ever done that, took a trip and then get home only to wonder what did I learn from that?

I do it every trip, sort of like the trip was meant to be an experience and I need to relish the lessons. This trip was no exception and now that I have had a day to think about it there were definitely some lessons.

Travel companions are easy targets but worth a mention. This trip I traveled with a very old, dear friend and her blind dog, the lesson? When a friend tells you they need a break and invite you for a road trip be forewarned it will be a long trip.

My travel companion talked the entire way, every waking moment and if she was not talking she was singing or humming. Being totally southern her accent is as thick as whipping cream and her speech as simple as it comes. Lesson here is to make sure you take a bag of saltwater taffy with you.

The blind dog was a sweet heart and don’t be fooled by its handicap. This dog could smell food buried 2 feet under the sand and hear people long before we ever saw them. I did want to put one those alien antenna headbands on her though. She kept running into things and I thought feelers the answer. Like the ones you use to put on cars as not to hit the curb but my friend thought it coddling.

Everyone travels with technology these days so I must mention the GPS. For some reason ours lost its mind going and coming. Right when we arrived at an area where several roads came together and numerous turns were required she decided to recalculate. Stupid thing came back to life saying, “In 500 feet make a u-turn.” She must have not wanted to reach the beach and once she did, wanted to stay.

One of the things I was originally excited about was the North Carolina Oyster Festival. Same place and same weekend as our trip, little did I know? I guess it is a beach thing, here in Kentucky we call them festivals but if it says “Horse,” there are horses; if it says “Bourbon,” there is bourbon. The oyster festival had one booth of oysters and your choice was fried or steamed. Doesn’t exactly scream oyster festival to me, I’m a Rockefeller sort of girl. Lesson here is every state must have its own definition of the word “Festival.”

Here was the real lesson. Since I traveled with all females and rest areas were a must, take this to heart. Should you continually pass billboards advertising restrooms until they talk you into needing to go and then proclaim to be the cleanest, KEEP DRIVING. The billboards are from the fifties and so are the toilets, not to mention that is when they were last cleaned.

All in all, the trip was truly wonderful. The weather was warm and got warmer each day, the skies crystal blue and the ocean was like glass. The scenery was gorgeous, that is except for the two, beer bellied white whales that had the house next to us. The dolphins stopped by each day to wave at us and I found several pieces of sea glass. I collect sea glass, love the stuff and someday will make a bracelet or something out of it.

I’m glad to be back though and look forward to returning to the blog world. I have so many stories running around in this head of mine.

I’ll be back reading and commenting as usual, I missed you guys. I just hope I did not miss too much. Did I miss anything?

Technorati Tags: Travel,Beach,Oysters,Trying to get Over The Rainbow