Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I need a vacation . . .

. . . and just about everyone in my life has said to me, "Olive, you're going to take a vacation now that you have a little time off of work, right?"

I shrug. I really don't know.

It is interesting how different the views on vacations are. One friend said that I should plan the entire vacation myself and then invite someone along; that way, it would be a real vacation for me. I liked that idea.

Another friend said that I should have someone else plan everything--since that's the stressful part--and just show up. I liked that idea, too.

Someone offered me their personal wilderness for me to camp in. Someone suggested camping with friends at an established campground. Someone suggested California. Someone suggested Bear Lake. Someone suggested a short road trip, maybe to the canyons. My brother suggested that an 18 hour moving trip could be a road trip; we'd stop at sites. (But could this really count as a vacation?)

The truth is, I'm not very good at vacations. Maybe I will start out really small and go on excursions. Maybe then, I'll work up to a real vacation.

Places I would like to go, eventually:
* England--London and countryside
* New York City--energy, hot dogs and papaya juice, museums, traffic, crowds, art
* California--piers, beaches, Betty Edit, finding lost friend
* The Enchanted Highway--because it's odd and I like odd
* Anywhere in the U.S.-- where I can stay inside of the LV modular home
* Countryside, anywhere
* Cityscape, anywhere
* Various U.S. locations where friends live

As I compiled this list, I realized that I'm more interested in the odd and usual things that I can find in a place than in the place itself. (But maybe that's saying that I'm really interested in the place itself, because place is defined by what it contains and what happens inside its boundaries.)

Last summer I went to Cheyenne, WY and then on to CO to visit family. Why Cheyenne? They had the Sierra Trading Post. Yep, that was the whole reason. The Trading Post turned out to be a bust. (It's much better online.) But I do like my cowboy T-shirt, acquired from a WY museum, very much. Oh, and the trolley ride was quite fun; I do believe that I now know where Louis Sachar's Kissin' Kate Barlow comes from. A wild Wyoming outlaw!

6 comments:

Alicia said...

Oh, let me come! I'm dying to take a vacation too. I don't really care where we go. I just want to get out of Dodge.

Betty Edit said...

Wow, I didn't realize I was up against New York and England. Uh, have a good time then.

Here's a weird thing: the letter verification says "tjawna". Is this a sign? You should go to Tijuana.

Olive Kite said...

Excursions I might take:

* Go to the Cathedral
* Go to the mountains
* Go downtown and write and draw

Hmmm. I don't really know.

Olive Kite said...

I really don't know where to go or what to do . . . I'm aimless.

literaqueen said...

As I . . . ahem . . . have mentioned several times, you might want to add West Virginia to your list. Not that Morgantown competes with DC, but there are some really cool ghost story sites around. As long as you take a vacation (hmm, when WAS the last time you had a break?), I'm happy.

Olive Kite said...

Sheila,

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE EVER HAD A BREAK!

Seriously. I have a break, right now.

And that would have been under FRIENDS on the list!

-Lisa