One of the things I am grateful for is the ability to travel. I simply love going places and seeing, learning about and experiencing new things & different places. Both history and geography have always been fascinations of mine. Perusing maps, looking at images of places, and reading history were part of my life from a very early age. And I still get a thrill from being places where history occurred. Our time living in Williamsburg, Virginia was a constant source of amazement. Touring battlefields, the Wright Brothers’ shop, Edison’s lab, the training center for the Tuskegee Airmen or the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde still is thrilling. No matter how many times I have been, standing on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg is awe inspiring and sobering. Reading a sign in Hot Springs, Arkansas, that talked about baseball’s early stars converging there for informal spring training was amazing. And it was just a sign. Top all of that off with the stunning parks from Alaska to Florida to Maine and Montana. Photography is one of the ways I interact with all of this and the photos bring back clear memories that nothing else does. I am thankful to be able to travel, have the health right now to enjoy it, have a companion that I love and love being with and am never tired of planning the next place. I need to go hitch up the trailer right now, New Mexico is calling!
I am also glad this type of accommodation is no longer the norm. These very early cabins at Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park each held two families with a shared sink and toilet in between the two tiny rooms. Cindy and I last stayed in one like this about five years ago near Baxter State Park in Maine. The bed filled the room and the small bathroom was added later on brick pillars. But we were traveling!