Travels to the "Door"... another Grand Adventure!

 

Memoirs of a Geezer

  

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:      Travels to the "Door"...   Another Grand Adventure!

As a privileged white geezer male citizen of the planet we currently inhabit, I am additionally privileged to be afforded opportunities to abandon the rigors of daily toil in order to engage in a bit of holiday time...  you know, vacations, time off, periods of leisure activity...  (Slothfulness?...  Nah!)

Somewhat recently, my wife, SweetHeart, our beautiful daughter, Bethie, and two of our incomparable grandchildren, Seany and Phi Phi, journeyed north to savor the delights of Door County (hereinafter referred to as "DC" in this writing!), that remarkable region at the tip of Wisconsin's geological "Thumb." 

My own father and mother took their children to DC when the writer was just 8, perhaps 10 years old.  (I can't rightly recall, but perhaps my elder brother will remember our ages at the time of our inaugural visit.).  My father, having been a Special Agent in the FBI, and having spent much of his illustrious career as a trainer of police and sheriff's departments (and their inhabitants, of course!) throughout the Midwest, was often feted by commercial and civic mavens in the form of special rates on such things as lodgings, to cite a single example.  

I've enjoyed the flavors of DC since early childhood.  SweetHeart and I have been reprising our "concerts" in and to the Door for more than 40 years, that is, whenever time and finances allow us to do so.  

On our most recent expedition, we witnessed and ascended the newly-constructed, truly magnificent Eagle Tower in Peninsula State Park, a park that is to many residents and tourists alike the jewel of Wisconsin's State Park system.  With the readers' kind indulgence, a brief history of the new tower and its construction:

Members of the Friends of Peninsula State Park raised $750,000 to rebuild the tower after deconstruction of the old tower was announced in 2015.  (The actual cost was ultimately significantly higher!)

The DNR closed the tower in May of 2015 due to structural and safety concerns.  After an unsuccessful fight to save the tower it was deconstructed in September of 2016, leaving a hole at the top of Eagle Bluff, and in the hearts of generations of park visitors.  But the FOPSP quickly turned eyes to the future, launching a fundraising campaign to raise necessary funds to rebuild the tower. That was the first estimate for the cost of reconstruction.  (Aerial view of ramp and tower, at left!)

The DNR determined that if a new tower was going to be built it had to comply with the *Americans with Disabilities Act, calling for a new design that would provide equal access to all individuals. That sent designs in a drastically different direction.  Hence the spectacular RAMP system (partially pictured above, right)!  

New signage (soon to be installed) will remind people of the long journey to build the third, 60-foot tall and 95-step version of Eagle Tower (the first was built in 1914, the second in 1932), and one of many features that makes this park truly special.  But the heart of the Eagle Tower experience still comes at the top, one that requires no interpretation.  (Readers are encouraged to experience the climb and the view themselves!)

No journey or expedition is complete, nor worth its possibly tedious recounting, without a bit of pictorial foolishness!  (But that may come a bit later in these proceedings...  if we can discover whose camera was used to make the photographs!  Oh, wait, look to the left...  SweetHeart helps already exhausted husband climb the first of 95 steps...  made to the 2nd step prior to taking a short nap!  It's Geezerhood, you see!)

Bethie generously provided the cost of this year's lodgings -- The Open Hearth Lodge in "rural" Sister Bay.   (YoYo the dog was one of our companions, and the owners and staff made him quite welcome!)  In addition, she engaged a power boat from a rental service in Sister Bay.  Bethie performed superbly on the wake board, leaping gracefully into the skies from the churning wake!, while Seany did equally superbly on water skis.  After a couple of aborted attempts, PhiPhi rose from the waters of Ellison Bay on the wake board and also performed beautifully.   I piloted the vessel for all three aquatic athletes, something I hadn't done for many years previous to this occasion.  (It comes back to one, sort of like riding a scooter, or falling off a two-wheeler!)

Once again, during this visit, we dined and feasted lavishly...  Wild Tomato for pizza and salad, Julie's at the Park, a fish boil at The Postoffice in Ephraim, not to mention ice cream from Wilson's, gelato from The Creamery, breakfast and great coffee from Blue Horse in Fish Creek.   (Where's LeRoy??)  

Oh yes, lest one forgets!  We saw a live theatre play at Northern Sky Theatre in the aforementioned park.  It was not a particularly memorable performance of Whatever Happened to...  (someone's name or some such like that...).  Some of us, perhaps all of us,  enjoyed certain parts ofthe performance, and it's always interesting to witness live theatre, in spite of its content and story line.  Could have benefitted from some stage props, etc.  E.g.  An image of the fancy green car owned and driven by the eponymous but unseen character, perhaps a bit of football paraphernalia, maybe an image of a tavern, a farm scene...   All could have been accomplished via posters or projected images...  just a thought...  I don't claim to be a playwright or set designer, just an unschooled and erstwhile critic of the non-professional ilk!  

[That's a very fine image of Seany, Bethie and PhiPhi at right (along with perhaps an odd passer-by / interloper)!  At the play, there were two people just behind a foursome photo of SweetHeart, Bethie and Grandkids (not shown in this piece), but the pair seemed interested in being immortalized on film!  If they inquire, I'll send them a copy for a modest fee, plus postage, of course!...  These things aren't cheap!!]

(* A Special Note:   Our beautiful daughter, Alie, she a PhD professor at Marquette University, was and is a great supporter of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Alie worked with her and our dear friend, wheelchair user Larry Keller, to investigate first-hand if various features of the Act were being appropriately interpreted and placed into common practice!  Prior to earning her PhD degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, she played a major leading role at a prominent disabilities organization during the time the ADA Amendments Act was being developed; the act was passed in 2008!).  

(Please Note:   One hopes to be back soon-ish with another edition of "Memoirs of a Geezer."  Many of our revered readers may wish to keep eyes on the site in rabid anticipation of the next remarkably fine posting, chronicling the amazing adventures of the perpetrator and his beloved companions!  The gorgeous photo exemplifying the notion of "being back," was created by the superb eye of ace photographer, SweetHeart!)

Humbly Submitted, 08-30-2021 --  Joel K.

An Admirable Life; A Treasure to Cherish!

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth 

to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:    An Admirable Life; A Treasure to Cherish!

I wonder if it's true??  As we age, as we "step lightly" into the Golden Era of GeezerHood, do we ponder about, let our thoughts preoccupy and dote less on ourselves, and far more about

those good people in our spheres of friendship and family?  I hope that's the case, as selflessness is an attribute for which we should actively and consciously strive! Doncha Think?     

Here's a case in point.  There's a young woman I know...  I'll call her Beth, sometimes, more affectionately, Bethie!  She's a treasure in my life, a gift, brave, strong and remarkably resourceful.   She's a grown woman, and this story focuses on her life in adulthood.

Apologies for the unwanted
jwording ust above, or, just below
theimage of the Graduate!!
Thank you!

She earned a BA degree, subsequently a Master's Degree,  and became an educator in various organizations before joining a high school English Department.  Sadly, because, it seems, too many of our elected officials apparently believe that corruption and mediocrity are the attributes needed to blunder into public office, the teaching profession became marginalized.  Worse -- arguably perhaps the only profession that has the power to cure all of society's ills -- teachers, and education generally, were stripped of important rights and benefits in our state, and others as well.  Government officials can be and are, far too often, fatuous, insipid and outrageously short-sighted! 

Beth eventually left her teaching career and, following some other professional forays, joined a company in the IT field, and became a trainer, succeeding admirably.  She left that position after being courted by a stronger organization.  She was termed a valued and much sought-after "unicorn," her previous employer suggesting that she was merely "lucky" to be considered for a move into sales and marketing.  Today she thrives in her current

employment, and continues to be regarded as and is a highly valued asset, one whose future shines brightly.

Along life's pathway, Beth married -- back in 2004 -- but divorced about 11 years into the marriage.  She and her husband were simply not well matched, and the two parted amicably, having produced two remarkable children, whom they cherish, and of course share in separate lives and households.  A free spirit, Beth has charisma, great exuberance, a lively personality...   attributes her family would not part with for any bribe or promise.

Her children, now 12 and 10, they, Beth and and her parents enjoy frequent get togethers and travels.  She and the kids are delightful, fun and silly, the latter a trait her family prizes highly.  On a trip to Florida -- just to cite examples -- her son and "Papa," the grandfather, swam daily in the pool and played lots of games, including "elevator," amid squeals of laughter.  Romped like carefree fish in ocean waves as well.  Both children are excellent swimmers.  On one memorable occasion, Beth's daughter and Papa sat on the 

balcony, overlooking the sea.  Asked how she was enjoying Florida and various adventures therein, the young girl expressed her answer using the word "very" roughly 1,000 times.  Papa counted the "very's."  Funny stuff...  I mean, to those of us with silly bones! 

Just this past year, Bethie always thoughtful and generous, treated her parents to a week in that very popular northeastern peninsula, a holiday filled with great fun and too much good eating.  You know, like pizza, a rare treat for the parents, if not for the other members of the vacationing quintet!  We swam,

swan-dove, boated, biked and generally frolicked our way through a week of adventure.  Relaxing, renewing...   (Well, for the most part!!!...  Holidays can be taxing, sometimes required a long rest following the holiday!!)

I hope I've done justice to the subject of this writing, to someone I love more than I can adequately express...   my daughter, Bethie.  True, I'm quite proud of her and all that she's accomplished, all that she is and has become!  But being proud, I've long thought, is more a means of self congratulation.  Far more importantly, and perhaps a better way to praise, I'm filled with admiration for her, for her strength, her courage her determination. As a single parent, she's a champion.  As a soccer player, she's also a champion, come to think upon it.  

As you, Beth, continue along life's tricky pathways, I know you'll always choose the right way, the best course for you and those you love, the true pathway that leads to happiness and success, self fulfillment and genuine gratification for all whose lives you touch.  Oh yeah...  Hope you and SLC have a great weekend together!!! 

Humbly Submitted, 01-10-20 -- Joel K. 

  

  

The Art of Making Great Gobs of Money... Spending It Wisely...!!

Memoirs of a Geezer!

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth 

to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:    The Art of Making Great Gobs of Money...  Spending It Wisely...!!  

The famous Pier at Cocoa Beach.  Good food, shops,
volleyball, fish, big waves...  swimming, more shops, beer!

I have no idea how to make great gobs of money! It's a concept that's eluded me most of my life.  However, I know a few people who have or still do make great piles of the stuff.  But that's not the point.  This piece is really about taking holidays or vacations affordably, inexpensively...  you know, on the cheap (if and when possible...  sadly, many lack the necessary financial privileges...)!  So I figured the title might be provocative enough to generate some readership...  maybe?!?

The Rocket's Tail...  Up There!...
Above Our Heads!!  

In July of this year, for example, we spent a week in Florider. You know the place... where every other transplant Flaridian from the Eastern Seaboard is wearing a loud, flowery tunic or a moo moo.  On our first full day in the Sunshine (about 90 or more degrees of glorious heat!), we actually witnessed a rocket launch, right from the sandy shores of Cocoa Beach -- not the rocket launching from that beach, but our viewing point of said rocket! -- where SweetHeart's cousin (with siblings!) owns a condominium.  She, a sweet and generous soul, allows us to rent the place quite affordably, for which we are most grateful.  The rocket launch was a thrilling thing to behold.  It departed the earth from Cape Kennedy Space Center, some 15 or so miles north of Cocoa!

I waived stupidly at the thing, as if expecting some lunatic riding on its nose to waive back.  "Give our regards to Jupiter," I hollered fecklessly! SweetHeart took pictures, or was it our Sweet Alie...?!       

The actual rocket that flew on July 5th
launched from Cape Kennedy...
It carried a communications satellite! 

And a couple of days later, we went boating on the Banana River, a 30-mile-long lagoon fed by the Atlantic and other sources.  Captain Quinn was the boat master, a seasoned and well-schooled Skipper who knows where to find manatees and dolphins!  Wonderful day on the water!  Not terribly expensive.  Oh, and he offers a bit of fishing and shell collecting...  beautiful conch shells in the main, collected from a small island! Alie, Tad, Coen, Lucy, SweetHeart and I thoroughly enjoyed the voyage!   

Tug fully restored for quick sale!

"What's that place?" I asked at one point during the cruise.  
"Oh...  that's a boat, barge and tug rehab center," the captain answered.  "They install a huge inflatable balloon-like device under the barge or boat to be rehab'ed, and then they sort of roll it onto the shore of that island we're looking at to begin repairs and rebuilding.  It's quite an amazing technology." 
I responded: "Something akin to what pyramid builders used, I reckon, eh?!" 
"What...?"

SweetHeart and I tend NOT to gravitate to the more obvious, "family" and "child-oriented" touristy destinations. We prefer "Eco-Tour Travel and Eco-Adventures." On one of our visits to Mexico, we learned about the "Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve!" Extraordinary place! We get bussed to a jumping off point near Tulum, board an open boat and then race across a surprisingly large lagoon. As we approach what looks like land fall, most of us "crew members" are terrified of crashing into said land fall because we aren't slowing...  the pilot does slow eventually and takes us through a serpentine channel into another enormously large lagoon... (Several passengers have near seizures...  gasping...  mumbling...!)

We speed across that lagoon at the same insanely urgent pace, and finally come to a halt at a pier or wharf. We disembark and all of us don life jackets.
"What are we doing here?" I ask.
"We're going for a swim," answers our superb Mexican guide, one "Quetzalcan," also known as "Kukulkán Quetzal." He's a citizen of Mexico, a product of Chilean and Argentinean parentage, a fine-looking and splendidly well-informed individual, a delight in whose company and tutelage we enjoy the entire adventure!

We didn't see those fish...  We might
have if the boat had slowed down!

But I digress...  We then plunge into a smaller body of water. It's steady, modest, a "few kilometers-per-hour" current floats us pleasantly along a narrow and beautiful channel through mangroves, past verdant vegetation.  The entire "float" lasts about half an hour. We swim over at least one manta ray and many tropical fish before coming at last to a wooden pier. We then climb onto the pier connected to a long board walk that leads us through bogs and prairie back to the place at which we first took the plunge! A remarkably fine Eco-Tour, a truly beautiful experience!!

Back on the bus, we motor off to Muyil, site of a well-preserved Mayan ruin, consisting of an  enormous castillo,  temples, dwellings... where we wander about listening to our guide's presentation of the site's history and preservation efforts. And then a traditional Mexican feast at a seaside restaurant follows. In all, a truly magnificent day's outing!!  

In Door County, Wisconsin, a more recent adventure, we witnessed the solar eclipse from

An actual eclipse as seen from special
glasses that enable viewers to see
the spectacle safely! 

Newport State Park. The special glasses were in extremely limited supply, but the "eclipse-niks" with whom we shared the experience were exceptionally thoughtful and generous, each sharing glasses with her or his fellow viewer. And what a sight it was, the eclipse, that is! 

Bethie, Seany, Phi Phi, SweetHeart and I shared an old log cabin in Ephraim, dark interior but welcoming, commodious and comfortable. We swam in the waters of Green Bay at a beach in Sister Bay. The younger travelers kayak'ed and paddle boarded. We biked for 10 miles in Peninsula State Park, to Nicolet Bay Beach and back to the Fish Creek entrance. Oh, and we ate a lot at DC's many fine dining establishments, including Julie's, Wild Tomato, La Puerta and others! (I believe I may have contracted permanent indigestion and breath issues!!)  

Following a brief but beautiful cruise aboard one of the County's fabled passenger and auto ferries -- this trip aboard the Arni J. Richter, I believe! -- Elaine and Jim introduced us to some of the attractions on Washington Island we had previously not experienced -- School House Beach (one of the very best locations for skipping stones!!), the Art and Nature Center, a newly refurbished 100-plus-year-old hotel, the grounds and site of the annual Lavender Festival...  Much more to that island on the other side of Death's Door (or is it actually floating in Death's Door?) than one can imagine.  The ferry ride back to the mainland was equally enchanting, if a bit brisk for some voyagers! 

If there's a point to this piece (What? Finally...?), it's the idea that one can enjoy relatively modest travel adventures to destinations that are affordable and not so far off as to bankrupt the traveler.  Particularly important, delightful and gratifying is travel with one's family members, viewing the sights and sounds through the "fresh eyes" of children and those for whom the experience is brand new, fun-filled and exhilarating. The larger point?  Travel is among the best medicines to maintain healthy Geezerhood!! Dog or cat therapy is another...!! 

Oh! Almost forgot another "must" destination for a great many DC devotees: Wilson's! They have ice cream -- like peppermint stick and "Cookie Doug" -- popcorn too! It's in Ephraim.  Some ice cream consumers fancy flavors such as blue moon and caramel collision, I'm told! (Asked to hold onto cones by certain smaller persons who race to use the area "jungle gym," I find that Blue moon has a tendency to drip and leave stains on a person's white sockies! Stickiness too! I prefer the popcorn!)  

(Special Note of Dedication:    The perpetrator dedicates this posting to his beloved traveling companions...  SweetHeart, Alie, Bethie, Tad, Coen, Seany, Lucy and Phi Phi, Rob and Sue, without whose companionship the aforementioned travel adventures would not be nearly as rewarding, laugh-filled or suffused with delights, discoveries and edification, even!! I once learned about "dirty grids" during a particular travel experience, but that's a subject for another story entirely!  Thank you, and Good Day, Good Night and Happy Traveling!!)    

Humbly Submitted, 08-29-17 -- Joel K.      

  

   

A Love Affair: More and More Returns to County Door!

Memoirs of a Geezer!

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth 

to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:      Hearts Remain and More Amour in County Door!

Six of us trooped single file, squeezing in to savor the much-awaiting delights of a favorite frozen confection, some drooling in anticipation as we struggled through the already-gathered

throng that glutted the parlor.  Tad, with his quick-wit and well-honed sense of funny, immediately spotted the missing "h" identifying a featured flavor boldly printed on the black board behind the counter. From then on -- this having occurred about three years ago -- Wilson's of Ephraim in Door County has been known affectionately as "Cookie Doug's." Sweetheart craves "peppermint stick" throughout the year in eager anticipation.  Others of us scan the choices and select various different flavors, with oreo and those flavors that include caramel -- "cookie dough" too, of course, often topping the flavor choices "scoops parade."       

Often described as the "Thumb," sometimes equated to seaside portions of New England, it's an imperative annual destination for many summer and fall, even winter!, holiday travelers and vacationers. For those of us addicted to its many pleasures and gorgeous sights, it calls to us, draws us into its welcoming embrace year after year.  Door Country, Wisconsin -- or as I prefer,

"County Door" (homage to Ireland and the Irish, here and there!) -- never fails to excite and delight us, our family, Sweetheart and me.

This year was no different.  We met Julius Caesar and Company at Door Shakespeare's breezy and bucolic out-of-doors setting, biked in Peninsula State Park, picnicked and swam at Nicolet Bay Beach, gorged on ice cream at "Cookie Doug's," had Wild Tomato pizza on the shores of and overlooking beautiful Eagle Harbor, attended a family-oriented play at Northern Sky Theatre...  We even kayaked for the first time ever!  (I think we passed Lewis and Clark, or was it Marquette and Nicolet ??!!  Anyway, we waved pleasantly!) 

When we have an unobstructed choice, we prefer to stay in Ephraim.  Its central location is a plus, and Leroy's Coffee house is the best in the County.  Good coffee is a must, a daily obsession.  And, of course, Ephraim is the home of Cookie Doug!  This year, owing to VRBO

and other factors, we settled on a "Cabin in the Woods" just outside of the town of Egg Harbor. An excellent choice in many ways, but there were a dead moose, I think, and a deceased elk on the walls, their antlered heads poking through the plaster! (Musta' been traveling real fast to escape gunslingers!!)

Restaurants?  Did you ask about restaurants?  Naturally, we have some big favorites.  They include but are not limited to Julie's in Fish Creek (try the brown-rice stir fry and the pork dish that served with a cherry sauce!), Blue Horse, also Fish Creek (billed as a coffee house but with great food as well!), J.J.'s La Puerta in Sister Bay...  If you happen to be obsessed with the

View from the main dining room that
overlooks the Bay at The Shoreline
Restaurant, Gills Rock.  

traditional Fish Fry, you gotta dine at the Shoreline in Gills Rock!  Great View!  Excellent!  Yummy! (Various random reviews from the "Door Chronicle," or an organ of that nature!) 

Can you see the
Deer?  Mid-Photo?

And wildlife!  I mean, there's so much wildlife to be seen and heard.  Sweetheart and I had a delightful interaction with a deer on a country road just north of the heart of Ephraim.  (Hmmm...  heart and hart...  not a bad juxtaposition of homophones, eh?!)  We were ambling along on our daily walk or hike, as one may prefer, and spotted a friendly mama deer with three fawns trailing behind her.  When the fawns were safely ahead, the doe turned to look at us.  I think she gave us a cheerful wink!  Maybe?  We spotted lots of wild turkeys, an owl, hawks and several additional species of birds...  other creatures too, those confined to ground vs. air!  The Mink River Trail! Almost forgot...  it's a great hike, and one of our...  

Sweetheart, at t the End of the
Mink River Trail...  (aka)
Schoenbrunn Nature Conservancy!

...favorite places to see and visit?  Glad you asked!  Cave Point, for example.  Coen loved the sight of the huge swells that morphed into exploding waves in a wildly windy twilight.  Lucy, too, enjoyed the Point, but stood well back from the spray.  I enthralled the grandkids, telling them how my brother and I, as boys, leapt from one of the precipices into the breaking surf at Cave Point.  Don't know if they allow people to do that anymore!?  But I showed them the exact spot from which we dove or leapt.  Other great places for visiting, trekking and traveling:  The Dunes at Whitefish Bay, the Ferry to Washington Island, and the smaller one to Rock Island, Ellison Bay Country Park, where if you brave the steep climb to and from the water's edge, you can enjoy a terrific variety of cairns, even build your own.  And Lighthouses!...  Cana Island, Eagle Bluff, Sherwood Point...! 

The guy behind me had the effrontery
to try to steal my newspaper, at
J.J.'s La Puerta...  We love Mexican
Cuisine and this place particularly!

Sadly, my great friend "L.L." was unable to enjoy the County this season.  As he put it so poetically, "The Door was closed to me this year..."  His family members tend to prefer the Alpine Resort just outside of Egg Harbor.  Down the road a piece is Frank Murphy County Park, where, it is said, John Dillinger took refuge from his usual career choice and the law. (Or was it some other notorious gangland figure?  Where's my book of odd history??...) 

One last note of great importance:  See that picture of "Cookie Doug's," upper right corner?  It was taken by Alie!  I asked her as she was poised to shoot, "Do you need us to get out of the frame?"  A woman nearby, about to enter the parlor, said, "Well, if you want me to...  well, see here!  I'm not with any of you...  I...  (mumble, snerble, grubble, snorg...).  (We missed or can't seem to recall the remainder of her vocalized umbrage! The "mumble words" are a humble attempt!)  Once again, the Door experience, 2016 Edition, was a trove of delight and adventure.  We're already planning next year's return!  

Humbly Submitted, 09-27-16 -- Joel K.

Questions for our Beloved Friends and Readers  (Do we have any??!):

Your favorite restaurant(s) in Door County?

What are your favorite places in the County?

Do you go every year?

Where do you prefer to stay?

What is your favorite place for treats, ice cream, etc.?

What's your favorite place to picnic?

Your favorite place to swim?

Describe some of your favorite Door County Adventures!?

Looking forward to your answers and comments...  suggestions, too, if you like!!

                







  

Traveling Then, Now... Coffee vs. Whiskey!

Memoirs of a Geezer!

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth 

to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:      Traveling Then and Now...  Coffee vs. Whiskey!

Many people love to travel; to some it's a kind of religion.  I'm one of those who could travel almost constantly, if time and resources allowed.  I think there ought to be a travel channel and books specifically geared to the older traveler...  The Travel Geezer, for example, or A Geezer's Guide to a Sedentary Sort of Almost Adventurous Travel with Lots of Sitting Down...  something of that nature.  Wait a minute!  Mustn't forget television...    GLOBE SHUFFLER?

Just Imagine the Glories of this Thing
in the Middle of the Night!!?

In one's callow youth, mine, that is, I enjoyed traveling with my dear old friend, Patrick.  (At least I think so! Memory sometimes fogs a bit resulting from prodigious ingestion of spirits!)  On one occasion we took a road trip bound for California, commencing in Cheyenne, Wyoming, then ever onward and west bound. We were keen to visit the Grand Canyon along the way to the coast. Trouble was we liked to visit every saloon and tavern as we wandered westward.  In Williams, Arizona, for

Here's a view of at least one of the fabulous saloons in
Williams...  and, Oh Yeah, a postcard (at right).  I think
we actually purchased a postcard there...  possibly!

example, we couldn't resist the beckoning gin joints and the marvelous characters who practically therein resided!  "Big Biff" and "Gert the Guzzler" and "Cactus Smelly Rictus," to name a few.  Lots of cowboys, too, or so they claimed.  (I suppose ancient, filthy cowboy hats lent some credence to their alleged veracity!) 

We claimed to have seen the great gaping hole that is the Grand Canyon, although, owing to frequent patronage of saloons, we arrived at night.  The great gaping hole was a black hole. What a sight for two weary travelers who likely couldn't see straight in any case.  You shoulda seen the pictures we took!  (But you wouldn't have been able to see anything...  sort of like "artistic" shots inside coal bins or un-illuminated cave walls!)

We reached Las Vegas at night too.  Same impediments prevented an earlier arrival.  The casinos served us lots of drinks while we were losing lots of currency.  Such elegant travelers!... because we failed to engage our brains, we failed to engage a room.  We slept in the 

Arrived at Night; Slept in the Car;
Lost Lots of Folding Currency.  What
a Time we Had!!?

car, a compact.  Police woke us in the AM and accused us of vagrancy.  We opened our wallets, pockets too maybe, to reveal spare amounts of folding money and a couple of expired credit cards.  But, ever resourceful, we booked a cheap motel and spent another exciting night losing more money. What a time we had!  We made it to California, finally, on money borrowed and wired.     

Times change, sometimes for the better.  As age piled onto our bones and empty bourbon bottles remained un-replenished, travel adventures became a little less perilous, a bit less robust.  Sweetheart and I "travel" about five miles a day as we walk to one of several locations of our favorite coffee house.  I'm thinking someday I'd like to adopt a permanent persona as a "coffee house character," having some years ago replaced a fondness for beer and whiskey with a love of good coffee.

I begin to imagine my own brilliant pontifications as I listen to typical coffee cafe exchanges. They tend to go something like this:

"Hey Bumpy, how ya doin'?"
"How YOU doin' ?"
"I assed you foist.  How YOU doin'?"
"How YOU doin'?"
"You don't ass me how I'm doin' when I assed you foist.  Politeness, Bumpy!  You're s'posed to Follow a proper protocol, like....  aaah, the hell wid it.  I'm doin' OK.  Got a touch of the quinsy, I tink....  Udder den dat...  Oh, and pustules..."
"Doin' any travelin'?"
"Yeah, me an Lumpy drove over to, uh... whatchacallit last week.  Had a few beers, played some cribbage wid, uh, ya know, them chunky pals o' ours in the bib overalls....  We got lost on the way back.  Hadda ass a farmer where we was." 
"Sounds like a real nice, uh...  whatchacallit...  How's yer, uh...?  Whatsit...  yer nose still looks a little brownish, like maybe, like, it's phlebotomized..."  

Or...    maybe NOT a coffee house character!  

We get to a lot of coffee places these days.  We really like the stuff, and our habituation of "mud joints" is a kind of motivational "carrot" to keep us on our daily five-mile trek, maintain the discipline it requires.  Knowing that at the end, or nearing the end of the hike, we'll have our reward.  Our preferred coffee purveyor has two locations in Madison. We've been to both.  Now that's traveling, eh?!  In Chicago, one has to frequent a different establishment, like Intelligencia, not a bad substitute, though!  

And so we adapt to changing times and altered behaviors.  We still get to Florida, taking

advantage of a generous cousin and an inexpensive condo rental.  And, Door County...  Dubuque... Dickeyville...  Duluth... Clam Falls...  Footville...  Before I kick off the mortal coil, however, I'd like to get to Italy.  I want to sit around with pasta sauce dribbling from my chin and have a chat with wonderful old Italians, even though there'll be no real comprehension on either end of the dialogue!  I plan to bring a Berlitz Book or the Geezer's Guild to Italian and How to Eat Pasta without Looking Like a Dopey Tourist with Red Chin Whisker Stains!  (I tend to prefer red sauce!)

And yet, travel, any kind of travel, is a gift!  (That is, apart from being kicked down a flight of stairs!)  I enjoy looking at the public access pages of bookface where travel adventures of all types and sizes are posted.  Relatives who just went to bask in the warmth of the Dominican Republic and they didn't invite us!!...  for example.  Yes, my dears, I love travel.  Maybe one day Sweetheart and I will get to pack a sack and catch a Number 32 bus and re-visit the old west... you know, Wauwatosa!!  In the meantime...   "Sweetheart, where's my re-fillable coffee mug? I can't find...  Hey!  Where'd you put the lid?  What??!!  I lost the lid?!?..."

(Special Note of Gratitude and Dedication:  To, Pat, my wonderful friend of long standing, who's currently undergoing a difficult challenge, and he's doing so with courage and grace.  Hope to see you soon in person. Thought you might enjoy recalling one of our memorable travel adventures. Thank you for sharing with me some of the greatest travel experiences one can store in memory...  or maybe needs to forget!  In any event, I raise a cheer to you and memories of the "Grand Hook-a-Thons of our youth!"  And thanks to Joey, too, for her generous forbearance!  With love to Both!)  

Humbly Submitted, 04-06-16 -- Joel K.