Me & Johnny Cash...

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Okay, so I haven't quite been 'EVERYWHERE Man' but seeing it all mapped out like this I guess I've seen and done a lot in my nearly 42 years... As a result I hope you'll follow me as I take a walk or should I say a long 'drive' or 'flight' down memory lane

Having divorced parents meant that when they did decide to travel I got twice the vacation. My dad always favored places like 'Yosemite' and seeing old ghost towns in 'Nevada'. With my mom vacations were more of a splurge. It was with her that I saw Hawaii for the first time and got kissed by Don Ho (anyone remember 'Tiny Bubbles'?) Other vacations involved traveling through Northern California, Washington & Oregon to visit all of my mom's aunts and cousins.

When I was a pre-teen my mom, step-dad & step-sisters moved to Chicago and I spent the summer in a van traveling cross country to their new home and flew back to my dad's home in California once the destination was met. It's amazing how it can take weeks to drive somewhere but mere hours to fly home.

There was another summer when I was 13 that I flew to Chicago. While there we spent a few weeks traveling to places like Gatlinburg, Tennessee & Kentucky's 'Mammoth Cave'. While in Kentucky we spent a beautiful night under the stars taking in a live outdoor performance of 'The Stephen Foster Story'... I'll never forget how much I loved that show even though my step-sisters and I moaned and groaned at the very idea of having to sit through some "Hick show that they couldn't even afford to hold inside." Our trip through Kentucky meant camping and I remember freaking out over encountering my very first tick! And then there was the tornado that skirted our campground in southern Illinois... Quite a nail-biter that night!

My first trip to the East Coast came at the age of 17 when I went to Cape May, New Jersey to meet the family of my 'boyfriend' at a full scale family reunion. The year after that I went to his boyhood home in Virginia for Christmas, this time as his bride to be.

At 19 yrs. old our honeymoon took me back to Hawaii, there weren't any Don Ho sightings but this time I got to snorkle while holding the hand of the man of my dreams... So who gives a crap about Don Ho!

Early in our marriage there were many trirps from California to the East Coast... Once to Florida to meet his Grandfather... Another to Massachusetts for yet another family reunion. Reunions take place in my husbands family every four years... Always an election year in order to give everyone a topic to discuss... Like they ever really needed one?

Once the kids came along our vacations included my husbands parents & extended family... The group of us would rent a beach house on the very southern tip of North Carolina at a place known as 'Ocean Isle Beach'... Not far from 'Myrtle Beach, South Carolina' there was golf galore for the guys and the women would mostly hang with the kids and shop when the guys weren't golfing.

There have been many trips over the years to New Jersey... A few to NYC and too many trips back and forth to my in-laws home in Virginia to count, (Each and every one of those visits to Virginia being exceedingly wonderful by the way... In case you're reading this mom.)

Last year we opted for a new beach rental... One much closer at 'Bethany Beach, Delaware' and this year we're headed back again in mid-September. The same cast of characters along with good friends will make up this years vacation and I'm sure there'll be many stories and pictures to blog as a result.

Me and Johnny Cash... We've been everywhere man!... Well almost!