As 2014 is coming to an end, I have been looking back over the year and am starting to look towards 2015.
This past year has had many ups and downs.
I had the opportunity to discover many new attractions along the road, spend time on road trips with a couple of my daughters and a couple of my grandchildren, meet some wonderful people, touch base with some old friends and acquaintances, see more of the wonders that always seem to be just around the next turn, and so much more. While making my way on one road trip, I had the chance to meet, for the first time, face to face with a cousin. I happened to be at the right spot, at the right time while on the road, a few times, to be able to help some people in need. Enjoyed the chance to spend one on one, alone time with my second to the youngest daughter on a road trip. Met and had the pleasure of hearing a few very talented, young musicians perform while out on another road trip. I could go on and on.
Yes, while there were many ups, 2014 also had it’s share of downs. My daughter and I discovered what felt like a not-so-modern day “Bates’ Motel”. We experienced being broke down in a McDonald’s’ parking lot, in Orlando, FL’s July heat, due to a busted radiator. Thankfully that was turned around by some amazing assistance & a gentleman changing the radiator right there in the parking lot for the cost of the radiator & $20. (Yes, he only accepted $20 as payment!) That was followed by the fun of springing a leak in a radiator hose the next morning, just as we entered Georgia. One road trip included having to remove something that had tried to embed in my daughter’s foot (looked like some type of stinger) and a crazy, rushed drive from Louisiana to Indiana trying to get a sick grandson back home to his mom. I also had some disappointments in finding some places were not as awesome as I had hoped.
Over this past year I was able to add quite a few Christmas ornaments to my collection. I try to collect ornaments from various roadside attractions and places I have visited. I now have one tree that I put up that gets decorated with just those.
As this year comes to an end, I can say that I have now traveled in 47 of the 50 U.S. states. I know there is so much more to explore in all 47 of those! The only states that I have not visited are Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii.
During 2014, I did have to back out and cancel on a lot of places I was suppose to visit, work I was suppose to do, and people I was suppose to visit. As some people know, it couldn’t be helped because my dad’s health had been seriously declining. Everyone seemed to understand. My dad came first. As some of you know, my dad passed away in November.
As I look back over 2014 and sit here trying to adjust and absorb the huge change in my life due to the loss of my dad, I am trying to wrap my head around what lies ahead.
2015 is just around the corner. What will it bring?
Right now I have absolutely nothing lined up for sure. I have no definite visits to attractions or any photography work setup.
I have been considering my options.
Do I stay home and not go on the road?
Do I see if people were really as understanding as they seemed and try to line things up for this year?
This has been a stressful year for me in many ways; especially with some health issues of my own and everything with my dad. I promised my dad before he passed away that I would be “okay”.
I keep thinking and trying to figure out what direction in the various parts of my life to take for me to feel like I am okay. The more I think about this and about what I should do as far as road trips in 2015, I am really considering if I could pull off, what I call, a partial bohemian approach to going on the road. A road trip without a strict schedule, doing some wandering, meeting new people, exploring attractions, places, and ways of life, while picking up work here and there does sound kind of nice. I wonder if that would be helpful in allowing myself to de-stress, work through a lot of emotions, and to regain my focus, while figuring out what direction to go with life in general from this point.
To do this, I would need a lot of help. I would need to line up enough free or extremely cheap places to stay across the U.S. I wonder if the people that I know would be able to help me locate enough of these places – my goodness, as long as it’s safe, clean, and has access to a bathroom, I would love the adventure: house, cabin, trailer, camper, barn, tree house 🙂 , roadside attraction (businesses), church, campground site, where ever 🙂
Hmmm… sounds like it would be a much needed adventure and I could possibly have the chance to get some great places, people, and things to blog about….
Okay, so here’s a shout out to my family, friends, and acquaintances and even to folks running roadside attractions and businesses! If I go on the road this year, can you help me out with places to stay (a night or two or whatever)? Do you have trusted friends or family in other areas that would help me out? Send me a message through the contact link or send me a private message on the Road Trip Attractions Facebook page.
Free would be great 🙂 But bargain price could be considered! Maybe I could barter: take a few photos for you in exchange as payment for a place to stay? Of course any attractions I visit will be posted! If you have an interesting area, attraction, or local event, maybe you could help me explore, so I can blog and tell others about it. Show me what is totally cool, awesome, unique, fun, or unusual about your life, area, attraction, town, etc. I would love to have some great places and adventures to photograph and blog about.
…. or not?
I guess I will see if this idea works out. Maybe it will, maybe I will end up with things lined up for the usual, fast paced road trips, or maybe I will end up staying home this year? Right now, I don’t know.
I will see how it turns out!