You probably don't want to travel with me

I read what traveler Dana "three pillows and a fan" McMahan wrote about what we should know about traveling with her so I started thinking about my own travels.

And while I don't have 20 countries under my belt like Dana, I have at least a thousand stories. And millions of memories.

- I know that I can sleep anywhere, like under the stars or under a school bus (in the rain). And on the floor in church basements and on lumpy couches. Once I slept on a fire escape in Manhattan.

- I must not be picky about my hotel accommodations either. I've stayed at a bright pink concrete block motel outside of Waco and in a 5-room cottage at the Ritz Carleton outside of Pasadena.

- Don't forget to ask me about the youth hostels, the dorm rooms, the retreat centers and the log cabins. I can tell you about the bathrooms that were outdoors or down the hall.

- I love to people-watch in train stations and bus stations. Airports? Not so much.

- I've logged about 1,000 hours on Greyhound buses. One time, on a bus in the middle of Iowa I sat next to a woman who I learned was born in the same small town in Kentucky where I'm from. She was coming from Maine and going to California and I was on my way to Canada. And I'd dated her youngest brother. And we met on a bus in the dead center of the U.S. What are the odds?

- I've hitchhiked through West Virginia and flown via first class to California. Church buses? Yes. Subways? Yes. Passenger trains? Yes. The Delta shuttle between DC and NYC? God yes. Hippy van? Far out man!

- I rode in the back seat of a VW beetle for eight hours on I-40 from Knoxville to Memphis. In August. Without air conditioning. With three other adults and a German shepherd named Max. It was a great trip.

- Twice in my life I've accepted rides to my hotel from men I met on the plane. And no, we haven't stayed in touch. It wasn't like that.

- I've suffered altitude sickness in the Arizona desert and sea sickness on Lake Michigan. You probably don't think that's possible, but it is.

- I like to eat the local cuisine. Usually, in the U.S., that's pizza. And coke. And maybe donuts.

What about your own travel? Do tell.

Rabbit, rabbit

From Wikipedia:

“Rabbit rabbit white rabbit” is a common superstition, held particularly among children. The most common modern version states that a person should say “rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit” upon waking on the first day of each new month, and on doing so will receive good luck for the remainder of that month.

Who knew? Happy September.

Dinah Blair

This is my great-grandmother Dinah Day Blair.

Anticipating ...

Things I'm looking forward to:

- A trip to Charleston with Babycakes. It's been almost a year since we've been out of town (alone) together. I plan to eat crab at every meal.

- Hardwood floors. The floor guy can start work in October. This is the one house project that will make the biggest impact and I can't wait.

- Backyard fence. The design is selected, measurements have been taken, and the color is being debated. But it'll be done by winter. Again, this project will change everything in the backyard and I'm so glad it's finally time to do it.