A Trip With Mom

Planning a 5000 mile road trip with my 93 year old mother was made easier by the use of Google maps and Google searches. Now, my mother is pretty independent. She lives by herself, drives, and is pretty sharp for someone her age. She is also somewhat set in her ways - and definitely has her own opinion on things. This trip was for her and I needed her to be part of the planning - what route? what to see? What we choose to do has to be accessible by car - not walking as that is mom's one limitation.

OK, back to the trip. We are to leave Seattle area shortly after Memorial Day and spend about 2 1/2 weeks traveling to Oklahoma/Texas. Our hometown is in Oklahoma, not far from the Texas border and mom could remember the last time she visited there with my brother 20 or so years ago, of going to a restaurant in Vernon Texas that served good catfish. Other than visiting with her brother and family, this seemed to excite her more than anything else. I was able to Google restaurants in Vernon Texas and a restaurant that sounded like what she remembered -"The Catfish Grill" - was found. I think this helped to spark her interest in the trip.

Now that mom was willing to go on the trip, I started looking at the routes available. Mom wanted to go through the canyon country of Southern Utah if possible. So, planning the route to be driven had to include Moab Utah. The trip could take several routes: Seattle to Yellowstone and then down through the Teton's, Denver and then down to Oklahoma. Another route was to go to Salt Lake City, Utah and down to Moab Utah, and then into New Mexico and on to OKlahoma. Yet another route being explored was to go down the Oregon - California coast to the Napa Valley and San Francisco and then over to the Grand Canyon and on to Oklahoma.

I was able to print out each route, including the miles between cities and points of interest. Travel time was also calculated by Google Maps. All of this was printed out and put into a notebook that mom was then able to study and comment on.

All of these routes can be traveled in either direction. So now the challenge is to determine which way we will go. This may be determined somewhat by weather and the distances between stops for the night. As of now, we are looking at go to Salt Lake City and then down to the Canyon Country first. We will probably not decide what route we will come back until we actually start back.

All of the planning for this trip could have been done with paper road maps, tourist guide books, etc. My choice to use Google saved me lots of time and actually gave me more options and things to see and do. I was able to print out the different routes and what was along each route to see.

The one thing that really surprised mom was my ability to search for rest stops in each state we were to drive through. I was able to print out maps and list of the rest stops to assure mom that she would have ample places to stop and rest.

I plan on stopping every couple of hours to get out and stretch my bad back and walk around. I have always used the excuse of wanting to take pictures of something as a way of justify stopping. Now, with the knowledge of where the rest stops are located, it will be easier to plan the day so we can get out and stretch every couple of hours. The only states I could not find rest stop info for was New Mexico and Arizona. There were non-govenment sights that filled the gaps here. This was only possible by the ability to search the information highway and Google proved to be the best search engine to use.

Now, to find a computer and software that will actually pack my camera equipment, clothes, and load the car. The driving I want left to me.

Wish I was going too...

My wife and I were eating sushi in our local Sushi Restaurant when my wife asked the two men setting next to us if they were (scuba) divers. This was the start of a 30 minute conversation between the four of us. One was wearing a coat with a Scuba shop info on its back and the younger man had a Cosmeul Mexico T-shirt and cap.

The conversation started with diving memorys of a trip we took to Cosmusel and and Grand Cayman several years ago. My wife is facinated with finding out what the different things and fish we see are. We have lots of books on the shelf identifying everything you can think of.

After a few minutes the conversation turned to Hawaii where we now enjoy snorkeling. As it always happens when divers get together they talk about the different things they see and their experiences. My wife excitedly talked about the "little white lacy fish" she found and we finally identified as a White Scorpion Fish. We also found a "lizard fish" that was so camafouged that it never moved. It was so confident that it blended into its surrounding that it felt totally safe even when I put my camera right up to its face.

Soon, the conversation turned to the upcoming trip to the two men were going to lead to Cosumel with a group of beginning divers and a group of instructors. The two men were advanced divers and PADI Instructors. The teenage students were to do their "open Water" test in the warm waters of Cosmusel. What a way to start your scuba diving experience. After they passed the open water test they were going to experience 3-4 dives per day for a whole week, diving all the wonderful sits near Cosumel.

In between the dives the students will experience talks on the environment, the effects of global warming on the coral reefs, and in depth talks on where they were diving and what they would see. What a great way to introduce teenage students to the environment we live in and the need to care for it.

The younger man was also going to be the videographer for the trip and put together a video for everyone to have to remember the trip.

Of course, I asked the same question that many others have asked, "Do you need someone to go along and carry tanks and weight belts around?" They laughed and said that they they have had many others ask the same thing,

Wow, what a way to learn how to scuba dive!

Our conversation ended after a brief discussion about identifying something my wife saw in Hawaii. Now to find a pic of it and send to the older man who is friends with a specialist in identifying underwater life.

I love islands

One of the more relaxing places for my wife and I to go is the Big Island. No, I did not mean Long Island, I mean the Big Island of Hawaii. It is a nice cross between being a tourist destination and a more relaxed, slower pace.

We have stayed in a couple of places when visiting. The 1st time was at Mountain View at the Black Sand beach on the southern end of the Island. We flew into Hilo and drove there in the dark. Surprisingly, it was easy to find where we were going.

The 2nd and 3rd times to this wonderful island we flew into Kona and stayed there. When on the Big Island we stay at a timeshare condo that we own.

I could not tell you how many times we have driven around this island. The 1st time we were there we put over 1700 miles on our rented car in 10 days. I learned my way around the island very quickly.

The next two times we did not drive as many miles but still circled the island many times. It seems that we found a wonderful place on the Hilo side to snorkel which caused us to do a lot of driving. First we would drive one way and then the next time we would go the other way to unwind - just kidding.

The Black Sand beach is one of our favorite stops because we love the turtles that come onto the beach to sun themselves but to also lay their eggs. The turtles are protected so you do not want to harass them. In fact, you are suppose to stay 10 feet away from them. When in the water you are to let the turtles come up to you (you still are not supposed to touch then). They are really very gentle and fun to watch when in the water.

Honu (turtle) at the Black Sand Beach, Big Island, Hawaii

I will return to the Big Island many times in this Blog. Why? Because I like the island and feel like home when there. Also, because I can. I know that may not be a valid reason but I do like the Islands of Hawaii, I like the warm water, the warm climate, and the culture and people. So, be prepared to read about Hawaii in this blog.

Yes, I will write about other places too.

Sometimes interesting travel may be in your own backyard. For my wife and I, we enjoy our almost monthly trip to Coulee Dam, Wa. We travel to the "Dam" as often as we can to visit my wife's mother. I enjoy driving over Snoqualmie Pass