Traveling Boomers

Stuck in the Snow

2010-12-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Now I get it! Finally, I can see why so many people head south in the middle of winter. Those "snowbirds" as we like to call them, just don't enjoy doing outdoor activities in cold weather. I'm ready to join them. The temperatures have already sunk to a punishing 15 degrees here in Salt Lake City, and we haven't even hit Christmas yet. It's going to be another long winter. But I have two cruises and a trip to Arizona planned for 2011. We're heading to Phoenix in January, Florida in February (with a cruise to the Bahamas tacked on to a business trip), and an Alaska cruise in June. Then we'll use the RV for summer weekends. I know I shouldn't be living in the future, but the present is TOO COLD.
Let's hear from you. Where will you be going in 2011? And what will you do when you get there?

Tom Brokaw Reports on Boomers

2010-06-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

Wow! Brokaw left no stone unturned in his CNBC report on Boomers. For two hours, Brokaw touched on cultural, educational, political, historical, and technological significance of events that have molded, impacted, changed, and defined our generation -- and each of us individually, using many iconic faces and "everyman" types to exemplify the complexity of those of us known as Boomers.

"What will be the legacy of our generation?" he asks Congressman Jim Webb, who skirts the answer. Bill Clinton answers to "the Boomer in Chief," who accepts that title with a smile. He says we're have been unfairly labeled as narcissistic, self-centered, and selfish. Instead we have had high expectations of ourselves. Yes -- he's correct. I agree with his assessment that Viet Nam was an incredibly traumatic time and tore us apart as a country. And our last obligation is to not go out leaving an unconscionable burden on our children. "I love the Beatles. They broke all the molds. I thought that's what we were supposed to do." Wow, that's some assessment. And I see it through similar eyes, in similar terms. These are questions I ponder often.

Finally, Brokaw candidly answers the question put to him by Boomers: "What do YOU think of our generation?"

"Unrealized," he replies without hesitation. "You made a lot of promises and placed a lot of expectations upon yourselves that you have yet to realize." That, my friends, is the battle cry that Boomers must signal among themselves: Our work is not finished. We cannot rest on our laurels, and we cannot assume that our ideas and solutions are the best. We must remain actively involved in changing the world according to the vision we continue to embrace. We must continue working to fulfill our promises: to ourselves, to each other, and to our posterity.

And how I wish someone would read my blogs so that I could participate in some kind of dialogue on this topic and others with my peers.

She Rocks!

2010-04-26T23:51:00.000-07:00

Took the new RV out this weekend. Took care of the rattles and squeaks on the journey. We slept in our queen bed for the first time -- ahhhh. It's a winner. We look forward to many more wonderful memories of tripping and get-aways. Mark and I love road trips and have really honed the art of getting along in close quarters. We both grew up in families that ventured out in campers, vans, and trailers; so we're old hats at traveling. My cute husband bought me license plate holders that say "Travelin' Boomers" -- I'm so spoiled.

Packing Up and Ready to Go

2010-04-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

Spent my day off putting things away in the "new" RV -- I love the bedroom in the back, with the queen bed. Putting the new sheets on is a two-person job, due to limited space. I like the storage space under the bed, good place for sleeping bags and extra bedding. After putting away all the toiletries and towels, I find there is TONS of space left for this n that.

While I was organizing and finding places for things, Markie was installing the new stereo. It sounds great, and when he asked me for a CD to test the CD player, I handed him U2. Ahhhh, the U2 music reminded me that I have tickets to see them in concert in June. YES! My daughter and I will be enjoying that bonding experience. The thought of seeing U2 in concert is almost as exciting as the thought of seeing the Beatles used to be. Speaking of the Beatles, my son Aaron posted a Facebook message dissing the Fab Four. I yelled at him, via Facebook, "Blasphemy! Bad son!"

Speaking of football (?), tonight was the opening game of the Arena Football league. I wasn't there, but my other son (twin of the bad son) has season tickets. Hope we won.

The weather has finally warmed up enough that we will be able to use the RV soon. This was a LONGGG winter. Time to get moving.

Is it SPRING yet?

2010-03-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

If the weather reaches sixty degrees next week, I'm going camping -- it's been too long! Wanna come along?

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

2010-03-11T13:32:00.000-08:00

We waited almost two years for "the perfect RV" and just purchased it with cash. So we own our dream RV and owe nothing on it. Life is good.

Life will be even better when the snow melts, the suns shines, and the campgrounds open so that we can use her. This is a photo of the 31' model -- ours is the 36' model with the rear bedroom. It has every bell and whistle they had to offer in 1989. And only 46,000 miles. Yeah, it was worth the wait.

These boomers -- Mark and Kelli -- are going to enjoy 2010, in spite of all the Washington, D.C. shenanigans. Let me just say that after the medical ordeal we've been through since 1/1/2010, we are so pleased to have excellent health care available to us. It is our hope and prayer that Congress doesn't put an end to that! (I'm finished politicizing for today.)

2010: Come Fly with Me

2009-12-30T09:23:00.000-08:00

Much as I would LOVE to travel abroad again, the idea of flying outside the U.S. this year is inconceivable, for three important reasons:

the dollar is so heavily under valued that paying for services abroad would break one's personal bank
the newly-revised airport screening protocols would discourage a even a SLOTH from entertaining the idea of standing for hours in airport security lines
the cost of a plane ticket to Europe is unreasonably more expensive than ever. When the cost of gasoline went up in 2007, so did air fares. The cost of gasoline has fallen and normalized, but air fares did not fall. In fact, the fares increased as well as

I'm begging my readers to take issue with my hypothesis that flying to Europe or Asia is out of the question in 2010. Leave a comment & show me how I can do it, please!

Meanwhile, I stare longingly out my office window at the snow falling, aware that my plans to travel on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day must be shelved. Maybe next year.

Adios, snowmobiles (sigh)

2009-12-29T23:24:00.000-08:00

We did it. We sold our beloved snowmobiles today. The buyer was hauling them down the hill this evening as I drove home up the same hill. We have had so many wonderfully adventurous days on the slopes here in Utah, and we will miss being able to commune with nature in the throes of winter. But as the name of this blog points out, we ain't as young as we used to be. Here are some of the factors we weighed before selling:
Hard work    vs     Fun
Dangerous     vs     Fun
Tax/Insur.      vs     Paid for
        We only asked $1250 for all three + the trailer. I know, he should have asked more. He realized that when he received half a dozen calls on them in day one. The first lady who called them offered more than we were asking, so she ended up with them.
      These photos were taken atop Mount Nebo near Payson, Utah. The Uintah Mountains are rife with snowmobiling opportunities. On this particular day, I fell over while making a 180. By the time I realized that my cell phone had fallen out of my pocket during that fall, we were back at the base of the trail in a heavy snowfall. So, we went home and decided to get up early the next day and return to look for the phone (a Motorola Blackberry -- not just a cheapie free phone). When we got back to the top of the mountain, we could see the depression in the snow where my body had fallen. We dug for less than a minute before finding the phone, which was still working. We left it on the defroster vent in the Jeep as we drove home, and the phone was no worse for the wear. The top photo captures the winter wonderland and picturesque beauty of the dramatic mountain settings available year round. The second photo is Mark proudly displaying his find. The middle photo is me (Kelli) sheepishly displaying the phone that I had placed in my zippered pocket, but failed to ZIP it!

Santa Claus was good to us -- brought a new stereo system for our motorhome. Now we can enjoy CDs and radio with stereo speakers. Installing them will keep Markie busy when the snow melts in February/March. However, it's highly likely that Mr. I-Can't-Wait-to-Start-My-Next-Project won't wait that long to install them.

California Adventure vs Disneyland

2009-11-18T19:51:00.000-08:00

Which one do you prefer? My friend Roger Lewis, MD, says CA is a "damned site better" than the big D. After our recent trip to both, I have to agree with Roger. CalifAdv takes the cake for a great getaway. Mark and I spent three days park hopping, but found ourselves more entertained at CA than at D, mostly because of the smaller crowds. We love Soaring Over California, The Maliboomer, California Screamin', and the Aladin Show. Take our advice and avoid Knott's Berry Farm, under new "mis-management" -- we left after an hour.

We're planning on buying a yearlong pass to Disney for 2010 so that we can go back with each of our kids and their kids. After 50 years of enjoying Disneyland resorts, Mark and I are ready to move to the next stage -- enjoying the fun with our grandchildren. The whole time we were there last week, we kept saying, "David's kids would love this!" and "Can you imagine how much fun Naomi and Jocie would have on this ride?"

On the Move

2009-08-31T14:01:00.000-07:00

The High Uintah Mountain range in eastern Utah is a camper's paradise. Our latest getaway took us to Duchesne Tunnel, a primitive campground known to the die hards who came equipped for all the joys of outdoors. Situated on the Mirror Lake Highway, this camp area runs parallel to the Provo River. Here the river is shallow and tame, unlike the deeper rapids that run through the Provo Canyon section of the river.

Our Molly learned how to fetch in water during this trip. She just barely learned about swimming in a river in July, and already she's a water retriever. We're all quite proud of our "Irish Retriever."

We joined several other families for the weekend, and enjoyed mixing and matching food items. The dutch oven potatoes were heavenly. I prepared a dutch oven peach cobbler, made from the first harvest of peaches from our young tree. The cobbler was a huge hit. Where are the pictures? you keep asking. I know, I need to upload them onto this site. But with so little time and so many places to go.....

Did you say "$500 Motor Home"?

2009-07-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

Why, yes, I did. Mark found a broken down '77 Diplomat for $500. After 20 minutes of tinkering with the wiring, he drove it home. I was overwhelmed with joy when I stepped into a clean and odor-free motor home that had had lots of TLC. Once the snow melted in Utah, we broke out the tool kit and went to work. Mark spent about 6 weeks replacing rotted wood side panels & orange carpet, and rebuilding the front end and brakes. This puppy is cherry: EVERYTHING works. Radio, AC, toilet, shower, bunks, tranny. We dolled her up with new seat covers, new drapes, and new visors.

We spent the July 4th holiday in absolute solitude on Antelope Island, surrounded by a symphony of meadowlarks & chuckers, and a landscape that included a herd of antelope walking above our camp site. This is saying nothing of the breathtaking sunset over that corner of the Great Salt Lake.

So, in the midst of economic downturn, loss, and depression, Mark and I have met another of our goals this year: to get the old gal on the road. (NO, not ME - the motorhome.) Hope your Independence Day was great!

Old People Who Travel are the Bomb

2009-01-19T14:56:00.000-08:00

One of our 2008 trips included a great outdoor adventure in Grand Junction, Colorado. Here I am with Molly in Grand Mesa National Park. We enjoyed the vistas, the air show, and the car show. It was our first attempt at using a camp trailer, which put a halt to any thoughts I might have had about buying on of those things.

Instead, my husband bought me a motorhome so salve my wounds after finding out that my dying father was leaving his motorhome and two 5th-wheel trailers (as well as EVERYTHING else) to the American Cancer Society. He's such a dope; he doesn't even realized that the head of the ACS makes more in a single year ($1.5 million) than my dad's entire donation. Ha! Okay, call me bitter. But I'm gonna have fun in my $500 motorhome. Don't laugh -- it's clean, everything works, and will require less than $1500 to get it up to par for a nice vacation.

By April my sweetie and I will be on the road to a family reunion in Sacramento. Then we hope to RV to Dallas for another reunion with my family and some old friends. We'll keep you posted on our RV makeover between now and April. By then I'll be 56 years old. (ouch)