I just returned home to the Midwest from my folks place in San Diego.
When my boys were young we would enjoy road trip s, picking out different routes so that we could see the country. We had some amazing trips but we always ended up in San Diego so that they could visit with my side of the family. On these drives, my mind would always wander and I would try to envision what it must have been like for the early pioneers, settlers and Native Americans. All of it became inspiration for the stories that I write.
For many years now I’ve flown. It is just not the same as driving. There is something lost in not being able to roll down my window and smell the sage, or pines, or ocean and feel the wind on my face. When my husband agreed to make the drive this year I was thrilled. I flew out to have a long visit and then he drove out later to spend Christmas with me. My sons also came for a shorter visit. Then together we drove back to the Midwest. It took some planning. We had to dodge El Nino effects and so we stayed SOUTH! Oklahoma roads were completely shut down with ice, Denver was a blizzard, a tornado tore through Texas. and the Mississippi River was flooding all over the place at the time we planned to cross. Never a dull moment. I was glad to get home safely.
How did the pioneers handle this!
I cannot imagine what it must have been like for women in the 1800s. Mail-order brides and those who traveled to a new destination looking for free land to farm or ranch often would never see their loved ones again. They must have experienced terrible bouts of homesickness. It’s no wonder that church and social gatherings played such an important place in their lives. And traveling, they couldn’t check for bad weather on their phone and adjust their route to avoid it the way I could on this trip. I’m so glad I live today and not in the 1800s!
How do you like to travel and where would you choose to go in the
continental United States given the opportunity?
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Kathryn Albright started writing the day she realized she married into a clan where Sundays in Autumn meant football – LOTS of football. She writes sweet historical romance and is both traditionally and self-published. Her stories have won several industry awards which you can learn more about on her website. When not caught up in a fascinating story, she enjoys road trips with her husband. She lives with her family in the rural Midwest. Visit her at http://www.kathrynalbright.com.
Great post, Kathryn! I love the seeing new things aspect of road trips, but after 6 hours I’m ready to get where we’re going. Patience is not my strong suit. lol
Hi Tracy! Thanks for stopping by. I do get bored with traveling some of the same scenery–such as near my home. Teleporting would be great in that instance LOL.
I prefer to fly when we get a chance for a vacation, because my husband’s driving stresses me out too much.
Hi Janine! Both of my SIL have a similar difficulty. Their husbands get drowsy while driving and so they help drive and then they have to stay alert so that their husbands will stay alert! That would be stressful and I wouldn’t want to make a long trip under those circumstances. Good point!
With 3 kiddos the bubbly and I love to drive it easier and more beautiful. We like because we can go at our own pace and my hunky is a huge nature lover. Hahha often times I have to remind him to keep his eyes on the road and not on all the nature around us. We live in the northwest and it’s really spo beautiful to drive through. Everything is so green and fresh!
Hi Cori! Thanks for stopping by “Wildflower Junction” here at Petticoats and Pistols! With three little ones it is stressful to fly! I’ve done it, but I’m with you. I’d rather drive and see things and take my time. The northwest is one place I have not been and I REALLY hope to get there in the next year or so. One of my best friends from high school lives there and it would be so great to visit her!
We don’t travel very much now but we’ve taken some nice road trips and since I don’t do hardly any of the driving, I really enjoy it. We’ve done it with and without kids. I always made up a backpack with games, books and things to keep them busy and they were very well behaved. I enjoy traveling by plane too and we took a cruise once which I loved the most. I really don’t know how the settlers did it except I guess it was all they knew and were probably a sturdier lot lol.
Hi Catslady! Yep–guess those settlers didn’t have much of a choice! We really are blessed in so many things nowadays. I would do the same with my kids with big bag–travel bingo, coloring books, cards, etc. I miss those days. Sometimes seeing and sharing things with your kids makes everything new again, like your seeing it through young eyes. Thank you for posting!
Thanks for posting loved it.
Hi Kim! Good to see you stopping by!
Hmmm, I would like to see some of the National Parks… would definitely enjoy seeing the sites!
Oh, Good Choice, Colleen! I have been to a few National Parks and just loved them. I would love to see more of them. Maybe with my dh retired, that can happen soon!
Given the opportunity I would like to visit all the capital cities in the US which I have not seen yet. I like to travel by car so I can see the countryside. I am not much for flying in planes altho I do when I have to get someplace in a hurry.
HI Jackie! What an interesting idea! As I am more of a country girl at heart I never gave much thought to visiting cities – although I have enjoyed DC a few times (strategic relatives 🙂 I would like to visit New York City and Boston in the future. There is so much history there. Thanks for posting!
I love to drive but have enjoyed air travel at times. I would love to visit Alaska. And I have never been to the Northeast or Southeast corners of our country.
Hi Connie! My husband is holding out for Alaska. I have relatives in the Northeast and that is a beautiful part of the country with so much history. I highly recommend it. I’ve never been to Maine and that would be wonderful especially in the fall. I’ve flown to Orlando, but there is so much more than DisneyWorld that I would love to get down to Key West and the everglades. This country is really something isn’t it?
I live in the Phoenix, Arizona area so anytime in the summer i get a chance to visit a beach, I do. Usually drive to San Diego which is a 6 hour drive but the roads are straight and fast so don’t really mind it.
Hi Joye,
Thanks for stopping by! Well then, we have traveled the same road because that’s the way I came back to the Midwest. The scenery sure has changed over the years. Lots more irrigation (something I could see from the airplane too.) And the dunes are much busier now than when I was younger. I couldn’t believe the motor-home parks for dune enthusiasts!
We travel once a year by road to Myrtle Beach South Carolina. We have a weeks time share at a lovely condo down there. Where I’d like to go if I could. Spacecraft Florida in the winter time for a week or two.
Hi Shirley! I drove through Myrtle Beach when my son was in the Navy at Goose Creek. What a beautiful area! I have friends in Savannah and would love to see that area too. I have not heard of Spacecraft Florida. I’m guessing it has something to do with the rocket launches? I am going to have to look that one up! Thank you for commenting!
That was spell check. I was trying to say Pinecraft Florida . The Amish community. Spell check put in Spacecraft. I didn’t edit as I should have. Sorry. Very embarrassing.
LOL! Don’t worry. Happens to me all the time! I happened to be talking to my son about the comments I was receiving here today (he is a traveler) and asked him if he had heard of Spacecraft FL. He breezed right along saying that “Oh yes, I’ve heard of it. Down by Cape Canaveral…” Hmmmm…. I have heard of Pinecraft as a friend of mine visited there. Hope you get there some day!
We really don’t travel any more. When we did it was usually by road. We did go to Disney world one time by plane and I enjoyed it.
Hi Quilt Lady! Thank you for stopping by! DisneyWorld is quite a memory! We (dh and I) took our boys there once. They wore us out. So much planning! So much excitement! But it was all worth it and now we have that wonderful memory forever.
What a great blog! I love to travel by car and have many wonderful memories crossing the country with my family as well. It was great when I was young and had only the joy of travel without the worries and responsibilities. My favorite things were the long open roads and all the day dreaming I did as we drove. I always had my “horse” running along the open fields and I was wild and free on her as we drove along. I also love driving into a new city and seeing all the lights and sights – stopping at gas stations and fast food chains – seeing people going about their lives when it is all new and strange to me. I just love it all. Now, older, with a husband that loves to be home, it has been an adjustment to learn to be content with that. That is one reason I read constantly – the stories take me all over and I see the sights and hear the sounds of new and unfamiliar places again. If / When, I go on another road trip – I would love to see Yosemite again – Beautiful. Really, though, just going somewhere with no destination in mind, taking the back roads, would be so much fun.
Hi Phyllis! Thanks for stopping by Wildflower Junction! It sounds like you have some great memories! And what a great reason to be a reader! Stories really do take you places — even outer space! Yosemite is such a gorgeous National Park. Amazing, amazing scenery. I wish it were five times as big!
I have always wanted to visit Wyoming. I would like to drive and look at scenery – however, my back issues prevent that. Flying is my mode of transportation.
Hi Mary, Thank you for commenting! Health issues can really make a difference when traveling and for back issues, I would guess the rough road and bumps would make you miserable. I”ve been through Wyoming and LOVED IT. I hope you get a chance to go there. The Little Big Horn mountains is one of my favorite places on earth. So beautiful. I remember one town in Wyoming that we went through had a sign outside the post office. (The post office was the ONLY evidence of a town being there LOL.) The sign said POP: 10. That’s TEN! I wish I’d gotten a picture of it. It just struck me as funny…
Hi Kathryn, wow, as for a road trip, you did hit it all! Yowzers. I admit we fly a lot because we have close family in Hawaii. But…the airport ordeals make it unpleasant to simply get started. Grrrr. I do like road trips so I can see new environs…we’ve even taken a few organized tours so Hubs can SEE out coach windows rather than drive, drive, drive. We do want to see the Pacific Northwest soon so that will probably be a road trip when we make our own stops and schedules. Hugs…
Hi Tanya! I’ve been studying all the things to do in the Pacific Northwest. There is so much to see and do in Portland and in Seattle. My dh and I talk about flying to San Francisco and renting a car, then stopping in Napa, seeing the California redwoods and then following the coast on up to Seattle.
P.S. Did you know that Portland has the worlds LARGEST BOOKSTORE? I’d like to see that!
As for me, I love the road, and never seem to tire of it. I drive almost everywhere — not completely, I do fly, I just don’t enjoy it. Like you, I want to see it, smell it, experience it. Road trips are amongst my most favorite things.
Hi Karen–I’m so glad to have you pop in to say hi. I can see that about you and road trips. The few pictures I’ve seen of your travels look like the kind I like to take.
I am a road trip lover! Some of our best times have been in a car headed to a great vacation spot and all the stops we made along the way.
Thanks for stopping by Melanie! Wish you would mention a few. It might give me a new destination!
I love to drive on adventures. Its thrilling to start out and see what happens long the way and whose idea comes to fruition.
Hi Naomi,
I like your attitude! That’s just how I feel when starting out. Like it is going to be a grand adventure.
Never a dull moment, right Kathryn? I enjoy the speed of flying – not to mention the excuse to bury my nose in a book for several hours. However, driving cross country give you wonderful opportunities to explore and take little side trips. My goal is to visit all the National parks in the US – maybe one day….
I really like the idea of seeing all the National Parks. Someone mentioned it above too. That really intrigues me. First I need to make sure I know where they all are! Guess I’d start with the Everglades and work my way west. Thanks for commenting Glenda!
I really enjoyed learning of all your road trips of the past and those you’d love to take in the future! Thank you all for participating. You made this such a fun time for me. I’ve drawn a name out of my Stetson for the winner of the giveaway for my newest release.
Congratulations to Quilt Lady! Please contact me at Kathryn@KathrynAlbright.com for your prize!
Thank you all for joining in!
Kathryn, love your post about the old west travel. I couldn’t imagine sitting across from a stuffy old man or woman for miles on end in a stagecoach. I enjoy reading about all this in your books & the other fillies; but, I wouldn’t enjoy that kind of travel. And yes, I would be one of those going to church because I was homesick & missing my family; those were trying time for the females. Planes & cars are a God sin.