Road Trips-Part 1

Can you think of just two little words, that when put together, make a captivating story?  ROAD TRIPS! 

I love to travel! Air, land, or sea- it really doesn’t matter- just as long as I can say, “I’m getting out of Dodge (Ohio)”!  One of my favorite kinds of vacations is a good, long road trip! I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to make two road trips across this great country of ours! Take one trip across America and your belief in God can’t help but deepen when you see all the beautiful land formations and textures! 

A big blessing was that we were able to do both cross-country trips with Mom!  Right before we went on one of our trips, Mom made a miraculous recovery from a serious illness.  It is so special having the memories of the two cross-country trips with Mom! On both adventures, she was feeling good and able to enjoy them! 

There are a lot of reasons why I love a good, long road trip! One of the nicest things is being all together; no one can leave to go any place, not even to go in the next room (hopefully you’re with people you really love being with)!  This is definitely the case with us!  We love joking, singing, and talking together! One interesting thing you may not know about me is that I love looking at semi truck cabs…the bigger the better! When I was a little kid I loved pumping my arm to try and get the trucker to blow his horn. I still occasionally have to try, it’s so fun when they actually respond. I always have big ideas about what activities I might enjoy doing in the car and packing my activity bag is always a big part of helping anticipate the trip! I always bring way more than I could ever do, but as you know with me…bigger is always better!

On the first trip we made across America the plan was to rent a car, drive to Oregon, meet up with the rest of the family, vacation together and then fly home.

We decided to take a northern route and see what marvelous sights we could find.  It doesn’t take long to see some truly amazing and beautiful scenery!  Sioux Falls, the Badlands…so different from my neck of the woods!  We also went to Mount Rushmore. It’s one thing to read about all these places but, when you see them in person, it’s very majestic and special! 

We joined the crowds at Yellowstone and were not disappointed!  Along with the natural wonders we were fortunate to get to see bison and elk. It was fun being there and actually getting to see ‘Old Faithful’ erupt!

As most of you know, I am a Starbucks fan, so when we made it to Seattle, Washington I was pretty excited to check out the original location and of course get some iced coffee. It’s kinda like a country music fan traveling to Nashville to see where it all began.

One day I got more driving than I even bargained for! We could not find a hotel until very early in the morning. We were all so exhausted, we knew that we needed to get a few hours of shut eye. This was the day we were meeting up with the rest of the family to begin our Oregon adventure!

Well, thanks to me we also got to see the inside of an Oregon emergency room, oh yeah! I shut the car door into my leg, and it looked pretty bad! When I do something, I try to do it right and this time I had really done a smashing good job of it!  We weren’t sure whether I needed stitches or not so we went to ask at a fire station what we should do and they told us we better go to the emergency room.  So, we went but they didn’t do stitches. This is the best way I can describe it- they used kind of like a strong super glue and glued me back together. Hey, I had literally become unglued! Ha ha ha!

Let me back track some and tell you the reason we all met way out in Oregon. My nephew and his wife lived there and we wanted to see their part of the country!  We had fun together staying, while splitting our time between two different houses-one on a lake and the other on a river (it looked like more of a very large canal to me)! We discovered that the house on the river/canal we stayed in, Paul Newman had filmed a movie there! My family and I agreed that it was one of the strangest places we had ever stayed!

We had a wonderful time in Oregon. My nephew gave us a great tour of all the fun things to see and do and EAT in and around the area. One interesting place he took us to eat was like a little trailer park of food trucks! It turns out they have several of these little parks with different kinds of food trucks. It was definitely a great ending to a wonderful trip!

Enjoy a slideshow from “Road Trips-Part 1” and come back next week for part 2 of my Road Trips post!


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23 responses to “Road Trips-Part 1”

  1. Mandy Avatar
    Mandy

    Travel is GOOD and You know it….
    xoxo
    Aunt Mandy

  2. Stephen Avatar
    Stephen

    I enjoyed this story, and I also found it interesting that a road trip for you is all about the people. The people who are in the van with you and the people you are traveling to see. For many other road-trippers, it represents a prime opportunity to get AWAY from family. But for you, it is just the opposite. That is a testimony to the quality of Ticknor family life.

    1. Cate Avatar
      Cate

      Thanks, I really do enjoy being with my family!!!!

  3. Dave Avatar
    Dave

    Love your stories Cate. I laughed when you talked about coming unglued!

    1. Cate Avatar
      Cate

      Thanks for your encouragement and support!!!!

  4. Smile Quotes 24 Avatar

    Nice and interesting post, thank you for sharing

    1. Cate Avatar
      Cate

      Thanks for reading, glad you liked it!!!!

  5. Janet Avatar
    Janet

    Enjoyed road trip part 1. The pictures were great! Looking forward to part 2.

    1. Cate Avatar
      Cate

      Thanks!!!!!

  6. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    One of my favorite road trips was from Ohio to Southern California in an RV. We got to see so much: St. Lois Arch, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, desert, and the ocean!

    What’s some of your favorite road trip snacks?

    1. Cate Avatar
      Cate

      I can’t tell you a favorite snack, I like them all!!!! What do you do in the car when there’s nothing else to do? You snack!!!!

  7. Jan Avatar
    Jan

    I always suspected you were unglued…. 🙂

    1. Cate Avatar
      Cate

      Thanks, I didn’t want to admit it! You found me out! I feel like a very heavy weight has been lifted from my shoulders! Now that you know the truth, please tell me from now on to just be me and let my hair down! Did I keep up a good charade? I’m really honored that you thought I had it altogether!!!! Here’s some friendly advice…I suspect you’re a little unglued right along with me… admit it, Jan, it can really be freeing!!!!

  8. Connie Avatar
    Connie

    Beautiful pictures. No wonder you like road trips. I’ll bet you really like traveling cause you get to tell everyone where to go to. Lol. The Boss. ❤️❤️❤️

    1. Cate Avatar
      Cate

      Thanks ❤️❤️❤️❤️

  9. Ladd Avatar
    Ladd

    I really love this one Cate you and your family have been to alot of places. Thanks for sharing the pictures too they are awesome!! Can’t wait for part 2.

    1. Cate Avatar
      Cate

      Thanks

  10. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    Sounds like a good time. Looking forward to part 2.

    1. Cate Avatar
      Cate

      Thanks !!!!

  11. Aunt Anne Avatar
    Aunt Anne

    I love the description of your trip; I ESPECIALLY love the pictures!!

    1. Cate Avatar
      Cate

      Thanks, it really was an awesome, great and wonderful trip!!!!

  12. Skip Avatar
    Skip

    I want in on your next road trip cousin!!

    1. Cate Avatar
      Cate

      We’ll see, it depends how good you are to me the next few years!!!! You may be asking, “Cate, aren’t you above blackmailing?” Of course, NOT!!!!