Have you ever felt the need to just get away from it all, but don't really have the money to go on a vacation? Do what we do. GET LOST.
Literally, for 1 day. Seven and a half years ago when I was taking care of Daddy, I was so exhausted, mentally, physically and emotionally. I got my brother to take care of Daddy for one day while my sister and I hit the road. We had a travel travel game with a pop dice in it. You pressed on the bubble and it flipped the dice for us. Whenever we can to an intersection, we'd pop the dice and divide up the turns according to how many choices we had. If we were at a four way, then 1-2 meant we turned left. 3-4 meant we went straight, and 5-6 meant we turned right. If there were only 2 choices, then 1-3 meant left and 4-5 meant right. It was a fun day. But we found a lot of dead end roads, went in circles a view times and got practically stuck in a subdivision in Gadsden once! But we ended up in Steele, Alabama and found a stray, malnourished dog, whose name is now Molly. It was 3 weeks before Daddy died.
Last weekend, we needed a break and got lost again. Where the other time, we had planned it way ahead of time, it was spur of the moment. We loaded the cooler with peanut butter and banana sandwiches, root bear, ice and snacks. This time, we had new dice, that we'd gotten several weeks ago at Walmart. Instead of having numbers on it, it has L, C, and R. Perfect for left, center, and right! We used a second number dice to tell us how many miles we go before we use the LCR dice again. If we rolled the number dice and it came up five, we went five miles before rolling the LCR.
We also had veto power. No dead end road. No subdivisions. No repeating roads we'd already been on unless we wanted to.
We went straight to the Cherokee Rock Village, first thing! It's not really a village, it's just an area with lots of great big boulders and a spectacular view off Lookout Mountain. It's been a while since we were there and things have changed. It used to be a dirt road and now it's paved. I wouldn't be surprised if they did that for the film crew. Failure to Launch with Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker had scenes filmed there. The scene were Matthew's character and his friends were rock climbing.
Last week there were bulldozers there. They have bulldozed a lot of trees. I don't know if they are building a parking lot or some kind of commercial area. No one sent us a memo on that one!
Next we ended up in Gadsden, we went past the mall, then somehow ended up behind the mall on the other side of the walking trail. Then used a veto to keep from going in circles and ended up in Rainbow City. We turned right at 77 and found a fabulous thrift store. Eagle Rock Thrift store. Their stuff was excellent quality and great prices too. Too bad we didn't have any money. (Being unemployed sucks!) I did buy a cookbook for 99 cents and another for 49 cents. (Hardback books are 99cents, softback are 49 cents). But it we get a job where we need nice clothes, we know where to go!
Next we were in Alexander City, Anniston (went by the base there), and then Heflin. We ended up in Talapoosa, Ga! Then we turned on our Tom Tom GPS and found a way home. We'd made a huge loop and ended up only 1 hour and 15 minutes from home. We saw some beautiful country during the day.
And while we were riding, we played TV trivia! We have cards from the game. Since my sister and I take turns driving, the passenger reads and we both answer. It's us against the card. And we sometimes cheat, I mean bend the rules, by giving more than one answer and if we so much as mention the answer, even we we're saying we don't think that's it, we still get it because we said it. (Hey, it's our game, our rules!).
So next time you just need a break, grab some friends, and get lost! It's an adventure.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Welcome and a bit about me and my escapades
Welcome!
Why escapades? You understand as you get to know me. My advertures with my sister often turn into an episode of Lucy and Ethyl. The past few years have been about pushing my comfort zone, trying new things and making life an adventure on a shoestring budget.
I worked in a sock mill for 13 years, right up until they shut it down and sent it to Honduras. Trade Readjustment Allowance sent me to school and I just got my Associates in Applied Science, Industrial Electronic Technician in December. I'm going for one more semester for another Associates in Applied Science, Industrial Systems Technician, Multiskilled. I'm taking welding this semester! I can't wait until we actually get to weld. Fortunately, my welding partner is a professional welder, so that's going to be a plus. I am looking for a job in those fields, someone hire me! I'm also taking Industrial Maintenance, Industrial safety, and an Instrumentation class. All good stuff.
This blog will cover several topics of my life. From sharing recipes to being a survivor of child abuse, physical, mental, and sexual, or my escapades in kayaking, hiking, fishing, photography, (all strictly amateur) or even my adventures of being a 50 year old college student. I'm also very big on yard sales, garage sales, moving sales and thrift store shopping. There is also a good chance I'll talk about my pets. 15 dogs and 1 rabbit, sometimes referred to as the Heathens, depending on all our moods.
I tend to be politically liberal with a smidgen of conservative, but I'll keep the political and Religious stuff to a minimum. I used to really keep up with politics, but I've become disgusted with all of them so while I try to keep informed, I don't really comment on it much anymore.
I collect cookbooks. I love to read them, especially old ones, or region or culture or community specific. My love of cooking goes in cycles. Sometimes I'll try to cook anything, even if it will take me all day, and other times, I don't want to do more than pop something in the microwave. A lot depends on how busy my life is at the time. So food and recipes will definitely be a topic.
Meniere's will also be something I'll talk about from time to time, but not too often. I do have the inner ear disease and at one time, it was very much out of control. But my last surgery and time has it back under control and it is really not a big problem for me now. It is the reason I am deaf in the left ear, or rather the doctor who used the wrong medication during a procedure for the Meniere's is the reason I'm completely deaf in that ear.
What I really want to do with this blog is to show people that you can get through the hard stuff. I've lead a very dramatic and traumatic life and I've survived it all. I'll be talking about some of those hardships as the mood hits me. I mentioned the abuse above, but I also was the sole caretaker when my Daddy was terminally ill. We lived in a little bitty school bus with an outhouse when I was about 4. I had a severe period of depression 20 years ago. Life has been hard for me, but the important thing is keep putting one foot in front of the other until you get through the hard times. You adjust and keep going. I've not only survived my life, but I am looking forward to the next 50 years of it. Don't ever give up on life. Don't ever stop trying.
Welcome to my journey.
Jan
Why escapades? You understand as you get to know me. My advertures with my sister often turn into an episode of Lucy and Ethyl. The past few years have been about pushing my comfort zone, trying new things and making life an adventure on a shoestring budget.
I worked in a sock mill for 13 years, right up until they shut it down and sent it to Honduras. Trade Readjustment Allowance sent me to school and I just got my Associates in Applied Science, Industrial Electronic Technician in December. I'm going for one more semester for another Associates in Applied Science, Industrial Systems Technician, Multiskilled. I'm taking welding this semester! I can't wait until we actually get to weld. Fortunately, my welding partner is a professional welder, so that's going to be a plus. I am looking for a job in those fields, someone hire me! I'm also taking Industrial Maintenance, Industrial safety, and an Instrumentation class. All good stuff.
This blog will cover several topics of my life. From sharing recipes to being a survivor of child abuse, physical, mental, and sexual, or my escapades in kayaking, hiking, fishing, photography, (all strictly amateur) or even my adventures of being a 50 year old college student. I'm also very big on yard sales, garage sales, moving sales and thrift store shopping. There is also a good chance I'll talk about my pets. 15 dogs and 1 rabbit, sometimes referred to as the Heathens, depending on all our moods.
I tend to be politically liberal with a smidgen of conservative, but I'll keep the political and Religious stuff to a minimum. I used to really keep up with politics, but I've become disgusted with all of them so while I try to keep informed, I don't really comment on it much anymore.
I collect cookbooks. I love to read them, especially old ones, or region or culture or community specific. My love of cooking goes in cycles. Sometimes I'll try to cook anything, even if it will take me all day, and other times, I don't want to do more than pop something in the microwave. A lot depends on how busy my life is at the time. So food and recipes will definitely be a topic.
Meniere's will also be something I'll talk about from time to time, but not too often. I do have the inner ear disease and at one time, it was very much out of control. But my last surgery and time has it back under control and it is really not a big problem for me now. It is the reason I am deaf in the left ear, or rather the doctor who used the wrong medication during a procedure for the Meniere's is the reason I'm completely deaf in that ear.
What I really want to do with this blog is to show people that you can get through the hard stuff. I've lead a very dramatic and traumatic life and I've survived it all. I'll be talking about some of those hardships as the mood hits me. I mentioned the abuse above, but I also was the sole caretaker when my Daddy was terminally ill. We lived in a little bitty school bus with an outhouse when I was about 4. I had a severe period of depression 20 years ago. Life has been hard for me, but the important thing is keep putting one foot in front of the other until you get through the hard times. You adjust and keep going. I've not only survived my life, but I am looking forward to the next 50 years of it. Don't ever give up on life. Don't ever stop trying.
Welcome to my journey.
Jan
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