Don used to tease me about being a world traveler. We would watch something on television and he would say, “I suppose you have been there.” Often the answer was yes. He told me he thought that I was traveling to find someone to be with. That could not have further from the truth. I traveled with the group from the Warren Senior Center. Margaret did such a wonderful job of planning the trips. I always traveled with another woman, not a man.

Often the trips included everything. We had meals in famous restaurants. We saw plays. We even traveled all the way across Canada on a train. I genuinely enjoyed all of my trips.

On some of them we traveled throughout the U. S. I finally counted all of the states that I have visited. That was triggered by a grandson posting that he visited all fifty states. Some of the trips were done with the seniors and some of them were done with my family when I was growing up. Each year the family would take a trip somewhere.

I have visited thirty-six states. I think Melanie and Ben have been to all but Hawaii, but it was their son who logged all fifty. Some of my adventures were just small stops in each state, others we traveled extensively through.

I love to travel. I especially liked the trip by train. That reminded me of adventures locally by train. That trip was the first time I had ever slept on a train. We chose to have our beds made up for us each night. They called us the “ladies who slept in the hall”. It was very convenient. The bathroom was nearby so those late-night trips were possible although I had to climb down from the top bunk.

One of nicest trips was the one to Georgia. We stopped at a tea farm on our way there. We ate in Paula Deene’s restaurant. That trip was only marred by the elephant in the room that was the cancer surgery I faced when I returned. When we stopped at the Longaberger Basket Company the daughter of the founder was there and she signed my basket.

I loved traveling through Amish country. I especially liked going to Holmes County.

It seemed less commercial than Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I did like to attend the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster. Those productions are well worth the effort of getting there. If you have never attended one put it on your bucket list and you will not be disappointed.

Another trip that ranked high on my list was the one up the Danube River. As we progressed through the locks there was so much to see. Travel was fun there. At each stop there was a trip planned to the old part of the town. I always wanted to go to Europe and this trip provided the opportunity. When I went to college the college offered a semester in Belgium. I really wanted to go, but cost could not be covered by my scholarship. My best friend went and told me how much fun she had. In 2016 I finally made it to Europe.

I was not wild about going through the Panama Canal, but as it turned out it was a special trip. I went into countries that definitely were never on my list of travel plans. On that trip we traveled with three in our room. That was fine we all got along. I was proofreading my book so I left the room early each morning and stopped to pickup my cup of coffee. I headed to the library to work a while. We went into Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Nicaragua before we got to the canal.

We were up early the day we were to go through the canal. Our journey was a slow one.

A ship ahead of us got stuck and we had a lengthy wait until it was freed. It was nearly twelve hours before it was our turn to pass through.

Luckily, they broadcast our journey so we could sit in our rooms and watch until it was our turn. I believe the canal has been widened now so that should not happen again.

The worst trip was the cruise that was during Spring Break. I think we went to New Orleans and the western Caribbean. The students who traveled were often passed out in the hall as we traveled back and forth to our rooms. The smell was awful. You just stepped over them watching so as not to step in anything yukky and kept going. The dancing and the games were really interesting. Nothing like competing with another generation.

Most of our travels were done during the winter months thus the remembrances during this month. When we returned from Hawaii we returned to snow. The bus ride home was a real trip!

Right now, I have no trips planned but I did renew my passport this year so who knows what lies ahead.

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell. Contact her at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.