About one hundred fifty years ago, Hoarce Greeley, a newspaper editor somewhere back East, urged his readers to “Go West, young man. Go West.”

That is the advice I usually follow when it is time to start planning a vacation…. Have you ever heard anybody say, “Go East……?” Ahhh…Yes…..the Golden West. Take your pick of the natural beauty…..the Great Plains, the desert, the mountains…plenty of them, the forests, the ocean. And, we haven’t even begin to talk about Mt. Rushmore, Little Big Horn, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, the Redwoods, the Columbia River Valley, the spectacular rock formations of southern Utah….. And, to break the monotony of nature, go visit Salt Lake City and listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir….and take in their slick propaganda displays, or spend a night in Reno….a manageable little city with bright lights and a few slot machines. And, there is always Denver or Portland or San Francisco….if you really feel you have to be surrounded by people and traffic for a day or two.

This year, however, we marched to the beat of a different drummer…. The drummer that was was coaxing us….Fayez and me….imploring us…..to Go East. Actually, I don’t think our intention….or even our expectation…..was to “see” things, as much as it was to drive through as many states as possible in as short a time period as possible…..and still say we were “on vacation”.

It probably goes without saying that no matter where we go, it is all going to be new to Fayez. West, East, North or South…. He knows nothing….very little, at least….about the USA, its geography, its people, its history…. Well, let’s just say, that being from Saudi Arabia…..they don’t spend a lot of time talking about the USA….at least, about it’s geography or history. Before you go sputtering all the patriotic stuff…. How many of you know anything about Saudi Arabia? Or the Middle East? Or Europe? Or Asia? Or Africa? Yeah…..that’s that I thought. And, remember…..it works both ways!

Of course, I have always believed that if you want to see natural beauty….Go West. If you want to experience the history of our nation…..Go East. And…..maybe, if you want to go somewhere that has for a long time been left in in the dust…..and fading quickly in the rear view mirror…..Go South.

When I started planning the trip…..Wow….back in February…. I set only a few criteria to meet. We had only 14 days…..exactly 14 days…..to complete the journey. As usual, when I plan a trip, there isn’t much….if any….time for improvising. We must be at a certain spot on the map at a certain time….. The campgrounds are already booked….and paid for. It is not like we can just decide not to show up….. Well, we can, I guess. But, the campground is paid for….and they are not going to refund any money. And….then where do we stay? Will there be a suitable campground….one with vacant camping cabins…..nearby? Or will be still be looking after darkness falls…..or will we be forced to stay in an expensive motel?

But, getting back to the criteria. We wanted to drive through as many states as possible. We wanted to keep the daily mileage within about eight hours driving time. We wanted to keep pursuing our goal with as few detours as possible.   A couple times in the past we initially drove ten and eleven hour days. The long distances were justified because…..well, there was nothing to see…..and we just wanted to cover the miles. But, driving an eight hour day…. We can still cover 500 miles, and still arrive at our campground with plenty of sunshine left in the day….. So Fayez could go for a run….and I could take a nap.

Camping can be very relaxing at the end of a day’s drive. We (I) can take a nap….We can get our camp set up….Fayez can cook our supper….. We can sit in front of the campfire and talk…..

Finding campgrounds that are fairly equally spaced apart is sometimes tricky…..especially considering that we only stayed at KOA campgrounds. But, this is not my first rodeo….so to speak. Learning from prior experience, I started planning the trip….and the route we would take…in February. If something happened to go wrong….this would afford plenty of time to make alternative plans…… And, it would also assure that we might possibly get the cabin closest to the showers! That doesn’t always work…. But, it is always worth a try.

Why only KOA? Mostly because I have a membership in KOA…..and I have a membership card that gives a 10% discount off the regular price of a camping space…..no matter what kind of site we choose. On this trip, things worked out pretty well. KOA’s are rather plentiful…. The only state that does not have a KOA was Delaware. Who knows why not? But, I was able to book a site with a cabin in one of the state parks… And, for actually less money than we paid for a KOA site.

There were only two problems areas: Washington, D. C. and New York City. There simply are not a lot of KOA campgrounds in Times Square…..or in DuPont Circle! In those two cites our only recourse was to stay in a hotel….. Either that….or stay awake twenty-four hours a day…..or sleep in a doorway, which come to think about it, wouldn’t have been so unusual in New York City…..and it certainly would have been a lot cheaper!

So…..It was the middle of February…..and the planning was complete. All the campgrounds had been reserved…..the route was more or less locked in….. It would take a few weeks longer to decide on the hotels. Should I go ahead and book rooms in both Washington, D. C. and New York City…..or should I wait? If I book them now…. Will the price go down? If I wait and book them later….. Will the price have gone up? There comes a point when I said, “The heck with it. I may as well get it over with…..” Once those reservations had been made….the only things was to wait….

Sometimes waiting is the hardest part of the trip. I constantly go over the plans…. Are all of the reservations made and confirmed? Is the route the most time efficient as it can be? Is picking up the rental car going to go smoothly? Is some catastrophic event going to prevent us from even going on the trip? Is the weather going to cooperate? Will it be too hot, too cold….? Check the long-range forecasts.

But, there is one factor that we do not have to be concerned about….. And, that is all the stuff we are going to take with us. Over the years, I have refined the list to rather exact proportions! In some of the early years we left things we needed behind…and we had to buy these things along the way. Or we took a lot of junk we didn’t need and never used. It took up valuable space and created extra work in packing and unpacking every day. Now…..the list is refined and polished. Everything that goes into the car is something that is necessary…..and something that will be used. No useless….maybe we might need this….stuff.

We have added and subtracted over the years….. Yes….we had better take insect repellant; No….we don’t need the dirty, cumbersome cast iron skillet….. A heavy jacket is always welcome. Sleeping bags…. Leave them at home and take old sheets and blankets instead. They are much more streamline to pack…..and take up a lot less space. So….. If anybody wants to buy my list…. Just contact me! With a little negotiating…..I am sure we can settle on a fair price! Of course, I won’t guarantee it will work for you. But, it sure works for us.

Thursday, May 12, finally arrived. That was a busy day for me. Get everything on the list….and make sure it was sitting in plain sight in the front room. Everything….down to the last plastic fork. Leave something sitting on the kitchen counter? You are probably going to forget it. Leave the camping chairs in the garage. They will no doubt be there when you get back. So….Everything on the list is placed in the front room…..and checked off the list. Yeah…..the front room is a mess….every available surface covered….except for my recliner, of course. But, one night of clutter is worth the effort.

Fayez told me a month ago that he will come up on Thursday evening….after his last class, so he can help me get all the stuff together. Great. Somebody is share in the work is welcome. A week before we leave….. “No, I have a meeting on Thursday evening. I will come early on Friday morning. I will be there by 9:00.” OK…..Better late than never, I suppose. The Tuesday before we are to leave: “I have to meet with my professor Friday morning. I will meet you in Topeka.” Well….there goes any hope of getting any help! I guess I should have known, in the final analysis, I would be doing all the work by myself. It usually happens that way.

Friday dawns. First, I have to take my computer to Holton, drop it off for some service….then drive on to Topeka where I will meet Fayez and Sam for lunch at the Billard Airport Cafe. So far, everything is going as planned. And why not? These are things that I have control over! Around 2:00, lunch is over. Time to go pick up the rental car.

Pick it up, indeed! I had rented a car from Hertz online…..and I was supposed to pick it up at 3:00. We left my car at my brother’s house and then drove to the Hertz location on South Topeka to pick up the car. But….OUR can had not been returned yet. “Come back in an hour…and it will be ready for you.” OK…. Not what we had planned…..or what we had agreed upon. But, OK…. What’s an hour? We drove….in Fayez’s car….to Lake Shawnee where Fayez immediately put the seat back…..and proceeded to take a nap. I tried to sleep….but without some sort of pillow, it was really not possible. I walked down to the rest rooms….walked up and down the sidewalk…..

It was nearing the end of the hour, so I walked back to the car to wake up Fayez. We returned to the Hertz place about an hour and a half after we returned….ready to get the keys to the car and get out of there. But….no car. Time was starting to pass by…..4:30….5:00…… There was nothing to do except wait…..if we wanted a car. It was sort of hard to be angry as I watched the hassled clerk calling people, saying, “Where’s the car you are supposed to bring back?” Or fielding telephone calls from other customers, saying, “No….We don’t have any cars available.” Finally, the guy told me in mild desperation, “OK, we will go ahead and give you THIS car”….pointing at a car in the next higher classification. “We just got to get it cleaned out…..”

That was OK with me…. Fayez was sitting in his car, probably messing with his cell phone…. At almost the same time the larger car was cleaned out and ready to go…. It happened! OUR car pulled into the parking lot. “Oh, wow…. That is a much smaller car….”

I must say, the people at Hertz were just as annoyed and hassled as we were. It was graduation weekend in Topeka….and other surrounding towns. Every car from every car rental agency in Topeka, Manhattan and Lawrence had been rented. At least, that is the guy said. And, I believe him. I was more than happy that I had rented the car a couple months earlier……or we may have been hitch hiking.

True to his word, as soon as we got back to my house, Fayez started packing all the stuff we were taking with us into the car….. It all fit…..but there was not a square inch of space left over when he finished, however. I must say, I am probably the better packer. But, after a long day, I was not going to sweat the small stuff. The car was packed…..and were ready to take off on our latest adventure.

Saturday morning, May 17, we were in the car, pulling out of the driveway at 8:03….. We had missed our….at least, MY….goal by three minutes. But, considering it could have been 9:03 or even 10:03…..who is going to complain. When we look at it that way…..I suppose we were actually early!

We drove through Kansas City. Nothing new there. Next was St. Louis. Been there…. Done that. We saw the infamous Arch from the car window. But….I am never going back there again. So…..we proceeded on our way to Benton, Illinois….for first KOA of the trip. Fayez prepared a delicious meal…. We sat and talked for a while in front of the fire…..

Sunday….we drove to Milton, West Virginia….our second KOA of the trip. Fayez prepared a delicious meal….. We sat and talked for a while in front of the fire…..

Monday…..we drove to Fredericksburg, Virginia….our third KOA of the trip. Fayez prepared a delicious meal…. We sat and talked for a while in front of the fire……

Are you starting to detect a pattern to our travel on this trip?

Fayez didn’t want to stop….. It wasn’t so much of a sightseeing trip as it was a “let’s just get there” trip. As I look back, this could have happened for a reason…or a combination of reasons.
Maybe the main fault was mine. I probably should have designated definite stopping points along the way…..historical sites, natural sites, point of interest. As it was, we had merely agreed to stop and see interesting things as they happened to occur. The problem with this approach is that Fayez knew absolutely nothing about where we were going….what we were going to see…. He had no concept or understanding of the historical significance of anything we might see. For the most part, he was completely uninformed about any social or political importance of events that had taken place in the Middle Atlantic and New England States.

Before we planned the trip, I told him several times that it was going to be far different than the trips we had taken previously. There would be no ocean beaches, no miles of evergreen forests following rushing rivers, no mountains with snow-covered peaks, no long drives through barren deserts…..no waterfalls along the Columbia River….. But, until a person has experienced something, it is usually difficult to empathize with the situation. I mean….does a foreigner really care about the foundations of our country? Are they interested in the wars we have fought…..not only against a foreign country, but also among our own citizens? Do people who are outsiders know….or care….who our great leaders were? George Washington, Thomas Jefferson…..?

If I were to go to Saudi Arabia….. Well…in the first place, I probably will never go to Saudi Arabia…. But, I am sure I would feel the same way. I know nothing about their history…about their historical sites….about what is important to them….or why. I am sure I would be polite and try to appear to be interested…..maybe even ask some questions….take some pictures….

So….it is probably not very realistic to expect a foreigner….especially a foreigner of a radically different culture….religion….and background…..to be terribly interested in a similarly strange and alien environment.

We spent our last night of simply driving….of “getting there”….in Fredericksburg, VA. This is only an hour or so outside Washington, D.C. There has been a lot of history that took place in and around Fredericksburg…..but we didn’t see any of it. I remember this KOA for a few different reasons. When we arrived, the owner of the KOA said that this day was the first day in 17 continuous days that it had not rained. She said we had brought them Good Luck! I am sure she said that to everybody who arrived that day! But…it was nice. The second thing: When I looked into our cabin, there was no chair to sit on. What good is a computer desk with no chair? I went back to the office to ask about it. They took a chair our of the neighboring cabin. Fortunately, nobody stayed in the cabin that night! Thirdly…if there is such a word…. It was the only KOA where the owner volunteered to take a picture of Fayez and me standing in front of their KOA sign. Nice of them…. And….Last….Well, I will get to that in a couple minutes.

Up until this point in the trip, not much happened….as you probably have already surmised. However, Tuesday morning we woke with a sense of anticipation. Something was about to happen! At last. But…..not much.

We drove a short distance to the north to Washington, D.C. The first familiar site that greeted us was the Pentagon, in suburban Arlington, VA. This huge office building houses the Department of Defense. It has five sides….five inner rings…..and has five stories. It is situated on a five acre park-like setting… Maybe this is why it is called the Pentagon. It is without doubt one of the largest office building in the world. More than twenty-five thousand military and non-military personnel work there…..in offices that line its eighteen miles of corridors.

Shortly after we passed by the Pentagon, Arlington National Cemetery came into site, with the landmark Curtis-Lee Mansion overlooking the cemetery from atop a high knoll. We passed over the Potomac River, wound our way past the Lincoln Memorial into downtown Washington. With the aid of our GPS, we had no problem arriving at the location of our hotel.

But, this is when the easy part ended….and the fun and games began. As I had suspected, there was no on-sight parking at our quaint little hotel….The Embassy Inn. The ads for the hotels always have a vague hope of “Parking Available”. The part they neglect to mention is that the parking is not at the hotel….and it is not free…..and it is usually not convenient. If you are extremely lucky, you will find an empty parking space somewhere within a couple blocks of the hotel. And, these parking spaces are only temporary…..for a few hours, at the most.

We were one of the lucky few that the parking gods had favored that day. We found a parking place….on the opposite side of the street….about two blocks from the hotel…..and we felt lucky indeed. We had arrived a couple hours before our check-in time. We were hoping that maybe our luck would continue and our room would be ready and waiting for us. But, we had no such luck. Now we were playing the game of “hurry up and wait”. Even though our room was not available yet, the receptionist took our bags….and we retired to the waiting room….such as it was….to sit and wait until we could move in. Our luck did prevail inasmuch as we were apparently the first guests to check in that afternoon…..and the rooms were being prepared on a “first come, first served” basis.

When we arrived, there was a young man sitting in the waiting room, obviously waiting for his room…..just like us. However, our names were called first…..and he was still sitting there when we went to our room. And….he was still sitting there when we passed through the lobby on our way to lunch……and he was still sitting there when we left the hotel the following morning….. I am not sure what was going on, but I began to suspect that he was sitting in the waiting room because there was no place for him to sit in his hotel room!

 

 

 

Our room was sparse, to say the least. Two single beds and perhaps a dresser. And that was it. And in order for me to get to my bed, I had to squeeze through a small space that separated the bed from the wall. The single window looked out on an alley. It would be a mistake to say that the room was comfortable….or attractive….or inviting….. I knew when I was looking for hotel rooms that I was probably scraping the bottom of the barrel. But, even this room was a budget buster at more than $200 a night! That is the price a person pays to spend a night in Washington, D.C.

By the time we were settled in our hotel room….and by time we had found a place to eat lunch….and by the time we had taken a quick drive around Washington…. It was time to find a permanent place to park the car. A parking garage was our only viable option. The clerk at the hotel suggested a parking garage….probably received a kickback from everybody she referred….a few blocks away from the hotel. Fayez….bless his heart….took care of the car, while I took a quick nap.

We capped off the night by sitting on the front lawn of our hotel. It was a pleasant, but cool evening as we sat and talked and watched the people was they strolled past on the sidewalk….and the traffic on the street. “A jacket would feel pretty good right now,” I thought, as I walked to our room to retrieve it. “Where is the jacket?” I wondered as I searched the room. “I must have left it in the car.”

 

 

 

The next day we checked the car. No jacket. Nowhere…. That could mean only one thing: I had left it at the KOA in Fredricksburg. But….how could that happen? I always check the cabins so thoroughly before we leave them. The only thing I could do was to call them to ask if they had found it…..something I did immediately, from outside the buffet where we had just eaten. The guy who answered the telephone apparently had a bad connection. About all he would say was, “I can’t hear you.” or “The connection is bad.”

I tried again the following morning from in front of the hotel. “Yes, we found it hanging on the hook behind the door.” Insofar as I could remember, this was the only cabin I had stayed in that even had a hook behind the door. Lucky me. “Will you please mail the jacket to my home for me?” I asked. “Yes. Give us your credit card number…..” Well….that is the other reason I will remember Fredricksburg. I spent the remainder of the nights wrapped in a blanket. It was the only way I could stay warm….sitting in front of our campfire looking like an Indian Chief….or an Egyptian mummy.

But…wait. That isn’t the end of the story. When we arrive back home, I had fully expected to find the jacket waiting for me. There was no jacket waiting. I called the KOA on the telephone again. “Oh…. It is still here. But, we will get it mailed today.” I also wrote them an e-mail message to reinforce the reminder. A week later….the jacket still had not arrived. “Oh… There is no mail pickup because it is the 4th of July. But, as will mail it the day after the 4th.” So….one month from the day we stayed in the campground…..the jacket arrived. Not exactly the prompt, friendly, “come back again” service that I had expected. But, at least, my new jacket is hanging safely in my closet. And, I will never hang it on a hook behind the door again.

Many, many years earlier, I had lived in Washington, D.C. for two or three months while I studied the Vietnamese language. This was in the mid-60’s. Back in those days, Washington was a fairly open city. Of course, there was still a fence around the White House! But, many tourists strolled on the sidewalk in front, sticking their cameras between the bars of the fence to take pictures. One day we were wandering about the Capitol Building….completely unobstructed….admiring the opulent beauty of the building. We gradually became aware that perhaps we had wandered too far…. In front of us was the office of the Speaker of the House! Nobody said a word to us…. Nobody told us to leave….. However, as I recall, we decided that maybe we had better retreat just a bit. But…this was entirely our own decision…..and not as the result of whistles blowing and wailing sirens.

On this visit, our closest access to the White House was outside an exterior fence about two blocks away. We jostled with the milling crowd for our turn at a favorable position to take some pictures. And….then we left. There was not much else to do. We never attempted to entire the Capitol Building…..let alone roam freely through the hallways. I am pretty sure if we had attempted this, I would be languishing somewhere in a federal prison waiting for my trial right now…..instead of writing this blog.

Actually, we didn’t even bother walking up to the Capitol Building. The structure was undergoing an extensive renovation, and stacks of construction material were piled everywhere; sections of the Capitol grounds were roped off because of the on-going construction; the dome was encased in an ugly scaffolding……and I doubt if Fayez was really very interested in seeing it anyway. Even if we had of gone inside the Capitol Building….and roamed the halls freely…. I doubt if we would have posed a security threat because most of the members of Congress had probably already gone home……or they were playing Solitaire on their computers…. One things is for sure: They were not busy passing laws that would benefit the country.

We got back on the tour bus which took us to the Washington Monument. The Washington Monument is not very interactive….but it is an impressive structure….with good views of both the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. If I had been younger….in better shape….and slightly less sane…..we could have climbed the 898 steps to the top. But….we left that to those who had nothing better to do…..or who wanted to see how long it would take before they had a heart attack.

As for us…..we moved on to the Jefferson Memorial, on the south side of the Tidal Basin. This domed edifice is a tribute to the third President of the USA….Thomas Jefferson. It is more interactive than the Washington Monument insofar as it at least contains some exhibits of the life and accomplishments of Jefferson. However, the most outstanding feature is the huge statue of Jefferson in the center of the rotunda…..surrounded by many of the famous quotations found in his various writings. Fayez was fascinated with many of the quotations. I am also an admirer Thomas Jefferson…..but I have heard and read these sayings almost all my life….while they were all new and exciting to Fayez. Of course, Jefferson was the author of many of our basic freedoms….especially, I suppose….our principles of religious freedom….and the basic freedoms of freedom of speech, press and assembly.

The next stop on our tour was the Lincoln Memorial. I don’t know….. Maybe this is the most impressive monument in our nation’s capital…..a huge statue of a brooding Abraham Lincoln sitting in a chair in the middle of the memorial. The statue is sitting in a rotunda which can be reached by climbing a mountain of stairs. I was afraid that Fayez would be exploring this monument by himself. But, we discovered that there is indeed an elevator, so I was relieved that I would be able to enter the great rotunda and stand in the presence of our great 16th President of the USA….the president who signed the proclamation that granted freedom to the slaves.

From the Lincoln Memorial, we were treated to an impressive panorama of the Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument. Nearby….and slightly to the northeast of the Lincoln Memorial is the location of the Vietnam War Memorial. It is an understated….but highly impressive and majestic….tribute to those men and women who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. The memorial…..a wall which winds gracefully through the park-like setting….contains the names of each of the almost 58,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen who died while serving their country in this war. This memorial is a stark reminder of the lives lost in a war that was never won.

Fayez was eager to see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, which is also located in the immediate area. So, we departed the bus and walked the short distance to the memorial. I had little interest in this display, so I sat on a bench and waited while Fayez walked through the large plaques containing quotations of King…..and looked at the statues which bore only a slight resemblance to the famous civil right leader.

Our final stop on our tour was at the Albert Einstein Memorial. Although it is not one of the more famous or popular stops on the tour, the statue is a whimsical tribute to one of the greatest scientific minds of last century. At the time we stopped, it was also the playground of a small child, accompanied by his obviously bored mother, who was enjoying a few minutes of peace and freedom while the young boy spoiled the photos of everybody who wanted to take a picture. Nearby was a museum of science. I had planned to sit on a bench near Einstein’s statue and wait while Fayez toured the museum. But, after a few minutes, he re-appeared, having decided it was not worth the effort.

Other than the White House, that concluded our stops on the Washington, D. C. bus tour. We did hop on another bus and take a quick ride through Georgetown….and some of northern suburbs…..but basically our time in Washington had come to an end.

Yes…..We also did some other things. We walked about three blocks in a pouring rain to eat lunch is a well-known downtown buffet. We took our own little tour of the city the night we arrived….a drive through Georgetown, George Washington University, the Rock Creek Park, the Pentagon….. I really have no recollection of where we ate on either night….. Somewhere….

It is a hopeless task….or wishful thinking, at best…..to imagine that you can appreciate Washington D. C. in one day. The best we could do was take the guided tour….an on and off bus…..and at least, superficially scratch the outer surface of the city. We perhaps took the essential tourist tour. After we departed, about all we could say was that we had been to Washington, D. C.

Washington, D. C. is a “destination” vacation. It is not merely a place you pass through for a day. It would take days….even weeks…..to even make a dent in all that the city has to offer. This is our nation’s capital…..and it is packed full with hundreds of very significant and important places to visit and things to see. To think you can even open the door a tiny crack….let alone walk inside the room….is naive and delusional. But….for the sake of Fayez, we did at least catch a superficial glance of five or six of the more important sites. As for me, the trip was disappointing….tiring….and not very satisfying. But…..We came….We saw…..and…. We took some pictures.

The next day….Thursday….was without any doubt…..was the highlight of the entire trip. We drove to Georgetown, Delaware, to visit Dusty Davis, one of my former students and runners. And, his brother, John…..one of my old golfing partners.

Starting in the 5th or 6th grade, Dusty became interested in running. Maybe it was because his older brother, Kent, was my “original” runner. Somewhere along the way, Kent asked me if I would help him become a runner. We spent many hours…many days….training… Running on the old Ferguson Road when it was nothing but a mud road full of ruts. Running timed laps in the gym. Running the high school stairs. Running 50 yard dashes in the hallway of the grade school. Running 400 and 800 meters on the Topeka West High School track. Lifting weights…. Researching the best running shoes…. At the time, Kent was probably the only serious runner in Valley Falls. He sat the example….the standard…..the prototype…..for runners to follow. We were convinced that we knew more about running than anybody else in town. And, we probably did.

It wasn’t much later when Dusty also became interested in running. I spent many hours….again many days…..many weekends working with him. By this time, we had an organized cross-country program in our high school. Dusty, however, went above and beyond what was required in the practice schedule. He willingly ran on weekends….in the evening. Lucky for Dusty, the Ferguson Road had been blacktopped by this time, so at least he did not have to run on a rut-filled, dirt road.

We adopted Paradise Point as a venue for much of our long-distance running…. We marked out a series of courses…..one mile, five kilometers, ten kilometers…. Sometimes the entire cross-country team would pile into my car or pickup and drive there to run. Other times, it was only Dusty. I can remember one Sunday afternoon. Dusty was running on the Ferguson Road…..He ran along beside my car as I played a tape of Wynton Marsalis performing Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto. Dusty also played the trumpet……and played it quite well.

Dusty was dedicated to running. It paid off for him, too. He rarely failed to earn a medal in the cross-country meets…..and he qualified to run in the State Cross-Country Meet his senior year.

John…..Dusty’s next older brother…..was never interested in running. But, he and I became golfing partners. We spent many hours playing golf at the Village Greens Golf Course. I think we were famous…..at least with the people who owned the golf course…..for playing under conditions that most people would never have considered. We played in extreme heat; we played in the rain; we played when it was cold enough to freeze certain body parts….. We rarely kept score. We played for fun…. And, we were usually too busy talking to bother keeping score anyway.

Now, both Dusty and John are doctors. Dusty is an osteopath, and John is a chiropractor….and both of them have established practices in Georgetown, Delaware. We arrived in Georgetown shortly after noon. Georgetown is a pleasant little town of just under 7,000 people. The downtown is particularly quaint…..and looks like it may have been constructed in the days of the Revolutionary War. I really have no idea if it was…..or not. With the assistance of the GPS, we had no problem locating Dusty’s house. I mean…..How could me miss it? It was the only house in town with K-State banners flying outside on the lawn. Even without the GPS, I am sure we would have found it quickly enough!

I had not seen Dusty since he got married….. Wow…. That had to be probably 20 years ago. So, it was a happy and joyous reunion. Yes…. It was the same old Dusty. Maybe a few pounds heavier….and perhaps a few gray hairs. But…there was no mistake: It was definitely the Dusty that I remembered from so long ago. After greeting us, he briefly showed us his house…..and then suggested we go for lunch. Fayez and I had already planned to take Dusty to lunch. But, Dusty wouldn’t even consider the thought of us paying for the lunch. We ate lunch in an Italian restaurant….sat, talked, reminisced about old times….sort of got to know each other again.

Fayez was able to talk to him about his experiences in medical college….about the expectations, the pressures, the requirements…… Dusty had already been through the experience…..and was able to give Fayez some valuable insights into what he can expect when he is ready to enroll in medical school.

After a brief tour of the town…..and a tour of Dusty’s clinic….we went to John’s office to reunite with him and Karla….and their son. This was an equally pleasant and warm reunion…..accompanied by a pleasant interlude in one of John’s vibrating therapy chairs….. Before we departed, we made plans for a reunion at our campground that evening.

Dusty thoughtfully led us to our campground and helped us locate our cabin. The campground office was already closed by the time we arrived…..but our information packet was waiting for us at our cabin. As I normally do…..I settled down for a nap while Fayez went for a run. Later on, Dusty and his daughter…..and John and Karla….drove up. We started a fire in the fire ring….and sat and talked and gossiped and laughed and reminisced……and drank our share of beer….until it was time for them to return to town. They left with my promise to send Dusty one of the few remaining Ferguson Road Runner shirts….something he vowed to cherish and protect.

The day was pleasant….. It was fun…… It was satisfying…… In fact….This day was the highlight…..the high point….of the entire trip.

The next day, Friday, we continued on to New York City. This was not a part of the trip that I was looking forward to…..driving into New York….driving into downtown…..finding our hotel in mid-Manhattan not far from Times Square. But, Fayez handled it like a pro! Yes….he probably subtracted a few days from my life and added a few more gray hairs, if that is possible. But, that was simply because he is obsessed with his cell phone…and many times seems incapable to putting it down. I often accuse him of being controlled by his cell phone….instead of him being able to control it. But, be that as it is….. Driving and texting…or even driving and looking at a cell phone…..are not safe habits. They are dangerous, in fact…..in Valley Falls, Kansas…..and most certainly in New York City! However…..by skill….by luck…..or purely by a miracle…..we found ourselves in front of our hotel….The Row NYC….in the heart of the city.

For a fee of around $65.00 or so, a guy took our car and disappeared with it. Of course, they gave us a receipt….but we have no idea where they actually took the car. It was a rental car….so I guess: Who cares? Right? At least, it was off our hands until we got ready to leave the city.

Before I go any further…..just let me say: New York City is dirty, crowded, noisy, expensive… And, it didn’t take long to figure all of this out.

Our hotel room cost about $225.00 a night. At least it was nicer than the room we had in Washington, D. C……but it wasn’t a fourth as nice as the motel room where I stay in Lyons….and it cost three times as much. There was no chairs to sit in…..no dresser or chest of drawers…. Only a couple beds. We could actually walk past them without turning sideways or squeezing through. And it was on the top floor….I think. And, it had a good view out the windows to the north and to the west. Actually, it was more of a glorified hostel than it was an actual hotel. It was high enough above the street that we could not hear the street noise. But….it certainly was not high enough to muffle the sound of the police, ambulance and fire trucks that were active the entire day and night.

The first night we were there, we didn’t do much of anything. We went out onto the sidewalk and walked several blocks around the hotel. To say this was a relaxing experience would not be tell the truth! The sidewalk were teaming with humanity. It was next to impossible for Fayez and I to walk side by side…..let alone try to carry on a conversation. I am not sure what all the people were doing. There is really nothing important to see…..no landmarks, no tourist attractions. It was on the edge of the theater district…..and I suspect that many of them where there to (a) see a show (b) hope to see a show (c) catch a glimpse of a “star”) (d) be discovered by a famous producer (e) because they had checked into a cheap hotel like us, or (f) they were lost. It was interesting to hear all the “cheerful” chatter between people on the sidewalk….people, who by the sound of their conversation…..obviously did not know each other…but were trying to sound wise and worldly and “hip”.

After a while of looking at theater marquees and trying to avoid walking into other people, we retreated to our room for the night…..to listen to the wail of sirens on the street below. After Fayez I had fallen asleep….maybe 1:30 or 2:00 A.M…..the sidewalks were still bustling with people….going somewhere…..doing something. Apparently they knew something we didn’t know…..or were seeing things we didn’t see…..

The next morning, we bought tickets for a tour of New York City from one of the many tour buses that roam the city. With only one day to spend in the city….and with no knowledge of the transportation system…..or where anything was located…. This is by far the best way to see New York. We both sat on the upper deck of the bus as it slowly wound its way through the traffic.

Our tour guide was a feisty old woman who tolerated no nonsense from the passengers on the bus. She made it clear from the very beginning that she was the “Star” of the show….and she would not condone any interference in her monologue. I suspect that perhaps she was a former school teacher…..although she never told us. She did say that she was 85 years old…..and had been doing this for … Well, maybe ever since New York had been a city! She turned out to be what I could imagine was a typical old woman with a “New York attitude”…..in your face, abrupt, to the point, take no nonsense. When she was talking, you had better close your mouth and listen! If you didn’t…..You were sure to incur her wrath. “I hear people talking. People paid good money to hear ME talk….not YOU. If you don’t want to be quiet and listen….Get off the bus at the next stop.”

I suppose her dictatorial manner was good, though….. It frightened most of us into listening to her…..hanging on her every word. She did have a treasure of knowledge about the city….and all the landmarks we drove by. One of her favorite lines was, “Now don’t get your cameras yet….but I am going to tell you now about what is up ahead. And, I will tell you when it is best to take your pictures…..” Most of what she told us was interesting…..but some of the things she thought were important were things that I had never heard of….and would never consider taking pictures of. I would get home….and have no idea why I took the pictures. But, she did keep the tour lively….and she tried to make it as informative and exciting as she could. And….before we departed the bus, she was not subtle in warning us that we had better leave a tip for both her and the bus driver. This was on top of the forty or fifty dollars we had already paid for our ticket.

For all practical purposes, we spent the day on a bus. Any thought we may have had of hopping off the bus and checking out any of the tourist attractions….such as the Museum of Modern Art, for example…..were wishful thinking….only part of a fantasy in our minds. The only time we got off the bus was to board a boat which took us on a short tour of New York Harbor…..and views of the Statue of Liberty, some of the famous bridges and the New York skyline. Boarding this boat involved walking several blocks….and eating up much of our time in the afternoon.

We returned to where we started…..retracing much of the route we had already traveled. At that point, we decided to get on another bus….which was covered by our ticket….and see another section of New York City. This time, our tour guide was not so entertaining….and certainly not so dictatorial….merely pointing out landmarks and attractions as we passed by them.

So….that was how we spent the day in New York City. We passed by Times Square, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, Macy’s Department Store, the United Nations Building, Marble Collegiate Church, the Chrysler Building, the Flatiron Building, Central Park, Ground Zero, the Museum of Modern Art, the Palace Theater, Greenwich Village…even the Trump Towers…..a bunch of places.

It was interesting to see all the different buildings and places that I had only seen on TV or read about in books. Of course, none of this meant anything to Fayez. I don’t know….maybe he had heard of Ground Zero, the spot where the World Trade Towers stood…. The other places were….as they say….Greek to him. I think he was mostly impressed by the tall buildings….and maybe the sight of the Statue of Liberty.

For me, I was disappointed. I am sure I was expecting far too much from New York City. Yes, of course….there were plenty of tall buildings. But they were not as tall as I had expected. Even the Empire State Building was just another tall building…..a little taller than the surrounding buildings….but not as impressive as I had expected….or hoped….it would be. The other famous buildings? Well…..that is what they were….Other buildings. They were all sandwiched in between other buildings, Had it not been for the signs or marquees in front of the building, I am sure that I….and most other people….would have simply passed by them never knowing they were supposed to be something special.

I had expected to walk through the sidewalks of downtown New York City in awe and wonder….unable to keep my eye on the sidewalk…..always gazing at the magnificent towering buildings…..like walking through a canyon of bricks and glass. As it was….my main concern was avoiding running into somebody else….or avoiding a construction barricade that had been set upon the sidewalk….or stepping over trash discarded by vast sea of faceless humanity. The most welcome and the most pleasant times I spent in the city were in hotel….or in a Subway Sandwich Shop….where I could relax and not have to constantly be dodging people or trash….where there was a slight relief from the constant sound of wailing sirens and the ubiquitous smell of exhaust of the tangled traffic.

Perhaps I felt a slight disappointment at not seeing the bums…or the street performers….or the hustlers….or the weirdos….that the late night talk show hosts joke about. But, I am not going to go back to New York City just to look for them. No….. New York City is just a dirty city….and not the beautiful, exciting city I had expected.

At night, faced by the lack of nothing better to do, we decided to take another tour of the city. In order to get to our tour bus, we took a rather round about route….a path that led us through Times Square. The lights were just being turned on. The area was packed with people. It was starting to rain. There was little do….except get wet. We looked at the famous New York Times Building. Not very impressive. I am glad I knew in advance it was famous. I would have never guessed it otherwise. What were all these people doing? I don’t know…..they obviously saw or felt something that I did not feel. I took several pictures. It was still raining. Let’s find our tour bus and get out of this place…..

We sat in open-air deck of the tour bus. It was still raining, but we were given a poncho to wear to help keep us from being thoroughly soaked. At the start of the tour, the upper, open-air deck was crowded. Most of the passengers had the common sense to go down below where it was dry. But, not Fayez and I! We stubbornly stayed on the top deck for the entire trip. On occasion, I attempted to take a few pictures…..but mostly, I tried to protect my camera from the rain. Although this tour bus covered some new territory, we essentially covered much of the same route the other bus had taken earlier. The only difference in this tour was that we were able to see New York City lighted up at night….and we had a younger, much less dramatic…male….tour guide. If anything, driving at night only accentuates the mass of traffic….if only because of the mass of headlights and taillights.

Around midnight, after an exciting and glamorous meal at Subway, and with nothing else to do, we returned to our hotel room for the night….while the “beautiful people” milled the streets below us.

The next morning, we ate our breakfast… And, Yes…we had to pay for it….had our rental car returned to us….and lost no time leaving the city.

Part of the problem….if not most of it….in this visit to New York City lay in the fact that we were simply naive in thinking we could even begin to see anything in one day. Being a complete novice, somehow I had envisioned that we could get off our bus…..spend some time in the Museum of Modern Art….get back on the bus….drive to the Empire State Building….get off….spend some time there…. Etc. But, it simply does not work that way. Because of the traffic, the bus moved at a snail’s pace….and a slow snail, at that. It became obvious that a person does not go anywhere in New York quickly…. At least, not in the parts of the city where we were. Visiting two attractions a day would have been a more realistic goal…. But, we had only one day. The best we could do, if we wanted to “see New York City”, was to stay on the bus and see enough of the city to at least make it sound like we had been there.

If I ever return to either Washington, D.C. or New York City, I will fly into the city, take a cab to my hotel….and plan to stay for a minimum of three or four days. And, I will be prepared to come up with enough cash to stay in a “good” hotel….in a “good” part of town…. I will choose the places I want to visit in advance….and try to make a workable plan to visit them at a semi-leisurely pace. New York….and Washington, D.C…..are expensive cities. I had read it….and I knew it in my brain…. But, there is nothing like hands-on experience to become a true believer. One thing is for sure… Well, maybe a couple things: I will never drive to either of those cities again. I will stay in hotels that are easily accessible to public transportation…and have at least the bare essentials to make living in a hotel room comfortable. And, I will stay for a sufficient length of time to make the trip worthwhile and memorable….in a good sort of way.

 

 

 

Sunday morning, we were on our way out of New York City…..our next destination was Boston…. Our only objective for that day…..other than to drive through the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island, was to arrive in Boston….actually Cambridge….and visit the campus of Harvard University. But, those people are smarter than I gave them credit! They close their campus on Sunday. I mean…. They barricade it. We drove around for probably thirty minutes looking for a gate that was open…..and would admit us to the campus. But….they were all closed…..and locked. It is a private university, so I suppose they can do whatever they want. But, I found it to be rather unusual that their entire campus was inaccessible for an entire day. I am not ruling out the possibility that there was a way to enter the campus…..and we just didn’t find it. Maybe they are merely giving the students an opportunity to rest their brains after a week of heavy studying.

At any rate, after exploring all the possible methods of entrance….and having been rebuffed at each of them….. we headed out toward our campground, several miles outside the city. Nothing remarkable there.

We were eager for the next day….Monday…..to arrive. That was the day we headed for Saco, Maine…..and the Atlantic Coast. We had planned on spending the afternoon on the beach.

Driving in Maine….southern Maine….was an experience. From the time we crossed the border, we never left a town. The names were different….but it seemed to be one continuous metropolitan area….one little town after another. No….it wasn’t like New York City….but, on the other hand, it wasn’t like Kansas, either. Every town was connected to the next town…. The traffic wasn’t particularly heavy, although there was always a continuous flow of vehicles going both directions. I had heard a lot about Maine being a rural, provincial state…..full of quaint villages, inhabited with quaint people, speaking a quaint New England dialect. Maybe we didn’t drive far enough to the north….Saco, Maine, is in southern Maine. At any rate, my perception of Maine was slowly but surely shattered as we drove along.

We knew we had arrived in Saco, Maine…..well, because the sign said we had arrived….and our GPS said we had arrived. So much for the quaint little village….

After we had located our campground, we headed for what we hoped would be a pleasant afternoon on the beach. The ocean…..Old Orchard Beach….was only a couple miles drive from the campground. But…Alas! There was to be no leisurely afternoon walking on the beach.

I have become accustomed to the Oregon Coast…. Miles and miles of deserted beaches…. We could walk for miles in almost any direction on the beautiful sandy beaches, only occasionally meeting another person. We could sit on the sand….or find a huge tree truck that had washed in from the Pacific Ocean….. and listen to the roar of the waves was they washed against the beach. If we wanted a cup of coffee….or something else to eat or drink….there are little towns at regular intervals up and down the coast.

We soon discovered that the beaches of Maine….at least, southern Maine….are a mirror of the towns. For miles….as far as we could see…..they were lined with businesses catering to tourists. Cafes, coffee shops, bars, souvenir stands, t-shirt shops, surf shops….and continuous apartment buildings, apparently available to tourists who wanted to rent them. Even in May….before most schools had dismissed for the summer….the beaches were crowded. There was obviously no such thing as a deserted Maine coast…..

After taking a brief glance at the beach….and immediately realizing that a pleasant afternoon on a clean, deserted beach was another of our fantasies….we headed back to our campground. Me for a nice nap…..and Fayez for his afternoon run.

By this time, I was becoming disillusioned with the entire trip. Except for Washington, D. C. and New York City, we had stopped for nothing… The trip had turned into days of driving….and more driving….. There was very little that I would look back and recall with fond memories….. Only the half day we spent visiting Duty, John and Carla….

Part of the problem was that I neglected to designate specific points of interest….and build them into the schedule. I had depended on making spontaneous visits to historical places of interest as we drove along. I think that had I been traveling with somebody who had a knowledge and appreciation of USA history, this may have worked. But….for somebody who was unfamiliar with our history….and had no prior knowledge of the places and events which made up that history…. Well, it is probably understandable that such a plan would not work.

The advantage I always had with my European guests was that we share so much common history. Our histories and our cultures are intertwined. With the others….and this includes almost everybody: Asians, Africans, Middle Easterners…. The history and culture of our country has largely not affected their history or culture or customs…..

Nevertheless….. We had one more stop that perhaps would be a redeeming factor. And, that stop was Niagara Falls. And… Yes, it was the second…and only other….highlight of the trip. The afternoon we spent at Niagara Falls was fun….and it was instructive. I had not visualized Niagara Falls as being located in an urban setting. Most water falls are found in wilderness areas….typical mountainous areas where the water is free to fall over the side of cliffs into a river or pool below. Niagara Falls, for all practical purposes, is located in the middle of a city!

In keeping with most attractions in the Eastern part of the USA, it is part of a super-commercial tourist complex…..hotels, souvenir shops, restaurants, parking lots. But, it should be pointed out, Niagara Falls is not a national park…. It is a state park, presumably owned by the state of New York. National Parks, which are the property of the “people”…..the federal government….and are relatively free of blatant commercialism. Although, to be sure….there is always a place to buy a souvenir or buy a hamburger.

The Niagara River….the source of the Falls….runs through a well defined park-like setting before crashing over a cliff and continuing its journey below. The Falls are far enough away from the commercial area that it really doesn’t interfere with the drama or beauty or excitement of the Falls themselves…..especially if you have the power to ignore all the towering buildings in the background.

I have seen hundreds of pictures of Niagara Falls….taken from land, taken from boats, taken from the air…. Just by looking at the pictures, I could feel the awe and power of the water as it cascades over the cliff. I could see the mist and the spray filtering outward from the Falls. I could imagine the sound of the water as it plunges downward. I could sense the tremendous power generated by the constant, never-ending pressure of hundred tons….millions of gallons….of water…

Until I was standing there….in person….seeing and hearing…..did I truly understand the genuine authority of the Falls. It was only then that I fully appreciated its scope and beauty. Just like the never-ending waves of the ocean, it is mesmerizing….almost hypnotizing in its magnetic effect and appeal. It is difficult to look away…..

Even before we reached Niagara Falls, people in our campground….in service stations….had tried to sell us tickets to the various “attractions” associated with the park. Without having yet seen the Falls, all of the things they described to us sounded exciting….. But, I am glad we didn’t buy any of them. The only thing really worth paying for….I think….is the water falls itself. Fayez and I bought tickets on the “Maid of the Mist”…..the boat which carries its passengers into the river or lake….or whatever it is called….for a closeup experience with the Falls.

Before boarding the boat…..one of a dozen boats, it appeared…..a person is well advised to slip on the poncho which is handed to you as you board the boat. This poncho is not merely a souvenir. It is absolutely essential, unless you enjoy being drenched….soaked to the bone….by the spray of the water falls. We filed onto the boat, jostling for a place around the outer railing. There were benches to sit on…..but only a few people were sitting on them. Everybody wanted the best view of the water falls……and everybody wanted pictures….

Taking pictures is the main reason most people take the boat ride…. That is reason I did, anyway. And, it is understandable that perhaps tourists want a group picture of sorts. But….some people don’t want just one group photo…. No…. Two pictures of this group. Now…let’s change the group…. Couple pictures of this group, too….. Oh….Let’s get a couple pictures of this combination…. After a while, it becomes annoying….rude….inconsiderate…and unnecessary. And, after a while, I stopped moving aside. I stood my ground….mostly just pretended like I didn’t see them. I am probably in several group pictures….with people asking, “Who is that old white haired man?”

And, the selfies are the worst! People trying to push you aside so they can stick their own cell phone in front of their face to take a dozen pictures. Or a camera mounted on a three-foot pole, poking everybody in the ribs, the back or the face. Yeah, yeah…. Fayez took a couple pictures of me….but, we didn’t push anybody out of their space to take the pictures. Who cares if there are other people in the picture? Come on…. This is Niagara Falls…..and the boat is crowded with tourists.

The Maid of the Mist slowly churns its way toward the Falls. The spray of mist….then water….increases proportionately as the boat gets closer and closer….finally moving parallel to the water falls. Thanks Heavens for the poncho. It is like being caught in a sudden downpour….and it continues until the boat finally begins to pull away from the Falls. Believe me…..he boat trip is interactive! There is a vast difference in looking at the Falls from the serenity of the observation deck…. to almost being a part of it it…. The spray of the water, the roar of the plunging water, the electric excitement of the moving wall of water….the vastness, the breadth and length…..the angry, churning pool as the water crashes into the river below….

Yes…. We had finally found a second reason to make the trip memorable and worthwhile. I don’t recall how much we paid to see Niagara Falls…..but whatever it was…..it was well worth it…. It was the one and only natural attraction that made the trip worthwhile….the only and only natural feature that I will remember about the more than four thousand miles we drove.

Our trip was now essentially ended. We had driven more than 4000 miles….visited 19 states plus Washington, D. C…..had a great visit with some old friends…..spent an afternoon at an awesome natural wonder…..discovered that “all that glitters is not gold” in a couple over-hyped cities. Two great days out of 14 days is not terrible, I suppose. Now….more driving. But, this time our destination was home. Maybe the most welcome sight of the entire trip.