Tuesday, August 10, 2010

the people along the trail...

Road trips equal new places visited and new adventures. But a big part of the whole experience is the people we meet along the way…some intentionally and some accidentally.


I have cousins scattered hither and yon across North America...some four dozen first cousins, actually (and cousins are a good thing...as I mentioned yesterday).  Several happened to live along the route of the road trip we just completed.

Cousin Janice grew up in California…

...but moved with her husband and children to to lovely spot in northern Idaho a few years ago. We have met up every so often over the years…and it was good to stop by and check up on her.

Cousin Verleen grew up in Sakatchewan…and our paths only crossed several times when we were kids. Verleen now lives with her husband in Littleton, Colorado…and since our RV was on a route right past her front door we decided to stop by and become reacquainted.

What a good decision that was! Besides sharing family ties (our mother’s were sisters)…we discovered other shared interests.

Then there were two blogging friends that I met for the first time. Knitting Mania recently moved to Philipsburg, Montana from California…which lay right along the scenic route of our travel plan. I had planned to contact her once we knew when we’d be arriving in town…but did not realize I would have no internet access those first few days on the road. With no phone number, no address and no way of contacting her…I showed up at the Wild Rose (where she works part time)…just as she was opening the shop for the day.

What a fun, surprise meeting we had! Oh…and I even brought home a souvenir from her shop.

In Salt Lake City I met Jill…
...who graciously opened her home to us…invited us for dinner. I toured the newly renovated home that I had seen in the before and after stages on Jill’s blog. The guys hit it off just fine as well…and we had a fun evening together.

Then there were all those people that we met by accident.

I was photographing wild flowers beside the road in Estes Park when a couple walked by and stopped to chat. It turns out…he once taught at Ravencrest Bible School nearby and was returning for ‘old times sake’. A lovely couple…now pastoring a church in Reno, Nevada.

On the cog train to Pike’s Peak we shared seats with a couple from Greece…and also shared a few laughs.

At the Flying W  Ranch chuckwagon supper in Colorado Springs we sat at a table with a couple from Italy...another from Rhode Island and a family from Texas. They helped make the experience what it was.

Then there was Herb who sold us a postcard in Taos, New Mexico….but had no stamps for sale. But wait a minute. He had a stamp in his wallet and just gave it to us.

In Salt Lake City we had a nice visit with some fellow Canadian RV’ers. Funny…though we share the same 'home and native land'  we did not share the same mother tongue and had to search for the right words on occasion.

All that to say…it’s the people along the way that help make it a memorable journey!

Once I’m somewhat organized…I’ll take you to some of our favorite spots along the way.
Enjoy your day!

12 comments:

  1. I'm just so impressed that you remembered all of them! You must take notes or write in a diary or something! :)

    Sounds like a lovely trip. It is my plan/goal to RV when we retire.

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  2. You have a way of gathering friends and family. I think you work at being connected and that's a very good thing. Four dozen? That's 48 cousins? Wow!

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  3. Travel is such a great way to meet people from different countries, walks of life, or old friends.

    The memories of this trip will linger long, I think.

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  4. Such a fun and amazing trip. Judy you just seem to pick up friends and people where ever you go or maybe :)

    I just have to say I loved Jill's table setting. Sounded like a great visit with such a charming host.

    Now about that souvenir you picked up in Philipsburg...I wanna see :]

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  5. The "surprise" people really make me happy too...little conversations or exchanges that add such flavor to an adventure. I still remember as a kid hiking with my family along a riverside and meeting an older couple who had their siamese cat with them on a leash. Fun stuff that just can't be found in tour books.

    (You don't send all your cousins birthday cards, do you? fainting at the idea...0

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  6. You had a wonderful journey. I met Chris "Knitting Mania" last year and we have developed a great friendship. Sometimes it is the people you meet who make a trip more meaningful than the simple destinations.

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  7. Sounds like an exciting journey! It's good to have a big family no? ;)

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  8. Seeing new things and meeting new people are some of the joys of travel. Appreciating more of what we have at home when we return is another joy!

    When we visited Italy 8 years ago we traveled the whole country so my husband could visit all his cousins. We only missed one as she lived in the island of Sardinia. That is the first place my husband wants to visit next time we go. :)

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  9. It's good to make the effort to visit old friends and make new ones!

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  10. Your post hit is smack on! It's truly the people we meet on our journeys that make life so much more complete.
    We met some farmers from NZ in Hawaii and they invited us to use their motor home and travel...who else would do that, but country folk.
    You will always need those extra rooms for the wonderful folk you meet.

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  11. It is the interesting encounters that we make along this journey of life that make life better. We may remember the scenery for a long time, but the people we met and spend time with, we remember for a life time. I can't help but think that they were as blessed by the meeting as you were. Meeting cousins and bloggers...what fun.

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  12. You are right... it is the people that God brings into our lives that create the best memories. SO glad you had such a wonderful trip!

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'The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.'
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson