Favorite Travel Quotes

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts."
-- Mark Twain
Innocents Abroad

"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey." -- Fitzhugh Mullan

"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving." -- Lao Tzu

Regroup–Following X-country Flight; Mount Rainier Reflections

©Bert Gildart: Guess you’d say we’re regrouping–even though our flight from Montana to Salt Lake City and Boston was uneventful. Biggest event for me was seeing the attire so different from what we used to see in Montana, in this case I’m referring to a man wearing elevated (high-heel) Roman sandals. This, of course, is not a judgment, just an observation.

We made the flight to see family members whom we have not seen in two years–and whenever time permits, to see attractions that each area may offer. We’ll return to Montana mid-August, and then resume life as normal. In the meantime, it is wonderful seeing children and grandchildren. When I return we will have taken side trips to Lake George in New York, to New Jersey and to Washington, D.C. While here we’ll also be enjoying a bit of the extraordinary history that the East Coast retains.

MARK TWAIN

For instance, yesterday we drove to Hartford, Connecticut, and toured the Mark Twain home. Can’t show you much other than an exterior image as photography was not permitted inside. However, we learned much as son-in-law Alun teaches English and part of his curriculum includes Mark Twain. Twain came to occupy the home in the 1870s, using money from his wife’s inheritance to build the massive home that certainly fit into the “Gilded Age.” Here, he wrote Huck Finn, what some (to include Ernest Hemingway) believe may be America’s greatest novel.

Mark Twain House with "Oma" and Piper

Mark Twain House with "Oma" and Piper

The other thing I’m trying to is keep up with e-mail, and particularly e-mail which comes in through my blog. Yesterday, I received a posting from an individual in Scotland who had a bit of bad luck, but has decided the best way for him to start anew is to climb Mount Rainier. In his search for suggestions, he ran across my posting from last year, and my posting almost perfectly coincides with the three-day ascent our group enjoyed August 2007. To see the inspiring motivation behind this fellow’s hope to climb, here’s a link to my post from last year, which now contains this man’s (Ken Paterson ) comments. I think you’ll be inspired by the reasons he hopes to climb. For all my posts on climbing Rainier, click on the following.

*A Place of some Tragedy

*By The Grace of God…

*Faces From Rainier

*Climbing Synopsis

In another day I’ll be driving north about 3 hours to visit my sister and family in Lake George. I’ll be there for several days, and then, depending on available time, may provide a few short posts. Lake George is a beautiful area, set in the heart of the Adirondacks. Several years ago, Janie and I parked in my sister’s drive for about a week. We kayaked various lakes in this largest of our nation’s state parks.



One Response to “Regroup–Following X-country Flight; Mount Rainier Reflections”

  1. Rich Says:

    I hope the rain isn’t keeping you from kayaking. It has been a wet summer up there and from what I see on the radar it is continuing. We’re heading westward to Colorado in anticipation of DRY air for a few weeks.