(part two) Christy and I finished our breakfast at the hotel up at the top and looked into the fog. The buses wouldn’t start arriving until noon. “Let’s hike up the big mountain,” she said. “Okay,” I said. My lost and found tennis shoes were too small, but I had cut out the toes so… Continue reading More Machu Picchu
Category: vacation
Machu Picchu Before It Was a Thing
(re-run) It was 1977. I was finishing up ten weeks of student teaching in an American oil school in Caracas, Venezuela. My roommate, Christy, wanted to travel for two weeks before we went home to the states. She wanted to visit Machu Picchu in Peru. I’d never heard of it. “It’s the lost city of… Continue reading Machu Picchu Before It Was a Thing
The Power of Vacation
(re-run, pre-pandemic) The week after Christmas is dead time for scheduled activities. Chorus rehearsals are cancelled. The city building where I exercise three times a week is closed. There’s a lot of extra time during the day. So . . . . . . for the first time in two and a half years, I… Continue reading The Power of Vacation
Airport Surprise
(re-run) She wanted to surprise him. They had both left Hawaii at different times to go home for Christmas and would meet up that night when he picked her up from the airport. He liked lingerie. She had bought a new thong for the holidays, red on one side, green on the other, with two… Continue reading Airport Surprise
Don’t Stand Up!
(re-run) It was a long train ride from Lima to Cuzco, or maybe it was from Cuzco to Machu Picchu. At any rate, I was on a train with a bunch of Peruvians and my roommate, Kristy. Trains give me motion sickness, as do boats, cars, planes, swings, and carnival rides. It’s a miracle that… Continue reading Don’t Stand Up!
Old Mom on Vacation
(re-run) When I had my kids at the late ages of 31, 34 and six weeks before turning 39, I didn’t think about the consequences 29 years later, when my baby would be graduating from grad school, with siblings 33 and 36. Here we are, and it is damn near impossible to keep up with… Continue reading Old Mom on Vacation
Flat Feet
(re-run) I turned on my laptop the other day, and the ever-changing screen showed a photo of waterfalls, big wide ones somewhere in Brazil. I’ve never been to Brazil, but I have been to Venezuela, where there are seven wide falls and a resort below them called Canaima. I was student-teaching with another Iowa Stater.… Continue reading Flat Feet
Five Errands and a Passport Photo
(re-run) My daughter is going to her college friend’s wedding in India. She discovered that her passport was about to expire, which got me to wondering if mine had expired. I hadn’t used it since I got divorced. I found it and saw the expiration date was 2019. That’s what the pandemic will do to… Continue reading Five Errands and a Passport Photo
Taking a Trip
Wash the sheets! Pick up those pieces of construction debris! Hide a key! Do laundry! Eat! Pack some checks. Hide the jewels! Show the neighbor girl where the tomato plants are to water. Pack gifts for grandson and graduate. Pills, food, hats, don’t forget the hats. Ceremony is outside. Mouthguard. Pillow – oops, doesn’t fit.… Continue reading Taking a Trip
Five Errands and a Passport Photo
My daughter is going to her college friend’s wedding in India. She discovered that her passport was about to expire, which got me to wondering if mine had expired. I hadn’t used it since I got divorced. I found it and saw the expiration date was 2019. That’s what the pandemic will do to a… Continue reading Five Errands and a Passport Photo
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 