April 1, 2011
It felt like the end.
Life seemed so good. Promising. Happy. And then... what do you do when you work hard all of your life and the unthinkable happens. When your husband, who you thought was your soul mate walks out. Leaving you with massive debt, and shattered dreams. Then your dog dies, and you lose your house and business. And the future you thought you would have is gone.
Well, I decided to MAKE my future better. And travel to all the places that I wanted to see, and find a new beginning. Life is worth living and exploring new places is just part of the fun. And renewing my faith in God as well as mankind. I have always believed that there is a true purpose for all things that happen
So I closed my beautiful salon, sold everything I could and took to the road with my best friend Dylan[who happens to be a Border Collie].
Man's best friend. Hah. He is every single woman's true best friend. Loyal, protective, smart. No whining from the back seat. Happy to just have you throw him a frisbee from time to time.
So I packed up my Honda Element and we left Maryland on a cold march morning.
I saw on a web site how you could build a bed in the back and have plenty of storage underneath, like a mini rv. And with a roof bag on top of the car to carry all of my essentials[mainly my AVEDA hair color
and products] I could still find a way to make some money on the road. Being a color specialist I thought that could come in handy.
First stop, Clayton North Carolina. My brother Bob and his wife Shirley live there, and kindly put us up for a week. I was trying to escape the cold in Maryland. But unfortunately it was just as cold there, and it rained the entire time we were there. But it was great any way as they have 4 wonderful grandkids that
were very happy to see us.
North Carolina is a beautiful State. And Clayton is a sleepy little town near Raleigh that has rolling hills and lots of trees.
And lots of new development. Homes, stores, malls, parks, restaurants.
Next we drove to Gulf Shores Alabama. I needed to get out of the cold and get some sun.
I had researched dog friendly hotels, and found a Microtel that was close to the beach and was reasonably priced at $50 a night. We spent 4 nights there and I got a tan.
It was a good beginning and helped me unwind my fragile self esteem.
I bought a new bathing suit [always stressful for a woman past 50] and really felt good about how I looked.
I have been an avid photographer for the past 10 years, and always felt that travel was all about the photographs. This trip was different. I was slow to pull out the camera, and just couldn't find the passion that I have felt in the past trips to Africa, Italy, Bosnia, Hawaii, New Zealand, Canary Islands and other parts of the World as well as the US.
Next was the Hill Country in Texas. For many years now I have wanted to photograph the wildflowers in the spring. It is a famous place that is a photographers dream. So we stayed in Beaumont Texas, and started the search.
Unfortunately there was a drought this year, and there were no flowers to be seen.
And I mean NO FLOWERS! I spent 2 days driving through the back roads and found...dry dusty fields.
With gas prices at $3.69 it was very disappointing.
On to New Mexico. I didn't realize that Texas was such a LONG drive. But with my Itunes, and xm radio it was bearable.
We stopped in El Paso overnight, and stayed in an EconoLodge. I accidentally made the reservation online for the day before. Too many hours on the road will make you loopy.
So when I got there and realized my mistake they charged me for the night before anyway.
I had made the reservation at 4pm and explained that to the front desk. But they were not very nice about it, and basically said too bad for you.
I understand their position. But good customer service go's a long way. Needless to say I wont be staying at EconoLodge again.
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