Wanderlust...

I have the need to travel and see the world. I have wanted to see all 50
states in the US before I die. I have seen Illinois, Texas, Indiana, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Washington, Washington DC,
North Carolina , Kansas, Oklahoma, Nevada, Missouri, Maryland, Virginia,
West Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Puerto Rico, Minnesota and
Kentucky. Its 23 out of 53 territories. I need to see some of the larger
square states as well as the smaller states East coast. I have driven
through most of them and spent time in them. Some have been for business
most have been for wanderlust. I want to just drive with the windows open ,
with no deadlines or places that I need to be, no time I have to make. I
have never been close to my extended family so I don't need to visit them.
No cousins to worry about. No Uncles to worry about. I still write to my
grand mother when I can. She's over 90, I think 93 or so. I want to get
the kids in to camping. To have them be able to enjoy travel with out
destination. I thought about buying a pop up or tear drop, but I don't
think the kids are ready for that yet. I think It would be fun.
About 12 years ago I went camping for the first time in my life. I
went to the boundary waters between the US and Canada in Minnesota. It was
for 10 days of canoing, camping , portaging and hanging your food so bears
wont get to it. There were bears, moose, wolves, eagles, beaver and lots
bugs. We would hear the loons at night on the lakes and wolves howl. It was
magical. We could see the Aurora at night. It looked like lights from a far
off city, but there was no city anywhere near us. The skies actually had
starts in them. Lots of stars, more than I have ever seen in my life. The
sky also head countless shooting start whizzing by.
One night my tent mate Dave woke me up and asked for my flashlight. We
looked the the small screen window in to the black. He said I think theres
a bear in camp. I could feel the hairs on my neck stand up in fear. We saw
a video on how to scare bears away if they came to camp. Christ I grew up
in the city; the worse we has was an occasional raccoon in the garbage. The
noise was just a camper that had stepped out from his tent to go pee. I
felt better. I looked at Dave and noticed that he was naked. "What up with
that?" He looked at me and said he always sleeps naked in his sleeping
bag. Freak..... The foods we ate were aw some . From simple peanut butter
and honey sandwiches to fresh clam and pasta. Ahhh your body could feel
nutrition after a day of rowing. I could see and feel what Lewis and Clack
did. The only other people we saw were a troop of girl scouts. I would call
them Women scouts they were awesome. Going through portages and moving
their camps. I need to go back and spend some time in the quiet. Most
people forget what the how loud the quiet can be. Crickets, the pop of a
campfire, the wind on a lake. Some people cant handle that. I miss that. I
hope to see you on the road.