The Vacation

Once the semester ended, I had two business trips to take before I managed a vacation. I had already switched the day I volunteer at the Refuge (so they won’t really miss me when I’m gone) and a substitute was found for me at the Library. I hit the road by myself first thing on a Saturday morning.
I had absolutely no trouble being alone for six days.

I was telling a (young) co-worker about taking the long way from Hot Springs, where I was staying, to Mt. Rushmore. The route was through Custer State Park. I had to stop my car for buffalo crossing the street. (Ask anyone in my family. I cannot get over the fact that my car has seen real live buffalo.) But it took 2 1/2 hours, so I decided to take a shorter way home. “I was pretty sure,” I said, “That highway 40 would take me back to 79, which was the road I took into town in the first place.”

“Did you have a map?” she asked.

“I did,” I replied. “But it was on the floor. I was pretty sure I knew where I was.”

“Pretty sure? You don’t even have a GPS.”

I have a brain. And a sense of adventure. My car has a compass and really… It is pretty hard to get lost in this country.

How do kids ever have any fun?

I never even opened my atlas on this trip – I-90 takes you from Chicago all the way across South Dakota. So I took the atlas to my brother today. He has been talking about taking a road trip through Pennsylvania this summer.

He just bought a GPS.