" Travels with Rudolph "
Meet Rudolph...my cross-country traveling companion.
PROLOGUE TO "TRAVELS WITH RUDOLPH"
Let me introduce you to Rudolph.
He was a gift from my daughter-in-law and as you can see, he is made of a birch log body and twig antlers. He is one of my most favorite Christmas decorations, and he is both hefty and delicate at the same time.
When I was cleaning out the house in preparation for the move from New Jersey to California, I couldn't figure out how to pack him, so Rudolph rode shotgun on my long trip west. However, he stayed in the packed-to-the-roof SUV at night, as a "watch-deer. "
Travels with Rudolph are the travelogues from my solo drive cross-country in 2008. I was going through a divorce and wanted to start a new life at 58. I said to myself, if I’m starting over, why not start over with where you live? Kids were grown with kids of their own, I was tired of the gloomy, cold, snowy and icy winters.
I fell in love with Southern California because of several visits to my son and his family, who now lived in Orange County, where the weather is pretty much always perfect. I never forgot the feeling I had during those summers of '67 and '68 when I was staying with my aunt and uncle in Carmel and Orange County was Paradise to me. I was done with ice and snow and a walk up my driveway to get my mail with the mucus in my nose freezing halfway there.
The movers were amazing, putting up with my tears as I packed, giving me tips on places to avoid as I was going west.
One of my worst moments was when I had to decide about taking , leaving or selling my son's Bentwood high chair, which was used by all three of my children and several grandchildren. When they brought it to me I burst into tears.
John, who was the Foreman for my move, very softly said to me, "I think you should take it...and we will take very, very good care of it." (I STILL have the high chair although now it is my storage unit.)
He was a gift from my daughter-in-law and as you can see, he is made of a birch log body and twig antlers. He is one of my most favorite Christmas decorations, and he is both hefty and delicate at the same time.
When I was cleaning out the house in preparation for the move from New Jersey to California, I couldn't figure out how to pack him, so Rudolph rode shotgun on my long trip west. However, he stayed in the packed-to-the-roof SUV at night, as a "watch-deer. "
Travels with Rudolph are the travelogues from my solo drive cross-country in 2008. I was going through a divorce and wanted to start a new life at 58. I said to myself, if I’m starting over, why not start over with where you live? Kids were grown with kids of their own, I was tired of the gloomy, cold, snowy and icy winters.
I fell in love with Southern California because of several visits to my son and his family, who now lived in Orange County, where the weather is pretty much always perfect. I never forgot the feeling I had during those summers of '67 and '68 when I was staying with my aunt and uncle in Carmel and Orange County was Paradise to me. I was done with ice and snow and a walk up my driveway to get my mail with the mucus in my nose freezing halfway there.
The movers were amazing, putting up with my tears as I packed, giving me tips on places to avoid as I was going west.
One of my worst moments was when I had to decide about taking , leaving or selling my son's Bentwood high chair, which was used by all three of my children and several grandchildren. When they brought it to me I burst into tears.
John, who was the Foreman for my move, very softly said to me, "I think you should take it...and we will take very, very good care of it." (I STILL have the high chair although now it is my storage unit.)
Driving cross-country has always been on my bucket list and this was the experience of a lifetime.
I'd planned well , (or so I thought!) , calculating how many miles a day I could/would drive, and picking hotels for each night's stop. Never having done this before, I gave myself three rules: the hotel had to be very close to the highway for easy off and on, (I didn't want to be driving around a strange city trying to find it), I had to be at the hotel before dark (lest I turn into a pumpkin), and it had to have a parking lot where I would hear my car alarm go off if someone tried to break in , steal my stuff, and (heaven forbid!) kidnap Rudolph.
I accomplished this for the most part, except for one disaster, which you will read about in Travels with Rudolph the book.
I'd planned well , (or so I thought!) , calculating how many miles a day I could/would drive, and picking hotels for each night's stop. Never having done this before, I gave myself three rules: the hotel had to be very close to the highway for easy off and on, (I didn't want to be driving around a strange city trying to find it), I had to be at the hotel before dark (lest I turn into a pumpkin), and it had to have a parking lot where I would hear my car alarm go off if someone tried to break in , steal my stuff, and (heaven forbid!) kidnap Rudolph.
I accomplished this for the most part, except for one disaster, which you will read about in Travels with Rudolph the book.
My car did not look like this when I got to California!
It looked grey from all the dust and dirt I picked up along the way. Not to mention the morgue of dead bugs, sometimes the size of a bird, that was evident all over the front of my car...and, believe it or not, on my rear window, too. I have no idea how that happened. It's not like I went in reverse at a high speed. Well, maybe I did. But only a few times.
It looked grey from all the dust and dirt I picked up along the way. Not to mention the morgue of dead bugs, sometimes the size of a bird, that was evident all over the front of my car...and, believe it or not, on my rear window, too. I have no idea how that happened. It's not like I went in reverse at a high speed. Well, maybe I did. But only a few times.
If you like what you read here, the book with ALL of the "Travels With Rudolph" will be published on 12/15 as a Kindle and a paperback shortly thereafter. You can get it in the Kindle Store here:
https://a.co/d/20Jes3R
https://a.co/d/20Jes3R