The Great Staycation
Posted at 5:55 AM on July 13, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(18 Comments)
Greetings Heartlanders!
I am taking a few days off this week to do what many have decided to do this summer - stay at home while acting like I have gone away. It saves money, promotes the local economy, and gives a person a chance to catch up on their sleep if they don't take the scheduling of activities too seriously.
You can overdo it when the job is to think up something exciting and new that can happen to you in a familiar place. Familiar places are comforting precisely because we know what to expect. Breaking through the hometown boredom barrier may require you to take some rather foolish risks.
That's why we decided not to do low altitude skydiving over Minneapolis.
I've never warmed to the idea of jumping out of a plane, and doing it at low altitude isn't much of a comfort. It's still pretty high, though you do save a bit on fuel. That Metrodome looks like it could be a soft place to land, but what if you bounce?
No thanks.
Have you ever agreed to a vacation adventure that was, in retrospect, flat-out crazy?
Comments (18)
At some point during a trip to Bolivia to do volunteer work I was fairly sure I shouldn't be there. This was when riding in a local taxi on a narrow mountain road at high speed with a sharpe drop off on edge of the road traveling around blind corners and nearly running into traffic from the other direction.
I did decide that the taxi driver knew what he was doing and I probably wasn't going to die. Actually I enjoyed Bolivia and recommend travel to this country.
I rode the buses of Puerto Vallarta this past winter. Like you, Jim, I was looking around for seat belts. The bus system in PV is very efficient, but it's a wild ride!
It probably wasn't the best idea to hitchhike from Paris to northern Germany, but I did.
Greetings, all!
A few years back, I went to visit a friend who had a vacation home in the mountains of NY near Woodstock. A lovely home, and quite near a bike trail (of the converted railroad bed variety - nice grade, especially for mountain area). It seemed perfectly reasonable to take a bike ride.
So off we went to the bike rental facility to rent a bike. Only the local rental facility was, during the winter, a ski hill. The bikes were for use going up and down the steep skiing slopes that were all nice and grassy for mountain biking. Still, so far, so good. Got my helmet and off we went.
About 2 miles into our ride I realized our mistake. While my pal had a nice road bike with a nice wide seat for sitting upon (she had her own bike) - my rental had a tiny, skinny seat that felt like sitting on a 2x4. It wasn't a bike meant to be sat upon for a long, leisurely ride through the mountains - it was a bike meant for standing up on the pedals while you careened up and down the steep mountain slopes.
I "butched" it out - but after our long ride (we were out most of the afternoon as I recall), there was an ice pack waiting for me back at the house. For sitting on. Ouch.
Although my three-week biking and camping trip through parts of Germany with a friend was a good idea overall, three days with rain and temperatures in the 40s led me to believe we may die of hypothermia in our tent one night. Luckily we didn't. And as usually happens, the sun came out soon. Just like life.
By the way, to help make a staycation a little more interesting, I highly recommend rearranging the furniture in your house to give you a sense of a new place.
Have fun.
Question to Dale: Are you going to be at the Minnesota State Fair this year? You may have already answered this but I haven't seen it. Thanks.
2003 was a very challenging year for us both physically and emotionally, lots of time spent in hospitals and pysical therapy, so in spring 2004 we took a trip to St. Thomas US VI to recharge. When we grew somewhat bored we took a day trip boat to St. John's. My tour book mentioned a 1 mile path and we asked a taxi to take us there. We were surprised when he dropped us at the top of what was almost a montain. He pointed to a path into the jungle that covered the landscape before he drove off.
So into the jungle we plunged, seeing nobody else, having no water and no cell phone signal, we trundled down the rather steep slope toward civilisation and the return boat, each cheering the other on. We had no idea how far it was but we knew we'd be ok when we finally started to hear the surf...Whrew!
Grant,
Dale WILL be doing a live Radio Heartland show at the Minnesota State Fair again this year. We'll be at the MPR booth on Friday, Aug. 28th from 9-11am. Our musical guests are Ann Reed, Bojono (Boyd Lee, Joe Cruz and Noah Hoehn) and The Ditchlilies (Kari Larson and Lisa Schultz).
And the musicians will stick around and each do an additional set live at the booth between 11am and 1pm.
I've had too many insane vacations...1. motorcycling through Maine and Quebec in the rain, ending up having a spillout, then the finest lobster stew and blueberry pie in a restaurant on the edge of the sea; horseback riding up and down a Montana mountain riding on a saddle with ridges that cut into my inner thighs (I understand, Anna!), climbing the Needles in South Dakota ("Does your mother know you're up there?), hitchhiking from Alaska to Montana (left my luggage in White Horse...my poor father receiving it from the RCMP before I arrived home)....I won't go on. Stayvacations sound very good...if I stayoff the horse that threw me last time I rode her.
Mike, since so it seems each day someone asks about you being at the State Fair, if it isn't already, perhaps it should be posted on Radio Heartland's home page.
in our early 20s my cousin and i took off for 3 months in Europe. one night we arrived late in Hamburg, the hostel was full and we were turned away from lodging (looked like hippies i suppose) and so were standing in the train station deciding which night train to take so we could sleep (we had a EurRail Pass). a man came up to us (we told him what we were doing, blah, blah) he said we could sleep in a shack he had at his business. we got in the car with him, he drove us to the shack, let us in, LOCKED us in, we drank a bottle of wine and we slept. he came and woke us up in the morning and took us back to the train station. at the time it didn't occur to us to be a bit hesitant. now, 38 years later, i wish i could still be that trusting.
Barb in Blackhoof...ah yes, I had a similar experience in Germany...and would I hitchhike through England and Wales again...?
Oh Cynthia! - you brought this story to mind:
Went to London with a friend in 2004. We walked all over London together, only splitting up to see different venues on one day. I went to the National Gallery, friend went to Museum of London.We were to meet at Westminster Abbey for Evensong at 5pm. What was I thinking??? I get lost in tiny Zimmerman, my home of 25 years! Absolutely got lost. Thought I was at the Abbey at 4:45. NO - I was at Parliament! Kind Bobby said, "Madam, if you will follow that little footpath... " Ran down footpath - begged entrance to the church as they were closing the gate. "Madam, do you intend to stay for the entire service?" "I do!", I vow. Ran into church - minor miracle, I see friend already seated! I sit several rows behind her. Asked (chronically late) friend if she had trouble getting to the church on time? "No - took a cab. Dropped me off right in front. You?" "Oh, no - no problem at all." Lying - and I was still in church, too.
I think I tried to space this adventure, but it just came back to me...summer working in Yellowstone Park ended with a camping trip at the south end of Yellowstone Lake. A friend and I in a loaded-down-low-in-the-water kayak, small motor on the side, high winds and snow...then leaving our campsite with food for a hike into the hills...and coming back to news the Rangers were looking for us after the bears devoured all our food. Oh, and walking down the trail after the snow, following grizzly bear track...my friend (a summer park ranger) said, "I was hoping you wouldn't notice."
(Only two or three people had been killed by Grizzlies that summer...)
I'm really surprised that no one noticed that the usual Monday morning at 7:00am song was not played this morning.
It is Monday, right?
These were probably working vacations for my folks, but for 3 crazy summers in late 50s my dad hauled us out to Greeley, CO, where he worked on his Masters Degree while we lived in a 16 foot trailer. We were in the "overflow lot" which was a gravel parking lot between CSC's football stadium and baseball field. Each trailer had a utility pole, but other facilities were in a community wash-house, complete with wringer washers, showers, toilets. We called it "Okie Hollow" -- each trailer added their own linoleum "carpet" and a tarp outside their door, and we had an old fridge on a palate (trailer had only an ICE BOX), a long table holding electric appliances. It was kid heaven, with the grandstand for our castle, ticket booths for forts...
These are great stories! I haven't traveled that much, but one New Years, we went with a group of band parents to watch kids march in Tournament of Roses parade (go SF Lincoln!) and the day we returned, it was so foggy in Denver, the plane had to make a blind landing. We waited a long time to take off, while the pilots checked the instruments and communicated with dispatchers. It was harrowing as the plane made its descent, not being able to see ANYTHING, and a great relief when we finally touched down. All flights out of Denver were canceled, so we took a Grey Line bus back to Sioux Falls. A 12+ hour bus ride is no cakewalk either.
Mike - please don't put the state fair info on the RH site. It's one of the only chances we get to read you on the blog!
I had an adventure last summer when I decided to camp overnight alone. There had been severe storm warnings out for the night but I thought it wouldn't be that bad. So I set up my little tent a little ways from a swamp in case it did rain and the water crept up. I was thinking! So the storm did come and I sat in my little tent thinking that I wasn't going to make it and maybe this hadn't been the smartest thing to do. And the storm wsa really nasty! My little tent sat there shaking and the lightning was close...and I kept peaking out at the water which was edging closer and closer to my tent. Finally ended, I was ok but the water was right outside my tent so I ended up sleeping in my mini-van. Now I laugh! It was a grand adventure!
Mike, thanks for the info on the State Fair - I'll let my friends know. It may seem early to think about the MSF, but anytime after July 4 is open season for me. Thanks.
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