INTERESTING STORIES TO SHARE

ONE….While in Texas, Paul and I went down to the hotel bar for “happy hour” because it wasn’t two for one, it was 2 free drinks per person! So may as well go down and meet some other travellers. We got talking to the bartender (only a few people at the bar). He was fascinated with Curling in the Olympics and wanted so much to put a team together and go curling (this is Lubbock, Texas, pop. 200,000). He thought the game was awesome and watched it as much as he could (he was about 30 years old). I said that would be great but where is the nearest curling rink. Well, that is the problem he says. I explained that in Canada every city has a curling rink and every single small town has a hockey rink with a curling rink attached usually. Texans are always interested in our life in Canada and always asking questions on our health care system.

TWO...This bartender’s friend was also at the bar with friends. This friend was defending the gun law in Texas. I explained that in Canada we don’t have any firearm signs explaining the law when entering a public place like the hotel we were at. He explained that one can carry a loaded gun in their car as long as it is visible. If he is stopped by anyone…. including a police officer, he brings out his gun to the dash so it is visible. If he had a loaded gun in his glove box, he would be arrested for concealing that weapon. A car and a house are considered personal space and you can have a loaded gun in these places. You are not allowed guns in public places. That is why there are signs as you enter a public place like a hotel or a Walmart. Now, all states are not like this, just Texas. This is what I was told, doesn’t mean these are accurate facts!

THREE….While we travel, we take the rural roads and not the interstates. Therefore, we travel through some interesting towns and if we get ONE radio station we are excited. We stopped at a town (after 90 miles, whew, we needed a washroom). This town had a Subway, so we used the facilities there and next door was a radio station. Great, we put on that station (only one, as we scanned the radio). This was a country music station which makes sense in New Mexico. This station’s DJ was hilarious. Very amateurish! He started playing a song, then about 30 seconds in, dead silence…. for about 15 seconds. We waited, then sure enough he comes on and says he was yawning and going to fall asleep with that one and he wants to change the song, so hang on. Sure enough, a brand new country song came on! Too funny. Then after the song was finished, he had taped recordings of local officials and got the tapes all mixed up of who was coming on next. This reminded me of long ago at Humber College when colleges had their own radio station and these DJs were in the learning process. (am sure they still do). We didn’t have the station long anyway, no station for awhile again. I did learn on this specific passage that no drinking of fluids unless it is 30 miles or less to a town (or a washroom). We could go 100 miles without a town, trailer, gas station or restaurant. We always have fuel! There are many trailer parks and we understand now…..it is a ready-made house. The nearest Home Depot could be hundreds of miles away. So when you venture to the “city” to gather all the stuff you need, don’t forget anything…. come home and lo and behold, where is that screwdriver you were suppose to buy and where is the milk and bread??? Yikes, marital problems could arise, hmmmm. Rural brings on a new meaning in rural New Mexico.

FOUR…We were visiting Sedona one morning and loved this small city. It has a population of 10,000 to 15,000 depending on the season. We travelled on scenic highway 89A to Prescott, Arizona after leaving Sedona and stopped at a small town Jerome on the way. We met a nice local at a local store and he informed us that on Valentine’s Day weekend that Sedona had 80,000 visitors! And their small town Jerome (about 20 minutes away) got their overflow because every hotel room was booked . That is great for the local economy but can you imagine the influx of tourists… I would say hey, honey, how about we go after Valentine’s Day weekend? The rates will be better and you can give me discounted roses!

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware — Martin Buber