Our January muse sent out a question today, asking about our preferred mode of travel. My mind immediately went to a meme that makes me smile whenever I see a version of it.
My second, more rational thought was, “First Class!” Then the more adult part of my persona kicked in and made me get a bit more serious.
My all-time favorite mode of travel was by motorcycle. There is nothing like blasting down the highway or taking a winding road on your bike. An open-cockpit classic airplane might have a similar feel, but I’ve never had the opportunity to experience that mode of travel.
More realistically, driving is my favorite mode of travel for some adventures. I mean me driving, not having someone else do it. Next to my biking travel, driving and controlling how fast, how far, and where stops are being made are important. Besides, driving in the Rockies in the fall gives you a much better view than what you’d have as a passenger.
First class on a good carrier is the way to go for distant or time-sensitive travel. Oh, you can do okay with some airlines if they offer extra legroom seating in the main cabin, but even that cannot rival a nice seat in Business or First Class on most carriers.
Finally, to make certain no one thinks I am afraid of the water, cruises, be they ocean, river, or large lake, are not simply a form of travel. Whether part of a vacation, holiday, or a bucket-list item, the vessel is part of the experience. It is not just a way to get there.
Well, I think that is enough pontificating and hair-splitting for today. Thanks for reading and take care.
© oneoldcop.com 2023
@jacksonseric
I’ve enjoyed being a passenger on a motorcycle but, couldn’t manage being the controller of it. I tried…took a class…wound up flying over the handlebars (did a complete flip). In my defense, the bike was not in the best shape. I shift gears in my truck but, shifting on a motorcycle befuddled me. The two movements are not similar.
I’ve flown a few times. I wouldn’t dare fly, now.
I have been on one small boat, when I was a kid. I watched my dad spend the afternoon skiing on his face. Past that…a paddle boat.
I want to go on a train ride.
I understand completely. I’ve flown over the handlebars of a motorcycle several times, starting when I was about 13. After a while, I finally got the hang of it and rode until my doctor convinced me that falling off at my age would be a lot worse than it was when I was fifteen.
I tried to be a horseman once, but that was my brother’s calling. A motorcycle I controlled. A horse had to agree to be controlled. My last ride as a teen was bareback on a big old buckskin gelding. I pulled the reins up for him to stop, and he side-stepped, throwing me into a bed of goat head stickers; since I was only wearing cutoffs, I picked stickers out of my right side for the rest of the afternoon.
Trains, planes, automobiles, boats, bicycles, you name it, have been part of my life since I was six months old. Trains today suck compared to what I experienced as a kid riding from Fort Worth to Indianapolis every summer. With that said, I’d take a chance on a couple of train trips today in the Rocky Mountains and across Canada. Some friends did a train trip in the Rockies last fall, and had a wonderful time. The best motorcycle trip I made was a day trip around Maui.
As for boats, don’t get me started. We lived on the lakes in the summer growing up. One nice thing about Texas is the number of lakes/reservoirs developed over the last century. Growing up here, there were new lakes within driving distance every year or two.
Your doctor has a point, there.
I did quite a bit of horseback riding in my youth. I actually went to a 4-H Club training session to learn how to ride. All the other kids did the usual western saddle training. Me being me, I decided to be all different. I trained on an English saddle, no side saddle (I guess they didn’t have one) but, rein holding was quite different. As an older teen, I rode on western saddles but, preferred the English. If a horse was tired and hungry, you couldn’t get it to do anything for you. Sadly, most “horse riding” places didn’t always care for the horses very well. A date of mine wound up hanging from a 2 by 6 (framed over a pen opening) when the horse decided it was going to its pen in the barn, rider or no. I do remember the name of my horse with the English saddle…Roman…dark brown with a black mane & tail. Lovely horse.
Ouch on the stickers.
What kind of train did you ride on from FW to Indianapolis? Amtrak didn’t exist until 1971. I would love to ride on ANY train. The only train I have ever ridden on was my hometown’s City Park kiddie train. I do remember going to see Tweetsie as a little thing but, I don’t think I was on the actual train. I would love a train thru the Rockies. I’ve driven all over Colorado (I may have expressed that, before).
I’d love to go to Hawaii. My paternal uncle and his family is headed that way in a week.
I’ve never actually been on any of Texas’s lakes but, I have been in a restaurant on Lake Travis, eaten at a restaurant in view of Town Lake and driven around Lake LBJ. I understand that Lake Worth is full of jet fuel.
I don’t remember who operated the trains we took to see my grandparents in Indianapolis. I remember having some of the best BLTs I’d ever eaten in the dining car and sitting in the observation area or a window seat watching the world go by. By my preteen years, we drove to Indy the few times we went. My first driving experience with my brand new license was in 1963 when Mom, my brother, and I headed up in a 1953 Chevy pickup. Mom and I shared driving time.
Decades after those first train rides, I was in San Antonio for a rugby tournament and decided to take Amtrak back to Fort Worth to see what a 1980s train ride was like. It was very disappointing. It took three tries to find a seat that wasn’t broken, and then the dining car was simply a place to purchase sandwiches you could buy at the 7-Eleven and a cold drink. You couldn’t even buy a beer, much less a cocktail. As for Lake Worth, I swam, water-skied, and fished there until I moved away for graduate school and to start a career. I have friends who live on the lake, and it seems about the same as it was in the 50s and 60s as far as water quality is concerned.
There is at least one old bomber from the Korean War era that crashed into the lake and was left there, but there is likely more outboard motor oil and gasoline in the water at any one time than jet fuel. According to news sources, there was some jet fuel contamination in 2021 due to an incident, but it was cleaned up.
What’s funny about this is we took the train several times, with no record of those trips. However, Mom saved the tickets for the flight from Indianapolis to Shreveport, LA, when she took me there for my grandmother to see me. I was six months then, so I don’t remember any of that.
Flying is my fave mode, but, oh, yes. Cruising. That is something else as well. Love that too