This week it’s # 195 on “the List.” I was a late bloomer when it comes to enjoying travel.  It always sounded so cliché to me when I heard people say they “enjoyed” traveling. Well of course you “enjoy” traveling…Do you also enjoy eating delicious food?  Yeah, me too.

In my early twenties I started to travel with friends.  That’s when I realized that some people enjoy traveling and some…just don’t. Plus, they aren’t any fun to travel with.  We did a lot of camping and road trips mainly, plus a few trips across the country to visit family in other states.

One of my best trips was one I took just a few months after I returned home from 18 months doing missionary service in Upstate New York.

I didn’t really have enough money to go and it felt a little irresponsible, but at the prompting of my bestest friend Heather, we went.  We also took my bestest guy friend Jared since he was available and he also spent time doing missionary service in New York.  Both were excellent travel companions.  I’m sure we spent at least 40 percent of this trip full on laughing so hard that we couldn’t contain ourselves if you know what I mean.

I am really lucky that my friend Heather is a professional photographer.  She provided me with this awesome album that documents the entire trip.  That made this trip the perfect one to reminisce about.

We packed up my new (to me) 2001 Saturn sedan and headed across the state line.  We had the best trip listening to Counting Crows and Jewel, John Denver, Blink 182.

We took photos at each State Line.

Did you know Nebraska was home of Arbor Day?  Me neither.  Who cares.

We crossed the Mighty Mississippi.

It really is BIG!

We drove through hours and hours of corn fields.

It really is beautiful. I couldn’t resist pulling the car over and stopping for a picture. Ever since I saw Field of Dreams, I always wanted to see the mammoth corn fields of the mid-west.

Here’s Heather making sandwiches on the dashboard, mainly because we didn’t have enough time or money for fast food.

My Saturn has an unusually large dashboard.  You could have changed a baby on that thing.

Finally, NEW YORK at dawn. It was a REALLY long drive.  Thankfully, Jared pulled an 11 hour driving stretch.  He was amazing!

It was a very memorable morning and a beautiful sunrise.

We saw Niagara Falls. Honestly, I think it’s a little overrated.

 

I thought it would be bigger.

We slept in this hallway while in Ithaca New York.  I used to live in this old (and I do mean old) house when I was a missionary.  Since there was no room inside the apartment, we slept right outside.

We crashed with several friends along the way.  I think we only paid for one hotel room and that was in Coralville, Iowa where my husband’s sister now lives (random).

We really enjoyed our time in Ithaca, one of my favorite missionary cities.  There are many unusual things to see. It’s full of hippies and PhD students at Cornell University.

Here’s what I assume is a couple hippies although sometimes you can’t tell them from the PhD students.  One driving a Rascal, pulling another on rollerblades.  Very Napoleon Dynamite, very Ithaca.  Keeping it classy.

Played in some Gorges. The whole town is built around a river and the surrounding large gorges.  There’s waterfalls around every corner.

Ithaca really is GORGES.

Drove to and through Manhattan.

Saw a Yankees game, rode the subway, played in Central Park, and took the Staten Island Ferry.

On the way back home we stopped in Kentucky and stayed the night with my old friend Brandon.  We met his then girlfriend and now wife Ashley who looks like she’s 12 in this photo.  I look like I’m at least 15, especially while holding that Hello Kitty bag. I’ve always been very mature for my age.

Also toured the Corvette plant. Did you know that Corvettes are manufactured in Bowling Green Kentucky?  Now you know.

Anyway…It was a really fun trip.  I’ve had so much fun reminiscing about it.

I sure you’ve had a few trips worth remembering.  Don’t underestimate how fun it can be to look back at old photos or trip journals and recall your past experiences traveling.   While you’re at it, why don’t you go ahead and plan a trip in the near future too.