A Reward

I am giving myself time to write today as a reward for having met some deadlines.  I am in the process of writing a thesis to culminate my latest graduate school experience.  The thesis is on travel, but I am writing with guidelines and deadlines rather than the free-flowing personal nature of my blog posts.  So, my treat to myself is to allow myself the time to blog.  Who knew that when I started on this blogging journey that it would become so important to me?  A year ago the thought of putting myself out here in cyberspace was unthinkable.  Graduate school has had its benefits!

It is too cold to go out in the RV.  This past week the Northeast has been gripped in bitter cold with the night lows in the single digits.  The upcoming week should be better but still hovering around freezing during the day and nights in the teens and twenties.  I long for warmth!

Johnnie and I plan to retire in southern Arizona in a few years.  To begin our transformation into Arizonans, we subscribe to Arizona Highways.  This month’s edition arrived on the coldest day this past week.  After taking off my coat and getting a cup of hot tea, I read the issue from cover to cover in one sitting.  I had to transport myself to that warmth, even if only in my imagination.

Today, we will watch the Eagles play the Cardinals in Arizona, wishing we were in the stands, or at least in the state.  This morning’s Philadelphia Inquirer had an article on Quarterback Donovan McNabb who resides in Arizona.  Other transplants from this area were interviewed in the article and in other articles about people going to the game.   Oh to be warm again . . . .

This time of year I am usually counting the days until our Spring RV trip, but grad school will prevent my usual two weeks off to travel.  I know that I cannot get my work done and travel across the country.  I know that I need to be near home so that I can focus on my writing which given the dates of Spring Break this year (April 10 – 20) is too close to the final due date of the thesis:  April 28th.  I know all of this in my head, but my heart wants to be elsewhere.  I will get over this, but I doubt that I will do it graciously.

So, I read the travel section of the Sunday papers and dream of warmer places — San Diego, this week.  I haven’t been to San Diego but it is now on my list of future destinations.

Johnnie and I have discovered two places that we want to return to — Assateague Island National Seashore and Elk Neck State Park, both in Maryland.  If it ever warms up, both of these are close to home, Assateague 3 hours, Elk Neck under 2 hours.  It takes us nearly an hour and a half to get to our beloved Belleplain State Park and almost two to get to Cape May.   Delaware is inbetween NJ and MD, so we probably need to investigate areas in Delaware to add to our local list.

Then there is still much of NJ to explore from the standpoint of side trips.  Perhaps by my next post, I will have visited something new.