LONG TRIPS ARE TIRING FOR OLD PEOPLE

The old rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

I just returned from a two-week trip from my home in San Antonio, Texas to several locations on the West Coast.  It was not a difficult trip.  By that I mean, things went pretty much as planned and I do plan well.

My plans are well thought out and make loads of sense.  That is I do not put a lot of activities into short periods of time as I use to do.  And, when it comes to driving each day I make sure that I have made motel reservations so that I am compelled to stop when I reach that motel.

Not many years ago when I got into my car to begin a long trip, I would drive for many hours, usually until it got dark and I would start fairly early in the morning.  That is I would drive for twelve hours or more each day.  It would not be uncommon for me to drive 800 miles or more in one day.  To make things even more tiring I would stop infrequently at rest stops and would take along snacks, fruit, and nuts for my lunch.  That is I would not stop for lunch.

Well, I don’t do that anymore.  In fact I try not to drive more than seven hours with at least an hour break for lunch.  And, yes I stop at most rest areas. So, in order for me to accomplish such an easy trip, I make reservations at motels for those six-seven hour driving days.

Even so, after a couple of weeks of traveling with two time zones thrown in when I got home, I was not at the top of my game.  I slept okay, but I was not ready to expend much work and effort for several days.  For instance, I did not get right back into the gym training thing for a few days.  I just didn’t feel that ambitious yet I was not particularly tired. 

As the days pass, I always begin to want to do some things so I know I am getting back to what I will call ‘normal’.  Well normal for someone in his 80s.  Certainly normal for me now is not what normal use to be like when I was much younger.

Years ago, upon my return from a long trip frequently from overseas with several time zones thrown in I would immediately get right back to work doing things unfinished when I left.  But, not anymore!  And, it takes me a while to understand what is going on.  Oh, yes I just returned from a trip and I am not up to my usual par.  This has happened to me several times before of course.  It usually takes about two weeks to get back to my normal activities.

This trip was a first for me in which I used my newly purchased Magellan Road Mate.  I have a friend who uses a Garmin and really enjoys it.  He has used it a few times with me driving and it worked well.  Was not the shortest way to get to where we wanted to go but it did work.

So, when I had an opportunity to buy something like it on sale for less than $100, why not?  I used it in my home area to get used to it so I was ready to give it a whirl on this trip.  I was so certain that it would work I didn’t take a road map with me!  Well that was dumb.

What I am noting here is that my first experience was not a good one, for it failed on the first day to take me to where I had directed it to go.  Fortunately, I was going to a friend’s house so I phoned him for directions.  He told me that yes the Magellan does not work for his address.  He had phoned them about the problem but they never fixed it.  And too, it directed me a very long distance to his house before it quit.  And, it just quit without any warning.  The woman’s voice didn’t say goodbye or that she was lost.  It just quit!

With that uneasy beginning I proceeded on the remaining parts of my trip still relying on my Road Mate. As I got more experience with it, I found it to be useful.  Still, it took me on routes to places which might have been the shortest but was certainly not the simplest.  So, will I trust it and not take a simple road map anymore?  No!!!

My trip took me to my 1956 Veterinary Class Reunion in Palm Springs.  Yes, my 1956 graduation – some 58 years ago! Rejoining my old classmates is always an interesting experience.  I note interesting because it has both ups and downs.  The ‘up’ of course is seeing my fellow surviving classmates each year who can make the trip.  I suppose about half of those surviving can not travel anymore and hearing about there poor health is really a downer.

This year one classmate who attended had Stage-4 lung cancer, so this will be his last trip.  Even though he was in some pain he insisted on attending one last time. 

Interestingly, he was the first person I met when I arrived at college as a pre-veterinary major.  He was a World War II veteran and like me was trying to get into veterinary school.  I lost track of him until the first day of veterinary school and there he was a freshman just like me.

I wonder if I was in pain and about to die if I would want to come to our annual reunion.  I guess I would.

Our class was an interesting one as about half were WW II veterans, so they were a few years older.  Obviously most of those attending the reunion are the younger classmates such as me.  This year only six of us made it.  That is not very many when we had 52 graduates. More were supposed to come this year but old-aged heath raised its ugly head which at the last minute made them cancel their trips.

My classmate who hosted us this year became frustrated as he had hoped for more of us to attend.  And at the start of his planning he received many yes’s so he was very excited.  Then the cancellations started coming in and of course that troubled him.  So, next year we plan to take a 3-day cruise.  No planning will be involved.  Those attending will just buy their tickets and we all meet on the deck. 

Maybe I will attend next year.  I hope so but one never knows.

Don’t forget to buy my novel ‘Mary’ on Amazon for $5.99.  Yes, ‘Mary’ by Russell Burton.  It is a mystery with adventure and at the end much terror.  A great read!!!!

As always I can be reached at burton.russell@att.net  But please write in the title ‘The Old Rusty Nail’ or it will be deleted. That is I don’t click on any emails unless I know the name of the writer.