Time for Our Annual Trip

Editor's note: This is part 1 of a series. Be sure to check out part 2 and part 3!

Well, it's that time of year again, time for our second annual trip. We started this new tradition last year and hope to do it every year. With Covid looking like there's no end in sight, we went ahead with our retirement traveling.

Why wait?

In the past, we had planned on traveling in the winter months after Dave retires but since Covid started, we thought why wait? We could get sick tomorrow and never get the chance, so if we are able, with the help of Dave working extra hours and scrimping and saving, we will take every December off in the future. After retirement, we are hoping to do three months at a time.

Last year we only went for about a week and a half but this year we are taking the entire month. We probably will not be gone that long. We will just take each day as it comes. If you'd like to read an article about last year's trip, check out Another Year Older!

Preparing and getting familiar

Traveling with Covid still going on is scary but we will be as careful as we can. We will be only stopping for bathroom and gas breaks when needed and we will also be only visiting outdoor sites. We will be very careful when checking into our hotels. My husband is good at spraying the room and wiping everything down before I even enter it.

We use our all-natural cleaners also because some cleaners that the hotels use are very hard on the lungs and give me an instant headache. After Dave sprays the room down, we usually will go for a ride to get familiar with the area before we return to give the room a chance to air out.

Route 66 and old friends

We decided this year to travel to Old Route 66. This is something that I have always wanted to do and with most of the site seeing being outdoors, we figured this would be perfect. It also passes through Arizona, where I used to live during my High School years. I haven’t been back in over 30 years and my husband has never been, so I’m excited to show him around Tucson, the city where I used to live.

On our trip to Nashville last year, he was able to show me where we went to school and lived, so I’m glad I get to do the same for him. I will also get to see one of my best friends, Julie, who I haven’t seen since then as well. I can’t wait!

I wish they could go

Our grandsons are also excited for us to go. They would love to go with us and we would love for them to go, but they have school. Maybe they can go some other time. The reason they are so excited is that they are big fans of the Disney animated movies Cars.

They love old cars and some other the scenes that they got for the first movie are from Old Route 66. I’ve watched some footage on YouTube of some of the great places to stop along the way with Nixon and Nash and they are excited for Papa and me to bring them a souvenir from one of our stops. Oh, how I wish they could go. I better get packing, we leave in 5 days!

Have you been on Route 66 or know of any great places for us to travel next year? I’d love to hear from you.