Places I've Been

I've been playing a map game at work. Ok, I play it all too often, I confess. It's quite challenging. It starts with a blank United States Map. It gives you states to place on the map. You must be very exact. I have high standards for myself. One mistake and I often make myself start over. I have gotten 100% several times.  Play it here.

Some, like Texas, Florida, and California, by virtue of their location on the coasts, are easy. Sometimes geography gives you a clue. Cape Cod makes Massachusetts recognizable. Thank you, Long Island, for showing me the exact location of New York. That makes all the itty bitty New England states easier.

It's interesting to me, thanks to my psychology minor at JBU, how my brain processes this game. How do I decide t what state goes where?

Sometimes, it's based on spatial ability, which I generally lack. States have certain shapes and they fit in certain spaces. This really comes into play as the map fills and there are openings shaped like a certain state.

My brain also discerns where a state should go based on my travel experiences. My family drove on long road trips when I was a child--Arkansas to Niagara Falls, Maine, and back home on one trip. I also drove to Wyoming from Arkansas with two friends after college. Those experiences guide me as I play the game. Memories such as seeing the sunrise as I drove west through South Dakota through the Badlands and into Wyoming or riding in the backseat as a child through Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

In the spirit of this game and the wonderful memories it possesses, I wanted to start making a list of places I've been. A few to get started:

1. Ogunquit, Maine. I was about 10 years old. My sister, Julie, and I insisted on swimming in the freezing Atlantic. Dad swam with us and the waves were tall enough to scare my mom. He also showed us tidal pools and the creatures in them. We bought sweatshirts in town after the icy dip. Mine was lavender with navy blue writing (why do I remember stuff like that?!). We went out for a lobster dinner that night. There was a tank of live lobsters when you entered the restaurant. You were supposed to pick one. I did, thinking, I guess, that I was picking a pet as opposed to dinner. When it arrived, whole and steamed, I wouldn't eat it.  See Ogunquit here.

2. Olympic National Park in Washington.  This was an adult vacation that I took with my parents.  There I was, in my 30s and staying with my parents in the same hotel room.  Regardless, this was an awesome trip!  We started in Seattle.  I showed my parents a little of the city, as I was going there with some regularity for work at the time.  We then went to the national park. We stayed at an incredible inn in Port Angeles, right on the water.  See it Here.  Olympic is so unique.  You can see the Pacific, snowcapped mountains, and a rain forest all in one area.  We took a hike through towering fir trees, and, all of a sudden, the trail ends and the Pacific opens up in front of you.  It is stunning. Find out more here.

3.  Tulum/Cozumel Mexico.  My friends Laura, Mark, and Brian joined me on a trip to Tulum in 2006.  We flew into Cancun, and soon left the tourist trap behind and drove out into the countryside.  It was my first time in Mexico, and it was fascinating.  We stayed at an all-inclusive resort in Tulum, thanks to cheapcarribean.com.  Check it out here.  All inclusive is so the way to go.  No worries about a big bill at the end of the week.  Laura and I had a nice room with a hammock on the balcony.  Basically, we spent the day playing pool volleyball, drinking rum drinks, and soaking up the carribean sun.  The beach waiters would come around every 15 minutes or so.  Their line was, "Is there anything I can do to make your day better?"  Why, yes, there is.  I haven't had one of your *incredible* pina coladas in at least 30 minutes.  We also ate our weight in guacamole.  Seriously, they would bring a vat of it to us at lunch and we would devour it.  It got to be a little embarassing.

We took the ferry from Playa del Carmen and spent one day on Cozumel.  We rented a Jeep, went snorkeling, and had the best time ever.  Cozumel surprised me.  I thought it would be more like Cancun--hotel after condo after resort after tourist trap.  Once we were outside the main town, it felt like we had the island to ourselves.  It is surprisingly undeveloped and beautiful.  There is also a rastafarian bar on the tip of the island that, I think had a monkey, or some other interesting animal.  I don't know why I remember that. 

 I will always remember this trip because I fulfilled two songs that are now stuck in my head: I blew out my flip flop (in Cozumel), and I found out that I love pina coladas and dancing in the rain (after dancing with a very cute Mexican dance instructor).

I've been many other places, but that will be for another time. 

Note to Kristen Melby:  This is an old post that I finally finished.  There will be more, I promise! Check out all the fancy links I put in this post.  I know you'll love all the details that I remember, which have no bearing on my life today.