Sunday, July 5, 2009

Travel Day

I have friends who are younger than 36. I actually like people younger than me. I don't really know why, but I don't have much in common with most people my age. Maybe Richard is the only one. I'll have to think on these things. Anyway, last year at this time I wrote about what happened on my trip to Europe. I was a very eventful time in my life for many reasons. I suggest that you go back into the blog archives and read the ones from July 5-25 for more information. This time around, I just want to write some observations. Many of which may be the same as what I wrote last year, but maybe not. If I sound like a travelogue, I'm sorry. But, I needed to think again about this time in my life. On July 5, 1973, I went with 15 other people to Europe. We met up at the Greenville/Spartanburg airport and flew out for Charlotte and then New York. On the trip were teachers and students. I was the only guy except for the tour leader. In my age group, there was Sandra, Talula, Judy and Sha. Sandra and Talula were my best friends on the trip, and we became inseparable. Some on the trip, like Talula, had never flown before, so it was a new experience. I had flown a few times. One thing we learned was the use of gum. Chew gum on takeoffs and landings to help with the ears popping. I still do that to this day. It also helps to calm any nerves one has. When we got to Kennedy Airport in NYC, we had a few hours to wait before boarding the plane for London. Some of us had lunch there. Others decided to explore the terminal. I saw one man selling pencils. When it came time to board the plane, Sandra and Talula weren't there. I had to go find them. It was a job that I had a lot on the trip. There was a lot of wandering for the three weeks we were in Europe. Some I knew about, and some I didn't. Maybe that was a good thing. We all got on the plane in time and bought the earpieces for the music and movie. Everyone was excited about this new experience that awaited us. We had no idea what we were getting into. It was an adventure. I felt like it was all a dream. Sandra told me that it wasn't a dream. It was real. And boy, was it real.

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