October 28, 2010. Canyon Lake, Tx. Spin off.

Willa Cather has been a favorite author of mine, but I have not read her for many years. One of the benefits of our drive north on #281 was we drove through Red Cloud, Nebraska, her home town and the setting for many of her novels and stories. Now I am up to my eyeballs in a biography of her, written by James Woodress, and I am enjoying it thoroughly. The creative process is a bit of a mystery to me as my creative gene is non existent, but I love to see it in action. I am loving this book and the life of Willa Cather.

The purpose for our trip was merely the drive on # 281, but along the way, much benefit accrued to me, which I call the spin off. Every trip has them, things that are seen and experienced in addition to the main purpose for the vacation. Your life in enhanced, because of the initial decision even though you had not dreamt about these things before. I always feel sorry for people who only go to places they have been to before and travel to the same places time after time, never exploring the new.

And here is another spin off. Ken and I spent so much time in the car that we talked and planned for the next ten years. Now we have people to see and places to go and we even know how we are getting to get there, all due to two weeks in the car.

Of course, we visited with Keith and Wilma, Ken's brother which is always fun. They are opposite from us in every sense and I am sure we drive them crazy, but we always have a good time together. Without #281 we would never have seen them this year so this is another spin off from the trip.

I am accused of being an impossible Pollyanna and I am, but when it comes to a vacation, the side benefits are almost equal to the main event!!