The Good Life Travel Dreams

Travel Dreams

So due to COVID-19, travel is still largely restricted throughout the country. For this issue I thought I might share my travel dreams – and inquire about yours! By Kris Grant

Within Yosemite National Park’s 1,200 square miles, you’ll find spectacular granite rock formations, deep valleys, cascading waterfalls, ancient sequoias (the oldest trees on earth) and wonderful campgrounds. The land looks much the same today as when President Theodore Roosevelt accompanied naturalist John Muir on a tour there in 1903. Photo by Kris Grant.

Travel dreams, be they remembrances of past travels or the anticipation of future adventures, have always sustained me. They have helped me think deeper and have provided energy and enthusiasm for what lies ahead.

Twenty-eight years ago I went through a divorce. Money was tight and worry was always on my mind. But as summer approached and with two children, ages 8 and 12, full of pent-up energy, I suddenly had a thought; we could go camping! It would be affordable and it was time for all of us to break out of this funk!

Yosemite was at the top of my list, and despite (or maybe because of) being told as a child that Yosemite was “a zoo and impossible to get in,” it occurred to me that many people did get in. And friends told me of its awesome beauty and trees. My neighbor Carol Lemei told me how to navigate the phone registration system in place at that time (it has since moved online). You had to begin calling at 7 a.m. exactly two months before you wanted to go. By 7:10 a.m., the day’s space allotment would likely be sold out, Carol warned.

And so, with a look at the calendar, I began calling: busy signal, hang up, call again, repeat, repeat. And then a miracle – I got through! – and suddenly was talking with a live, helpful agent and I made a reservation for a week at Upper Pines campground in Yosemite Valley. The dream was getting real! Page 36 Coronado Magazine

Oregon’s forests of more than 30 native coniferous species and 37 native broadleaf species cascade down to its coastline. Pictured here is the Heceta Head Lighthouse, established 1894, located midway between the coastal towns of Florence and Yachets, Oregon. Photo credit, Christian Heeb.

Down to the sporting goods store we all went to select a tent, sleeping bags, a Coleman stove, lanterns – the works! That alone was loads of fun and fueled our anticipation.

Of course, we needed to practice setting up the (rather large) rectangular tent, which we did in our front yard, much to the amusement of our neighbors and the cars passing by on Pomona Avenue.

We did some practice camping on weekends, going up to Idyllwild County Park, which is only two hours from Coronado, at an elevation of about 5,200 feet. Late one night, I needed to leave the tent and walk over to the restroom, and as I emerged from the tent and glanced upward, I was so startled that I nearly fell – I had never in my life seen so many stars illuminate the night sky. (Idyllwild County Park is currently open only for day use and RV overnights, but that could soon change.) We also camped at San Elijo, up the coast, near “Swami’s,” the SelfRealization Fellowship Temple, in Encinitas. (San Elijo, too, is

The Lowell Covered Bridge crosses the Willamette River near Lowell, Oregon. It was originally built in 1907, rebuilt in 1945 and rehabilitated in 2006. Oregon has more covered bridges (50) than any state west of the Mississippi.

Camping at the foot of Three-fingered Jack outside Bend, Oregon. Photo credit: Pete Alport

Floating on the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon Photo credit: Nate Wyeth

closed at present, but may reopen soon.)

We tacked on Sequoia National Park and Calaveras Big Trees to our Yosemite trip. Both were grand, but my kids absolutely loved Yosemite – the trails, the waterfalls, horseback riding, the sounds of marauding bears in the wee hours, the free shuttle that circled the valley floor, the impromptu guitar concerts at Curry Village; we returned to Yosemite for the next three years straight.

Why is it that a hot dog and beans tastes so great when prepared outside on a Coleman stove and ghost stories are scarier ‘round a campfire? I encourage you and your families to consider camping as a first step to re-enter the world of travel. You can socially isolate and still have a blast. You can take a camera along on nature walks and sketchpads and watercolors to capture memories. By the way, KOAs are mostly open and they are everywhere.

That initial camping trip pulled me forward and nurtured my self-reliance.

Maybe this is why in 2006, I decided to take travel a step further, buying a Class C RV and embarking on a solo trip across the United States. I owned a magazine at the time, and stayed connected to my staff via email, occasionally emailing stories back on my travels, which took me to all corners of the nation, including the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, Bar Harbor in Maine and Key West in Florida. I continued traveling through October 2007, making several “loop” trips across the nation, visiting nearly every state.

I’m often asked “What was your favorite state?” and I find that is as impossible to answer as “Who’s your favorite child?” But I will offer this: one of our most beautiful and diverse states is nearby Oregon, where forests cascade down to the sea, the central Willamette (rhymes with don’t-slam-it) Valley is filled with excellent local wineries and a number of covered bridges that were constructed by the Works Progress Administration back in the 1930s. The town of Sisters is a favorite with quilters, and

“The Old Guard” walks the mat 24/7 in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cementary.

down its Eastern backside you’ll find the city of Bend, so named because the Deschutes River bends through it. That river was filled with inner-tubers in the mid-summer when I visited.

The wide Columbia River defines Oregon’s northern border; its southern bank includes state campgrounds and picturesque small towns like Hood River and The Dalles. Plus, there’s wonderful Portland, where I stayed in my RV at the local Elks Club.

Last year at this time, I embarked on my Camino de Santiago trip, walking across Northern Spain with other pilgrims, making our way to the cathedral at Santiago. It wasn’t the destination, but the journey itself that made this trip so memorable. Every. Single. Step.

I have many travel dreams before me, among them, New Zealand, which I hear is breathtakingly gorgeous, and where I’d go on lots of hikes, perhaps staying in Air B&Bs. I’d like to go river rafting on Oregon’s Rogue River. I’d like to visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece, Fallingwater, in Pennsylvania. I’d like to take a train trip in a sleeper car; the destination doesn’t really matter, although Banff and Lake Louise come to mind.

One sad thing I noticed on my RV journey was how so many former downtown main streets had fallen into disrepair. Frequently, Wal-marts skirting the edges of towns had decimated the town’s central business districts. Shop fronts were boarded up, with thrift shops, independent hardware stores and maybe a corner coffee shop being the last holdouts. And yet the solid, often brick, buildings with soaring ceilings, large plate-glass front windows and second floors adorned with architectural detailing remained. Could these not be reclaimed and revitalized in a postpandemic world? Don’t we all cry out for authenticity and a more human scale? For these reasons, I want to return to Iowa – Fort Dodge, Ida Grove (my dad’s hometown) and Winterset (think “The Bridges of Madison County”) – and ask those questions of local leaders.

My travel dreams include bigger cities as well. I want to spend more time in our nation’s capital, exploring the National

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Once an abandoned and neglected railway line once used to bring meat, dairy and produce to Manhattan, The High Line was saved from demolition and in 2009 opened as a public park combining nature, art and design. It’s on my “must see” list. Before photo by Joel Sternfeld & After photo by Iwan Baan

Archives, the Library of Congress and Arlington National Cemetery, including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There’s a new book out about “The Old Guard” – the sentinels that “walk the mat” to guard the tomb – come rain, sleet or shine. Must read it! Yes, to make that trip totally worthwhile will involve loads of research – but I adore purpose-driven planning! And it’s something I can do – we all can do – at this time of hibernation.

I even want to return to New York City. I visited New York with the National Association of Real Estate Editors in 2002, just after the Ground Zero site had been cleared – a Herculean undertaking! We met with the World Trade Center developers, who shared their rebuilding plans, including a memorial. Now I want to visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

I want to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to visit that borough. I want to drive out to Long Island and visit the Hamptons. I want to walk through Central Park, perhaps sit on a park bench and enjoy a famous New York deli sandwich. I want to walk the High Line, the 1.45 mile long public park built on the site of a historic elevated freight line on Manhattan’s West Side that once delivered livestock, dairy and produce to area markets. Neighborhood residents, including the late Gloria Vanderbilt, saved the High Line from demolition and it opened in 2009 as a public space that combines nature, including 500 species of plants and trees, with art and design.

Those are some of my future travel dreams … and they’re just for starters!

What are your travel dreams? Feel free to share them with me at kgrant@lifestylemags.com. It might be the basis of a future story…