Thoughts on travel this Holiday weekend

I made the drive from northern Kentucky to central Virginia so many times that I can't count them over the past 41 years. When I first started the trip, the Expressway was not finished through West Virginia so the route was 71 north to Columbus then east on 70 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and south on 81 from Breezewood into Virginia. That took about 12 hours (in a Volkswagen bug!) These days it is straight east from my house. AA to 64 straight through Charlottesville to Richmond. I will be headed that way this weekend to celebrate my granddaughters fourth birthday – July 3. I'll have to admit that my van always seems to want to get off the Expressway in Charlottesville and visit my old haunts around the University. So many good times there! But, these days, I trudge the next hour toward Richmond and wind up at my daughters house in Hanover County, in a location called Glen Allen. The drive takes about eight solid hours for me and I'll a stop once or twice, pack my lunch, and make sure I'm hydrated. I actually like the drive because I know the road, know what to look for, and love driving through the mountains. Most holiday traffic is going North and South so my east – West jaunt usually encounters little traffic.

Eight hours in the car alone gives me a lot of time to think. I think about relationships, about the status of the city of Erlanger, about how my law practice is going, about particular cases, about my parents, about my kids and grandkids – a little bit of everything. I often solve all the problems in the world during that eight hour trip only to forget my solutions when I arrive and see my granddaughter running toward me.

My current curiosity is examining my station in life. I will be 59 in August, am twice divorced, live alone in a big house and am pretty much confined to an electric scooter or power chair. I designed the house and it was built so that the everyday chores of living would be manageable – bathrooms, laundry, kitchen, etc. I love to travel but every place I go away from here presents a challenge and struggle. The temptation is to stay home where I am in control of everything, but the adventure is to leave and see what's out there. When I'm away from here I have to start preparing for scheduled events much earlier than the average Joe. You'd be surprised how hard it is in some places to put on pants and shoes and socks. Simple things. Reaching the showerhead. Getting to the sink with a toilet in the way. A super soft mattress which inhibits my ability to roll over in bed (I had to get Hyatt personnel to put a piece of plywood under the mattress during the bar convention.) Traveling with someone is so much easier for me than traveling alone. However, my station in life requires me to travel alone most of the time. Traveling alone is one of the downsides of being single.

I do get several opportunities a year to travel. For instance, I am making this trip to Virginia. In two weeks I will go to Kentucky Dam Village for two days for KBA summer meetings In August I will go to Toronto for the American Bar Association meetings now that I am a KBA officer. Labor Day weekend starts football season and I will be traveling to Virginia and Lexington for 8 to 10 football games and will probably spend Thanksgiving weekend in Glen allen as the Virginia Tech game is in Charlottesville this year. I try to plan trips to Virginia for one or two basketball games during the winter but the weather has been so bad the past two years that I haven't been able to count on the Expressway being passable. Each spring, I make at least one trip to Charlottesville for a baseball game and/or a lacrosse game (after all, UVA lacrosse are the national champs and UVA baseball made the final four in the College World Series.) Like I said, I love to go but I don't like to go alone. But, I go alone because sitting here and having a pity party is not an option.

I haven't been on an airplane in years and don't plan on it anytime soon. Air travel, alone, does not suit me, particularly with the way I am treated in airports in my own country. Therefore, my travel will be by motor vehicle. I can carry all of my apparatus and stuff in the Toyota sienna, and it is quite a comfortable vehicle for me.

For years and years, my family vacationed in Hilton head, South Carolina and it is still my favorite place to go for a beach vacation. In the past few years, vacation trips have been to Charleston South Carolina, Chicago Illinois, in Washington DC. I can't get back out on the sand in many places so beach vacations for me consist of sitting by the pool or on a deck overlooking the ocean and reading all of these books that are stacked up on my desk. That's okay – I don't get much quiet time to read. I am told that the new Virginia Beach has ramps to go practically to the water for wheelchair and scooter users, gazebos every so often along the boardwalk with music, and lots of things to occupy your attention so perhaps I'll try that soon.

With all the modern gizmos and gadgets, I can practice law from practically anywhere that I am, if I leave the gizmos and gadgets turned on. Sometimes you just need to turn everything off. I will probably turn everything off when I leave here because my brain needs a cleanse. Sitting alone in my thoughts, listening to a book on desk, listening to music, and/or listening to talk radio is relaxing to me, and I need a little that. I could use a hug or two also, and I'll get that in Virginia.

I hope that everyone has a happy and safe Independence Day weekend and returns next week with charged batteries and a cleansed brain.

TLR 6.29.11