Holy mackerel. I never thought I'd write a post that got 600 replies

[Redstone]

(as it probably will before the morning), though I thought when I wrote it that it would just be a throwaway.

That tells me that DUers have a very strong sense of place. As do I...yet another reason why I like hanging around with you all so much.

Redstone

[Gold Metal Flake]

1. It's a cool thread.

But, dammitol I can not remember the place I am thinking of. It's in the Texas panhandle, and it's small. There were a few abandoned buildings there, and we (myself, Ms. OR and one of our late pets) stopped there in the mid-1980s. I snooped around a bit, we have pix. Damn this CRS!!

[Redstone]

3. OK, let's start from the beginning. Texas panhandle. How far was it

from Amarillo?

How far off the Interstate?

Figure those out, and we might get somewhere in solving the mystery.

Redstone

[Gold Metal Flake]

9. Oh, it's worse.

Ms. OR is not sure if it's in Tx. or Colorado.

I'm not even sure of the route. I think we went up the 287 to Amarillo (stayed at the Big Texan Inn. Got a room with a jacuzzi tub :evilgrin:), then took the 40 to the 385 and up towards the 25 and Denver. We did cross into New Mexico, so we did not take the 287 any further north, but I'm a big one on taking small highways vs. the larger highways and interstates, so who knows where I got off for fun.

The town was very small, and partly deserted. There was an abandoned movie house there, empty inside. A detached ticket house out front.

[Redstone]

12. I'm going to bookmark this and look it up on my maps tomorrow.

Yes, I'm one of those oddballs who will read a map for pleasure, like reading a book.

I'm just too tired right now, but I'll get to it tomorrow.

Redsotne

[tyedyeto]

13. I was always the 'navigator' and would pour over the maps to find

out-of-the-way places. I never get lost, just find places I've never been to before.

[Gold Metal Flake]

16. I love to get off the highway.

I have found the coolest antique stores that way. Also the best ham & cheese omlettes. :D

[tyedyeto]

18. I once found a ghost area (it wasn't really a town)

just a few old abandoned houses. While there, we saw some awesome climbing roses that were growing wild. Took a couple of sprigs and planted them when we got home. Alas, they are now at my ex's place (I didn't get the property when we divorced a few years later).

[Gold Metal Flake]

15. I'm one of thise oddballs that has vintage maps cuz I like the way they

...look! I also always expected to continue the road trips so I would need clear maps of old highways. Didn't turn out that way.

I'll have to dig in the the vacation pix and see if I can find something telling.

[Ptah]

4. Was it McLean, TX.? n/t

[Ptah]

2. It's one of my favorites.

Like six degrees of seperation, or sumthin'

[Redstone]

5. It DOES work out like that, doesn't it?

It's heartwarming to see all those DUers finding some commonality in the places that get mentioned...I even found someone who recognized the exact house I rented 25 years ago.

Thanks for the good words.

Redstone

[tyedyeto]

6. For some reason, I identify with that thread...

even tho I'm not that well-traveled.

:yourock:

On edit:

Did you have to make sure it got so hugh!?!?! My dial-up is slowing me way down.

[sakabatou]

7. I got one that has over 200 responses

my best one yet.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=210&topic_id=4573&mesg_id=4573

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. One of my favorite recreational activities

is "getting lost". We get out of town a ways, then take whatever road strikes us as interesting at the moment. We've discovered some really wonderful places that way!

And sometimes the name of a town on the map grabs me, and I just have to visit. It may turn out to be no place special; but even if it does, we'll undoubtedly find something cool along the way.

Great thread, Redstone! :toast:

[Redstone]

10. Oh my, yes. If our respective spouses (god forbid) ever

get hit by buses simultaneously, I think I want to marry you...one of my absolutely favorite things to do is to go somewhere I haven't been to before, just because I've never been there. That's all the reason I need.

And I've done the "name on the map" trips, too. Many times.

As you can imagine, that results in a lot of "long cuts" getting from one place to another.

Redsotne

[GoddessOfGuinness]

32. Interestingly, your nick is similar to

one of those places I have to see...Red Rock, PA. I had a really vivid dream that I was headed to play a gig in this town. I looked on a map, and sure enough, there was a Red Rock, right near Rickett's Glen State Park.

But the odd thing about the dream was, after staying in the typically-Pennsylvania burg, I decided to ride around, and found myself in a distinctly Western-looking red rocky area...

So I guess I'll have to visit Red Rock Canyon in Nevada, too!

[Gold Metal Flake]

14. We used to do that.

When we lived in Houston, on a Friday afternoon we would get a snack tray from a deli and load up a bag and a pipe (uh) and hit a highway heading outta town. There are a lot of highways and farm roads in Texas. Just drive until it was late, then look for a motel. In the morning, we'd look for a cool diner then look around for yard sales or antique stores or whatever. Drive through towns, countryside, nature. Get back Sunday afternoon. It was great.

But in the LA area, it takes hours to get away from town, and then you are in desert. For hours.

[Redstone]

19. But there are a lot of places in the California desert.

Ever been to Kelso Station? Or Amboy?

You just have to steer toward the places that have small dots on the map.

Redstone

[GoddessOfGuinness]

33. I've always wanted to see the desert...especially in the spring.

The closest I've been is in an airplane en route to Albuquerque...

[Shine]

11. Yeah, pretty impressive, Redstone.

:thumbsup: I haven't posted in it yet, but I will now.

:)

[LeftyMom]

17. It's a great thread

I'm really enjoying it because I love traveling and hearing about other people's trips. Must be all the cross-country bus trips my grandmother took me on as a kid.

[Redstone]

21. My grandmother took us all around Boston on the T,

but never cross-country. I bet you enjoyed those trips.

Ah, for the days when you could travel just about anywhere by bus...

Redstone

[LeftyMom]

23. This wasn't all that long ago,, really. Late 80's.

Grandma was visiting from Kentucky (where she lived at the time, this was a few years before her husband's black lung disease necessitated a move to a drier climate and they went to Nevada) and enjoying her usual morning tea when they showed some plain crash on the morning news, the one in Lockerbie I think. She canceled her plane ride home and never flew again. She wouldn't even talk about it. She still loved to travel so my sister and I took busses and trains with her anyplace she didn't feel comfortable driving to.

[Redstone]

25. That was fun for you guys, wasn't it? Nothing like going somewhere

with Granny when you're a kid.

Redstone

[LeftyMom]

27. Yeah it was great

My grandmother was an amazing woman and great fun to travel with. I don't know how she had the energy to travel with kids in her late 70's, but I'm glad she did.

[bicentennial_baby]

20. c'est magnifique, mon ami!

:loveya:

[Redstone]

28. Merci beaucoup, madamoiselle BB.

Redstone

[swag]

22. It was a great topic.

There are blue highways and there are dirt roads.

Sometimes the best place is the middle of nowhere.

[lizziegrace]

24. You over-achiever!

Congratulations! Is that a record for the lounge??

[Rowdyboy]

26. It was a really good idea for a question....

People like to talk about themselves and their experiences.

:thumbsup:

[Redstone]

29. And places they've been.

I think our personal collections of places help us identify what kind of journey we've taken...

Redstone

[Rowdyboy]

31. My father was a long haul truck driver....I have clear memories of going

with him to Oklahoma, California, Mobile, Miami, and Chicago as a kid. They help define my life.

When I was 12, he took me to California and he shot craps because he didn't have enough expense money to feed me. Luckily for me, he won. That trip occurred in the mid 1960's and I remember my first experience ever of Tex-Mex food at truckstops, a sandstorm, and the vision of Los Angeles at night, from the east. After unloading, we drove to San Francisco to pick up another load and I saw the Pacific for the first and only time of my life.

The places we've been, experienced and loved are a large part of what makes us who we are.

[LynzM]

30. I'm 'saving it' for tomorrow night :)

I had about 80 pages of not-for-fun reading to get done tonight, so I'm going to peruse that thread tomorrow...

You would have liked travelling in Europe with us, dude. We did a whole lot of getting lost on purpose. Or we'd (in our city, anyway) just jump on the next subway into the station and ride it to the end, or 'til we felt like getting lost. Saw a lot of neat local stuff that way!