Tag: Travel

Posted in Travel

Home sweet home

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Cozy armchair by window with coffee mug labeled HOME, book, candle, and mountain view
A warm reading nook invites quiet relaxation beside a mountain sunset.

The Airbnb was nice. Really nice. It was located in a quiet northwest corner of Columbus, Indiana. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two big TVs, well-equipped kitchen, nearby walking trails, and a bonus room over the garage. The best feature was he outdoor fireplace, a perfect spot to sit on a cool night with a glass of wine and perhaps a few marshmallows to toast for s’mores.

It wasn’t till I got home that I realized what I missed.

Comfortable places to sit. All three sofas were nice, but they were deep. So deep that I couldn’t really sit without a pillow behind my back. I needed to sit on a pillow to make the folding chair tall enough to sit at a desk for writing. I felt like I was sitting really low out by the fireplace. Back home, I really appreciated our love seats where I could put my feet up and indoor and outdoor tables where I comfortably sit to read and write. The irony: lots of place to sit, but nowhere I wanted to sit.

Lighting. As in most Airbnbs, there was only harsh overhead lighting, and no dimmers. Two settings: daylight or midnight. I moved the one lamp around from bedside to the desk and back. I’m sure too many lamps have either walked off or been damaged, so I understand the scarcity. I just appreciate the subtle lighting of home.

My favorite coffee mug. I know that sounds silly. But morning coffee or tea is a daily ritual, and the heavy, white ceramic mug I use each day is anchoring. Airbnbs usually have an interesting collection of scenic, tall, and large coffee mugs, plus a few small cups. They just don’t feel right in my hand. I can adapt for a day or two. But it’s unsettling.

So when I get up in the morning, turn on a table lamp, and sit with a mug of coffee, I know I’m home.

Posted in tourism, Travel

Fall? Yes. Festival? Not so much.

Posted on by William Douthwaite
How to Visit Brown County State Park, Indiana's 'Little Smokies'

A fall festival in Brown County State Park? Yes! Images of vendor booths, local music, apple cider, and pumpkin-flavored donuts filled my mind. After hiking a trail or two to enjoy the near-peak yellow and orange foliage, we’d stop by to enjoy the tastes, smells, and sights of southern Indiana in the fall.

Upon entering the park, we saw no signs directing us to the festival. Uh-oh. Was this the wrong weekend? I double-checked. This was the right day. Where were the lines of people waiting to get in? Where was the parking lot teeming with cars?

I had to ask Google. It was centered at the Nature Center, in the heart of the park. I headed down the road, certain I’d hear and smell it long before I arrived.

The park features a wonderful nature center, featuring displays about county history, what plants and animals to see, and geological formations. A few turtles posed for pictures.

Where were the booths? Where was the food? I didn’t hear any music.

Everything must be around back. I wandered around the path only to encounter a wedding on a back deck. A chilly wedding party was posing for pictures above a scenic overlook.

But no festival.

I headed the other way and discovered a marker board listing fall festival activities. They included a birds of prey presentation at the pavilion, pumpkin carving judging, and an evening flashlight hike and campfire. Twelve pumpkins sat on a table competing for the prize.

That was it.

No food trucks. No music. No vendors. No crafts. No photo spots. No people. Nothing. Just a sign proclaiming “Fall Festival.”

In Florida, we import all the makings of a fall festival. From pumpkins to leaves to apples to cider, it’s all from out of state. I expected to find all that and more in a place where fall happens full force with the onset of shorter days and cooler weather.

I have to admit the park was beautiful and the weather autumnal. Just no hot cider. Or apples. Or hay rides. Boo.

Posted in Food

Pressure and donuts

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Time to make the donuts!

We met our daughter at a Dunkin’ to bring her three daughters home for an overnight sleepover. Since we were there, why not take home some munchkins? The drive thru lane was clogged, so I said, “I’m just going to go inside to order.”

Inside, the place was hopping. It only took a few seconds for me to realize no one was going to be taking my order at the register, so I stepped up to the video kiosk and tapped in a twenty-five piece assorted munchkin order.

As I waited, I watched the crew efficiently handle a barrage of drive-thru, mobile, and walk-in orders. I was fascinated by a monitor over the drive- thru register that monitored greeting time, wait time, prep time, and delivery time. Some numbers were green (I assumed that was good), while other numbers were red (needs improvement). Every fifteen seconds or so, the screen would change to one that compared the performance of other Dunkin’ stores in the area.

This busy store was #12, about halfway down the list. I watched as the headset-wearing crew filled bags with donuts, made sandwiches, poured coffee and other drinks, lined up bags of food, and handed them out the window. The eight employees moved around each other and worked well together. I don’t know how they could have moved up in the standings. Maybe the other stores weren’t as busy?

The greeting time was immediate. Perfect score there. Order fulfillment? About a minute and a half. Red numbers. Pretty good if you ask me.

However, I waited eight minutes for my bag of munchkins. Had I stayed in the drive-thru lane, I would have been out of there in about four minutes. I knew that my wife and three granddaughters would be impatiently wondering what was taking so long.

But what could I do? I had already committed to the walk-up kiosk. Drive-thru is the priority. Get ’em in, and get ’em out as fast as you can. I could order on the app. They love that. Walk up to the register? Hello, boomer!

Posted in mathematics, people, Travel

Unexpected Encounter on a Flight

Posted on by William Douthwaite

On my flight home from Dallas I verified the timeless adage that one ought not judge a book by its cover.

As we like to do, we were the last to board our flight to minimize our time sitting in the economy section. Just ahead of us was a short woman with a substantial carryon bag stuffing popcorn into her mouth from a large bag. While we had the middle and aisle seats in our row, guess who had the window? You are correct, this very woman concealing another carryon bag under one of her jackets.

She couldn’t fit her carryon under the seat in front of her, so we convinced her to put it up in an overhead bin. With one of her jackets against the window, she fell asleep for the next ninety minutes.

With about an hour to go before arrival, she woke up and got out her laptop. I was reading from the Kindle app on my phone, looking out the corner of my eye to see what she was doing. I immediately recognized mathematic equations, matrices, theorems, and proofs. The article was about Cholesky factorization. This was interesting.

I asked her, “Are you a teacher or a student?”

“I’m a teacher.”

I told her I recognized some of what she was reading, although it had been a long time since I saw anything like this. I told her that I had an undergraduate degree in mathematics, did some programming, and then switched my career trajectory to theology and pastoral ministry.

She asked me, “Why can’t you do both?”

With a chuckle I explained that my studies enabled me to help my daughter through AP calculus and help my grandson through pre-algebra. I told her I had programmed for Bell Laboratories in the early 80’s.

She asked, “Fortran?”

“Yes, and some Cobol.”

She told me that Fortran is a programming language still used in her field, even though most current programmers use some iteration of C or Python. It just works better for some applied math applications.

She added, “See? You can still do that!”

I laughed. It’s been forty-five years since I programmed with Fortran on pre-PC, room-filling IBM mainframe computers.

I asked, “Where do you teach?” It turns out she is from Brazil, has her Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Arizona, and teaches at Texas A&M.

I am so glad I broke the silence and engaged in conversation. Something in me still comes to life when I come across math and mathematicians in this world.

Posted in Travel

Sleeping with the horses (again)

Posted on by William Douthwaite

We are back in the horse barn loft for our most recent trip to Rowlett, TX. We’ve been coming here for three years and were so glad to see our friends again. Proton the Arabian and King the paint were glad to see us, too. Somehow they knew we would show up with carrots and apples.

The other day, though, we didn’t see Proton for a whole day. King roamed the small pasture area, but no sign of his friend. Strange. Finally, from the deck above the stable, I heard a neigh. I looked over the edge and saw his head poking out over the closed door of his stall. It had been a windy day, so I figured the door had blown shut, trapping him inside. When I slipped through the fence and opened it, he happily trotted out into the yard.

I texted the owner and let them know how I found the horses. She replied that they sometimes closed the door since the other horse, King, would eat his food. Oops. Well, it had been a whole day, and there was a whole load of hay in the field. So I think I did the right thing.

Looking out from the deck tonight, I watched one of the neighboring Shetland ponies slip under the fence and make his way into the stall I opened. Oops. I think he might be the one helping himself to the food.

Anyway, everyone seemed happy, especially since we brought another batch of apples and carrots, enough to share with everyone.

Posted in Life, Travel

Traveling the world on a drive through Florida

Posted on by William Douthwaite
The tower of a citrus processing plant somewhere in southwest Florida

We took two of our grandsons to an Atlanta Braves spring training baseball game at Cool Today Park, a beautiful stadium nestled between Port Charlotte and Venice, Florida. Our drive from northeast Florida took us down interstate highways through Daytona Beach and Orlando, before the GPS routed us down back roads to avoid ever-present slowdowns on I-75.

I took in a part of Florida I had not yet experienced. Some of the roads took us through abandoned orange groves. Others took us through vast cattle ranches and expansive strawberry fields. We passed thetowering citrus processing plants, endless rows of fabric-covered infant orange trees, tobacco stores, gun shops, and Latin-American food trucks of southwest Florida.

I thought I understood redneck Florida. I was wrong. Our drive took us through a whole different world, a strange new world in a state where I have lived for thirty years.

I trusted the Airbnb host’s recommendation for a casual supper place. I haven’t been out to eat in a place where people were smoking for a long, long time. The seating area was technically outside, so they got away with the few patrons who lit up a cigarette. I was happy when they finished up their meal and left.

On the way home, we were the only English-speaking folks inquiring about the restrooms. Nevertheless, everyone was friendly and helpful.

I don’t have to travel far to experience other cultures. They are right down the road.

Posted in Travel

I wonder where they’re all going

Posted on by William Douthwaite

What a beautiful morning for contrails! The atmospheric conditions were just right to preserve the telltale path of jets heading up and down the east coast of Florida.

Early morning flights take people to business meetings. Families load up the kids to vacation destinations. Couples take off for their honeymoons. Others return home to be reunited with their loved ones.

When I’m up in the air, I look down and wonder if anyone is watching us pass overhead. Unless there’s a nice contrail, I don’t notice all the planes overhead. From the ground, I wonder if anyone is looking down at me. From what I’ve seen, most fliers are asleep or watching a movie, not paying attention to anyone down below.

Flight still amazes me. We can travel so far so quickly. It’s a paradox though. It’s slow getting to the airport, through security, and waiting to board at the gate. But a few hours later we’re in a different country, in a different part of the world, where many speak a different language.

One source says that a million people may be in the air at any given moment. That’s a lot of folks squeezed into metal cylinders miles above the ground!

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions, Travel

How much do you really need?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
 Photo by Totte Annerbrink on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Luke 9 and 22.

Jesus said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics” (Luke 9:3).

 Jesus said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one” (Luke 22:35,36).

So should you pack light, or take everything you need?

Those who aspire to international mission work in our world must raise enough support to last three years. The sending organization wants to make sure they have enough funding for housing, food, transportation, and health insurance. Support comes from family, friends, churches, and church groups. It can take as long as a year raise enough support to embark on the mission.

Does anyone go with nothing but the clothes on their back, a bible, and a zeal to reach the unsaved? I suppose. But to travel to and stay in another country usually requires a visa, passport, cash for those who enforce entry points and transport your from one place to another.

Jesus was sending out the twelve to other towns in Israel, to Jewish communities where hospitality was the rule rather than the exception. They spoke the language, shared a heritage, and would know someone who knew someone who would have a place for them to stay.

Later, the apostles would face the same opposition Jesus did. So they needed to be prepared to fend for themselves in a hostile world. They would be hated and rejected just like Jesus. Equip yourselves with a sack for money, extra clothes, and a weapon. It’s going to be rough.

When my wife first went to Haiti just weeks after the 2010 earthquake, she followed instructions to pack as lightly as she could. Upon arrival, she watched people unpack ginormous luggage packed with clothing, food, fans, and other first-world comforts. The definition of “minimal packing” varies greatly from person to person.

We learn a lot about what we need with every trip we take. Basically, lay out everything you think you’ll need. Put half of it back in the closet, and pack the other half in the suitcase. You’ll still have packed way more than you need.

Spirit Airlines charges extra for carry on bags as well as checked luggage. You can bring on personal item, no more than 18x14x8 inches in size. I bought a backpack exactly that size, and am amazed at how much I can pack in there. I love the challenge of traveling that lightly!

Posted in Travel

Countries to visit

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Daily writing prompt
What countries do you want to visit?
View all responses
Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash

This is a great prompt. My wife and I are tying to figure out the answer to this question.

We want to visit the British isles. We are going to Ireland next year. We’ll do Britain and Scotland after that. Our family trees both trace back into England, so that is on our bucket list.

We would love to visit Greece (especially Santorini), and some other Mediterranean spots, including Italy and Spain.

I know it is a long, long trip, but I would love to go to Australia and New Zealand. I would love to see places where Lord of the Rings was filmed on New Zealand and snorkel at the great barrier reef off the n northern coast of Australia.

Germany and Austria are on our list of places to visit. We want to see (and spend the night in) castles. Lots and lots of castles.

I’ve only been in Canada for a moment. After an Alaskan cruise, we flew out of Vancouver. I would love to visit the maritime provinces. I would also love to see the Canadian rockies, too.

There are many places we’d like to return to. We’d like to spend more time in Israel, exploring Jerusalem. We have connections in Haiti, and we would love to see them again. We would love to return to Africa, to stay at the Giraffe Lodge and revisit the elephant orphanage in Kenya.