Category Archives: Travel Tribulations

Who’s Crazie Now?

I just got back from a week in the Rocky Mountains at a resort where, I swear, time has not changed in 50 years. My husband asked if they had a Wi-Fi Cafe nearby. Not only is there no wi-fi, there’s no cafe. There is certainly no cell phone service and the one ancient pay phone only worked a few hours every other day. Personally, I loved it.

I even got to spend some quality time with a few of the following residents of Crazie Town.

The Older Sister – who, I maintain, interpreted the following road sign even sillier than I did. “No Snowplowing Between 7pm-7am.” I decided it meant people shouldn’t be using their own snowplows during this time. My sister decided this meant that when you’re skiing you can’t use the snowplow move after 7pm. I believe I will rate our decisions as “Double Doh’s” since Older Brother explained it meant that during a snowstorm, the roads would not be plowed after 7pm.

The Husband (not an original resident, but has been around long enough to receive dual citizenship) – who gave new meaning to the expression “haste-makes-waste.” As we walked out to the picnic table with the rest of the meal, he was asked to add grapes to the salad before he brought it out. Many minutes later when no salad or husband arrived, I returned to the cabin to find him still in the kitchen. He was inspecting each and every grape on the vine, only removing the undamaged ones. He placed the perfect grape in the middle of a dinner plate where he carefully sliced it exactly in half, only then depositing it gently on top of the lettuce.  I have to admit, it was a delicious salad.

The Niece – who couldn’t quit giggling every time we said we were “Going to the Poudre.” The Poudre River runs through the area where we stayed. It is pronounced, by the locals, as “Poo-der” which is, evidently quite close to “Pooter” which is a word I won’t explain to you.

The Older Brother – who unsuccessfully tried to hide the fact that within minutes of wandering over to the “Pooter” river to inspect the velocity of the rushing waters, fell in. Was he hurt? Who knows. Our only concern was that thereafter, any bonehead move would be dubbed “Doing a Mike.”

The Nephew and his Wife – they’re newlyweds so, let’s just leave them out of this, okay? Well, maybe just one thing. Homemade pie? I know it’s not a competition but on my night to cook I made spaghetti with bottled sauce. On their night they made Juicy Lucys (look it up) and for dessert a homemade four-fruit pie. Four fruits? Really?

And what about the Mayor of Crazie Town? Well, let’s see. I packed two humongus suitcases – 49 pounds each – filled with every essential a Crazie person would need. I used my husband’s travel golf bag to bring two collapsable lawn chairs (in case there aren’t enough chairs at the resort), a set of sheets (I can’t very well sleep on theirs can I?) and two large furniture throws (who wants to spend a week in plaid couch hell?) In the other suitcase I packed hiking boots, several pairs of sneakers, sandals and my clothes, which included all the white t-shirt I own (and are now covered in every kind of stain known to man), a sketch pad, colored pencils and book titled Drawing for the Absolute Beginner (in case my writing career never takes off), and my laptop (which I never even opened.)

And we’ll end with the icing on the cake. because even though I packed my own travel coffee mug, once there I decided to purchase a dust covered “handcrafted” ceramic one for $20 (which I forgot to bring home).

Who’s crazie now? Huh?

P.S.  Do me a favor would you?  Share the Crazie with a friend.  Thanks!

See the Amazing Dancing Chicken!

It is hot and humid here today, which always reminds me of my childhood trips to the Lake of the Ozarks.  Every year my Aunt Kathleen, Aunt Betty Lou and Uncle Harold took all of us kids for a week to the lake.  None of these relatives had children of their own and God only knows what possessed them to take a bunch of wild ragamuffins with them on their only vacation of the year.  I always suspected it was to save us from certain death.  As the heat and humidity rose – so did my mother’s level of crankiness.

We stayed at an ancient resort filled with other childless couples.  At least I don’t remember any other kids being there, but we tended to scare most people away, so I could be wrong about this. Our only assignment each day was to leave the cabin after breakfast and not return until we were called.

On the last day of the trip Uncle Harold gave us $1 apiece and dropped us off in the old tourist part of town called Dogpatch.  I loved it.   The shelves of the little store were filled with shiny containers of old-fashioned candy.   Row upon row of salt and pepper shakers shaped like outhouses tempted me but were out of my price range.

In front of the store was a huge statue of Lil’ Abner.   He stood near a pool of water that was refilled by a giant water faucet floating in mid air.  Behind the store was a graveyard called Boot Hill.  An old cowboy boot stuck out of one of the graves.  As I hurried by, the boot moved back and forth.  But where I spent my time and money was on – – The Amazing Dancing Chicken!  I shoved nickel after nickel into the slot to watch the happy little chicken do her dance.  Oh yes, it was a magical place.

One year, as I stood next to the miraculous faucet pouring water from thin air, I was able to see the clear tube that held it aloft.  When I walked by the scary graveyard I noticed a rip in the boot, which exposed the mechanics making it move.  I was crushed…until I saw the sign “See the Dancing Chicken!”

I ran over to her box and slid my nickel in.  It dropped out to the change slot where a sign read .25 cents.  I begged a quarter from my older brother and pushed it through the slit.  My chicken started her dance about the same time that I noticed a hole in the bottom of her cage.  To my horror, I discovered that what made my happy little chicken dance was the fact that the floor heated up and she was jumping around trying not to burn her feet.

“Oh, no!” you say.  “How horrible!”

You’re right, it was.  So why am I sharing this story?  Because it’s hot and humid today and I’m cranky.