Leaving out far-flung family in Phoenix, I would hafta say New York City, as I was born in Queens, but whisked below the Mason-Dixon before memory kicked in, and my only “return” visit was on the Jersey side of the river ferrying to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty 10 or so years ago, on the way home from a baseball tournament in Cooperstown.
On the other hand, I’d go back to Yellowstone without a second thought.
(Of course, it all depends on who goes with you – I really have little desire to go either place solo.)
Hawaii. I’ve been to 49 of the 50 states. It’s ruining my perfect record.
You saved the best for last, Cynthia! I’m always struck by how relaxing it is simply to be in Hawaii and breathe the air there. Truly, a paradise.
Leaving in March for the Galapagos. Have wanted to go there before there were bucket lists. This will be photography oriented, led by our son, a nature photographer.
That’s on my list!
I’m jealous, Terry! That’s one place I’d really love to see, although getting there sounds like an adventure in itself!
Maine. A possible retirement location. The summer photos are all drop dead gorgeous but I want to experience winter. Is winter in Maine a Hollywood setting? Or is it terribly cold and dreary?
Keith, we lived in Maine for two years when I was a child. We had a huge blizzard one Saturday. When my dad opened the door on Sunday morning when we were headed out to church, he opened it to a solid wall of snow that covered the entire first floor.
My mother said “That’s it. We are moving back South.”
It is a beautiful place and the people were wonderful. Just make sure you have a 2-story house.
Next month we’re going to Yellowstone. The roads are closed, and you have to be brought in on a special vehicle, so a trip that normally takes an hour will take four. We’ve been there twice during the summer, but never in the winter. Looking forward to seeing the thermals bubbling up next to the snow.
With a series going that includes dangerous cryptid creatures, kidnapped or disappearing people, landed UFOs, a creature in the house that escapes THROUGH a bullet-proof glass window, illegal aliens being chased by other-worldly aliens, and a former U.S. Navy RIO who flew off the deck of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, on Christmas morning, engages as a police officer with some kind of unknown flying aircraft manned by really ugly guys and then gets a visit from Men-In-Black, I think I’d prefer to stay home, hide under the bed, and ask my wife for Mexican take-out.
As your phone listens and sends all your info to Skynet!
Having just finished a story set in Alaska my sites are set on my next series which takes place ranging from Jerusalem in 586 BC, to Tarshish (Spain), and Ireland in that same era, then picks up again in Ireland in 1241 AD and crosses Europe during the Crusades, the Mongol invasion of Austria and Hungary, then across Central Asia, Mongolia, northern China and Korea. It would seem that I have a busy schedule ahead of me for the next few years.
I especially envy you going to Ireland in 1241. Take some pics!
We’re tuning up the time machine right now. Last time Mr. Basil’s cousin Leonard went back in time, to circa 900 AD, he came back with a rather attractive woman of Scandinavian extraction named Gunhild. Tall, blonde, and extremely fit, her name means ‘Battle in War’, or could be translated as Hunter Killer, she did have a bit of a temper and a very high maintenance personality. When Leonard stated that they had run out of fermented squid tentacles she was not happy. Insisting they go back to her time and get more, when he hesitated she was, as they said in times of old, wroth.
Leonard did have a good reason though, in my opinion. The Vikings he had rescued Gunhild from had threatened to cut off his you know whats and stuff them up his nostrils if he ever showed his face in their time again. This was due to his time machine landing on Gunhild’s husband Ulf Garlic Eater, with whom she was in the midst of a nasty divorce case on account of her being unable to breath normally anytime he took off his shirt or exhaled in her general direction.
Ulf was broken hearted by the whole affair but refused to give up eating garlic as he claimed, “Garlic is what makes me the man I am! And it gives me great stamina in all things that require stamina. Don’t you prefer me to have stamina in those things wife?”
To which Gunhild had replied “I would not know, I have fainted everytime you take your shirt off.”
To which Ulf said, “But you said that was because of my magnificent masculinity.”
To which Gunhild said, “No, I said it was because of your malodorous toxicity.”
To which Ulf said, “Same thing.”
At which point the time machine materialized in the exact same spot as Ulf was standing, melding his molecules with the craft as it became solid. Ulf’s face appears mostly whole and with a very surprised expression frozen in place on the port side exterior wall of the phone box like machine.
When Leonard, a tall thin man with bulging blue eyes, curly red hair, and thick wet lips stepped stepped from the machine and lifted the goggles he always wore when time travelling (no one knows why he wears goggles when time travelling) Gunhild, thinking Leonard was sent by the gods, jumped into his craft and said the Viking equivalent of “Take me away, even if I die in the arms of a god, such a fate is better than living with these emotionally immature, and bathing averse heathen ne’er do wells.” (her actual statement was “God, get me out of here, I am so tired of these stinking idiots.” but Leonard only has a very low priced Victorian English / Viking dictionary so translations are not always exact).
So, anyway, Gunhild was furious at the loss of her fermented squid tentacles and doubly so when she discovered that they were out because Leonard had ejected the nasty things in the middle of the time travel wormhole tunnel on their way back to now on account of the fact that they had made the entire time machine smell like the insides of a dead man’s colon. Of course, with Ulf’s body mingled with the machine on a molecular level the smell might just as easily have been an actual dead man’s colon that had simple not been fully assimilated and lay rotting in one of the storage rooms.
At any rate, once we get the sticky stink of fermented tentacles and decomposing colons out of the machine I expect we will all be making a research back to 1241, and most likely Ireland where me and my brothers can visit some of our ancestors and Fillii, the oldest of us brothers four, can finish filling in some of the missing bits of our geneology for Ancestry.com/Quasi-Mythical-Beings/Leprechauns/FindingAMatethatIsGeneticallyDistantEnoughToWedSafely.
So, yeah. That’s what happened.
1. Egypt and Jordan, because I’ve never been there. I was hoping to go next month, but I’ve never been there.
2. The Pantanal in Brazil, because I’d really like to see a jaguar in the wild.
3. Gabon, because I’d love to see the surfing hippos.
4. Antarctica, because, well, wow.
5. The Falkland Islands, for the wildlife.
6. China, because I’ve never been there.
7. The Galapagos, also for the wildlife.
8. Panama, to investigate future places to live.
9. Roatan, to go diving.
10. Jigokudani, Japan, to see the snow monkeys.
Leaving out far-flung family in Phoenix, I would hafta say New York City, as I was born in Queens, but whisked below the Mason-Dixon before memory kicked in, and my only “return” visit was on the Jersey side of the river ferrying to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty 10 or so years ago, on the way home from a baseball tournament in Cooperstown.
On the other hand, I’d go back to Yellowstone without a second thought.
(Of course, it all depends on who goes with you – I really have little desire to go either place solo.)
Hawaii. I’ve been to 49 of the 50 states. It’s ruining my perfect record.
You saved the best for last, Cynthia! I’m always struck by how relaxing it is simply to be in Hawaii and breathe the air there. Truly, a paradise.
Leaving in March for the Galapagos. Have wanted to go there before there were bucket lists. This will be photography oriented, led by our son, a nature photographer.
That’s on my list!
I’m jealous, Terry! That’s one place I’d really love to see, although getting there sounds like an adventure in itself!
Maine. A possible retirement location. The summer photos are all drop dead gorgeous but I want to experience winter. Is winter in Maine a Hollywood setting? Or is it terribly cold and dreary?
Keith, we lived in Maine for two years when I was a child. We had a huge blizzard one Saturday. When my dad opened the door on Sunday morning when we were headed out to church, he opened it to a solid wall of snow that covered the entire first floor.
My mother said “That’s it. We are moving back South.”
It is a beautiful place and the people were wonderful. Just make sure you have a 2-story house.
Next month we’re going to Yellowstone. The roads are closed, and you have to be brought in on a special vehicle, so a trip that normally takes an hour will take four. We’ve been there twice during the summer, but never in the winter. Looking forward to seeing the thermals bubbling up next to the snow.
With a series going that includes dangerous cryptid creatures, kidnapped or disappearing people, landed UFOs, a creature in the house that escapes THROUGH a bullet-proof glass window, illegal aliens being chased by other-worldly aliens, and a former U.S. Navy RIO who flew off the deck of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, on Christmas morning, engages as a police officer with some kind of unknown flying aircraft manned by really ugly guys and then gets a visit from Men-In-Black, I think I’d prefer to stay home, hide under the bed, and ask my wife for Mexican take-out.
As your phone listens and sends all your info to Skynet!
Having just finished a story set in Alaska my sites are set on my next series which takes place ranging from Jerusalem in 586 BC, to Tarshish (Spain), and Ireland in that same era, then picks up again in Ireland in 1241 AD and crosses Europe during the Crusades, the Mongol invasion of Austria and Hungary, then across Central Asia, Mongolia, northern China and Korea. It would seem that I have a busy schedule ahead of me for the next few years.
I especially envy you going to Ireland in 1241. Take some pics!
We’re tuning up the time machine right now. Last time Mr. Basil’s cousin Leonard went back in time, to circa 900 AD, he came back with a rather attractive woman of Scandinavian extraction named Gunhild. Tall, blonde, and extremely fit, her name means ‘Battle in War’, or could be translated as Hunter Killer, she did have a bit of a temper and a very high maintenance personality. When Leonard stated that they had run out of fermented squid tentacles she was not happy. Insisting they go back to her time and get more, when he hesitated she was, as they said in times of old, wroth.
Leonard did have a good reason though, in my opinion. The Vikings he had rescued Gunhild from had threatened to cut off his you know whats and stuff them up his nostrils if he ever showed his face in their time again. This was due to his time machine landing on Gunhild’s husband Ulf Garlic Eater, with whom she was in the midst of a nasty divorce case on account of her being unable to breath normally anytime he took off his shirt or exhaled in her general direction.
Ulf was broken hearted by the whole affair but refused to give up eating garlic as he claimed, “Garlic is what makes me the man I am! And it gives me great stamina in all things that require stamina. Don’t you prefer me to have stamina in those things wife?”
To which Gunhild had replied “I would not know, I have fainted everytime you take your shirt off.”
To which Ulf said, “But you said that was because of my magnificent masculinity.”
To which Gunhild said, “No, I said it was because of your malodorous toxicity.”
To which Ulf said, “Same thing.”
At which point the time machine materialized in the exact same spot as Ulf was standing, melding his molecules with the craft as it became solid. Ulf’s face appears mostly whole and with a very surprised expression frozen in place on the port side exterior wall of the phone box like machine.
When Leonard, a tall thin man with bulging blue eyes, curly red hair, and thick wet lips stepped stepped from the machine and lifted the goggles he always wore when time travelling (no one knows why he wears goggles when time travelling) Gunhild, thinking Leonard was sent by the gods, jumped into his craft and said the Viking equivalent of “Take me away, even if I die in the arms of a god, such a fate is better than living with these emotionally immature, and bathing averse heathen ne’er do wells.” (her actual statement was “God, get me out of here, I am so tired of these stinking idiots.” but Leonard only has a very low priced Victorian English / Viking dictionary so translations are not always exact).
So, anyway, Gunhild was furious at the loss of her fermented squid tentacles and doubly so when she discovered that they were out because Leonard had ejected the nasty things in the middle of the time travel wormhole tunnel on their way back to now on account of the fact that they had made the entire time machine smell like the insides of a dead man’s colon. Of course, with Ulf’s body mingled with the machine on a molecular level the smell might just as easily have been an actual dead man’s colon that had simple not been fully assimilated and lay rotting in one of the storage rooms.
At any rate, once we get the sticky stink of fermented tentacles and decomposing colons out of the machine I expect we will all be making a research back to 1241, and most likely Ireland where me and my brothers can visit some of our ancestors and Fillii, the oldest of us brothers four, can finish filling in some of the missing bits of our geneology for Ancestry.com/Quasi-Mythical-Beings/Leprechauns/FindingAMatethatIsGeneticallyDistantEnoughToWedSafely.
So, yeah. That’s what happened.
1. Egypt and Jordan, because I’ve never been there. I was hoping to go next month, but I’ve never been there.
2. The Pantanal in Brazil, because I’d really like to see a jaguar in the wild.
3. Gabon, because I’d love to see the surfing hippos.
4. Antarctica, because, well, wow.
5. The Falkland Islands, for the wildlife.
6. China, because I’ve never been there.
7. The Galapagos, also for the wildlife.
8. Panama, to investigate future places to live.
9. Roatan, to go diving.
10. Jigokudani, Japan, to see the snow monkeys.
I will never run out of places to go.