When I was a little girl my family often took driving vacations. I never understood how they magically found our destinations until I was about nine years old and started understanding maps. It was thrilling to sit in the back seat, map in hand, and know what town we were approaching or what river we were crossing!
Fast forward to adulthood. I married another map-aholic. When we make driving trips we engage in the dorkiest geographical behavior possible. We can't make a car trip of more than 3 hours without keeping a list of license plates - hoping to find a car from each state before returning home. We regularly circle hotel or tourist attraction parking lots to see if there are any "cool" states represented. The biggest thrill of Ken's and my trip to Mendocino, California last June was seeing (and photographing) a car with a Guam license plate! We've also been known to pass hours in the car naming all the state capitals, or naming the states in alphabetical order, or naming state capitals in alphabetical order.
Fast forward to parenthood. Most parents bring crayons or little toys for the small children to play with while waiting for food in restaurants when "on the road". Not the Kosniks! We would turn over the paper placemat and proceed to draw freehand maps of the United States.....for fun...over and over again!
So, now the kids are adults and the apples didn't fall far from the trees. Both love to travel. David is on a quest to visit and do a little dance on the steps of every state capital. Kevin once drove to California and back with some buddies on a college Spring break - 8 days on the road for 2 days in Monterrey. What could be better!?
Mapquest is helpful and so is a GPS....but I'll continue getting my jollies studying maps. Why else would I sit with an airline magazine map on my lap when I fly and spend every unclouded moment trying to identify whatever river, mountain, or town we're flying over.
A week traveling for BER is a fun professional gig - but it's really made great when I get to get an air born geography fix!
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I hope Lisa reads this post - maybe then she'll understand why I get excited about seeing license plates from far-flung places.
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