Résumé at home

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Everyday life is back again. From 8.00 to 18.30 at work, dinner, a short computer session, late news on the TV, brushing your teeth. Not necessarily the greatest freedom.

What remains of three weeks in the Land of the Free? 2000 photos which we four have made ? Even the brief summary made our friends so dumb and tired that their eyelids were sinking ever deeper. It reminded me of the old slide shows in student days, even if it now runs on the Wii and LCD flat-screen TV.

Everything has been protected and scheduled on the tour in the so called Great West. No time for the big adventure. It is not the package holiday in the all-inclusive hotel, but each station is a foregone conclusion and the stages are usually decided so that the only choice is to decide whether to stay an hour longer and where you want to have your dinner.

And yet it has been different to other vacations. The children are still proud of their Hard Rock Cafe memorabilia. Not even to think about it for a Crete T-shirt - that would, at best, be good as a night gown. California is cool - no doubt about it.

And for me the West is still evident. My memories are accurate, not blurred as from many other holidays. It is not the long-term test, but I still carry the big file with memories of three weeks well sorted around with me. From Mr. Sanchez at the Immigration in Toronto until the Amoeba store in LA on the last day - all available instantly.

And of course, is the 'good old days "effect already setting in. The hardships of the annoyances will be anecdotes and beauty still shining. Hollywood could hardly done better. I'm happy, I am pleased to have chosen this holiday (because honestly I decided, all others have agreed). It was a plump package - some expected, some surprising, some of it disappointing, but now I do not even want to miss the latter.

I would not even do it much different. Maybe skip Mono Lake to allow time for Yosemite, but even then I would miss the memories, to have chased my Dodge much faster than it wanted over the pass. Antelope Canyon, I would really like to see - now that I know of a video what I missed.

Why are guides often so strange in their priorities? Lake Powell or Tioga Pass in the guides were little more than a little along the way, for that could be worth a look and the Antelope Canyon sounded "very nice". The subjective in the guide books can begin quite annoying when you are the subject itself.

But back to the summary: From our travel agency FTI I would like to have the opportunity for a two or three day break to interrupt somewhere. We would like to have this done on Highway 1, probably in Pismo Beach, but this flexibility is not given at FTI, unfortunately, not even when booking months in advance.

But from the blurred look back after weeks of all little things and "the big picture" still fits. Maybe we'll do it again after retirement and then with as much time as we want to take - because we will have it. Or will it be vice versa?