The Road Less Travelled.. ,

I'd only been abroad twice, before I was widowed. They were a week in the Rhine Valley and a weekend in Bologne  ...somewhere roundabout 1986. Yet I'd always had a hankering to travel as I did Higher Grade Geography at school.

So when I was widowed, I took the plunge and 6 months later I was in Switzerland staying with my sister in law ( also a widow, and we'd never met ). Despite not speaking any Swiss German, I coped OK and this trip suited my particular fondness for mountains. So began a love for travelling abroad...Switzerland, Bulgaria, Norway ( twice on a cruise ), USA and the Canary Isles (where I never landed, due to flu)!

The trip to Colorado was the fulfilling of a dream that began when I was 18 and read a book "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains " by Isabella Bird. Originally I borrowed the book from the local library, before obtaining my own copy. I still read this book on a regular basis, along with other travel books by the same writer. So it was that I ended up in Estes Park, in a log cabin by the Big Thomson River, for two weeks walking in the Rocky Mountains National Park. I followed this by flying to Phoenix, where my son and I hired a Cadillac and followed Route 66. Now, I chose this as one of my late husband's favourite songs was "Route 66". Then we stayed and walked in the Grand Canyon. A great trip for us both, and an opportunity to get together.

So what's on the cards for the future ? Maybe another trip to Spiez ?

My poem this week features where we stayed in Colorado....

   Swiftcurrent Lodge

    The roaring of the river dulls all other sounds
    Except for the incessant buzz of humming bird wings.
    On the other side of the " Big Thomson" are elk
    Lying in the shade of the abundant fir trees,
    Luxuriating in the cool, green, Spring grass,
    Oblivious to me luxuriating in the warm , clear hot tub
    Close to the river , the Big Thomson river.

    A hummingbird hovers over the new green aspen shoots.
    Wonderful, irradescent green catching the sunlight -
    Flashes of black as it darts across the water
    Making for the feeder by the cabin door- to suspend
    Absorbing the nectar sweetness that gives life,
    Whilst I absorb the sweetness of life all around me,
    Close to the river, the Big Thomson river.

Thanks for reading and happy travels...Kath