Slightly Off the Mark: Vacation, We Can't Get Away

So, our regular late May vacation is mostly a staycation for us this year. Not our first time, and maybe for the best, considering long range weather forecast couldn't be described as perfect.

"Scattered COVID predicted, with a chance of coronavirus ..."

I can live with that. (I mean the staycation, not corona-storms.) In addition to ongoing back problems that would make camping rough, I've just started back to work on the Albion Fire Department photo book that I made so much noise about last year, then had to set aside for various reasons. So it's a "stay away from work to do other work" thing. I suspect my wife can take that for only so long before she starts measuring me for my burial suit.

"Mark, I made you a snack. Never mind the sour smell and the strange taste ... now, you still wear a 36 waist, right?"

Like I'm going to tell her.

Maybe it's an opportunity. The Catch-22 about writing is that it's hard to make enough money at it without writing full time, but writers can't afford to quit their jobs and work full time until they've made enough money at it.

I wonder what Catch-21 is? (I looked it up; apparently it's a game show.)

We do love to travel, and I suggested going down to Missouri to see Emily's family and friends. The problem is, that involves driving through three states, any one of which *coughIllinoiscough* could arrest you just for driving through. Could we get food along the way? Fuel? An open dog park?

Just our luck, we'd get put in jail with a bunch of people with allergies like ours. Talk about a sleepless night.

Personally, I'd like to go further afield than we have in the past. The furthest west we've ever been is the junction of Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas, where there's ... a plaque, and a pile of stones.

I mean, it's a nice pile of stones, but still.

Some of our favorite trips were when we traveled around Indiana, especially while researching for our book Hoosier Hysterical. Did you know there are canyons in Indiana? I guess we couldn't see them through the corn.

This is one of the less rugged areas of Turkey Run State Park.

Then there were the waterfalls we encountered in several Hoosier locations, with my favorite being Clifty Falls State Park. Climb the observation tower, see the Ohio River and Kentucky, and get a nose bleed.

Considering the Ohio River is along Indiana's warm southern border, this view is strangely coal.

But we camped on those trips, and the campgrounds are closed. Ah, well--we'll save up for further trips in the future, and stick to our own area this time around--especially since Emily's job is finally opening up on May 24. Meanwhile we've got my almost obsessive picture taking to remember all our journeys by.