There are never enough minutes in an hour

When my husband, Brian, and I planned to travel to South Africa to see my daughter (in the Peace Corps), we could only get three weeks off. We wanted to stay longer, but I had not yet accrued 15 vacation days. I had to promise to avoid getting sick. Brian had to stand in line, fill out forms, and talk with his chief to get the same number of days off (it was considered a hardship leave). We worked hard to get there, and we wanted to see everything.

All of South Africa in three weeks? It is twice the size of Texas, so Ronda suggested Kruger National Park, a place where the animals are free and the people are restricted. It is about her favorite place in the whole world, and it quickly became one of ours.

Kruger takes up a goodly portion of northeast South Africa. We stayed in that corner of the country, starting in Johannesburg, heading north to her village (Makotse), east to the Park, and then south to the east coast (St. Lucia). The rest of the country, especially Capetown, tugged at us, but it would have to wait for the next trip.

In 1982, Ronda and I spent seven weeks in Europe and only visited five countries. A later trip took us to Europe for three weeks, and we only dabbled in Italy and Greece. I’ve known people who donned their Nikes and t-shirts and tried to see 15 countries in two weeks. I’ve never wanted my trips to be a photographic blur, as theirs must be -- a dream made real but one resembling cotton candy.

I'm still trying to figure out how to add pictures to these entries. It will happen. Also watch for Italy and Greece.