whereintheworldissusankey: From Madrid to Madrid

Turquoise Trail

Two months of sabbatical have passed and I have traveled from Madrid, Spain to the more remote Madrid, New Mexico (a small town on the Turquoise Trail between Santa Fe and Albuquerque made famous by the movie Wild Hogs).

Madrid, New Mexico

I started in San Francisco, then went to Europe with stops in Spain (including the capital of Madrid), France, England and Scotland. Back in the U.S., my travels took me to North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Colorado, California (this time Southern Cal), New Mexico and I am headed now to St. Louis.

I have traveled by plane, train, bus, taxi, tram, boat, car and bicycle. I have stayed in fabulous hotels such as the Fairmont and Hyatt resorts. I have stayed in a cottage rented on the Isle of Skye. I have slept on a boat and in an R.V. I have seen the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the North Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. (My husband made a point of taking a plunge in each of them!)

People ask if I know where I am when I wake up in the morning and I usually do. What I can't seem to remember is my hotel room number. With a different hotel every few days, I can't seem to remember whether it was 348 yesterday and 438 today or vice versa. (Luckily, I can usually retrace my steps to find it.) I also had a problem in Europe figuring out which way to turn the shower faucet on and off. I ended up either with an ice bath or scalded since the plumbing was never clearly marked and each hotel had a different showerhead model.

Most of all, the past two months of travel have allowed me precious time to visit with family and friends. Most recently, we met my brothers-in-law and their wives along with my mother-in-law in New Mexico. It was so much fun to have the three brothers together. (They really do look alike, don't they?)

It was no coincidence that we planned the family reunion for a Sunday when the Steelers played the Ravens on Sunday Night Football. (Prime-time, national TV so no need to find a Steelers bar this weekend.) I joked that the best part of sabbatical is being able to stay awake until the end of Sunday Night Football which is something I never did on a work night. But then, every day is a Saturday and every night is a Friday night during sabbatical.