Saturday, May 22, 2010

Ramblin' Bettys


Oh, the noble Duke of York.
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them up
to the top of the hill.
And he marched
them down again.

And when they were up, they were up.
And when they were down, they were down.
But when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down.


I feel a bit like one of the Duke of York's men. When I'm traveling, I'm up. When I'm home, I'm down. I'm not talking about my spirits being up or down - I'm quite happy to be traveling or home...it's just that, when I'm home, I like to be home. I don't like to spend my days driving around town, running errands, shopping, etc. I'd rather be home - not "neither up nor down".

I've gone on 2 trips in the last two months - and I'm heading out again next week. There was that trip to Colorado in that Dang Airbus. Then 10 days in Charleston SC. Next stop? Idaho! (I'm trying really hard to make Idaho sound interesting...is it working?) Betty Keira and I are driving over to Idaho next week, to visit older sis Betty Marcy - and The Zombie Bride. I promise we'll take some Betty in the Wild pictures (Tetons, I'm looking at you)...and we're both working like Trojans to get our blog posts ready for while we're gone so that when we're up, we're up.

11 comments:

  1. Hello there rambling Bettys! I have to ramble on and share some marvelous news: I just order 4 Bettys from the library supersearch program and you have reviewed two of them: Sun and Candlelight & Uncertain Summer. How happy that makes me :) And, better yet, I have read Heaven Around the Corner which you have reviewed. You konw, it took me a bit to twig on that the sister was an alcoholic. It was a pretty cold book I thought all told ... but still, must read your comments and then report back :)

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  2. Doesn't "Ramblin' Bettys" sound like a 60s folk group?

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  3. Betty Barbara here--
    Traveling Wilburys (1990)--Tom Petty, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne. Absolutely amazing! The Ramblin' Bettys must track down this music to help them on their way over the mountain to Idaho!

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  4. Hey, I like Idaho--University of Moscow Vandals, Smurf Turf at Boise State, Basque food in downtown Boise, and the International Potato Festival in Pocatello!

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  5. I spent a couple of hours dealing with my ipod today. My dear daughter gave me an itunes gift certificate for Mother's Day - and this seemed like the best use of it...downloading traveling songs. My criteria for choosing them leans heavily towards songs to keep me awake...they need to be fun and allow for lots of singing along (whether I know the words or not). My new playlist starts with "On the Road Again" (Willie Nelson) and then wanders all over the musical map. "Stickshifts and Safetybelts" (Cake), "Ford Econoline" and "This Heart" by Nancy Griffeth, "I've Been Everywhere" (Johnny Cash), "Sweet Caroline" (Neil Diamond)...Glen Campbell, Taylor Swift, REO Speedwagon, Phil Collins, They Might Be Giants, The B-52's, ABBA and many more. I predict much belting of songs and seat dancing. The Zombie Bride is riding back with us, so she can consider herself warned.

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  6. Betty JoDee - and we'll be going to none of those places.

    Betty Marcy keeps trying to tell us how great Southeast Idaho is, but my favorite parts of Idaho seem to be in Wyoming.

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  7. "...my favorite parts of Idaho seem to be in Wyoming..." (snort!) You owe me a new keyboard.

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  8. Do you know what my kids belt out at the top of their lungs in the car because I downloaded it from itunes for them? Earth, Wind, & Fire's "September" because it is at the end of "Night of the Museum." Party on! (or whatever it is they're singing--my kids think it is "Party on, get yourself a wiener!--Professor van der Hertenzoon follows it with "Grab a hot dog bun, too").

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  9. Fond? Brady was at the time my only child and gravely in danger of having a short life span.

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  10. I told myself I couldn't comment on a decades-old post, but then you had to say that thing about Idaho & Wyoming, and I have a story, and well...

    Okay, so BritHub 1.0 and I had a plan to see all fifty states by 2006, when we each turned 50. (We got divorced instead, but figured that was no reason to ruin a nice plan, so his wedding present to BritHub 2.0 and me in 2008 was a cruise to Alaska. We just have Hawaii to go.)

    One of our first trips was to Montana in January for the weekend because our neighbors were there for three months, skiing in Bozeman. We had a day trip to Yellowstone, and on the way back -- we had dinner reservations, so we couldn't dawdle -- we crossed the Continental Divide into Idaho, BritHub 1.0 opened the car door and put a snowboot down on the roadside slush.

    So we can say we have set foot in Idaho...

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  11. Funny thing, I was in Idaho just this morning! I was in Spokane for a Science Fiction Convention, and my daughter, son and girlfriend came into town and TOTALLY surprised me! We had a great evening together, and this morning drove the 15 or so miles to Post Falls Idaho for breakfast at The Old European Restaurant.
    Our daughter graduated from U of I, so we've spent a bit of time there!

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