Lynn Cahoon

As a teenager, I talked my mom into sending me on a history tour. NYC, DC, Colonial Williamsburg, and Philadelphia were all on the list of stops. I fell in love with NYC, thought I fell in love with a boy from Driggs, Idaho, and had my heart broke for the first time before I arrived back home from the trip. I never saw Derek again, but I've been back to NYC several times now. This last week, I tripped down memory lane a few times. I visited St. Patrick's cathedral again. I a

I took a few days off last week to go camping at Branson, MO. It's a tourist trap of a different kind. Here, there's a lot of music shows, mostly catering to a person of a certain age, which apparently I'm approaching. But there were lots of family activities. In fact, we talked about doing the fake skydiving adventure. Instead, we hunkered down at the camp site and enjoyed the summer sunshine. We tried our hand at fishing - I caught the first and only fish - a baby catfish

I was in the Cleveland area this week (crazy traffic). I knew I was near one of the great lakes when I was planning the route at least according to Google Maps. However, I was so focused on my book events, I didn't take the time to get to a viewing point where I could see the lake and maybe even touch it. This is the second time I've missed out seeing one of the big tourist stops. I've been 30 miles away from Niagara Falls and 25 miles away from the Grand Canyon. (If you driv