Five Things Friday – TRAVEL

Orange book with feather quill. Five Things Friday at Frankly, My Dear...

Five Things Friday at Frankly, My Dear…

Two weeks ago I posted the first of what I hope to be a long running series, The Friday Five. Once or twice a month you can share Five Things about yourself.

With Memorial Day just around the corner bringing with it the start of summer, this week’s theme is about Travel. Have some amazing travel memories or a trip on your bucket list? Share them here. Be sure to check back often and encourage your friends to add their own Friday Five!

And now, the Mojo Friday Five Things: My Travel.

1. I love all things Italy. Even when I don’t know they’re Italian. I’m fundamentally drawn to Italian architecture, gardening, designs, flavors, color palettes and personalities. I talk a lot with my hands. I drink strong coffee. I’m loud and boisterous at times. The Godfather Trilogy will always be my favorite movie series. My ethnic heritage is a hodge-podge of all things Europe. I am perhaps, at best, 5% Italian, but that is the part I cling to. I’ve never been to Italy, but it is most definitely on my Bucket List.

A Taste of Italy. Handcrafted handpainted coffee mugs.

My Favorite Coffee Mugs

2. I’m a little afraid of driving. Especially at night in unfamiliar places. [Case in point: Following Fabian.] I never used to be, but the older I get the harder it is for me to drive into unknown territory. I also have mini panic attacks when I’m away from Bedford Manor for more than two nights. I miss my cats too much. I worry about leaving the house empty. The only places I can go without worrying about my home is Disneyland and The Mission Inn. Okay, that’s not true. I can also drive to Las Vegas and sometimes the beach or mountains. I just need to drive more often. Like I used to. Because the world is just waiting for me to discover it!

Mob Moll. Woman in black tshirt Hello My Name is Awesome. Sign for Las Vegas Mob Experience at the Tropicana.

Mob Moll.

3. I would love to live in New York for a year. I would love to stroll through Central Park in autumn, and see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade live from the street. There’s a certain kind of cement magic when I’m surrounded by buildings towering over sidewalks. The sights, sounds, and smells of a big city are something I must experience.

4. I love watching travel shows. Aerial America and Skyview are just two of my favorites. I also love historical stories about travel: the Oregon Trail, how the Wright Brothers were the first to fly. These are all imagination takers that inspire and enthrall me.

5. I like to dress the part. When I’m at Disneyland, I wear capris and a fun Mickey sweatshirt. If I’m heading to the Mission Inn, I’m never without heels and perhaps my brown hat. Vegas calls for a bit more rugged look of jeans and my leather jacket.

MoJo in Brown hat and matching jacket and scarf.

Who I Am

Thanks for taking this journey with me. Here’s your extra bag of nuts: My dream is to be a writer/traveler like many of the great stories I read and movies I watch.

Be sure to catch all my travel reviews at Trekaroo!

Superoo Trekaroo Badge 2013

TheRealMojo68

And now it’s your turn: What are your favorite travel stories? If you’ve written a Blog post about them, link it up below. If not, just list them in the comments.

And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!

You may also enjoy reading:
When I Get To New York
I Like Driving at Twilight
Destination: Mission Inn ["Tell 'Em Tony Sent Ya"]
Destination: Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, Michigan
Do You trekaroo?
I Want a Mr. Potato Head
She Wore a White Dress. And She Wore a Hat.

Five Things Friday photo FiveThingsFridaysmall-1.jpg




My Last Disney Day

Yesterday was my last day at Disneyland. At least for a while. My annual pass expires in six days, and since I still don’t have one of those day-job-thing-a-ma-jig’s, I’m not renewing. Not yet.

So yesterday was my last day Disneyland. At least for a while.

Megan and I were finally able to go together. She drove. And I can happily say, I did not get us lost. She did. Or rather, her GPS did. We named the GPS Stella. Just ‘cuz we could. And while laughing about different voices a GPS could do, we missed an important direction along the lines of “In one mile, turn right.” Yep. We missed it. On the way to the Park. And Megan was driving. That made me rather happy (no offense, Meg!).

She says there’s a download application to have the GPS use different voices, and one of them is Yoda. So we started talking like GPS-Yoda: “Turn right, you will.” One of the features that kept us laughing is with the merging freeways, Stella would tell us, “Turn right, then stay left.” While the directions were appreciated, if you didn’t know how to interpret, it could have been pretty difficult. We imagined what would happen if we made a mistake and GPS-Yoda were guiding us. We could only imagine being told, “Stupid, you are!” So while we’re laughing at being told we’re stupid, we missed the whole “turn right” thing. Yup. That confirms it: Stupid, we are!

We hit some heavy fog on the way, which is rare for us. It was a little spooky, and lent itself to five minutes of telling ghost stories. Granted, the photo was taken as we’re moving down the freeway, but still… Creepy looking, isn’t it?

We made it into the Park, and this is where I sincerely apologize to Megan: she’s a die-hard roller coaster fan. I’m so not. With the altitude change and my lack of coordination, I get a little nauseous. So I don’t do rides like Space Mountain or the Matterhorn. She was relegated to the Kiddy Rides with me. And proudly announced it through the Parks: “The Kiddy Rides are just around the corner!” Yeah. Way to boost my ego, there, Meg!

I looked for the Engine Ears store so I could finally get my Mr. Potato Head, but they closed it down! No Mr. Potato Head anywhere. Talk about disappointment! But the rest of the day was a smash. We did the usual: Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, it’s a small world, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (I got a hideously great high score of 368,100; my best ever). We walked through some shops and attractions. I verified the heritage and family crest of my surname and almost bought a Narnian sword (okay, not really because it was almost $200… but a girl can dream!).

We ate some great Chicken Fusilli with garlic breadsticks. We talked about everything from our book series to Jimmy Hoffa to Man Stores to how young is too young for Disneyland?

I showed her one of my favorite spots: The Bench:

Here’s a close-up of the Plaque:

And then at the end of the day, I took this picture of us together. Awesome camera. But I’m still not very photogenic, especially after a day of intense walking.

Leaving the Park was harder than I thought it would be. I knew it would be hard, but I put it out of my head. Then we headed to the exit. And walked through. And it clicked: I’m not coming back any time soon. It was really bittersweet.


And so now I have a new goal: Find a job so I can renew my Pass. ASAP. And sell my  writings. Sooner or later, one of these goals is gonna become a reality.

And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!