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When I started traveling, I was only 4 or 5 years old. It was during WWII when gasoline was rationed so very few people took trips or drove their automobiles long distances. Here in Tullahoma, most people walked where they needed to go as our town was small and one could almost go anywhere on foot. But my first big trip was during that time because my brother, Bob Couch, was in the Navy and had been sent to Tulane University to be a part of the V-12 program there. Since gas was rationed, we went by train and had to sleep in a berth on the train. I was so excited to take my very first train trip! We stayed in the Roosevelt Hotel and even ate dinner one night in the famous Blue Room!

We did some sightseeing there, and I remember thinking how strange it was to see the cemeteries where graves were above the ground. We ate many new and interesting things there and especially having a meal at Antoine’s. Riding on a trolley was also another novel experience. This experience was the beginning of the wanderlust to travel and see new places!

This trip was followed by many trips to Texas over the years as that was where my Mother’s roots were and where my Dad’s sister lived. My grandmother lived in Dallas and my Aunt Nelle and her husband, Joe Grove, lived in Commerce, TX where Uncle Joe taught Industrial Arts at East Texas State University. While visiting there one time, my Aunt told me she had just returned from their farm where she had gone to milk the cows and she had brought fresh milk for me for breakfast. In my innocence, I told my aunt that I did not like milk from a cow, but I liked my milk from a bottle from the dairy! I had not been exposed to farm life! Other travels involved trips to Independence, Iowa where my Mother’s brother and his family lived. I was amazed to see lightning rods in their home. I had never seen anything like that in homes in Tullahoma. While there, I really enjoyed getting to know my four first cousins. They would occasionally come to visit us in Tennessee, and it was fun to show them our town!

Another first for me was another trip to Texas, and this time it was my first plane trip as my Mother and I flew from Nashville to Dallas and then on to Lubbock and were met by my sister, Searcy and her husband, G.C. King. They had come from Levelland, TX where they lived to pick us up. We had made the trip there to await the arrival of their second child. My sister wanted our Mother there to help for a while, and my job was to entertain their 3 year old daughter, Dianne. So many new experiences on that trip! Of course, we have beautiful hills and mountains in Tennessee and lush greenery here, but Levelland really describes the area there as it is very flat and dry.

The journey kept going for when it was time to leave, my Dad drove out to get us as he wanted to see the new baby and the rest of the family. When we left Levelland, we went West via the lower Western states all the way to California making many sightseeing stops along the way. The main object of the California destination was so my Mother could visit her college roommate in Hollywood. I was sure we would see many movie stars but if we did, we did not know it. We travelled north in California to San Francisco, and I was amazed at how cold it was there in July. We actually saw women wearing fur coats! The big event in California was getting to stay for 3 days in Yosemite Park. We saw the fire fall in the evenings, and one morning when we walked out of our cabin, there was a huge bear sauntering across in front of the cabin. We rushed back inside until the bear had made it to some other location.

That marvelous trip included visits to Carlsbad Caverns, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, the Petrified Forest, and Salt Lake City to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We saw so much, and I learned so much in those six weeks. The only down side was that I missed the visit of President Truman when he came to Tullahoma to dedicate the AEDC. But I did see it on a news reel at a movie theater and was excited to see so many of my friends there front and center.

My travels did not stop there as there were many trips to Florida, and my very first cruise was a very short one to Nassau when I was in the 7^th grade. I went with my parents, and it too was an amazing experience.

There were many trips not so far from home that included church youth camp for seven summers, Girl Scout camp in Ala., and a month at a girl’s camp in Fayetteville, Tenn., where I learned to swim and archery. Very short trips included riding a bus to Manchester to go to their swimming pool since Tullahoma did not have a public pool. Here our choice was Lake Tullahoma. There was a dock where you could sunbathe. It was a favorite place to go as a young teen.

Later, college took me to Lexington, Ky., where I was a student at Transylvania University, which is the oldest college west of the Allegheny Mountains and was founded in 1780 by a protégé of Thomas Jefferson. It was amazing to see the beautiful horse farms with their white fences and magnificent horses. I also enjoyed two new culinary treats there known as Hot Browns, a hot turkey and ham sandwich which originated at the famous Brown Hotel in Louisville, and Derby Pie.

Another dish was Ky. Burgoo which is a stew! Other KY treats for many were bourbon balls and Mint Juleps. Another good thing about Transy, as our college was fondly called by the students, is where I met my husband!

As a result of meeting him, I earned my MRS. along with my BA degree in Biology.

And once married is when my travels really began as my husband was commissioned in the U.S. Navy. Of course, the Navy recruiting posters said “Join the Navy and see the World”. And how true that was! We lived up and down the East Coast, on the island of Bahrain in the Middle East, and in Japan.  So we moved 20 times in our first 30 years of marriage.

So we have seen mountains, valleys, lakes, oceans, cities, villages, woods, deserts, icebergs and so much more. We had many new and different cuisines, some of which were delicious and some not so much. We are often asked which of the places we lived were our favorites. When we are asked that, folks are surprised when we say we liked everyplace that we lived.

We have always liked focusing on the good things wherever we lived! And we have always thought about it as it is God’s World wherever we traveled and how blessed all the places are so different and each one is so beautiful in its own way. It makes me think of Psalm 121. I wish for you to have safe travels wherever life might take you and that you stand in awe of all the wonderful and amazing sights in our world!