Day 1---The Journey begins

On a sultry summer afternoon over a half-century ago, a delightful little orphan-girl named Heidi jumped out of a dusty volume I had checked out of the public library in Lakeland, Florida, and took up residence in my heart. She has been with me ever since, and from that summer on, I always wished I could see Heidi’s land…that beautiful land of the Alps she loved so much. Even the opening sentences in the book, “…a footpath winds through green and shady meadows to the foot of the mountains, which on this side look down from their stern and lofty heights upon the valley below…” made me desire to actually see those sights for myself. But, during those post-war years in a small town in central Florida these were only dreams, and more than likely would always remain as “only dreams”.

But, here I am…many, many years later…about to board a plane that will take me to see Heidi’s beautiful Alps, along with many other unbelievable sights. I need to pinch myself to believe it is actually happening. What an adventure lies ahead! How thankful I am that little Heidi worked her magic on my imagination so many years ago. I always believed that reading could take me to wonderful places. It has…and it still does! An airline ticket and a passport help, of course!

The “cast of characters” for this journey may sound a bit familiar. We give only first names, but if you know any of these characters, you will be able to fill in the blanks. First of all, we have the “North Alabama Bunch”: Katherine, Shirley, Mike and Peggy, Margaret, Ann, Fran, Ida Nell and her daughter Julie, Steve and Harriet, Joe and Danny. Also, we have north-Alabamians Brittany and Brittany to add some name-confusion to the pot. (We will have to refer to them as Brittany C. and Brittany M, I suppose!)

Kathy and Judy (the California “girls”) represent their state along with David and Lorain. Tennessee is well-represented by Eleanor, Charles and Nancy, Susan, and Janet. Chasity (Susan’s daughter) is from Georgia, and Pat is from Kentucky. Ed and Rena are from Kentucky part of the year and Florida the other part. (You can guess which part of the year they spend in sunny Florida!) Bernard and Doris are also from Florida. Rounding out the Florida group we have Ferrell and Elizabeth, without whom we would all be staying at home! Thanks for all your wonderful planning, Ferrell.

Enough chatter. It is time to leave! Wheels up! Away we go!