There is still time

 One of the phrases which comes to mind when trying to age gracefully is "bucket list". Most researchers feel that the term came from "kick the bucket" and is used to list things you want to do before you die. Apparently, people feel if they complete the things in their bucket before they die, their lives will be complete.

My bucket list doesn't contain a lot of things. Over the course of my life so far I have been extremely lucky in doing things and going places that many people might include on the list. This was a benefit of growing up in the military and an extreme interest in things beyond my normal every day.

I was reminded of one of these while watching an old movie on a new app. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was released in  1969. I was 12 years old and thanks to my father, who never missed a western, we saw this at a drive-in movie in Augusta, GA. I think I fell in love with Robert Redford and Paul Newman at the same time. 

I also fell in love with the trains. I have always been fascinated with trains. Perhaps this is DNA from my Great Grandfather Council, who began his career as a callboy on trains that ran in South Carolina. He ended his career in Florida as the District Superintendent of the Atlantic Coastline Railroad but that is a whole different story. 

So, back to bucket lists. One year I decided I had to see the Grand Canyon. So I began planning and decided to make a spring trip before the summer tourists took over. I also chose to stay at the North Rim. Fewer tourists and the same beautiful vistas, perhaps even prettier, could be found. I took one of my nephews and set out to check some things from my list. 

Along with the Grand Canyon, I had always wanted to see the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde so I planned the trip around those places. Mesa Verde was spectacular. Staying in the lodge allowed us to visit the park, join in a wonderful Native American Craft show and view a herd a wild mustangs (my favorite) at dusk one evening. 

The drive from there to the North Rim was several hours but traffic was so scarce, it was eerie. The Grand Canyon was indescribable and the riding of the mules down in to the canyon fulfilled another item on the list. 

Preparing to fly back home landed us back in Durango at a hotel for a day before we could catch our flight and perusing the tourist brochures in the hotel, I saw  train. As I was reading the brochure, I found we could take the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad up to a small, silver mining town. I was sold. 

This train was used in the movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, plus The Sons of Katie Elder, National Lampoon's Vacation, City Slickers, and many others. I also got to visit a silver mine, purchase a new pair of moccasins, some raw silver and see some things that weren't on my bucket list but should have been. 

Go and do stuff. Travel somewhere, even if it is right outside your normal driving area. You will find that those memories of even the smallest things, create happiness in your life.

I still love Robert Redford, Paul Newman, and trains.