For the past week and a half, my wife, my grandson and I got away from the house and drove through the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee. I learned that I’m not as young as I once was as pointed out through these eleven lessons and ten tips.
1. Dehydration is easy. It doesn’t take long to become dehydrated. Dehydration causes fatigue and lack of focus. It can be more dangerous as you get older. Tip: Drink more water.
2. Injuries can come from a sudden movement when you are older. I learned this first hand. I was taking a picture from Blowing Rock, NC using my wife’s phone and I dropped it. I barely managed to catch it but I did — at the cost of a damaged shoulder. The sudden movement re-injured previous shoulder problems. it happened suddenly, quickly and painfully. Still hurts. Tip: Beware of sudden movements.
3. It’s not as easy to exercise on trips. We stayed in a couple of different cabins on the trip with moderate floor space. The furniture takes up nearly all the space and there is both very little room and very little time to do a lot of different movements. But I managed to get in some exercise using stretch bands and the floor. Stretch bands are easy to travel with and provide good exercise. Tip: Take stretch bands on your next trip and use them. They don’t cost much and don’t take up much room in your travel bag.
4. It’s very easy to become grouchy. Dehydration is one factor. Another is just being an old curmudgeon. Aging and becoming a curmudgeon can go together for those who don’t smile, don’t move around much, and let our energy deplete. Tip: Smile a lot and move more.
5. It takes longer to recover from exertion. Yes, when you are in your sixties or up, and you spend the day standing or walking, you get tired very quickly and you recover much more slowly than your younger brethren. I guess that portends the future. Tip: Exercise and real food helps. So does lot’s of sleep.
6. Tourist walking is not the same as exercise walking. While you can get a lot of exercise while walking as a tourist, it’s slower, more time consuming and a lot less exercise. Plus there is a lot of just standing around which is hard on the hips and back. Tip: Move around a lot.
7. Keeping up with a 15 year old grandson is challenging for an 80 year old. Tip: Stay fit. Keeping up with the kids is easier.
8. The latest rides are much scarier than they used to be. Lots of loops and turns at 70 miles per hour facing straight down, then straight up. No tip here.
9. Teenaged grandkids would rather play with their X-Box than spend a lot of time in an amusement park. They are also looking at their phones all the time, even in a great Theme Park. Fortunately, my grandson thoroughly enjoyed the scary rides. But getting back to the cabin, the X-Box goes on first. Tip: I guess we have to deal with it and watch out for kids with their heads down.
10. Last week we were in Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN. What a well designed Theme Park. But where’s Dolly. She’s close to my age. Tip: Don’t look for Dolly. Enjoy the one you’re with.
11. People are a lot larger in the South. In fact, many are huge. I’ve seen a surprisingly large number of VERY large people over the past week or so. It must be the fried foods and sweet tea they serve in the South. Most of them move VERY slowly — seniors, middle aged, and young kids. As the French say, Americans are the “balloon people.” Tip: Eat less and move more, particularly if you live in the South.
I learned these 11 lessons during this trip which ended this past weekend. Another lesson is that the Smokies are beautiful mountains with a lot to see and do — but, it’s good to be home.
Thank you for reading.