FRIDAY QUESTION with TRAVELOGUE ANSWERS

ROUTE 1 readers are a worldly bunch -- as opposed to ROUTE 1 writers, who never seem to go anywhere cool.
This unfortunate dichotomy provides the segue to this week's FRIDAY QUESTION:
"What was your most memorable recent trip"
Rick T. -- Just got back from Nashville, Tenn. and beautiful Tallahassee and Panama City Beach, Fla.
Ellen B. -- Las Vegas.
Kerstin H. -- My latest trip to the library! I checked out "Chasing Redbird" by Sharon Creech.
Lisa Y. -- OK, maybe it is cheesy, but my most memorable recent trip was to a place called Northern Bay Golf Resort. I'd highly recommend it for a family vacation -- beautiful brand new condos, golf (which I don't do), lake, pool, game room, tennis, walking paths, basketball, sun, tiki bar, etc... It is right by Wisconsin Dells.
Rob K. -- Vernazza a couple of years ago was really something -- tucked into the shoreline of the Cinque Terre region of Italy, one of four other small towns wedged into the mountainous gorges on the Mediterranean Sea, all linked by trails through 800-year-old terraces that still grow lemon trees, olives and grapes.
That is followed closely by a motorcycle trip to the Blue Grass fest at Mudlake last summer.
Roseanne H. -- My most memorable trip was taking the train to Iowa to see you, Mr. Route 1. Very cool indeed!
Mike D. -- When we were kids, we took annual family vacations to various resorts "up north." Last summer, seven of the eight of us (and our families) recreated our youth by renting cabins for a week at a lakeside resort in northern Wisconsin. Campfires, swimming and early morning fishing on a misty lake -- it doesn't get any better than that!
Brian C. -- OK, this might not qualify as "recent," but it's the best I can do. In December 2000, I traveled to Thailand to attend the cremation ceremony for the father of my friend Chai. More than 2,000 people attended. In the days prior, there were three nights of "chanting" -- sort of a wake in the Buddhist tradition. The "chanting" was spread over three days to accommodate the crowds; the dates were announced on billboards in the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second-largest city. The "royal fire," used to light the crematorium, was brought to Chiang Mai from Bangkok -- a nine-hour drive -- by Thai soldiers sent by the King himself. I could fill the blog with the fascinating events. Oh, I should mention that Chai's father had died FIVE YEARS earlier. His body was kept in a climate-controlled cubicle in his office at the newspaper. Seriously.
Mike M. -- Last April, my brother Sam and I drove from Dubuque, Iowa to Breckenridge, Texas to attend my Great Great Aunt Lucille O'Brien's 100th birthday party. Aunt 'Cile was the oldest known Texan to sign the petition to add Kinky Friedman to the ballot for governor -- I have a talking Kinky Friedman action figure as proof! Unfortunately, Aunt 'Cile passed away in September, and Kinky lost the election in November.
Erik H. -- I continue to think about the trip my family and I took to visit my sister -- and my roots -- in San Francisco. One of our happiest moments was exploring a stationery store in Japantown. Cool pencils.