Traveling in Taiwan
This post gives just a small glimpse at an overnight trip that Dave and I took this week. A glimpse because I am focusing on a particular moment in time that was targeted during this trip, my grandson’s third birthday. My daughter selected the time of 1:23 on 1/23 as the moment to focus on. You can see the details here.
To get a sense of the trip Dave and I took, you can start by locating Taoyuan, the area where we live. It is located on the northwest side of the island. Before the trip this week, I had never been further south than Taichung (almost half way down the western coast). Now, if you look toward the southwestern part of the island, you will see the city of Kaohsiung (the name is actually off to the left in the water). To the east of Kaohsiung, you will see Pingtung City. These are the two cities that we visited on Wednesday and Thursday this past week. I will give a more detailed account of the trip in another post, but I want to talk about 1:23 on 1/23, Logan’s third birthday.
While Logan was asleep in Michigan, we were already fully immersed in the day on this side of the globe. What I liked about this day was that in spite of the fact, we couldn’t be with Logan, we were in the midst of an overnight getaway, which was a celebration of its own. In fact, it’s only the second time we’ve been away overnight in the 2 1/2 years that Dave has been here in Taiwan with me. Knowing it was Logan’s birthday added an extra spark of interest to an already exciting outing.
If someone had been watching me at 1:23 on 1/23/2014, they might have thought it was a boring moment, nothing too significant. After all, I was sitting in the back seat of a car that was headed north: destination a train station about an hour away, to catch a train that would take Dave and me on a 5-hour trip back to Taoyuan.
A Whole Lot of Coconuts
But if they had seen what we saw out of the car window, they might change their mind. To the left, there was ocean, to the right there were mountains in the near distance. There were rows and rows and rows of coconut trees. I had never seen coconut trees up close and personal. It was amazing. Prior to the car trip, we had been on the beach and got some pictures of the coconut trees.
Now maybe you think I’m nuts, but I was so impressed with them, especially their trunks. Check out the patterns and textures!
Maybe not a traditional way to commemorate a grandson’s birthday. But as I will reveal in posts to come, we had quite an adventure leading up to this car trip, and I think Logan would have enjoyed the things we did. Regardless, I knew that he would have a great birthday when he woke up a few hours later and celebrated his special day.
Pictures of coconut trees may not seem to be terribly related to Logan’s birthday, but they represent a time of stepping away from the everyday demands of life into a place where we could just celebrate being. That feels a lot like a birthday to me. And I know I will have pictures of the festivities in Michigan so that I will have the visual images of Logan’s special day.
Next time, I will share some of the activities and events that led up to this particular moment.
I love how the trees touched you and reminded you that it’s okay to step away from the everyday demands of life – I don’t think enough people realized that we need that time in order to grow!
It’s funny how I know it’s more than ok, but the deadlines sometimes get in my way. For this trip, I figured out a way to use my train time for a little work, so that I could enjoy the time we were there. It was great. 🙂
I think that’s a lovely way to commemorate someone’s birthday. Special to you and, by the sounds of it, would be well liked by Logan too.
Thanks, Kate! Logan is awesome! I’m sure he would have had a great time. It’s hard to be away from the little guy, but one more year, and I should be back in the U.S. At least, that’s the plan. 🙂
Happy belated birthday to Logan! How exciting that you get to live for some time on the other side of the planet. I think I’ll have a Mounds bar tonight in honor of your coconut tree sighting! 😉
haha Jason! I love the Mounds bar comment. Coconut tree sighting–indeed! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
You reminded me, so I had a Mounds bar (a small one) this morning! 😉
I appreciate you taking care of that little task. I’m not even sure I can get a Mounds bar here. 🙂
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I think it was an excellent way to celebrate his birthday. I’m so glad you did that. The trees are beautiful.
Thanks, Rebecca! I plan to get back there once more while we are still in Taiwan. Next major visit: the east coast of the island. Hopefully in April, but if not, we’ll make it there this summer. Hope things are going well for you. 🙂
I’m afraid I’ll never look at coconut trees the same way ever again. You had me so confuse there, eh. 😀
Sorry for the confusion. Glad you stopped by though. 🙂
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