I've never ___________, but always wanted to.

[Geo]

Alright, I've spat off of Niagara Falls and seen a rocket launch, but I have yet to see Europe.

Simple. Go for an European student exchange program.

[Rusty Edge]

As for Europe, Athens looks like Washington DC, only with hills instead of swamps, and worse for wear. 

[Geo]

Not to mention the vicious politicians in both cities.

[Rusty Edge]

One of the most beautiful journeys was from Montreal south along lake Champlain and through the Hudson valley one October, with the leaves changing colors.

Small world! You passed right through my neighborhood!

I also rafted the Scanandaga and picked garnets at Gore Mountain. Beautiful country.

[Flux]

I've never played Contra, but always wanted to.

[Buster's Uncle]

I've never won an argument with my dad, but always wanted to.

[Rusty Edge]

I can't say I've always wanted to, because it seems only recently that it's become a possibility.

I want to get my genes tested.
I'm not sure that our oral family history is that accurate. It doesn't square with the documentation, particularly a copy of an application to the Daughters of the American Revolution. Regardless, whatever history there is begins here in the new world, without so much as a European port of departure.

So while I can trace roots to various colonists, I really don't have a clue as to whether they were criminals, debtors, religious misfits, refugees or fortune hunters. I don't even know if they were using their real surnames. Maybe everybody went to Pennsylvania for a fresh start.

Well, I do know that one was French trapper working near the headwaters of the Ohio river, who took his German wife's surname at the time of the French and Indian War, since he was loyal to the Pennsylvania colony/ his wife's family. Well, I don't know that for a fact, I know that I read it in a county history, and it probably had more to do with recording oral histories at the time of the writing than researching anything any deeper or checking facts, but it's the best we've got at this point.

Anyway, most of my life I thought that my surname was German, or Anglicized German, but that was on the word of my paternal grandfather. I've since learned that he was wrong about the number of generations since immigrating as well as our original country, which turns out to be Ireland. ( DAR paperwork ), My grandfather was a great storyteller. He was a preacher and therefore a professional storyteller, and one of the best. But he didn't let technicalities disrupt the flow of a story. Stories had their entertainment value, and they had a their point, and he was an honest person, but not so detail oriented.

I took one basic DNA test that  did indicate/ confirm that my Y chromosome came from Ireland. Now that I've been there, I'd like to know which county. I'd also like to know which other provinces/counties in Europe my ancestors actually came from. As nearly as I can figure, I'm German/English/Scotch/Irish/French/Native American (?)Iroquois. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that isn't exactly right, and that some of them were more Dutch than Deutsch, for example. Whatever, when I travel I am most often mistaken for German.

I'm curious. I don't have kids, it's of limited value, but I may justify the expense sooner or later. I come from a large extended family that holds annual reunions. It may be of interest to the  "Clan".

[Buster's Uncle]

When Buster's Grammaw took up genealogy, Lo, over 20 years ago now, she found an astonishing number of Germans in the woodpile - somewhere well north of 80%.  This area (the NC Appalachians) is supposed to be Scotch-Irish, but we go back over 400 years right here where I'm sitting, and I'm related to everyone whose family has been around at least a few generations...

[Rusty Edge]

When Buster's Grammaw took up genealogy, Lo, over 20 years ago now, she found an astonishing number of Germans in the woodpile - somewhere well north of 80%.  This area (the NC Appalachians) is supposed to be Scotch-Irish, but we go back over 400 years right here where I'm sitting, and I'm related to everyone whose family has been around at least a few generations...

Yeah, not knowing surnames, I would have assumed Scotch-Irish based on location, with some English, and some fraction of Native American since you've been there so long.

Here in the Midwest, my wife's family are Ellis Island era immigrants, and they remained German. I guess there's an ethnic Pole in there somewhere, but the borders have been kinda fluid in Europe.

[Flux]

Y'all certainly know more than me. I can go back about 3 generations and then my family tree dissapears with no knowledge other than everybody lived in Russia.

[Geo]

I have the dubious distinction of having a similar family name as a small village situated in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France...
On old maps, we could trace the existence of this village as far as the16-17th century.

[Rusty Edge]

   It just occurred to me that if we could trace back far enough we would have one thing in common- a Viking grafted into the family tree.

[Geo]

Probably not - the counts of Flanders were pretty good at repelling Norse raiders.

[Valka]

Recently Uno mentioned that he has never seen a comet.

I tried looking for Halley back in 1986, but it was so faint, I'm not sure I was actually seeing it or something else.

I've definitely seen Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp, though. Hale-Bopp was visible for quite a few nights, and I soon learned exactly where to look for it. It was clearly visible, and I confess that I actually cried (just really happy to see a comet, since it's not something most people see very often and know what it is).

I have yet to see northern lights.

I'm too far south to see the really spectacular ones, but I've seen a few nice ones. One of them was (to me) awe-inspiring... so much so that I stood outside for about half an hour watching it, just mesmerized. I was in my pyjamas and housecoat and it was about -15C or so (a night in January back in the '90s), but I was so enthralled by the aurora that I didn't even notice being cold.


I've never been east of the province of Alberta. There are lots of places I'd love to see - national parks, museums, heritage sites - but some of them are thousands of miles away, on the other side of the country.

[Rusty Edge]

I tried looking for Halley back in 1986, but it was so faint, I'm not sure I was actually seeing it or something else.

If it looked like a smudge on a blackboard, you probably saw it.
I'm suddenly feeling really old, realizing that blackboards are now antiquated.

I've never been east of the province of Alberta. There are lots of places I'd love to see - national parks, museums, heritage sites - but some of them are thousands of miles away, on the other side of the country.

As much as I adore glaciated geography, I would encourage you to prioritize Horseshoe Falls, one of the most impressive things I've ever seen and heard  in my life.