A traveling man in purest sense
by Sandra Kelly

In one photo, Ernie Dale stands before a fountain in London. In another, he’s at Hoover Dam in Colorado. In others, he’s squatting beside a water garden in Wilmington, Del., standing at an ancient hand pump in Old Salem, N.C., leaning on a railing at the Tower of Honolulu, visiting a sidewalk art show in Enchinada, Mexico.

Other photographs place him in Boston, the Bahamas, on the Ohio River and at the Grand Canyon.
It is hard to say who enjoys Dale’s trips more, Ernie or the people who take his tours. Dale runs tours for the Roanoke Valley Singles, First Baptist Church, the Glad Tidings Assembly of God (his church) and the Botetourt and Bedford recreation departments. Some trips he just put together on his own.
He also makes himself available to the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau as a guide for visitors.

Traveling is Ernie’s hobby. New places — little, large, domestic or foreign — are his passion.
Since 1994, Dale, a far southwest Virginia native who handles mortgages for the office of veterans’ affairs, has taken his vacation time, his compensatory time and likely some unpaid time off to run group trips by bus, plane and boat.

How many trips has he taken? “I don’t know, a lot,” he says.

And, even though the numbers are down - trips that once drew as many as 160 travelers now attract around 50 - Dale’s on the road as much as ever.

“We used to fill up two to three weeks in advance. After Sept. 11, that changed and so did the economy,” he said.

Still, he’s gone most weekends. “I don’t even own a dog or a cat,” he said.

Dale also never cooks, eats all meals out - most at S&S Cafeteria - and likes to go biking if he has spare time.

When Dale runs a trip, the organization sponsoring the trip handles the payments. But that’s about all. Dale plans the trip, prepares the seating chart; takes care of the tickets to events or museums or galleries, chooses the stops for meals and is last in line to eat.

He’s never lost a tour member although some were late returning when they missed the Staten Island Ferry.

“I always got everybody back that came with me,” Dale said.

His upcoming trips include three in May: one to Biltmore House and the Great Smokey Railroad; another, a back roads’ tour to Harrisonburg; the third, a trip to New York, this one with some people from his church.

Then, on June 10, there are outings to the Barter Theater and the Greenbrier Bunker, which Dale points out is closing to the public this summer.

His love of travel started by taking bus trips with his mother when he was young. After graduation from Virginia Intermont in Bristol, with a degree in business administration, Dale went to work for the government in Bristol.

He moved in his federal job to Roanoke in 1993, and also ran promotions for a Roanoke Valley radio station. Sometimes the promotions involved travel.

That hooked him into travel completely.

To prepare for a new trip, Dale has occasionally visited the site first. Most often, however, he uses Internet research, brochures and contacts to work out the sightseeing and dining; he negotiates with hotels and transportation places to get the best deals and charts out the mileage for bus trips to assure that stops are made appropriately.

He also encourages his travelers to pack only one suitcase and be willing to go with the flow.
“Some people can be inflexible,” he said.

Packing light for a trip can be easy if a traveler remembers to select clothing that mixes and matches and shoes that will go with most any outfit, he said.

Dale always makes certain umbrellas and trash bags are aboard the bus.

This summer, he does plan to take a vacation from his duties as a trip guide. He plans to take his 85-year-old grandmother to Tweetsie Railroad near Blowing Rock, N.C.

Now, isn’t that travel?