Well, by the time this posts I should be on the road to the NorthCoast bloggershoot. I'm getting an early start on things, hoping to arrive in the general vicinity shortly after dinner time, which will give plenty of time to get checked into the hotel, find something to eat, and hopefully meet some friends for some frosty malt beverages before I turn into a pumpkin.
Something dawned on me as I prepared for this trip: This is the first long distance road trip I've taken by myself. I've taken plenty of road trips in my 39 years: Out to MN with my parents when I was five (I rode the entire way out in the bed over the cab of my parents' RV, utterly fascinated by the highway stretching before us); down to NC when I was a teen helping a friend move into his college dorm; out to WI to meet my wife's family after we got engaged; down to FL for a scientific conference with three other graduate students; up to Canada for our honeymoon; taking the kids to Disney... There have been a lot of road trips over the years.
But this is the first one of any significant distance that I have taken alone.
I think the furthest I've gone so far solo is my buddy's cabin northwest of Augusta, ME, one of the longest trips I've taken on a motorcycle (close to three hours). After that, probably nothing further than western MA on business. 2 hours is about the maximum driving distance I've done solo compared to more than 24 hour trips with others. Road trips are meant to be shared; the journey itself being part of the vacation. Crossing state lines, stopping into rest areas just in the nick of time, discovering something unique/silly/historic when you stop for gas; all of this is part of what differentiates a "drive in the car" from a road trip.
This will be a very long drive in the car - I'm getting on I-90 in central MA and getting off at my hotel's exit in OH. In this case, the destination is far greater than the journey, and only other logistics prevent me from simply hopping on a plane (well, that and planes scare me to death...). I'm excited about meeting new people, about adding new folks to the "people I've met" section of the blogroll; I'm looking forward to visiting with old friends again; heck, I'm excited about participating in a bloggershoot that I didn't organize!
And I've been promised me some yummy homemade goodies - what could possibly top that?
That is all.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Breathing the air in a Free State? Well, kinda sorta Free. Okay, Freer than Massachusetts anyway. See you Saturday!
Have a safe trip -- I wish I were able to accompany you. Be thinking about a New England get together so that we might get Breda and company out this way.
But, driving alone in the car DOES allow you to sing along with the music at full volume and not be beaten on by your passengers.
(robert)
LMAO...
picturing Jay in his russian hat singing air supply...
"I'm All out of love, Im so lost without you.........
hahhahahha
because we all sing along with those songs when no-ones around.
My 11-12 hour "Commute" to school always goes faster time wise when I'm alone, but is always more interesting with more people.
Longest road trip I ever made alone was Norfolk to San Antonio, right after 9/11. Talk about eerie...the freeways were next to deserted.
Have a safe trip and say hello to the Breda girl for me.
Have a safe trip and say hello to the Breda girl for me.
Having driven a 1984 VW Golf to Cali, from NJ, alone many years ago and then driving the swapped vehicle, a 1984 VW Jetta, back (long, long story) alone years ago, I can say this. Alone gives you a lot of freedom! Stop for coffee, stop for gas, stop for eats, see something interesting, etc. It also wasn't lonely for me because I had.......books on cassette!
Safe trip, good times!
Jay... seriously? The longest trip you've taken was by bike and was 3 hours? Wow.
I think nothing of hopping in car and driving down to Jersey (4+ hours to my buddy's in S. Amboy) or driving out to my other buddy's place in the Finger Lakes - (6+ hours) solo. Just gotta make sure the iPod is charged up so I have plenty of tunes to listen to on the trip.
When I was 17, I dated a girl on Long Beach Island, about a 2.5 hour trip for me from Northern NJ - I'd go down for the weekend and a few times, just for the day! I've long since lost count of how many miles I've rolled up solo in the car and on the bike.
And as for riding solo... you get the BEST time for thinking when you're riding. No radio, no chatter, no cell phone... just you, the bike and the road. Gives you a LOT of time to think.
Taking a trip with company is fun, but doing it solo isn't bad at all, either.
That's funny timing. Just spent many hours on I-90 yesterday coming from SE Mass out to south of Rochester, NY. And my inlaws are heading out to the great lakes tommorow. If you get hungry out in the Rochester area and you want to hit something other than thgenerica stuff on Te highway, point your GPS to Tom Wahls or Charlie Reidels, a couple of the best burger chains in Western, NY.
Chuck
My first solo road trip was 2 days after I got my DL. Licensed on Thursday afternoon after school and headed out to Ft. Huachuca, AZ about 8 1/2 hours away to see a friend on Saturday. I was 16, and young, dumb and naive doesn't even begin to cover it, but everything went well and I have never since hesitated to hop in the car and go. Spent several years as a travel nurse and loved every minute of it. Spending 3 months at a place and only working 3 days a week gives plenty of touristing time. One of the best though was No.CA. Had company for part of the time and I think we hit every winery in Sonoma and Napa counties...
Post a Comment