There was a time when I'd easily drive to Michigan and back for the weekend. A time when 14 hours behind the wheel was like a trip to the corner grocery store. My road food of choice was peanut m & m's (for the protein) and diet coke (so I didn't gain a lot of weight for all the sitting and peanut m & m's). Highs and low of the journey included roadside stops and channel surfing. Sometimes there would be a great town, sometimes they were downright scary, sometimes you'd get a stretch of great tunes and sometimes, the radio too could be a bit scary.
But times change. The airplane was invented, the bicycle became a better option for around town, the train for going to work. I sold the car and started flying to adventures. The change expanded the range but also changed the nature of the adventure. Peanut m & m's were replaced by Starbucks salads (and who can say which is the best nutritional choice.), layovers were highly researched and rarely surprising, music was pre-loaded on my phone, and never, ever, could there be any sing-alongs.
This week, however I return to the road. In one of those unusual circumstances where the necessary destinations / airport locations / travel time configurations lends itself not to flying but rather to road tripping.
Over the course of 7 days we'll drive a minimum of 31 hours. Stopping along the way at places known and unknown. Visiting family, seeing new sights, grimacing at gas station rest rooms, drinking new craft beers, peanut eating m and m's and cranking up the tunes as we roll west to Pennsylvania and then on to Michigan, and home by way of Canada and Niagara falls.
It's been 10 years since the last trip. I do hope it's as fun as I remember.
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