I LOVE road trips.
For me, it’s the ultimate freedom. Yesterday I left home with my 15 and 16 year old for a 20-hour drive to Orlando. It’s been years since the three of us have traveled together and I suspect this might be the last one for a long, long while. They’ve hit the age where jobs and girlfriends have become more important than hitting the open road with their mom.
I’ve taken them many places, some with their dad and many without. We’ve driven to Georgia, the Florida Keys, the Outer Banks, Memphis, New Orleans, and many places in between. We’ve also covered territory throughout Ontario and Quebec. All by car.
Yesterday’s drive began with my youngest flexing his new driving skills until the interstate. Then all was quiet as heads were buried in their technology of choice. Then the mood changed. We passed the sign for “Big Bone Lick State Park” and giggled remembering the comedic conversation that ensued when we had been on our way to camp at Jenny Wiley State Park. That discussion led to other road trip memories. All wonderful, all smiles and laughter. We reminisced about the games we played, sights we saw, and the road trip journal they wrote daily. We can’t wait to get home and read it again.
This trip is symbolic in many ways. They’re older; my eldest is planning his own graduation road trip with a friend next year. It’s our first trip since the divorce and we’re staying with another family in which the father has a special place in my heart. Time is moving on. The scenery is changing.
I LOVE road trips.
Photo Credit: Craig Stanton on Flickr
