Day 30- Finding Enjoyment on the Road

I love a road trip.  I grew up in a Sunday drive family, with a dad who loved to get out of town.  If there is a back road in San Diego county, chance are I was on it one time or another in my life.  My dad was from Dubuque Iowa, which I imagine today is far different than it was when he was born there 92 years ago. When I was there at as a young kid, it was still fairly small, with the Mississippi River on one side and Iowa corn on the other. The filming of "Field of Dreams" took place not to far from there.  It was a world away from Southern California and I loved my Iowa summers.

I loved getting to and from there as well, my dad was Goggle before Google was invented.  If there was a unique, out of the way, off the beaten path place, my dad knew about it.  He was a voracious reader, a lover of facts, and I don't think anyone every had a boring conversation with my dad his whole long life.  Road trips were fun because of where we went, and how we got there.

It's a good thing I married a man who rides a motorcycle.  We didn't always have a bike, it wasn't until shortly after our daughter got married and moved out that the Lord provided one in the most miraculous way.  It has brought joy and escape and adventure into our lives that we never dreamed of.  We were already road trip people before the bike, but even the most familiar road will seem like new scenery when you are on a bike.

In our motorcycle fellowship at church, we like to joke that we ride to eat, and eat to ride.  That really isn't very far from the truth. Since we got the bike and the 50 miles per gallon it gets we don't think anything of of two or three hour drive for lunch. Lunch, because it's cheaper and you don't ride home in the dark, which I hate.  It's coming up on the time of year where the bike trips are shorter, the car trips are more frequent, but either way, long or short, a road trip is one of our most enjoyable dates.  

 There is a quote that says something like it's not the destination, it's the journey. Whoever said that must have been a lover of road trips. I'm sure plenty of people disagree with that, they are people who think a trip isn't a trip if you don't get to drive in the commuter lane the whole time.  I'm suppressing the urge to make many comments about kids in cars with tablets or in-car DVD systems.

I know gas isn't cheap, but don't underestimate the value of a little change in scenery.  A short drive down the coast, or up to Julian, or out Sandia Creek Road in Fallbrook to Old Town Temecula can do wonders for you.  Turn off the hands free device, maybe even the radio and enjoy the journey.  Stop and take a picture. Turn down a side street you've never noticed before.  Have an adventure.

Enjoy a little change of scenery.

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