Things I Like - Pt. 4, Road Trippin'

Note: This has been sitting as a "draft" for a week now, finished it and posting today over lunch to get my mind off things.

Question:
So what does one do when one needs to be out of the house for 4 hours, but has a 4 year old currently addicted to watching Finding Nemo every morning and a 22 month old on day three of a fever and cough?

I suppose I could have scheduled a doctor's appointment, but have you ever gone to a doctor with more than one kid in tow? Save that for emergencies only people! After putting that off until Thursday afternoon*, I was left to find something we could do "out of the house" without entailing a lot of actual in-and-outing. It was like 8° F and windy as hell, so rule out going to a park for fresh air. * Turns out his main problem was lung congestion, they put him on breathing treatments and antibiotics just-in-case, he feels much better now.

Answer:
Go on a road trip!

After getting all the kids loaded up, and the dogs too, we dropped Wiley off at school and I stopped at Casey's for some coffee. Got Nemo started on the little portable DVD player (I know, I know - give a frazzled mom a break).

Wasn't really sure what we were doing at that point, but I headed west at any rate. Partly drawn to the windmills again, which were chopping 'round at a good clip, I decided to head north on Highway 65. It cuts right through the field of them and I'd never driven up that way before.

Exploring was featured before as a "thing I like" and I guess this is sort of a spin-off, or combination... exploring and road trippin' are things I like that usually go hand-n-hand.

Two weekends ago the kids and I had road tripped to my parents' for one last weekend on the farm. We had a good time, and even though the drive back was a gray/dreary day (see left), I still enjoyed listening to music and watching the familiar scenery pass by.

Similar to that drive, this time I was trying to soak in the Iowa / Midwestern landscapes while I could. I love being able to see miles ahead, with landmarks on the horizon getting closer and closer. I reminded Cyrus to look out the window occasionally, since in North Carolina the majority of the time all you can see are tall pines lining the roads. He likes to spot water towers and cows.

I love to look at rural decay, like old abandoned houses, or leaning buildings, or weathered windmills standing lonely in a field. Also I like to gaze at romantic little homesteads with big boxy farmhouses and ponder on what kind of family calls it home. Will they have the same trouble selling as we are? Does their septic system pass inspection?

Part of the allure to road trippin', for me, other than enjoying the scenery, is the actual driving. Having grown up in an county where you could get a "school permit" at age 15, I've been behind the wheel for over 19 years now.

Driving 30 - 40 minutes to the closest metro area means nothing to me. Taking day trips to amusement parks over 4 hours away with friends was a high point of my teenage years (see left, group shot taken in parking lot of Worlds of Fun, Kansas City, MO).

I've driven to Mt. Rushmore, Kansas City, Denver, Chicago and New York City. After college, while working as a CAD trainer, I drove to a small mountain town in Tennessee. Often I had to drive several hours in rental cars to "remote" locations after flying in to hubs. When my parents visited us in NC, we drove to the Outer Banks, my dad said I was a "road jockey." I'd say I'm a fairly calm driver, Stew makes fun of me for saying "Hey! Hey!" instead of honking the horn. But I'm getting more jaded as I age. I used to have quite the lead foot, got a couple warnings in high school and several speeding tickets in NC, but having kids might have slowed me down. Now I find myself staying close to the speed limit on two-lane roads, taunting people to pass me (I rarely pass people myself) and when on four-lane highways I typically stay between 5 and 9 mph over the limit.

Getting ready for road trips drives me bananas, but the actual trip itself is fairly zen. Sometimes it can be stressful if I'm not the one driving, or there is bad weather... but otherwise I like to just chill out and watch stuff go by. It gets my brain juices going and more often than not, good ideas pop-up, or positive troubleshooting occurs. If my digital voice recorder is handy, I take voice notes. Or as witnessed below, I merely document the scenery.

This most recent road trip solved the problem of being out of the house... once we got started headed north, I ended up picking a point two hours away, knowing we could take a break there, then turn around and waste another two hours on the way home. First I figured Iowa Falls would be far enough, but then I saw a road sign for Mason City and decided it would be our final destination (for a moment I considered the IA / MN border, but that would have been another hour or so). While passing through Iowa Falls, I did caught sight of a strip-mall Goodwill, so we stopped there quickly on the way back and I snagged two awesome sundresses, one of which is vintage and soon to be listed at etsy or Market Publique.

Our next road trip will be a long one... we set off for North Carolina on the 27th or 28th. It takes about two days, and typically we stay in Columbus, OH with family friends the first night. I'm looking forward to making the trip, but dreading all the stuff to do before then.

Safe travels all!