Road tripping

Sometimes I drive a half an hour to get fresh raspberries, or the first blueberries of the season. Yesterday I picked up a friend and we did just that. A long drive for a small tub of local raspberries. Of course we like the raspberries but the excursion is really about the visit. It is about being together in the car on a summer day.

Road trips are an essential part of our Atlantic Canadian summers. There is lots to do and see here, but these things are not always close together. The amazing croissants that I love are a half hour north, while the berries are a half hour south, and the really great corn is forty-five minutes to the east. Needless to say, we will not be picking all those up on the same day.

Sometimes these things are just an excuse for a little road trip. To grab your hat and follow the wind. Get outta town, make your way and find a box of berries or some little treasure that you bring home to meet last years find. It might be a rock, a vial of sand, a pottery mug, or a little sculpture. Everyone has their preference. 

Some road trips find me alone in the car. I am heading out solo gathering my thoughts. Other times you have a storyteller or a listener beside you. Some like to travel with their car full; I prefer solo or with one other person. There is less negotiating. Consensus is simple. Everyone gets what they need and what they want. I also love how the conversation and the listening flows between two people. My brain likes that easy flow. I find that when there is just one other person you learn things, the conversation goes deeper and more interesting.

Others love a bigger group with hand bags swinging as they unload from the car. Where there is a crossword puzzle of conversations, extra pit stops, and a beautiful raucousness that only comes from a group together. Either way, it is a road trip.

You get up in the morning and you head out looking for adventure. For a step away from your everyday. And you drive forty miles to come home with a jar of pickles and a new straw hat. You eat lunch at a restaurant that you only get to once a year. You bring your walking shoes in your bag so you are ready if you need to walk a mile. Who knows what you'll end up doing. You meet an older woman in a parking lot and she tells you a story and you walk away a little wiser. You spill your coffee on your white pants so you don't look any smarter, but you are. You see things that you don't see everyday. A different house, a different garden, a different road and that wakes you up a little. You feel less stagnant.

Fresh.

"Day trip".

"Walk away."

"I'm outta here."

Gather a bag. Put in your water bottle, a banana, your sneakers and yes maybe an extra outfit if you are wearing white and grab your keys and go. Don't worry about where you are going, just enjoy the drive. Pick up a friend for the passenger seat. Surprise her with a quick call, "Let's hit the road." And go see something you don't see everyday.

Step away.

Ride the wind.

Love the day.

I did that yesterday. I have two boxes of raspberries and a story to prove it.

And today I am ready for my beautiful routine. Home again, sweet as ever.