I've always been a fan of road trips.
Something about being in a confined space in an open area, the
guilt-free understanding that fast-food may be your only option, the constant
intake of large doses of caffeine, and the music... oh the music. When I first met Sean I was in the middle of
a personal mission: get someone to drive all the way to Canada and back with
me. At the time, I had never left the
country and for whatever reason I really wanted to say that I had stepped foot
on another nation's soil. Easiest
solution? A quick drive (as in 25 hours)
to Canada. Combine the exhilaration of inhaling
Canadian air with awesome friends, loud music and bad food and it sounded like a
perfect Spring Break to me.
Unfortunately, nobody else agreed.
People would laugh my idea off... and say, "Oh Mary Susan...that would
be fun, but seriously I think I’ll go to the beach instead.” I secretly scoffed at their pathetic lack of
adventure. I mean seriously, did they
not understand the vision?? We could
camp along the way to avoid hotel fees and this bizarre venture would without a
doubt be the birth place of a treasure trove of stories we’d all tell our grandkids.
But the more I pushed, the more nobody agreed. I had finally decided my dream was all but
dead, when I met Sean. I mentioned this
little idea to him and he immediately said, "Sounds awesome. I'll go!" "What??!??" My radar went off....
This man (whom I had been spending more and more time with at Fazoli’s after
class) was officially
really cool. For a few days I gave the whole, “Go to Canada with this new guy I met
named Sean” a lot of thought. Eventually though, I landed on the fact that we had
only known each other for a few weeks and hitting the road to
drive and camp for 4 days straight with a man many of my friends had never met
seemed a little... ambitious. Today,
Sean and I often laugh and say, "What if we had gone to Canada
together??" (Sidenote: 2 years later we
did go to Canada together ... except this time it was by ferry,
automobile, and floater planes... thank you Young Life for an awesome time in
British Columbia...) I digress, point is, we're a fan of road trips and we
often look at each other late at night and say, "Let's just drive to the
beach. RIGHT NOW. DON'T THINK. JUST GRAB A BATHING SUIT AND
GET IN THE CAR." Unfortunately, one of us always squashes the spontaneity
with a concern about work, or the dogs, or an upcoming obligation and we end
the night watching Netflix, which is in its own right, very exciting. (I mean
it’s like having a Blockbuster on your tv, ready for you to “rent” a film at
anytime… Have we already forgotten how awesome this is??!?) Point being, for Mother's Day, Sean is taking
me out of town. We're going on a road
trip and landing on the Atlantic coast!! So
friends, tomorrow I'll be hitting the road to drive to the beach and lounge for another long weekend.
Woohoo!!! Thanks Sean!!! This
Mama is pumped!!!
Oh... and just for good measure, here is a photo of us when we finally did reach Canada.
This also happens to be a failed album cover of a hip-hop band Sean and I used to be in called the Paddle Poets. For some reason we never gained any street cred.
Have a good weekend!
