I love road trips. But I totally hate driving. Quite a conundrum…Lucky for me, D doesn’t mind driving. We’ve taken long road trips and I am always the ideal driving companion. I navigate well and keep up a steady stream of patter and even do carpool karaoke. I’ve been doing that waaaaay before James Corden made it a thing.
Unfortunately, for this particular trip, I would have to go at it solo because D was going to drive his little toy sportscar. That leaves me to lug everything else, including Beans and the dogs on a 250+ mile road trip to the Hill Country. I say solo because Beans is my complete opposite. He sleeps as soon as he sits down. So much for conversations, let alone karaoke! Are all teenagers like this? I don’t remember sleeping this much when I was his age. Although I really felt like I was a case of unmedicated ADHD back then, so I guess it’s not a fair comparison.
Anyway, I prepared well. Mapped out my route, downloaded my favorite music and had it all arranged in one playlist, meticulously calculated my caffeine so as to keep me awake but not enable too many restroom stops. I needed to get this done and fast. And boy, I sure did! Got it done in a little less than 4 hours despite some traffic snags in Austin. The only thing that made this less of a success was that a small stone hit the G’s windshield and so it made a crack. The sound scared the crap out of me. After the fright came the rage on how much that little stone would cost to fix the wind shield. Fortunately, D told me we had the add-on wind shield and ding insurance. Let’s just he really knows about the quality of my driving so he totally prepared for it…
D joined me a few hours later and we decided to celebrate my little mile “stone”. We went to Lincoln Street Wine Market. They offer wine and food pairing. Unlike most wine bars, they actually do not have a bar. Instead, they have little private rooms and sitting areas, hence more elegant and intimate. They also have a patio, covered in grapevines, which feature live performances.
What a satisfying way to end my solo road-trip! Back at home, I listened to music in the hammock and thought about my life. I thought about all of my life’s battles, big and small. I choose my battles wisely now because I really don’t have that much time and energy anymore. I am glad I finally slayed my weird driving peeve. I still don’t like it, but I now know that I can do it, if absolutely needed.
The world is huge. Both beautiful and terrifying. I have the choice to make it either way.