Road trips aren't for everyone. It depends a lot on where
you are going and more importantly the compatibility of the people you are
travelling with. If you have some common interests (beyond family ties) the
trip can be much more enjoyable regardless of the duration or destination.
As a kid, I was never a fan of road trips - not that our
family took many. In fact, I don't recall many trips that required more than an
hour's drive each way. Most were to nearby towns or to Winnipeg.
For most people that wouldn't be enough time to get
really bored. Unless, of course your father was one of those farmers who
enjoyed taking slow drives past every field on all the back roads just to see
how other peoples crops were doing. Despite being a farm kid, I was never
interested in farming so I found these trips to be VERY boring! If I could find
a way to avoid tagging along on these outings - I did! Even the promise of
going out for an ice cream or some other edible treat before we came home
couldn't entice me to go.
My parents and I did drive to Thunder Bay for the wedding
of one of my cousins in the mid 70's. For me, that was a LONG trip. We left
early, stopped at Kenora for lunch and drove straight through after that. I
could never read in a moving vehicle and staring out the window at all the
rocky terrain east of Kenora was boring for a teenager. I did have a small
portable radio with an earphone but radio reception wasn't great. The stations
that I did manage to pick up, only stayed clear for a short time then faded as
we passed out of their signal's range.
If I was on a road trip, I wanted to have someone to talk
to about things I was interested in - or at least have a decent radio station
to listen to. For me, it was more about the destination and being entertained
along the way.
So, I haven't gone on a lot of road trips.
Oh sure, there were a few - like the time that three of
my friends and I drove to Southern Ontario for a friend's wedding back in the
early 80's. We drove down through North Dakota, then east through Minnesota and
Wisconsin before taking a ferry back into Ontario. We drove home along the
Trans Canada. We were only gone for 8 days but it was fun - especially getting
to see a number of our friends over the few days we actually stayed in Ontario.
En route, we talked, sang, listened to cassettes and played games.
I recall one road trip on a warm fall Sunday, back in my
high school days. One of my gal pals and I packed a picnic lunch, filled her
dads pickup truck with gas and headed up into the Pembina Hills to explore. The
radio was blaring and we gabbed as we admired the beautiful fall foliage. We
put at least 120 miles on the truck that day!
Since losing so much of my sight, my road trips have been
even more infrequent. For many years, I barely left the city. It wasn't that I
didn't want to go somewhere. It was more that I didn't want to impose on my
friends to take me for a drive - with or without a particular destination in
mind.
2011 changed that. I asked three friends to drive me out
to see my ailing mom and to sort through things at the farm house where I'd
grown up. Those were three bittersweet trips. I was thankful to be able to
spend just a little more time with my mom, but also knew that each time could
be the last that I would see her. Sorting through all of her possessions was
also emotional as memories of youth and happier times flooded my memory. My wonderful
friends kept me company as I took those emotional trips home.
One of those friends and I took another road trip a
couple of weeks ago. We first met back in 1994 but over the years have
discovered that we have many mutual friends and acquaintances. The town where
she spent much of her youth, was also the town that I lived in for three years
in the late 70's. She has been back many times over the years but I haven't
been there since the mid 80's! To the best of our knowledge and despite all the
commonalities, we never met back in the day.
As she drove into town, we both noted how much things
have changed. New businesses, new homes and residences for seniors. She pointed
out the house her parents had owned. We drove by a small house that some mutual
friends had lived in.
I couldn't remember the street name or house number where
I had a basement apartment, but was able to give her directions. I had dug out
an old picture of the house but even it has now changed. The windows and front
door are different. The front walk is no longer there and the driveway has been
paved over.
What surprised me the most though, was that the campus
where I had worked and later studied was no longer standing. The main building
had been demolished! I had known that the old house that had been used as a dorm and the kitchen
for the school had been sold a few years after the school had closed. It was
moved, restored and is now an art gallery. The gallery was closed the day we
were there so I didn't get to see inside but it is now located on a spacious
lot that also features a beautiful sculpture garden and infinity pond/fountain.
Not far from the gallery/garden is a stunning nature park
with natural grasses, stone work and a pathway surrounding a large pond that is
connected to a nearby creek. (The pond is used for skating in the winter)
Benches made of wood and stone are positioned at several points around the
pond. The setting is tranquil and inviting. Had this piece of Heaven been there
during my time in town, I'd have spent a lot of time there but it was just a
farmer's field outside of town back then.
We had packed a picnic lunch and sat at a table near the
town pool to eat. Aside from a very frisky wasp who insisted that it wanted
part of my sandwich (his requests were repeatedly denied and he was eventually
disposed of) it was a perfect day to be outside and enjoy our old and new surroundings.
Throughout the day, we also continued to find more
connections by naming off places we remembered in town and the people we knew
to see if the other knew them or perhaps the family. We hadn't gone to shop but
to explore and reconnect with our pasts. We went to see how time had changed
the things we had known and to deepen our friendship.
Things never stay the same. Tinges of sadness at the
things that had changed. People and places no longer there. Pride and delight
in seeing the progress and the diversity that the little town has developed
over the years.
Road trips can be fun. We want to go back again sometime
and take another dear friend with us to show her our roots.
We are already contemplating where a road trip may take
us next year.
When you travel with the right people - the journey and the
destination will always be an adventure to savour and to treasure.
dn
