Redartz: Greetings, everyone! Here at BitBA, we are preparing for an upcoming road trip to C2E2. Of course, the trip is a bit longer for some of us than for others. But that's ok, this Bronze ager loves a road trip. And who doesn't? Hitting the highway, roll down the windows, grab a cool drink and bag of snacks. Turn up the radio/cd/satellite radio and you're off! It is often said that, when traveling, the journey is as important as the destination. That may or may not be true, but the trip is certainly a chance to let your hair down and cruise...
So today, tell us about your favorite road trip stories. I'll take the wheel, you handle the entertainment!
7 comments:
Red - We are always glad to have a fellow Hoosier (someone from Indiana for our UK guests) visit the state of Illinois for C2E2! "Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel..." (as the Door's song goes!)
Perhaps my fav road trip was a few years ago with the family, through Michigan and Canada, to Niagara Falls, through upstate NY, to Cape Cod. Absolutely amazing how the air becomes sweeter, the roads more open, the people more smiling, the further one get's from Chicago, lol. The Canadians were so friendly we became suspicious, lol!
We LOVE roadtrips! Last year, we drove a 5,000 mile southwest tour over 5 weeks, to attend a high school graduation, see some National Parks and go to Disneyland! From St. Louis to Colorado Springs, down through New Mexico to Phoenix, AZ, on to Disneyland, then back through lower New Mexico, on to Dallas, TX, and back home via Arkansas. Great trip, with lots of different scenery and wonderful food! The chili cheeseburgers of NM were worth the drive!
As a non-driver I'm not really one for road trips. Unless you count my regular Journey To The End Of The Street.
In '87/'88 I spent a year on a very small-scale Nat'l Tour (The National Players), based out of Catholic University/Olney Theater at the time. A 30' bob-truck (of which I was one of three drivers), a double-extended passenger van, and regular small sedan runabout. If there is ANY experience that can take the glow out of the "on-the-road" mystique. . .
However-- we live on the northern end of the DC Beltway (I-95 can be seen/heard from our back porch, through the woods, across a park, beyond the power-line causeway. . .) and last winter (Jan/Feb of '16) HBGirl and I did three driving road-trips for her to audition for college Musical Theater programs. Two in Michigan (about a 10 hour drive), and one in North Carolina (about 7-ish hours). As I hail from southwestern Michigan, I've made that particular drive several times over the years, and really had grown to dislike it intensely. BUT-- HBGirl and I, from the get-go, decided to plug in the ol' XM and glue it to the Broadway Channel, and played "The Broadway Game" the entire way for all legs of those trips. [First to guess the show gets the point, etc--] And we got so delightfully wrapped up in the gamesmanship that we'd rush back to the car after gas/food stops and such in order to try to grab as many points as possible. It turned into a delightful way make such a long drive, and of course served as an excellent distraction from the unavoidable anxiety and stress of the audition process.
And geeze-- she stomped my behind every. Single. Time. I mean, like, 58 to 30-- that kind of scoring-- ohhh, she knows her stuff. . .
HB
Road-trips across North America seem so much more glamorous and exciting than could ever be experienced here in tiny little Britain - you have the huge skies, endless highways, vast plains and prairies. Over here we soon reach the sea in whichever direction we go. And yes, I have read "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac :)
Two road trips stand out -
The first was in 2008. My brother-in-law put together a trip for his son, our father-in-law, and me and my sons. All of us are avid sports fans, and this trip was one for the ages.
We flew out of Chicago's Midway airport to Hartford, Connecticut. At that airport we rented a mini-van and drove it to --
ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut
the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall-of-Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts
Fenway Park in Boston (along with many sites around town)
old Yankee Stadium (along with sites around Manhattan)
Syracuse University
Cooperstown, New York for the Baseball Hall-of-Fame
Niagara Falls
All told, we put 1500 miles on that van in a week and had an absolute blast.
The second trip that was wonderful for our family was in 2011 when we took a family vacation to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We loaded up and headed south, stopping Nashville for a minor-league baseball game (the humidity was unbearable that evening) and then on to Montgomery, Alabama. We stopped there and saw several important sites from the Civil Rights Movement, including the bus stop where Rosa Parks boarded and then refused to give up her seat. We also toured the Alabama state house. Once in Florida we made stops at Florida State University and the University of Florida to check out their athletic facilities. Then we went to Disney, where we spent five days. Our sons were 19 and 17 at the time, but had never been to Disney World. They might as well have been 5 - we had so much fun.
Two particular family memories from the trip were seeing an armadillo while at a rest stop - we don't have those critters in Illinois. And, whilst Elton John's Tiny Dancer was blasting on the stereo, I killed the volume just as our oldest was belting out the chorus like it was his job. Funny stuff.
Doug
Charlie - nice sounding trip up north. You are dead on about the air: our family took a road trip to Minnesota and up into Canada; never felt such fresh air before or since.
Disneymarvel- that must have been one phenomenal trip! You do covered some serious ground, and included some impressive sights...
HB- now that's the way to occupy the time on a long drive. Your daughter must have powerful trivia cred, to beat out a veteran like you!
Colin J- Yes, the American road trip is the stuff of dreams. Unless you are crossing Indiana, not exactly breathtaking.. .
Doug - wow, two amazing road trips! And your inclusion of historical sites is admirable. We try to catch a few when travelling,too...
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