Road Trips

Road trip (n): A vacation or sudden trip involving travel on the road -

interstates, highways, or back roads

TC and I absolutely love traveling; we even love the road trip part. Most likely it’s because they’ve become second nature to us.

From the time we started dating in 2008 (we met in 2006) until now (3 years into our marriage), we’ve traveled over 30,000 miles – and that’s just the trips we can remember with both of us in the car (not counting our individual trips or flights). This happens when your families live 13 hours apart, you meet in a city that’s over 5 hours from back home and your friends are from all over the country. We’ve road tripped with friends and traveled to see their families from Washington, Vermont, Alabama and Ohio to Florida, you definitely cover some ground.

After traveling 34,314 miles, you learn to entertain yourself in the car. For example, last year we caravanned to Nashville with my family. Because we were all going our separate ways on Christmas day, we could not share a vehicle. I tried to get creative on how we could still stay connected with each other. I decided I would work on the props for our  Christmas Eve photo booth and entertain the family as we rode. Hilarious. Conversation and fun for me, TC and our travel buddies.  

We’ve played all kind of car games. Asking “brick or wood”, “soccer or football”, “blue or yellow” is now the radio tune when things start to get too quiet. We’ve dreamed on car rides. We’ve reminisced on car rides. We’ve shared thoughts, feelings, fears and hopes on car rides. We’ve taken scenic detours (what’s a 30 minutes or 10 more miles in the grand scheme of things?). We’ve laughed, cried, prayed, and sat in silence.  

We typically don’t fight about driving. In fact, I’ve never met a better travel buddy. We don’t stress out if we take the wrong turn. That’s because Trent drives. I navigate. And if we get off course, we know we will eventually get back on track and maybe see something unexpected on the way.

Typically road trips mean it's vacation. So we count the driving part as a break too. We’ve collected quite a few tips for making our trips fun, so we thought we’d share with you...

·       Pick. Are you the driver, navigator, activity planner?

·       Locate. Find markers that you can look forward to in order  to help determine travel time remaining. It always helps us gauge our travel.

·       Stop. See what fun stops are along the way. We recently stopped at Noccalula Falls on a trip to Tennessee last week because it’s less than five minutes from the interstate. We stretched our legs, read some history and took pictures for the memory books. Try it…

 

·       Read. Find a book you both are interested in (somebody will have to read out loud or listen to a book on tape), and make it a conversation starter (TC doesn’t LOVE to read….but he LOVES reading, cue me)

·       Research. With smart phones around these days, the road trip can be more than its even been- Research! The passenger(s) research NOT the driver. When we are headed through a city or traveling to a city, we will research what significant historical events occurred locally, find major landmarks, and research what they are known for.

·       Play. Name that tune, Going on a Picnic, Find the Alphabet…create your own game. These pass a lot of  time.

·       Eat. We usually don’t take snack if we can afford it in our budget because it give us a great excuse to wake-up. However, don’t get caught hungry…hungry equals grumpy and road trips are 10x better if everyone is happy.

·       Stay. If you have to stay overnight en route, find a local place for dinner or breakfast- might as well make the most of it. Don’t pressure yourself to make the trip in one day if conditions are not conducive.

·       Pack. A camera, a phone charger, a GPS (smart phone, map, GPS), layers or blankets in case your travel buddy is colder or hotter than you, snacks if you need them and a great attitude.  I promise you - whatever attitude you pack will make or break a trip. I've been broken down on the side of the road on a trip more times that I have fingers. I've always made it to my destination and met pretty great people in the process. Make the breakdowns adventures too; though I highly recommend getting roadside assistance. Side note: I don’t take a pillow for the trip because I try to make it my goal to help the driver stay awake…the older I get, it’s a little harder to stay awake, but I imagine it is for TC too).

·       Enjoy! Have fun! These can be the moments that make life an adventure.

Every couple has their areas of tension…so if yours is traveling, hopefully this can help. P.S. I realize there are no kids in our current travel...without a doubt it makes a difference, though I'd like to think this is still entirely possible. Perhaps more patience on the road will be needed once we have children?   

Our next road trip is in a week….

Weekend

It's been entirely too long! It seems every time I sat down to write, another "chore" would come to mind. Work has been busy, and after work even busier. No complaints though...it's been a fast and pleasant January. I cannot believe we are one day away from February.

This past Saturday was tons of fun. An early morning start...coffee with mom and on to estate and yard sales around town. We found an estate sale in Midtown in a quaint little neighborhood. The house and it's interior were very dated, simple, and filled with adventure. Estate sales are so sad and exciting all at the same time. The house was someone's home, full of their coveted and most precious possesions. You cannot help but wonder the story behind the pictures, the furniture...who were they..what did they do..."Life is but a vapor". The home was full of scrapbooks...so.many.scrapbooks. Each labeled with the year and country visited. They seemed like simple people who spent their money seeing the world. Enchanting and intriguing. I want to travel that much....

I bought a little clock to set on a side table. It's been on my "to buy" list for awhile, and the fact it came from an estate sale makes it that much better. Looking at it now, I realize it still works - the hands have changed. A few other purchases I hoped to buy, but missed my opportunity. At least I have a mission for the next Saturday estate sale search.

After a Scentsy party (really looking forward to the frangrances I purchased), TC and I got ready for our second annual Senior Bowl date. Remember last year? This year had a lot to live up too... Once again, we had a blast. Our only regret is that we went poster-less this year. We've already planned our poster for next year. We visited the same sushi restaurant after the game and a local ice cream parlor. We embraced our city culture Saturday. So traditional and cultural of us.

Sunday we spent at church and with friends. Services were awesome, several saved and several filled with the Spirit. I was convicted and challenged. Grateful for the truth preached in my church.

I'm looking forward to February...the month of love.

Perfect. perfect.day



The South lost...



Fairhope

"I gaze out the window, this cold winters' night, at all of the twinkling lights..." Miss You Most (At Christmastime) by Mariah Carey

2. Go Christmas light looking. Check

10. Find a live nativity. Check

11. Go carolling/Listen to carollers. Check

I've come to love date night being in the middle of the week - not to say we don't go out on the weekends, because we do - but it's a nice break during the mundane the week often brings. Remember my surprise from last week? It did not go so well. Good thing I said to "find" a live nativity on my list or else I may have been unsuccessful. I realize this is not a fair "check," but considering the efforts...) I "found" a farm across the bay that does "Christmas on the Farm" and on Wednesdays has a live nativity and lights. This is how it went:

We laughed so hard because I had made the biggest to-do about it being a surprise. Oh well...it makes it an even sweeter memory. Praying the family feels better soon! We decided to go look at lights and drive to Fairhope. Fairhope is one of the most quaint, adorable, and beautiful cities around. We walked on the Fairhope Pier where my father proposed to my mother over 27 years ago. Once we got into town, we discovered how festive the town is at Christmas! The streets were lined with very well-lighted trees and store fronts decorated for window-shoppers. I had no complaints. A perfect mid-week-plan interruption. Life is made up of those. Thank goodness.



Christmas Around the Corner

LOVE HIM

Much to my co-workers dismay (well...if they heard me), I joined in with a group carolling at work. My work celebrates Christmas for an entire week highlighting different Christmas activities each day. I thought the Carolling MUST was not going to happen - an unexpected check!

Downtown

Wednesday night is usually date night for me and TC, but this week we mixed it up a little and went on a Tuesday night. VERY adventurous of us! TC bought tickets to the Colbie Caillat concert at the Saenger Theater downtown because he knew she is one of my favorite artists.  However, I have to give credit to whom it's due - this was all TC - and again, he wooed me with his great ideas and surprises. I am not even much of a concert person, but I have to say the idea of coffee and a concert downtown does seem quite romantic... And so he ordered our Fall-flavored coffees from a local coffee shop and picked out the most lovely, alluring concert he could. No. 4 & 12 together were such a sweet treat. As always, we loved trying something new and local and, of course, being together. I love date nights....



Lovebirds and their Adventurous Selves

Local Coffee Shop

 

I enjoyed the "Jack-O-Latte"

 Great show!

The night view of the Saenger Theater (2nd posted picture of the Theater this week!)

Bonfires

Autumn Fires

by Robert Louis Stevenson

(from A Child's Garden of Verses, 1885)

In the other gardens  And all up the vale, From the autumn bonfires  See the smoke trail! Pleasant summer over  And all the summer flowers,The red fire blazes,  The gray smoke towers. Sing a song of seasons!  Something bright in all! Flowers in the summer,  

Fires in the fall!

I cannot say enough about the fun I had this weekend. It was seriously the most picture perfect weekend. My entire family celebrated Fall, non-stop. If you are currently doubting your abilities to celebrate Fall....don't! A Fall-filled weekend is as easy as finding an hour to spare. On a budget, we were able to visit a corn maze, tour an outdoor market, warm-up by a bonfire, toast a marshmallow, carve a pumpkin, and roast pumpkin seeds - all within 48 hours and an estimated $24 (fair note: we already had our pumpkins and carving kits, which helped cut cost. We bought carving kits two years ago, for a great price, and still have them. In fact, we only spent money on the corn maze...A-MAZE-ING...Okay that was CORN-Y...I'll stop...). Feeling great that No. 3, 7, 8, 13, and No. 17 on the MUST DO list were successfully enjoyed! 

The corn maze was quite the adventure, not to mention my sister inevitably makes any trip a laugh-til-you-cry event. The farm we went to has a tractor/barrel ride (difficult to explain, but promise you, you would love it), corn cannons, bounce-thingy, pig races, hay rides, and haunted hay rides. It's the second year we have gone and it's still a ball! 

On Saturday, Dad, BK and MK went hunting, Trent watched football, and mom and I went to the outdoor Market on the Square. We reunited at lunch for food and football..and more food. Too much food. Sunday, after church, we practiced shooting the bow, helped mom get ready for an upcoming craft show, and prepped our pumpkins for carving. We usually have contests in these creative situations; however, we all opted to have no competition, until BK felt she had a brilliant idea. Then it was a competition and the neighbors were called. This would be the fourth year our neighbors have contributed to judging our friendly, family competitions - usually it's with Easter eggs though. BK won this one...until next year! Can you guess which pumpkin is hers?

We ended the night with a bonfire, roasted pumpkin seeds and a movie. Monday came too quickly.

Market

Every Saturday morning during the Fall, downtown has an outdoor market. Today, Mom and I gallivanted around town, starting with the Market on the Square. The city market allows locals to sell their homemade good and crafts on Saturday's in the Fall and Spring. It's a great way to highlight talented culinary and organic artists and encourage city commerce. Not only is it good for the city and local artists, it's an excellent adventure and successful check mark on the MUST DO list! No. 13, you were fun. We came away with scrumptious pumpkin butter jelly for biscuits in the morning and a dainty bouquet of fresh flowers.