| I grew up on a dairy farm in central Minnesota. | | | | The whether was cool and raining so I used the |
| When you own a dairy farm you are tied down | | | | time to do our laundry, dust and vacuum and go |
| to the farm because the cows need to be milked | | | | grocery shopping. When we woke up Saturday |
| twice a day. Any time we went some place we | | | | morning the sun was shining and the sky was |
| needed to get back home within a few hours so | | | | clear blue. I told my husband to get dressed for |
| that the cows could be milked. I think it was this | | | | one of my road trips. I went into the kitchen and |
| feeling of being tied down that has added to my | | | | made coffee. I dug out our travel mugs and |
| need to feel independent and free. My favorite | | | | thermos so we could have our morning coffee |
| thing is to be able to wake up on a weekend | | | | along the way. There was a gentle breeze blowing |
| morning and decide to take road trips. The ability | | | | from the west so that is the direction I drove. |
| to do this was not possible in my growing up | | | | We went down a road that we had both traveled |
| years. | | | | many times, yet we each discovered things that |
| Through the years I have gone on dozens of | | | | we had never noticed before such as a flower |
| road trips. Some of them have been for a few | | | | garden in a yard, or a name on a mailbox or a |
| hours and others have been for a few days. The | | | | location of a building. We stopped and had |
| main criteria I have for road trips are that there | | | | breakfast at a café that we had driven |
| is no planning involved. This means that there is | | | | past many times. The food was home cooked |
| no hotel rooms reserved and no itinerary set. | | | | and delicious and the owners were very |
| Some times I go on road trips with a friend or | | | | welcoming. I am sure that we will stop in again in |
| my husband and other times I go on my own. | | | | the future. We went into a ceramic shop that is |
| There is something very liberating about getting | | | | based in the artist's home. We stopped at a park |
| into your vehicle and just driving. I will stop along | | | | next to a lake and went on a walk along the lake |
| the way to check out a store or restaurant that | | | | on a paved path that we had never noticed |
| I may have passed by many times. I will also pull | | | | before. We drove for a couple more hours then |
| over to read historical markers and to take | | | | had lunch in a small town that we had never |
| pictures at scenic over looks. It has been during | | | | stopped in before. After lunch we decided that |
| these road trips that I realize how many times I | | | | we needed to head back home. We had great |
| have driven a familiar road and have not taken | | | | memories of another one of our successful road |
| the time to really notice what is along the way. | | | | trips. |
| Two weeks ago I had a Friday afternoon off. | | | | |