I just talked with my mom. I’m sure I don’t do that often enough to suite her; she’s a mom after all. As tradition dictates, we both went through our litanies of activities for the upcoming weeks. Her comment, as always, was that I travel soooooo much. Hmmm…Do I? Or is it simply her perspective living in a small town in the mid-west? Her perspective, I’m sure.
I do love to travel – planes, trains and automobiles. Especially automobiles. I even love “adventure driving.” Recently, as I was finding my way through Manhattan and driving faster than my GPS could track, I had to drive in a circle twice to find the right entrance onto the parkway. All I could do was laugh. I was sure the little old ladies sitting on their porches were shaking their heads at the crazy tourist I was.
My rental finally met the on ramp and we were off. Parkways are wonderful driving. Companion to Hudson River, Saw Mill Parkway, surely could tell many a story, if only one took the time to listen. That luxury was not mine. I was on a mission.
One of the best things about parkways is that they tend to be swoopy. For someone who loves driving, that is heaven. I swooped all the way to Rhinebeck NY and back. Diving hills and curves through trees that bring mystery and beauty to the journey. There was no time to give to the mysteries. I was too busy being one with my car in the way that brings freedom to the body and peace to the soul.
Next week offers the opposite landscape – openness and long straight (give or take) stretches of cloudless blue sky. My lungs expand just thinking about it. I will be high – 5200 feet plus (no, not that other kind of high.) Smiles are starting to bubble up from so many memories of driving through Colorado and Wyoming. My arms are getting twitchy and my right foot is getting heavy. Those roads can even make an economy car feel like a like a Maserati.
Yes, taking to the road is good for my soul. I know where the idea of the Sunday drive came from though there is no little old lady in me unless it is the little old lady from Pasadena! I live in a land of no swooping and only one curvy road. We are the Low Country. We have other benefits. Last night, this driver dreamed of hills and long curves and that slight lean…ummm…
Whether you ride a bike or a bike, drive a pickup or a Hugo, weald an RV or a Z, I’ll see you on the rode. We will smile and understand.