Road Trip

I love a good, old-fashioned road trip. There’s simply something about the open road, no timetable, and a completely obligation-free day ahead of me that makes every other single thing in my life simply melt away. Today was a thing of beauty. This morning, I dropped the kids at school at 8:10 as usual. I ran down to Starbucks for a triple venti latte because all that driving would certainly require three shots of espresso, right? Then, without a care in the world, I hit the highway bound for Salt Lake City.

I know Salt Lake isn’t necessarily the most glamorous locale, but on a day with no other plans it doesn’t seem like such a bad place to end up, either. I had a perfect day for it, clear skies and zero traffic. The only thing I had planned all day was dinner with an old, college friend (emphasis on the college part, not the old part) once I got to Salt Lake. I love to drive. When I got to the top of Vail pass at 9:30, it was already 52 degrees there…a sign that the day was going to go well. And, it did. I stopped several times along the way to revel in the scenery and take deep yoga breaths to enjoy the moment.

I finally arrived in Salt Lake around dinner time. I met my friend Jay for a couple drinks at Bar X (I finally tried the Moscow Mule my sister has been raving about) and then dinner. We ate at a downtown Salt Lake restaurant called Zy. Over an incredible cheese board and some wine, we caught up and discussed how different life was for us 20+ years after college graduation. We joked that the main thing that had changed after all this time was the restaurants we could afford go to. Funny how that works. I’m lucky to have friendships like the one I have with Jay, where the only thing that changes over time is the locale where we meet.

All in all, I had a flawless road trip day. There are few things in this world that, for me, can take the place of the peace I feel when I venture out in my car, radio blaring, schedule wide open, the entire day at my disposal. Even on a trip like this one, where I’m only ending up 8 hours away on the other side of the Rockies from our home, I still feel an overwhelming sense of joy driving my car down whatever highway calls. You know what? Not once today was my mind preoccupied with anything other than the current moment. How perfect is that?