Road Trip

Hi, my name is Lois and I am an addict. I am addicted to road trips. Sure, you can fly to great destinations and see wonderful things and I am not opposed to that by any means. However, there is something about road travel that I connect with. You can start with a guideline for your journey but the options are almost limitless. If you see something of interest, you can stop...you don't have to wait for another trip. You are there...stop the car! You can set your own agenda and your own pace. The rhythm of the wheels and the beat of the music is your only guide to discovery.

The road trip is my excuse for the Costco bag of peanut M&Ms and fun drinks for the ice chest I wouldn't normally treat myself to. Sometimes I even throw in a magazine I wouldn't spend money or time on but would thoroughly enjoy. Grab the dog, camera, husband, music, snacks, ice chest, and suitcases and I am good...to...go. (Side note: not necessarily listed in the order of importance.)

The things we've seen tend to be the images and memories most etched into my mind. Sure, I experienced cruises, San Diego and Hawaii via airplane travel and there were wonderful things. But, the ones I recall in conversation came from road trips. My family took a 2-month road trip across the country the year I graduated from high school. We saw Daniel Webster's memorial, which let me tell you was a pretty exciting rock at the end of a horribly long and slow gravel road placed there just to tell us he once spoke to the Whigs there. Memorable place...no? Memorable event? Oh yeah...still talk and laugh about it 30 years later.

Here's a link to one of my favorite stops we stumbled onto in Dover, Ohio. Definitely take a look...this was amazing!

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/10049

What is your essential item for a road trip? What's the best place you discovered that you would have missed by plane, train or direct freeway driving?