Mid-Life Philosophy--8

Enjoy the Drive

Chris and I started taking road trips right after we got married. We like to go places, usually to see people, and the car is the most inexpensive way to get there. When Ammon was very, very little, we learned the important lesson that the drive is part of the vacation. For many of those quick trips, we spent as many days driving as we did at the vacation destination. We had better learn to enjoy the drive or we would be miserable!

There are perhaps three main things that we do to enjoy the drive:

1. Take things to do in the car. Sometimes I have spent a lot of time packing our car entertainment. Maps for the kids to mark, books to read aloud or books on cd, pictures, magazines, coloring, snack bags, music, etc. All of it makes the trip enjoyable. The key here is that I have to interact with the children. They may have packs of activities, but it all works best if I interact with them, too. Chris and I have had some of our best conversations while driving in the car. Instead of driving as fast as we can to enjoy family time once we get there, we enjoy the family time that we have on the way.

2. Look out the windows. There is beauty everywhere. I admit having a hard time in certain locations. But most places I have been have a beauty of their own. To me, the best word to describe Nebraska is pleasant. Southern Utah is breathtaking for my inner-geologist. I have figured out why New Jersey is called the garden state. I love farmland, orchards, vineyards, empty spaces, desert, mountains, ocean views, and the occasional city. It makes a drive so much more enjoyable if we look out the windows and appreciate where we are.

3. Stop once in a while. I was talking about road trips with friends the other night. They were describing screaming babies and toddlers, trying to hold a bottle for a baby in the back seat, or sitting next to a baby in a car seat and trying to nurse her. I said, "We just go to a rest stop." They said but then you are there for an hour! Yes, we are. We have found little parks in small towns in Nevada for picnics and playgrounds. Some states have little walks or hikes at their rest stops. An hour seems to be sufficient for our kids. When we drove from Utah to New York, we planned very specifically so we could stop to visit our brothers, a cousin, and close friends. We planned to stop at historical sites along the way. We didn't have a lot of time, but we planned enough time to make the drive a vacation.

In my last area on my mission, we got to have a car. My companion usually drove. Sometimes she would get impatient with the traffic or whatever. I remember several times saying, "We're not in a hurry." That was always true. We had enough time. I still find myself saying that to Chris on occasion. (Although sometimes we are in a hurry.) We seem to live far away from everything here. It takes an twenty-five minutes to drive to our church building. It takes about an hour to drive to the temple. Instead of complaining about that time, we can look out the windows and talk to each other. I try to enjoy the drive, whether short or long, and I think this little philosophy has improved my family relationships and made life more pleasant.