Longing for road trips of old...

We recently finished driving through the West for 2 1/2 weeks. Our time was limited, so we had to drive a bit farther, most days, than we wanted to.

Which brought back memories of my childhood family road trips, where we had nearly unlimited time. If something looked interesting, we'd stay the night. If we were too tired to drive, we'd stay in the middle of nowhere, just to make sure we could get enjoyment out of the trip.

Yet one of my fondest memories comes from a roadtrip of my own that I took a few days after dropping out of grad school, back in 1998. I hopped in my little Toyota and headed north of San Fran on 101. I'd also tossed my guitar into the back seat, just for kicks. Partway up to Mendocino (which ended up being my day's destination) the two-lane highway had one lane closed, and I had to stop for a while, waiting for the other direction to pass. I put the car in park, reached back for the guitar, and started playing -- all while sitting in the driver's seat. I still wonder what people thought, guitar neck sticking out the driver's side window... but heck, we weren't going anywhere for a while.

But that was back when life was more carefree...