This upcoming Saturday I will be solo road tripping to Illinois to pick up a couple of kids. Kinder goat kids to be precise. I have been on a waiting list for a couple of years and finally my patience is going to be rewarded, and I don’t mean my goat named Patience. Although, these are to be future herd sires so maybe I do mean her as well.

While this will only be a day trip my excitement is primed! I find road trips to be very theraputic. You get to see new sites, listen to your favorite music, podcasts, or audio book. Since this road trip will be all by myself it really opens up a lot of possibilities!

My love of road tripping has been fostered since childhood. Growing up in rural Iowa means you had to take a road trip to visit just about anywhere! As I got older I took a road trip to move to Minnesota. There my mother would sometimes take me on drives. We would park nearby a lake or a river and just sit in stillness and quiet. As an adult I can see that she was seeking peace and clarity in those moments. Perhaps that is why I do the same myself.

After that I moved to Colorado and there my step mother would take me on drives. She would sneak in a cigarette or two while we talked and drove around the area to look at beautiful houses. Again, a mother seeking peace and clarity.

In the summer’s I would often road trip out to Iowa to stay with my Grandparents and visit with my Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Occasionally there would be church camp or some other activity to fill my time. Those were always good times.

As an adult I continued driving around. Road trips to Minnesota or to a college town to visit friends.

My biggest road trip was when I moved across country by myself in 2011. I packed up my Dodge Neon with everything that could fit, as well as a cat and a dog, and moved from Colorado to California. After I moved to California I would try to make it back to Colorado yearly but that didn’t always work out.

My longest and most memorable road trip was in the summer of 2018. I was gone for an entire month and a half! To start I went from California to Arizona. I visited Sedona and I even visited both sides of the Grand Canyon by myself! I got a cozy cabin in the woods for a night and really enjoyed the peace and stillness.

 

From Arizona I went to Colorado to visit friends and family for 4th of July and moved on to Iowa. I visited many Aunts and Uncles and stayed with my grandparents for the weekend. I am so glad that I had this opportunity because it was the last time I saw them before they passed away.

When in Iowa I also visited the grave of my deceased Grandparents and placed white tulips on their headstone. I also visited the site of my childhood home and my old home town. I released a lot of long held on to scars that trip.

After Iowa I went up to Minnesota and stayed with my Mother for a week. My sister came over and stayed with us too. I still remember how surprised I was because we had to share a bed and she still wanted to stay. She had always complained about sharing a bed because I would try to snuggle her in our sleep and she hated it! We stayed up late watching movies together just enjoying each others company. When I left Minnesota my sister stayed to say goodbye, another oddity for her because she hated long goodbyes. I’m so glad she did because I still carry in my heart the vision of her waving goodbye to me from my rear view mirror. That was the last time I saw my sister, she passed away two years later.

After Minnesota I traveled through Iowa and Missouri to reach Tennessee and visit my brother whom I hadn’t seen for 6 years! I got to be there with him for a very important moment in his life when he first saw the land that was being given to him for a new house that was built for him. After all that I finally headed back home to California, seeing more family in Missouri on my way back.

I think this road trip was a huge turning point for me in my life. Shortly after I returned was when I got pregnant with Andrew. After years of being told I couldn’t have children my miracle appeared.

My last cross country road trip was my exodus from California to the state of Missouri. Between two cars the passengers consisted of three humans, two dogs, three cats, and some sweet potato slips. It took us about 3 days to get as far as Kansas where one of the cars broke down. We stayed in Kansas over Memorial Day weekend all crammed into a hotel room. The real fun was leaving one of the cars and rearranging everything to fit into one until we could return to pick it up.

Once we finally arrived to Missouri we stayed in Macon until the closing of our house in June. Finally it was Home Sweet Home!

Since settling down here in central Missouri I take every opportunity to explore. I love taking gravel roads and old highways. I’ve been all over this state in the past two years and I am continuously impressed by the beauty and wonder this state has to offer.

So, if you ever find your self stuck with me in a car for a day you are in for a real treat, because I love a good road trip!

How about you? Do you love road trips or exploring new areas?