"The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and, instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are."
-- Samuel Johnson, Piozzi's Johnsoniana
Growing up, I always seemed to be out of the house, wandering the local storm drains, bicycling along back roads, and generally seeing where I could end up when I started down whatever path caught my eye. In time, my adventuring slowed as I dealt with the responsibilities of being a grown-up, but they never fully abated.
After I was married, I found that my wife Angela shared my love of wandering, and though we rarely went far, we sometimes took the road less travelled to get to a destination, and we adored exploring the countryside just outside the city we lived in.
And then we met Brandy.
Brandy is the other love in our life, and that will be the extent of my revelations about my personal life, as this is not to be a diary blog.
Rather, this is a blog of experiences, a description of places we have been and things that we have seen. For you see, Brandy also styles herself a gypsy, often taken with wanderlust, and the temptation to just go...
I still remember how it shocked her the first time this mood struck her while she was out with Angela and I. We had just been at the drive-in theater in Ennis, and we were on our way back to take 287 home. She was saying that it would be nice to just keep going...maybe Houston, cause she'd never been. The only question I asked was if we had enough money for gas, food and a hotel. Once I received an answer in the affirmative, I said "Okay."
Even at that, the car erupted into chaos as they both realized I had passed the exit for 287. They didn't so much protest and express surprise that I would actually go through with it. Angela had half-expected it, but Brandy didn't know about that side of me before. Needless to say, she was quite pleased, although we ended up being adults and not, in fact, going to Houston.
Although I think we went the next week...I dunno, my chronology isn't so good.
Regardless, since then, we've made road trips a regular activity -- we may not be able to go as much as we'd like due to scheduling and gas prices. And every trip, whether we actually do anything or not, we always have a terrific time in the car, just exploring this great state of ours.
What do I intend to write? Obviously, tales of our travels, although I think I'd also like to share some of the hiking adventures of my well-spent youth (any time spent getting out there and seeing what life has to offer you can't be considered misspent).
So, care to go for a drive?
