Going for a Drive
Did you ever go cruising when you were younger?
Where I live we have a main avenue where teens would cruise up and down. I don’t know if they still do or not, but when we were younger we’d start at the East end 7-Eleven and cruise all the way down to the mall at the other end of the city. And for us, that was a fun night. In High School I had a couple of groups of friends that I hung around with and we did this all night. I had the crappiest car, but I bought it all by myself and it got me from point A to point B and most of the time point C. That car alone is a story in itself lol. I had so much fun cruising up and down the avenue, blasting the tunes with my friends.
I remember one night right after Eric and I had moved in together, he had been gone out for a long time. There was a thunderstorm and I was worried and didn’t know where he was. When he got back, he had explained that he sometimes liked to go for long drives when it was raining. I totally didn’t understand why, but he said he liked it so I let it go. As I had learned more about him, I had discovered that his family had taken many long road trips together and also growing up in the country, he became fond of long drives in certain circumstances. I was inexperienced in travelling at this time and therefore still did not understand.
When the Sass came along we began to travel a little. First it was weekend trips to my Dad’s or my Aunt’s place an hour away. Then once Rachel came along we started doing family vacations, often to Alberta to visit other family. I come from a very large family so there was always a wedding or reunion of some sort in the summer. We did our last big drive, a whirlwind weekend trip on Sasha’s 18th Birthday. Needless to say, she had a lot of fun at the wedding and not so much fun on the 14 hour drive home. She said she was very happy we were in Dad’s truck and not Mom’s car.
A year or two ago, both girls had said to me that they wished we could go on a road trip, and I told them we could go out to Gimli for a few days if they wanted and they said “no, like we did when we were kids. Like when we went to Alberta all of the time.” I said “you liked that?” They proceeded to tell me that they loved the road trips. They said that they had so much fun being in the car with us all that time and they looked forward to it every year. I didn’t get it. I thought they hated it. I mean I know I loved it, but I loved it because I got to see my cousins and Aunts and Uncles. I totally didn’t get why they wanted to go on a long road trip.
My in-law’s love to go for drives. Almost every weekend they go for an adventure somewhere, and the neat thing about it is they take some random back road each time. They look forward to their trips each weekend. When I first heard about them doing this, I didn’t get it. I couldn’t understand why they’d want to take a back road. You see, in Manitoba (if you’re not from here) our back roads are mostly gravel, and some are even dirt. But the Grumpies (yes, I call my in-law’s the Grumpies and they know it, actually my mother-in-law is probably reading this, Hi Mom!), anyhow, the Grumpies lived in the country, so they are used to it, but me, I’m a city girl, so I’m still a little scared of them gravel roads. And why on earth would you want to go on a long road trip, down random gravel roads, on your weekend? I mean seriously! Spending your weekend driving? I didn’t get it at all!
Last year, Eric and I pursued a dream of ours and purchased our family a second home in Gimli. It is a beautiful little community on Lake Winnipeg. (Any of the beach or lake pics you see on this site, will probably be from there.) It is a 2-hour drive door to door. Sometimes I like to stop in Winnipeg to get a Starbucks because we don’t have one here, so that adds some extra time. Guess what? I get it. I totally get it now. I understand why the Grumpies, Eric, the girls, why they love the long drives. You see, when I liked cruising, it was because the tunes were loud and I was with my friends, but I was never relaxed, I was focused on driving and making sure I never got pulled over. Now when I go myself I appreciate the time to myself, the time to unwind and relax, the time to think, and appreciate the area and scenery and life. Do I turn up the tunes? Heck yea! When I’m alone. But when it’s just Eric and I (and sometimes the girls) in the truck, I just kick off my shoes, pull my feet up under me, lean back and toward him in my seat, and just love the time we have together. There doesn’t have to be music playing, we don’t have to be talking, just being together and appreciating each other, taking in the scenery, relaxing, and enjoying life. The enjoying life part is what I’m really learning how to do. It’s a little difficult when you have to practice social distancing, but I’m learning and loving every minute of it, because I’m Millixi, and this is me.
