I have a jones for road trips
A serious jones.
It goes way back to when I was a little kid. My folks would get us in the car and take us for A Ride. Sometimes there'd be a planned destination and sometimes not, but wherever we might be going, one thing seemed certain: the route we'd take would never be the shortest. These rides weren't some pointless driving exercise, either. Even if we weren't going anywhere in particular, it seems there was always something to see or do along the way....
and we did plenty of seeing and doing.
Getting somewhere the fast and easy way was a non-starter for my folks. Getting out and seeing the countryside and making sure us kids did too was what was important. I'm not even sure they realized what it was they were doing. Going for A Ride with the kids meant covering a lot of ground. There was just too much out there to see and do to not try to take in as much of it as possible.
After a while these rides got to be a little cliched. We even gave it a name:
Alternate Route B.
Somewhere along the line I got hooked.
As I got older I found I had inherited an inclination to carry on that family tradition. I found I really liked going on what would come to be called the "road trip". I would come to loathe driving around town, but give me an open road a hundred miles to drive on it and I'd be in Hog Heaven. The longer the drive, the better. I actually started dreaming up excuses to drive long distances.
Gee, I haven't anything to do. I think I'll go for a ride.
It would become something of an obsession. It's like I can't help myself. I take the longer route.
Jones.
But not just driving. It's not where you're going, it's the road you take to get there.
Call it nature. Call it nurture. As my brother is fond of saying...
It is what it is.
At least I come by it honestly.
