On the Road Again

During the past two weekends I've had the opportunity to partake in one of my favorite activities.... the road trip. First, I was in Sioux Falls visiting friends from college--a mini reunion of sorts--and this past weekend I was in St. Cloud and the Twin Cities. Perhaps those don't qualify for true "road trip" status, but I figure anything that takes an entire tank of gas going and coming deserves to be considered a fricking vacation since the price of gas has just risen once more to an unprecedented high of $2.60 per gallon. I swear I'm turning into my father more every time I drive past a gas station and the price has made another fifteen cent jump... my blood pressure rises proportionately! Buying sunflower seeds and finding an audiobook at the library also suggest preparation for long drives, as both are to ward off sleepy driver syndrome.

Some people think that a long drive all alone is a sad thing, but I actually like it and might even prefer the solitude. I love the fact that I can control when I stop for bathroom breaks (never--or only when the gas runs out) and I can control the radio/cd selection and volume (loud). Something I find funny is how I cannot get into a car without the comfort of a handful of cds at my disposal. It's like a security blanket of sorts. Even riding with others, I feel better knowing there's good music handy. In each road trip opportunity I loaded up with approximately 15-20 of my current favs (and that was me trying to be reasonable).

On the drive TO Sioux Falls, I listened to only one CD--a compilation disc of Eva Cassidy songs. I spent most of that drive on the phone catching up with friends. The drive home was a different story. I didn't leave until far too late and I was too tired to notice what I listened to when it came to music, so I put on David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day and I made it through about 2.5 hours before I was definitely nodding off. I pulled off the interstate at a small town about halfway home and parked my car between two cars outside a hotel... reclined my seat, snuggled up to my Northwest Airlines you-aren't-really-supposed-to-take-those-home blanket and slept like a rock for about an hour. I woke up refreshed and only had to repeat this action one more time for about 40 more minutes of sleep an hour further down the road. Yikes. My 4.5 hour trip took closer to 6 hours. That was a drag. (but completely my own fault so I'm not complaining one bit)

There was a time when I thought I'd make a good truck driver. I used to say that I might like to do that for a living. This was mostly because I liked to drive around and listen to music all the time. I guess I thought that's what truck drivers do. Then someone pointed out that I could just be a DJ and get to play all sorts of music, but I guess I'd also have to talk to people and I'm not sure I'm real excited about that. Frequent road trips fulfill this need and I have plans to change careers anytime soon.

My trip to St. Cloud was an early morning drive with a nice long talk with a friend from Ohio and then a steady dose of Graham Parker's Howling Wind and Heat Treatment. The point of this journey was to meet my friend Rebekah and attend the MN Bluegrass Festival. So I was surrounded by music all day. It was delightful. (I think I'll dedicate a post to this topic later). Patsy Cline and Connie Smith, inspired by the old country flavor of the previous day, were the artists whose songs I was belting out as I drove down I-94 heading into the Twin Cities. There I visited several friends and did fun things which included seeing the location for Leah's cool new condo (great view), eating yummy Greek food, buying a new purse, enjoying a Jamba Juice smoothie, investing in a harmonica/instruction book watching The Wedding Date (don't bother) and spending the night at Katie's (the queen of Hollywood Video) place.

All day Monday I leisurely shopped for books at Half Price Books and music at Cheapo Discs (turns out they are open until MIDNIGHT!). I hate to admit I bought more than I should. The most anticipated read of the bunch is Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down.

Once again, I left later than I should have Monday night but this time my audiobook, another Nick Hornby book How to Be Good wasn't played at all. Instead I eagerly played my new acquisition: RENT The Original Broadway Cast Recording double disc set. Loved it. I cruised home last night and once that mental musical was all played out I threw on Who's Next by The Who and then Grace by Jeff Buckley. I only had to resort to sunflower seeds a little, because the music kept me moving.

Part of the allure of the open road rests in the fact that for a short while I am sitting still and really listening to music I love. I rarely take that opportunity in my own home and if I have music playing it's typically background to something else. Like now, for instance, this rambling is to the tunes of O Sister The women's bluegrass collections 1 & 2 (I burned my own cd of the songs --I-- like!).