road goes on forever & the party never ends

I love & live for a road trip, big or small. And livin this love was a deal I made with myself to do just that starting this spring...when the sun shines longer and the trees get greener.

Pallie {hands down my favorite road tripper} and I are frequent patrons of I-65 & 431 South on our own highway to heaven {also known as home in GA}. Nearly two years ago, after feeling guilty too many times and begrudgingly justifying bottled water and pretzels we made a universal declaration that calories don't count on a road trip. It was a glorious day when we let go of the guilt, made our minds and hearts happy again and just learned to deal with extra jiggle we felt the next day. I invite you all to take part in this extremely official, notarized, verified and recognized declaration because frequent gas station stops for fountain drinks, chex mix, crunch & munch and the occasionally trashy trucker hat is nothing less than vital.

I first understood the impact of a road trip when 3 girlfriends and I loaded up my parents 1988 Suburban our Sophomore year of college and decided we'd like to see the Grand Canyon. We had a plan that consisted of an atlas highlighted in yellow and a nine day time limit. Looking back, there's no doubt that the extreme nature of our naivety was, in fact, the only way we had the guts to take that trip, much less survive it. We fulfilled our pursuit of seeing the big ditch in the desert and leisurely found additional destinations in Las Vegas and Nogales, Mexico {stories in & of themselves}. We brushed our teeth on the side of the road, ate sandwiches everyday for a week out of a cooler in the back and only stayed one night in a hotel. It was an experience that scarred bound me forever to those girls and one we will never forget.

Trips to the beach and here and there happen often enough, but the spontaneity of discovering a new dot on the color coded map in my mind has made me a better person. Believe it.

A few weeks ago Mom & I drove to meet the brother bear in the bustling metropolis of Glasgow, KY. We at lunch a Gale & Dale's Country Cookin, laughed til our stomach's hurt and hit up two horribly chintzy flea markets. Could there BE a better day?

Lindsay & I hit the road a few sunny Sunday's ago with a Sonic slush in hand and just. Drove. North. We didn't know where we would end up, but we avoided the interstate, stopped whenever our hearts desired, never let our windows up and captured some iconic images of Backwoods, TN. There ain't nothin' like a Sunday afternoon racing the sunshine with not a plan or care in the world {oh, and the slush was a definite plus!}

Pallie & I hit the road this afternoon to meet my Mama in Cullman, AL for a hug or four, a ground beef restock and dinner at a local joint. We laughed at everything, sang til we were hoarse, had a real meal and got a little lovin' from our mama....no really, it DOES NOT get any better than that.

On Friday, Linds and I head to Louisville for the ultimate Flea Market Frenzy & Thrift Store Throwdown. We are stopping at numerous little towns along the way hoping to scrape up junk treasures galore for her new business venture. But really, deep down in the deepest chambers of our big ole hearts....we really can't wait for the ipod shuffle, the belly laughs, the pictures, the locals, cold beer on a porch, hanging out with the brother bear and a spontaneously real good time. Stay tuned, it's likely this trip will feed our lil bohemian hearts and in no time we'll be owning a VW van and a storefront downtown.

There's something empowering about being captive in a car with a someone or two that ya love or barely know at all, an endless selection of tunes, junk food to the nines, singing too loud and it not mattering, and a little does of mother nature's own HVAC.

Sometimes I think it's the freedom of the road and the thrill of understanding that with one simple turn you can go anywhere.

Other times I think it's the feeling of literally being behind the wheel of your life, having total control but feeling a just little and just enough out of control.

Most of the time, I hope I never figure it out and just keep thinking.
After all, like I learned from that first real road trip years ago...
...all I really need is time and a highlighter.

*photo credit: lindsay mcm