Good morning! I hope the world is being good to you and you’re being good to it.

Grab your coffee or beverage of choice and share a thought with me!

The vastness of the United States holds many wonders throughout its far-reaching corners. It’s hard to justify traveling abroad when there are still so many treasures I’ve not seen at home. Air travel makes the leap from coast to coast and border to border achievable in a matter of hours as opposed to days on the road. Despite this, I enjoy the act of driving and a good ol’ road trip. Unfortunately, I live in an area that experiences all four seasons. This means that, in reality, there are only two seasons that matter: winter roads and road construction.

While I’m exaggerating, it feels like there is maybe one month out of the year that the roads are clear for uninterrupted, full speed cruising. Outside that window, the winter and spring months are brutal. Besides snowy and icy conditions creating surface hazards, drastic temperature fluctuations and frequent precipitation creates buckling, potholes, and general carnage. When the temperature warms and stabilizes, the roads need to be repaired, so we enter the long dread of construction season.

During those months of heat and honks, lane closures, traffic back-ups, and endless lines of orange cones plague every trip, and what used to be a simple run downtown for errands now requires circuitous routes and an extra half-hour. Not only are the winter’s ravages being repaired, but gargantuan road replacement and upgrade projects choke the major arteries connecting cities and towns. It’s all a necessary evil, but knowing the cycle will never end is a crushing realization – shackled by the freedom of the open road.

Again, I love hitting the road and driving, but I hate the impediments slowing or stopping me from getting from here to there, even if they’re for the benefit of future experiences. That’s why I treasure those times when the road is clear and I can just go; that can’t be taken for granted.