Sometimes to get where you want to go you take a drive. Road Trip! Those two words often bring joy and always bring excitement. And it’s not just the family dog that gets excited; everyone does! Whatever the destination, it’s an adventure waiting to happen. It’s the enjoyment of something new.
As important as the destination is to the road trip, it’s just as important to first get on the road. But what happens when even the first stage doesn’t come together?
The goal of a recent road trip was to reach the rocky coast of Rhode Island. It was going to be crowded on the roads, but my goal was worth the trouble. I planned to walk along that rocky coast and watch the sun come up over the Narragansett Bay. There are several trails in the area that I count as favorites, but this time I was going to try a new path. I had heard it led across the rocks to a precipice overlooking the Bay.
It was Tuesday. I had been planning all week to get on the road after work and head north. It was going to be a two-day drive. And I knew that I’d have a lot of company on the road since it was Thanksgiving week. I had plans for where to stay in Rhode Island, but I would decide where to spend the first night when I was on the road. If I was able to get in three to four hours of good driving, the second day on the road would be easier.
Leaving at 5:30PM would mean pulling off the road around 9:00PM. Then on Wednesday I’d have a short drive up the I-95 corridor in New England. That stretch of road can often be a bear so I decided giving myself plenty of time was best. There was no need to be in a rush, especially when rushing is often not possible due to traffic. But it turned out that getting out of – or in this case onto – my driveway was the first and greatest hurdle.
Our second car was parked on the street. We were having some improvements made to our house and the garage was being used for storing equipment and material. The project was almost completed so now there was room for me to move this second car into the garage before we left. I had moved that car around the block several times to keep it out of the way of the workers and their vehicles. And therein lay my problem.
Everything was ready. The bags were packed. The food was in the cooler. Maps were in the back seat. And we were right on schedule. All that needed to be done was to put the car in the garage, and we could be on our way. I got into the car and turned the key – and nothing. Not a wheeze, not a whimper, was to be heard from the car. I was stunned. I tried again, but nothing. And I tried again with the same results. The perfect plan for an escape before the major push of traffic was falling apart.
Several phone calls later and following the arrival of a service truck, the car was running. I had forgotten that the battery in the car was drained a little bit each time I started it over the last several weeks. And since I only drove it around the block, the battery never had a real chance to recharge. Even if I pushed the car into the garage, I would have the same problem when I returned and wanted to drive it out of the garage.
The service truck driver got us started, but now two hours had passed. Traffic was building up in front of me. To the hours lost I now had to add half an hour of driving the car around to make sure the battery was completely charged. This done, I put the car in the garage. Now we were nearly three hours behind our carefully planned schedule.
But when I reached into my plan – figuratively speaking – to salvage it, the best part of the plan that I could grab hold of was the flexibility we had worked into it. When we had decided on the trip we knew that our final destination was over a day away. We knew we would have to spend the night on the road, but now how far would be get?
FLEX-I-BIL-I-TY! It’s got to be your middle name on a road trip! Especially at the beginning.
There are many parts to a road trip, and like a story there is a beginning, a middle, and an end. For us the beginning was almost the end – or so we thought. But helpful people on the phone and a helpful service truck driver and our (reach deep for it) patience allowed us to get to the middle. We made it. We arrived in Rhode Island and had a good walk. We stood on the precipice and looked over the bay. It was cold, but there was little wind and the bay was as calm as a mill pond. The sun rising over the distant rocks and turning the surface of the dark water to shimmering reds and golds was well worth the trouble.
At the end we got home safely. May we all!
Yes, the car in the garage started right up!
Enjoy the road. Enjoy the trip. And always be flexible.