Photo reflection- The Ongoing Road

My son overlooking passing boats on the St. James river, MI 8.2020

    Throughout my life, road trips have held a very high level of importance to me. Whether it was a weekend trip to the mountains, an early morning drive to Disneyland, or a month-long trip dragging our camper around as many National Parks west of the Mississippi. By the time I was a teenager, no destination in the Western United States was too far. This is a passion which my parents have passed onto me and I hope my kids share the same appreciation for the road.

 

Gordes, France

   In my adult life, road trips have continued to be my favorite method of travel. Over the last ten years I have driven the entire United States as well as portions of Canada, France and Italy. I was even lucky enough to find someone who shares my love for a good road trip. When we got married, we made sure to include a three-hour road trip from the nearest airport to the ceremony and every guest came away with an unforgettable story of their travels. When they arrived that weekend, they were greeted with breathtaking sights, and when they left, they had bonded with strangers who had a tale of their own.

 

    A year later my wife and I welcomed our first child and after he turned one, we decided to return to where we were married for his first road trip. It was a challenge. We had to fly with more luggage than we were used to, a stroller, car seat and then hit the road for another four hours of travel. Our son handled it just I as always imagined he would, and we even found an appreciation for something new: a scenic roadside picnic. Along the routes we picnicked atop coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, in the Redwood Forests and even in a random parking lot. I didn't want it to ever end, my road trip family is all I could ever dream of and more.

            Roadside picnic. Duncans Cove, CA

   Fast forward another year, and we are looking forward to inviting our second son into our family. He surely is going to be another road warrior but there is only one obstacle in the way, 2020. We were fortunate to have him during the early stages of the COVID 19 pandemic, there were no hospital restrictions set in place yet and we had a happy healthy boy. When we arrived home and settled into life with two kids under the age of two everything seemed as it should be, hectic but full of love. Life briefly returned to normal until the country shut down due to the pandemic. All of a sudden, we had more time than ever and after about a month of locking down in our home, the road started calling again. We planned out our second sons first road trip, and it was just under a full tank of gas away, to a town in Northern Michigan.

    Petoskey is a place we're familiar with. It is a place of astonishing beauty that we can safely maneuver around, adventure away from others and there is a family cottage nearby where we can quarantine ourselves off from the world. We planned two stops along the way for picnics which had three necessities. The first was that there could be no one around, the second being the location needed to be close to the interstate and the third, it couldn't be in a random parking lot. Our second son handled the road trip like a champion, better than our first son. We found one of our favorite picnic sites in the Midwest, where our sons can watch the boats cruise by on the river while we're eating. One theme continues to outlast all of the curve balls life can throw at us, and road trips will continue to be of utmost importance to our ever-evolving family: especially if there is a good picnic spot along the way.

Petoskey, MI