Most summers when I have time off, I stay at home. I figure since many people come to Colorado for their vacations, why would I want to leave? I plan to go to the mountains, enjoy local cultural attractions, and catch up on home projects. Usually, however, I end up sleeping the days away, or watching movie after movie after movie without doing any of those other things. A day or two before going back to work, I realize I haven’t done one thing I thought I would do. Rest is all well and good, and I save money by staying at home, but I think this year I should do something more adventurous – something that really is a vacation from my routine.
Regular readers know that my big vacation every year is a winter trip to San Diego. For over a decade, I’ve escaped the cold, barren landscape of Colorado February for California’s spring-like weather and sunny beaches.
This year, Colorado was so cold and brown, and California was so green and warm, I almost didn’t come home.
The question is, what should I do this summer?
I’ve always had a fantasy about just getting in the car and driving. No destination. Just see where the road takes me.
But naturally, I’ve never actually done this. What if I get someplace and can’t find a hotel room? Reservations must be made ahead of time, just to be safe. What if I get to the middle of nowhere and run out of gas? When you’ve traveled in Wyoming as much as I have, you know that’s not such an unlikely possibility.
When I was a kid, my family got into the RV and headed for the Grand Canyon. It was a long, hot drive. My mom required us to drink one pop an hour (the only time she ever did that) so we wouldn’t dehydrate. My dad was sure we’d be able to find a campground near the national park without any problem.
He was wrong. To stay anywhere near the Grand Canyon in the middle of the summer, you have to make reservations months ahead. After driving for days on end, we parked at an overlook, peered into the canyon for a few minutes, and turned around to go home.
You really can’t appreciate the grandeur of such a place in less than a half hour.
The lesson: plan ahead.
When I was young, I loved to travel spontaneously. I once wandered around England in a rented car with no idea about where I was going. But somewhere along the line, I lost my desire to explore. The last time I was adventurous out on the road was probably in 2003 when my friend Brian talked me into leaving the interstate to visit Ole’s Big Game Lounge in Paxton, Nebraska.
So this year, on June 12, I’m going to get into the car and start driving. I will not go to California. Nor will I go to Wyoming. There are a few other places I probably won’t go, like Texas, but other than that, who knows where I might end up?
The test until then is to avoid planning. Stay tuned to BillsWeek for updates on this challenging situation.
