We all need breaks. It’s important for our health and wellbeing. That’s why we are encouraged to take vacations. It doesn’t have to be long, and you don’t have to go far. A friend loves her short staycations, time off from work to enjoy her home, her family, and explore local nature.
My husband, Jack, and I love long car rides. Friends invited us to visit their new home in Little Rock, Arkansas, a place we’d never been, so we agreed to make it a car trip. While Jack was planning our route, he suggested – if we’re driving a third of the way across the country, what if we were to keep going to Oregon, his home state? We had driven across in 2018 and thoroughly enjoyed it, plus, our 2017 Prius could do it again. And I could coach by phone. Let’s do it!
Jack planned different routes going and coming, mostly on secondary roads. We drove 9,018 miles in seven weeks, averaging 57.2 mpg, saw 30 states and visited 19 art museums. Driving an average of four hours per day, we went through towns we would have missed if we had taken major highways all the way.
Some people wonder how we can be together 24/7 for 50 days. It’s easy. We enjoy each other’s company, we both like to drive, and we were awed by the incredible scenery. Instead of listening to music or books, we talked. Silence was soothing.
It was fun catching up and exploring with Jack’s siblings and their families who visited us in the houses we rented for two weeks in Manzanita on the very cool Oregon coast and a week in the high desert sunshine of Bend. We loved visiting our friends and exploring Little Rock together.
I look forward to sharing with you some of the hundreds of photos I took. You’ll see them each Wednesday, as they are intended to give your brain a brief break.
Breaks from routines are healthy, even brief ones. Road trips are fun for us. So is walking around our neighborhood.
What is a fun break for you?
