There have been a lot of road trips in my life, mostly due to transporting cars or pets. In this case, we felt it was more affordable to drive from Florida to Indiana rather than drive. After all, time is not really a factor in retirement, but living on a fixed income is becoming more of challenge. I still have plenty of Marriott Rewards Points that we’ll use in Louisville, Huntsville, and Tallahassee along the way. I’ll save some for Barcelona next spring. 

This particular Road Trip will hardly have the appeal of a college movie, but every time I take the wheel for a long drive, memories of youthful journeys to Ft. Lauderdale, California, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan come to mind. I also can’t help but think of family station wagon vacations with my parents to Yellowstone and Florida, recalling stops at all the tourist traps along the way. There’s a sense of freedom behind the wheel that sparks the spirit of adventure. 

In more recent years, my wife and I have done two separate cross-country drives from Oregon to Florida, one into Canada, and a third through the Midwest up to Mackinac Island. All were filled with touristy stuff. We also like to cover area tourist attractions on Thursdays with some shorter day trips. Last week we did the Venice Museum and the week prior, Solomon’s Castle. Yesterday, we drove down to Punta Gorda to Fisherman’s Village and an early dinner at Ginger Dim Sum. Longer road trip excursions have included Marco Island, Sarasota, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Cape Canaveral, Daytona, Vanderbilt Beach, Fort Myers, South Beach, Jupiter, Vero Beach, St. Augustine, Orlando, Jacksonville, Arcadia, Leesburg, Amelia Island, and The Keys. 

This week’s Road Trip is to Indiana for a wedding, so I’ll be wearing a suit for the first time in years. I had intended to wear one, as required, at the Grand Hotel last year but the pants had fallen off the hanger, so I had to improvise. The last wedding that we attended was a month ago on the Oregon Coast but it was informal. I would have to go back four years ago in San Francisco to the time when I wore my gray pinstripe. For this particular occasion and variety’s sake, I packed a black one. I would hate to be seen wearing the same suit at all my relative’s weddings when pictures are gone through years from now. However, I do still have the tux that I wore to our wedding nearly 25-years ago, even though one of my first steps in retirement was to clear my closet of most business attire. 

Hey, it’s time to get packing. The fantasy football draft is this afternoon and a cover band concert tonight. The first leg of tomorrow’s drive is 7.5 hours, meaning an early running start for my minimum mile and a long day in the car to get to the baseball game on time. We also have to drop Tally off at Schnauzerville. I’m not taking my laptop and therefore blogging will be delayed. Expect a recap in about 10-days. Road Trip 2023 is about to begin!