Road therapy

There's nothing like getting in the car and going out for a drive, especially on a beautiful day. I've always loved the freedom of driving. When my sister and I were teenagers, we'd get into the car and cruise around for the sheer enjoyment. We didn't have anywhere to go or anything to do, just wanted to take see where the road would take us for a few hours. This was in the pre-technology days, without GPS and cell phones, which seem to have become our new driving companions. All we had were some Billy Joel cassettes and a good sense of direction. It was a "time to remember" and a fun bonding experience.

Times have changed. Nowadays, we tend to drive for necessity and are usually under "pressure" to get to a destination or are stuck sitting in traffic. We also have to keep fuel economy in mind especially with rising gas prices.

I recently took a three-hour drive to our auto test facility in Connecticut. It was a perfect fall day—sun shining, bright blue skies, and brilliant hues on the trees. I brought along some driving tunes, water, and snacks. (It's amazing how much stuff we take for even a relatively short trip.) During the ride, I remembered the times when I would drive for fun, just to get out of the house or if I had nothing else to do. Those days are long gone for me now that I have a family, but on this particular journey I had time to reminiscence. The road trip was therapy. I was able to gather my thoughts, reflect on life, and sing at the top of my lungs to my favorite tunes. The best roads, I found, were winding country roads. Not much traffic, just lots of nature and scenery surrounding me.

A road trip is also fun when shared with others, not to mention more economical and potentially better for the environment. My husband took a cross-country trip with three of his friends right after college. He notes that his favorite road was Route 128 in Utah. The glow of the red rock at sunrise was reportedly breathtaking and it created a memory he and his friends will have forever. One of my favorite road recollections is a stretch of the Northway (Route 87) in New York on my way back to college during the winter months. The scene was postcard-perfect, with the sun glistening off the snow and ice dripping down from the frozen trees.

What are your best driving memories? Don't be a "stranger": Feel free to share your best road trip, favorite roads, driving tunes, and other sights and scenes from your travels in the Comments below. You can also include what type of car you were driving. After all, the right car can make the experience.

—Liza Barth

Comments

[pndxtr]

I travel a lot for work and on the occasion stay over the weekend and have my family come out with me. This last year I put 2,000 miles on a rental car driving through seven states in New England. If I had to choose some great roads, I-90 in western Mass is nice. Norman Rockwell really knows how to pick a nice spot (check out the museum in Stockbridge). Another nice road is 101 between CT and RI. If you take that one, you need to stop at 4Gs to get their 4Gs specialty pizza.

Back home I like to drive US-6 in Utah. It goes through the mountains, has some nice curvy roads, and plenty of side roads to take the Outback on.

[Bryan Herber]

I have to say Liza....My previous job, which I very recently quit, involved significant travel. One of my trips was a car ride back home from Montreal to Philadelphia (last February) which required me to travel south on Route 87. The Ariondack region is beautiful indeed and I suspect I covered the same ground you did on your trips back from college.

Great article!

Bryan

[Jason Rehmus]

People rave about seeing the sunrise. But, in my opinion, the best way to see the sunrise is on the road after driving through the night.

[Charles Pinkham]

One of my greatest was coming down off Mt Etna in Sicily in May 2004. The kids were asleep, so my wife and I had a great, uninterrupted conversation while we drove through the beautiful Sicilian countryside. We were in a sexy new Alfa Romeo 147 (I think), a small 4 door hatchback with an awesome turbodiesel and a 6 speed. Ancient farmhouses and vineyards and a gorgeous valley full of ripe wheat greeted us. We detoured through several small towns, piddled around and just had a blast exploring whichever road we chose. We ended up in Enna where we had a great supper and almost got toasted from the "ba-ba's" a deceptive rum soaked pastry/bun/roll. The Italian roads are engineered superbly, but not always maintained well.
We lived in Spain for 4 years, so we got to blitz around at 100mph a bit, the roads were a hoot to drive on but you had to give 100% attention or you'd crash. I felt like a kid again. Like the other writers, the windy, scenic drives were our favorites. Had a '90 Audi 100, an '89 BMW 325i, and a pathetically underpowered but miserly and fun '94 Ford Fiesta (a.k.a. stealth car) to play with, the cars had a lot to do with the fun factor. And the traffic circles are BRILLIANT, really kept traffic moving. Unfortunately our driver in the US are much less skilled and would have a bit of trouble with them.
Am enjoying the blog, thanks to all who write!