Happy Road Trip Day!

Some of us have special holidays and commemorative occasions that don’t fit into anyone’s iron-clad holiday scheme. You’ll never hear about them because you’ll never notice them. It’s the day the lady two cubicles over has flowers delivered to herself or when Paul goes all moody every September 20th for no apparent reason. You very well may never learn the reasons why because they are intently personal. If you ask about them, the answer may only be a small smile.

Early in April, I celebrate a small private holiday that marks the onset of a particularly spectacular year of travel on the road; I met lifelong friends, saw fantastic sights, and learned answers to questions I had not asked yet.

I head out and drive to see some of those friends if possible. Or just go and see the elephant – take a detour to somewhere I’ve never been. We used to call the adventures we had detours. There are places that I’ve been that I can’t find again. So sometimes, I go looking for one of those off-the-map locations. A favorite search of mine here in Massachusetts is to find a town that has a small elephant on a marble ball on their Town Green.

My buddy and I passed through one night in the rain, had some freaky adventures there, and could never find the place again.

I keep expecting to find it appearing out of the Fog some evening, like the place in the show Brigadoon.

I’ll let you know if I find it, but always remember that it’s the journey, not the destination, that makes these things worthwhile.