I can only recommend that you consult a physiotherapist and start working with him/her now. I was afraid that I would have to cancel my safari which will be in Oct 2007. Sadly, my brother and I have never been on a road trip together as adult.I really sympathize with you as I also have a back problem (herniated L4/5 disc) which flared up this summer. A few years later, we took another road trip down south that was even more adventure-filled, but that is a story for another time. Luckily, we survived, Julie got into North Greenville and we both came away with happy memories. He started chowing down on the food and it looked like he was about to eat it all, so I tried pulling the bucket back into car through the window and he followed, horns and all, and, much to our horror, shook his head in agitation when I tried to pull it away! Note to would-be safari goers: feeling big-horned animals from your car window is maybe not the best idea! The first animal to come by for a bite was this this big guy: Naturally, this seemed like a great idea to us. They let you buy big buckets of food and feed the animals from your car. The last thing I remember about that trip was another detour we made to a drive-through safari, somewhere in Virginia. This is still one of my all-time favorite pictures of Julie, although she doesn’t agree. It’s known as one of the most beautiful roads in the United States, and I have to agree. Second, we took a detour off the highway to travel the scenic Blue Ridge Parkwayfor a ways. Even in the moment, I was so happy to have the time together with her. There are three things that stand out in my mind when I think about this road trip. Looking back now, I like to think she learned from my mistakes, but in truth, perhaps I was the one who had to learn from her example before I made any big moves like that on my own. Now, at 18, she was about to go away to college half way across the country, whereas I had stayed at home and went to community college, something I always regretted. At 16, she went on a missionary trip to South Africa, something I had always dreamed of doing. I was so proud of my sister when she was a teenager. Our first road trip together as adults was when we drove down to South Carolina to visit the campus of North Greenville University, where she hoped to attend. By the time she was graduating high school, we had become best friends. Incidentally, this had a lot to do with the fact that I now had a car of my own and could drive her to her friends’ houses. It wasn’t until I was out of high school, that we really started to spend any real time together. This pic is from a road trip my family took to come visit me while I was living in West Virginia in 2003.Įight years my junior, Julie and I weren’t very close as kids. We had a pretty big age gap, and didn’t often spend so much time together if we weren’t forced to, but I think having this common experience a few times a year is something that really bonded us over the years. It’s something we can all look back on and laugh about. The thing is, though, as miserable as we felt at the time, talking about those trips is one of our go-to topics whenever we are all together now as adults. Those were my favorite! But mostly it was a long boring ride, made worse by the anticipation of wherever we were going and the fact that my brother’s feet always smelled and my sister would be leaning on me and I didn’t want anyone touching me! My mom was pretty good at keeping our favorite snacks on hand, and usually had some car games for us. Like, sing countless songs, over and over at the top of our lungs. This was back in the days before electronic entertainment was a big thing, so we had to do other things to entertain ourselves. My younger brother, Tim, Julie, and I would all squeeze into the back seat of whatever tiny, fuel-efficient car my father happened to have at the time and try to endure each other while my parents pushed on through a 20+ hour drive from New York to Florida (or wherever). When we were kids, my family took a lot of road trips. How better to do that then by spending hours on end in a car with them? Chances are, if I’ve ever been on a road trip with you, you have a special place in my heart. But, even more, road trips are one of the best ways I know to really bond with someone. There is something about being on the open road that fills me with a sense of freedom and adventure.
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