When I was a kid, my dad used to take me camping with my uncle Craig and cousins at Campbell lake- which is out in the middle of nowhere in south central Oregon. There are two "towns" that are close- Paisley and Bly...both of which are about 35 miles away from the lake. Now since my dad is retired and my sister is on summer break from school, they went up for a whole week. I didn't have that luxury...so after I got back from Seattle I planned on driving down for the weekend. It's a good 7 or 8 hours away from my house...but since I got some Mom and Ed time last week I figured it's time for some Dad and Ed time.
This brings up an interesting dilemma. The roads to the lake aren't exactly paved all the way, and my car is way too low and way to nice to take on a washboard gravel road. So I did the smart thing- borrowed my sister's car :) This is a new-to-her MKIV Jetta...which did absolutely fine. I started out after my conference call on Friday morning and became one with the road. I drove. When I got tired, I stopped. When I got hungry, I ate. Had to pee...I peed. I really do feel at peace behind the wheel of a car. The rest of the world just drifts away...which is exactly what I needed. Thank god my sister had the good sense to buy a stickshift. I get so tired of driving the automatic rental cars. I like providing the input and being able to tell the car what I want it to do. Between work and my personal life, I have a bunch of mounting stress right now. Camping for a weekend was supposed to be a getaway...but the drive was a big part of it as well.
So was fishing with my dad. Although being out of state sucks. $33 for a 3 day fishing license...what a ripoff! So I caught a couple fish with my dad...which worked out to be $5.50 a pop LOL! Mostly, it was just a time to get away and unplug. No phones, email, or internet for three days. It was great- although I did miss talking with Gayle. She's a helluva girl, and she's going to be in the picture for a long time. I know it.
So Friday, 8 hours in the car. Sunday...same thing. Was it worth it...totally!
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