A road trip with postaday

I've had quite a few awesome road trips. I guess I'll have to pick the best... Hands down, Dad wins.

When I was little we'd go for milkshakes and drive around in the countryside following the "monster tracks" which were really tar patches on the roads. It was about as awesome as it could possibly get. The grownup version of the same thing involves either coffee or hot chocolate, and is less about monsters and more about the splendor of "God's Country," new road construction, and excellent conversation.

Dad and I also once went on a bear-spotting expedition just outside of... I think just outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (My place memory is fuzzy - I was pretty young at the time). We drove down a tiny gravel road that became a tiny path with 2 distinct tire tracks, lined by willows and berry bushes on either side - prime bear spotting territory and with a convertible, absolutely nowhere to hide and nowhere to go. Mum stayed at the hotel and read by the swimming pool in the sunshine - Mum wasn't ever really into bear spotting in such an up close and personal way. Of course, we didn't actually see any bears. However, the countryside was breathtaking which is what mattered.

When Dad and I were in Mexico we took a drive from Los Cabos up to La Paz. We didn't stick around long in La Paz - we were more concerned by the high number of burned out vehicles along the highway and figured we'd be safer going home before dark! The other thing we kept count of on the side of the road were dead animals, the most gruesome being a dead horse that had been unfortunate enough to have its guts eaten by flies - the inside of the horse was made up of a mass of hungry flies and maggots, while the outside still looked like horse. We're still saving that travel story for a dinner party with any guest who we'd like to frighten away....

Dad and I also went for some pretty incredible drives on the big island of Hawai'i. The big island has some absolutely huge ranches, as well as some of the best prime rib in the world. The story goes (and I think I looked it up once for verification) that the nice folks in Hawai'i actually studied the beef farming methods used in Alberta (grain fed) because Alberta is known around the world for producing the tastiest beef. After many nights of prime rib with a side of king crab legs in Hawai'i, I believe it.

Hawai'i was full of other fantastic sights too - waterfalls, beaches, old black lava flows that stretched all the way from the top of the mountain to the sea. My favourite beach was the black (volcanic) sand beach - I had to keep my sandals on because the sand was quite hot. I seem to remember it either was or was near a sea turtle sanctuary. I remember standing at the edge of the water as small waves broke on the rocks, watching the turtles scrambling over the rocks in the water. Beautiful creatures.

We also drove up through Volcanoes National Park - and what a sight that was! There were steam vents venting toxic gasses along the road (random openings in the earth where the gasses had forced their way out). We also stood and looked out over the crater of an active volcano for a while, until Dad told me to turn around. What did we see? A SNOW COVERED MOUNTAIN! In Hawai'i!!! Just across from a steaming, bubbling volcano!!!

The most recent road trip Dad and I did was around San Francisco. He drove down the scenic highway with its twists and turns, along the coastline. We saw vinyards (no tours though, we're just not like that) and ocean and eucalyptus trees. I also took some time to go through a pretty ancient cathedral. On our last day in the San Francisco area, we were driving around, killing time until our flight. We decided to take random exits off the freeway for funsies. (This is what we do for fun, really.) The first place we were at was a cross between parkland and office buildings that looked like they had some sort of scientific function. The area was deserted, so we sat beside a small, probably man-made lake and relaxed for a bit. The next exit we took... was interesting. The first business we drove by had bars on the window and a few cop cars in front. People were being arrested. Further down the street we were greeted by the locals with a very authentic Black Power salute. We were a bit nervous at that point, but we still had the windows down, Dad had one arm resting on his door and was driving nice and slow, just like he owned the place. We did make it out alive to get to the airport.

San Francisco was a make-up trip. The original plan had been to fly to Dublin, Ireland, rent a car, and go from village to village in search of the family castle which should be somewhere in County Cork (formerly County Barrett), all the while making frequent stops (but not so frequent as to incapacitate the driver) to sample the local Guiness. Can you even begin to imagine what a riot that would be??? I suppose now that Dad and I both have spouses, even when his foot recovers we might have a bit more pomp and circumstance to deal with if we were to attempt the trip. I want to do it... but I have to be perfectly clear: the only person on earth I want to do it with is my Dad.