Take A Mini Road Trip

This is one of our families favorite things to do. Just get in the car and go. Sometimes the destination is predetermined, other times we just make it up as we go. The point is, we are together having fun. It always involves a stop at the grocery store for snacks and the gas station for pop, and then a day of conversation and laughs follow.

These road trips can be simple. Just an hour or two driving to a neighboring town you have never checked out before, or a new park you have never been to. Sometimes they can be more elaborate, like our drive yesterday. 2/12 hours to the ocean. 

We are super lucky we live that close to the ocean. We love it there, and do this mini road trip at least twice a year. We were also lucky enough this time to have both kids home from work and school to come along. We are to a point in our lives now when having all four of us together is precious. We even had our "adopted" son, Jeff's good friend Brett, along for the ride.

The best thing to do on these drives is just go without any expectations or plans. If you see something that looks interesting, stop. We have seen some pretty whacked out things on these drives. An enormous, 8 foot statue of a bull; phallic rock formations, don't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor!; Crazy curiosity shops, it's amazing what people try to sell.; the biggest cinnamon roll you have ever seen; and sometimes, if we drive long enough, we even run into some sunshine on our dull Pacific Northwest days.

One of our favorite finds ever - The Star Wars Store in Aberdeen WA. My little Star Wars nerds can spend forever in here looking through the treasures.

 

And, on this particular day, we did drive far enough to catch the sun. It wasn't for long, but we got an amazing sunset!

 

So, just get in your car and go! It's amazing how much of your little neck of the woods you have never seen before. Each little town has something to offer. I kid you not, we once just had fun wandering around a convenience store that had a toy section in it, when we stopped for our pop. You can make anything fun with the right attitude.