Marriage is a trip of its own

My husband has now caught my itch to get a trip planned for this summer.  I have been telling him over and over these past few weeks that I need to have a trip to look forward to in order to survive the rest of this horrible winter. Apparently the feeling was contagious, or else he has just gotten tired of my voice on this issue.

In any event, we are in the mode of dreaming of a trip. I love this part of the vacation experience. I love dreaming about the trip, finding places to go, things to do, working out an itinerary. It is going to be a road trip. We both love road trips, and with the way flying has been recently, I am all for avoiding it if possible. Even at $4.00 a gallon for gas, the road trip trumps a 3 hour flight with a free-if not particularly complimentary or soothing body rub-a cramped rental car, and a mirror image 3 hour return flight.

So, we are discussing a few options. As we live in the midwestern US, it is almost equal distance to either coast. We are trying to decide between going somewhere we have been (many times) before, or scoping out someplace new. Guess which option I prefer, and which is my husband’s choice.

He is leaning toward Glacier Park in Montana. An absolutely beautiful place. Wonderful scenery, wildlife, and people watching. Days of sitting on a veranda just reading or thinking or watching, with a few day hikes or walks in between. I don’t do much hiking, so he would have to hang out. Not his strong point, especially there.

My possibilities are Vancouver and Victoria Island, British Columbia, or Maine and Prince Edward Island. I have been through Vancouver, but didn’t get to spend any time there or get to the island. Husband has been to both many years ago. Neither of us has been to New England, or that side of Canada. I did live in New York State for a few years, and took a “checking out colleges tour” with my daughter to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Not the same as a vacation, though.

There is another consideration in choosing the destination. If we were to go east, we would be in a car, just the two of  us (and maybe the dog), seeing no one else that we know for at least two weeks. In over 30 years of marriage, we have never done that. We have always had one or some of the kids with us, or met other family members someplace, or traveled with a group of family. If we go west, to either Glacier Park or Vancouver, there is a good chance that our daughter would be able to meet us for a little bit of the time.

We are thinking of taking the trip in late July or early August.  Our thirty-second anniversary is in October. We’ll see.

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