best of 2009...road trip

{every day from now until december 31st i will be including a "best of 2009" post, with lists & thoughts galore about my favorites and best ofs the past year. check back in and feel free to share your related best of 2009 in the comments, or suggest a best of topic!}

today's topic: road trip!

i remember the very first grown-up road trip i ever took- it was with my two best friends in high school, karin and sirena. our senior year, in december of 1991, we drove from the bay area to palm springs, in southern california. i didn't have my license yet so i lucked out and got to just go along for the ride. at the time the drive seemed so long, and like such freedom! no parents (well, we were meeting karin's dad in palm springs, but no parents in the car as we drove!)! for me, that was a first. i had grown up going on family road trips for vacation, but this was different.

i still remember that first road trip almost every single time i drive down the long, boring, monotonous stretch of freeway that cuts through california from north to south: the 5. i was just 16, a few weeks shy of 17 years old, and despite the boredom of the route it was a monumenta weekend in my life. i remember singing at the top of my lungs to love and rockets, that one hit wonder, creating random jokes about the aquaducts we passed over, and having conversations that just didn't happen outside of a long car ride.

i've gone on countless road trips since- with family, friends, college roommates, post college roommates, with matt. sometimes they aren't so magical, but each drive that contains rest stops, gas stations, fast food, long conversations, new or old routes, favorite songs has the capacity for something different outside of the daily grind.

this year, two favorite road trips.
#1: my mini road trip in august to big sur with matt.

he planned it all, and just like in high school, i was just along for the ride. (i didn't have to drive at all! you may notice- i don't really so much enjoy driving. i prefer the passenger role.) it is the same route we took the day he proposed, and we drove right by the spot he asked me to be his best friend forever. we left little m at home with my mom, so the drive itself was incredibly mellow, and beautiful as we wound down the california coast. the best part is that the whole point of our trip was essentially to eat at big sur bakery and restaurant. it was worth every dollar we spent on gas. beautiful drive, peaceful time with my beloved, yummy food, hotel room overlooking the coast. yeah- pretty great road trip (and destination.)

the fabulous
you should really go there
i am not kidding
big sur bakery
so maybe we ate lunch, the next day's breakfast and lunch there.
just maybe.
ok, we did.

road trip #2:
me, passenger (shocking)
brothers jonathan and aaron, my companions...
to the u2 concert in arizona!
we drove straight through the night, and if you need the details you can read the post here

um, this was the first time i'd been at carl's jr in a looooooong time.
but i think on road trip fast food is kind of, well, obligatory. this is also at hour...oh, maybe two. so we look bright and cheerful. we had a long freaking way to go still. sometimes the road trip is as much about the destination as the drive itself. our ride had its relational ups and downs- how could it not when we were driving on very little sleep, siblings stuck in a car for almost 26 or so hours there and back? but it's been a while since i've spent that much time with my brothers and it was good. good to push through the tough moments to better conversations, which we usually can gloss over in other less claustrophobic situations. and last but not least, it was so good to listen to old & new u2 songs and belt our hearts out. good stuff, my friends. it was a family sing along, and when i say family, i of course include bono in that.

have you had any good road trips in 2009?
(any bad ones?)