Completed: #35. go on a road trip

"I like the peace

in the backseat.

I don't have to drive.

I don't have to speak.

I can watch the countryside

and I can fall asleep.

My family tree's losing all its leaves.

Crashing toward the driver's seat.

The lightning bolt made enough heat

to melt the street beneath your feet.

Alice died

in the night.

I've been learning to drive my whole life.

My whole life, I've been learning."

"In the Backseat", The Arcade Fire.

---

I am no stranger to long drives. Gaspé, Quebec, the land from which I largely descend, and where my extended family is rooted, is at least a sixteen hour drive. (I'm told it is quintessentially "Canadian" to measure distances in hours. I mean, it will always be 5 km, but not always 5 minutes, right? I don't know. This is what we do. Anyway.) We'd trek it every summer. Some kids had cottages. I had Gaspé. (It's now regarded as one of Canada's greatest hidden gems - which I wager means it won't be hidden for much longer. I'm not surprised.)

I've had an affinity for the above song for as long as it has been since first I heard it. 11 years, at least, I guess. My whole life has been about being a passenger. I have long been afraid to drive. I have twice gone through the motions of learning. I wouldn't have passengers for the first couple years of driving on my own, and I still caution each potential passenger with "You know I'm not a good driver, okay?" We all have our skills. Confidence in most things is not mine.

There were entire stretches of time where I stumbled upon others calling me "the mute", my voice dusty and lost somewhere in the recesses of my throat. I am not that person anymore - and, though, often I wish I still were, because I'm sure I'd be easier to tolerate - there's something to be gained in learning to speak my truth. In learning to drive.

Geoff's father lives in Deep River, which is at least a six hour drive. Life is not equally as kind to anyone, and he is not in the greatest of health at the moment. This is a trek I promised to make since our first week of dating, Geoff and I, before I had even driven us anywhere. I meant it, always, in my heart of hearts. 

It's been a year and a half, but we did it - and, for this, I feel more capable.

Garage sales are where first I noticed Geoff's supreme skills of navigation. You'd have to be family, close friends, or coworkers of mine to know that this skill was somehow obliterated from my own genetic makeup. We are, in this way, an ideal pair. I've got the wheels and he's got the map.

Speaking of sales, we managed to hit up a few here. I think one of my coolest finds was this authentic gumball machine from the 50s. It needs a good cleaning before it's at all functional, but I think it will be a cool games room feature in our new house rental.

We also visited an antiques trading post, and an authentic First Nations' souvenir shop. I have family gifts pretty much covered until Christmas.

The landscape is also beautiful - almost reminiscent in part of my childhood Gaspé summers.

We'd like to make this a summer tradition. There are some 10-person cabins. Friends, you are welcome.

I am grateful for this landscape, for this little glimpse into lives that are now intertwined with mine, for this road trip, for my love.

I've been learning to drive my whole life. 
My whole life, I've been learning.

[Original goal list posted here.]