Last Thursday I drove to Ashland, Oregon for a three night rendezvous with John and Diane and a much needed break in my normal life. It had been a while since I was out of town for more than a night or two, and a longer while since I was out of town farther than 20 miles from my home.
The drive up was so, so nice. I took a different route, one that I had not driven previously, and that was good. (Although, as we all know, road trips are such a part of me that even driving down Hwy 5 is, at times, great fun for me. If it's at dawn. In the winter.) It takes less than 6 hours to go from Santa Rosa to Ashland, so there's none of that weariness that comes from an 8-9 hour road trip. Just as your butt starts to get numb, the trip is ending.
We rented a little "Romeo and Juliette" duo apartment, a nice size one bedroom apartment on the top with a lovely deck overlooking the valley and a tiny studio on street level, perfect for one person. Two blocks into town, three to the theaters, trees were changing colors, the rain was gentle all weekend, the temps were moderate, perfect Oregon weather. We saw two plays, ate some nice meals, drank some lovely wine and simply relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. On Sunday I drove from Ashland to Sacramento, took Mom out to dinner, got her liquored up, convinced her to rob a bank with me and my sister Kate, it went well and we made a speedy getaway. I had already secured a really nice hotel room for a really cheap price on Priceline and so the night was a total success. Good dinner, good booze, good job eluding the police, good stay in a good hotel. Win-win-win.
I work a lot, I will be working a lot for the next ten years or until I fall over. Getting out of town is becoming increasingly important to me. Yes, it costs money that I could save for my impending old age but without the out-of-town breaks I would go nuts. Unlike friends and siblings, I have no retirement account to take me to my grave. Since I will end up in that grave eventually, as we all will, it seems fitting that along the way I enjoy whatever money I make by doing what I like. When the money runs out, well, then I will stop taking trips and figure out the next move. Until then, every two or three months I am taking a week off and going somewhere. The work will continue but so will the fun. There are so many banks to rob and so little time.
Because really, who doesn't like to watch their 96 year old mother drink a tasty Manhattan and enthusiastically agree to be the point man for a night of crime? Makes life worth living.
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