So over the past few days I was contemplating going to Florida for the weekend just to get away from the cold here in Canada but the flight tickets were a little more than I was willing to pay. So I called up a good friend and asked him if he would like to go for a ride, he said where… I said The Gulf of Mexico and Galveston to be exact I told him lets drive 24+ hours to take a pee in the Gulf , stay a day by the ocean then drive back. He thought that was pretty crazy but was willing to come along for the ride. I assured him the best part of a road trip like that is being able to be with a good friend to shoot the shit and get things off your chest. While on a road trip there is no need to worry about schedule or responsibilities as the only thing you are focused on is relaxing and getting to your destination. My friend that came with me had a very rough year as his father just passed away from cancer this summer along with some personal setbacks he was in definite need to get away and clear his head.
During our ride there we hit one of the craziest snow storms to hit central United States in years. Even Las Vegas got bombarded with a record number snowfall..lol The conditions were so crazy on the road that we had to drive 60km hour instead of the limit of 120, and we did this for around 6 hours until the snow disappeared. We counted close to 40 cars that were in accident or in the ditch, and 10 large semi trailor’s that were also flipped over yet we still made it through the madness. During this time we both thought to ourselves numerous times that maybe we should turn back, but we kept focusing on our goal/destination and eventually we got through the storm. Once we arrived in Texas it felt awesome to know we were almost there and that maybe all the driving was worth it. We stopped in Dallas because we had been driving for about 24+ hours and we needed to relax and have a bite to eat. We ended up going to this awesome steak house and have a wicked steak dinner and after dinner we just wondered around the city for a few hours. We decided to get pack on the hwy to make it to Galveston before the night was over so we hopped on the Freeway and started driving. 2 hours later when were just getting to Houston we were both so drained since we never had a good solid sleep in almost 28 hours, crazy when I think about it now. I decided to just pull into a field off the shoulder of the highway and we both slept for almost 3 hours, it was awesome. After our little power sleep we started driving until we finally crossed the bridge into Galveston.
We came off the long bridge that connects the mainland to Galveston and it was so foggy we could not see anything. We also realized that Galveston was hit by a crazy hurricane a few months back which destroyed many houses and many businesses were still closed months later, I guess we should have researched this first lol We searched to find a hotel and most the hotels were packed by FEMA residents who were waiting for their houses to get fixed. Eventually we stayed at an awesome Quality Inn with an ocean view and a patio for like 89.00 USD, We decided to go wonder and to our amazement the sun came out for us and the temperature was at 25 celcius I was STOKED!!! We could see the ocean, the palm tree’s it was just awesome. Only 1 day ago we were sitting in the coldest city in the world and now we were eating at a Mexican restaurant overlooking the ocean. How kick ass is that? The island seemed so laid back as there were people surfing on the beach and walking the streets. Because of the Hurricane most businesses were closed and the population of the island was drastically decreased we were still able to make the most of it and had a wicked time. We ate like kings at a seafood joint on the beach then went back to our hotel to crash…….nah I’m lying we went and did a little partying J that’s another story in itself.
When we got back to the city many people asked why would you drive somewhere so far just to stay there for one day?? My opinion is that sometimes you have to be a little spontaneous sometimes and just go with the flow. A road trip is about what happens between the people who are in the vehicle and the stories, memories, crazy events that occur during the drive, and that’s what it’s all about. The destination is merely a finishing point but in our situation it was a beautiful island. Our whole entire drive was worth all 31 hours the moment the sun came out and we could see the ocean and hear the waves!!! I have done it before and I will attempt to do it many more times in my life. To me getting to see or experience something beautiful for a short time is worth a lot work or effort required.
If I can offer any advice to anyone it would be to pursue the things you want in life as a good friend told me “1 life one chance” . Do not feel that you have to justify your dreams or aspirations to anyone but yourself. When you seek out happiness and the things you hold dear to your heart you will be happy! You have my word. When I used to have a job that paid lots of money I had more money but I was not happy…? When I made my life less complicated and just concentrated and doing the things I wanted I really started to realize what happiness was all about. I believe at the end of life we will only regret the things which we did not do rather than the things we did do. So we might as well go out trying everything we can.
On the downside we went on the road trip to Pee in the gulf, and when we got back we realized we forgot. I guess we need to drive back to finish the job.
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