Yesterday afternoon I had to drive the Mini Cooper to put miles on it to populate the computer. I had cleared some codes earlier and the car is due for inspection. I love driving where you have to row through six gears. As I drove I stayed away from the populated roads and really enjoyed the drive. I even went down some roads I explored when I was younger that were gravel and dirt. What a joy it was to drive with no one else in sight on a road that looked like I was going through a tunnel of trees. Out of habit I glanced over the gauges and noticed I was only going 35 MPH. I was sort of shocked because usually when a see the speedometer I am way over the speed limit.
As I drove, I passed a sign that was advertising for a new neighborhood that said, "Stop driving and start living". I thought about that as I continued on and came to the conclusion that they had it all wrong. I think it should be, "Live to drive". To me there is nothing more relaxing and refreshing than to drive on an open road. Get off the road with traffic and go down the road less traveled. I used to say, "I don't drive to make good time, I drive to have a good time".
In these days where I have schedules to meet and somewhere else I need to be, sometimes it is good to drive aimlessly to clear my head and enjoy the drive.