It's events like this that can be an easy excuse to give up on something like 30 Days of Yes activities or exercising or dieting. I definitely changed my diet as I ate across the Eastern two thirds of the nation and I curtailed my exercising a bit but I didn't crap out on 30 Days of Yes. You know why? Two reasons: 30 Days of Yes doesn't have to be 30 consecutive days (at least that's what I told myself). This is the very reason why people do give up on goals or dieting and exercising. We think just because we skipped a couple of days we failed and we must quit until the feeling hits again to try some new way of making life better. The other reason why I didn't stop with 30 Days of Yes activities is because part of what I have learned in these activities is to live in the now. So instead of stressing about not writing a daily blog or following a daily activity I chose to take what I have already learned from the activities and apply them to the drive to Boston and back.
By doing this I had one of the most pleasant road trips ever. Our countryside is beautiful. I may not have soaked that in as much before. I would have focused more on getting to the next destination as soon as possible.
The trip was with my girlfriend who was attending her 25th reunion at the University of Connecticut. After the reunion weekend we ventured up to Boston. A place where we both lived separate lives at one point in our lives. I lived in Boston for the beginning of adulthood. She lived in Boston at the beginning of her life.
She planned out an excellent trip with restaurant stops along the way she found through Food Network suggestions. We ate a a cool diner in Indy and an awesome deli in Columbus, OH and the best Italian restaurant in Pittsburgh and perhaps anywhere. We found that gem through a friend of mine I used to work with in TV news in Honolulu. I remembered he grew up in Steel town so I asked for a suggestion. He suggested a place called Girasole's. It just so happened his family owns and runs the restaurant. We stayed there for 3 hours because the food was excellent and the owner, my friend's father, was so entertaining. We also ate the greatest ice cream ever made fresh on the campus of UConn and we visited the country's oldest brewery, located in the tiny town of Pottsville, PA.
We had thought about just flying directly to the reunion but then our story would be different. Today's blog would have been about the long line at check-in, paying $100 plus in add-on fees, another long line at security, smooshed on an airplane, a delayed flight, lost luggage, another long line at the rental car counter and traffic getting out of the airport. Instead my vacation story is about seeing the beautiful country side or our country, seeing small towns that you didn't think existed, meeting the most interesting people and eating at restaurants you never would have found in an airport. I must add, we did not eat at one fast food rest stop restaurant along the way. But I will admit we sneaked in a box of Devil Dogs for the car ride. We also played the game of "spotting" state license plates. Through that game we learned a tidbit about each state and the District of Columbia. We also learned how goofy I can be like when my girlfriend was talking with her sister about Hostess products and describing a Twinkie. Just as she finished talking about her affinity for Twinkies when she was a child I chimed in by asking "and what about those yellow cakes Hostess makes? what were they again?" From here on out we call dumb and forgetful moments "twinkie" moments. We took a lot of photos and instead of saying "cheese" we said "twinkie." So if you see more pictures of us laughing than smiling that's why.
My most favorite day of the trip was taking my girlfriend and her sister around to their old neighborhood and schools and watch them giggle with memories. Watching them helped me relive some of my own memories.
Despite having a great itinerary with places to eat and things to see we were also quite flexible. We both decided it was more important to see people than things. So when we had an opportunity to catch up with an old friend over sightseeing we opted for catching up with old friends.
On the way back, we saw a sign for Patterson, NY. Even though it was not on our itinerary we got off the interstate and drove 7 miles off the path to take pictures of Patterson signs. We ended up staying for lunch and having one of the best pizza's I've ever had and tasting the purest tap water while meeting an old school Italian man at a place called Rocco's.
On this trip, I did my best to live in the now and not worry about what was not getting accomplished or where I needed to be next.
The activities of 30 Days of Yes are now just becoming a part of how I live my life. Be grateful and live in the now for every moment.
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