California Dreamin': Road Trip

Things I am good at: planning things, organizing things, following rules when I do things. Things I am not good at: being spontaneous. So when Brandon suggests that we make the drive to California - where we were going for the weekend for his friends' wedding - without a specific plan in mind, that we just get in the car and drive, that we make it up as we go along... I go along with it. Because I love him and because I want him to think I'm fun and easy-going.

This is how I do the no plan thing:

1) I insist that we stop for lunch at a place I've actually been wanting to stop at for a while. So not really spontaneous.

2) We arrive at the Trees of Mystery, the primary reason we "took the long way," 20 minutes before it closes and well after the last entry to the trail. It was, however, enough time to take pictures with the giant Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.

3) One word: Audiobooks. More words: AKA the savior of being stuck in the car for hours with someone who doesn't like being stuck in the car for hours. Also not spontaneous given the copious amount of time I spent narrowing down the options of books to one that would be interesting for both of us.

4) When I'm not distracted by the glorious redwoods and glimpses of the coast, I use a combination of Yelp and Google Maps to find a spot for dinner. In this case, we settled upon Salt Fish House in the quirky and charming town of Arcata, CA. This represented some minor progress in "going with the flow."

5) When I'm not distracted by fried brie, curried muscles, and fish and chips, I use a combination of HotelTonight and Google Maps to find a place to stay for the night. This was my real success with not planning too much.

6) We almost run out of gas in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere California. Because planning. More specifically the lack thereof. On the other hand, it was a great opportunity to practice our communication and problem solving skills.

7) We arrive at our hotel in one piece, having had a great day together despite the lack of planning.

8) I decide that I still prefer to not be spontaneous.