Road Trip

Yesterday afternoon I departed from home to drive to Quakertown, Pa. to begin a road trip with friend and colleague, Karl. This first leg of the trip was 4 1/2 hours of gray skies, intermittent rain, listening to a cd of Greg Brown singing about love, slow food, and "I want my country back".
After church this morning, Karl and I climbed into my little red Nissan Versa to drive to Nashville where we will participate in a week long conference (more about that later). This afternoons' trip covered 442 miles through the green hills of Pennsylvania, Maryland,West Virginia, and Virginia. Karl and I talked about family, work, retirement, politics, music, and life as we moved along in our conversational nook at 70 mph. My experience is that road trips create the right conditions for honest and lively dialogue. There is something about the hum of the tires, the passing landscape, and a minimum of distractions (this depends on the other drivers) that enhances conversation. We arrived in Wytheville, VA. at 8pm and shared a fine dinner at the local Ruby Tuesday. A good beginning to a new adventure.