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The One Little Word prompt for May was fun. It was a busy month so I didn’t explicitly plan a specific project or activity for the prompt.
Sometimes we find fun where we least expect it. The key is to being brave (my word for 2026) and being opening to new experiences.
In May, that was the quick 4-day road trip to Memphis, TN my husband I took to surprise his high school best friend at his 50th birthday party. At first I wasn’t happy about driving 26+ hours in only four days. My husband waited too long to book his flight so I offered to accompany him on the road trip.
That’s where the fun began!
Since my husband prefers to do most of the driving, I packed my journal and a small art kit to record our time on the road and our (brief) time in Memphis. (This will be a mostly image-heavy post.)
We used to take a lot of road trips when we were in our 20s. It’s a bit harder on your body when you’re older, but we took enough stops to stretch our legs and refuel the car.
We left early-ish on Friday after the DC morning rush hour. If you live in the DMV, you know traffic is very intense in the mornings.
We also visited our very first ever Buc-cee’s. Wow, it was overwhelming and a bit intense. At least the bathrooms were clean. Though we both agreed that the brisket sandwich didn’t fulfill its hype.
What’s a road trip without snacks? I tried to pack/buy healthier snacks along with the not-so-healthy ones.
Because we had to be in Memphis by 2PM on Saturday, we did a hard push and drove 12-ish hours before stopping for the night in Nashville, TN. It felt good to be out of the car for more than fifteen minutes at a time!
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The next morning, I convinced my husband to stop at The Gentlemen’s Stationer on our way out of Nashville. I’ve been following Joe’s blog for several years and have stopped by his table at the DC Pen Show. I’ve enjoyed how his business has evolved from his blog to creating an online store to his now brick and mortar space. Of course I couldn’t leave without buy a few things.
Finally, we made it to Memphis! Our friend was completely in shock when he saw his high school best friends and their wives (including me). That made it totally worth the trip!
Our friend gave everyone a taste of his 50-year old scotch (it burned!) and I let some guests have a go at my sketchbook. The crayon drawing was done by the the birthday boy’s 9-year-old daughter. It’s the most precious thing in this travel journal. I adore it.
The next day (Sunday), after a lovely brunch with our hostess who put us up in her guest room, we were back on the road again. The drive back felt less exciting, and took much longer. We didn’t make it to our hotel until close to midnight.
I did paint the gorgeous mountain view from the hotel in Bristol, VA the next morning when I was feeling more refreshed. The drive home to Maryland fine until we got closer to DC. Traffic in the DMV is always brutal.
This trip taught me that fun is really what you make of it. I could’ve been grumpy about being in the car for so many hours while fighting traffic, but that attitude would’ve made both me and my husband miserable.
The trip brought back some lovely memories from our post-college road trips. The best part was seeing some old friends—even if spent less than 24 hours in Memphis.
I’d definitely do it again. But maybe not in only four days.
Do you like taking road trips?
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