Over the past few years, since we started Taproot, I've taken the same drive to Vermont many, many times. And being the creature of habit that I am, and with a terrible sense of direction (and thus a fear of straying too far from the path I know), I've followed the same roads every time. Stopping at the very same coffee shop at the halfway mark, stretching my legs at the same lakeside park, and admiring the vines on the side of that house in the White Mountains. I took Adelaide with me last week, and will admit to worrying a bit about how patient she'd be with four hours in the car each way. But it turns out, I had no reason to worry. That girl daisy-chained (with yarn) herself all the way to Vermont, while alternating between listening to Anne of Green Gables on audio (a favorite of ours), and chatting my ear off - having the full and undivided attention of her Mama.
And on the way home, we somehow managed to make a four hour drive a little over a six hour drive. Because every time she'd say, "Oh, Mom. Don't you think we should stop at that beautiful place and stretch our legs a little bit?" Well, I couldn't agree more. Plus we had to slow down at each and every pasture full of horses, or cows, or sheep, and of course every beautiful barn had to be admired too. And then there was the moose by the river that we quietly watched for a very long time.
We took the slow path home, I guess you could say, and it was a delightful one with her at my side. And when the sun began to set and we began to tire as we inched our way closer to home, she was more than happy to sing along with me at the top of her lungs to stay wide awake. We've got a lot in common, this girl and I....and you know, I think we might just make really great travel companions. And that's an incredibly fun thing to ponder - all the adventures to be shared together in all the years to come!
