Road Trip

I took a road trip to Kingston yesterday, taking the long way there instead of the highway. It added another hour to the trip in each direction,  but there is something appealing about Highway 43 through Kemptville (with those cute roundabouts) and Merrickville. Every time I pass Merrickville, I want to stop in for lunch. But I'm usually on the way to the cottage and have a dog in the car and it's hot, so I never do. It's one of my regrets (but a minor one, really, in the scheme of regrets).

Driving alone, for many people, is a chore. But I don't do it very often - I nearly always have three children with me - so it's a real treat for me to be meandering down the country highways by myself once in a while. You could say that with the kids away this week, I've had lots of down time, but the truth is, at home, it's not quite the same. There is always something to do: this week I decluttered the storage rooms upstairs and worked my way through the girls' rooms (yikes), and had the usual editing and cleaning to catch up on as well as the chores the kids weren't around to do (more on that another day!).

So I got to drive and reflect, and plan a new story in my head, and the three hours to Kingston flew by. I even stopped to take a couple of pictures of buildings that have long inspired me - I am a sucker, apparently, for stone and history, and long shady verandas and small silent chapels in the countryside.

The Old Inn in Merrickville. Gorgeous. I could set a story here.

An ancient stone chapel that sits quietly at the side of the road. Love this.

And then I met my dad who was away boating with Erik, Anna and Grace this week, and it's always so good to have the kids back.

The ride home was much less quiet.