aren’t there days that you are feeling nostalgic and just want to wander down memory lane? i have those days every now and then, and they are a perfect excuse to take a little road trip. you know, a road trip filled with driving down old, familiar roads; but with fresh, new eyes.
well, saturday morning my love and i woke up and asked each other what we wanted to do. it was clear that we both had a little action/adventure on our minds. so, we decided to get in the car and head to the next county over, haywood county, where i used to live before i moved to sweden.
after a quick little trip to a shoe store (and yes, i bought a pair of shoes. score me.), we took the back roads from asheville to canton. the little town of canton is the small, mountain town that i lived and worked in for 8 years. on the way there, it felt so great to drive on curvy, two lane roads. simple. adventurous. and, like i said before, a bit nostalgic.
driving through the sad, never-changing, cozy downtown of canton, i felt as if i had entered a time warp of some sort. i tried to explain to lina that it felt completely familiar, like no time had passed at all, and like it was completely a different life all at the same time. it’s almost like some out-of-body experience. like the memories that flooded my brain were things that happened to someone else. it was so surreal.
but i drove the roads of canton and just let the simplicity of that life come back to my consciousness. it was a crazy time in my life – a tough time that ended in my divorce from my first husband. but, it was also a good time in my life. my last year there before moving, i began to understand little by little what soaking up life is all about. but, that was just the tip of the iceberg. however, there is not one part of me that wishes to go back. not at all.
after the little tour of my old town, we headed out into the countryside. oh, it was so beautiful. there is nothing like driving on mountain roads. i always feel free. and connected. and there’s something raw about north carolina country roads. the people and the houses that dot the roads are good people, hard-working people. life in the rural mountains of north carolina is harder, and yet, simpler. driving on these roads somehow reminds me of what’s really important in life.
well, we drove on. and on. and on. and we finally ended up in waynesville, where we visited a few local shops and then enjoyed dinner at a local pub. come sunset, we decided we’d head home.
being in nature. being with my love. remember ing where i’ve come from, who i was, who i am, and who i want to be is most definitely a great way to spend a saturday. you never know where road trips might lead you… and that’s the beauty of getting on the road and just going.
hope your weekend was filled with beautiful moments which gave you the chance to just be.
peace & love. xx
* important! i give credit to my love (lier.se) for all of the photos. she took the pictures. i drove. hehe.
Great shots, Liz! I LOVE those pictures of the mountains! I’m glad you and Lina took the day to do that! So awesome! And, yes! GO YOU for the new shoes! xoxo
Well, Lina was the photographer that day and she did a great job! Most of them are taken while I was whizzing by. Hehe. But, my shoes are amaaaazing! xoxo
You and Lina both take great photos, Liz — this is a gorgeous blog! I made a New Year’s resolution to visit and comment on a different positive blog every day of 2014, and I am very much enjoying my virtual travels so far — meeting so many kind people online and finding new reasons to smile. 🙂
Beautiful post, and I love the introspective musings on how road trips can bring us more than lovely views.
Blessings, Gina
Hi, Gina. Thank you so much for saying that. I love all kinds of road trips for all kinds of reasons. 🙂
Fab day out – and looks like a complete different world, in a nice way! The memory lane thing / and going back in time warp mode… that feeling – I know what you mean – and to be honest I sometimes find it really unsettling. I’ve been back to Newcastle (where I went to uni) a handful of times since, and it makes me feel odd, like I miss it, but don’t.
And don’t even get me started on going back to the town I grew up in in wales…!!
PS. I’m sure I read on your IG / blog about the coke advert… have you seen this post being shared about http://publicshaming.tumblr.com/post/75447787843/speak-english-racist-revolt-as-coca-cola-airs
THought you might find it interesting / hopefully ridiculous too!
I absolutely understand that miss it, but don’t miss it feeling, Holly. It’s such a weird way of being. But, hey, any reason for a road trip to me is just great!
The backlash towards the Coke ad is just crazy. Craaaazy. How can people be so ignorant?! It’s just ridiculous.