When Michael and I met each other I had just finished my first year of college. I was attending Cazenovia (Caz) College in the middle of New York State and 3.5 hours away from home. By the time the summer ended and school resumed, we both were totally into each other and the distance wasn’t going to stop us from being together.

Caz is a small College with about 1,000 students and it has very limited parking on campus. As a result, undergrads weren’t allowed to have a car on campus so I was pretty much stuck where I was. This was difficult during my first year (and only my college best friend – who was a local, had a car and was my only escape.) My second year though was totally different.

Every other weekend Michael made the trip to see me and hang out. We would talk on the phone during the week and after he finished working 2nd shift at 11pm on Fridays, he’d make the drive to Caz and arrive in the middle of the night.

Since he would return back to work on Mondays at 4pm, he could stay until Monday morning. He’d see me off to class and then head back home. We did this for the entire year until personal issues required me to transfer to another college back home.

On the weekends that we were together, we would hop in his car and just drive. This was pre-GPS, so we never knew where we were going (and we always somehow made it back to campus) but we explored Syracuse and the surrounding areas.

One of the places we always went to was in the small town of Manilus. They had a duck pond there and trails and paths to walk around on. We spent a lot of time there and is a cherished place filled with so many memories.

This is a place where we got to know each other very well and shaped our relationship greatly. We returned there in 2011 with Shawn (he was 3 years old) and it had been the first time we had been there in 10 years. It felt like we were coming home and that no time had passed. I even started tearing up because of the flood of early memories. We haven’t been back since and I think it’s time for a return trip.

We both believe that these mini road trips and time spent traveling shaped our relationship and it’s as strong as it is because of all our time together. I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything.

After I came home from college and Michael didn’t have to drive to see me (lol), we took our new found love of road trips and we have travelled the entire East Coast. We also have the BEST conversations in the car on these road trips.

It’s fitting that I posted this today because tomorrow morning we are leaving for our road trip to Tennessee. It’s bound to be a great trip because we all enjoy the driving (Shawn included!).

XOXO, Jules