I love to travel, and when I get a chance to do that, I love to share how I’m creating memories and living a life I love. And what is better than a road trip!

Late last year, my husband, Dave, had an idea to take a road trip to see our daughter, Maggie, in Milwaukee, visit his shoe stores in Kentucky, and eventually end up in Florida to visit my sister Deb.  I am always up for a good adventure, so of course, I was on board right away!  My son, Ryan, is on his last winter break as a senior in college, so he wanted to come along as well.  I think the real reason Dave wanted to drive on our vacation was to take our dog Reggie, which I was a little nervous about but agreed to as well.  So, Dave, Ryan, Reggie, and I packed up my car, took off on our 12-day road trip, and started creating memories!

Road Trip January 2019 Highlights

 I just added “Tips For a Successful Road Trip” to my Resources Page. You will find it under Just For Fun.

Milwaukee

Our first stop was to visit Maggie at her apartment in Milwaukee.  I am not shy about telling other people that I wish Maggie lived closer to me so I could spend more time with her, but I have to say that I love seeing her in her element in Milwaukee!  She has really made her apartment her home.  She loves to decorate and organize, so it was fun for me to see the little touches she made.  Her apartment is a short walk to restaurants, bars, and Lake Michigan.  We even got to spend a little time with some of her friends.  They are a great support group for each other.  As much as I want her closer, I want her to be happy more, so I was able to see that happiness firsthand during this trip.

Bucks Basketball Game

We are a big sports family, so naturally, we jumped on the idea to watch a Milwaukee Bucks game.  When we are traveling, and someone asks Dave where we are from, he always says Wisconsin.  He grew up in a small town in Wisconsin, but we have lived in Minnesota for over 30 years!  Dave loves his Wisconsin sports teams and loved the chance to watch the “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo at the new Fiserv Forum.  He is one of the top players in the NBA!  Maggie is even starting to cheer for them, but I told her I stayed loyal to my Timberwolves.  Even though they lost, attending the game was definitely a highlight!

Pet-Friendly Restaurants

After a long walk around Lake Michigan (which was beautiful and a must-do every time we visit), we took Reggie to Camp Bar in Milwaukee.

It is a fun little bar that allows dogs to hang out with you.  Reggie was pretty impressed!  Because of the dogs, they have a limited menu, but just hanging out together while having a few beers and pizza was priceless.  I can never get enough of having “table” time with my family.  Once we got to Florida, more restaurants allowed dogs.  Obviously, the weather allowed us to sit outside, and that’s why Reggie could join us, but that is such a benefit when you are traveling with your pet.  We spend enough time in the car, so whenever he can join us outside of the car is fabulous.

Seeing Dave’s Shoe Stores

Visiting his stores in Indiana and Kentucky was one of the main reasons for taking this trip.  He has owned these stores for 3 years now, and I have never seen them.  It is nice to put faces to names and know what the stores look like when we talk about them.  We didn’t spend a lot of time in each one, but I’m glad Ryan and I got to see inside and share that part of Dave’s life.

Pet-Friendly Hotels

One of the reasons I was nervous about bringing Reggie was how he would do staying in hotels.  At home, he likes to protect us, so he barks whenever he hears anything outside.  At the hotels, you can hear traffic, other guests, doors shutting, toilets flushing, etc., but he hardly barked at all!  We were very proud of him.  I also discovered that it is not hard to find these hotels, and they are very accommodating.  You may have to pay a little extra for cleaning fees, but 2 of the 3 hotels we stayed at waived the fee for us.

Reggie was very well behaved on the whole trip.  As long as we were with him, he did great—very little barking or getting antsy.  We took him for walks whenever we stopped for food, gas, or sleep.  I was hesitant to bring him at first, but I would definitely do it again.  With a little research ahead of time, we discovered that traveling with pets can be fun.

Sanibel Island

We stayed in a cute little cottage right next to the beach.  I loved it there.  The beach was empty, full of seashells, and went on for miles.  We could take walks with Reggie and hardly see a soul.  The sun was shining, and the temperature was warm enough to sit in the sun.  Watching the sunsets was spectacular, and on the third night, I saw a hint of the green flash!  A couple of my favorite moments were at this beach.  One day Dave and Ryan went golfing, and Reggie and I were by ourselves on the beach.  It inspired me to write this poem.

Deb and Steve’s House

It is a nice treat to visit my sister and her husband, Steve, in Florida.  Just like with Maggie, I love to see how happy they are living the life they love.  They just moved into a new home, and it is beautiful.  When we took Reggie for walks around the neighborhood, many neighbors stopped to say hello.  Usually, they were more interested in Reggie than us, but it was still a nice feeling.  We only had 3 days, but we filled them up with beaches (even one for dogs!), a pool, restaurants, walks, and shopping.  My favorite part was catching up, laughing, and sharing our dreams.

Time spent with Dave, Ryan, and Maggie

We drove a lot of miles!  3,884, to be exact.  Our route went through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida.  We saw the skylines of Chicago, Nashville, and Atlanta.  We saw mountains, prairies, farms, stadiums, rivers, and once we crossed the Florida border, there were palm trees, ocean, and sunshine!

You can never get enough time with your family.  Speaking from the perspective of an empty nester,  rarely do you get quality one on one time as we did on this trip.  My kids live their best lives, and I will always want to be a part of it, so creating these memories is invaluable.  (My oldest son, Sam, could not come with us, but I will find moments with him this year too!)

Coming Home

It doesn’t matter where you go; home is a welcome sight.  Getting back to our comforts and routines.  I had a lot of time to read, write, and reflect on my goals and dreams, so I’m excited to get to work and put them into effect!

I hope you enjoyed sharing my journey and the memories we created.

How will you create memories this year? Taking a road trip with family and pets is a great option.

“Everybody in the car. Boat leaves in two minutes… or perhaps you don’t want to see the second-largest ball of twine on the face of the earth, which is only four short hours away?” — From National Lampoon’s Vacation