Embracing the Moment: A Last-Minute Road Trip to Remember

I was asked to participate for a very well-known pharmaceutical company as a panelist. I was so excited because it happened to be on the same week my husband had vacation. Of course, I said yes, and the event was going to be held in Orlando, Florida. When I told my husband, he was also excited because he’s been wanting to go see a Star Wars exhibit at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

The day arrived and we were all ready and waiting for the car to pick us up and take us to the airport. But Mother Nature had other plans. Our flight was cancelled because of Tropical Storm Deb. The team was trying to reschedule everyone’s flights but that turned into a nightmare and the conference was cancelled altogether. I was bummed because I was looking forward to going to Florida and my husband was so excited about going to see the Star Wars exhibit.

Embracing spontaneity: a last-minute plan

That day my husband said, "Let’s go somewhere local that we can drive to." So, I started looking at Michigan, Wisconsin and even Tennessee. It was so hard to find anywhere to go and get a hotel at the very last minute. I spent all day Monday and very early Tuesday morning just looking.

When my husband woke up Tuesday morning, I told him to forget it. I couldn't find any hotels that were available and those that were available were extremely expensive. He then told me “We are already packed so take a shower and let's go”. I asked him, “Where are we going? I have business clothes, and some summer clothes packed. I need to make sure I have the right clothes”. He said, “I don’t know yet but make sure you have clothes for vacation. Take out your business clothes.” And so, I did.

I still didn’t know where he was driving to, but we left, and I noticed he was traveling northeast. So, I figured we were going to Michigan. Now Michigan is cooler than where we live, and I said, "Great I didn’t bring a sweater or hoodie." We stopped and got some breakfast and coffee and off we went. Now we had no idea where we were going to sleep but I didn’t care because we would figure it out.

Discovering Michigan's charms

Our first stop was a small town in Michigan called New Buffalo. We stopped at a unique, nice restaurant for lunch and a drink. We walked around their little, small downtown area, then we went to go see their casino, Four Winds Casino. We had a great time at the casino. I then looked up a nice restaurant and found a cheap hotel in the next town over.

The next day, we went to St. Joseph, MI and had lunch right off the lake. Their downtown was so pretty and we walked along the path by the lake. A young lady told us we must go to South Haven, so off we went. What a beautiful beach town South Haven is. We shopped at their outdoor vendors' event and did some wine tasting. We then went by the beach and took a walk on their gorgeous pier. I then looked for another hotel for us to sleep in.

Heading North and cherished memories

We decided to go north and ended up in Manistee, where we stayed for the night, but we made another stop at Silver Lake.  We started to work our way back south to come home. But we stopped in Ludington, and I absolutely fell in love with that town. So, we decided to spend the night. The next day we headed home but stopped at several places along the way. We stopped at Pentwater, Saugatuck and Douglas.

I must say this last minute, spontaneous trip was one of the best trips we’ve taken in a while. We met wonderful people along the way and built a memory that I will never forget. Next year’s plan is to do it again and go to the towns we didn’t get a chance to see.

A message to my lung cancer community

I highly recommend my lung cancer community to do fun and spontaneous things. Because in this lifetime we are just passing through, so enjoy it!