Sorry I missed my Monday deadline this week. I was on the road to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a buddy. The Speedway was on the line of totality for the solar eclipse!

The eclipse was amazing. And, a bit haunting. The cold, black disk of the moon staring down on the darkened Earth is really chilling. Very cosmic & otherworldly. It is no surprise that ancient people often took an eclipse as a foreboding omen.

I had planned for a couple years to go see it and am again thankful for the flexibility my FIRE lifestyle provides me the time to go experience something like that. It required some commitment – a 3-day, 1,264 mile, 25 hour jaunt across 4 states.

This was the latest of quite a few road trips that I’ve taken recently. I’ve had a fun time over the last 18 months criss-crossing the Midwest. I’ve taken 11 different trips – most just 2-3 nights to nearly every corner of the American Heartland.

I didn’t really plan on all of these jaunts before I retired. We had a formal travel framework for 4 trips a year, but these have all been extra bases. I guess they are more an extension of our original ‘Small Town Visits (6x)’ goal in our FIRE ‘Not Bored List’ of 150 things to do.

Regardless, they’ve been fun. My next adventure is a Jeep Jamboree in the woods of Northern Wisconsin this July. A buddy and I are going to put my Wrangler Rubicon to the test. I’m sure it’s more capable than I am!

What quirky adventures are on your list this Spring & Summer?