After vaccine, the road calls

“Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote

The droghte of March hath perced to the roote . . .

Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages. . . .”

That’s from the opening lines of the prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales,” the 14th century collection of short stories that all English majors must read. The translation of the three Middle English lines above is roughly as follows:

“When in April the sweet showers fall

And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all . . .

Then folk long to go on pilgrimages. . . .”

That’s us.

In fact, that’s all of America, as COVID-19 has subsided to the point where “folk” decide they can venture out to travel once again, if they’re careful. 

The 24 pilgrims in “The Canterbury Tales” were traveling together from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. That ain’t us. But Kathy and I, thanks to wondrous COVID vaccinations, are making plans for an eventual cross-country auto journey. We’re going to visit a number of friends and relatives whom we haven’t seen for a long time.

We initially made ready for the trip in the fall of 2019, nearly two years ago. Then Kathy’s hip broke, and her surgery and healing forced a delay of several months. 

When she finally recovered by March of 2020, we trotted out our itinerary once again, only to run into the onset of the pandemic. Like everyone else, we went to ground at home, started wearing masks, and waited.

Now it appears the wait is over (unless COVID-19 varieties prove too toxic for the vaccines). 

We’re apparently not alone with our itchy feet.

Air travel has recovered nearly to its pre-pandemic level, and predictions are that next year will set an all-time record for commercial flights. Demand for gasoline has sent prices sharply upward, but highway travel miles continue to keep pace. Passengers are once again embarking on cruise ships.

When we finally start our trip we’ll be heading east, to Boston, New Haven, Philadelphia, Washington, Raleigh and South Carolina. We’ll be sponging off relatives and friends as much as we can for lodging, and of course inviting them to do the same to us in the near future.

We much enjoy auto trips. Most of America is beautiful from ground level, and we’re no longer young enough to drive marathons as we once did. A few hundred miles a day work fine for us, and a stop once in a while is a good thing. After 41 years we still haven’t talked ourselves out, so we can keep our conversations going with no problem.

When our kids were young they complained that we didn’t take them on vacations, we took field trips instead. There were times they preferred to stay in the motel for a swim or the game room rather than visit another worthy historic site. One of them once commented that Boston would be a neat place if it weren’t for all the history. They thought the Lego store was the highlight of a particular day on one trip.

But generally they bought into sightseeing, local foods and unique experiences. Today they take their own family trips much like the ones we forced on them when they were growing up. That makes it worthwhile for us.

I get a buzz on when I back the fully loaded car out of the home driveway and aim it toward our destination. And I get another buzz on when we head back for home on the final day out.

Great to go, and great to come back. A double dip of satisfaction.