Choosing Better

Road Trip ~ Joshua Tree to Santa Fe #5
Sometimes You Gotta Change Your Plans

Our getaway from Phoenix was going to be fast, straight and boring, given that we had driven the highway north out of town a gazillion times.  Fast track past Prescott and Sedona, turn right at Flagstaff and off we go to New Mexico.  But sometimes, plans get changed when something better comes along.

"You just have to take the Rim Route.  Scenic.  Circuitous.  Far more interesting than the interstate."  We jumped on it and headed northeast through Payson, Arizona eventually meeting up with I-40 on its relentless charge due east to the neighboring state.  Fifty miles shorter than our original route but a half hour longer in time, and it was worth every mile of the trip.

Which brings me back to the word "better."  It's subjective on some level because I am sure there are travelers who cringe at the idea of changing plans, or leaving their beloved four-lane super-highways.  For us, however, the journey between destinations is fully a part of the adventure.  So driving a meandering highway off the valley floor where desert plants abound, and making our way up in altitude with its completely different scenery, was worth every mile of the "detour," making it "better" than our original choice.

So I ask you ~ when was the last time you chose "better" over safe or it's-how-I-always-do-it or the-plan-is-the-plan?  You might find that "better" opens your world in ways you never expected.