We’ll take our 3-year old grandson for a 5 mile ride to get him to go to sleep. Pretty much works every time.
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I collect vinyl records. I also enjoy a glass of port and a cigar. I have a friend who is an avid golfer. Another goes skiing most winter weekends. Does there have to be a point to a hobby or pleasurable activity?
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No, I agree that driving could qualify as just another pastime. Just observing that for me, it was absolutely huge when I was a teenager, and now would be one of my very last choices for something to do.
That can be typical of younger drivers. I recall college counseling with one of my students, who wanted to live at home, but who wanted to attend a college that was a 2 hour drive–each way–in good weather. When I pointed-out that he would be spending a minimum of 4 hours behind the wheel each day, his response was something along the lines of… It doesn’t matter because I love driving.
Luckily, his parents overrode his college choice, and he attended a school with a 30 minute drive time.
Most of my motorcycle mileage was for pleasure, not travel or commuting. Get a few friends together on a Saturday morning to ride 75 miles to lunch and back on the twistiest, most scenic roads we could find.
Trailered 4 bikes to the Tail of the Dragon a couple of times just to enjoy a spring ride in the mountains.
When I was in my 20s I would go for a ride. Once I went out in a blizzard to see how my VW Rabbit would handle it. There were no problems until I ran into a 4-foot tall drift. That stopped me. Good thing it was powder too; no damage. I also rode my motorcycle for pleasure. I rode to Allentown, PA once, to Newark DE, and to Ocean City, MD. All from Columbia, MD.
I was waiting for, kicked him out… 
It used to be a time to pop in on relatives for a visit. Can’t say we just go for a drive anymore. It was just a time for everyone to get out of the house.
A neighbor tells me something similar. She doesn’t go anywhere though. When she wants the kids to sleep , she puts them in the car in the driveway and lets the engine idle for 30 minutes. I found this story hard to believe the first time I heard it, but other SF Bay area parents confirm they do the same thing.
Just took my Sunday drive with greatgrandkid. We saw the creepy Big Boy type statue at 685 Riverside Dr. Augusta Me. I like to drive locally once a week. Then we went for surf turf and bread at the Longhorn. I got a nice Father’s Day card too. We have a lot of miles together.
That reminded me. When we were young it snowed so bad school was called off and I took a snow day (vacation day-I reserved a week a year for weather events). We took the corvair out with snow tires to explore the unplowed roads. Hit a drift and the car centered out on top of it. It just kept digging though and works its way out. Quite a snow car for $100.
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Growing up, we lived at the bottom of a steep hill on a dead end road, moms 1960 Corvair was the only car that could go up it in the snow.
During one of our Ice storms back in the mid 90’s, I threw a 340ci block, heads and intake manifold in the trunk of my R/T and drove it 20ish miles home on black ice covered roads, I only saw one other vehicle out on the roads that night… When I got within walking distance to the house I was on a 5 lane wide flat straight road (for a 1/2ish mile) and started having fun… Made it home and the next morning couldn’t get out of the steep driveway (for the next 3 days)… The weight of the engine block etc in the trunk made all the difference in the word…
I go for a ride several times a week either in a car or on a motorcycle. 15 minutes from home going south or west is scenic Cascade mountain forest and 15 minutes east is wide open desert. I love being out in nature and it’s cheap entertainment when the car gets over 40 mpg and the motorcycle 85 mpg. My preferred time for pleasure driving is pre dawn when the wildlife is out and about.
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Glad to see I’m not the only one who hates staying indoor. Got to embrace nature !