A Ramble: Roads We’ve Already Travelled

I watched a show on YouTube the other day about Canada’s most scenic drives. I’ve put the video on our Video Page for anyone who wants to see it. What struck me wasn’t the scenery — though it was beautiful — but the quiet realization that almost every road they featured was one we had travelled ourselves over the years in the RV.

It’s funny how you don’t notice the shape of your own life until something holds up a mirror. As the camera followed those long stretches of highway, I found myself remembering mornings when we’d pull out of a campground with no particular schedule, just the day ahead of us. I remembered the hum of the tires, the small conversations, the familiar rhythm of packing up, moving on, and settling in somewhere new.

Those drives weren’t “scenic routes” to us at the time. They were simply the way we moved through our lives — the backdrop to summers, family moments, and chapters we didn’t realize we were writing. A certain bend in the road would remind me of a breakdown we once had. A mountain pass brought back a perfect sunset we watched from the RV window. Even the quiet, empty stretches carried their own stories.

Watching that show didn’t make me want to plan another trip. Instead, it made me appreciate the miles already behind us — the ones that shaped our family and the way I see this country. There’s a comfort in knowing that we’ve already stood in so many of the places people dream of visiting. Not in a boastful way, just in a grateful one.

Maybe that’s the real beauty of a scenic drive. Sometimes it doesn’t point you toward where you want to go. Sometimes it gently reminds you of where you’ve already been.