Some couples golf (those couples are boring FYI), some couples like going to the movies (too typical), but Greg and I take road trips. I think somewhere between California and Texas, while we were both red eyed and bushed and seriously could not eat another granola bar if you paid us, it became our ‘thing.’

We had finally settled into Denton when Greg got a phone call from our mutual friend, Dave, just as we were getting into the car trying to figure out what to do with our Friday night. Greg is quiet as he listens on the phone and then laughs, turning to me he asks, “Wanna go to Austin?”

I’m hungry, which on a girl usually reads as cranky. I grab the phone from

“Dave,” is all I say and he frantically begins to talk before I have a chance to ask what’s up. Dave is first and foremost, a great friend, but he’s also a wonderful musician and a member of the excellent band The Whisperlights who had just played Denton the night before on their tour.

“Uh, you don’t have to say yes,” Dave begins, “but I have a problem and you don’t have to do this but I am dependent on you. So just know that, first off.”

“Oy,” is all I say.

Dave explains that their violinist, Toby, had left his violin in Denton and is there any way we could possibly bring it to Austin before their 10 p.m. show? We were the only people anyone in the band knew in Denton. It was quarter to seven. Austin is at least three hours away, more in traffic. I look over to Greg. We were their only hope. We were the Whisperlight’s Obi-Wan.

We took the challenge. And by “we” I mean Greg, because like I’ve said before, I’m really good at sitting in the passenger seat of a car eating or sleeping and not driving, which is what I planned on doing all the way to Austin, just like I did all across the rest of our southwest road trip. Like, I seriously don’t know how the pioneers did it. I’m not twelve, so I didn’t want a DVD player with Spongebob episodes to keep me busy, I like to look out the window instead, but I’m not sure what I would do without a clean bathroom and a place to stay at night that has a shower. Seriously, if I had been a pioneer, I never would have gone to the bathroom.

Ever.

Starving, I found myself eating the granola bars I didn’t want to eat on the way to Austin. (Side note: I also don’t know what pioneers did without granola bars, because I’ve played Oregon Trail before and we totally didn’t have time to hunt while we were on our road trip, plus I’m not into shooting things.) We got to Austin in not three hours, but two hours and forty minutes, which was miraculous, really. I don’t know any race car drivers, but I know characters from Cars, so let’s just say Greg went all Lightning McQueen on everyone. I like to think this makes me Sally.

The Whisperlights are just taking the stage as we get to the bar and Toby thanks Greg over and over when he hands him his violin. We stayed for the show and the boys gave Greg a nice thank you from the stage, so basically, now I like to think my boyfriend is famous. Then Greg drove us back to Denton for a total of six hours in the car and I was so proud of myself because Greg didn’t run over anything and I didn’t even fall asleep once.

Featured image courtesy of Drew Coffman.