we'll find somewhere the streets are paved with gold

Today's song: U.F.O. by Coldplay

Alright, seriously. Listen to that song and you will be happy for days. I just got back from a weekend in Philadelphia with my family and listened to Coldplay all the way home (about six wonderful hours). Even through my dad's terrible driving aka near death experiences, my mother's complaining about said near death experiences, and their World War III over who should pick the radio station, I was happy because I was in the back seat, jamming to the best band in the entire world.
I love long car rides which may seem kind of strange considering I have recently been extremely prone to motion sickness. But once we get started and I know I just have hours and hours ahead of me to think about nothing or everything and anything, I get this calm feeling and I'm so simply happy. I love sitting in the back seat of my family's mini van, by myself listening to music and looking out the window at the world passing us by. I don't really understand why people are always complaining about taking long trips like that. Even when we drive to Chicago to visit our relatives and we're in the car for so many hours it's insane, I still have such a good time. I can't really put a finger on it but I think it's a mixture of getting to be on the road traveling to somewhere other than home, listening to all my favorite music and just having some time all to myself. Although don't get me wrong, I love road trips with my friends because they're full of laughs and terrible singing and speeding down the highway without a care in the world. I love going anywhere really. I could be traveling to the middle of nowhere for nothing all that important and I'd still have so much fun doing it.
Actually on our way to Philly, we didn't leave till around 6:30pm so we were driving in the sunset/dark most of the time. We were right in the mountains when the sun started setting and it was really one of those moments that takes your breath away. I don't mean to sound like some tree-hugging nature freak but it really made me glad to just be alive and doing something. I don't know, I just felt so lucky to be living under that beautiful sky. As it got darker, we were out in the middle of nowhere where you could clearly see all the stars in the sky. It made me think of those cheesy lines in movies when some couple is in love but in different locations and they always say something like "We're still under the same sky" or that "We're looking at the same moon" kind of thing. It just got me thinking, how absolutely magical that is. I mean, think of all the people out there in the entire world, and we're all under the same sky. If I was one of those couples who was trying the whole long distance thing, I feel like that would be so comforting. No matter how far away you are - different cities, different states, different countries, different continents - it's all under the same sky. I don't know why that thought is so stuck in my head, but I'm in love with the idea. It seems so romantic.
Thanks for reading
Love,
Rachel