I’ve been a road rat since before I can remember, a kid who thought nothing of being cooped up in a car all day because, well, that’s the price of adventure. Not that I would have phrased it exactly that way at age 5 or 11 or 14. But I knew that boredom was the price of travel.

I rediscovered a bit of that feeling last weekend on our four-day trip from Fairfax to Fayette and back. That’s Fairfax County, Virginia, to Fayette County, Kentucky: 500 miles, give or take a few. Eight hours, maybe nine if you’re pulling a trailer, which we were.

How to while away the hours, especially when you’re not driving? When there’s more than one person in the car (and sometimes even when there’s not — but that’s another story), you talk. You get caught up on work and family and what you’ll do when you arrive. And then, when you’ve exhausted all conversation, you stare out the window at the clouds.