An Epic Road Trip - 2017

We didn't travel much when I was a kid but I can remember riding in my parents' Volvo on the way to a swim meet at 12.  The radio playing; the trees, people, buildings and places I'd never seen flashing by.  I loved the feeling of adventure, even if it was just for a swim meet.  I can remember driving down Lawyers Road in Charlotte on a hot summer night.  I'd just been at the park with a friend saying goodbye before heading off to college.  Lita Ford and Don Henley coming from my favorite mix tape.  The freedom of driving, the wind in my hair.  The headlights shining into a dark and unknown future, moving along the road, leaving the spot where I had just been and the feeling that no one would have known I was there 5 minutes later.

I have always loved to drive.  The idea that you can get into a car, turn on some great music and leave your cares in the road dust behind you was always appealing.  I remember driving in a rental car in west Texas, on a work trip before kids, it was the first time I had been west of the Mississippi in the continental United States.  The landscape was so different from North Carolina.  You could see where you were going long before you got there.  No trees and the land laid out in front of you asking to be explored.

On my teenage bucket list, I had things like learn to drive a motorcycle - done, go to Paris - not yet, sex on a beach - not telling; but somewhere between 18 and 22, the college years, the idea of a road trips took hold.  The romance and independence of packing everything you need and heading off in an unknown direction planted itself in my body and being.  Perhaps it was fed by the night three friends and I left college at 2 AM and drove to Wilmington.  We slept in the car until daylight and then spent the day in the rain under the Johnnie Mercer's pier at Wrightsville Beach.  Or maybe it was fueled by driving to Long Island to see a friend graduate from the Merchant Marines.  I don't really know what cemented it but I have been a fan of driving long distances and seeing everything that was new for 20 years.

It's still on my bucket list to drive from Chicago to LA along the mother road - route 66.  But life has a way of delaying things and bringing new and different plans that take you in unexpected directions.  One of those directions for me was to a love affair with our National Parks.  I'm honestly not sure how it started.  We bought a pop-up camper but I'm too restless to sit in the woods for a week.  I enjoy a new place every night.  A friend at work told me how they spent their vacations visiting national parks and so we planned a summer trip in 2007 with the dog, two kids (ages 3 & 5) and the pop-up in tow visiting a friend and national parks in Virginia.  Petersburg National Battlefield was our first park stamp and I still remember Luke pointing and laughing at the testicles on the horse statue in the visitor center and Lorelei getting scared at the idea of bugs in the cannon.  The bookend of that trip was Shenandoah National Park.  We saw a black bear crossing the parkway and I got startled by the 8 point buck lounging in the woods between the bathroom and our camper.  With the exception of the two years we spent overindulging in all things Disney, we have planned every vacation around the state capitols and national parks for the last 10 years.

As I began to look at the 2017 vacation ideas and combined that with the kids school activities, I realized that we are running out of time to finish the 16 states and 200+ park sites if we only go for 2-3 weeks every summer and spring breaks.  And so an idea was born.  An epic road trip to beat all other road trips.  But wait, Scott only gets three weeks of vacation.  Go without me, he said.  But wait, Luke wants to run with his friends all summer to prepare for cross county in the fall.  Go without him, he said.  But wait, hotels for seven weeks will be expensive and we don't have enough points.  Lorelei and I will camp for the first four weeks, I said.  But wait, both of our cars are more than 10 years old and have too many miles to risk a 12,000+ mile trip.  And so, we bought a new car (Luke will be driving in the next 18 months anyway).

And so, Lorelei and I leave on June 10th for 4 weeks on the road.  We will drive, camp and sightsee from North Carolina to California in a crooked line across the county.  I'm super excited, and scared, for the opportunity to spend so much bonding time with my daughter.  Scott and Luke will join us in California for the three week drive home.  We only have one road trip rule - listen to all of the 5000+ songs on my ipod in alphabetical order.  Otherwise , Lorelei plans to eat ice cream and cupcakes in every state so we can determine who has the best.  I don't expect to be able to update the blog every day but I will try.  I hope you will follow along and enjoy the adventure.