Where We Really Want to Go and We'll Walk in the Sun

My mom on one of her adventures. Possibly Bermuda?

So, you know lately I've been talking about taking the girls on that road trip to California, and then the minute I do, the gas prices get all ridiculous and try to stop me. If I were a smarter girl, I'd probably cancel it and just take the girls to the State Fair like we do every year, but I think I'm just going to be fiscally irresponsible and take them anyway.

I love a good road trip. I always have. My mom traveled a lot before she got married, and then she had to settle for driving us around to cool places in Arizona because we were so poor. My big fantasy when I was younger, was that I'd buy a big station wagon when I became an adult and just drive from place to place for the rest of my life. You know, just like the Hulk.

My brother tanning on his '75 Caprice Classic at Papago Park in 1984.

When I was eighteen, my brother, my middle sister and I drove down to see my oldest sister back in Arizona. Back then we drove down in my brother's gigantic Chevy. Now the gas alone would cost us thousands of dollars in that car.

Me and my family, pretty cold and miserable at The Golden Gate Bridge.

The first trip I made to San Francisco was with my family in 1977, I think. I had no idea how cold it was going to be. I also didn't know how much I would love the city when I was older. I lived in San Francisco on and off from 1985 -1988. It was a perfect place to spend my early twenties. I can't wait to show it off to my daughters. I haven't been there in twenty years, so we'll see if it holds up to my memory. I'm pretty sure the dance clubs don't play Gang of Four anymore, do they?

Here's me and my first boyfriend when I lived in Leggett, Ca.

In my trip planning, I've decided not to head up to Mendocino and Humboldt Counties where I lived in 1985, like I originally thought I would. The gas thing has me trimming things up a bit, and I just can't fit it in. Instead we'll go to Yosemite and Sequoia and King's Canyon before we finally head to the Coast and up to San Francisco.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to let go of my dream of seeing Southern Utah on this trip also. I only have so much time and money. I think we'll be overwhelmed enough with what we're doing.



Stinky at Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park, South Dakota for my fortieth birthday trip in 2005.

My girls have also inherited my wander lust. They love the whole process and are actually pretty great in the car for long stretches. We are an awesome roadtrip crew.

Coadster at Mt Evans in Colorado in 2000.

Coadster has a sense of direction and is an excellent co-pilot. She always makes sure all my food, drink and music needs are met while I drive. Stinky is the one who pushes us to take more risks and do more stuff that Coadster and I might just by-pass for a safer, more mellow option. Which means I may have to ride a rollercoaster with her on the boardwalk in Santa Cruz.

My friend Eggo's husband has been really helpful in the planning of my trip. He left a mysteriously anonymous comment a month back or so, and then asked me about my trip while at the Dublin one night and cleared up my confusion. He has told me of a cool place to stop in Wyoming, which was the only hole in my trip. Now we have amazing points of interest all the way down I-80...Okay, except Nebraska. I'm going to drive through as much of that at night as possible.

Even though it seems a way off, I really need to get cracking and reserve rooms and camping spots and start making lists of all the crap we're going to need. As usual, I'm hoping to stumble over my trust fund before now and the end of July too, so I can thumb my nose at the heinous gas prices.