A Little Traveling Music, Please

I love a road trip!  Love it, love it, love it.  There is nothing that makes me feel more free than a stretch of asphalt in front of me.  I don't know how many times I've set off on an adventure in my car.  I know I've driven from Utah to Indiana a half-dozen times, a few solo, and from Indiana to New York or D.C. many times, once just to hear a concert at Carnegie Hall.  One of my favorite drives was in a brand-new Volkswagen Fox (thanks, Mom and Dad!) from Utah to Wisconsin.  An eighteen hour drive, through the night, with only U2's Wide Awake in America to keep me company.  I stayed a few days with my friend Gene in Madison before making a much shorter drive to O'Hare where I flew to Spain for the summer, leaving my new car in Gene's care.

It's a liberating feeling to get behind the wheel and know that you can technically go anywhere you want.  Anywhere.  It's a bit different with kids than it was back when I truly was free to do whatever I wanted.  I still love it.  Scott isn't quite as passionate about the open road as I am.  He likes road trips, but he's skipped a few drives to Montana, one to Vegas and even flew home from California once, while I drove the kids home.  That drive was almost the best part of the trip.  So exciting!  Now I'm doing it again.  Our car is one seat to small for our big family.  Freestone drove to San Diego with Ryan and Jennie, but they're staying for Disneyland while we go home.  So Scott is flying and I'm driving.  He's only good for company in the car; he falls asleep as soon as he gets behind the wheel, so I drive 99% of the time.  I'm a bad passenger anyway.  Too bossy.  Scott loves to tell people that he's leaving me in California with seven kids and flying home while I drive alone.  People are shocked.  Relax, everyone!  What he never tells them is that I couldn't think of anything more fun than a road trip with all my favorite kids.  Plus, if you tell me I can't or shouldn't do something, oh, I'm gonna!  Sure, I love Scott to be in the car for those in-depth conversations, and to hand out straws and headphones.  But being the only adult in charge is just a whole different feeling.  It's freedom!  So I'm excited for our voyage.  What if something happens?  Well, it's not like we're pulling a handcart.  It's Southern California, in the twenty-first century.  I'm sure you won't find our sun-bleached bones in the desert anytime soon.  We'll be just fine.  Better than fine.  We'll be traveling across the country we love, the very place that provides the freedom to do exactly that.