"On the road again..."

"Look, Ma! I went all the way up Hell's Canyon to see some...cows!"

Ahem.

I just reread my opening entry of the Road Trip 2010 report and I do believe, "Second verse, same as the first!" sums it up nicely. Hitting the road with no particular destination in mind was once again our modus operandi, and it still produces exchanges such as this:

Child: Where are we going?

Mother: We don't know.

Child: Do we know where we're staying?

Mother: Of course we don't know where we're staying! If we don't know where we're going, how can we know where we're staying?

Child: Why don't we just, ah, pick some place, like the (insert the last name of Boring, Normal Family Who Plans Ahead)?

Mother: Because we don't want to. We don't need to. I don't know why on earth everyone thinks they need to plan a road trip. That defeats the whole purpose!

(Five hours later...)

Child (specifically, Kai): I hope we get to sleep in the car again!

Mother: Why, oh why, can't we be like boring, normal people and plan ahead?!

Alas, we did not sleep in our car again. Nor did we make use of the tent that we brought along in my meager effort to duplicate the Boy Scout motto. No, much as I hate to admit it, we didn't come away this year with any stories worthy of Ripley's Believe it or Not.

In other respects, though, our adventure reinforced much of what I shared in last year's report. My children are good travelers. I love hot, dry weather. And running at altitude is still a far cry from running at sea level. I'm also happy to report that Wal-Mart hasn't yet permeated every nook and cranny of the country. There are still some "Where-the-Heck in America?!" spots amidst the Anywhere, America. Some of them may even have motels that offer complimentary beer. Wide open spaces and people with beer. America, the beautiful.