I Think Today I'd Like To...

...pack a suitcase. Light. Only bare necessities.
...get the tent, cot & sleeping bag together.
...get the iPod charger, iTrip radio frequency transmitter, and iPod ready.
...charge the video camera, digital camera, buy a new composition book & Bic pen.
...get some dog food, with the metal dishes for random food & water stops. And, of course, the dog.
...bring the gas card.
...give the car the once-over & make sure she's good for the long haul.

And just drive. No agenda. Stop where I want & when I want. See some of the good old U.S. of A.

That just sounds like it'd be cool to do, doesn't it?

So, I think I'd have to drive towards Colorado...then maybe do Las Vegas. Then head towards the Pacific Northwest & hangout with friends and then go south down the coast. Visit family & friends in the Bay Area...then drive down Highway 1 and just see all of California's coast.

Then, I'd check out the Grand Canyon on the return. Maybe see a bullfight in Juarez & maybe see a professional soccer game, too. Then I'd just blaze through west Texas to get home. There's not much to see there. Trust me on this one.

But, you know what?

The romance of that seems so much better than the reality of that. I mean, after about day 3 I'd really start missing my family. I'd get annoyed with myself because no matter how much I'd like to be that free spirit, heading wherever the wind takes me, I'd have some sort of agenda that I'd get frustrated with when I wasn't making good time or some thing I wanted to do or see was foiled by bad weather or closed that time of year. And I don't think I'd make those fast friends on the road who'd give me places to stay & home cooked meals. I'd miss my creature comforts. My back would start to hurt. Stuff like that.

Maybe I should just go to New York City and hang out for a month...

Both are nice to think about, though. I KNEW I should've gotten a higher-mileage lease on my car...