I have always wanted to drive cross-country.

So when Claire left for college in California as a freshman in the fall of 2011, I told her about my bucket list dream and promised that one of her trips from Washington (the east coast one) to California would take place in a car with her dad.

Guess who begins her senior year at the end of August?  And guess who passes a major birthday milestone next winter? With those deadlines looming, we leave on our drive tomorrow, August 1st.  It was now or never.

And we are pumped about this trip!

As we’d both driven much of the “southern” (i.e., direct) route in shorter trips, we decided to wander around a bit in the Midwest, the Great Plains, and the Pacific Northwest before we finally make our way to Southern California.  I’ve dubbed it our Not All Who Wander Are Lost tour.  I just wish I’d thought ahead to have t-shirts made!  (Cue the eye rolling by Claire.)

So over the next 20 days, you’ll get all sorts of updates from various cool places along our route here on More to Come…  We are taking the Going to the Sun Road through Glacier National Park, along with long sections of the coastal highway in Oregon and California. Claire is getting her first visit to Cleveland (where she is very excited about the Beyonce exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; me, I’m heading for Linda Ronstadt).  Also on her first-time list will be Chicago, Madison, Minneapolis, Seattle, and Portland. I’m  checking off four bucket list items over this time – not only the cross-country tour, but two more stadiums on my quest to see all the MLB ballparks and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin.  In fact, in one 24-hour period, we’re going to see a Minnesota Twins baseball game with my former assistant Liz and her husband Dave, checking out the world’s largest ball of twine rolled by one person, stopping by the Roger Maris museum in Fargo, and getting a tour of an entire college campus designed by Marcel Breuer.  Is this a great country or what!?!

Best of all…I’m getting 18 days in the car with a wonderful, talented, thoughtful, and graceful young lady who just happens to be my daughter.  (Cue the second set of eye rolls by Claire.)

So come back often.  I’ll try to get something posted most nights, but there are no guarantees.  However, my track record is pretty good.  This blog started as a way to send information on our trip to the four corners in the Southwest to friends and family. I’ve captured trips to visit New England colleges, tours of the Dutch Antilles, and more on this blog.

Thanks for reading and sharing.  And if you happen to be in North Dakota in a few days and see a car come whizzing by with some Dixie Chicks blaring on the radio, check it out – we may be wandering your way.

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

With apologies to J.R.R. Tolkien.

More to come…

DJB

Image: The “Not all who wander are lost” tour map