Having grown up taking a vacation every year and always by car, road trips are in my blood. These vacations ranged up and down the east coast, from Florida to Prince Edward Island in Canada, and everywhere in between. I finally went inland on my own to Indiana and Tennessee, bringing Dena along with me the last time. There's just something about driving to a place instead of flying; something that turns it into an adventure. Adventures when flying usually involve lost baggage, long lines through security, and kids kicking the back of your seat on a long flight. With a road trip, most of the joy of the trip can be the actual "getting there", wherever there is.

    What better way to spend a month as a pair then than touring the country, coast to coast? As much traveling as I've done, Dena has done as much not traveling. With 2005's trip to Nashville as practise, we now know that sharing a car for hours on end doesn't end with either one of us dead, so why not go for a much longer trip. I've wanted to drive out to the west coast for a long time, and almost did once, so now here's our chance to do it for real. The timing is right, with me having returned from Iraq only a month before, and Dena having just graduated from VCU. We'll have just enough time to disappear from our normal lives for a month and have an adventure all our own.

    Our time of year limits some of choices up north due to winter still being very much in effect, but there's always time for another trip someday in the future. This trip is also a tool to help us figure out places to check out later, since we're going at such a fast pace and won't be able to see everything the places we're visiting have to offer. While it's not as much fun to see many things as we drive by, there's just a whole lot to see in this country, more even than you can see in almost a month! But we'll see as much as we can.

-Keith

Click to see an larger version:

    Dena has always enjoyed exploring and seeing new things and places. Ever since hanging out with Keith, this pastime has taken on a new level of sharing new experiences and seeing new things together. What was great by her self is now awesome with Keith, so a road trip lasting nearly a month is quite a few awesomes all at once. She has a extra reason for wanting to go on the road trip, though she might list it as the biggest reason, and that's the return of Keith from Iraq. Gone for around 17 months with two quick visits, Dena is more than ready to spend a month with Keith exclusively.

    As the artist of the pair, Dena helps Keith design websites that don't hurt the eyes, and to take pictures that are more exciting than something you get for free in a new wallet. Graduating from VCU with a emphasis on art and psychology, Dena plans on working with kids either in therapy or education. For now she has Keith practise on.

    With plenty of time available on a deployment to Iraq, Keith has put it to good use. With a USA trip planner book from Dena, he was able to refine the trip time and time again, changing the cities they'd see and also what they'd see in each city. The trip grew a few days in the process, but it's simply too hard to turn down some of the sights out there. Plus it'd be a pity to be in the area and pass some things by when you're closer than you ever have been.

    Put in charge of navigation since Dena doesn't have a lot of love for maps, and planning the trip since he has had way more free time than Dena in the past year, he hopes it can run something close to smoothly. And who knows, maybe by the end Dena will be able to love maps too.

    The only member of the trip coming along whether she likes it or not, Miss Pearl will be blessing us with her loving mileage. Named for the sticker on her back window, Pearl also brings to the table the stereo for tunes and books on CD. What more could anyone want from someone with four wheels?