Erica was planning to move from our hometown of Louisville, KY to Moab, UT, to start her first adult job after college graduation. I had previously helped move a friend cross-country years ago via the northern U.S. states and was itching for another cross-country trip, this time through the southern U.S. states. Based on previous roadtrip experiences, I fully expected that Erica and I would hate each other somewhere around Arkansas and be plotting ways to leave each other stranded in the youth hostels, which could have easily been mistaken for meth houses. But I was willing to risk our familial bond for the chance at checking off a few more states on my "To Do" list. Imagine my surprise when, after a week in her fully packed Honda Civic, we were closer than ever - literally and figuratively! ;) While on the road, when she would say, "Do you have to..." "...go to the bathroom?" I would finish. "Yes!" she would say. Or if said, "Hey, are you..." "...hungry?" she would ask. "Starving!" I would reply.
I was especially surprised at how well we got along during the trip considering how I had somewhat hijacked it before it ever began. Erica had to report to her new job by a particular date in April of that year and had been planning to take a leisurely roadtrip out West. I desperately wanted to go with her but due to my full-time job and the graduate class I was taking at the time, I could only get away for about five days. I remember telling her over and over, very apologetically, that I really wanted to come but we'd have to make the trip in less than five days and I understood if she'd rather take someone else but please, please, please choose me because I'm more qualified than anyone else because I've already successfully completed one cross-country roadtrip! She agreed that the dates I was available for weren't ideal but she was willing to... "Great," I said, "Here's the travel route we'll take. The first night we'll stay with an old college roommate of mine in Arkansas, second night in a hotel in Amarillo, Texas that my friend who works at a Hilton will arrange, third night in a teepee on an organic farm in Colorado with another old college roommate, and the fourth night, eh, I'll let you handle that one, because it is your trip and I don't want to take over, ok? Awesome!" And away we went...
Here's us not killing each other,
quite a feat after four days in a Honda Civic!
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