Is It Pronounced "Root" or "Rowt"?

We have a start point, an end point, and a "stop-for-breakfast" point somewhere around the middle to visit some family. Start and end are ludicrously far apart, but therein lies the adventure and the challenge: enjoy the voyage just as much as the trip itself. Here's hoping, though that this idea does not progress from "adventure" to "irreconcilable differences." Nearly 2000 miles of road and over 24 hours of drive time is a long time to spend with anyone, no matter how much you love them, but I think our combination of patience and stubbornness (Brittany calls it "determination") should see us through.

First off, though, there has been an update as to the timeline. Brittany cashed in a bit more PTO than we had originally planned for, so we consequently have a total of three extra days for this trip. We will leave from Phoenix on Saturday, January 16th at around 5pm, as opposed to the Tuesday plans that we originally had. While Google says that this trip will take close to 29 hours, it assumes that one drives the speed limit - in some cases lower than the speed limit, as the average speed needed to make that time is right around 60mph. While I'm certainly not known for heeding speed limits, who in their right mind only does 60mph on the highway?

The route we plan to take is fairly simple: get on I-10 eastbound in Phoenix and stay on it until it meets up with I-20 in west Texas. At that point, we take 20 clear through the rest of the state - the gigantic, desolate, boring western portion of the state - until we take a slight detour to Flower Mound (just north of Dallas/Fort Worth) to see Brittany's cousin and family. After the drudgery and monotony of west Texas - the only consolation of which is that most of it will be covered overnight - this will be a welcome break. After stopping to see them, we get back on I-20 and follow it until it reaches I-285 in Georgia. I have yet to deduce why 285 has an "interstate" designation, as it is barely an "inter-city" highway, but this blacktop ring will eventually point us in the correct direction and hopefully put us home sometime Sunday evening. All in all, not a difficult road to follow - very few brains are involved in following it, which is fortunate for me.

In talking about and preparing for this cross-country trek, though, we have encountered a fair share of raised eyebrows and quizzical questioning of our sanity. "Why not fly?" is a common question. "Isn't it that much easier?" Easier perhaps, but there is something to be said for the control over one's trip that driving allows. While certainly longer in duration, driving one's own car allows control over personal space - no crying kids with inattentive parents, no random seatmates with poor hygiene (hopefully, anyway), and one's itinerary is largely in one's own hands rather than the TSA and the airlines. It's also comforting to know that Mother Nature has less pull on a car than on a jet.

Still, covering nearly 2000 miles of road is no walk in the park, and as such, preparation is of the utmost importance. Things to consider include food, sleep, (frequent) bathroom stops, clothing, and mental stability in the face of monotony and road hypnosis. All of these things will be covered later, but the risks are very real and definitely warrant exploring and planning for.

It's going to be quite the adventure - strap in and hold on!