2,400 miles down, 4,000 to go

Between July 4th and 11th, DH (and various members of the Sterling family) piled 2,400 miles on to our trusty Malibu.  (three adults do not fit well in the back seat.)  First up-Traverse City.  Best part of the weekend?  A toss up between the Blue Angels airshow and the New Age bookstore we found.

Monday-all day on the road to Pennsylvania, taking Libby home as she packs 

up four years of college life (most of which returned with us Tuesday and Wednesday

)  The best part?  Tooling around the back roads Tuesda

y morning to Ringing Rocks Park.

Thursday-Lake Michigan beach.  A fabulous place that we tend to take for granted.  Best part? The hot pink plastic shovel that washed up, allowing me to repair a moat left by previous visitors.

Friday-the casino.  Best part?  Coming home with only $5 less than I started

Saturday-our local RWA meeting, connecting with fellow writers.

What's next?  What about that 4,000 miles in the title?  Huh?  Our graduation present to Libby was fairly open ended - a trip.  Somehow, it morphed into a trip with Mom, similar to our European romp of 2003.  After much debate, delay and consideration, the possibilities of Iceland, Ireland and Morocco were discarded for (drumroll, please) Sedona, AZ.  At Raw Spirit Fest 2008 www.rawspiritfest.com.   Go figure.  I'm going to spend three days in September not eating cooked food.  Do not talk to me for at least two weeks afterward, or ten Big Macs, whichever comes first.

The best part is, it's going to be a roadtrip.  Why?  With the price of gas climbing every week?  Well, is it going to go down in price?  The cost and hassle of a plane ride for the two of us will probably equal the gas we'll buy.  Which leaves cheap hotels and eating out of a cooler.  The cost of spending two weeks with my daughter:priceless.

Look for more blogs as we map the great American west for awesome things to see.

Look out, giant ball of twine (it's in Kansas)