On The Road (Again)

My son, now a high school graduate, is doing what all young adults should do after graduating.  He’s hitting the road with his three best friends.  After weeks of planning, changing their minds a hundred times on where to stay, what to bring, when to leave and where to go, they finally piled in a Toyota mini van early this morning.  They’re on their way.  An adventure, says my mom, is something all people should experience.  Take a chance.  Hit the road.  Fly to an unexplored destination.

Of course with this road trip, the boys are bringing their highly organized play lists.  Jacob pored over his iTunes for just the right songs for the journey south.  Unfortunately, it did not include the ultimate road trip song, “On The Road Again” by Willie Nelson.  Cue the video:

The boys, being a bit on the nerdy side, made some rules, which included giving the driver the power to veto any song selection he felt unworthy or annoying.  The three remaining boys can only veto a song the driver chooses by a 3-vote unanimous agreement.  I’m sure there are other rules, but those stuck in my mind as the most important for any road trip with friends.

They’ll make their way from Washington (and enjoy rush-hour traffic on this beautiful Monday morning from Seattle to Portland) to their first overnight stop in Crescent City, CA.  The next day will be spent wandering through the mighty Redwoods before the long haul to Southern Cal, where they’ll spend a few days playing at Magic Mountain, Universal’s City Walk, and gawking in Hollywood.  Then, a weary journey north, back home.

While planning the trip over the last few weeks, we shoveled shitloads of advice at our son, most of it translated through his ears and into his intelligent brain as: “bla-bla bla bla bla bla-bla bla bla bla…”  Yeah, I know he’s a grownup and doesn’t need to hear our advice any longer.  But, we feel, as eternal parents, we must give our unsolicited advice to feel better about ourselves!  Disclaimers, if you will.  We TOLD him not to…so if he does it anyway, we’re off the hook.

We want him to be safe and just have a good time.  We want him to experience all the fun and joy of being free on the road, even just for this one week. Just so long as they don’t go so far as Jack Kerouac. It’s hard to let go.

“What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? – it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.”
― Jack Kerouac, On the Road