Road Trip Essentials

Ok, so I'm many, many days behind on the Mitten bound road trip review. I have good excuses though, like water in my basement. Again and still and in new exciting places... And sleeping on the floor because my closet is on my bed and I'm trying to find a new roommate. Never a dull moment. Anway, on to the road trip!

So, let's just have a quick road trip check list.

1. Snacks. I brought water and carrots and pepper slices and hummus. Who the heck eats hummus in a car? I have no idea what I was thinking. Luckily my friends don't suck at car snacks as much as me. They had red vines and vernors. Healthy car snacks Megan? It's not even in character. I must have had a stroke. You should also find Sonic at some point. You should look it up on your GPS and don't stop until you find it. This is important. You might need to switch drivers in the drive-thru. It happens sometimes.  

2. Games. You know, destination trivia, you might be from Michigan if... I think we all failed Michigan trivia, but it was ridiculous and we all learned things we'll never need to know. Also, I failed less than everyone else - just so you know (let me have this! I never win anything!). Also, you should play name that tune and hum all varieties of randomness. If possible, you shouldn't do it in torrential rain, it is very distracting from the tune naming, but it really adds something to the experience if you get cut off by a semi while humming as long as everyone lives (Don't worry. There were no particularly close calls...)

3. Music. It should be bad. Except some of it should also be good. Mostly it should be loud. Most importantly, it should be memorable. There should be dedications. That song you listened to 45 times a day when you were 15? That one is important. The headliner from your favorite musical? Yes. The soundtrack to The Sound of Music - Obviously, turn it up! Also very important, Michael W. Smith. Don't give me any lip about that one - I'll send you west young man... (groan.) You should listen to Amy Grant too. You should then look up her biography and learn her life history. Ahh the instant gratification of smart phones. Humanity need never be patient again...

4. Friends. You can't really have a successful road trip without your favorite, loud, up for the ridiculous,  friends. I've tried. In fact, I've had several long, solo, wide open road, drives. I like them, but they aren't quite the same. And if you play the humming game alone in a car then something is probably wrong with you. And you have to talk on your cell phone a lot when you are alone. This is dangerous - not because talking is dangerous, that's what speakerphone is for. It's slightly dangerous because of me. You see, my cars have a history of dysfunctional lighters so you can never charge your phone and if you don't have someone with you who needs the bathroom occasionally you might wait until the last possible moment to get gas. Bad plan - especially when your phone is dead from talking to everyone you know. So, the thing is: you should take someone with you to talk to and sing poorly with and read a terribly silly book aloud to you and hum. You can't play the humming game alone. You already know the answer. Lame. People are good for you. Take them, you'll like it.

5. Destination. You need somewhere to go. And plans for when you get there. Some of them should be important - visiting people you like, meet new people you like. Some of them should be relaxing - beach, sleep in, don't check your email 812 times a day. Some of them should be ridiculous - Meijer in the middle of the night and bedtime stories from Youtube. The destination is essential, but the experience there & getting there is the point. We had a pretty fantastic destination, but still, it can't be the whole point.The friends and the community building chaos is the important part. It's undeniably crucial that you be stupid together. Otherwise, you can't become a Michigander. (Rules for becoming a Michigander: Learn a fight song, learn to play and say euchre, swim in the Lake, know where you are on your own hand. Learn the state animal. You're in!).

In review, stupid + together = important. Ok?

Sonic is good too though.Sonic's ice might be the 2nd most important thing after great people. Yes, probably...