Dedicated to my parents who had the patience

 to drive our family 6,800 miles round trip

 across the United States!

When I was five years old, my family and I took a trip to Los Angeles, California to visit my great-grandmother, Bubba.

My dad put a mattress over the flattened seats of his station wagon while my siblings and I piled in for a long trip that lasted for days.  

Along the way, my mother would toss Tootsie Rolls and Smarties into the backseat 

to ease our boredom. 

We traveled through flatlands leading to nowhere until we reached the mountain ranges.