A Surprise Post!

We don’t usually post details about the road trip until March/April. However, we couldn’t resist sharing the name of next year’s road trip.

Road Trip Fun

photo by mediaeater

One of our new additions to this year’s road trip is the Foursquare application. With Foursquare you check into places and can earn special badges.  We look forward to using Foursquare to track where we go and hope to unlock some unique badges available only in specific locations.

Some possible badges we might unlock include the Wall Street Journal Urban Adventurer Badge, the Gossip Girl Badge, or the Today Show Newbie Badge.

We are fairly certain, however, that we will not be earning the Last Degree Badge.

Stay tuned to see what we unlock on our adventures!

Reading Across America

Go East Again in ’10 Mascot Nominees

We are proud to announce the Go East Again ’10 road trip mascot nominees. Our students will vote over the next week.  Who will be the lucky character?

Look at the route of GFW ’09

GFW ’09, originally uploaded by Litandmore.

7,245.5 miles, 2 countries , 3 provinces, 15 states, 19 nights, 20 days, and 2 friends =  another priceless trip

Spoonbridge and Cherry (Minneapolis Sculpture Garden)

Spoonbridge and Cherry (Minneapolis Sculpture Garden), originally uploaded by Litandmore.

Where I Read This Summer: Spoonbridge and Cherry (Minneapolis Sculpture Garden)

Where I Read This Summer: Spoonbridge and Cherry (Minneapolis Sculpture Garden), originally uploaded by Litandmore.

Mary Tyler Moore Table

The next time you’re in Minneapolis make a reservation at Basil’s and ask for the Mary Tyler Moore Table. We did!

Live from Minneapolis, It is Saturday Night

My creation, originally uploaded by Litandmore.

Writing a final post on the road proves a struggle. Do you feel like you drove beside us for over 7,000 miles? Anecdotes do not give justice to this experience of a lifetime. How many people can say that they drove over 7,000 miles in  just under three weeks, all while seeing site after site? We are the road trip truck drivers (Toot! Toot!).

Go Farther West ’09 consumed our brains for so many months. So much energy revolved around “not” planning the perfect road trip– although as June 9th or 10th approached, the desire to Go Farther West consumed nearly every thought. It is crazy to think that tomorrow we will be home and GFW ’09 will be relegated to a series of fond memories. Some of our favorite memories are…

Getting in the car at precisely 5:30 AM with no idea which direction the car was headed only to be asked 45 minutes later how Donna felt about having BBQ in Memphis that night and jambalaya in New Orleans the next

Watching John’s reaction at the Texas rest stop when he looked up to see a raccoon in a nearby garbage can

Taking a self-guided tour of The Orange Show in Houston when John and Donna arrived after hours and the nice lady from across the street let them in as long as they promised to lock up

Listening to the surf pound outside our window in Bandon, OR as we drifted off to sleep after a long day of driving

Learning that all of our favorite shows were not filmed on location

Singing “it’s a small world after all”

Playing road trip cards and learning things, such as, We ARE GOING TO SAN DIEGO

Staying at a 4 star hotel in the French Quarter for less than we paid for parking in San Francisco

Driving through Glacier National Park in Canada in the middle of a rainy night

Nightly rituals (None of your business)

Walking around Roswell, NM

Listening to Michael Jackson’s autopsy report while viewing a desolate marsh in Saskatchewan

Admiring the Seattle Public Library

Wondering what it would be like to live in San Francisco

Turning off our air conditioning in the middle of California

Wondering about Lou Grant

Enjoying a fantastic dinner sitting at Mary’s Table

Getting Diet Coke for $1.00

Celebrating a birthday in Seattle

Enjoying the 60 degree temperature in Carlsbad Caverns

Drifting to sleep thinking, “What a Day”

How could you visit Canada and not eat poutine?

How could you visit Canada and not eat poutine?, originally uploaded by Litandmore.

Will John Make it to the Top of the Hay Roll?

Where John Read This Summer: Lake Louise, Alberta

Where I Read This Summer: Lake Louise, Alberta, originally uploaded by Litandmore.

John takes time away from admiring beautiful Lake Louise to read his favorite Canadian travel book written by two authors he adores.

Where Donna Read This Summer: Lake Louise, Alberta

Where I Read This Summer: Lake Louise, Alberta, originally uploaded by Litandmore.

Donna took a moment out of her day to read the latest bestseller. Oh, yeah, that is Lake Louise behind her. Isn’t it just fantastic?