> I've said it before on this forum; I really do believe in the adage that says getting there is half the fun. I love road trips, and I love driving. Flying can be fun too, but I find trips a lot more enjoyable when I'm in control.

Yes, yes. My family gets the need to take a road trip every few years or so, and they're great fun (our system of traveling with an energetic poodle* and taking rest stops and all that is completely perfected by now). We've been to so many states, our collection of state magnets pretty much swamps the refridgerator (We have a magnet of the Canadian flag to represent our various trips there). And some of the best conversations my family's ever had have been on road trips - for example, the time we tried to think of names for all 101 Dalmations.

My two most recent Lessons of Road Trips (learned in Summer 2001) are as follows: The miles go much much quicker if you're listening to the Blue Man Group CD "Audio", and Eastern Washington and Oregon is all boring, ugly desert.

Qua "Is there any state more reviled and unliked than South Dakota?" rtz

*The cat stays back in Washington in a special (and *very* nice) cat-only kennel.