Okay, I have been dreaming. I mean big dreaming. For a long time. I love planning road trips. Especially long and challenging ones. This little bit of sand idea in my head has been kicking around for years and has finally formed a pearl. This summer I am going on a road trip with my six-year-old boy for six weeks. We are headed to my native Texas and back. Taking our time to explore.

Along the way we will see fifteen national parks/monuments. On the list are Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Dinosaurland NM, Rocky Mountain, Capulin Volcano NM, Big Bend, Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Saguaro, Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Lassen Volcanic, and Crater Lake.

I could not be more excited to get on the road with my boy. I have tried to instill in him a love for adventure since he was very little. In part dreaming of trips like these and also in the hopes that it creates in him a love of nature and the beautiful world we live in.

Years ago, ten to be exact, B and I went on a month-long road trip that started this blog. One thing that I loved about that trip was all the people from different places we met and saw along the way. Sometimes being in one place too long you start to feel unraveled from the tapestry of the world. You ask how am I really connected to those far away? Meeting people on the road weaves you back in and you start to see the whole picture again. You hear their story and what brought them and you to this same point in time. I cannot wait for Henry to meet new people and see old friends and family.

B and I are so lucky to have a jobs that allow us to follow our dreams.  I can do my work on the road while he gigs on the weekends. The big plan for B is to finish another album while I am away this summer. He will have a quiet house to make noise in with no interruptions.  Midway through the trip he will fly to meet us in Austin. We will show Henry where we lived and feel in love and were married.  In truth, the roots of where he comes from. These trips are never without their challenges. There will be days where both of us are done and homesick. But I hope to remain focused on the positive and rich experience of it in the end.