Going to California - Day 1 - Minneapolis to Emporia

Departure Minneapolis - 32 degrees and overcast.
Arrival Emporia - 42 degrees and dark.

Miles traveled - 546
States traveled through - 4
Major cities - Minneapolis, MN; Des Moines, IA; Kansas City, KS/MO
Avg. speed - 61 MPH

A sample of gas prices

Minneapolis, MN - $1.97
Des Moines, IA - $1.92
Converse, MO - $1.73
Kansas City, KS - $ $1.76
Emporia, KS - $1.85



When I was young, my dad and I were much closer than we are now. I was the oldest of my siblings and as such I could go do things that the other kids couldn't. It's just one of the many perks of being first. Mostly it was just a bunch of sporting events that we got to see together including a lot of Twins games from very close. But the crown jewel of father-son time for my dad and I were our roadtrips.

The very first one was just a jaunt down to Lake City when I was about six to see my great-grandmother O'Hara. She was very old and I was very young. It stands out though because it's the only real memory I have of her. She seemed so frail and small. My dad has told me since then his memory of that trip is how she was so happy to spend time with her grandson and her great-grandson.

Most often though we'd base our roadtrips around sports. One year we drove to all of the NFL training camps in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Another we drove to the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. We even flew one time to Kansas City so we could take a car across Missouri to a Cardinals game in St. Louis.

However the very first roadtrip we took out-of-state was to Kansas City for one of my dad's co-worker's wedding. It was 1990 and I was ten while Erica was 8 and Dan only 6. If my dad was going to take Mom to the wedding, they'd have to find someone to take care of us for the whole weekend. So, sensing an opportunity in a problem, Dad just took me instead of Mom.

There are three really great memories of that roadtrip. First, we stayed at a hotel with two trees involved which had a pool where you could swim between the indoors and outdoors. Second, it was the first time I saw two of the greatest television shows ever; "Saturday Night Live" and "American Gladiators." I can very vividly remember watching The Eliminator on "AG" and watching a "Twin Peaks" parody sketch on "SNL." (Which means Kyle McLachlen was hosting with musical guest... Sinead O'Connor.) The third memory requires a little set-up. At the time Dad had a BMW 3 series with 5-speed manual transmission and an overdrive. Basically, the car was meant to go really fast and it could.

We were peaking over a hill in Iowa already doing north of 80 when Dad noticed there were no other cars visible, there were no police officers sitting in the ditch and, hell, there was this long straight downhill stretch of open road in front of us. So he turns to me and says, "Your mom doesn't need to know about this." He dropped the car into the overdrive and it took off. By the time we got to the bottom of the hill we were doing 120.

I thought about that road trip as I was driving through Kansas City today. I got a chance to think back to when Dad and I would take roadtrips together. I got a chance to think back to when Dad and I were closer. I thought about how things have changed and how things have not. Mostly I got to think about when we would just get in the car and drive.