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The traveling kid

Ever since he was a baby, my step-son Alex has traveled all over the country. When we lived in Maryland, it wasnít such a big deal because most of the family was in Maryland. My husbandís parents, however, live in Minnesota, so each summer we had to fly out to see them for at least a week.
While in Minnesota, Alex got to see nearly every town between the Twin Cities and International Falls, depending on where we had planned to visit or camp or shop.
Since weíve moved to Minnesota, Alex has taken the 1,300 mile trip from here to my hometown in Maryland about 10 times. Needless to say itís a long drive.
Now that heís older, Alex is a lot more fun to travel with. He loves playing 20 Questions as he mans his post in the backseat, craning his neck each time Dad and I say ìLook at that over thereî to some silly mundane travel site like a cow.
My husband and I feel so bad for having to drive him back and forth between Maryland and Minnesota that we try to stop off in fun to visit places along the way so we can get out, stretch and not scream of boredom or frustration trying to get through Chicago.
Since we swore off ever traveling through Chicago again, we found an alternate route through Iowa. Iowa may not sound very exciting, but looking at corn and soybean crops had to be better than big rigs and concrete in Chicago.
This summer we discovered the Largest Truck Stop in the World. Itís the I-80 Truck Stop, which rises out of the ground like a truckers Mecca among the cornfields. And it really is big. But it seemed like everything in Iowa touted its size. We saw a sign directing us to the largest McDonald's there.
Next summer, our detour back to Maryland will take us through yet another Iowa town, Dyersville, where weíll take an hour or two out of the day to play catch on the Field of Dreams, where the movie was filmed.
Even though our blended family probably spends more time on the interstates of America getting back and forth between families, we get a brief time each summer to play together, get to know one another and see some pretty cool sites along the way.
ñ Barbara Brown

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