On The Road

Best personal license plate I saw this year.
Virginia, March 2017

For me road trips conjure up memories of long hours of playing the "license plate game" (trying to spot license plates from all the states and provinces), managing snacks and bathroom breaks for the Rascals, and staring endlessly at road maps until the car sickness sets in.

I know we're all supposed to enjoy the journey as much as the destination, but I definitely prefer the destination.

There is a romanticized version of the American road trip, and it doesn't involve a backseat of young children and frequent stops at Cracker Barrel restaurants.  It's the convertible on the open road, the innocence of 1950's America, and a rebellious youthfulness.  All of these ideals are encapsulated in Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel On the Road.

This novel always reminds me of my sister, who had an obsession with not just the novel but with Kerouac and his Beat movement counterparts.  I think she loved the idea of their freedom, their non-conformity, and she didn't shy away from the dark edge to their lives and beliefs.
My sister and I are not very alike in many ways but siblings "get" each other nonetheless, and in our lives there are few relationships more important than with those with whom we share so much: parents, childhood, and that often painful transition from adolescent to an individual.

I've been thinking of my sister quite a bit the last few days because today is her birthday, and in anticipation of the day I've been trying to reach her on her cell and by email with no success.
I haven't heard from her since my own birthday back in June, when she sent me a delightful (if unusually short) birthday email.

Carolyn has been "on the road" since May, travelling with a friend in a van kitted out for campsites.  The last we heard from her they were in California, but headed to Arizona.
I have an uneasy feeling which I'm hoping will be chased away today by a phone call from her.
Tell me about your siblings, do they live near to you? Are you very alike? Have you ever had a period in your life when you didn't know quite where they were?
xoxDani