TWO CRAZY KIDS

Maps, coffee and the open road - a note from Ryan

Andrea and I are proud parents of older teenagers or weirdly enough young adult twins.  Before we had our kiddos, Andrea and I would talk and joke about starting a newsletter about our wild travels.  Those travels ranged from the backwoods of Kentucky or some long lost abandoned roads (we have driven across a few pastures or abandoned fields because roads just…ended).  We didn’t have much money, so we would splurge on a soda to split, fill up the tank of gas in a 1983 Honda Civic station wagon with only 250,000 miles then off we would go.  When we had some extra money, we filled up the 1984 Grand Marquis given to me in college by my parents (also high mileage - the car, not the parents…then again) and we would head across state lines. 
Obviously, the word newsletter should tell you this was during the time of dial up internet access where cat videos took approximately two hours to load and no cell phones, just landlines and a pocket full of quarters in case we broke down and needed to find a pay phone.  GPS was not a thing.  We had a map book and, if the road was on said map book, obviously it was too well-traveled for us.
One day we were traveling in a 1976 MG Midget we were attempting to restore on a deserted back road watching tall grass and bumblebees pass us by.  The next day it seems we were rushing to Nashville with twins on the way.  So our dreams of a newsletter turned into a coffee table book.  Then cameras we packed along were no longer pointing at scenery and each other but at the small kiddos who now dominated our life, much like other new parents often do.
As time passed, the kiddos grew up, and the cars and trips changed.   Although there was one thing that remained the same.  In between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat was a map book.  Each car would get a new book, and as we would go places Andrea would “travel by map” first to keep the kids interested, and then more for us to dream about where we were going when the kiddos got older.  The pages would wear down and it was passed endlessly from the front seat to the back and to the front again.  
Fast forward about 12 years and by 2016, I no longer traveled for my job and Andrea was ready to go anywhere other than home.  Since we were blessed to have some extra money we had a custom-built Jeep Wrangler made for us, named it Klinger, strapped four bikes to the back and bought a map book.  We broke in the engine while going across Nebraska and bouncing over the mountains of Colorado.  Since then that Jeep has touched both coasts.  It has food stains from the kids, and we are on our fifth map book.  
Since then, we have talked endlessly to our friends and co-workers about the trips we take.  Several of them even asked for our advice.  We were happy to give it and we joked endlessly about all the mistakes and close calls we have had along the way.  I think we started taking more pictures just so when we told our stories more people would believe us.  We sometimes joke about that coffee table book.   With our kiddos starting college soon, and the realization that time has passed, Andrea stated that she wanted to find something for us to do now that we can escape… I mean leave our kids for a few days.  I joked that she needed to start a blog or something about a trip that we took or one we wanted to take.  
Well, she did.
We hope if anyone stumbles upon this also loves to travel.  Also hope they don’t take us too serious, and if you learn something it is your own fault.