ROAD TRIP DAY 0

So, last night I flew out to Washington, DC to meet up with my youngest brother Jay-R to help him pack up the rest of his apartment and load up our car. Jay-R has just finished his last year in the Marine Corps, guarding the Pentagon. We decided to road trip it home rather than shipping all his belongings back so that we could see the great country he had just served for the last 8 years. What better way to appreciate your service to a nation than to see it, right? Coupled with the fact that this was the first time in our lives that we all had the free time and the financial resources to do so, what better time than now to have an adventure before true adult life settled in?

Joining us on our trip would be, our middle brother, Joseph, chef extraordinaire at Stanford University and Tiffany, our cousin from San Diego. A little background tangent here, so I hope y’all don’t mind. Our family is kinda weird in the fact that it is so big. Normally, this would be a great thing but the only thing is, the spread of ages is pretty ridiculous. We have cousins who are in their late forties down to cousins still in their diapers! While such an anomaly prevented us from having peers our own age, it afforded us four to be closer than cousins. If Jojo, Jay-R and I had ever had a sister, she would have been Tiff, so it was only natural that the four of us made the journey together.

Now, our trek would entail us to drive long distance and long hours, but would also provide us with great food, awesome friends, and stories that will go down for the ages. Normally, I hate driving long distances because I'd rather fly anyway. Why drive 500 miles in 8 hours when you could fly it in 1? Anyhow, the opportunity to go cross country was too alluring to pass up. My sense of adventure and venturing into the unknown supersedes my need for creature comforts and immediate gratification any day. By the way, I planned the trip stops to coincide with eateries from Man v. Food on the Travel Channel and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on Food Network so don’t be alarmed when all we do on some parts is grub! So folks, let's see if you’ll put up with my corny jokes, psychobabble, and mindless banter and join us for the journey as I chronicle the highlights of our trip.