There’s a road trip in my future—a cross-country journey with my daughter along the wide-open highway. Truth be told, I’ve never driven past the state line on my own, or at least as the sole adult in charge. Images of Thelma and Louise, truck drivers, rest stops, and seedy motels leap into my consciousness. Once I get past my fear of a flat tires and serial killers, it hits me. This is going to be the trip of a lifetime!
Denver to Los Angeles. No definite time line. No defined route. Priceless time with the love of my life. We are going to stop at every state line and take a selfie with the “Welcome to Wherever” sign in the background. We’ll stop at rural gas stations and buy silly postcards with pictures of jackalopes. Maybe we’ll pick up beef jerky and fudge and gorge ourselves. I’ll put away countless Diet Pepsis. She’ll chew bubble gum and hijack the music controls. In Utah, we’ll take the time to tour some of the canyons and buy more silly postcards. Then, a two-day stop in Las Vegas. We’ll tour the strip, ride the death-defying rollercoaster, snap pictures of drunks, and lounge by the pool. Mostly, we’ll talk and laugh and bond.
Maybe we’ll be the new millennium version of Thelma and Louise. Except I’ll be the boss and we won’t shoot anybody’s head off in a parking lot and I won’t drink Jack Daniels from airline bottles while I drive. Nor will I chuck the empties out the window. And we won’t have a convertible. Or a gun. But we will have a sunroof. Oh yeah, and when our trip comes to an end, I’ll park my little red car safely in L.A. No cliff-jumping suicide pacts for us.
On second thought, scratch the Thelma and Louise comparison. We’ll just be two women at different stages of our lives, bonded by love and taking on the interstate. One of us is just entering womanhood, and her whole life is splayed out in front of her like petals on a daisy. A life full of promise and hope and joy. The other with a big chunk of life behind her—some good and some not so much. But also with a future that glows bright.
I can’t wait to gas up!
Sherry Gorman 